FIELD WORK FOR APRIL AND MAY. 21 



clefts of waterworn rocks are those selected. A little red patch on the 

 cushion of thrift betrays the work of the larva, and after a little 

 practice affected plants may soon be recognised at a distance. 



19. — During May the larvte of Drpn'ssaria niirella are to be found 

 on Kri/iiiiiitiii ; their presence may usually be detected by the dirty brown 

 appearance of the leaves, which they roll up. 



20. —In May the larvae of Di/sc/nn-ista upsilon can be obtained in 

 abundance beneath the loose bark of willow trees, where they hide by 

 day. They go up at night to feed. The larva of Catocala imiita may 

 often be found in the same places. 



21. — The birch trees on the Muckross peninsula at Killarney are 

 reported to be the exact haunts of Xatodaiifd hicidur in Ireland. The 

 imago appears in May, the larva in June. 



22. — In April, look over the willow sticks that have baen cut in 

 woods (or elsewhere) during the previous winter. In them a number 

 of orifices will often be observed. The burrows contain the full-fed 

 larva? of TriHliiUiim honh/'fifdniir. 



23. — -At the end of April and beginning of ^lay the larva of 

 Xqi/iopti'ri/.r abietiila sometimes feeds in a central shoot of Hcotch-fir. 

 It is, however, more often found in dead shoots of the previous year's 

 growth, eating out the pith. The stem or shoot which contains a 

 larva may be known by its decayed or sickly appearance, the needles 

 beinsf shrivelled and brown. 



SOCIETIES. 



The Entomological Society of London met on April 1st, 1896. 

 Mr. Champion exhibited, on behalf of Mr. Blatch, specimens of 

 QuEDius RiPARius, Kellner, capturcd in February last on the banks 

 of running streams at Porlock, Somerset. He remarked that the 

 insect was an interesting and unexpected addition to the British list, 

 and the second recent novelty from the west country, the other being 

 Or/it/n'biii.s h'jolm, Muls. and Rey, found at Ilfracombe, in June last, 

 by Mr Bennett. It would seem to indicate that further additions to 

 our list of Coleoptera might be expected from the country South of 

 the Bristol Channel. He added that Mr. Waterhouse had informed 

 him that he had seen specimens of the (Jucdius from ^Yales and 

 Scotland. Mr. Champion also exhibited a small collkction of Coleop- 

 tera MADE BY Mr. O. V. Aplin in Southern Tunis during various 

 expeditions inland from Gabes. The collection included some inter- 

 esting Tenebrionidte of the genera I'liiidia and Ailcsmia. Mr. Aplin 

 noticed specimens of these insects impaled by shrikes. Mr. Goss 

 exhibited, for Mr. Cameron, an apterous :malh: of Mutilla conti:acta, 

 taken by Mr. Rothney in Barrackpore, India. The specimen was 

 stated to be the first recorded instance in this species of a wingless 

 male, and was also abnormal in having the thorax incised laterally. 

 Dr. Sharp called attention to the fact that at a recent meeting of the 

 Society (March 20th, 1895, see ]'ror., 1895, p. x.) a specimen of a 



SUPPOSED dimorphic FORM OF ONE OF THE SPECIES OF DyTISCUS WaS 



examined, and Prof. Stewart enquired whether any anatomical 

 examination had been made of the sexual organs. He said that in 

 the Cotutf.s llcnihi.s Sue. JJordcau.r, 1894, there was an account of the 

 examination of the sexual organs of the supposed second form of 

 ]>. niar;fi)ialis by Mons. Peytoureau, w^ho came to the conclusion that 

 it was really a distinct species, which be called B. hcrbeti. Dr. Sharp 



