SOCIETIES. 71 



Entomological Society of London. — February 3rd, 1897. — 

 Tyrolean and Portuguese Coleoptera. — Mr. Champion exhibited an 

 extensive series of Coleoptera, collected by Mr. R. W. Lloyd and himself 

 in July last in the Austrian Tyrol, and containing about 450 species, 

 including 85 of Longicornia and about 20 of Otiorrhynchus. He also 

 exhibited about 85 species of Coleoptera from Cintra, Portugal, col- 

 lected by Col. Yerbury, the most interesting of these being C'arahm 

 Imitanums. Zeugophora flavicollis at Colchester. — Mr. Champion 

 exhibited, on behalf of Mr. W. H. Harwood, two specimens of the rare 

 Zeu<)ophoraflavicolUi<, Marsh., from Colchester. Micro-lepidoptera fro.m 

 Lancashire. — Mr. Tutt exhibited, for Mr. J. B. Hodgkinson, a number 

 of obscure British Micro-lepidoptera, many of which had been regarded 

 as new species. The validity of the determinations was questioned by 

 Lord Walsingham, Mr. B. A. Bower and others, and the first-named 

 speaker strongly deprecated the practice of positively recognising or 

 describing such obscure forms, particularly when British, from single 

 or worn specimens. A suffused aberration of a Gelechia, taken at 

 Witherslack, and described under the name of Lita intennediclla [Knt. 

 Rec, ix., p. 36), was referred to Lita fratcnuila. Platyptilia tesse- 

 radactyla in Ireland. — Mr. Barrett showed specimens of the true 

 Platyptilia tesseradacti/la, L. (= P. Ji^cheri, Zell.) new to the United 

 Kingdom, and taken in co. Galway by Mr. W. F. de V. Kane and 

 the Hon. R. E. Dillon. The species was Avidely distributed in N. 

 and Central Europe, often occurring at a considerable elevation, and 

 was said to feed on (jncqihalium. Mr. Tutt stated that he had found 

 P. jischeri to be common in the Alps among Petasitifi ; and Lord 

 Walsingham spoke in support of the identification. Locusts as an 

 article of food.— -Mr. McLachlan exhibited cooked locusts {Srhisto- 

 cerca pere<jnna) received from the Rev. A. E. Eaton, and sold in the 

 market of Biskra, Algeria. They were cooked whole, but the abdomen 

 only was eaten. Seasonal Dimorphism in African Butterflies. — A 

 paper on this subject was communicated by Dr. A. G. Butler, who con- 

 tested the views of Mr. Guy A. K. Marshall {Tr. Pint. Soc. Lond., 

 1896, pp. 551 — 566) as to the distinctness of certain forms of Acraea, 

 and maintained that one part of Africa cannot and does not represent 

 the entire range of a species, with its extreme dry and wet-season 

 forms, and that the dry season form of a moist district may be the 

 intermediate or a wet season form of a drier district. The author 

 also stated that the black apical patch of the fore-wings in Acraea 

 was not of specific value, inasmuch as all grades existed between the 

 broadest apical patch and no patch at all ; it was probably only a 

 seasonal development or a mere variation. Many of the species recog- 

 nised as distinct by Mr. Marshall were merely varietal, and were 

 linked together by intermediate forms in the collection of the British 

 Museum. Such were Acraea pudoriiia, Staud., A. acrita, var.. Trim., 

 A. acrita, Hew., and A. chacrihnla, Oberth. Mr. Trimen upheld 

 Mr. Marshall's conclusions. A long discussion followed, chiefly on 

 the so-called " dry season " and " wet-season forms." Mr. Merrifield 

 stated that he had been unable experimentally to modify the colour 

 and markings of Lepidoptera by variations in humidity. Mr. Tutt 

 said that it was recorded that Mr. IXiherty had obtained " wet-season 

 forms " of Melanitis leda by keeping the larvte, that should normally 

 have produced the " dry-season " form, in a moist atmosphere. 



South London Entomological and Natural History Society. — : 



