23S [October, 



Au(/ust 25rd, 1917. — The President iu the Chair. 



The decease of Mr. A. C. Vine of Brighton, a Member since 1889, was 

 announced. 



Mr. Frohawk exhibited the following aberrations of British butteriiies : — 

 Cupido minimus, with jet-black streaks on the upper surface of the left hind 

 wing ; Agriades coridon, a female with thin bright blue streaks on right 

 hind wing ; another female, an abnormal asymmetrical underside, right side 

 21 mm. in expanse, and unusually pale ground of hind wings and abnormal 

 markings on both wings, left side 18 mm. in expanse, of normal colour and 

 markings; Adopaea Jlava (linea), three males, (1) straw-yellow, (2) washed 

 silver-bronze, (3) rich coloured bred example; A. lineola, (1) pale ochreous, 

 (2) broad dark margins and generally dusky. Mr. Edwards, exotic butterflies, 

 a Neptis vetiilia collected by Wallace, Mycalesis nicotia, M. lepcha, and Abisara 

 neophron from Burmah, with Limnas jarbas, and Smyrna blonifiidia from 

 Bogota. Mr. Gibb, on behalf of Mr. Jaeger, specimens of a second brood of 

 Amorpha poptili bred in confinement. Mr. H. Moore reported that he had 

 found Pararge megaera numerous and generally distributed in Herts this 

 year, and had also seen P. aegeria in the county, both species of the second 

 brood. Various members gave seasonal notes. — Hy. J. Turneii, Hon. Ed. of 

 Proceedings. 



NOTES ON CERTAIN BRITISH (OR RECORDED AS BRITISH) SPECIES 



OF 0X7BELUS Latr. 



BY THE EEV. F. D. MOEICE, M.A., F.E.S. 



1. — 0. argeiitatus Curtis = mucronatus Smith, Saunders, etc. (^nec F. ?). 

 It seems to be not so certain as is generally supposed that the 

 beautiful British Oxyhelus, Avhich we now call mucronatus F., is really 

 identical with the (German) species described under that name by 

 Fabricius (Ent. Syst. 1793). It was added to our List by Curtis 

 (1833), who described it (from a 5 ) as a new species, and called it 

 argentatus^ because of the brilliant silver^'' pilosity, which distinguishes 

 it at a glance from our other representatives of the genus. F. Smith, 

 however (Ent. Ann. 1857), as Wesmael had done previously in 1852 

 (Rev. Grit. Fouiss. Belg.), sunk the name argentatus as a synonym of 

 the earlier mucronatus F., and this identification has been generally 

 accepted, both by British and Continental hymenopterists (<?. g. Saunders 

 and V. Dalla Torre), though the typical German mucronatus, as has been 

 pointed out by Gerstaeeker — who, however, accepts Wesmael's identifica- 

 tion — is, at least superficially, very unlike the insect described by Curti.<, 

 having differently coloured spots (much deeper yellow) and lacking also 

 the conspicuous silver pilosity which is so characteristic of the British 

 insect. Kohl, in 1884, published a list of the known species of Oxyhelus, 

 in which he included argentatus Curtis as a species distinct from mucro- 

 natus F.. but he did not give his reasons for distinguishing them ; and 



