22 THE entomologist's record. 



wards subjected to the same treatment as the other lot of pupa;. 

 These emerged August 8th-16th and showed one var. prorsa ; 16 

 between porima and prorsa— Q <? s and 10 ? s ; 2 ab. porima, both 

 ^s; 16 intermediates between prorsa and the type lerana — 12 $s 

 and 4 ? s, of which several approached very nearly to the typical 

 brood — levana, Mr. W. G. Sheldon. Dr. T, A. Chapman also showed 

 specimens of Araschnia levana, type, bred 1907, to give a fuller view 

 of this form in assistance to Mr. Sheldon's report. He said the palest 

 specimens were probably the result of leaving the pupje at a tempera- 

 ture at or below 54° till the butterflies were nearly ready for emergence ; 

 but, on the whole, they are probably not far from normal levana, the 

 darker being chiefly 3^ , the paler 5 . Oviposition of Araschnia 

 LEVANA : Mr. Sheldon also showed strings of the ova in situ on nettle 

 these being base to apex, and, in position, resembling that sometimes 

 said to be characteristic of those of I'olyyonia c-albtiiii, although the 

 latter is said to lay singly by Bird {Ent. Rec, xix., p. 126). Exotic Cock- 

 roach FROM South Kensington : Mr. G. Arrow exhibited a specimen of 

 a handsome exotic cockroach (Durylaea rlwmhifulia) found alive in the 

 Natural History Museum. He remarked that he had seen this species 

 there several years ago but had not captured it. The present specimen 

 wasfound m a different part of the building by Mr. T. Sherrin, on 

 Nov, 16th. It is an apterous species inhabiting China, India, Mada- 

 gascar, S. Africa, etc., and has also been recorded from Tropical 

 America. Temperature Experiments on Butterflies : Lieut. -Colonel 

 N. Manders exhibited a collection of some 200 specimens of tropical 

 butterflies belonging to the genera Mdanitis, Mijcalesis, Atilla, Papilio 

 and Catopsilia, which had been subjected to abnormal degrees of 

 temperature mostly in the pupal stage. The object of. the experiments 

 was to ascertain the eiiect of climate on the colours of tropical butter- 

 flies. He said that with the exception of Mr. Marshall's experiments 

 on certain S. African butterflies literally nothing had been done as far 

 as he knew in the laboratory in relation to this question. He himself 

 held the view tentatively, that certain cases believed to be examples of 

 Miillerian mimicry would be proved eventually to be cases of climatic 

 resemblances, produced in insects of different genera or even families 

 by climate acting on organisms similarly constituted, and so responding 

 in a similar manner to the same stimulus. While readily admitting 

 that the specimens in the exhibit were too few for definite conclusions, 

 they showed in Melanitis and Mycalesis that there was good evidence 

 for the belief that in two species — leda and narcissits — of these genera the 

 seasonal phases are induced by cold and heat, and not by dryness and 

 moisture. In Atella phalanta there was reason for believmg that the 

 presence of the violet or purple on the under-surface was due to depri- 

 vation of light during the rearing of the insect from the egg to the 

 imago. In Catopsilia florella any abnormal temperature produced 

 an increased number of yellow females (thadia), no tj'pical white 

 female, but an abundance of intermediates, which were absent so far 

 as his experience went under normal conditions in Mauritius, though 

 common enough in India and Africa. The males remained unchanged. 

 In Papilio demodocus there was an increase of red round the costal 

 ocellus on the upperside of the hind-wing and a very distinct general 

 ruddiness on the under-surface of the hind-wing produced by cold. 

 December Ath, 1907. Vari.\tion in Anthrocera trifolii : Examples 

 of Anthrocera trifolii, collected on the same ground in Sussex, and 



