278 , [May, 



Additions of three species to the British list of Tenthredinida. — Strongylogaste r 

 mixtus, Klug. For two males of tliia species I am indebted to my friend, Mr. John 

 Dunsmore, who captured them near Paisley. 



Poecilosoma ohtusum. I have taken at Rannoch the species described by Thomson 

 (Hymen. Scand. i, 231) under this name, and he {l. c.) expresses a doubt as to 

 wliether the Swedish form is the same as the insect described by Klug as ohtusa, and 

 there is certainly some discrepancy between the descriptions. The northern form 

 has the feet nearly all luteous ; the abdomen at the sides irregularly marked with 

 white, and the anus sordid luteous. The anterior wings have only tliree sub-marginal 

 cells, which circumstance is often the case with P. impressum. It is smaller than 

 P. pulveraturn, whilst Klug's ohtusum is larger than the latter. 



Hoplocampa pectoralis, Thoms. (Hymen. Scand. i, 202). I have seen an indi- 

 vidual of this species, which was taken by the Rev. T. A. Marshall at St. Albans. 



I may also state that I liave taken in the vicinity of Glasgow Nematus Kirhyi, 

 Dbm., and Dolerus gihbosus, Hart., neither of which has been recorded as British 

 under these names ; and I cannot make out, from the unsatisfactory descriptions in 

 the " Illustrations," if they were known to Stephens. 



Nematus cinerece, Retz., Thoms., must be added to the list of gall-making saw- 

 flies. I have bred it from hairy pea-shaped galls on Salix cinerea. — P. Cameron, 

 Jun., 136, West Graham Street, Glasgow : Qth April, 1874. 



LiNKEAN Society, March I9th, 1874. — Dr. Allman, F.R.S., in the Chair. 



Sir John Lubbock, Bart., M.P., F.R.S., read a paper entitled " Observations on 

 Bees and Wasps," of which the following is an ofRcial abstract : — 



The paper commenced by pointing out, with reference to the power of communi- 

 cation with one another said to be possessed by Hymenoptera, that the observations 

 on record scarcely justify the conclusions which have been drawn from them. In 

 supi^ort of the opinion that ants, bees, and wasps possess a true language, it is usually 

 stated that if one bee discovers a store of honey, the others are soon aware of the 

 fact. This, however, does not necessarily imply the possession of any power of de- 

 scribing localities, or any thing which could correctly be called a language. If the 

 bees or wasps merely follow their fortunate companions, the matter is simple enough. 

 If, on the contrary, the others are sent, the case will be very different. In order to 

 test this, Sir John kept honey in a given place for some time, in order to satisfy 

 himself that it woidd not readily be found by the bees, and then brought a bee to 

 the honey, marking it so that he could ascertain whether it brought others or sent 

 them, the latter, of course, implying a much higher order of intelligence and power 

 of communication. After trying the experiment several times with single bees and 

 obtaining only negative results, Sir John Lubbock procured one of Marriott's observa- 

 tory-hives, which he placed in his sitting-room. The bees had free access to the open 

 air ; but there was also a small side or postern door, which could be opened at 

 pleasure, and which led into the room. This enabled him to feed and mark any 

 particular bees ; and he recounted a number of experiments, from which it appeared 

 that comparatively few bees found their own way through the postern, while of those 

 which did so the great majority flew to the window, and scarcely any found the 



