1835] 259 



Mr. A. G-. Butler communicated remarks on Mr. de Niceyille's ideas regarding 

 seasonal dimorphism in certain butterflies brought before the previous meeting, and 

 criticised the details seriatim, deprecating haste in drawing conclusions on such 

 matters without suflicient experience. Mr. Weir fully agreed as to the necessity for 

 patient experiment ; he remarked that although the broods of Pieris napi were 

 apparently constantly distinct in England, there was an idea that such was not the 

 case in Ireland. Mr. Meldola also took part in the discussion. 



Dr. Sharp called attention to a statement in the Compte-Eendu of the Belgian 

 Entomological Society, Meeting of February 7th, 1885, in which the President 

 (M. de Borre) alluded to the discovery of Eelops hrevicollis, Kryn., in Belgium. 

 In the course of anatomical studies on S. striatus made at Louvaine it was found 

 that the spermatozoa of certain individuals differed from those of others ; examples 

 were submitted to M. Allard, who at once detected H. hrevicollis amongst what 

 were at first supposed to be all H. striatus. The President feared that even in 

 these days of minute invebtigation for specific characters, attempts to fix characters 

 from the form of the spermatozoa would not often be practicable. 



The Eev. W. W. Fowler read a paper on new forms of Languriidce, in which 

 many new generic divisions were established. 



The Eev. T. A. Marshall communicated a monograph of the British Braconidcs, 

 in which the Family was very critically examined. In remarking on the enormous 

 increase in the number of known British species within a few years, he said it was 

 mainly due to the extent to which he had been aided by British Lepidopterists, who 

 instead of destroying and neglecting the parasites bred, as was formerly the case, 

 now preserved them, and submitted them to specialists for study. 



The President read a paper on the species of NemopteridcB from Chili, collected 

 by Mr. J. J. Walker, E.N., exhibited at the Meeting on October 1st, 1884. He 

 proposed to term the insect StenotcBnia Walkeri. General remarks on the Family 

 were included, and a group of small delicate species, represented by N.Jilipennis, 

 Westw., and allies, was considered of generic rank, and the term Croce was applied 

 to it. 



(©bituarjT, 



L. Rudolf Meyer-Diir died at Zurich on March 2nd, aged 73 ; for nearly two 

 years previously he had been hopelessly paralysed. At the time of his death he 

 was probably the oldest of Swiss entomologists (Perty died last year). For the 

 greater part of his life he resided at Burgdorf. There are, or have been, few Swiss 

 entomologists who have done more to elucidate the insect-fauna of their country, 

 which is probably the most interesting and suggestive, and at the same time the 

 most difficult for investigation, in Europe. His general knowledge was extensive ; 

 but his published works and papers more especially concerned Hemiptera, Neu- 

 ■ roptera, and Orthoptera, and in all he made his mark. He was one of the founders 

 of the Swiss Entomological Society, and in its " Mittheilungen " most of his papers 

 were published. More than 20 years ago he made a voyage to Buenos Ayres for 

 entomological purposes. In 1859 he accompanied the late Edouard Pictet on an 

 important entomological excursion in Spain ; he also collected in the south of 

 France. With these exceptions all Meyer-Diir's entomological energies were devoted 

 to Switzerland. 



