THE 



^ictoviaxx ^atnvali^t 



Vol. XII.— No. 5. AUGUST, 1895. No. 141. 



FIELD NATURALISTS' CLUB OF VICTORIA. 



The ordinary monthly meeting of the Club was held at the Royal 

 Society's Hall on Monday evening, 12th August, 1895. The 

 president. Professor VV. Baldwin Spencer, M.A., occupied the chair, 

 and some 70 members and friends were present. 



REPORT. 



A report of the recent visit to the Entomological Branch of 

 the Department of Agriculture, under the direction of Mr. C. 

 French, F.L.S., Government Entomologist, was read by Mr. 

 F. G. A. Barnard. There was a large attendance of members, 

 who evinced great interest in the specimens, &c., on view. 

 Special attention was given to the splendid series of life-histories 

 of destructive insects prepared in England and obtained by the 

 Government for comparison with the injurious insects of this 

 colony. 



ELECTION OF MEMBERS. 



On a ballot being taken, Mrs. Cherry and Messrs. A. Lord 

 and R. J. Dawes were duly elected members of the Club. 



PAPERS. 



1. By Mr. C. French, F.L.S., entitled " Notes on Some 

 Newly-described Australian Buprestid Beetles, Part I." 



The paper called attention to the large number of recent 

 additions to the favourite family of Buprestidae, and gave brief 

 descriptions of some 42 species, including several Victorian. 



2. By Mr. D. M'Alpine, F.C.S., entitled " Entomogenous 

 Fungi." 



The author dealt with a iew species of fungi growing upon 

 insects which had come under his observation, and advocated a 

 patient study of these growths, which might become of great 

 economic importance in checking the increase of injurious insects. 

 An entomophyte, probably a species of Botrytis, on a cockroach 

 was described, but further information is required before it can 

 be determined whether it is the cause of death or merely an 

 after-growth ; also, a new species of Isaria, found growing on a 

 grub of a beetle belonging to the Melolonthidre, which it is 

 proposed to call Isaria surmntoiles. 



In the discussion which followed, Professor Spencer referred 

 to the actual results which had been obtained in France and 



