176 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



r August 29, 1865. 



lines of distinct white or, more frctiueutly, rose-coloured spots, 

 giving the leaf tlie appearance of being studded with rubies. 

 Flowers rose-coloured.— (L'o^. 3Iafi., t. 5524.) 



ScnTELLARiA AURATA, Tar. suLPHUEEA (Sulphur-flowered 

 Golden ScuteUaria). Nnt. ord., Labiata?. Lum., Didynamia 

 Gymnospermia.— A vai-iety of Scutellaria aurata, with smaller 

 flowers of a pale sulphur colour.— (/&/rf., (. 5525.) 



PsAiiMisiA LONGicoLLA (Loug-necked Psammisia). Nat. ortl., 

 Ericacea;. Liiiii., Decaudria MonogiTiia. Native of South 

 America.— A stragghug shrub, with glossy, coriaceous leaves 

 and bottle-shaped scarlet and green flowers". — (Ibid., t. 5526.) 



Thai-exopsis SL-MAinAXA (Sumatra PhaLpuopsis). Xnt. ord., 

 Orchidacea-. Linn., Gyuandri.i Monandria.— Native of Palem- 

 bang, Siunatra, wliere it was discovered by Korthals more than 

 a quarter of a century ago, but first e>diibited in flower in this 

 counti-y by Mr. Day, at South Kensington, in the present year. 

 Flowers yellowish white, barred transverselv with broad streaks 

 of reddish brown ; the lip white, spotted with orange and 

 streaked with violet or lilac. — [Ibid., t. 5527.) 



PiiiMULA coRTUsoiPEs, vur. AMcENA. — lutroduced by Mr. 

 Veitch from Japan. Flowers deep rosy purple, with white 

 eye.— (Ibid., t., 5528.) 



Ehododendbon thibaudiense.— Native of Bhootan. Flowers 

 resemblmg those of a ThibautUa rather than of a Rhodo- 

 dendron, reddish orange, tipped with veWovi.— {Floral Man 

 pi. 253.) " ^ -^ 



Aquilegia ctEEui.EA.- Native of the Rocky Mountains, origi- 

 nally discovered by Dr. James, and raised bv Mr. Thompson, 

 of Ipswich, from seeds sent home by Dr. Parry. Flowers violet 

 blue and white, with long spurs. — {ihid. pi. 254.) 



Clekodendeon Tiiojisonje, rni: Balfoueii.— Raised by Mr. 

 McNab, of the Edinburgh Botanic Garden. Flowers large, 

 crimson and white. — (Ibid., pi., 255.) 



Pkimdla ixteemedia.— Raised by Mr. Fiillar, Headingley, 

 and now in the hands of Mr. Bull, of Chelsea. Flowers resem- 

 bling a small-flowered Auricula, mauve ; trusses composed of 

 numerous pips. — (Ibid., pi. 256.) 



Skimmia oblata.— " Imagine the bright-coloured berries of 

 the HoUy set amongt the glossy livelv gi-een leaves of the 

 Laurel, and somethiug like a picture of 'this new Skimmia will 

 be brought before the mind's eye. In September, 1864, Mr. 

 Standish exhibited before the Floral Committee of the Royal 

 Horticultural Society a specimen, in fruit, of this new hardy 

 evergreen shrub, when it received, as it desen-ed, a first-class 

 certificate. As a decorative shrub it is immeasurably superior 

 to the ordinary Skimmia japonica, as it'is caDed, beautiful and 

 interesting as that may be, in certain situations ; for it produces 

 berries of the brightest vermihon red, in contrast with rich 

 green foliage, while that has both foliage and fruit dull-co- 

 loured. The plant, which was one of Mr. Fortune's dis- 

 coveries, must become a valuable acquisition for our gardens 

 and shrubberies. 



" On examination it has proved to be obviously distinct from 

 all Skimmias yet known, in the remarkably oblate figure of its 

 bright red berries, so very tlifferent from 'the oblong fruits of 

 the Skimmias we have heretofore possessed. It is also re- 

 markably ilistiuct in the form and texture of its foliage, as well 

 as in habit. It is a free-growing plant, with dense clear green 

 leaves, and erect terminal panicles of white flowers, succeeded 

 by bright-coloured berries nestling amongst the foliage. 'We 

 are assured by Mr. Standish that, unlike the other species we 

 cultivate, this bears exposure to the sim without injury."—- 

 (Flm'ist and l\i)noln(iist, iv. 161.) 



ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY'S MEETING. 



The August meeting of this Society was held on the 7th inst., 

 the chair being occupied by P. Pascoe, Esq., F.L.S., President. 

 Amongst the donations announced were the publications of the 

 Royal Society of Loudon, the Linnfean Society of Lyons, and 

 the Zoologioo-Botauical Society of Vienna. 

 _ Mr. McLachlau exhibited some specimens of the Ant Lion 

 insect in the imago state, which he had reared in this country 

 from larva; which he had found at Fontainbleau. 



Mr. W. W. Saunders exhibited a live Locust of a delicate 

 green colour, of which he had received several specimens in a 

 young state from Mr. Marshall of Edmonton, who had found 

 them in his Orcljid-house, where they had probablv been im- 

 ported with Orchids from Mexico. Mr. Saunders 'had fouud 

 them very injurious amongst his Orchids since he had received 

 them, a Cyanophyllum had been especially damaged ; the 



insects feeding by night so as to escape detection, their pre- 

 sence only bemg indicated by the holes which they had made 

 in the leaves. On being secured in a glass vase their move- 

 ments were very interesting, being almost incessantly engaged 

 in cleansing their limbs andautennEe, which they di-aw through 

 their maucUbles. 



Mr. Bates stated that during his residence in the Amazons 

 he had never noticed any species of Locust to be nocturnal iu 

 its habits. He also descriljed the apparatus by which tha 

 insects made the chirping noise so often heard, by means of a 

 di-um-like space at the base of one of the wing-covers, the 

 opposite one ha\-ing a serrated ridge, which is drawn back- 

 wards and forwards over the drum. The natives iu some parts 

 of the Amazon Valley kept these insects in cages for the sake 

 of the noise which they make. 



Professor Westwood stated that the insect in question did 

 not belong to the family of the true migratory Locusts, but to 

 that of the Grasshoppers with long slender antennaj (GryUida:) ; 

 also tliat the apparatus by which the noise is made has a much 

 greater resemblance to a tambourine than a drum, consisting 

 of a single strong membrane stretched across a circular space 

 with a raised margin. It was also stated that our British 

 species, Meconema varia, which belongs to the same group, 

 is often taken at night by sugar placed on trees for attracting 

 Moths. 



The President stated that he had received a particular ac- 

 count from a friend in Australia of the means by which the 

 species of Bolbocerus make a noise — namely, by the rotation 

 and friction of the hind coxa; in their cavities, being furnished 

 with a narrow groove. 



Mr. Saunders, jun., exhibited a specimen of the very rare 

 Trachys pygmnea taken in a marsh near Lowestoft ; and Mr. 

 D. Sharp a beautiful series of Cryiitocephalus 10-punctatus, 

 varying from red to black, taken at Rannoch iu Scotland. 



Mr. S. Stevens exhibited a box of beautiful Butterflies col- 

 lected by M. Bouchard, Santa Martha, the extreme northern 

 part of South .\inerica. 



Mr. Smith communicated a note dated at the end of April 

 last from Mr. S. Stone of Brighthanipton, giving an account of 

 the vast numbers of female Wasps which he had observed 

 during the spring, notwithstanding the great destruction o£ 

 Wasps' nests during the preceding autumn. The species which 

 he had observed were V. germanica, rufa, sylvestris, and vul- 

 garis. Many of these he had induced to commence building 

 by making holes in banks, which they at once selected for 

 their nests. It was, however, stated that up to the time of 

 this meeting Wasps had been extremely scarce ; and many 

 nests which had been begun and j)artially tenanted had been 

 destroyed from some cause or other hitherto unexplained. 



Mr. Saunders suggested that possibly this might have been 

 caused by the attacks of Earwigs on the young grubs in the 

 cells of the Wasps' nests ; whilst Professor Westwood con- 

 sidered that it was owing to the very violent rains which had 

 several times fallen during the spring and summer. It was 

 stated that Earwigs had this season been exceedingly abundant, 

 probably in consequence of the long dry weather during the 

 time when the eggs were being hatched. As many as a score 

 of these troublesome insects had been found in a single flower 

 of the ffinothera macrocarpa. 



Professor Westwood gave an account of some peculiarities 

 he had observed in the economy of the caterpillars of the 

 Ailanthus Silk Moth, especially with reference to their feeding 

 by night whilst young, their eating their east skins, and tha 

 peculiar exudation of a white powder over their bodies prerious 

 to moulting. 



The Secretary read some notes on the rearing of the Saturnia 

 attar in France. Mr. Moore, however, stated that he had pre- 

 viously reared it in this country. 



Mr. D. Sharp exhibited specimens of the larv* of the beau- 

 tiful Lycus (Eros) aurora, foimd in vast numbers at Rannoch 

 under masses of chips of Fir trees. 



Mr. Baly read a memoir containing descriptions of a number 

 of new exotic species of Phytophagous Beetles ; and the Secre- 

 tary exhibited a remarkable specimen of Bupalus piniariug, 

 which appeared to be intermediate between the male and 

 female sexes ; the body and antenn.'e being decidedly female, 

 whilst the wings were marked like those of the male, being, 

 however, suifused — the dark colours of the male being con- 

 verted to a duU brown. He also made some observations on 

 the classification of such monstrosities proposed by Mr. New- 

 man, which was not sufficient to include the iiresent indi- 

 vidual. 



