AUCKLAND INSTITUTE. 



First Meeting : 8th June, 1896. 



Mr. D. Petrie, President, in the chair. 



Neto Members.— A. T. Potter, A. T. Pycroft, E. H. Shake- 

 spear, E. Yates, J. E. Yates. 



The President delivered the anniversary address, taking as 

 his subject " A Modern Chapter in Vegetable Physiology." 

 {Transactions, p. 427.) 



Second Meeting : 22nd June, 1896. 



Mr. D. Petrie, President, in the chair. 



Professor F. D. Brown gave a popular lecture on Fluor- 

 escence, accompanying it with numerous experimental illus- 

 trations. 



Third Meeting: 6th July, 1896. 



Mr. D. Petrie, President, in the chair. 



Netv Members. — H. Boscawen, K. Briffault, P. Marshall, 

 M. Keesing. 



Papers. — 1. " Notice of the Occurrence of Diadema nerina 

 at Hamilton, Waikato," by S. T. Seddon. 



On the afternoon of the 20th of April last, when the sun was in its 

 power, our garden was graced by the presence of a most beautiful butter- 

 fly (Diadema nerina). It was seen by Mrs. Seddon, myself, and the 

 servant ; it stayed with us about a quarter of an hour, sipping honey 

 from petunias, phlox, and heliotrope. It was a large insect, measuring 

 about 4in. in expanse of wing. The predominant colour was velvety 

 black, with broad white markings, and a small white spot at the apex of 

 each upper wing, and a large round white spot in the middle of each 

 lower wing, surrounded by a zone of iridescent purplish blue, which in 

 some lights was emerald-green. The whole insect was covered with 

 velvety hairs inclining to brown over the body and adjacent parts. The 

 broad white markings on the upper wings were most distinct when the 

 insect was looking down from above. It is very powerful in flight, which 

 resembles that of Vanessa atalanta. Diadema nerina is decidedly the 

 queen of New Zealand Lepidoptera, and, although I have been in New 

 Zealand thirty-six years without seeing this beautiful butterfly, I am 

 already hungering to see it again. 



