THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 215 



sligmatic surface as the insect passed from flower to flower. 

 He pointed out the great importance of the insect in the 

 economy of nature, as it appeared to be the only agent by 

 which the plant was rendered fertile. He directed attention 

 to a description of the insect and its habits by Mr. Riley, in 

 his ' Sixth Annual Report of the Insects of Missouri.' 



Black Hive Bees. — Professor Weslwood also exhibited 

 some bees, which had been sent to him from Dublin, having 

 been found attacking the hives of the honey-bees. They 

 were smaller than the honey-bee, and black, and he con- 

 sidered them to be merely a degenerated variety of Apis 

 mellifica. He suggested the probability of their being 

 identical with the "black bees" mentioned by Hiiber. 

 Hiiber also had spoken of bees, which he called " Captains," 

 which were furnished with "coronets" on their heads; but 

 he suspected that these coronets might have been merely 

 the pollen which the insects had collected. 



Scotch Coleoptera. — Mr. Champion exhibited Amara alpina 

 and other beetles, taken at Aviemore, in Inverness-shire. 



Turkey Carpet eaten by a Dipterous larva. — Mr. Grut 

 exhibited larvce, pupa?, and imago, of a Dipterous insect, 

 which had been found, in the larva state, in an old Turkey 

 carpet. The larva was very long, slender, and serpentiform, 

 white and shining, and had somewhat the appearance of a 

 wireworm, only much longer, and without feet. Professor 

 Wcstwood thought it might belong to the genus Scenopinus. 



Parasites of a Bat. — Mr. Bond exhibited some minute 

 parasites from a bat, probably identical with Argas Pipistrella;; 

 and also some Acari from a small species of fly : both were 

 from the Isle of Wight. 



Variety of Thecla Rnhi. — Mr. W. C. Boyd exliibited two 

 specimens of Thecla Rubi from St. Leonard's Forest, difl'er- 

 ing from the ordinary type in having a pale spot in each fore 

 wing. 



Ash-leaves affected by a Dipterous Insect. — Mr. W. Cole 

 exhibited leaves of ash aff'eclcd by some small Dipterous 

 larvte (probably Cecidomyia), which caused the two edges of 

 the leaflets to turn upwards and meet above, thus assuming a 

 pod-like form. They were from West Wickham Wood. 



Machoerinm maritimnm. — Mr. F. Smith exhibited some 

 earthen cocoons found in a salt marsh, at Weymouth, by 



