69 



SOCIETIES. 



Entomological Sociftyof London. — Febrnarn Itli, 1906. — Mr. F. 

 Merritield, President, iu the chair. The President announced that he 

 had nominated Mr. Herbert Goss, F.L.S. ; Mr. Edward Saunders, 

 F.E.S., F.L.S. ; and Mr. Charles Owen Waterhouse, as Vice-Presidents 

 for the Session 1906-1907. Mr. H. J. Carter, B.A., of " Ascham," 

 Darling Point, Sydney, New South Wales, and the Rev. William 

 Henry Heale, of Wolstantou Vicarage, Stoke-on-Trent, were elected 

 Fellows of the Society. The decease of the Rev. Joseph Greene, M.A., 

 was announced. Mr. W. E. Sharp exhibited a specimen of Lathro- 

 bium Icsvipenne, Heer, a beetle new to the British list, taken by him in 

 a sandpit near Oxted, Surrey, in August, 1905, and for comparison 

 therewith the nearest members of the group to which it belongs. — 

 Dr. F. A. Dixey, specimens of South African butterdies belonging to 

 the Nymphalina;, Acrmince, Danaincc, and PapUionince, and remarked 

 upon the odours attaching to them which he and Dr. Longstaff had 

 observed in the field. He drew attention to the significance of the fact 

 that scents of an agreeable nature (as in Pierina; generally, Mycalesis 

 sajitza, &c.) were, as a rule, confined to the male sex, while those of a 

 disagreeable or disgusting character (as in AcrmncE and many Papilios) 

 were often common to both sexes. A discussion followed on the 

 organs and uses of scent as purposes of attraction and defence in 

 insects generally, in which the President, Dr. T. A. Chapman, Mr. G. 

 Bethune-Baker, Mr. M. Burr, Mr. G. J. Arrow, Mr. J. W. Tutt, and 

 other Fellows joined. — Dr. G. B. Longstaff, four species of Acrcea taken 

 in South Africa during the visit of the British Association, viz. : — (1) 

 A. ane)iiosa, Hew., from the Victoria Falls, and Mochudi in Bechuana- 

 land; (2) A. aiboradiata, Auriv., previously known to Mr. Roland 

 Trimen by two females only, and considered by him as a variety of 

 anemusa ; (3) ^. atulinis, Westw., to which Westwood gave the names 

 of atolmis and acuntias, although there seems no doubt they are one 

 species ; and (4) A. ateryatis, Westw. — Professor E. B. Poulton ex- 

 hioited and read a note upon two Diptera, identified by Mr. G. H. 

 Verrall as a Churtopliila, which had been observed by Mr. A. H. Hamm 

 following the bee Andrena labialis, Kirb. He stated that new and in- 

 teresting light had been thrown on the observation by Col. Yerbury, 

 who pointed out that both Hies were males. At first sight it seemed 

 astonishing that the bees should be pursued by the males of inquilme 

 flies ; but Professor Poulton suggested the males in this way find their 

 way to the burrows, where they meet the females, which have also reached 

 them in the same manner, or where more probably they lie in wait for 

 the freshly emerging females. — Mr. W. G. Sheldon exhibited a collec- 

 tion of Rnopaiocera made by him in Spain during July and August, 

 1905, together with typical European specimens for comparison; in- 

 cluding an aberration of A. aylaia, with the black blotches on the 

 superiors enlarged and banded, and with dark suffused ground colour 

 on all wings, and an interesting series of L. corydon and var. Impana 

 with examples approaching var. polonus from Albaraccin, and inter- 

 mediates between all these forms, and also British, French, and Swiss 

 typical specimens for comparison. — Dr. G. B. Longstafi' read a paper 

 " On some Rest Attitudes of Butterflies," and also a paper " On some 



