SOCIETIES. 177 



D. Maltoii obtained seven, Dr. Savage four, R. Clierry one, and myself five, 

 but all failed to come to perfection. Other collectors have single pupae 

 siill living — Mrs. Hewetson, Mrs. Bruce, Mr. K. C. llugill, and Mr. T. 

 Dixon. They have for ihe most part been kept either under soil occasionally 

 damped, or on the soil covered with moss which has been kept slightly damp. 

 Some larvfe pupated on the top of the soil, others under it. 1 should be 

 glad to know whether this has been a correct method of forcing them, and 

 whether any have been known to be reared without being damped ; also what 

 bad effect gentle handling has upon the pupse. — (Kev.) A. Newenham ; 

 Beverley, Yorkshire, 



[The treatment of the pupae of A. otropos has frequently been referred 

 to in recent volumes of the 'Entomologist'; see ante, p. 75, and xxix. 

 p. 20-2.— Ed.] 



SOCIETIES. 



Entomological Society of London. — May 5th, 1897. — Mr. Roland 

 Trimen, F.R.S., President, in the chair. Mr. C. H. Peers, of Harrow 

 Weald, was elected a Fellow of the Society. Mr. J. J. Walker 

 exhibited an earwig, Aptcryr/ida arachidis, Yersin, new to Britain, and 

 recently found in large numbers in chemical works at Queenborough. 

 It had been probably imported among bones. Mr. Burr also showed a 

 complete series of the British species of Forficulid^c. Mr. Enock 

 showed eggs of IStcno])soci(s cruciatas, L., containing parasitic larvae of 

 Alaplus fuscnlns, Hal., the male of which would probably prove to be 

 Alaptus iiiinimiis, Hal. Mr. Merrifield exhibited the results of tempe- 

 lature experiments on the pupa; of Pieiis dtiplidicc, ^Iditaa didyma, 

 and other species. He thought that changes produced by abnormal 

 temperatures might be classed as follows : — 1, enhancement or dimi- 

 nution of intensity of colour ^Yithout alteration in the form of the 

 markings ; 2, substitution of scales of a different colour, scattered or 

 in groups ; 8, imperfection in the development of scales or their pig- 

 ment. Mr. Tutt showed a series of insects collected at Cannes in 

 March, and remarkable for their early emergence. Dr. Dixey read a 

 paper on "Mimetic Attraction," in which he dealt with the steps by 

 which a wing-pattern, as in South American Pieriua?, could be modi- 

 fied in various directions so as to secure a mimetic result, and with 

 the theories of mimicry put forward by Bates and Fritz Miiller. Mr. 

 Blandford also exhibited and discussed series of homccochromatic and 

 mimetic Neotropical species of butterflies, chiefly of Heliconiid^ and 

 Helicouioid Danaidae. The discussion was continued by Prof. Poulton, 

 who showed similar groups of several genera, remarkable as having 

 been collected and sent to England as examples of a single species, 

 and by the President, and it was ultimately adjourned to June 2nd. 



South London Entomological and Natural History Society. — 

 April 22nd, 1897. — R. Adkin, Esq., F.E.S., President, in the chair. 

 Mr. Malcolm Burr, Bellagio, East Grinstead, Sussex, was elected a 

 member. Mr. Waters exhibited a number of the " casts " of both the 

 owl and the rook. These irjectanienta were examined, and the former 

 contained bones and starlings' skulls, &c., while the latter contained 

 corn-husks and beetles' wings mainly. Mr. Barrett, the only known 



