THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 291 



exposed to the attack of but one enemy less than its neigh- 

 bours, to that extent at least the colour gave it an ad- 

 vantage ; the theory of protective warning supplied the 

 reason for, and afforded a rational explanation of, the gay 

 colouring, which in the case of larvae could not be accounted 

 for by sexual selection. 



March 15, 1869. — H. \V. Bates, Esq., President, in the 

 chair. 



Mr. Smith exhibited specimens of Colletes cunicularia, 

 a bee new to this country : they had been sent to him by 

 Mr. Nicholas Cooke, by whose son, Mr. Isaac Cooke, they 

 were captured in the Isle of Wight, between Ventnor and 

 Niton, in May, 1867 ; four males and five females were taken. 

 It is the largest European species of Colletes, and is the 

 C. hirta of Continental authors, which name, however, must 

 give place to cunicularia of Linnaeus, the type of which is 

 extant in the Linnean collection. 



Mr. Butler exhibited varieties of several butterflies, cap- 

 tured by him in Switzerland, chiefly in the neighbourhood of 

 Chamounix, in July and August, 1868. There were — Antho- 

 charis Cardamines, with the black spot on the fore wings 

 very small, the black edging confined to the tip of the wing, 

 and the orange colour extending considerably within the 

 black sj)ot — this seemed to be the normal type of the insect 

 in Switzerland ; Colias Edusa, remarkable for its large size ; 

 Epinephele Janira, one specimen very dark, another very 

 light in colour — the former was the common type in Switzer- 

 land ; Argynnis Aglaia, with the hind wings almost entirely 

 black, and the silvery spots on the under side covering the 

 basal and apical parts of the wing ; Melitaea Athalia, four 

 varieties, varying from almost entirely black to almost entirely 

 fulvous ; and Parnassius Apollo, with small pale ocelli, the 

 ordinary pink markings being pale yellow. Mr. Butler added 

 that Leucophasia Sinapis, the " wood white" as we term it, 

 was common all over Switzerland, not in woods, but in the 

 neighbourhood of water. 



Mr. Stainton, who had just returned from Italy, made 

 some remarks on the different habits of the same species in 

 different localities ; for instance, at Cannes, Mentune, and 

 other places in the South of Europe, Pyrameis Atalanta was 

 the commonest hybernating butterfly. The species was to be 



