240 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



genus for the reception of this insect, and to describe it un- 

 der the name of Thaumaslomerus viridis. 



The Rev. EI. Chirk read from ' The Reader' of the 1st of 

 April, ISGo, the following extract from a review of Cameron's 

 recent work on ' Onr Possessions in Malayan India:' — "The 

 following account of that very common tropical phenomenon, 

 the light of the fireflies, is altogether new to us, and not quite 

 intelligible. Does the author mean that the little insects 

 actually keep time with each other so accurately, that thou- 

 sands of them scattered over a shrub or tree all put out their 

 lights at the same instant, and rekindle them with equal 

 punctuality ? If so, here is a new insect-wonder, before 

 which the economy of bees and ants will sink into insignifi- 

 cance : — 'The bushes literally swarm with fireflies, which 

 flash out their intermittent liglit almost contemporaneously ; 

 the effect being that for an instant the exact outline of all the 

 bushes stands prominently forward, as if lit up with electric 

 sparks, and next moment all is jetty dark —darker from the 

 momentary illumination that preceded. These flashes suc- 

 ceed one another every three or four seconds for about ten 

 minutes, when an interval of similar duration takes place, as 

 if to allow the insects to regain their electric or phosphoric 

 vigour.' We couimend this as a subject of investigation for 

 those naturalists who are so fortunate as to live among fire- 

 flies." Tlie reading of this extract was followed by an ani- 

 mated discussion, in which the Rev. Hamlet Clark, Mr. 

 M'Lachlan, Mr. Bates, Mr. Saunders, M. Salle, and Professor 

 Weslwood took part. 



The Rev. H. Clark mentioned that a lady residing near 

 Buckingham Gate had introduced into her garden a quantity 

 of peat for horticultural purposes, and now found thai part of 

 the garden to be very much infested with wood-lice. When 

 asked for a remedy, he had suggested the application of hot 

 water, or the importation of toads ; he was curious to know 

 whether there was any affinity between the peat and the 

 wood-lice ? — were the latter breeding in the peat, or feeding 

 on it ? 



Mr. Stainton directed attention to a paper by Mr. B. D. 

 Walsh, " On the Insects, Coleopterous, Uymenopterous and 

 Dipterous,' inhabiting the Galls of certain species of Wil- 

 lows," published in the Proceedings of the Entomological 



