do THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



copulation was observed ; three eggs only were laid, before tlie death 

 of the female. On the other hand, seven pairs were seen to copulate 

 when female alpicola were placed in the box with male castrensis, and 

 four females deposited a large number of eggs, all of which proved 

 unproductive. The other three females died before depositing any 

 ova. — (Societas Entomologica , Jan., 1894.) 



The Cocoon of the Hessian Fly. — In a note on Cecidomyia 

 destructor, Say, M. Fanet remarks : — To suppose that what is known 

 as the " flaxseed" stage of the Hessian fly is simply the naked pupa, 

 is a very singular error. The " flaxseed " is merely the cocoon of the 

 insect and the pupa is inside. The cocoon instead of being silky is 

 formed of a homogeneous material, which at first is soft and trans- 

 parent, becoming hard and brown on drying. On breaking the cocoon 

 or shell, it is easy to find the cast skin of the larva lying beside the 

 true nymph. Occasionally the larva is dead and dry, having suc- 

 cumbed before undergoing its transformation. Entomologists generally 

 bad noticed that the " flaxseed " was devoid of segmental sutures, and 

 had considered it abnormal, but at the same time had looked upon it 

 as a characteristic of the pupa of the Hessian fly.* — {Ann. Soc. Ent. 

 de la France, Nov., 1894.) 



Sale of the Lethierey Collection of Beetles. — This well-known 

 collection of Coleoptera came under the hammer on the 3rd and 4th 

 of December last. From the few instances reported they do not 

 appear to have reached fancy prices. The families Pedilides, Anthi- 

 cides, Pyrrhochroides, and Mordellides, comprising 228 species, of 

 which 89 were Anthicus, were knocked down to M. Pic for 58 francs 

 (£2 6s. 8d.), an active bidder being M. Abeille de Perrin. At the 

 sale of books which took place the following day, the ' Botanical 

 Magazine ' went for 850 francs (£34), and the ' Bulletin de la Soc. 

 Linn, de Paris,' of which there exist only four or five complete sets, 

 brought 150 francs {£Q).—{Le Naturaliste, 187, p. 285.) W. M. 



SOCIETIES. 



Entomological Society of London. — February 6th, 1895. — Pro- 

 fessor Raphael Meldola, F.R. S., President, in the chair. The 

 President announced that he had nominated the Right Hon. Lord 

 Walsingham, F.R.S., Mr. Henry John Elwes, F. L.S., and Pro- 

 fessor Edward B. Poulton, F.R. S., Vice-Presidents of the Society 

 for the Session 1895-96. Mr. Charles Nicholson, of 202, Evering 

 Road, Clapton, N.E., was elected a Fellow of the Society. Mr. 

 W. F. H. Blandford made some remarks regarding M. Brongniart's 

 donation to the library of his monograph entitled ' ' Recherches pour servir 

 a I'histoire des Insectes Fossiles des Temps Primaires." Mr. Blandford 

 also called attention to figures of pupae of species of S2)al[/is (Lycsenidse), 



* In England the term " flaxseed," when used by entomologists in con- 

 nection with Cecidomyia destructor, is generally understood to refer to the 

 puparium of that insect ; cf. Miss Ormerod's observations on the species 

 (Trans. Ent. Soc. Lend. 1887, p. 3), and Mr. Enock on the life-history of the 

 Hessian fly (T. E. S. 1891, pp. 329— 3G5).— Ed* 



