SOCIETIES. too 
side male, right side female.—Mr. W. J. Kaye, the Syntomid Diptilon 
halterate, which is readily taken for a species of Diptera.—Hy. J. 
Turner, Hon. Rep. Secretary. 
THE Mancuester ENtomMouocicaL Society.—March 4th, 1914.— 
My. H. Horsfall read a paper by himself and Mr. W. F. Windle on 
the Macro-Lepidoptera of the Oldham district. He first of all 
referred to the geography of the district, which contains moorland, 
rocky hillsides, a manufacturing district, and an agricultural plain. 
Then he referred to the insects in detail, the records to which he had 
access comprising the last fifty years. It seems that there is some evi- 
dence to show that Plusia bractea was once not uncommon, though 
the actual records are few.. A few insects were exhibited, including :— 
Xylophasia monoglypha (dark forms), X. ruwrea and var. combusta, 
Hyberma defoliaria, H. marginaria, Phigalia pedaria and var. mona- 
charia, Agrotis lucernea, &c. The tendency towards melanism is 
most noticeable in many species.—Mr. J. E. Cope made some intro- 
ductory remarks on the Coleoptera, and explained his remarks on 
their structure by means of some beautiful dissections. —A. W. 
Boyp, M.A., Hon. Sec. 
LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE ENToMOLOGICAL Society.—Meeting 
held at the Royal Institution, Colquit Street, Liverpool, January 19th, 
1914.—Mr. R. Wilding, President, in the chair.—A discussion upon 
“Varieties and Species recently added to the Local List of Lepido- 
ptera ’” was opened by Mr. W. Mansbridge. Novelties were confined 
almost entirely to the Micro-Lepidoptera and to variation. Twenty- 
six species new to Lancashire and Cheshire since the last published 
list were enumerated, one of them Scoparia vafra, Mey., being new 
to science. The increasing tendency to melanism and spread of 
melanic forms was commented upon, instances being Boarmza repan- 
data becoming more frequent at Delamere in its black form (var. 
negra) ; Fidonia atomaria, from near Burnley and Chat Moss; Tortrix 
costana, from Liverpool and Burnley; he also mentioned that the 
black forms of Aplecta nebulosa did not appear to be increasing in 
relative numbers at Delamere; on the contrary, in 1913 the per- 
centage was smaller than usual from wild larvee.—Mr. 8. P. Doudney 
exhibited a specimen of Cherocampa celerio captured at Prescot, and 
Mr. W. Mansbridge brought a specimen of Catocala fraxini having 
very dark, almost black, fore wings, bred from a Sussex female. 
February 16th.—Mr. R. Wilding, President, in the chair.—This 
meeting was a joint one with the Manchester Entomological Society, 
who were invited to tea by the Council. A large number of exhibitions 
were made, including the following, viz.:—A small collection of 
insects from the Amazons, by Mr. C. H. Walker.—Prof. Newstead and 
Mr. Watson, of Manchester, made remarks upon this exhibit, de- 
scribing the habits and life-history of the more noteworthy species. 
Mr. V. Coryton, of Manchester, exhibited a fine melanic specimen of 
Plusia gamma, as well as a bronzy form and the typical insect for 
comparison ; also Trochilium crabroniformis, Nola cuculatella, Eupi- 
thecra fraxinata, and a short series of Peronea variegana, all from the 
Brooklands district of Cheshire.—Mr. R. Tait, Jr., full-fed larvee of 
Epunda lichenea, found in the open in North Wales, on January 
