Iv 



I have examined, with the exception of Paniasslus Apollo. Among the 

 nocturnal groups it occurs onlj among the VranUdcc [Urania riphcBus); iu a 

 few scales of Macroglossa stellatarwn and M.fticiforDiis, and in a few scales 

 of Fliisia ffanniia iiud Catocala nupla. It will be at once seen that these 

 exceptional species are to a very great extent diurnal iu their habits. 



"All the remaining Sphiiu/idce and Noctuidce that I have examined, as 

 well as all the Cuspidates, Geometers, BomhijcidiB, Liparlda;, Chelonidie, 

 Euchelidcc, and Hepialida; have their stems attached to a rounded or pointed 

 extremity without any projecting lobes or angles, 



" Another uniformity which I have noticed is that, whilst the scales 

 from the upper side of the wings of Lepidoptera are laterally symmetrical, 

 so that a line drawn from the foot-stalk to the most prominent point of the 

 apex divides each scale into two equal and similar halves, the scales from 

 the under surface, and especially of the liind wings, are very frequentlv 

 unsymmetrical. In certain groups, especially in the Sphingida, Clwlonida, 

 BombycidcB, and NoctuUce, one side of the scale is convex and the other 

 even concave, so that the resulting figure resembles that of a kidney bean- 

 pod or of a scimitar. Iu the diurnal Lepidoptera this want of lateral 

 symmetry is less marked. 



" In certain cases the scales from eye-spots or from markings of a 

 metallic character are toothless at the apex, — as, e.g., in I'arnassius Apollo 

 and Colias Edusa, — but in the pearl-matter spots of the genus Argynnis 

 this is not the case." ''•■ 



Mr. Roland Trimen communicated a paper "On some hitherto un- 

 determined Butterflies inhabiting Southern Africa." 



Mr. P. H. Gosse, F.R,S., communicated a paper " On Papilio Homerus, 

 its Ovum and Larva," of which the following is an abstract: — 



The habitat of this rare and magnificent species is limited to the Island 

 of Jamaica, and to restricted regions even there. Thirty-five years ago 

 the author diligently collected the insects of that island (in the parishes of 

 St. Elizabeth and AVestmoreland) during a period of nineteen months, but 

 he never met with this butterfly. A few examples have lately found their 

 way to England, and the species has formed the subject of a paper by 

 Mr. D. G. Rutherford (Ent. Mo. Mag., July 1878, p. 28). JMany facts of 

 its life-history, however, still lemain to be recorded by some observer 

 dwelling in its haunts ; and Mr. Gosse fortunately has some friends residing 

 near one of these, who have furnished his own cabinet with specimens, and 

 contributed some interesting notes on the species. The author's corre- 

 spondents are the Rev. J. Leslie Mais and his two adult sons, who reside 



* The late Mr. T. W. Wonfor has published some observations on the scales of 

 Biitish Lepidoptera, with reference to sexual differences. See the ' Pojmlar Science 

 Review,' 18UH, p. 34^.— Ed. 



