Mr. Meldola remarked that when in Cevlon, in I'^TS, he hiul captured 

 numerous specimens of a Lampyrid [Luciola vespertina, Fab. = Calophotia 

 perplexa, Walker), which was swarming everywhere over bushes and tall 

 grass. The flight of the species was straight, and the insects did not fly in 

 gregarious swarms. When captured and put in a box it gradually diminished 

 the intensity of its Hght in the manner described by Mr. Weir, but if left 

 undisturbed was soou glowing with full brilliancy. Mr. Meldola observed, 

 in conclusion, that the exact nature of the phosphorescence was still an 

 unsolved problem, interesting both to the physicist and biologist. Some 

 years ago he had examined the spectrum of the glow-worm, and found that 

 it was continuous, being rich in blue and green rays and comparatively poor 

 in red and yellow. 



Mr. Pascoe also exhibited the two sexes of Isopogon hottentottus, a 

 Dipterous insect, which he was informed by Mr. R. W. Meade, of Bradford, 

 had been hitherto unrecorded in this country. Above a dozen individuals 

 were gamboling in the air in a confined space among some yew trees at 

 Box Hill, occasionally settling on the leaves. When he had taken four or 

 five specimens the remainder, probably alarmed, disappeared. He remarked 

 that the members of the family to which this fly belongs (AsilidcB) are 

 generally solitary in their habits, alighting on the ground in some pathway 

 or open spot, then darting off a short distance. They are perhaps the most 

 daring and ferocious of all insects ; they have even been known to pounce 

 upon and carry off a tiger-beetle [Cicindeld], although one was quite as large 

 as the other. 



The Secretary exhibited, on behalf of Mr. George Francis, of Adelaide, 

 specimens of a South Australian moth {Anapcea, sp. ?), which feeds on the 

 native Eucalypti. The species was the same as that exhibited last year. 

 (See Proc. Ent. Soc. 1879, p. xv). The series comprised also the larvse 

 in different stages of growth and living cocoons. Mr. Francis likewise 

 forwarded a specimen, in alcohol, of a venomous spider (Lfl(roc?ec<MS sp. ?), 

 and several galls and microscopic objects. 



The Secretary also announced that he had received a letter from 

 Mr. A. H. Swinton, calling in question the specific distinctness of Acronycta 

 Psi and A. Tridens, with reference to Mr. Butler's recent communication 

 on this genus (Trans. Ent. Soc. 1879, p. 313). Mr. Swinton had failed 

 to detect any well-marked diff'ereuces between the larvae of these two 

 species. 



Mr. Meldola read the following note: — 



" On the Protective Attitude of the Caterpillar of the Lobster Moth." 

 " ]\[ost entomologists have admitted that the grotesque attitude of 

 those caterpillars forming Newman's 'Cuspidate' group was in some way 

 protective, but it is only quite recently that Dr. Hermann Miiller has 



