30 



Mr. Westwood also brought for distribution specimens of the small honey-moth 

 (Achroea alvearia). He staled that at the Trade AJuseuni, formed in ihe spring of 

 1835, by the Society of Arts, he had exhibited two cases illustrative ot the history of 

 beneficial and injurious insects. The former contained numerous illustrations of the 

 economy of the hive-bee, including various specimens of honeycomb, in one of which 

 the eggs of A. alvearia must have been introduced, as recently nearly all the contents 

 of the case had been devoured by the larvae. It was interesting to notice that the 

 bodies of several .queen bees were entirely, and those of the drones partially, exempted 

 from the general destruction, doubtless owing to their containing no wax, whilst the 

 bodies of the worker bees were devoured ; also that a piece of bees' wax, which had 

 been obtained by immersing the comb in boiling water, was scarcely touched. He 

 added that the case also contained specimens of different species of Coccidae, used 

 both for dyeing and for the production of wax. The former had not been touched ; 

 but amongst the latter were some fine examples of the wax-insect of China {Coccus 

 Pela) ; and in the inside of each specimen was a cocoon and pupa of the alvearia. 

 Had these specimens and the empty pupa-case therein been found at a future time 

 by any one ignorant of the circumstances, it might very naturally have been inferred 

 that it was the pupa-case of some Lepidopterous insect parasitic on the Coccus. The 

 larvae had also burrowed deeply into the cork lining of the box ; they seemed, how- 

 ever, to have avoided attacking newly developed worker bees, and also comb filled 

 with honey. 



Mr. Waterhouse stated, as an instance of the voracity of the larva? of A. alvearia, 

 that, having a number of them in a glass jar, on the top of which he placed a thick 

 book, in a short time the larvae ate completely through the book, and made their 

 escape. 



Mr. Moore exhibited specimens of Lophyrus rufus, reared by him from larvae 

 taken near Mickleham. 



Mr. Westwood read a letter on the unusual scarcity of the May-fly this season, 

 which had been addressed to him by the late Mr. Yarrell a short time previous to his 

 death. He thought it probable the scarcity alluded to might be owing to the perfect 

 insects having been developed, in the previous season, during wet weather, and 

 thereby destroyed before depositing their eggs. 



Mr. Shepherd exhibited, on behalf of Mr. Buxton, a series of specimens of Noctua 

 festiva, taken in the North of Scotland, last summer. Some of these specimens, he 

 remarked, approached very closely to the Noctua conflua of Iceland, which probably 

 is only an extreme northern variety of N. festiva. 



Mr. Westwood stated he had lately received from Mr.Parfitt a very small comuted 

 species of Bledius, which was evidently new to the British list. It had been taken 

 beneath marine rejectamenta at Exmouth. 



Mr. Slainlon staled that Mr. Newuham had lately discovered the larva of Hypo- 

 nomeuta vigintipunclatus on Sedum Telephium, at Guildford; he (Mr. S.) had found 

 the larva in a garden at Lewisham twenty years ago, on a plant of the Sedum, brought 

 from the neighbourhood of Tunbridge Wells : this was the only previously known 

 instance of the capture of the larva in this country. 



Mr. Syme exhibited larva? of Deilephila Galii preserved in spirits: he stated that 

 he had recently ca])tured several on the sand-hills near Deal. When young the larvae 

 arc bright green, and very difrKult to find ; as they approach maturity they become 



