( iii ) 



municate it to your Society. These investigations refer 

 only to observations made in Torquay. The imago appears 

 in June and is over by the middle of July. None lay eggs 

 at this time, consequently no larvae are found in the following 

 months. The grass on which the larvae would feed in this 

 district in quite burnt up in August. In the autumn female 

 imagines appear at ivy and usually lay eggs directly after 

 boxing; these produce larvae which feed, as the books say, 

 during winter and spring. The autumn specimens are all 

 females, and their condition is poor compared with June ones. 

 Is it possible that this insect aestivates during August and 

 September? Is there any other British Lepidopteron which 

 does this ? Mr. Walker's assertion about the occurrence of 

 lucernea at ivy has been verified by two gentlemen from the 

 London district, and I have found in an old notebook of the 

 late John Buckton, who collected in Torquay very assiduously, 

 a note saying that he took lucernea at ivy, September 26th, 1860. 

 There is no reason to suppose that it is double-brooded, there- 

 fore what becomes of the females between July 15th and 

 September 20th ? 



Mr. Walker has also found A. saucia feeding on roots of 

 plants growing near the seashore (Arenaria, etc.). Also larvae 

 of Epunda lichenea feeding in quantity on garden cabbage. 



The habits op the Australian Buprestid " Fire-beetle," 

 Merimna atrata. Lap. et Gory. — Prof. Poulton exhibited 

 specimens of the above-named beetle and read the following 

 note, which has been sent to him by Mr. H. M. Giles, F.E.S., 

 of the Zoological Gardens, South Perth. 



" This beetle is known locally as the ' Fire-beetle ' from its 

 extraordinary habit, which is I think quite unique. It is only 

 seen when a bush-fire is raging — in fact, the best way to take 

 it is by starting one. The beetles seem to come from all 

 quarters and fly straight into the fire, alighting and running 

 about the hot steaming branches and sometimes even over 

 the parts that are glowing red, yet without Injury to the tarsi. 

 It is one of the most agile species known to me, and as alert 

 and active as an eagle. So far as I am aware its life-history 

 is unknown, but I think it likely that the larvae feed in the 

 roots of the burnt shrubs. I am endeavouring to gain further 



