Ixxi 
 .1867, He mentioned that though the moths were greedily eaten by fowls and other 
birds, the larve, though not hairy, were rejected; and that when Ailanthus leaves were 
not procurable the larve had been found by Captain Hutton to thrive on honeysuckle. 
The moths of B. Cynthia were subject to considerable variation in size and coloration. 
He had invariably found that at the commencement of the hatching out of a brood the 
males greatly outnumbered the females, whilst at the end the reverse was the case: he 
argued that in proportion as the individual was finer the time required for its meta- 
morphosis was longer; hence in general the female, which was the larger and heavier 
insect, was preceded by the male, which was smaller and had less to mature. He 
thought Bombyx Guerinii and B. Ricini were probably only varieties or local forms of 
B. Cynthia. Lastly, Dr. Wallace mentioned that he had frequently observed a sound 
to proceed from the eggs of B. Cynthia, “‘a sort of click, a single sound, generally 
in the second week,” which was attributed to “ the parchment-like shell being pressed 
out with a spring by the effort of the larva within, and returning to its concave 
form.” 
Mr. F. Moore exhibited Bombyx Guerinii, of which only three or four specimens 
were known, and Bombyx Ricini, with its cocoons and silk, for comparison with the 
produce of Dr. Wallace’s Ailanthery. 
Mr. Alfred R. Wallace remarked that Dr. Wallace’s theory on the relation between 
the size of the specimen and the period of development satisfactorily accounted for the 
fact that as a rule in Lepidoptera the male was smaller than the female. Owing to 
the precarious tenure of life of a Lepidopterous insect, which was not only exposed to 
the attacks of many enemics, but was also liable to destruction from mere change of 
temperature, it was important that the female should be impregnated almost as soon 
as hatched, and therefore that males should be in readiness at the time of her 
emergence. The males which first hatched became the parents of the future progeny ; 
the progeny ivherited the qualities of the parent; and thus in process of time the 
males which had a tendency to early hatching, the small specimens which required a 
shorter period for their development, predominated, while those which hatched later, 
the larger males, being without mates and therefore leaving no offspring, would con- 
stantly tend towards extinction, and fivally leave the smaller males in possession of 
the field. 
Mr. Janson exhibited a collection of Coleoptera from Vancouver’s Island, amongst 
which Mr. Pascoe pointed out some fine Longicorns, a form resembling the Australian 
Hesthesis, Plectrura, Purpuricenus, Exops, &c. 
Mr. C. A. Wilson, of Adelaide, South Australia, communicated the following notes 
on Cerapterus Macleayii and Calosoma Curtisii :— 
“ Cerapterus Macleayii.—Of the genus Cerapterus we have three species in this 
colony, C. Wilsoni, C. Macleayii and C. Hopei. The first of these is much the most 
rare, and from twice to three times the size of the others. Some years ago C. Mac- 
leayii was found frequently between the town (Adelaide) and the sea, at about two 
miles from the former and five from the latter, and always under dry cow-dung: after 
this, on nearing the sea, or rather gulf (St. Vincent), it gave place to C. Hopei. It 
has also been taken around Gawler under the same circumstances, that is, on land 
never yet turned up, where cattle, horses, &c., have long grazed, and under cow-dung 
of a particular age or state of dryness—dropped some days, but before all moisture had 
