© ivi) 
the larder there are obvious drawbacks to encouraging these 
ants, but that he had almost entirely got rid of them by 
painting all corners formed by walls, floor, ceiling or shelves 
with paraffin. Mr. DonisrHorrE feared that the relief would 
be only temporary, since the 9? ? generally live in the 
foundations. 
Insects SEEKING HicH GrounD.—The PresIpDEnT said that 
about the beginning of July this year, he had noticed, while 
collecting near El Guerrah, the junction for Constantine, 
Biskra and Alger, both sexes of the yellow and black Leucospis 
gigas, and of another red and black Leucospis, flying in great 
numbers, with a loud humming noise, round a cairn of stones 
on the top of a hill, and suggested that the common instinct 
to seek high places might provide a meeting-ground for the 
sexes. He had been surprised to find these insects together 
in such numbers, as, being parasitic on different species, they 
would be likely to be separated. 
Prof. Poutton referred to his communication ‘A possible 
explanation of insect swarms on mountain tops” (Proc. Ent. 
Soc. 1904, p. xxiv.), and suggested that the instinct referred 
to by the President would probably be especially useful in the 
case of parasitic insects whose hosts might naturally be separ- 
ated, as some means of providing a meeting-place would be 
particularly necessary. 
Papers. 
Commander WALKER read the following papers :-— 
(1) Report on a collection of Bombyliinae (Diptera) from 
Central Africa, with descriptions of new species, by Prof. 
Mario Bezzi, Turin, Italy (communicated by G. A. K. 
Marsnatt, F.E.S.). 
(2) An enumeration of the Rhynchota collected during the 
Expedition of the British Ornithologists’ Union to Central 
Dutch New Guinea. By W. L. Distant. 
(3) Oestridae Cavicolae, by Ivan E. Mippreton, F.E.S., of 
Serampore, India. The last is given in extenso. 
“Tt is with a view to furthering investigation that I propose 
to devote a paper to this very interesting group of flies. 
