( Ixxxv ) 



larvae collected from a very small radius in the "Wye Valley, 

 the range of variation being startling, comprising melanic 

 specimens equal to the darkest from Sheffield, very pale ones 

 like some Scotch forms, var. conversaria, and almost every 

 intermediate form. Accompanying these was a series of the 

 same insect from wild larvae taken in north Cornwall, showing 

 considerable variation. 



Hybrid Amorpha populi and Smerinthus ocellatus.— 

 Mr. A. E. ToNQE exhibited a specimen of the hybrid A. populi 

 (^ X S. ocellatus $, bred ab ovo, which emerged Sept. 11, 1914. 

 A pairing had been obtained by Mr. T. H. L. Grosvenor of 

 Eedhill in May 1913. About 40 ova were laid but only one 

 hatched, the resulting larva pupating in August 1913, thus 

 having passed about 13 months in the pupal state. Mr. 

 Tonge said he was informed that this was the first larva from 

 this crossing which had hatched normally, the few others 

 that had been obtained having been released artificially from 

 the egg-shell. 



Aberrant Rumicia phlaeas. — Mr. Tonge also exhibited 

 a specimen of R. phlaeas, taken on Deal Sandhills in Sept. 

 1914, without the red marginal band on the hind-wings. 



Stylopised Sand-wasp. — Mr. G. Meade-Waldo exhibited 

 a stylopised specimen of the Sand-wasp, Ammophila tydei, 

 Guill., from South Africa. There were no less than 7 Stylops 

 parasitic on it, the result being that the abdomen presented a 

 very distorted appearance. He drew the attention of Fellows 

 to the valuable paper on Stylops and stylopisation recently 

 published by Geofirey Smith and A. H. Hamm (Quarterly 

 Journal of Microscopical Science, Sept. 1914) in which some 

 interesting and important conclusions were arrived at, and 

 were summarised as follows : — 



(1) Despite the existence of active winged males fertilisation 

 cannot occur and development is always parthenogenetic. 



(2) The effect of the parasite on internal genital organs is 

 slight, leading to a reduction in size of ovaries to j normal size, 

 while the testes are unaffected. 



(3) The effect on secondary sexual characters is slight, 

 the scopa is generally reduced in the ?, whilst in the ^ the 

 punctuation may be increased. 



