XXV 



Mr, Buruieistev, jun. (who was present as a visitor), exhibited uuuierous drawiiii^^s 

 of hu'Vce of Brazilian butterflies, and pupa-skins of many of them. Amongst the latter 

 was Ageronia Amphinome, remarkable for its pair of foliate appendages to the head, 

 which, however, did not cont.iin the antennae of the butterfly: this ])upa was not dis- 

 tinguishable from other Nymphalidae, and showed that the old authors who described 

 it as having a belt of silk round the middle were mistaken. 



Mr. Burmeister also mentioned that he had found the larvue of Castnia in the 

 bulbs or sv/ellings at the foot of the stem of Orchids. 



Mr. Edward Sheppaid read the following extract from a letter written by 

 Mrs. Russell, of Kenilworth, — the beetle referred to being a Meloe: — 



"An evening or two ago I watched a beetle for an hour in the garden ex- 

 cavating a hole in the earth of one of the beds, big enough to hold its own 

 large long body. It was evidently a female, full of eggs. It bit off little 

 pellets of earth from the rim of its hole and cast them away with its hind feet, 

 turning itself about in every direction, and working without a moment's cessation. 

 It had very large, thick antennae, and was plainly a very powerful creature, rolling 

 down pieces of the dry crumbling earth half as big as itself, and not minding them a 

 bit. Next morning T went to see the state of affairs, and found, to my astonishment, 

 the excavation completely filled up and smoothed over, as if some one had passed 

 their hand over the finely-powdered soil. Thinking it possible she might have buried 

 herself, I searched the place well with a stick, but there was no trace ot her, and 

 I therefore conclude that she had been laying some eggs and covering them up." 



Prof. Westwood gave an account of his observations of Aleuchus sacer at Cannes, 

 and mentioned that during flight the elytra were perfectly horizontal and very slightly 

 open at the suture, so that the motion of the wings was confined within very narrow 

 limits. The action of the beetles in rolling along the ground the ball or pellet of dung 

 in which the female deposits her eggs was most curious: with head pressed down aiid 

 hind feet raised aloft, with its back to the pellet and moving backwards, one beetle 

 pushed and guided the ball with its hind legs, whilst another beetle clang to the ball, 

 and remaining motionless thereon was rolled over and over with it, sometimes upper- 

 most, sometimes undermost. [See the account of Ateuchus variolosus given by 

 "lonicus" in ''J'he Entomological Magazine,' vol. iii. p. 377.] 



Mr. Keays exhibited oak-leaves from Hornsey Wood, which were cut straight 

 across the middle, leaving only the midrib, and the outer halves then twisted and 

 rolled up by Attelabus Curculionoides, with a view to oviposition. 



The Hon. T. De Grey exhibited specimens of Agapanthia Cardui, bred frouj 

 larvae in stems of thistles. 



Mr. A. G. Butler eihibited Otiorhynchus picipes, which had been found de- 

 structive to rose trees at Manchester, eating off the young shoots. 



Paper read. 



The following paper was read: — "Descriptions of New Genera and Species of 

 Heleromera," by Mr. Frederick Bates. Two new genera of Tenebrionidoe, from 

 Australia, were characterized under the names of Hypaulax and Chilcone. 



E 



