194 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. 



opaline reflections of colour, the peculiar shape and relative 

 proportion of the fore to the hind pair,, the form of the an- 

 tennae, and even the colours of the body, and their arrange- 

 ment in bands, are so exactly imitated, that every species 

 of JEgeria seems to have its hymenopterous counterpart. 

 I have observed in some, which possess the deep blue wings 

 common to many of the Sphexes and Ichneumons, even the 

 habits of those flies ; the restlessness, the short flights, the 

 frequent turns and starts, and even the flirting of the wings, 

 which no one can have failed to observe in the larger Ichneu- 

 mons. Again, see how close in the small hind- wings, and 

 the ramification of the nervures, of the genus Psocus of 

 Latreille, is the order Neuroptera brought to Hymenoptera. 

 And when the hind-wings of this latter order are united to 

 the fore ones by their minute hooks, it is not easy to per- 

 ceive the difference between them, and the single wings of 

 many in the order Diptera. " Thus does Nature laugh at 

 our systems ! " 



C. The Tiger Swallow-tails (Papilio Turnus) have 

 become abundant : they have a very noble appearance in 

 flight when compared with the meaner fry : they are seen a 

 great way off, as they come dancing through the green lanes, 

 and I do not now find them difficult of capture. Since this 

 month began, I have obtained as many as twenty-five 

 species of moths, which I had not seen before, of which 

 seventeen are Geometrce. The Streaked Hooktip, (Platypteryx 

 Erosa ?J Lemon Beauty, (Angerona Sospeta ?) Pea Green, 

 (Chlorissa Putataria?) and Grandee (Geometra Clema- 

 tariaj, are very elegant species, and the last-named is the 

 largest Geometra I have seen here. The others of this 

 division are not remarkable. A curious little Pyralis, the 



Rhinoceros Moth, (Herminia ?) occurs now in clover 



fields : the palpi, which are very long, are recurved over 

 the head like a horn. Three are Bombyces, the first I have 



