SOCIETIES. 253 



curved when extended, and so, when extruded, continues the curve of 

 the burrow. As this curve is upwards inside the stem, horizontal at 

 the surface of the stem, it becomes downwards if continued outside. 

 One pupa-case just below the node was not so correctly oriented, 

 whilst in other specimens a pupa emerging below the node, and there- 

 fore from a downward burrow, faced and curved upwards. A number 

 of vacant holes were also visible, being the exit of an ichneumon, 

 which affects a large majority of the Tortrix. The species was believed 

 to be Chelonus inanitns, Nees. The heads of several dead ones that 

 failed to emerge successfully were to be seen at some of the holes. 

 Dr. Chapman said he had placed a black circle round four holes, as 

 prepared by the larva of the Tortrix for emergence, that were still 

 intact, and in two of these it was to be noted that the diaphragm was, 

 as he had described, the cuticular tissue of the plant ; in the two 

 others, however, this had been damaged, and here the larva had made 

 a silken diaphragm fortified with chips of the stem-tissue. In the 

 neighbourhood of the node especially, the holes of entry were to be seen 

 packed tightly with frass, which appeared to be uneaten material. At 

 the extremities of the specimen, which was too short to contain the 

 whole of the individuals that entered at this node, the larvfB had 

 burrowed in the stem. — Mr. F. Enock exhibited living specimens of 

 male and female Ranatra linearis, Linn., from Epping, together with 

 the peculiar forked eggs, which he had observed laid by the Ranatra, 

 as it rested upon the upper surface of the leaf grasping the edges with 

 its claws. The short anterior legs are held well up close together, in 

 a line with the body, the head raised about an inch from the leaf, 

 while the tip of the abdomen and ovipositor is pressed against the 

 leaf — a downward and forward movement being given. The ovipositor 

 is thus forced through the leaf, then partially withdrawn and the egg 

 extruded and forced into the hole as far as the forked filaments, which 

 prevent it from going right through the leaf. The eggs are frequently 

 laid in the half-decayed stems of aquatic plants. The peculiar Prest- 

 ■wichia aquatica, Lubbock, has been bred from the eggs of Ranatra. — 

 Mr. H. K. Donisthorpe exhibited a larval case of Clythra quadri- 

 punctata from the nest of Formica rufii, and a case fastened to a piece 

 of wood in the nest containing pupse ; larva- and pupa-cases in spirit, 

 removed from cases, and an empty case fastened to a twig, showing 

 how the beetle escapes ; and the perfect insect. He also exhibited 

 Lomechusa strmnom with its host Formica sancjuinea, sent by Father 

 Wasmann from Holland, the insects mounted in the position assumed 

 by the guest and host when the former is being fed by the latter ; and 

 Cossyphodes beinckii, WolL, a beetle from Cape Colony, with ants with 

 which it is found — Pheidola megacephala, var. punctulata, Mayr. The 

 beetle is a good example of the protected guests. — Mr. C. J. Barrett 

 exhibited two females of Spilosoma mendica reared by Mr. J. E. Robson, 

 of Hartlepool, tiuged with purplish pink, and ordinary specimens of 

 the same for contrast.- — A paper was communicated on "Life-histories 

 of the Hepialid group of Lepidoptera," by Mr. Ambrose Quail; and 

 " A note on the habits and structure of Acanthopsyche opaceUa, H. Sch.," 

 by Dr. T. A. Chapman. — C. J. Gahan and H. Rowland Bkown, 

 Hon. Sees. 



