SOCIETIES. 135 



side male, right side female. — Mr. W. J. Kaye, the Syntomid Diptilon 

 halterate, which is readily taken for a species of Diptera. — Hy. J. 

 Turner, Hon. Bep. Secretary. 



The Manchester Entomological Society. — March ith, 1914. — 

 Mr. H. Horsfall read a paper by himself and Mr. W. F. Windle on 

 the Macro-Lepidoptera of the Oldham district. He first of all 

 referred to the geography of the district, which contains moorland, 

 rocky hillsides, a manufacturing district, and an agricultural plain. 

 Then he referred to the insects in detail, the records to which he had 

 access comprising the last fifty years. It seems that there is some evi- 

 dence to show that Phcsia bractea was once not uncommon, though 

 the actual records are few. A few insects were exhibited, including : — 

 Xylophasia monoglyplia (dark forms), X. rurea and var. comhusta, 

 Hyberma defoliaria, H. marginaria, Phigalia pedaria and var. mona- 

 cliaria, Agrotis lucernea, &c. The tendency towards melanism is 

 most noticeable in many species. — Mr. J. E. Cope made some intro- 

 ductory remarks on the Coleoptera, and explained his remarks on 

 their structure by means of some beautiful dissections. — A. W. 

 Boyd, M.A., Hon. Sec. 



Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society. — Meeting 

 held at the Eoyal Institution, Colquit Street, Liverpool, January 19th, 

 1914. — Mr. R. Wilding, President, in the chair. — A discussion upon 

 " Varieties and Species recently added to the Local List of Lepido- 

 ptera " was opened by Mr. W. Mansbridge. Novelties were confined 

 almost entirely to the Micro-Lepidoptera and to variation. Twenty- 

 six species new to Lancashire and Cheshire since the last published 

 list were enumerated, one of them Scoparia vafra, Mey., being new 

 to science. The increasing tendency to melanism and spread of 

 melanic forms was commented upon, instances being Boarmia repan- 

 data becoming more frequent at Delamere in its black form (var. 

 nigra) ; Fidonia atomaria, from near Burnley and Chat Moss ; Tortrix 

 costana, from Liverpool and Burnley ; he also mentioned that the 

 black forms of Aplecta nebulosa did not appear to be increasing in 

 relative numbers at Delamere ; on the contrary, in 1913 the per- 

 centage was smaller than usual from wild larvae. — Mr. S. P. Doudney 

 exhibited a specimen of Chcerocampa celerio captured at Prescot, and 

 Mr. W. Mansbridge brought a specimen of Catocala fraxini having 

 very dark, almost black, fore wings, bred from a Sussex female. 



February 16th. — Mr. R. Wilding, President, in the chair. — This 

 meeting was a joint one with the Manchester Entomological Society, 

 who were invited to tea by the Council. A large number of exhibitions 

 were made, including the following, viz. : — A small collection of 

 insects from the Amazons, by Mr. C. H. Walker. — Prof. Newstead and 

 Mr. Watson, of Manchester, made remarks upon this exhibit, de- 

 scribing the habits and life-history of the more noteworthy species. 

 Mr. V. Coryton, of Manchester, exhibited a fine melanic specimen of 

 Plusia gamma, as well as a bronzy form and the typical insect for 

 comparison ; also Trochiliuin crabroniformis, Nola cuctdatella, Eupi- 

 thecia fraxinata, and a short series of Peronea variegana, all from the 

 Brooklands district of Cheshire. — Mr. E. Tait, Jr., full-fed larvae of 

 Ep^mda lichenea, found in the open in North Wales, on January 



