The Zoologist— February, 1867. 579 



slightlycrippled : they were not so large as those of the hawthorn-fed larva;. Having 

 been impregnated by the males, none of these females deposited eggs, although they 

 pulled off the down from their tails and fixed it in tufts in the box, after the manner 

 adopted by ordinary females of this species in the act of oviposition. Of the white- 

 thorn-fed females less than one half were crippled, and these were not generally so 

 much crippled as the elm-fed females. This experiment seemed to prove that had 

 the species depended solely on the existence of the elm-fed individuals it would have 

 become extinct; whilst the smaller size of the males of the hawthorn-fed group 

 showed that even amongst them (the females of which were so much better developed 

 than the elm-fed ones) the principle of degeneration had set in, and that it would have 

 been very improbable that a distinct phytophagic race or sub-species would have been 

 effectually produced. 



Mr. M'Lachlan remarked that Liparis dispar was scarcely a fair subject on which 

 to experimentalize and theorize, inasmuch as it now existed in this country only in a 

 semi-domesticated state. 



Mr. Bates, referring to the discussion which had taken place at the previous Meeting 

 (S. S. 571) respecting mimetic resemblances, introduced Mr. T. Belt, the gentle- 

 man who had favoured him with many of the facts, as to the aversion of insectivorous 

 birds to the Heliconiidae, which were referred to on the former occasion, and in 

 Mr. Bates' paper in the Linnean Transactions. 



Mr. T. Bell gave a detailed narration of his observations on this subject, and stated 

 that not only were the perfect insects of Heliconia protected by their unpleasant odour, 

 but that the larvae also were rejected by fowls. 



Mr. Stainton remarked that a curious instance of the dislike which birds seemed to 

 have for certain insects had come under his observation some eighteen years previously. 

 When he was attracting moths by light, he had often such numerous attendances that 

 be had frequently captured fifty Noctuffi, or more, in a quarter of an hour; whatever 

 came must be caught, or it was in the way, and, in order to ascertain most readily 

 whether there was anything of value, Mr. Stainton adopted the plan of smothering the 

 whole lot with the fumes of sulphur. When the operation had been performed, more 

 than nine-tenths of the dead insects would probably be Agrolis exclamationis. He 

 thus had a vast store of useless dead moths, which he disposed of by giving them to 

 the poultry, the young turkeys particularly enjoying them in spite of their flavour, of 

 sulphur. On one occasion, amongst a number of A. exclamationis, there was one 

 specimen of Spilosoraa Menthastri, and though not one of the young turkeys rejected 

 a single A. exclamationis, they each in succession took up the S. Menthastri and put 

 it down again, and it was left, conspicuous as it was, on the ground. This insect, it 

 was well known, had a peculiarly disagreeable odour. 



Mr. J.J. Weir had frequently noticed that cage-birds refused the larva; both of 

 Spilosoina Menthastri and S. lubiioipeda. 



Prof. Westwood stated that a fluid of very disagreeable odour was emitted by those 

 insects from behind the collar ; this was probably similar to that ejected by mauy of 

 the Chiysoinelidae. He inquired whether anything of the kind had been observed in 

 the Heliconiidae. 



Mr. Bates said that one group of Heliconiidae was furnished at the apex of the 

 abdomen with a process from which, when the abdomen was pressed, a very disagree- 

 able odour was exhaled ; but he had never seen any fluid ejected. 



