The Zoologist— January, 1870. 1991 



mens of ibe Saiagus bad been seen, all with tbe Isaria in ibe same stage of 

 development. 



Mr. Wallace enquired whether the supposed fungus had been microscopically 

 examined, as it seemed highly improbable that a living animal should habitually have a 

 living vegetable growing on it. More probably, if it really exisled during the life of the 

 beetle, it was a natural animal growth : an allied species has a hairy covering, and it 

 was but one step further for a hairy covering to assume a fungoid appearance, a 

 protective resemblance to the fungi or licheus growing on the trees upon which the 

 beetle was found. 



Mr. Albert Miiller made some observations on the scent, when handled, of Cynips 

 lignicola and another species which forms a gall on the under-side of oak-leaves : this 

 scent was probably protective, and gave the insect an immunity from the attacks of 

 birds, &c., and the rapid spread of Cynips lignicola over the country might be due to 

 its rejection on account of its peculiar odour. 



Mr. J. Jenner Weir added that the musk beetle was free from attack by birds, aud 

 this was doubtless due to its scent. 



Mr. Salvin exhibited six species of Clothilda, in illustration of the paper mentioned 

 below. 



Mr. Briggs (who was present as a Visitor) exhibited a specimen of Deiopeia 

 pulchella, captured near Folkestone on the 1st of October: its habit was to flv only a 

 few yards at a time, and its appearance on the wing was described as resembling one 

 of the Geometrae. 



Mr. Davis (who was present as a Visitor) exhibited a large number of preserved 

 larvae of Lepidoplera; amongst them a series of Cossus ligniperda, of all ages, in 

 willow-stems, preserved in situ ; and a larva of Sphinx populi to which were 

 attached a number of pupae of some parasite. There were also a few dried larvee of 

 saw-flies. 



Mr. Dunning referred to the swarms of insects of various kinds which had been 

 reported during the autumn : he had himself encountered hosts of Coccinellse 

 (principally C. 7-punctata, but intermixed with a considerable number of C. bipunctata) 

 both iu Essex and in Yorkshire; and at Walton-on-the-Naze, on the 24ih of August, 

 he fell in with a countless swarm of Syrphi, which appeared to have all hatched 

 simultaneously and to have at once commenced buzzing about in the hot sunshine in 

 a foolish kind of way, without caring to take food, for most of them seemed to be mere 

 shells without any substance inside. Noticing that Mr. Home had recorded (New- 

 man's Entomologist, iv. 356) the occurrence of a swarm at Margate on the same day, 

 which was said to have included specimens of Syrphus balteatus, S. decorus, 

 S. taenialus, S. lopiarius and Eristalis tenax?, Mr. Dunning placed in the hands of 

 Mr. Verrall, for examination, a few remnants of the Walton swarm, and had been 

 favoured with the following note : — 



" Having looked closely through the Diptera you sent me, 1 find that out of fifty- 

 six or fifty-seven specimens which I can recognize from the fragments, there are 

 twenty-seven Syrphus ribesii, sixteen S. corollae, eight S. pyrastri, two S. luni"^er, 

 one S. balteatus, one or two S. vilripennis .'', and one S. pyrastri, var. uuicolor. This 

 last variety is generally rare, but has this year appeared in tolerable abundance. The 

 specimens of S. vilripennis arc in such condition that I cannot speak for certain about 

 them : they may be suia'l examples of S. ribesii." 



