80 



argiolus, but had only obtained larvae of T. rubi. The locality 

 was Folkestone. 



Mr. Hy. J. Turner exhibited a short series of Cucullia 

 lychnitis, bred from larvae obtained at Box Hill, on the occa- 

 sion of the Society's Field Meeting in June of last year. The 

 larvae were obtained on their food Verbascum lychnitis, on the 

 flowers of which they fed in the hottest sunshine. Shortly 

 after they were found it was discovered that they were more 

 or less abundantly studded with the ova of parasites. These 

 were, however, removed, with considerable trouble to the 

 larvae, and only three larvae came to grief out of twelve. One 

 was eaten by the others, and two produced dipterous para- 

 sites. He also showed the larvae of Leioptilus septodactylus 

 (lienigiamis) , a local plume, feeding upon Artemisia vulgaris. 

 They were found at Croydon, feeding in an open, exposed 

 position. 



Mr. Edwards exhibited the common Amphioxus, or lance- 

 let {Branchiostoma lanceolatum) , and read the following note : 

 " This interesting little animal has been found in British seas 

 as far north as Norway, but is much more plentiful in 

 warmer waters, as the Mediterranean. It is abundant in the 

 Bay of Naples, and is also found in the Indian Ocean. 

 Amphioxus was first discovered by Pallas (1778), who re- 

 garded it as a mollusc, and named it Limax lanceolatus. It 

 was first correctly diagnosed as a low vertebrate by Costa in 

 1834, who named it Branchiostoma, and two years later 

 Yarrell gave it the name of Amphioxus. It is studied in more 

 or less detail every year by countless students in zoological 

 laboratories and marine stations. The value of this primitive 

 form as an object of biological education depends upon the 

 fact that it shows the essential vertebrate characters and 

 their mode of formation in a very simple and instructive 

 condition. Although no doubt somewhat modified, and 

 possibly degenerate in some details of structure, in its 

 general morphology it presents us with a persistent type, 

 probably not far remoyed from the ancestral line of early 

 Chordata. There are no sufficient grounds for the view that 

 Amphioxus is a very degenerate representative of fish-like 

 vertebrata." 



Mr. Lucas exhibited a series of botanical slides. 



Mr. Edwards recorded the capture of Chrysophanus phlceas 

 ab. schmidtii at Blackheath, on June 26th, 1904, by Mr. 

 Green. 



Dr. Chapman exhibited a series of Dcpressaria thapsiella, 

 bred by him from larvae obtained in Sicily. They fed in 



