124 



place across the North Sea rather than the English 

 Channel. 



On September nth JBschna grandis was observed ovi- 

 positing near the margin of the larger of the Penn Ponds in 

 Richmond Park. This it did by settling on a weed on the 

 surface or on one but just submerged, bending its abdomen 

 and dipping the tip perpendicularly into the water. The eggs 

 were laid deliberately, and no doubt under the cuticle of a 

 leaf or stem of a water plant. Earlier in the season, on 

 July 24th, Pyrrhosoma nymphula was observed doing the same 

 thing on Esher Common, and the eggs were afterwards found 

 in situ beneath the cuticle of a leaf of Potamogeton. In the 

 New Forest, at the beginning of August, a female Platycnemis 

 pennipcs was noticed acting in the same way on the flower- 

 stalk of a water-lily, but the eggs could not afterwards be 

 found. A more interesting observation, however, was that 

 of Enallagma cyathigerum descending some distance below 

 the surface of the water with the same object. This took 

 place near Byfleet. When the insect again emerged the 

 surface of her body was not wet ; in fact, below the water 

 she appeared to glisten as if surrounded by a coating of air. 



On more than one occasion I was fortunate enough to 

 watch almost the whole of the emergence of the imaginal 

 dragon-fly from the nymph case. The fall-back of the body 

 to rest after the withdrawal of the head, thorax, wings, legs, 

 and forepart of the abdomen was very striking, as was also 

 the sudden spring forward, after nearly an hour, in the case 

 of L. quadrimaculata ; but P. nymphula did not throw itself 

 back, nor did an A . puella noticed in the midst of emergence 

 appear to have done so. In all cases the body increased 

 but little in length till the wings were of their full size, and 

 the new-born insect kept its wings as in the resting position 

 of the Agrionids for some hours after leaving the nymph 

 skin. 



JANUARY 12th, 1899. 



Mr. J. W. Tutt, F.E.S., President, in the Chair. 



Mr. West exhibited and presented to the Society specimens 

 of 125 species of Hemiptera-Heteroptera to form a nucleus 

 for a typical collection of the group. 



Mr. Carpenter exhibited four specimens of Apatura iris 

 bred from New Forest larvae. These were taken before 

 hybernation, and kept in an outhouse during the winter. 

 He complained of the damage which was being done to the 



