40 



MA Y \i,th, 1896. 



R. South, Esq., F.E.S., President, in the Chair. 



Mr. Knock exhibited specimens of two very rare aquatic 

 Hymenoptera, viz. Prestwichia aqiiatica, which uses its legs 

 in swimming, and which has not been recorded since its first 

 capture in 1862 ; and Caraphractus cinctus, Hahday, = Poly- 

 nema natans, Lubbock, which uses its wings in swimming. 



Mr. R. Adkin exhibited a series of Melanippe hastata bred 

 from larvae feeding in shoots of Myrica gale collected in 

 Sutherlandshire, together with series of the same species 

 from Sussex and county Cork. The southern series, he 

 said, were fairly uniform in pattern, but the Cork examples 

 differed from those from Sussex in having a pale ochreous 

 tone instead of the dead white ground colour ; but in both 

 the basal and submarginal black markings were similar, 

 leaving a broad light band across the wings between them, 

 on which there was only the faintest trace of two or three 

 black dots. The individuals in the Sutherland series, on the 

 other hand, in addition to being much smaller than the 

 southern representatives, showed considerable variation from 

 them and among themselves ; the black markings in some 

 of them being much broken up, and the black dots on the 

 white band so much increased in size and number as to form 

 an almost complete chain in the more strongly marked 

 examples. 



Mr. Carrington exhibited specimens of Helix aspersa, var. 

 cxalhida, from Devizes, with the type form for comparison, 

 and also brought before the members the new work on the 

 Mollusca, by Taylor. 



Mr. Barrett exhibited a series of Abraxas ulniata (sylvata), 

 and a series of Pieris rapes, var. crucivora, from Japan. The 

 latter, which are of the size of P. brassicce, have a very con- 

 siderable suffusion of black from the base of the fore-wings, 

 very large spots, and in some instances a partial fusion of 

 the spots in the females. Mr. Tutt thought it might be 

 largely a matter of nutrition, as there was a great profusion 

 of succulent vegetation in Japan. He instanced the two 

 seasonal forms of Papilio inachaon, which were taken in that 

 country. Mr. South said that the large form of the latter 

 insect was called P. hippocrates, and referred to the two 

 seasonal forms of Chrysophanus phlceas found in Japan, the 

 dry season form being comparable to var. elens of South 

 Europe. Mr. Carrington, referring to the rapid spread of P. 



