﻿22 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



exhibited, on behalf of Mr. Lionel de Niceville, a branch of a walnut tree, 

 on which was a mass of eggs laid by a butterfly belonging to the Lycsenidse. 

 He also exhibited two specimens of this butterfly which Mr. de Nicevillo 

 had referred to a new genus and described as Chcetoprocta odata. The 

 species was said to occur only in the mountainous districts of North-West 

 India, at elevations of 5000 to 10,000 feet above the sea-level. Dr. D. 

 Sharp exhibited the eggs of Piezostemum subulatum, Thunb., a bug from 

 South America. These eggs were taken from the interior of a specimen 

 which had been allowed to putrefy before being mounted. Although the 

 body of the parent had completely rotted away, the eggs were in a perfect 

 state of preservation, and the cellular condition of the yelk was very con- 

 spicuous. Dr. Sharp also exhibited a specimen of Pcecilochroma lewisii, 

 Dist., a Pentatomid bug from Japan of a dull green colour, which when 

 damped with water becomes almost instantly of a metallic copper colour. 

 Mr. J. H. Leech exhibited a large number of Lepidoptera recently 

 collected for him by Mr. Pratt in the neighbourhood of Ichang, Central 

 China. The collection included about fifty-four new species of butterflies and 

 thirty-five new species of moths. Capt. Elwes observed that he noticed only 

 two genera in this collection which did not occur at Sikkim, and that the 

 similarity of the insect fauna of the two regions was very remarkable. He 

 added that about fifteen years ago, in a paper " On the Birds of Asia," he 

 had called attention to the similarity of species inhabiting the mountaiu 

 ranges of India, China, and Java. Mr. M'Lachlan remarked that he had 

 lately received a species of dragonfly from Simla which had previously only 

 been recorded from Pekin. Mr. Distant said he had lately had a species of 

 Cicada from Hongkong, which had hitherto been supposed to be confined 

 to Java. Mr. W. H. B. Fletcher exhibited a preserved specimen of a 

 variety of the larva of Sphinx ligustri, taken in a wood near Arundel, 

 Sussex. Mr. W. White asked if the larva was normal in its early stage ; 

 he also exhibited drawings of the larva? of this species, and called especial 

 attention to one of a variety that had been exhibited at a previous meeting 

 by Lord Walsingham. Mr. F. D. Godman read a long letter from Mr. 

 Herbert Smith, containing an account of the Hymenoptera, Diptera, 

 Hemiptera, and Coleoptera he had recently collected in St. Vincent, where 

 he was employed under the direction of a Committee of the Royal Society, 

 appointed to investigate the Natural History of the West Indies. A dis- 

 cussion fol'owed, in which Dr. Sharp, Cj.pt. Elwes, Lord Walsiughxra, and 

 Mr. M'Lachlan took part. Capt. Elwes read a letter from Mr. Doherty, in 

 which the writer described his experiences in collecting insects in the 

 Naga Hills by means of light and sugar. Mr. Doherty expressed an 

 opinion that light, if used in very out-of-the-way places, rather repelled than 

 attracted insects ; in fact that they required to be accustomed to it, and 

 that the same remarks applied to " sugar." Colonel Swinhoe said that the 

 attractive power of light depended very much on its intensity, and on the 

 height of the light above the ground. By means of the electric light in 

 Bombay he had collected more than 300 specimens of Sphingidse in one 

 night. Mr. J. J. Walker, R.N., stated that he had found the electric light 

 very attractive to insects in Panama. Mr. M'Lachlan, Dr. Sharp, 

 Mr. Leech, Capt, Elwes, the Rev. Canon Fowler, Mr. A. J. Rose, and 

 others continued the discussion. Mr. Lionel de Niceville communicated a 

 paper entitled "Notes on a new genus of Lycaenidte." Mr. F. Merrifield 

 read a paper entitled " Systematic temperature experiments on some 



