24 



APRIL lotk, 1890. 

 J. T. Carrington, Esq., F.L.S., President, in the Chair. 



Lieut. E. W. Brown and Mr. R. McAllan were elected 

 members. 



Mr. Billups exhibited a drawer containing types of nearly- 

 all the known British Chrysididae, many of them being of 

 great rarity ; also a fine series of British Ichneumonidae. 

 Mr. Billups in addition showed the curious galls upon sallow, 

 that had been sent by Mr. Cockerell from Colorado, exhibited 

 at a previous meeting, and stated that from the galls he had 

 bred the maker Cecidomyia salicis-siliqua, Walsh., a long series 

 of which were also shown. 



Mr. C. Fenn exhibited a long series of Larentia niultistri- 

 garia, Haw., from Dartford Heath, Kent, the whole series 

 showing a tendency to melanism. 



Mr. W. H. Tugwell exhibited a series of Tephrosia crepus- 

 cularia, Hb., and T. biundidaria, Bkh., with water-colour 

 drawings of larvae of both from life, and remarked that after 

 repeatedly breeding both insects he was convinced as to their 

 being distinct species, although evidently closely allied. T. 

 crepuscularia appeared in the woods round London from the 

 last week in March to the middle of April, and was invariably 

 a partly double-brooded species, the larva being full fed at 

 the end of May ; a portion of this brood appear as imagines 

 early in July. These imagines are smaller than the spring 

 brood, and much less distinctly marked ; in fact, have a 

 washed-out look. Tephrosia biundularia appears early in 

 May until first week in June, and is only a single-brooded 

 species. In every case the insects remain true to the parent 

 type; and although the markings are somewhat alike in both, 

 yet there were characteristic differences as shown in the series 

 exhibited, and this applied to the larval stage also, and was 

 more easily followed by the drawing than by any verbal 

 description. 



Mr, Tutt said he agreed with Mr. Tugwell in considering 

 them distinct, because the two forms occurred at different 

 times, and had, in the imago state, certain broad general 

 characteristics which could be recognised by a trained eye. 

 The fact also that crepuscularia in nature was more or less 

 double-brooded, whilst biiindularia was single-brooded, was 

 also a strong argument for keeping them distinct. In many 

 genera the imagines of other allied species showed super- 

 ficial resemblance, but were generally considered distinct. 

 Mr. C. Fenn remarked that he had repeatedly bred both 



