26 



ianira, L., ? ; E. hyperanthes, L., ? ; CcEnonympha typhon, 

 Rott,, $ ; C. pamphilus, L., ? (3 specimens), and H codes 

 {Polyommatus) phl(Bas, L., $ . 



All these xanthous specimens were, he said, much paler in 

 colour than usual, and he regretted that he could not suggest 

 a cause for this want of colour, except in the case of Epi- 

 nephele ianira. This insect he had taken in the New Forest 

 during the very wet and cold season of 1879, in a damp 

 wood ; the temperature was then so low that when Argynnis 

 paphia was pursued it took refuge in the thick brambles, being 

 too weak to fly far ; and B?enthis {Argynnis) euphrosynehdid its 

 emergence delayed through July, in some cases even till so 

 late as the gth of August. His view was that the develop- 

 ment of pigment was due to what might almost be termed 

 surplus energy, and that if the vitality of either the larva or 

 chrysalis was lowered by unfavourable environment, then 

 the result might be that the imago would be defective in 

 colour. Applying this argument to the E. ianira under con- 

 sideration, he was of opinion that in the chrysalis its vitality 

 had been impaired, and the energy necessary to produce the 

 normal colour had not been forthcoming. 



MARCH 2a,th, 1892. 

 C. G. Barrett, Esq., F.E.S., President, in the Chair. 



Mr. J. R. Burt was elected a member. 



Mr. F. Merrifield exhibited examples of Selenia ilhistraria, 

 Hb., 5". illunaria, Hb., vS. lunaria, Schiff., Vanessa urticcs, L., 

 Platypteryx falcataria, L., Chelonia caia, L., Bonibyx quercus, 

 L., and var. calluncB, Palmer, to illustrate the effects of tem- 

 perature on these species when bred in confinement. He 

 remarked that the specimens shown were only a portion of 

 those he had reared, and the results obtained were even more 

 conclusive when the whole of the series of a species were 

 compared together ; the full results of his experiments, so 

 far as he had at present carried them, had already appeared 

 in the Transactions of the London Entomological Society, 

 and he only proposed this evening to give a brief summary 

 of the results of his experiments. 



APRIL \i,th, 1892. 



C. G. Barrett, Esq., F.E.S., President, in the Chair. 



Mr. South exhibited specimens and drawings of curious 

 aberrations of Arctia caia, and made the following remarks 



