52 



Argynnis paphia, L., was rare, and not a single white spotted 

 male was taken, while only seven van valesina, Esp., had been 

 captured by him. Limenitis sibylla, L., was in numbers 

 about the average, but Argynnis adippe, L., was decidedly 

 scarce. Sugar had been a total failure. Mr. Auld said that 

 his experience was similar to that of Mr. Carpenter. 



Mr, Robson exhibited a short series of Macroglossa 

 bonibyliforniis, Och., from the New Forest, taken on May 

 15th. Mr. Hall remarked that he never captured this species 

 with the scales intact on the wings, but had bred it with 

 wings quite opaque. Mr. Adkin said that soon after emer- 

 gence the insect seemed to shake these loosely attached 

 scales from its wings, so that it was necessary to kill it at 

 once. Mr. Carpenter referred to its habit of getting well into 

 the bushes and undergrowth, as no doubt aiding in the quick 

 disappearance of the surface scales. 



Mr. Robert Adkin exhibited a series of Coccyx strobilella, 

 L., together with the spruce cones from which they had been 

 reared and read the following note : — " In the spring of this 

 year I received four ' cones ' taken from the top branches 

 of a spruce tree that had been felled in the New Forest. I 

 was uncertain at the time that I received them to what 

 species the larvae infesting them were referable, and so put 

 them away in a glass cylinder where I might be able to 

 observe what took place. Shortly some small Diptera 

 appeared, followed soon after by the moths, accompanied by 

 a host of Ichneumons. In all I must have bred some three 

 or four dozen moths from the four cones and many times that 

 number of flies of one sort and another. I have always 

 understood that the larva of strobilella feeds upon the seeds, 

 and a dissection of the cones leads me to think that this 

 is correct, but the woody core of the cone is also much eaten, 

 whether by this larva or by those of some of the other insects 

 produced from the cones I am unable to determine, but the 

 position of the empty pupa skins when the cones were taken 

 to pieces, and the workings in the immediate neighbourhood, 

 lead me to conclude that the larva of strobilella eats some of 

 the woody parts as well as the seeds. 



" An interesting feature in the economy of the species is 

 the retention of the pupa among the scales of the cones. The 

 seeds having ripened, the scales open to admit of their falling 

 out, and are thenceforward continually opening and closing 

 according to the dryness or dampness of the atmosphere. 

 To guard against the pupa dropping out of the cone the 

 larva appears to eat a small hole into the underside of one of 



