74 



NOVEMBER Stk, 1894. 

 E. Step, Esq., President, in the Chair. 



Mr. R. South exhibited a number of species of Lepidoptera 

 representing this season's collecting in the neighbourhood of 

 Macclesfield, and remarked that the present year was the 

 most barren he had ever experienced. He also exhibited a 

 bred series of Cidaria tnincata, Hufn., var. centum-notata, 

 Fab., and said that altogether 41 specimens were reared, and 

 of these 17 examples were like the female parent, 13 were 

 paler, and 1 1 were darker. The larvse were fed on straw- 

 berry throughout. The female was captured at the end of 

 May, 1894, at Northwood, Middlesex. They emerged in 

 August, at the same time that C. irmnanata was on the wing, 

 at Macclesfield. Mr. Barrett noticed, among the specimens 

 exhibited, a perfectly unicolorous form of Hepialus velleda^ 

 Hb., a very beautiful form of Cabera pusai'ia, L., in which the 

 transverse lines were much developed in size and depth of 

 colour, and several specimens of dark-toned Scoparia murana, 

 Curt. 



Mr. Frohawk exhibited several specimens of Vanessa 

 atalanta, L., having a considerable development of white 

 scales in the red band of the primaries, forming an incipient 

 blotch. One of the examples was bred from the ^gg, the 

 rest from larvae taken at random. He also showed a pale 

 specimen of Thecla rnbi, L., from Cannock Chase. 



Mr. H. Moore exhibited a turnip with the rootlets very 

 remarkably and extensively clubbed. This was caused by 

 the attack of a fungus, Plasinodiophoi-a brassica. The spores 

 had entered the rootlets and seemed to have drawn down the 

 substance of the turnip, which became hollow, to form the 

 excrescences. These were not galls, although grubs took 

 refuge in the spaces formed by the removal of the substance 

 of the turnip. 



Mr. Robert Adkin exhibited a series of Dicramifa furcula, 

 L., and D. bifida, Hb., bred respectively from the New 

 Forest and Bucks, and remarked upon the difficulty of 

 separating the two species in the imago state. He said that 

 he had carefully studied the various markings in each, but 

 had failed to find any that could be relied upon ; perhaps the 

 most constant character was the outer margin of the central 

 dark band which in furcula was generally considerably 

 indented near the costa and much less so in bifida ; but even 

 this was not always so, as would be seen b}^ one of the 

 fiirada now exhibited, wliich, although undoubtedly that 



