CAIKD INSECT IIOUSK. 97 



and turner! out upon Eaonyiinis plants. This species is ,a good 

 exhibit as it is visible in all stages. 



A long series of varieties have been preserved and are now- 

 exhibited. 'J'he larva; display considerable variation of colour, 

 some of them being almost completely black. I was advised to 

 isolate these melanic forms with the idea of producing some 

 unusually dark imagos. I selected 73 melanic lai-vic, but the 

 results were disappointing, and I found the adults merely 

 varied like those bred from unselected larvte. 



OnoxATA. 



Dragcn-riies in the earlier stages have done well in the tanks. 

 The following species have been bred : — ^Eschna grandis, uE.jun- 

 cea, Brachijtron ji^ra^evise, Libellula quadrimaculata, Orthetrum 

 cceridescens, and Agrion puella. Specimens have been preserved, 

 together with the nymph skins from which they emerged. 



We have no difficulty in rearing these creatures, as they feed 

 upon other insects bred in the tanks ; our ti-onble begins with 

 the emergence of the Dragon-fly, which is a very fastidious 

 feeder and will only take insects' in active flight in hot 

 sujishine. 



The right conditions are obtainable only in an outdoor en- 

 closure, which we hope to pirovide later, to exhibit these creatures 

 during their natural adult life, which varies from one to three 

 mouths. 



COLKOPTEKA. 



Teraioloylcal speciiiieus. 

 I'etiopiuni yahrieli. 



Home larch logs were received from 8utton Park, Staffordshire, 

 infested with larva? of this species. 



One adult specimen, which emerged in the house, has mal- 

 formed antennae, the right member of the pair having an 

 additional branch consisting of five joints. 



Bonacla linearis. 



Specimens were collected at Waltham Abbey and exhibited on 

 I'eeds in a, shallow tank. 



One specimen has ten instead of eleven joints to the antennie, 

 the eighth joint on each side being almost equal in length to 

 joints 8 and 9 of a normal specimen. 



Bananan as Food for Beetles. 



The problem of providing suitable food for various sjiecies of 

 Coleoptera, whose oi-dinary feeding-ha))its are as diHerent as 

 Proc. Zool. Soc. — 1917, No. YII. 7 



