1888.] MR. A. tqomson's report on the insect-house. 1 19 



this female and the series of the same sex from Guadalcauar is that 

 the submarginal spots are very small. 



Mr. Woodford informs me that both Ornithoptera victorice and 

 O. urvilhana are very fond of frequenting the sweet-smelling white 

 flowers of Cerbera odollam^, a plant common in the Solomon Islands. 

 and also in the Fiji islands. 



EXPLANATION OP PLATE IV. 



Fig. 1. Ornithoptera victoricB, cj . Imago, upper and under sides. 



2. , half-grown larva ; from a drawing by Mr. 0. M. Wood- 

 ford. 

 3. Ornithoptera regina, egg, natural size, and a portion of surface mag- 

 nified. 



February 21, 1888. 



Prof. W. H. Flower, C.B., LL.D., F.R.S., President, in the Chair. 



Mr. Arthur Thomson exhibited a series of Insects reared in the 

 Insect-house in the Society's Gardens during the past year, and read 

 the following Report on the subject : — 



Report on the Insect-house for 1887. 



The following is a list of the Insects exhibited in the Insect-house 

 during 1887:— 



Silk-producing Bombyces and their Allies. 



Indian. 



Attacus atlas. Actias selene. 



pernyi. Anthertea mylitta. 



cynthia. Cricula trifenestrata. 



American. 

 Samia cecropia. Actias luna. 



Telea polyphemus. Dirphia tarquinia. 



* angulifera. Hypochera io. 



■ promethea. 



African. 

 Ant her ^a cytherea. 



' Cerbera odollam, Mr. Hemsley tells me, is closely allied to the Oleander, 

 and similar in aspect. It is common on the sea-shores of India, Ceylon, Malaya, 

 North Australia, and throu,q;hout Polynesia, even as far eastwards as Pitcairn 

 Island, though it does not reach the American coast. The seeds wiU bear long 

 immersion in the sea without injury, and the plant is one of the early inhabi- 

 tants of coral islands. 



* Exhibited for the first time. 



