XXXUl 



edges of the tcgmiua, the membrane being thus tin-own into vibration 

 and the sound enhanced by the resonance of the dome-like cavities of the 

 tegmina. In the experiment shown, the membrane was represented by 

 the bell which was thrown into vibration by a violin-bow, representing the 

 scraper, and the tegminal cavities were represented by a closed air-chamber 

 adjusted to the note of the bell. 



Mr. Meldola likewise exhibited a specimen of Gongylus gonglylodes found 

 in an old collection of Indian insects, a propos of the recent observations on 

 this species (see Proc. Ent. Soc, Nov. 7th, 1877, p. xxix.). 



Mr. Wood-Mason remarked that he had been recently making a close 

 investigation of the stridulatiog apparatus of scorpions, and had detected at 

 the base of each pair of legs carrying the stridulating apparatus a well- 

 defined pore opening into the interior of the leg. He made remarks upon 

 this structure, and gave further details in anticipation of a more extended 

 communication to be made to the Society. 



Mr. M'Lachlan remarked that the stridulation of the pupa of Thecla 

 rubi appeared to be well-established by the recent observations of Herr 

 F. G. Schild (' Stettiner entomologische Zeitung,' xxxviii. 86, 1877\ and 

 of Herr Kleemann, of Nuremburg, made so far back as 1774, and com- 

 municated to vol. iv. of the ' Naturforscher' (p. I'SS). 



Mr. F. Smith mentioned an instance of stridulation occurring among the 

 small species of British Curculionida in a species of the genus Acalles. 

 Mr. Wollaston described a species belonging to this genus found by himself 

 in Madeira, and which he calls the musical Acalles The species found at 

 Deal is very much smaller than the Acalles rohoris, but it is also musical, 

 although the stridulation of a single insect was scarcely audible ; but on 

 placing several in a small box and disturbing them by shaking, the shrill 

 grating noise was very distinctly heard. The noise is produced by the 

 friction of the segments of the abdomen against the under side of the 

 elytra. 



Mr. J. W. Dunning called the attention of the Society to a paper 

 recently published in the ' Proceedings ' of the Cambridge Philosophical 

 Society (vol. iii., part ii., Feb. l'2th, 1877), " On a striking instance of 

 Mimicry, with some Notes on the Phenomenon of Protective Resemblance," 

 by Mr. Neville Goodman, M.A. The insect mimicked is the well-known 

 hornet, Vespa orientalis, which is found commonly round the shores of the 

 Mediterranean, and extends through Upper Egypt, Syria and Arabia, into 

 Hindostan. The imitator is a species of Laphria, the resemblance con- 

 sisting in similarity of colour, size, shape, attitude when at rest, and mode 

 of flight. The author points out that the word " mimicry" is best applied 

 to cases of resemblance of one living being to another, and suggests that the 

 term "protective resemblance" should be confined to cases of assimilation 

 to stones, sticks, bark, lichens, dead leaves, &c. The author also refers to 



F 



