147 



, Mr. Waring exhibited some dead pupae of drones, which he had found near the 

 mouth of one of his bee-hives : the pupae had not quite arrived at maturity, and it 

 would seem that the bees must have cut off the caps of the cells containing them, and 

 have cast them out of the hive. He was unable to throw any light upon the cause of 

 the death of the pupae. 



Mr. T. W. Wood made some remarks on the mimicry of Nature by herself, as 

 exemplified by the colouring of the under side of the wings of Anthocharis Car- 

 damines, and on the utility of such mimetic resemblances in the preservation of 

 insects. During the present month of May, towards evening or in cloudy weather, 

 the orange-tip butterfly might be found at rest in exposed situations by the sides of 

 roads and lanes, ou the tops of grass and flowers, but more particularly on Anthriscus 

 sylveslris, and almost always in the neighbourhood of that plant : the chequered white 

 and green, which alone were visible when the insect was at rest, exactly represented 

 the small white flowers of the Anthriscus, as seen against the green background of the 

 hedgerow behind. It was remarkable also that the butterfly did not appear to be 

 partial to the Anthriscus, except as a secure resling-place, but preferred to hover over 

 and suck the juices of the wild geranium and other flowers. 



Mr. Waterhouse exhibited British specimens of Oxypoda lentula. Bricks., 

 Kraalz, &c., Oxypoda misella, Kraatz, Trechus obtusus, Ericks., and Bembidium 

 (Philochthus) Mannerheimii, Sahlberg ; and read the following notes on those 

 species : — 



" 1. The Oxypoda lentula is about equal in size to the Homalota Fungi, and has 

 antenUcE with very nearly the same proportions as to length and thickness, but the 

 elytra and basal half of abdomen are rather narrower, and hence the general form is 

 more inclining to the linear. The colouring is dullish slaty black, reminding one of 

 the MyJlfEnae in this respect ; the antennae and legs are piceous, the knees and tarsi 

 a little paler than the other parts ; the punctuation of the upper parts is very fine and 

 dense throughout, a little less dense on the head; and the insect is densely clothed 

 with fine ashy pubescence. In certain lights the elytra exhibit an indistinct faint 

 brownish tint, and the apex of the abdomen is more distinctly tinted with brown. The 

 thorax has a pretty distinct transverse fovea behind, and running forwards from this is 

 a faint dorsal channel, which, however, disappears near the front of the thorax. The 

 basal joint of the posterior tarsi (which are but of moderate length) is equal in length 

 to the two following joints, taken together; and joints two, three and four are very 

 nearly equal to each other. I have taken this insect in the Hammersmith Marshes, 



" 2. Oxypoda misella belongs to the little section of the genus, the species of which 

 have the elytra shorter than the thorax. Of this section but two British species have 

 hitherto come under my notice, viz., O. annularis of Mannerheim and O. brachyptera 

 of Kirby =: 0. ferruginea of Erichson. The species regarded as O. misella now 

 exhibited was taken near Wickham, by Mr. Eye, and was at once separated by him 

 from the other two species above named, in company with which it was found, through 

 its dark colouring combined with its comparatively short antennae. In the structure 

 of the antennae it most nearly resembles O. annularis, the terminal joint being short 

 (very little longer than broad), as in that insect, and the intermediate joints being 

 strongly transverse; but these organs are rather less stout in O, misella than in O. 

 annuhiris, and are of a dark pitch colour, excepting at the base. The insect, moreover, 

 is rather smaller, and its general colour is pitchy ; the thorax and elytra, apex of the 



