181 



"Method of arranging the Object. — As a rule all light-coloured insects ought to be 

 set on a dead black paper, dark insects on a white one. Insects ought to be arranged 

 if possible in some measure according to colour and texture, thus • 



" i^mi, colour. Black velvety wings are good absorbers, but bad reflectors of 

 light, therefore they will require about five times the length of exposure to that of a 

 white wing. Yellow colours are most difficult to take ; they require a great deal of 

 forcing, even more than the black : I am not yet in a position to give any accurate 

 time, as the yellows vary from the pale lemon to the deep orange ; but, as a rule, I 

 should expose two minutes longer than the black ; thus, if in a box of insects, black, 

 white and yellows are mixed up, it is extremely difficult to obtain a satisfactory result, 

 as may be seen in No. 1 plate, containing the swallow-tail, the Bath white and orange- 

 tip. The swallow-tail is not brought out, whilst the whites and greens are perfect; 

 the orange is blackish. 



'^Secondly, texture. The wings of the Coleoptera are mostly glazed, therefore 

 good reflectors. These insects lake admirably, as in plate 7 ; all their salient points 

 come out remarkably well, and stand sharp and clear. In these insects form is every- 

 thing, and colour next to nothing; so that by Photography we are enabled to trace 

 the most minute variations, if the insects be correctly focussed. The clear-winged 

 insects are also beautifully brought out by this Art, — the Neuroptera especially, — but 

 care must be taken to have a back-ground suitable for throwing up the exquisitely 

 delicate tracery of the wings ; the Orlhoptera also come out well. Specimens of these 

 two insects are seen in plate 7. 



" Size of Specimens. — This is a very important consideration. If we wish to exhibit 

 a single specimen, it ought to be taken as near the full size as possible, but where a 

 series is to be photographed the expense must be kept down by diminishing the size 

 (as seen in plate 5), for here we have a specimen of the largest moth known, which 

 would have occupied more space than the whole plate, yet brought out so clearly and 

 forcibly in the reduced size as to be in every way satisfactory, for I think so long as 

 we can have all the markings well developed, it is not of much consequence that the 

 actual size should be adhered to. 



" In conclusion I beg to state that I shall be happy to answer any communications 

 forwarded to me on this subject." 



The President read the following note : — 



On the Nest of Trigona carbonaria. 

 " At the November Meeting of this Society I exhibited a nest of Trigona carbonaria, 

 a stingless honey bee, from Queensland, Eastern Australia. I have had opportunities 

 since that time of more carefully inspecting the structure of the nest, and I think the 

 results may be sufficiently interesting to lay before the Meeting. On cutting away a 

 portion of the back of the box in which the nest was built I at once obtained a view of 

 the interior. The spaces between the combs, and also every hole and crevice, were 

 crammed with the bodies of dead bees ; I obtained from four to five hundred, all of 

 which I carefully examined in the hope of finding a female. All appeared to be 

 ordinary working bees ; I could not detect any difference among them. The combs 

 in the nest of Trigona carbonaria are arranged precisely similar to those of the common 

 wasp, that is, they are single, placed horizontally, and attached, or rather kept apart 

 from each other, by short columns or foot-stalks ; the mouths of the cells are, as in the 



