1898.J 237 



that of others in Insect anatomy, he turned to the subject directly in hand. De- 

 scribing how he had been led to a study of this subject by what was considered a 

 unique specimen of Epunda nigra in the collection of the President, he showed how 

 he had examined all the male nigra available, and found it to be the rule and not 

 the exception with that species, and with many other Noctuina, that the males have 

 a pair of chitinous flaps, one on each side of the ventral surface of the abdomen. 

 These flaps arise from the base of the abdomen, and from them proceeds a pencil of 

 hairs tightly agglutinated at the base, separating and individually tapering towards 

 the extremity. These extremities fit into a pocket which lies more towards the 

 centre of the ventral surface of the abdomen. Illustrating his remarks by excellent 

 diagrams and carefully mounted microscopic slides, he then contrasted these pencils 

 with the tarsal tufts of the SerminidcB, pointing out that these organs are pencils of 

 hairs joined at the base, separating towards the apex, while the SerminidcB tufts 

 are lamellse of scales, and separate almost (if not entirely) their whole length. With 

 a diagram of one of these hairs under high power and one of the scales of the 

 SerminidcB, he pointed out the entire difi'erence between the markings on the two 

 appendages ; those on the hairs being a kind of network of diamonds raised in the 

 centre, those on the scales of the SerminidcB being ordinary scale-pittings and 

 striations. He proved the existence of these little-known organs to be specific, not 

 accidental ; but at the same time disproved the suggestion that they are vital by 

 their absence in the females, and also in the males of certain species of even the 

 Noctuina. Referring to the writings of previous authors on this subject, he ex- 

 plained their ignorance of the very frequent presence of these pencils by the fact 

 that they have the apical portion enclosed in the pocket, and therefore require careful 

 teazing before they are visible to the naked eye. Dealing with the suggestion that 

 they are breathing organs, he pointed out that they only occur in males, and not of 

 all species, and therefore could hardly perform such an important function as respira- 

 tion. He mentioned (1) that they occurred in most Noctuina but not in all ; (2) 

 that they varied in size and form in different species, but were fairly constant for 

 the same species ; (3) that they always occurred in the same situation, and the tips 

 were or had been always enclosed in pockets. He attributed to them some unknown 

 sense, probably of use to the male in its search for the female. Some useful sug- 

 gestions and leading questions were made by the President, and Messrs. Cotton, 

 Freeman and Locke. The Rev. R. Freeman suggested that these were scent not 

 sense organs, and attempted to associate their absence with the presence oi pectinated 

 antennae. The exhibits were — the original specimen of E. nigra which may be said 

 to be the initial cause of Mr. Pierce's study, by the President ; slides of hair-pencila 

 by Mr. Pierce ; a night's captures at Delamere, by Mr. F. C. Thompson ; spring 

 captures, by Dr. Cotton ; Miscodera arctica and other allied species from Llangollen, 

 by Mr. F. Birch; recent emergencies, &c., by Rev. R. Freeman and Mr. H. B. 

 Prince; and a fine box of Bomhyx rubi, by Mr. J. E. Robson, for distribution. The 

 next Meeting, an Eshibitional Meeting, will be held on October 6th. — R. Feeeman, 

 Son. Secretary. 



