SOCIETIES. 77 



are curious to ascertain the causes of dark varieties, let us also hear the 

 reason of the pale aberrations. — H. Sharp ; 23, Union Street, Langham 

 Place, London, W. 



Pjeris eap^ and Vanessa urxic^ in February. — A small white 

 butterfly was seen fl.ving about some gardens at the north end of the town, 

 on the 13th February, by my brothers, who gave chase, but did not succeed 

 in capturing it. By the description given it would seem to be Pieris rapce. 

 The weather has been somewhat mild during the last week or two, but the 

 night previous to the appearance of the insect was attended with a sharp 

 frost; at about 11 a.m. the atmosphere became very cold, accompanied by 

 rain and snow. While looking over my note-book I came across an entry 

 of a white butterfly that appeared on the 11th Feb., 1890, in the same 

 locality. A specimen of V. urticcB flitted about the aforesaid gardens on 

 the 16th of the same month. — J. E. Kntghts ; North Denes, Great 

 Yarmouth. [One of Mr. McArthur's children saw a white butterfly flying 

 in Fulham on the 19th of February last. — Ed.]. 



Nauseous Larv^ eaten by the Cuckoo. — Mr. Newstead's note in 

 the January number of the * Entomologist,' about the cuckoo, is specially 

 interesting, as showing that it is an exception to the rule which the late 

 Mr. Darwin considered to be established by Mr. Jenner Weir's experiments, 

 that birds would not eat brightly coloured and nauseous larvae. This pro- 

 pensity of the cuckoo probably accounts for the comparative scarcity of the 

 larvae of A. grossulariata, D. ccBruleocephala, and 0. verbasci in this neigh- 

 bourhood, which has been frequently noticed, for we have an unusual 

 quantity of cuckoos. It would be interesing to know whether the cuckoo 

 will also feed upon the larva of Mania typica, the inedible exception of the 

 protectively-coloured larvae. — J. C, Moberly; Woodlands, Bassett, South- 

 ampton, Jan. 17. 



SOCIETIES. 



Entomolooical Society of London. — February Uh, 1891. Mr. 

 Frederick DuCane Godman, M.A., F.R.S., President, in the chair. The 

 President nominated the Rt. Hon. Lord Walsingham, M.A., F.R.S., 

 Professor Raphael Meldola, F.R.S., and Dr. David Sharp, F.R.S., Vice- 

 Presidents for the Session 1891 — 93. Dr. Thomas A. Chapman, M.D., of 

 " Firbank," Hereford ; Mr. Horace St. John Donisthorpe, of 37, Courtfield 

 Gardens, S.W.; Mr. F. W. Frohawk, of 9, Dornton Road, Balham, S.E. ; 

 Mr. E. Ernest Green, of 10, Observatory Gardens, W. ; Mr. G. F. 

 Hampson, B.A., of Thurnham Court, Maidstone ; Mr. Frederick J. Hanbury, 

 F.L.S., of 69, Clapton Common, Upper Clapton, N.E. ; and the Hon. 

 Mary Cordelia E. Leigh, of Stoneleigh Abbey, Kenilworth, were elected 

 Fellows of the Society. Mr. C. J. Gahan called attention to a larva 

 which he had exhibited at the meeting of the Society on the 1st October 

 last, when some doubt was expressed as to its afiinities. He said that Prof. 

 Riley and Dr. Packard had since suggested that the larva was that of a 

 dipterous insect of the family Blepharocerid(B ; he was quite of the same 

 opinion, and thought it might probably be referred to Hamniatorrhina bella, 

 Low, a species from Ceylon. Mr. Tutt exhibited a long series of Agrutis 

 pyrophila, taken last year by Mr. Reid, near Pitcaple, in Aberdeenshire, 

 and remarked that this species had been commoner than usual last year in 

 Scotland, the Isle of Portland, and the Isle of Man. He also exhibited 



