140 *itE E^TTOMOtiOGIST. 



was perhaps correlated with the wetness of the larval burrows, and that it 

 was a displacement of the posterior stigmata, usuallj- supposed to be 

 restricted to aquatic coleopterous larvae. He added that dissection showed 

 that the posterior pair were the principal agents of respiration. Dr. Sharp 

 and Mr. Champion made some remarks on the subject. Mr. W. H. B. Fletcher 

 exhibited a long series of bred Zygana lonicerce, and Z. trifolii, hybrids 

 of the first generation with the following parentage : — Z. lonicercB, male — 

 Z. trifolii, female ; Z. trifolii, male — Z. lonicerce, female ; also hybrids of 

 the second generation between Z. trifolii — hybrid, and Z. lonicera — 

 hybrid. The President enquired whether the hybrids were robust and 

 healthy or the reverse. Mr. Fletcher stated that many of the hybrids were 

 larger than the parent species, and that some hybrids between Z. lonicera 

 and Z. JilipendulcB were the largest he had ever seen. He added that 

 ZygcBna meliloti would not hybridise with Z. lonicercB, Z. trifolii, or Z. 

 'filipendulcB. Mr. Barrett and Mr. Tutt continued the discussion. Mr. 

 F. W. Frohawk exhibited a bred series of Vanessa atalanta, showing the 

 amount of variation in the red band on the fore wings of the female. In 

 seven specimens there was a white spot on this band, and in ten specimens 

 it was absent. Mr. Elwes exhibited a large number of specimens of 

 Chrysophanus phlceas from various places in Europe, Asia, and North 

 America, with the object of showing that the species is scarcely affected by 

 variations of temperature, which was contrary to the opinion expressed by 

 Mr. Merrifield in his recent paper " On the effects of temperature in 

 the pupal stage on colouring." Mr. McLachlan, Mr. A. J. Chitty, Mr. 

 Bethuue-Baker, Mr, Tutt, Mr. Barrett, and Mr. Frohawk took part in the 

 discussion which ensued. Dr. Sharp read a paper entitled " On Stridu- 

 lating Ants." He said that examination revealed the existence in ants of 

 the most perfect stridulating or sound-producing organs yet discovered in 

 insects, which are situated on the 2nd and 3rd segments of the abdomen of 

 certain species. He was of opinion that the structures which Sir John 

 Lubbock thought might be stridulating organs in Lasius Jiavus were not 

 really such, but merely a portion of the general sculpture of the surface. 

 Dr. Sharp said that the sounds produced were of the greatest delicacy, and 

 Mr. Goss had been in communication with Mr. W. H. Preece, F.R.S., with 

 the view of ascertaining whether the microphone would assist the human 

 ear in the detection of sounds produced by ants. Mr. Preece had stated 

 that the microphone did not magnify, but merely reproduced sounds; and 

 that the only sounds made by ants which he had been able to detect by 

 means of the instrument were due to the mechanical disturbance produced 

 by the motion of the insects over the microphone. A long discussion 

 ensued, in which the President, Canon Fowler, and Messrs. Champion, 

 McLachlan, Goss, Hampson, Barrett, Jacoby, and Burns took part. Mr. 

 C. J. Gahan read a paper entitled " iS'otes on the Longicornia of Australia 

 and Tasmania, Part I. ; including a list of the species collected by Mr. J. J. 

 Walker, R.N., and descriptions of new forms." — H. Goss and W. W. 

 F^owLER, Hon. Secretaries. 



South London Entomological and Natural History Society. — 

 February 'HBrd, 1893.— J. Jenner Weir, Esq., F.L.S., President, in the 

 chair. Mr. S. Edwards exhibited a box of Exotic Rhopalocera, illustrative 

 of mimicry, from widely different localities. Mr. South, series of Cerostoma 

 radiatella, Don., and C. costella, Fab,, and remarked on the number 

 of varieues of radiatella, and the great difficulty of satisfactorily separating 



