SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



195 



A New British Beetle. — Otiorrhynchus auro- 

 punctatus, a Pyrenean weevil, is added to the British 

 list, having been found in some numbers in Eastern 

 Ireland. It is described fully in the " Irish 

 Naturalist " for August. 



Rare Butterflies in Kent. — I have the 

 pleasure of possessing Pier is daplidice, Argynnis 

 lathonia, two Aporia crataegi, and one Vanessa c- 

 album, all taken within twenty miles of Canterbury 

 last summer (1894). With regard to Aporia crataegi, 

 I am aware many entomologists assert the insect is 

 extinct in Kent, but I have no hesitation in saying 

 I could produce five which have been caught in the 

 county within the last seven years, including the 

 one I captured myself at Ramsgate, in June, 1888 

 (vide " Entomologist," vol. xxi., p. 184). The latter 

 two were taken by a gardener of this town and are 

 of no value beyond their associations, having 

 received rough treatment owing to his ignorance 

 and inexperience of entomology. I am also glad to 

 record the re-capture of Vanessa c-album in Kent. — 

 H. Mead-Briggs, 37, Nunnery Fields, Canterbury ; 

 August iStli, 1895. 



Dragonflies Captured by Sundew. — On July 

 31st, near Oxshott, in Surrey, I found within a yard 

 or two of each other, two small blue dragon-flies 

 (Enallagma cyathigerum), each of which was being 

 held by the posterior extremity of the abdomen, 

 by a leaf of the round-leaved sundew (Drosera 

 rotundifolia). The tentacles had closed over and 

 secured the prisoners, which were still, when found, 

 quite alive. I had previously more than once seen 

 one of these azure insects in the clutches of Drosera, 

 but in each case it was held by the wings, more 

 than one leaf assisting in the operation. It is 

 doubtful whether under such conditions, the plant 

 could have made a meal off the insect. On one 

 occasion, also, while walking with a friend, who 

 was carrying in his hand a specimen of Drosera, a 

 little blue dragon-fly flying past, accidently came 

 in contact with the leaves, and was held fast by the 

 vegetable trap. — W . J. Lucas, Knight's Park, 

 Kingston-on-Thames; yd August, 1895. 



Nesting of the Sedge-warbler. — I should 

 like to confirm the observations of Mr. H. Mead- 

 Briggs on this subject (ante page 156). It is 

 strange, indeed, that so many authorities should 

 have overlooked the fact that the sedge-warbler 

 undoubtedly suspends its nest occasionally after 

 the manner of the reed-warbler. I find mentioned 

 in my note-books one such nest which I found 

 on a stream at Wembley, Middlesex, May 20th, 

 1889. I also found at least two more on a pond 

 near Epsom in 1893. All these nests, however, 

 were not suspended among reeds, but in the tall 

 sedges, the name of which I am ignorant, and were 

 supported by three or four stems passing through 

 the wall of the nest. I have always considered 

 that suspended nests are the exception with this 

 species, as the instances mentioned are the only 

 ones among many scores of sedge-warblers' nests 

 which I have seen. — H. K. Swan, 10, Harrington 

 Street, Regent's Park, N.W. ; August 16th, 1S95. 



The South London Entomological and 

 Natural History Society. — -July nth, 1895; T. 

 W. Hall, Esq., F.E.S., President, in the chair. 

 Mr. Fremlin exhibited a long and variable-bred 

 series of Phorodesma smaragdaria, all of which were 

 set with the aid of a blow-pipe, also a bred series 

 of Geometra papilionaria; Mr. Oldham, a Sirex gigas, 

 from Wisbech, and a number of lepidoptera 

 taken during the Society's field meeting at Oxshott, 

 June 29th, including Eurymene dolobraria, Macaria 

 liturata and Hadena pisi ; Mr. Adkin, a yellow var. 

 of Ematurga atomaria ; Mr. T. W. Hall, a pupa of 

 Sesia sphegi/ormis and a bred series of Eupithecia 

 valerianata ; Mr. Edwards, a specimen of Papilio 

 sesostris, var. xestos, from South America. — July 25th ; 

 President in the chair. Mr. Hall, a long, variable- 

 bred series of Dianthecia carpophaga, the larva: 

 having been found on Lychnis vespertina. One 

 specimen had all the usual markings nearly 

 obliterated, and gradations led to the opposite 

 extreme of a specimen with the markings much 

 extended and intensified. Mr. Robson, a var. of 

 Smerinthus Mice, without the usual dark band across 

 the forewing, and an exceedingly pretty suffused 

 form of Zonosoma pendularia. Mr. Dennis, a bred 

 series of Cosmia afjinis, from Horsley. Mr. Turner, 

 a series of Lycana zgon, from Oxshott, showing 

 amalgamation of spots on the under sides, blue- 

 splashed females, and one female undistinguishable 

 on the upper side from L. astrache. Mr. West, of 

 Greenwich, a fruit of the Macartney rose (Rosa 

 bracteata). — August 8th ; President in the chair. 

 Mr. T. W. Hall, specimens of Hadena oleracea, in 

 which both the reniform and orbicular stigmata 

 were scarcely to be traced ; Mr. Adkin, a series 

 of strongly- marked Eupithecia tenuiata, from Drog- 

 heda ; Mr. Perks, an apple-snail ( Ampullar ia) from 

 South America ; Mr. South, a number of series of 

 lepidoptera taken near Macclesfield during the pre- 

 sent season, including four forms of Xylophasia rut ta 

 — all forms of X. monoglypha, except the very dark 

 Durham form, Miana strigilis, were all dark, not a 

 single type-form having been taken — and two 

 forms of Hepialus velleda, with a var. carnus taken at 

 different elevations. He also remarked on the 

 absence of Melanism in a district apparently 

 favourable for it, and stated that he had only 

 obtained one black Phigalia pedaria, a female, and 

 one var. doubledayaria of Amphidasys bctulaiia. Mr. 

 A. E. Hall, a specimen of Argynnis adippe, var. 

 cleodoxa, and a remarkable Triphana comes, with 

 intense black markings. Mr. Moore, a specimen 

 of Epinephcle j antra, with a considerable increase of 

 the fulvous area, an Orthoptcron of the genus Petasia, 

 from South Africa, and a sample of Spanish moss 

 (Tillandsia usncoides) from Florida, an epiphyte of 

 the family Bromeliacea;. Mr. Frohawk, a fine series 

 of undersides of Epinephcle hyperanthes, showing 

 all gradations from var. arete to var. lanceolata. 

 Mr. Step, a specimen of the pugnacious squat 

 lobster (Galathea squamifera) from Portscatho, and 

 made interesting remarks on the spider crab 

 (Maia squinado) and the boar-fish (Caprosater). 

 Mr. Turner, a var. of Euchelia jacobea 1 , with 



