Q2 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Exhibits: Dr. Chapman, Hetcrogvnis penella, a 

 moth sometimes spoken of as half-way between a 

 Psyche and a Zygaena from the delicate flimsy 

 structure of the black male. He said : " Really, it 

 is related to Zygaena, in so far that it appears to 

 belong to the same stirps, but is far lower in the 

 scale of evolution. The female is rotund like the 

 larva, but is even less supplied with appendages, 

 having no trace of wings, whilst the true legs are 

 organically connected with the pupa-case, and 

 retain it in its position outside the cocoon, enabling 

 it to return to the interior of the chrysalis case, 

 within which it lays its eggs." Mr. Bacot, larva 

 of Zygaena trifolii, sent by Mr. Simes, from 

 Cornwall; larvae of Angcrona prunaria, also of 

 Tephrosia bistortata, and T. crepuscularia for com- 

 parison ; larvae of a cross between bistortata and 

 crepuscularia. Mr. Bacot read notes on his exhibits. 

 Mr. Bell, an owl's pellet from the stump of an old 

 tree at Boxhill. One half he had dissected, the 

 other remained in a solid state. The dissected 

 portion showed small bones, teeth, fur, etc., of 

 mice, the mounting of which was much admired. 

 Messrs. Tutt, Heasler, Sauze and Nicholson, also 

 exhibited. Mr. Sauze read a paper, entitled, 

 " Industries and Politics of Ants." He said : "At 

 the name ' ant,' there is, perhaps, conjured up in 

 the mind an ideal insect, which leads to disappoint- 

 ment on watching an ordinary working ant out of 

 doors, as a casual glance of a few ants is misleading. 

 How the efforts of individuals, little in themselves, 

 tell up in the aggregate can be seen by examining 

 a common object in our woods, the nest Formica 

 rufa. The marvel in ant-life is the multiplicity of 

 resources, habits and industries occurring in the 

 many species. Of the inhabitants of a nest, 

 the males and females were spoken of with their 

 natural duties, and the workers, major and 

 minor, the former appearing to act as sentinels 

 or ' soldiers,' the latter attending to the duties of 

 feeding the grubs, carrying pupae into warmth, 

 removing them from danger, and helping to force 

 the imago from the pupal pellicle. It is these 

 workers who build, forage, keep and distribute the 

 common stores." Attention was next drawn to the 

 connection between ants and aphides ; to the 

 migrating and hunting habits of species Eciton of 

 South America ; to the so-called slave-making habits 

 of Formica sanguinca of this country, F. fusca being 

 the ant enslaved ; to the harvesting instincts of 

 species, Atta, etc., in India, South France and 

 Palestine ; to the operations of the extraordinary 

 agricultural ant of Texas, and of the umbrella ant 

 found in tropical America. As regards intelligence, 

 ants were thus seen by these varied practical 

 developments to deserve a high place, and in the 

 opinion of the reader to rank before bees and any 

 other invertebrates. The nearest analogy amongst 

 mankind of the mode of life and government in an 

 ant's nest was thought to be a commune. All the 

 inhabitants of a nest work harmoniously for the 

 general good, the queens (though waited on) and 

 the males (though cared for) seem to have no voice 

 in the good government of the nest, which is, so 

 far as known, an instinctive attitude of all, only 

 possible in a community where in the case of the 

 bulk of the race sexlessness prevents jealousies and 

 weakness begets interdependence. Mr. Tremayne 

 asked whether no instances were presented of ants 

 performing their marvellous operations under 

 distinct leaders. He thought such instances 

 might easily be overlooked. With regard to the 

 place which Mr. Sauze assigned to ants among 

 invertebrates, Mr. Tremayne suggested that 



possible rivals to them might be found in termites, 

 which were less known, but appeared to possess 

 many of the socialistic abilities of the ants, 

 and to be very similar to them in many of 

 their habits. Messrs. Nicholson and Sequeira, 

 with Dr. Chapman, continued the discussion. Mr. 

 Dadd had known an ant carry away a full-grown 

 larva of Miselia oxyacanthae. Mr. Sauze said 

 that ants on the march certainly have officers at 

 their sides. He thought that, according to our 

 present knowledge, ants were possessed of more 

 intelligence and ideas than termites. — June I, 1897. 

 Mr. J. W. Tutt, F.E.S., President, in the chair. 

 Exhibits : Mr. Heasler, Tiresias serra, bred from 

 larvae obtained under bark at Richmond last 

 January. This species appeared to pupate in the 

 last larval skin. Mr. Bate, four female Arctia 

 caja, the offspring of a pair exhibited with them, 

 which were the second brood of 1896, which 

 emerged in September. He said these four of 

 their descendants, when Dr. Chapman's "for- 

 wards" fed through the winter indoors, pupated in 

 February, 1897, and emerged after exactly fifty 

 days in the pupa state. They were generally dark, 

 and had more or less black fringe to hind wings. 

 Mr. Bate also exhibited two larvae of Satumia 

 pavonia-major, one in second and one in third 

 skin. The first was black, with orange tubercles ; 

 the second was green, with interesting club-shaped 

 hairs on the thoracic and last two abdominal 

 segments. Mr. Prout, a short bred series of 

 Melanippc montanata, from a female captured in 

 Epping Forest. Eight of these fed up and emerged 

 in the autumn, two hibernated in their final skin. 

 Also two bred specimens of the var. shetlandica. 

 Weir, the larvae of which hibernated in the last 

 skin but one ; also a specimen of the var. lapponica, 

 Stgr., from North Finland. Mr. Tutt, in his 

 "British Moths," appears to unite these two 

 varieties, but they seem to differ considerably (as 

 Herr August Hoffmann has remarked), in that the 

 former is darker and more ochreous, the latter 

 much paler than the type form. — June 15th, 

 1897, Mr. J. A. Clark, M.P.S., F.E.S., 

 Vice-President, in the chair. Exhibits : Mr. 

 Nicholson, a specimen of Boarmia consortaria, 

 taken in the New Forest on Whit Monday last, and 

 some of the eggs laid by it. Mr. Tremayne, sea- 

 weed from Worthing. Mr. Bate, one male and five 

 females of Pieris brassicac, bred from larvae, found last 

 autumn. Two females showed slight deformation 

 due to the tightness of the silk sling which the 

 larva spun, which caused a deep indentation in the 

 pupa. With reference to this exhibit, Mr. Nicholson 

 said that he had always bred Gonepteryx rliamni 

 with the mark of the pupa case across its wings, 

 though not so badly as in these specimens. Mr. 

 Bayne, varieties of Coremia ferrugata, Melanippc 

 galiata, one with black solid band from Aylesbury, 

 Cidaria corylata from Epping, one suffused with 

 olive ; Vanessa urticea approaching var. polaris from 

 Hoddesdon, 1S97; Nola cuciillatella with the melanic 

 var. ; Thyatira batis, one from Epping Forest 

 without the pink colour in the spots, though very 

 fresh. Mr. Bate had been at Oxshott on June 14th, 

 and had found a few A rgynnis selene and Lycaena icarus, 

 and many Adda degccrclla. He had also found a 

 swarm of hive bees hanging to one of the lower 

 boughs of a pine-tree ; the bough being cut in half, 

 the bees vanished, butthey presently returned, and 

 Mr. Bate succeeded in capturing them .bough and all. 

 Mr. Clark said that Hydrilla palustris had again been 

 taken at Wicken Fen on June 5th. — July 6th, 

 1897. Exhibits : Dr. Sequeira, two cocoons of 



