SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



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Cucullia verbasci, jixst emerged from pupa, the larvae 

 having been obtained in 1897 ; the pupae were 

 forced at a temperatiu-e of about 80 degrees in the 

 spring of 1898, but nearly all went over to a 

 second winter, and emerged early in 1899. Mrs. 

 Eiobbins, a singular freak of a pink double 

 anemone, in which two perfectly-developed sepals 

 took the place of bracts. Mr. Prout, on behalf 

 of Mr. Loddiges, a cinnamon-coloured variety of 

 the common mole. Communications : Mr. Wood- 

 ward reported having seen a sallow in full bloom 

 on February 2oth. Mr. Jennings stated that a 

 hawthorn in Pymm's Park, Edmonton, had the 

 flower-buds already well advanced ; the leaves were 

 as yet about half expanded. Paper : Miss Bacot 

 read a paper entitled, " Extracts from Letters 

 from the Transvaal ; " containing a varied and 

 interesting selection of natural history notes from 

 her brother, chiefly from the neighboiu-hood of 

 Johannesburg. Exhibits of birds and insects from 

 the Transvaal, as well as a large number of photo- 

 graphs, were also passed round in illustration of 

 the paper. — Louis B. Prout, Hon. Sec. 



City of London Entomological and Natural 

 History Society. — Meeting, 21st February, 1899. 

 Exhibits : Mr. C. Oldham, a series of Calymniu, 

 affinis and of C. diffinis taken in Epping Forest in 

 the summer of 1898, and four Eiichelia jacobae 

 from Mid Norfolk. Mr. J. A. Clark, a specimen 

 of Gonepteryx rhamni captured at Croydon last 

 autumn, the two fore-wings having the coloration 

 of a female insect, and the hind wings that of a 

 male. Mr. J. Riches, a number of the carnivorous 

 shelled slug Testacella haliotidea from Hornsey. 

 Mr. A. Bacot, a box of South African Lepidoptera 

 from a station near Johannesburg, many appear- 

 ing identical with British insects, such as Sphinx 

 convolvuli though smaller than our form of this 

 insect, a large-sized Lithosia complana, also two 

 resembling Laphygma exiguasmdHeliothisarinigera. 

 Eev. Gr. A. Raynor, about 300 specimens of 

 Spilosoma lubricipeda, the produce of wild larvae 

 obtained from the Lincolnshire coast after four 

 years' breeding. Many of the dark aberrations 

 radiata were remarkable, but he had not bx-ed all 

 the forms obtained in Yorkshire. He also showed 

 a male Epinephele tithonus, caught last August at 

 Hazeleigh, near Maldon, in which the rust-red 

 colour is replaced by light yellow, and one Noctua 

 rubi variety, taken at the same locality. A male 

 Angerona prunaria of an unusual unicolorous 

 brown colour, with a spot only of orange on disc 

 of each wing, was exhibited, together with some 

 very variable forms of male and female obtained 

 by pairing this insect with a typical female. Mr. 

 F. B. Jennings, Cypraea carniola and C. poraria 

 from Eaine Islands, Queensland, and Hyalinia 

 glabra from the Lea Valley. Mr. W. J. Kaye, a 

 box of Jamaican Pyralidae collected by himself. 

 Mr. H. Massey, a drawer of S. lubricipeda bred 

 from wild larvae from York and Manchester in- 

 cluding the varieties eboraci and fasciata from 

 Yorkshire larvae only. Mr. A. W. Mera also 

 brought up two drawers of this insect showing the 

 type and varieties /ascmf a and radiata, to illustrate 

 his paper of the evening. Mr. Bell, series of 

 Chariclea umbra from the Isle of Wight. When 

 captured, bright green " spikes " could be noticed 

 on their heads, but were now withered. Mr. C. 

 Nicholson, on examining these, said they were 

 pollinia of orchids, and showed the flowers the 

 insects had been visiting. Mr. A. W. Mera read a 



paper "Notes on Spilosomalubricipeda." He said he 

 had recently bred this insect from larvae sent him 

 from the Lincolnshire coast and also from the 

 strain originally started by Mr. Harrison, of 

 Barnsley. In his experience, after a generation or 

 two of inbreeding, perhaps one-third only of eggs 

 obtained hatched, although the others changed 

 colour and appeared fertile. Larvae capable of 

 producing the varieties radiata or zatima, eboraci 

 and fasciata are limited to the counties of Lincoln- 

 shire and Yorkshire. The fact that variety 

 radiata could be bred, if not from wild larvae from 

 Lincolnshire, at least if inbred only once, dispelled 

 the idea that Yorkshire - bred radiata must 

 necessarily be of foreign orign. The so-called 

 York form eboraci by no means implies that is the 

 usual form of S. lubricipeda, taken thei'e, for cer- 

 tainly not more than 5 per cent, of York larvae 

 pi'odiice variety eboraci, and not more than 1 per 

 cent produce fasciata. In the course of his breed- 

 ing, selected varieties crossed produced a partial 

 second brood and specimens emerging in autumn 

 showed greater variation than those IjHLng over 

 until the spring. With regard to the opinion of 

 some entomologists that radiata is a distinct 

 species, based on the fact that it is double-brooded, 

 whilst lubricipeda is not, he said he had bred a 

 second brood of the latter from Lincolnshire 

 larvae, and his Lincolnshire larvae produced 

 variety radiata in a small minority ; at the same 

 time he had no proof that S. lubricipeda was 

 doubled-brooded in a wild state. Why does the 

 radiata form occur only on the Lincolnshire and 

 Yorkshire coasts ? Some suggest that specimens 

 may have migrated from Heligoland, where radiata 

 is the type. But he thought that the same 

 climatic influence that produces radiata in Heligo- 

 land is in some degree the same that we find in our 

 N.E. counties. In the discussion. Rev. Mr. Rajmor 

 said he found elder was the food-plant of S. lubrici- 

 peda in Lincolnshire, and this had a tendency to 

 produce dark forms. His experience did not cor- 

 respond with the lecturer's in two matters : a 

 second brood of lubricipeda was never reared by 

 him at Maldon and he found eggs from pairings 

 always hatched. Mr. Tutt had doubts as to the 

 British origin of the parents from which variety 

 radiata was first bred in Yorkshire. The Bristol 

 lubricipeda type was iinknown in Heligoland, 

 where the dark form only occurred. A wild form 

 or race on the Lincolnshire coast will produce 

 dark radiata form if inbred and taken care of 

 artificially, but dark forms are not found naturally 

 in any numbers. In Heligoland, nature has pre- 

 served what breeders try for — isolation. If it is 

 only a question of moisture or wet climate, why 

 are the Irish and West England specimens so buff ? 

 Food can affect the imago in other directions than 

 size : it may alter the scales, which are the last 

 outcome of growth. The abnormality of these 

 radiata is evident, and aberrant insects tend to 

 produce a second brood. It was remarkable how 

 common the insect was in the neighbourhood of 

 towns, as if it had less fighting for existence 

 there. — H. A. Sauze, Hon. Sec. 



Carlisle Entomological and Natural His- 

 tory Society. — March 2nd, 1899. Meeting held 

 in the Art Gallery, Tullie House, Carlisle. Exhi- 

 bits : — Mr. Greo. Wilkinson, Micropteryx purpurella, 

 M. semifurpurella, M. unimaculellii, M. sangii, M. 

 caledoniella and M. sparmannella, all from the 

 immediate neighbourhood of Carlisle. Mr. F. H, 



