190 Notes and Queries. [No. 3, 



the only other conclusion is that the female always remains apterous, 

 and is impregnated in the nest ; or, if winged, that she is kept a forci- 

 ble prisoner till her wings drop off. I would have written long ago, 

 hut was separated from the bottle containing the workers." 



Mr. F. Smith thought there was now little doubt that Typhlopone 

 was the worker of Dorylus, as had been suggested years ago by 

 Shuckard. The female, however, was still unknown. 



Prof. "Westwood enquired whether Mr. Smith was acquainted with 

 the insect which Gerstucker represented to be the female of Dorylus ; 

 it was very different from Typhlopone. Mr. Smith replied that he 

 had never seen the large female in question, but he believed its con- 

 nexion Avith Dorylus to be purely conjectural. 



The following discussion took place at the same meeting in regard 

 to the flashing of fire-flies. Observation, we apprehend, will establish 

 the irregularity of these flashings, as testified to by Mr. Bates and 

 Mr. Saunders : — 



The Rev. H. Clark read from < The Reader' of the 1st of April, 

 1865, the following extract from a review of Cameron's recent work 

 on ' Our Possessions in Malayan India :' — 



" The following account of that very common tropical phenomenon, 

 the light of the fire-flies, is altogether new to us, and not quite intelligi- 

 ble. — Does the author mean that the little insects actually keep time 

 with each other so accurately, that thousands of them scattered over 

 a shrub or tree all put out their lights at the same instant, and rekin- 

 dle them with equal punctuality ? If so, here is a new insect-wond- 

 er, before which the economy of bees and ants will sink into insignifi- 

 cance : — ' The bushes literally swarm with fire-flies, which flash out 

 their intermittent light almost contemporaneously ; the effect being 

 that for an instant the exact outline of all the bushes stands prominent- 

 ly forward, as if lit up with electric sparks, and next moment all is 

 jetty dark — darker from the momentary illumination that preceded. 

 These flashes succeed one another every three or four seconds for about 

 ton minutes, when an interval of similar duration takes place, as if 

 to allow the insects to regain their electric or phosphoric vigour.' 

 We commend this as a subject of investigation for those naturalists 

 wh<j are bo fortunate as to live among fire-flies." 



