Insects. 2175 



Male. — (Length 4 lines). Black ; the antennae not quite so long as 

 the head and thorax, nigro-pieeous beneath ; the nose white at the 

 apex ; the face clothed with a short white pubescence. Thorax 

 closely and finely punctured ; the wings as in the female. Abdomen 

 oblong-ovate, spotted as in the female. 



I believe Mr. Kirby was the first to discover this very beautiful 

 species at Barham, Suffolk. It is very local : the only spot where I 

 ever met with it is Weybridge. I have taken it in June and Septem- 

 ber. It is rare in cabinets. 



Frederick Smith. 



5, High Street, Newington, 

 February 19, 1848. 



Note on Boreus hy emails. — In the end of December, 1847, 1 met with a specimen 

 of this curious insect in a tuft of Trichostomum aciculare, growing on a stone wall, in 

 a wood near this place. It was very active, and emitted a scent somewhat resembling 

 that of Panorpa. Kespecting this insect, Mr. Walker observes in a note, " Nearly 

 twenty years have now passed since I used to find Boreus hyemalis in moss near Lon- 

 don, during the winter; but it was not uncommon at Gothenburg, in Sweden, while I 

 was there in the autumn of 1836. The male seems to be much more scarce than the 

 female." — James Hardy. 



On the Functions of the Antennae of Insects. By J. W. Slater, Esq. 



Much as has been written upon the functions of the antennae, we are still very re- 

 mote from a satisfactory conclusion. Their structure has been carefully and repeatedly 

 examined by eminent anatomists, but the result has been in no manner decisive, ex- 

 cept as showing them to be organs of importance and well supplied with nerves. In 

 this case nothing remains but to endeavour, by observing their comparative develop- 

 ment in species of different habits, to come to some conclusion as to their use. We 

 must, in the first place, suppose them to be organs of sensation, from their position 

 and structure, internal and external. Of the five senses which we recognize in ani- 

 mals, that of sight cannot come here in review, as its organs in insects are not doubt- 

 ful. As little can we suppose them to be organs of taste, as this sense must be sought 

 for in some part more intimately connected with the mouth, and capable of touching 

 food during suction or mastication. The organs of the three remaining senses, touch, 

 smell and hearing, are not yet established, and accordingly we find each of these 

 functions assigned to the antennae by a considerable number of entomologists. Those 

 who consider them as the organs of touch have the general opinion and the idioms of 

 several languages in their favour. It cannot be denied, moreover, that many insects, 

 apparently at least, use the antennas for this purpose, tapping and touching with them 



