3566 Entomological Society, 



this mischief as belonging to the weevil family ; and, if I mistake not, there is a saw- 

 fly which causes the same damage. 



" And as to white ants ! — they revel in a bamboo fence. The hollow tubes are so 

 many banqueting galleries ; and not content with rooms many hundred times their 

 own length, they throw down the partition walls, and use the whole en suite. I speak 

 feelingly on this point, as a fence, not fifty yards long, which I am putting up, is not 

 finished at one end, and the Termites have begun at the other. Last night's rain has 

 brought them out in force : I feared it would, as my table was covered with winged 

 females, which flocked in to the lamp. By the way, how many species are there of 

 this genus ? We have a black variety, very rare, thank goodness ! and I certainly have 

 seen three if not four varieties of winged females. 



" I am, dear Sir, 



« Yours faithfully, 



" Edgar L. Layard." 



" The Secretary of the Entomological Society." 



Mr. S. J. Wilkinson exhibited a specimen of Elachista albifrontella, which he 

 had reared from a naked pupa, found suspended head downwards near the bottom 

 of a fence. He likewise exhibited specimens of Oinophila v-flava, bred from cases 

 taken on the wall of a wine-cellar. The larvae of this species were reputed to feed 

 on wine-corks ; but these cases were formed of the black fungus common in old wine- 

 cellars, and Mr. Wilkinson thought that the larvae had in this instance fed upon the 

 fungus, for though there was a quantity of bottled wine in the cellar, there were none 

 of these insects on the corks or near them. 



Some very interesting observations on the habits of several insects, by William 

 Varney, Esq., were read. 



Descriptions of various new Hymenoptera from Northern India, by Mr. F. Smith, 

 were read. 



Mr. Douglas read a paper entitled " Contributions towards the Natural History of 

 British Micro-Lepidoptera," in which the larvae and the habits of the following species 

 were described : — Gelechia contigua, G. fraternella, G. blandella, Coleophora albi- 

 tarsella, C. Alcyonipennella, and C. solitariella. Two plates of illustrative figures by 

 Mr. Wing accompany the paper. It was intimated that descriptions and figures of 

 other species would follow from time to time, and Mr. Douglas requested collectors to 

 send him any larvae of Tineidae they may find, with the plants on which they feed. 



The following note by Mr. F. Smith, read at the June meeting, was omitted to be 

 inserted in its proper place : — 



"Observations on a Paper by G.Newport, Esq., F.R.S., F.L.S., 'On the Anatomy 

 and Development of certain Chalcididse and Ichneumonidae, compared with their spe- 

 cial CEconomy and Instincts, with Descriptions of a new Genus of Bee-Parasites.' * 



" In Mr. Newport's excellent and highly interesting paper on bee-parasites, just 

 published in the ' Transactions of the Linnean Society,' I observe some remarks on a 

 communication of my own to that Society ; and I am anxious to correct one or two 

 inaccuracies. The first is the date of capture given in the communication referred to. 

 I stated that it was the summer of 1848, it should have been 1847, as I learn by the 



* Trans. Linn. Soc. Vol. xxi., part 1. 



