4908 Entomological Society. 



caught by hira at Deal on the back of an Hemipterous insect, Nabis subaptera, in the 

 act of inserting its ovipositor under the elytra. 



The Rev. J. F. Dawson exhibited a fine series of both sexes of Harpalus cordatus, 

 Dufts., a species so rare in England that at the time his ' Geodephaga Britannica' 

 was published (1854), only a single specimen was known. All the specimens he now 

 exhibited were recently captured by himself at Deal. 



Mr. Foxcroft sent from Perthshire for exhibition a box of Lepidoptera, of which 

 the best species were Depressaria ciniflonella and Poedisca ophthalmicana. 



Mr. Bond exhibited a fine series of Heliophobus hispidus, recently captured by 

 himself in the Isle of Portland. 



Dr. Power exhibited a specimen of Dinodes Maillei, Dej., taken among moss at 

 Gurnard Bay, Isle of Wight by Mr. Arthur Adams. Mr. Dawson said that as this 

 species was a native of the Morea, and was not found in the countries intermediate 

 between these and England, it could hardly be considered indigenous to Britain : he 

 had frequently seen insects not natives of this country floating in the sea off the Isle 

 of Wight, which he suspected had been brought to the vicinity in ships, and it was 

 possible a similar mode of transit might have occurred in this instance. Mr. Edward 

 Sheppard said Mr. Adams had assured him that there was no mistake about this 

 specimen, for he had a perfect recollection of its capture. 



Mr. Newman exhibited a specimen of Xylocopa violacea, accompanied by the 

 following memorandum : — " This bee was taken by Mr. Charles Wood at Dulwich 

 Common the second week in June last: it had flown into a greenhouse, and 

 Mr. Wood, who is a professional gardener, was attracted not only by its extraordinary 

 appearance, but by its loud humming when on the wing. A bee, supposed to be of 

 this species, is described and figured in the ' Monographia Apum Anglise,' vol. ii. 

 p. 310, and pi. xvii. fig. 9, under the name of Apis iricolor, but the specimen, now in 

 the cabinet of our Society, is evidently an American species, and must have been 

 introduced into Mr. Kirby's cabinet by some mistake. Donovan's ' British Insects,' 

 vol. xii. p. 25, and pi. 403, fig. 1, may also be consulted. I believe the present to be 

 the only really British-captured species of this beautiful bee, but it is very abundant 

 in some parts of France, and I have seen many specimens in the garden of the 

 Tuileries: the large importation of shrubs (especially orange trees) from the Con- 

 tinent for the Crystal Palace may perhaps account for its introduction. I should add 

 that Mr. Wood, finding the interest I took in the capture, has most obligingly 

 presented me with the specimen.'' 



Mr. Stainton exhibited leaves of Vicia Sepium containing larvae and pupa? of 

 Lithocolletis Bremiella, a new British species, from the neighbourhood of Bexley. 

 Only on Wednesday last he received some similar mined leaves from Frankfort, and, 

 thus instructed, he succeeded in finding these examples on Friday ; on Sunday two 

 moths came out, and these were also exhibited. 



The President exhibited a scorpion in spirit, presented to him by Mr. Henry Page 

 as the largest ever seen in Sierra Leone. 



Destruction of Crops by Insects. 



Mr. Westwood said that Mr. D. W. Mitchell, the Secretary of the Zoological 



Society, had forwarded to him some withered turnip-leaves, as a sample of the plants 



on ten acres of land, all similarly caused to perish by the attacks of insects : these 



leaves were accompanied by many Syrphi ; but these had not done the mischief, for, 



