Entomological Society, 4177 



Foxcroft from cocoons of Trichiosoma lucorum, which he found in Wales. Mr. 

 Curtis remarked that in 1828 be had bred Tryphon rufus from the cocoon of his Tri- 

 chiosoma pratense, the larva? of which he found in a damp meadow near Ambleside, 

 in the previous year, on a plant he did not remember, it certainly was not whitethorn, 

 but be thought a Spiraea or some herbaceous plant. Tbe Tryphon rufulus of Stephens 

 is the male of T. rufus. These species, from the form of the petiole, belong decidedly 

 to the genus Mesoleptus, which Gravenhorst hints at in his work ; but the multitude 

 of exceptions to the characters of the genera proposed in the systematic tables, show 

 how imperfect the latter are, and how difficult it is to study the Ichneumonidae. 



Mr. Stevens exhibited two specimens of the very rare British longicorn beetle, 

 Pogonocherus fasciculatus, taken by Mr. Foxcroft, in the Black Forest, Perthshire, 

 and the new Noctiluca from Scotland, but being a female, he had not been able to 

 determine the species wilh certainty. 



Mr. Douglas exhibited specimens of the scarce moth, Hyponoraeuta irrorellus, 

 reared by Mr. W. Kirby, of Wandsworth, from larvaB found feeding upon Euonymus 

 Europseus ; and Mr. Stainton exhibited some of the cocoons. 



Mr. Wallace exhibited a fine new longicorn beetle, Acanthocinus sp. ? from Cali- 

 fornia, and a splendid butterfly, Zeonia Oetavius, Fab., from Para. 



Mr. Smith exhibited two wasps' nests, one formed in a bee-hive and the other in a 

 cask ; and he also exhibited a cell of Anthophora retusa, containing a larva of the bee 

 and several females of its parasite Anthophorabia : and stated that the duration of 

 the life of the males he had observed was fceven weeks. Since the last meeting of the 

 Society, Mr. Walker had informed him that he had described the Anthophorabia 

 retusa of Newport, as far back as 1839, in his Monograph of the family, under the 

 name of Cirrospilus Acasta. 



Mr. Westwood, referring to his remarks upon Anthophorabia at the last meeting, 

 said that Mr. Smith having afforded him an opportunity of viewing the insect under a 

 high magnifying power, he was convinced that Mr. Smith was correct in saying it pos- 

 sessed true ocelli. 



Ravages of Scolytus destructor. Sj-c. 

 Captain C. J. Cox laid upon the table a block of wood perforated by larva? 

 of Cossus ligniperda, and pieces of the wood and bark of elm and ash, illustrating the 

 different ways of mining pursued by the larvae of Scolytus destructor and Hylesinus 

 Fraxini. For several years he had devoted his attention to these insects, especially 

 the Scolyti, and he was convinced that their ravages were so extensive as to be of great 

 importance. Some of the oldest and finest elms in the parks had been destroyed, and 

 young sound trees were not exempt from their attacks. In opposition to several distin- 

 guished entomologists, he was convinced that Scolytus destructor attacked sound trees 

 and caused them to become diseased, patrly through the influence of a poison contained 

 in the excrement of the insect ; and a course of experiments had not only assured him 

 on this point, but had also enabled him to state to the Office of Woods and Forests 

 that the damaged trees might be saved and the pest prevented from spreading, if they 

 would adopt his plan of partially barking the trees in the places attacked, and remov. 

 ing and destroying the portions cut off. Once when in a ship-timber yard, where he 

 had a yacht building, he saw an ash-tree so covered with these insects, that he calcu- 

 lated there. were not less than 280,000 of Hylesinus Fraxini in it; the Scolytus was 

 certainly quite as prolific, and unless some such steps as he had pointed out were spee- 



