Entomological Society. 5769 



Mr. Westwood read the following note :— 



11 With refereuce to a note by Mr. Newman, published in the * Zoologist,' p. 5629, 

 on the subject of the introduction of Acentria nivea into the order Lepidoptera, I beg 

 leave to refer those who may be interested in the question to the first volume of the 

 'Transactions' of this Society, p. 118, where, twenty-three years ago, I proved the 

 truth of this relationship; also to my 'Introduction to the Modern Classification 

 of Insects,' pp. 324 and 413 ; to my ' British Moths and their Transformations,' 

 vol. ii., and to Kolenati's ' Monograph of the Trichoptera,' p. 6. Why the propriety 

 of the removal of Narycia elegans of Stephens, with its pectinated antennae, well- 

 spurred legs and want of thoracic tippets, to the order Lepidoptera, as affirmed by Dr. 

 Hagen, should as a matter of course involve Acentria in the like fate, does not appear 

 to me quite evident. As Mr. Newman, moreover, considers my arguments insufficient 

 for removing Acentria to the Lepidoptera, I call upon him to state upon what other 

 grounds he has arrived at his conclusion. It is generally supposed that Mr. Newman 

 has paid especial attention to the study of the Linnean Neuroptera, and entomologists 

 will doubtless be very anxious to know what structural peculiarities he may have 

 discovered sufficient to outweigh those which I have adduced in my various notices 

 upon the Acentria." 



Mr. F. Smith read the following notes :— 



On the Habits of Trypoxylon. 



" A few years ago the habits of the species of the genus Trypoxylon was a subject 

 of some controversy ; St. Fargeau, indeed, described it as being parasitic; the Lin- 

 nean account, however, is the correct one, and was confirmed, as far back as 1840, by 

 Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Westwood. Any one, however, who is in the habit of watch- 

 ing these insects, running as they do upon posts, rails or sand-banks, and constantly 

 entering the burrows of other insects, might be induced to adopt the opinion of St. 

 Fargeau; and if, in addition to the above habit of the species, he examined the struc- 

 ture of the females, and found them destitute of cilia and spines on the legs, his opi- 

 nion would no doubt be considerably strengthened as to their parasitism. The 

 observations of numerous hymenopterists have long settled the question, and they are 

 well known to store up spiders as a nutriment for their young. One point in the 

 economy of this genus remains to be established ; and I may ask the question, Has any 

 one ever observed a species of Trypoxylon constructing its own burrow ? without any 

 chance of its being answered in the affirmative. I am of opinion that there are some 

 species of fossorial Hymenoptera, and also of Apidce, which never construct a burrow 

 for themselves, always availing themselves of some ready-formed receptacle suitable 

 to their purposes : Trypoxylon is one of these, and, amongst the bees, probably An- 

 thidium is another. 



" I have an opportunity of exhibiting this evening a most remarkable illustration 

 corroborative of my opinion as regards Trypoxylon. The Rev. Hamlet Clark 

 obligingly undertook to capture a few Hymenoptera on his late visit to Brazil. In 

 addition to several new species of Formicidee, he also brought a number of nests of a 

 species of Polistes, also new to me. 



"On carefully examining the nests, I observed, in one of them, that several of the 

 cells were closed with red earth or clay. On opening some of these cells, I found them 



xv. 3 i 



