8182 



Entomological Society. 



attention to the mode of mounting these smaller species on pieces of gelatine instead 

 of cardboard : this rendered the use of gum unnecessary, since all that was requisite 

 to fix the insect was to moisten the under side ; moreover, the gelatine was so trans- 

 parent that the under side of ihe insect was available for examination. 



The President exhibited two rare Staphylinidae, — Myrmcdonia Haworthii and 

 Heliohates propinqua, — both captured by his son, Mr. Edward Smith, on Reigate 

 Common, on the occasion of the Society's excursion on the 8th ultimo. 



The President also exhibited an imperfect hermaphrodite of Apis mellifica, which 

 bad been sent from Scotland, and read the following description thereof: — 



** Size and general appearance of the insect that of a worker. Head male ; the 

 eyes large, and meeting on the vertex; both the antenna? female, 12-jointed. Man- 

 dibles worker, not toothed at the apex as in both male and female. Wing on the 

 right side, male ; that on the left, worker. Legs male, or;rather, partly male on the 

 right side ; the anterior and intermediate legs perfect male ; the posterior leg male, 

 but fringed with hair, and the basal joint of the tarsus male exteriorly, that is, 

 smooth and convex, but within transversely ridged and clothed with hair ; the fol- 

 lowing joints male ; the left posterior leg is perfect worker. The abdomen furnished 

 with a sting ; the sting female, straight." 



Prof. Westwood said that during June last he had noticed a couple of hive-bees 

 near the mouth of the hive, apparently fighting ; and on capturing them he found 

 that one, which seemed to have been attacked by the other, had attached to its head 

 a tuft of filamentous matter, which turned out to be composed of the pollen-matter of 

 Orchis maculata. The Professor was desirous of sending the specimen to Mr. Darwin, 

 as bearing on the subject treated in the most recent of that gentleman's works, but 

 unfortunately it had been placed in spirit, by which the tuft of pollen-matter had been 

 dissolved. 



The Secretary read, on behalf of Dr. Alexander Wallace, the following 



Note on the Ravages of the {Currant) Saivfiy. 



" In the * Zoologist' for July, 1862 (Zool. 8079), an interesting account is given 

 of the saw fly, Nematus ventricosus, Klug, translated from the Dutch of M. Snellen 

 van Vollenhoven, by J. W. May, Esq. This insect is familiarly known by the name 

 of the ' gooseberry grub,' whose ravages this year, extending all over the kingdom, 

 have deprived us of many tons of fruit. By studying the natural history of this and 

 other insects, we shall doubtless find a clue to the prevention of their ravages, and I 

 wish now to throw out some hints which may prove useful for that purpose. After 

 giving a description of the larva?, &e., our author goes on to state, 4 They feed both 

 day and night, and, beginning in company on a leaf, they eat on until there is 

 nothing left but the stalk and some of the thickest veins. Before quitting the bush 

 they moult, once more assuming a pale yellowish green colour, the first and terminal 

 segments being oraDge ; but they are now without the black spots and hairs which 

 they had in their earlier state. After this they drop from the tree, and construct a 

 cocoon at the foot : this cocoon is made at no great depth in the ground, aud is exter- 

 nally covered with little grains of earth. They assume the pupa state, in the sum- 

 mer, in the space of three weeks, in the winter only after an interval of eight mouths. 

 The pupa? arc yellowish white, and display all the parts of the imago. They very 

 soon change their colour, aud in eight or ten days, having moulted for the last time, 



