i8 93 .] THE BRITISH NATURALIST. 119 



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Reports of Societies. 



ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. 



May 10, 1893.— Henry John Elwes, F.L.S., F.Z.S., President, in the chair. Mr. 

 A. Cowper Field, of 8i, Wiltshire Road, Brixton, S.W., was elected a Fellow of the 

 Society. Mr. R. McLachlan exhibited, for Dr. Fritz Muller, of Blumenau, Santa 

 Catarina, Brazil, specimens of larvae and pupa? of a dipterous insect, Paltostoma 

 torrentium, and read a letter from Dr. Fritz Muller on the subject. The writer stated 

 that these larvae were of the same nature as those exhibited by Mr. Gahan, at a 

 meeting of the Society in October, 1890, and which were then thought by Lord 

 Walsingham and Mr. McLachlan, to be allied to the Myriapoda. Mr. Gahan, Mr. 

 Jenner Weir, Colonel Swinhoe, Mr. Blandford, Mr. Verrall, Mr. Slater, and Mr. 

 Jacoby took part in the discussion which ensued {of. Proc. Ent. Soc. 1891, p. ii.). 

 Mr. S. G. C. Russell exhibited Hesperia alveolus, variety Taras, taken by him at 

 Woking in April last. Mr. J. M. Adye exhibited a long series of Moma 0H011, 

 Eurymene dolobraria, Amphidas/s betularia, and Chloephora prasinana, and a few specimens 

 of Notodonta dodonea, N. chaonia, and N. trepida, Acronycta alni, and Selenia illustraria, 

 all bred by him in March and April last, from larvae obtained in the autumn of 1892 

 in the New Forest. Mr. H. Goss read a copy of a letter received by the Marquess 

 of Ripon, at the Colonial Office, from the Governor of the Gold Coast, reporting the 

 occurrence of vast swarms of locusts at Aburi and Accra, West Africa, about the 

 middle of February last. The writer stated that at Accra the swarm extended from 

 east to west as far as the eye could see, and appeared to occupy a space about two 

 miles wide. Colonel Swinhoe stated that some years ago he had been requested by 

 the Indian Government to report on plagues of locusts. He said he had witnessed 

 swarms of these insects far larger than the one just reported from the Gold Coast, 

 and mentioned that many years ago, when going up the Red Sea in one of the old 

 P. and O. paddle-boats, the boat had frequently to stop to clear her paddle-wheels 

 from locusts, which had settled in such swarms as to choke the wheels and stop their 

 action. Mr. C. G. Barrett called attention to a field excursion to the Cotswolds 

 which it was proposed to have in June. Fellows of the Society were requested by 

 the President to communicate to Mr. Barrett, as early as possible, their views as to 

 the date which would be most generally convenient for such excursion, and to offer 

 any other suggestions on the subject which might occur to them. Mr. E. C. Reed, 

 of Valparaiso, Chili, communicated a paper entitled " Notes on Acridmm paranense, 

 the migratory locust of the Argentine Republic." Colonel Swinhoe, Mr. Champion, 

 Mr. Elwes, Mr. McLachlan, and Mr. Merrifield took part in the discussion which 

 ensued. Professor L. C. Miall communicated a paper entitled " Dicranota ; a 

 Carnivorous Tipulid Larva." Dr. T. A. Chapman communicated a paper entitled 

 "On a Lepidopterous pupa (Micropteryx purpurclla) with functionally active mandibles." 

 Mr. McLachlan said Dr. Chapman's observations were of great value, and tended to 

 show that the position of Micropteryx was still nearer the Trichoptera than had been 

 supposed. The President announced that the new Library Catalogue, which had 

 been edited by Mr. Champion, with the assistance of Mr. McLachlan and Dr. Sharp, 

 was now ready for sale to the public at 9s., and to the Fellows of the Society 

 at 6s. a copy. — H. Goss, Hon. Secretary. 



