THE BRITISH NATURALIST. 



[July 



found. A snake (Natrix torquata) had been seen by some members, and the lizard 

 (Lacerta vivipara) was exceedingly common in sunny spots. Many thanks are due 

 to Mr. Lewcock, who lost the train and did not join the party till the return journey, 

 for the following notes on the Coleoptera. " I started to meet the 2.17 train, but 

 just missed it by two minutes. Under the circumstances I decided to take the next 

 train to Surbiton and walk round by the fields through Claygate to Oxshot, and 

 collect by the way. I arrived at Surbiton at 3.15, and turned to the left, coming out 

 of the station, making for the footpath which skirts the railway bank and eventually 

 turned into Claygate Lane. Having on one occasion seen a specimen of Megapenthes 

 lunicollis taken almost under my nose in this lane, I began working for it, but without 

 success. However, I found a single Mordellistena humeralis sitting on Hieracleum 

 flowers, and I may here record that I also obtained one on June 20th, 1891, at the 

 Eynestord excursion. In other Umbelliferse I found several Grammoptera tabaccicolor, 

 a species common to this locality. In Elder blossom, one Quedius cruentus which 

 occurs sometimes under bark, but only singly. Also several Anthocomus fasciatus, a 

 pretty little red and black Malacoderm which is frequently found during June at 

 Claygate. By using the sweeping net among lhe meadow plants, several Ceutlwrhyn- 

 chiis c.impetvis and Prasocuris aucta turned up, with a few Ceuthorhynchus coelilearice, 

 Gymnetron pascuorum, and several Apions. All these are common to this locality. 

 Of course one meets with many species over and over again by working at one place, 

 and it would be quite useless to record all the species found here ; for instance, I met 

 with ten species of Telephorus, and, with the exception of T. fuscicomis and T. 

 discoideus, all are common. It may be worthy of remark that at Eynesford in 1891, 

 T . fuscicomis was the commonest of the group in that district. Another very common 

 beetle on birch, hornbeam, and a variety of things at Claygate is Luperus betulinus, 

 and common it was on Saturdav, falling literally in hundreds into the umbrella. 

 The Black Pond was reached soon after 7 o'clock, but nearly all the Donacias had 

 retired for the day, so that only D. sericea, with the intermediate forms to D. comari, 

 were to be obtained. Two three or Cocanella ocellata were found on the reeds, and 

 one or two Erirhinus nereis. The final capture was a nice specimen of Cryptoccphalus 

 lineola, making the third captured at this spot by myself. A great man)' odd and 

 common things put in their appearance, such as Adimonia caprea, Strophosoniu-s 

 Umbatus, but these captures are decidedly uninteresting. I joined the party at 

 Oxshott station for return journey at 9.27." So ended another very successful and 

 pleasant field outing of the Society. The next meeting will be at Westerham, Kent, 

 on July 15th. — Hy. J. Turner (for the Committee) ; F. W. Hawes and H. Williams, 

 Hon. Secretaries. 



General Notes. 



Varieties of Papilio machaon. — I have bred about 30 Papilio 

 machaon, two of which vary a little from the type. In one of them the 

 black streak which closes the discal cell on the hind wing is double. 

 The other has two of the black streaks in the fore wing joined, making 

 a large black patch. Mr. Barrett mentions one of the former, and I 

 saw another in Houghton's series at Wicken last year, of which he 

 was very proud. — J. S. Brady, Sunderland. 



Z. meliloti. — I hear that Mr. Fletcher of Worthing, has obtained 

 ova of Z. meliloti from New Forest parents, and that the larvae agrees 



