i8 94 ] THE BRITISH NATURALIST. 



123 



dissents from his use of the word swarmed ; he considers that the queens " took 

 possession of their winter quarters singly and not en masse." As to means of 

 destruction, several of Mr. Gibbs's correspondents recommend cyanide of potassium ; 

 but Mr. Nutting, having tried that and several other methods, says " the most 

 effective and least dangerous is gas tar." It should be poured both into the hole and 

 on the soil around the entrance. 



LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



The last meeting of the winter session, April 9th, the President (Mr. S. J. Capper, 

 F.L.S., F.E.S.) in the chair. The following papers were read: — "Lepidoptera of 

 Prescot," by the Rev. R. Freeman; "A note on Aculeate Hymenoptera and Diurnal 

 Lepidoptera during March, 1894," by Mr. Willoughby Gardner, F.R.G.S., and 

 "Ammophila lutaria," by Mr. C. E. Stott. The papers were all illustrated by specimens. 

 Reports of the additions to the lists of the insect fauna of Lancashire and Cheshire for the 

 years 1891-2-3 were read as follows: — Coleoptera and Hemiptera-heteroptera, by Mr. 

 W. E. Sharp ; Hymenoptera, by Mr. Willoughby Gardner ; and Lepidoptera, by Messrs. 

 Capper and Pierce. The lists showed that many important additions had been made to 

 these lists, and that steady work was being done in the neglected orders. Mr. Jones 

 exhibited a number of Tseniocampa taken at sallows from Llangollen; Mr. Crabtree, 

 Callimorpha hera and eight varieties of Zygsena filipendulse ; Miss Tomlin, of Chester, a 

 number of Hymenoptera from Madras; the Rev. Mr. Freeman, Rhopalocera from N.W. 

 India; and Mr. Sharp, a collection of local Hemiptera-heteroptera. — F. N. Pierce, 

 Hon. Sec. 



■ 







THE SOUTH LONDON ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL 



HISTORY SOCIETY. 



1 2th April, E. Step, Esq., President, in the chair. 



The President referred to the great loss the Society had sustained by the death of Mr 4 

 J. Jenner Weir, who had always taken such an active interest in its meetings, and a 

 resolution was unanimously adopted that a letter of condolence and sympathy should be 

 sent to Mrs. Weir. 



Mr. Carpenter exhibited long series of Hybemia leucophearia, Schiff, from Coombe 

 Wood, West Wickham, and the New Forest, showing the typical forms in each place, also 

 ova of Trachea piniperda, Panz. 



Mr. Adkin, for Mr. Billups, the following rare Diptera: — Meigenia majascula y from 

 Dulwich, new to Britain; Sciomyza rufiventris, from Ireland; Degeeria pulchella, bred 

 from Peronea maccana, by Mr. Adkin ; Urellia eluta, from Lewisham, and an unknown 

 species of the genus Phorbia; also galls of Dryophanta divisa and their maker, with 

 Synurgus albipes, one of its Inquilines and five parasites, viz., Mesopolobus fasciventris, 

 Syntomaspis caudatus, Upelmus urosonus, Decatoma biguttata, and a Chalcid. 



Mr. Adkin, a drawer, showing series of the genus Noctua from various localities, 

 especially N. glareosa, Esp., and N. augur, Fb. ; also, on behalf of Miss E. Adkin, a 

 bloom of Tulipa sylvestris, L., from an old chalk pit in Suffolk. 



Mr. Moore and Mr. Perks, wood, which had been destroyed by Coleoptera. 



Mr. C. A. Briggs, a number of very striking varieties of Abraxas grossulariata, L., 

 similar to those figured in " Newman," and " The Young Naturalist," Vol. I. 



Mr. Jager, a living Biston hirtaria, Clerk., stating that he had met with a considerable 

 number of cripples, all malformed on the right side, 



Mr. Step, a specimen of the Fungus, Morchella cesculenta, L., received from Wootton- 

 Under-Edge. 



A communication was read from Mr. Adye, on the early season in the New Forest, 

 Messrs. Step, Adkin, Carpenter, and others taking part in the discussion which followed. 



