226 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



fly larvae, the points by which the larva of Napi may be known are thus 

 given : " The larva of Napi is very much like that oi rapa, but can be known 

 from it by its lighter green, by the absence of a yellow dorsal line, by the 

 single yellow spot in each segment enclosing the spiracle, and by the absence 

 of black dots below the spiracular line." The larva? of Thecla qiiercus are 

 beaten in great numbers from the oak every June, but there is no record of 

 the breeding of a parasite ; its congener Thecla betulce, which is much less 

 common, furnishes no less than three names in our list. 



Probably it is so troublesome to search for caterpillars, feeding on low- 

 growing plants, such as those of Cardamines, Sinapis, and many others, that 

 but few captured larvae come under observation. 



Can any of your readers increase the list now at once from their own ex= 

 perience ? or if not now, will those who rear lepidopterous larvae kindly pre- 

 serve all the parasites they breed, and, at all events, send them with the 

 names of their hosts to someone who is studying the subject. As the Pay 

 Society issues each portion of the larvae of our lepidoptera, it is desired to 

 give a list of the parasites furnished by the species figured, so that there is 

 this definite object in bestowing some little trouble on the matter. 



I hope in future numbers of the Toting Naturalist to show what is known 

 of the parasites of the moths. 



REPORTS OF SOCIETIES. 



ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OE LONDON. 



October 6, 1886. Robert M'Lachlan, Esq., E.R.S., President, in the 

 chair. 



Mr. W. Bartlett Calvert, of Santiago, Chili, was elected a Fellow. 



1V1 r. M' Lachlan exhibited a number of seeds of a Mexican species of Eup- 

 horliacea, popularly known as "jumping seeds/' recently received by him from 

 the Royal Horticultural Society. He stated that these seeds are known to be 

 infested with the larvae of a species of Tortricidce, allied to the apple Tortrix ; 

 they were first noticed by Prof. Westwood, at a meeting of the Society held 

 on the 7th June, 1858, and the moths bred therefrom were described by him 

 as Carpocapsa saltitans (cf. Proc. Ent. Soc, 2nd series, vol. v., p. 27). 

 These seeds have since from time to time been referred to both in the United 

 Kingdom and America. A discussion ensued in which Mr. Pascoe, Mr. 

 Poulton, Mr. Roland Trimen and others took part. 



M r. Roland Trimen exhibited, and read notes on, some singular seed-like 

 objects found in the nests of Termites, and also in those of true ants, in South 



