156 



The Naturalist. 



C flavicornls from Roydhouse Wood, and Mr. S. L. Mosley one from 

 Storths Hall, also P. pilosaria and Xylophasia rvrea ; the following by 

 Mr. F. Ellis, Cabera exanthemaria, Tceniocampa gothica, T . stahilis, and 

 Flusia chrijsiUs, all local. Mr. Jas. Yarley also showed some very good 

 specimens of Bomhyx quercus, var. callunce, from Greetland Moor, among 

 the number a dark variety common in Spain, but very scarce in England. 

 Mr. S. L. Mosley said he had only seen three others of the same variety 

 in England ; he exhibited two cocoons of the saw-fly Trichiosoma hetuleti. 

 Mr. Mosley then proceeded with his lecture on ''British Birds." 



La]S"cashire and Cheshire Entomological Society. — Meeting March 

 28th, Mr. S. J. Capper (president) in the chair. Walker's '' Diptera 

 Britannica," and Staveley's " British spiders " were promised as donations 

 to the library, the former by the Rev. H. H. Higgins, and the latter by 

 Mr. Weightman. Mr. C. H. H. Walker then read a paper on the 

 Ichneumonidce, referring to the great number of British species of this 

 family of insects, and describing the anatomy of a typical species^ illus- 

 trating his remarks with well executed drawings. He described the 

 manner in which the female insect laid her egg in or upon the bodies 

 of the caterpillars of butterflies, moths, or flies — the eggs hatching and 

 the ichneumon grubs feeding inside the body of their host until they kill 

 the caterpillar — when they leave the dead skin and spin their cocoons, 

 from which the perfect insect emerges in a short time to carry on the 

 work of destroying the enemies of our vegetable crops. During the 

 conversazione which followed Mr. Walker exhibited a case of ichneumons 

 to illustrate his paper, Mr. Wall specimens of living insects under the 

 microscope, and the secretary living larva of Agrotis porpliyrea taken at 

 Bidston, and beetles collected during the last fortnight on the New 

 Brighton sandhills. — J. W.Ellis, Hon. Sec. 



The Leeds Naturalists' Club ant> Scientific Association. —418tb 

 meeting, March 22nd. — Chair occupied by the president (Mr. W. Barwell 

 Turner, F.C.S., F.B.M.S.), who showed parasites, including Eoinocotes 

 comfar from the turtle dove ; E. hologaster from the common fowl ; 

 JR cEinatopinus quadrumaiiis from the monkey ; and Trichodectes suhros- 

 tratus from the cat, the latter being very rare," Mr. Denny never having 

 met with it. Mr. F. Emsley showed diatomacese, comparing the markings 

 as shown by Gundlach's one-eighth objective with those shown by Field's 

 one-sixth. Amongst the slides brought by Mr. Washington Teasdale 

 were several illustrative of cryptogamic botany, preserved by Mr. Chees- 

 man, of Selby. 



419th Meeting, April 2nd, was a very successful conversazione and 

 exhibition in the Albert Hall. 



420th Meeting, April 5th, the president in the chair. — Mr. Wm. 

 Denison Roebuck read a paper on Yorkshire Bats (see page 145), and 

 exhibited specimens. These included the great bat, or Noctule, from 



