THE WEEKLY ENTOMOLOGIST. 
157 
ago, one on lilac -blossom, the other 
on Eobin Hood (or Wake Eobin?), 
at Euborneon adjuga rep tans, and tol- 
erably common in the New Forest, 
on lilac-blossoms, near a house, and 
it has been bred near Peterborough. 
T. Tipulceforme may be common in 
most gardens. At Blandford I have 
fonnd it so : but here it is very rare, 
as I have never seen but three speci- 
mens, and those all in one year. I 
also saw one of S. ccstriformis here, 
but in plenty in all stages near Bad- 
ford, in Dr. Abbot’s old locality, 
Clopham Park, (where the Doctor 
never found it), and I have seen one 
or two in the New Forest. — Id. 
Dipteba : 
Criorhina apicata Mergerl — is, I 
suspect figured in Harris’ Ex. Engl. 
Ins. PI 24 f. 20, although Stephens 
refers it to C. ranunculi. Harris 
names it M. personatus, and says 
“formed much like a bee and when 
at rest the wings lie on the back, 
neatly crossing each other, another 
character peculiar to the bee, and per- 
haps it may be owing to this similar- 
ity, that it has not been discovered 
before ; found in August in a window 
at Stepney. 
No doubt this is Apicata and as 
old Stephens has never seen it, he 
thought it was not. My specimens 
are from Bristol. In Bay, page 273, 
and Moufett p. 61 Asilus apiarius ? 
seems similar. Thos. Bay’s more 
likely is a Talanus, but “abdomine 
annulis nigris et rubris alternis vario.b 
I cannot fix the species. On summit 
of Hinchlehaugli near Settle, “ valde 
importuna erat et molesta ” &c. 
This seems to accord with a species 
on the summit of Dartmoor moors, 
but as specimens are wanting, it is 
difficult to decide the species. — Id. 
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
Bowdon and Alteincham Entom- 
ological Society. — On Friday even- 
ing, Dec. 5th., the monthly Decem- 
ber meeting of the above Society was 
held at the residence of Mr. H. Bal- 
shaw ; the President, Mr. T. Black- 
burn, in the chair. 
In opening the proceedings, the 
President called attention to the wish 
of several members to have a revision 
of the rules, which had been uDder 
the consideration of several Commit- 
tees. It was resolved to defer the 
matter till next meeting, when, it 
was understood, some decision is to 
be come to. 
Mr. E. M. Geldart read a paper on 
“ Parthenogenesis,” which was fol- 
lowed by an animated discussion ; 
after which Mr. T. Blackburn read 
a paper on “ The causes of variation 
in insects,” suggested by some remarks 
which were made at the November 
meeting. This paper was also follow- 
ed by a long discussion, in which the 
Secretary, and many other members 
took part. 
Mr. T. Blackburn, exhibited a 
fine series of A. Ripcc. (from the 
South ) and Eup. fraxinata the 
new species described by the Eev 
