SOCIETIES. 
189 
shire in 1883, it was also in Miss Decie’s collection captured at Westward 
Ho ! and one specimen captured by Mr. Harwood, of Colchester. 
Erisialis sepulchralis, L., a male of this scarce Dipteron was taken at 
Plumstead by himself on the 17 th of July last, as also a female of 
Hypoderma bovis, Deg. With reference to this species Mr. Billups said it 
was rare indeed to find it in the perfect imago stage, and that it belonged 
to the sub-family ^siridce, Leach (bot-flies, breeze-flies), the larvae 
living in sub-cutaneous galls or bots beneath the skin of various 
animals ; the larvae of this species being found in the month of May 
in galls or tumours on the backs of cattle. When fully fed, which is 
mostly in July, they work their way out and fall to the ground to 
pupate, the state of pupation lasting some 25 or 30 days. The species 
is to be found in all parts of the civilized world. It is a curious coin- 
cidence that Mr. Bignell in this month’s Ent. Mo. Mag. records the 
capture of this species on the 9th of June, on a moor between Yelveston 
and Clearbrook, our member, Mr. Coryndon Matthews, having identified 
the species both for Mr. Bignell and Mr. Billups. Phytomyza aquilegice. 
This small species of diptera was reared by the exhibitor from some mined 
leaves of Aquilegia vulgaris^ L. (the common columbine) growing in 
his own garden, the leaves being picked last September and kept until 
the following April, when the little fly began to emerge, its pretty little 
Hymenopterous parasite, Rhizarcha cErolaris, Nees., not emerging until 
nearly a month later. Mr. Billups also exhibited both sexes of the 
very handsome Polysphincta varipes, Gr., which he had reared from a 
cluster of cocoons presented to him by Mr. C. Fenn from the larvae of 
Odo 7 iestis potatoria. Also a cocoon of Attacus cecropia., from New 
York State, presented to him by Mr. Turner on the 4th of May last,, 
and from which he had reared no less than 48 specimens of a species 
of Crypfus, closely allied to our British species. Cry plus dig/tatus, 
Gmel., the females largely preponderating, there being 34, and only 14 
males. Mr. Billups called attention to the curious arrangement of cells 
formed by this internal parasite in the cocoon of Aitacus^ the outer 
circle consisting of 12 cells, the second of 8, and the third or inner 
one of 4, so there must have been at least some 48 or 50 cells or in- 
ternal puparia, which certainly seemed enormous considering the 
large size of this handsome species of Ichneumonidae. — Ed. 
Errata. — On page 166, lines 4 and 5, for “Mr. Tugwell, a short 
series of Dioryctria abietella bred from fir cones,” read, “ Mr. Tugwell 
a short series of Dioryctria deatriella., Hb., = Nephophteryx abietella^ 
S.V., bred from shoots of Scotch fir bearing resinous nodes of Retinia 
resinajiai^ — W. H. Tugwell. Septeniber ziid.^ 1891. 
Psyche villosella. — In the note of the meeting of the South 
London Entomological Society which appeared in the Entojiiologisfs 
Record for September, p. 105, there is a notice of my paper on Psyche 
villosella., in which it is stated that the female was never observed to 
leave the case ” ; I did not say this, but that I had never seen the 
skin of the pupa of a female of P. villosella projecting from the case ; 
I have seen them emerge from the case. I did not say that the young 
larvae left “ the central portion of their cases free from pieces,” but that 
I had observed they were able to lengthen the cases by additions either 
at the proximate or distant end. — J. Jenner Weir, Beckenham. 
