50 
emerged. In one of the Reports above referred to the following re¬ 
mark occurs : “ The female does not fly, except diagonally downwards.” 
Those which I have bred did not seem to fly at all, but they occasion¬ 
ally fluttered about in the box in a manner remarkably like that of the 
female Silkworm moth. It is probable that in a state of nature the 
female flies late at night. 
The males, in common with those of the other species in the family 
Liparidce, “ assemble ” very freely. In connection with this I tried an 
experiment with the present species in my sitting-room, which is about 
II feet square. One day I found that three females had emerged in 
my box, and I put them close together on the mantel-board, and let a 
small male loose in the room. The window and the door were wide 
open, but he made no attempt to escape, and it was very interesting to 
observe the steady business-like way in which he searched about, care¬ 
fully investigating the corners of the floor and the ceiling, and working 
up and down the walls. The whole proceeding was in most striking 
contrast to the wild zigzagging flight above referred to. It took him 
about half an hour to find the females; I suppose this was because 
there was no breeze to assist him in localizing their position. I paid 
a brief visit to the Natural History Museum some time ago, for the 
purpose of looking up this species and its foreign allies, and was much 
struck with the very great similarity which many of the latter bear to 
0. dispar and Psilura monacha, several of them forming connecting links 
between the two. For instance, the male of Enome incerta —an Indian 
species—has wings almost identical with those of 0. dispar in colour 
and marking, but it has a pink body like that of P. monacha. E. 
japonica (from Japan) is simply a larger edition of 0. dispar, except 
that the female is more suffused with brown, and has only the V-shaped 
mark distinct. E. umbrosa —likewise a native of Japan—is also, in 
appearance, very closely related to dispar. The scourge of Massachu¬ 
setts is figured in the Reports on the table, and seems to be very near 
to the ordinary forms which we now breed, which I suppose are 
Continental. 
In conclusion, I regret that I have not any foreign types to show 
you, but I desire to thank those members who have brought their series 
here this evening to help to illustrate the paper. If I may venture to 
suggest some points for discussion, I think these two may be productive 
of some interesting opinions:—Why did Ocneria dispar become ex¬ 
tinct in this country ? and, Why are the wings of the female so well 
developed, supposing that they are not used for flight ? 
Mr. Tutt, in rising to propose a vote of thanks, said hat he would 
take the queries suggested by Mr. Nicholson seriatim. He. con¬ 
sidered that the reason why the species was extinct in this country 
was because it was not a native. Its whole history proved it to be an 
imported species even when it first became known. Thousands of 
specimens in all stages had been set loose in various parts of the country, 
but with the exception of an odd specimen here and there, no specimens 
were taken wild. Its abundance in the Fens for a year or two simply 
pointed to the care with which it was put out, and to the temporary exis¬ 
tence of favourable conditions. There were thousands of acres of land, to 
all intents and purposes fitted for its establishment here, but it—possibly 
the agriculturists would say fortunately—will not establish itself. With 
regard to the second jooint, he doubted the statements that the females 
