Abstract
LONDON. Entomological Society, September 4.—Captain H. J. Elwes, Vice-President, in the chair.—Prof. C. H. Fernald and Mr. C. J. Fryer were elected Fellows; and Prof. C. V. Riley and Dr. A. S. Packard were admitted into the Society.—Mr. G. T. Baker exhibited two remarkably dark specimens of Acronycta ligustri taken near Llangollen.—Dr. P. B. Mason exhibited and remarked on a collection of Lepidoptera which he had recently made in Iceland. The following species, amongst others, were represented, viz.:—Crymodes exulis, Triphæna pronuba, Noctua conflúa, Plusia gamma, Larentia cœsiata, Eupithecia scoriata, Mclanippe sociata, Coremia munitata, Phycis fusca, and Crambus pascuellus.—The Rev. Dr. Walker also exhibited a number of Lepidoptera, Diptera, and Hymenoptera, recently collected by himself in Iceland.—Mr. W. White exhibited, on behalf of Mr. G. C. Griffiths, a specimen of Nephronia hippia, Fab., var.gæa, Feld., which he believed to be hermaphrodite. He also exhibited, for comparison, a female of the same species. A discussion on hermaphroditism ensued, in which Mr. Distant, Captain Elwes, Mr. McLachlan, and Mr. Baker took part.—Dr. Sharp exhibited specimens of Cychramus luteus and fungicola, Auct., and stated that they are the sexes of one species, C. luteus being the male, C. fungicola the female. In working through the Central American Cychramini, he had found that in some genera the males differed greatly from the females in size and sculpture; but this was not a constant character, for in some species, while certain males scarcely differed from the females in these respects, others were so different that they would scarcely be recognized as belonging to the same species.—Mr. E. A. Butler exhibited specimens of Platymetopius undatus, from Ewhurst, Surrey. He remarked that the species was recorded as having been once previously taken near Plymouth by the late Mr. J. Scott.—Mr. G. T. Baker read a paper entitled “On the distribution of the Charlonia group of the genus Anthocharis.” Mr. Baker stated that the species of this small division of the genus Anthocharis formed a very natural and closely allied group, presenting many points of interest, both in their relationship to each other, and in their geographical distribution, which extended from the Canaries on the west to the valley of the Indus on the east. The author's theories as to the causes of the present distribution of the group, which were based on geological data, were discussed by Captain Elwes, Mr. McLachlan, Mr. Distant, and Mr. Stainton.—The Chairman read a paper entitled “On the genus Argynnis,” which gave rise to a discussion in which Mr. Distant, Mr. Jenner-Weir, and Prof. Riley took part.
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Societies and Academies. Nature 40, 562–563 (1889). https://doi.org/10.1038/040562b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/040562b0