PROCEEDINGS OF THE

ROYAL ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY

OF LONDON

SERIES G J O U R N A L O F M E E T I N G S

VOLUME 29 No. 1,1964

ORDINARY MEETING

WEDNESDAY, 4th MARCH, 1964, at 5.30 p.m. (Tea 5 p.m.)

AGENDA 1. Confirmation of the Proceedings of the Ordinary Meeting held on 15th January, 1964.

2. Announcement of Vice-presidents for 1964. 3. Recommendation of candidates for Fellowship. First reading.

4. Recommendation of candidates for Fellowship. Second reading.

5. Announcement of election of new Fellows.

6. Additions to the Library [see p. 41.

7. Admission of Fellows.

8. Exhibits.

9. Communications. 1. The Hon. Miriam Rothschild

(Elsfield Manor, Elsfield, Oxford) and

Mr. Bob Ford

Breeding of the Rabbit flea (Spilopsyllus cuniculi Dale), controlled by the reproductive hormones of the host

[&ISTRACT]

Maturation of the European Rabbit flea can only OCCUT on a pregnant doe rabbit during the latter part of pregnancy. Pairing never takes place normally on the body of the host. Within a few hours of parturition the fleas leave the doe for the nest, where they feed on the young rabbits, copulate and lay eggs. Subsequently, after an interval varying between 11 and 20 days, the fleas return to the doe. Should the doe again become pregnant these fleas mature their ovaries and lay eggs for a second time.

An attempt has been made to determine the factors which control both the accelerated feeding and defaecation associated with and preceding maturation, and maturation itself.

By injecting rabbits with Ambinon “B’, a commercial preparation of the anterior lobe of the pituitary, accelerated defaecation, maturation and egg-laying of the female flea was induced while feeding on non-pregnant rabbits.

Purified preparations of ovine prolactin and ovine luteinising hormone (from the National Institute of Health, Bathesda) were injected separately into infested ovarectomised doe rabbits with completely negative results. However the thyrotrophic hormone (“Actyron”, a commercial preparation) and extract of the thyroid gland, when injected into the host, initiated the accelerated defaecation associated with the onset of maturation, and stimulated ovarian development of the fleas. Experiments are in progress to determine whether fleas mature their ovaries on thyrodectomised pregnant does.

2

It must be emphasised that the development of fleas on experimental rabbits (including those undergoing pseudo-pregnancies after mating to vasectomised bucks) is most irregular. Only a proportion mature and lay eggs; after the accelerated defaecation stage some do not develop further, while others develop and then regress despite continued injections of Ambinon “B”.

2. Mr. G. H. Thompson (Department of Forestry, University of Oxford)

A film showing the biology of a number of British spiders A series of short educational films on the biology of spiders is being produced at the

Department of Forestry, University of Oxford. The films will portray the main ways in which spiders capture food, the different kinds of courtship, care of young, etc. From the 57 species so far filmed, sequences will be shown of seven spiders, all of which use silk to capture prey, i.e. Argiope bruennichi, Zygiella x-notata, Hyptiotes paradoxus, Linyphia triangularis, meridion saxatile, Segestria Jlorentina, Atypus afinis.

NOTICES April Meeting

The April meeting of the Society would normally be held on the first Wednesday, i.e. 1st April. However, as this date falls very close to Easter and may be inconvenient for a number of Fellows, it has been decided to hold the meeting one week later, on Wednesday, 8th April. The programme will include:

Mr. R. A. French.-Invasions of Britain by Lepidoptera in relation to wind trajectories.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE ORDINARY MEETING HELD ON 15m JANUARY, 1964 Professor V. B. WIGGLESWORTH, C.B.E., F.R.S., President, in the Chair

Present, 44 Fellows and 7 Visitors The minutes of the Ordinary Meeting held on 4th December, 1963, were confirmed and

signed by the President. The names of the following candidates for election were read for the first time: Mr. Karl

Edward Justin Bailey, B.D.S.; Dr. Binda Prasad Khare, M.Sc., Ph.D.; Miss Margaret Redfern, B.Sc.; Mr. Robert Colin Welch.

For the second time (taken as read): Mr. ClifFord Ashall; Mr. Henry Hyacinth Costa; Mr. Michael James MacQuillan, B.Sc., B.Agr., D.I.C.; Mr. Michael Francis Walker.

The Secretary read the names of the following newly elected Fellows of the Society: Mr. Mario Coluzzi, Stazione Sperimentale, Monticelli (Frosinone), Italy; Mr. Nabil Hussein Abd El-Hadi, Imperial College Field Station, Silwood Park, Sunninghill, Ascot, Berks.; Dr. Prabha Grover, 14, Park Road, Allahabad, India; Dr. William Gregson Hale, Depart- ment of Chemistry & Biology, Liverpool College of Technology, Byrom Street, Liverpool, 3 ; Mr. Christopher Frederick Hinks, 24, Pare-letta, Heamoor, Penance, Cornwall; Mr. John Huxley, 10, The Ridgeway, Enfield, Middlesex; Mr. M. Javahery, Imperial College Field Station, Silwood Park, Sunninghill, Ascot, Berks. ; Miss Kalwant Kaur, C/o Mr. D. Sigh, 4D, Sector 21A, Chandigarh, Punjab, India; Mr. Maurice Reginald Laver, 18, John Street, Kingston Square, Hull, Yorkshire; Mr. Martin Leslie Luff, Imperial College Field Station, Silwood Park, Sunninghill, Ascot, Berks.; Mr. Khalid Muddathir, Department of Agri- cultural Entomology, School of Agriculture, The University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1 ; Dr. S. N. Prasad, M.Sc., D.Phil., Department of Zoology, University of Allahabad, 115, Ashok Nagar, Hastings Road, Allahabad, India; Mr. John Quinlan, British Museum (Natural History), Cromwell Road, London, S.W.7; Mr. Christopher Giles Roche, F.C.A., 6, Aber- d e n Court, Aberdeen Park, London, N.5.