2i8 The Irish Naturalist. 



Proc. 7?. AS., 1S79, are rejected as erroneous or untrustworthy, while 

 others are adopted and incorporated. This sifting process is of the 

 greatest value, as a reliable basis is thus afforded upon which future 

 investigators can build. 



Against the omissions, Mr. Kane has ten species to add to Birchall's 

 list. These are Smerinthus tiliae, Sesia muscifomiis t Zygiena lonicera, Naclia 

 ancilla, Deiopeia pulchclla, Zeuzera pyrina, Macrogaster castanets, Heterogenea 

 limacodes, Dasychira fascelina, and Ptilophora plumigera. No less than six of 

 these are due to the work of Mr. R. E. Dillon at Clonbrock, County 

 Gal way, who also has published, in a separate list, his more remarkable 

 captures in that phenomenal locality. The occurrence of some of these 

 species in the West of Ireland is so startling that it is to be regretted 

 that the earlier among them were published by Mr. Kane, without the 

 name of their captor, thus giving an air of mystery to the records, 

 which might lead to doubt on the part of some. We observe, indeed, 

 that Mr. C. G. Barrett has not noticed them in his work, already re- 

 ferred to. It is now, however, a satisfaction to know to whom we are 

 indebted for the discovery of such rarities, and Mr. Dillon may rest 

 assured that the open publication of his work is well worth "the risk 

 of attracting undesirable collectors " which he deprecates. Startling as 

 some of these additions are, Mr. Kane's well-known carefulness is 

 sufficient guarantee that no mistakes have arisen through a mixing of 

 Irish with English or Continental specimens in Mr. Dillon's cabinet. 



Of these additions, the most remarkable is Naclia ancilla, an insect 

 which appears only in the "reputed" British list on the strength of a 

 single occurrence at Worthing in Sussex. The family — Syntomida — to 

 which it belongs is otherwise unrepresented in Britain. The circum- 

 stances of the capture, in an old oak wood, of Mr. Dillon's two specimens 

 lead Mr. Kane to regard this moth as a truly indigenous species, not — 

 as Deiopeia pnlchella for example — a chance visitor. The vast amount of 

 deforestation which Ireland has undergone has probably led to the 

 almost total extinction of many woodland insects, the few survivors of 

 which remain to be discovered in favoured or protected localities. Hardly 

 less remarkable is the discovery of Macrogaster castanece in Co. Galway, 

 considering that in Great Britain it is confined to the eastern fen districts 

 of Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. 



Mr. Kane has much of interest to record on the variation of certain 

 species in Ireland. It appears that all our " Galway Burnets " must be 

 referred to the var. nubigena, and that the typical Zygena pilosellct is un- 

 known in Britain, contrary to Birchall's opinion. Specially noteworthy, 

 also, are the remarks on the varieties of Spilosoma mendica and Cymatophora or. 



As with the butterflies, we give a summary of Mr. Kane's list of these 

 families of moths, with a few supplementary localities ; adding Hepialiis 

 lupulinus on Mr. Barrett's authority, and Nudaria senex, which Col. Part- 

 ridge has taken at Emiiskilleu (Ent. Mo. Mag., Dec, 1S93.) The number 

 of Irish species thus stands at ninety-five, or about sixty-three per cent, 

 of the British species. The proportion among the butterflies is very 

 nearly the same. 



