VARIATION. 203 



dcseribt'd as cream-coloured, with scattered hrown spots. The liind- 

 winL!,s uorinal, if such a descri})tiou is apjtlicalile to so variable a species. 



Tile i)(»int wortli uoticiuy in tliese two aljcrratious is, that they 

 were reared uuder exactly tlie same couditious, ou the same lb(xl, iu 

 the same cage. The specimeus are now in the collection of Mr. A. 

 Cook, whom I am })leased to know has been rewarded for his kindness 

 and trouble. — Harry Moore, 12, Lower Road, Rotherhithe. Jane 

 21 tk 1898. 



Notes onT^niocampagiucilis vaus. uukescensand hkunnea. — Daring 

 the spring just past, I bred a series of the New Forest form of T. i/raciUs. 

 No doubt it is right to consider this a variety of T. (/larilis, but super- 

 ficially there are so many differences, that it is probably worth further 

 examination. The larva feeds on Mi/rica t/dlc, spinning together the 

 young shoots of that plant, and living within the tent thus formed. 

 Although several attempts have been made to find the ordinary form 

 of T. i/racilis on that plant, they have resulted in failure, and Tate 

 and myself have failed to feed up the New Forest form on sallow. 

 The only occasion on which I have heard of the latter feeding on 

 sallow was when Mr. Christy reared some thus, but his larvjo were, I 

 believe, almost full-fed at the time. So far as I can ascertain, the 

 imago has never been taken at large. It will not come to sugar, or to 

 sallow, nor, I believe, to light. Tate takes the larvje when very small 

 and breeds them through, but they are very delicate, both in the larval 

 and pupal stage. The pupa is very apt to shrivel in the winter. The 

 shape and size of the wings of the imago are more like those of T. intrrta 

 or T. stahilis than T. (/racilis, and some of the markings of the fore- 

 wings (especially the delicate pale line, the orbicular and reniform, and 

 the pale transverse line) are more like those of some specimens of 

 T. stabilis, than other Taeniocampid species. In colour of fore-wings, 

 too, this form more nearly approaches T. incerta and T. stabilis than 

 others of that genus. As a rule the fore-wings are red, but not of a 

 brick-dust red, like the Scotch specimens. The colour is generally, 

 especially in the $ , of a more heavy, vinous red, and even in the paler 

 (? specimens the red is of a tone rather crimson than yellow-red. The 

 form varies greatly in colour, and to some degree in markings, the 

 males being generally paler than the 5 . I have bred one $ almost 

 black, and another very pale sandy, but the majority of the ^ 

 specimens are a strong red colour, and the $ s a heavy, darker red. 

 I have never seen the ordinary form of T. ;/rai-ilis in the part of the 

 forest about Lyndhurst, where this form is taken, nor have I heard of 

 its being taken there. — J. C. Mobekly, M.A., F.E.8., 9, Kockstone 

 Place, Southampton. 



Mr. Moberly's notes on the red variety of T. iivacilis are very 

 interesting. It is very remarkable that the type will not eat Mijiiva 

 (jaie, while the variety will not eat sallow. How is one to account for 

 this on the theory that the red variety is a local race of the type '? How 

 did it start, and why did it take to Myrira i/alr, which it evidently does 

 not like when there is plenty of sallow in the New Forest ? If 

 the red form is a local race, it must be a very old one, and the common 

 ancestor must have had a greater liking for Mi/rica ijalf than the 

 present race of the type. Perhaps the Mi/rica tasted somewhat 

 ditl'erent then from what it does now. — A. Robinson, 13. A., F.E.S., 

 Sylvauhoe, Chislehurst. 



