52 

 APRIL 8th, 1920. 



Mr. S. Gordon-Smith, of Boughton, Cheshire, was elected a 

 member. 



On a communication from the Essex Field Club, a resolution 

 was passed strongly opposing the proposed enclosure of portions of 

 Wanstead Plats and Epping Forest. 



The special feature of the meeting was an exhibition and discus- 

 sion of Ih/sstroiiut [Cidaria) trnncata, introduced by Mr. R. T. 

 Bowman, in which Messrs. Turner, Newman, Mera, Tonge, and 

 others took part. 



Mr. Bowman dealt with the great resemblance between the 

 imagines of LK tnuu-ata and D. iniinanata. Seeing that practically 

 all our examples of immanata are caiti/ht specimens, it is important 

 that we should find a conclusive method of differentiating between 

 these two species in the imofio stage. He found that the second line 

 from the thorax has a very sharp and well-detined projection in all 

 examples of iiiimanata, whereas this line assumes the shape of an 

 irregular zigzag line without a definite projection, and is very 

 indefinite, often invisible, in the case of tnuicata. It was subse- 

 quently found that this distinction held good throughout the large 

 number of both species exhibited by Mr. Newman. 



Mr. Bowman stated that there are normally two broods of tnui- 

 cata in May, June, and August, but in the year 1917 he reared four 

 broods, the third emerging in October and the fourth in December. 

 He paired examples in August, 1919, but they failed to produce a 

 third brood, the larvae hibernating instead, with the result that he 

 was obtaining an early spring brood. 



The secnitd brood often produces var. coiniiia-votata, the yellow 

 form, but he did not know whether this variety was general through- 

 out the country. He had bred this yellow form from a ? taken at 

 Horsley, in June, and had caught it wild in Epping Forest in 

 August. Last year he bred about fifty imagines from a $ taken at 

 Witley, Surrey, but they did not include any yellow forms, all being 

 identical with the wild- caught $ . He had also bred a long series 

 of the smoked form, from Finchley, without the yellow form result- 

 ing. It would almost appear, therefore, that the yellow form var. 

 coiinna-notata is restricted to certain districts. 



The typical form from Finchley is a dark smoky form ; but Mr. 

 B. S. Williams last year captured a very beautiful form with adark, 

 well-defined, broad central band, this band standing out very promi- 

 nently owing to the adjacent areas being very light, almost white. 

 The central band reminds one of saffuDiata or picata. 



