110 [April, 



present, and, perhaps, for ever, if tliis be true, the cause of such irregular develop- 

 ment must be hypothetical. In Nature there is always a reserve of power — a 

 capability of replenishing exhausted force, and renewing action in one way or another. 

 In insects we see this, for instance, in undeveloped bees and ants, the stage to which 

 the ordinary workers attain being sufficient for the race ; but if occasion arrive 

 which requires a different condition of life, development is not arrested in so many 

 individuals as usual — the reserve is brought forward. So it may be as to the 

 development of wings in Velia — and doubtless in other insects — that the law of 

 Infinite Wisdom, under which the creatures ordinarily exist without wings, has 

 latent power for the production of these organs when they are to become necessary 

 for the welfare of the race, either in removing the individuals to better localities, or 

 in taking them to mingle with other stocks, and so prevent deterioration. I say, 

 when the wings are to become necessary, for they must be prepared in the penultimate 

 state, and the creatures can have no prescience or will of their own in providing for 

 tiieir unknown future." 



I am very glad to see this interesting subject again brought under notice, and 

 although it is admittedly difficult to investigate, I trust the consideration of it may 

 result in bringing out some fact which may help towai-ds its elucidation. At 

 present, we may say, " Omnia exeunt In. mysterium." — J. W. DoTJGLAS, 153, Lewis- 

 ham Eoad, S.E. : March 9th, 1891. 



Hepialus velleda in, abundance in Somerset. — Mr. Bidgood, Curator of the 

 Taunton Museum, informs me that some years ago two young collectors living in 

 West Somerset, near the border of Exmoor, brought to him considerable numbers of 

 Hepialus velleda, which they had taken in the Exmoor district. Some of these were 

 in the Museum collection. I have not previously heard of this species in abundance 

 in the south or south-west, ah hough casual specimens have often been recorded. — 

 CuAS. G. Barrett, 39, Linden Grove, Nunhead : March, 1891. 



Hcsperia lineola in Somerset. — When at Taunton a few weeks ago I looked over 

 a small collection of Lepidoptera, and found in the short series under the name of 

 Hesperia linea two specimens of H. lineola. These specimens were previously un- 

 recognised, but were almost certainly taken in Somersetshire, and the species evidently 

 has a wide range with us.- — Id. 



Black variety of Phigalia pilosaria at Gainsborough. — My friend Mr. M. F. 

 Burton, of Gainsborough, recently captured a black variety of this species in a wood 

 near Gainsborough, and wrote to me as follows concerning it : — " I found it on the 

 bole of an oak on February 15th ; it was a rich velvety-black all over, except the 

 lines on the upper wings, which were brown. It was one of the most beautiful 

 insects I ever met with, but was much injured by a collector to whom I gave it, who 

 killed it with ammonia, and allowed its wings to get rubbed. It is now in my pos- 

 session, and I much regret I ever parted with it. I occasionally meet with black 

 varieties of A. betularia here — all females." Mr. Burton informs me that Ph. pilosaria 

 was exceedingly abundant in the wood on the day above mentioned, and that he 

 saw another very dark, but not black, variety. — W. W. Fowler, Lincoln : 

 March \Uh, 1891. 



