172 [August, 



The litter harbours the beetles by day, and from it they sally forth at 

 night to attack the fruit. Thousands could be destroyed by turning 

 over the litter in the day time, and it might be possible to saturate it 

 with some substance that would render it noxious to the insects 

 without communicating any flavour to the fruit. This is a matter for 

 suggestion and experiment. 



Lewisham, London : 



Jidii \hth, 1897. 



DIANTHCECIA LUTEAGO, tab. BARRETTII, IN CORNWALL AND 



NORTH WALES. 



BY C. G. BARRETT, F.E.S. 



My friend Major A. Ficklin, returning a day or two ago from a 

 trip to the Land's End, Cornwall, has brought with him some insects 

 of unusual interest, in four specimens of Dianthoecia Bnrrettii, or to 

 be more strictly accurate, D. luteacjo^ var. Barrettii. These examples, 

 two of which, (J and ? , are in exquisite condition, are, with the 

 exception of a specimen taken some years ago by Mr. W. C. Boyd in 

 North Devon, the only known English examples of this curiously local 

 species. They represent a local race different from those hitherto 

 known, though leaning more toward the Irish variety than to the one 

 previous English specimen ; but the light clouding at the base of their 

 fore-wings, and also in the hinder area, is extended and of a di.stinctly 

 glaucous hue, while the pale middle cloud is less distinct, and the 

 broad oblique stripe consequently less noticeable. The hind margin 

 appears also to be slightly more dilated, and the fore-wings consequently 

 broader and more blunt, but this may arise in part from the perfection 

 of the cilia. All were taken at dusk hovering at flowers of Silene 

 maritima, and were the result of careful scrutiny of this attractive 

 plant night by night for a fortnight. It does not therefore appear 

 that the insect is more common on the Cornish cliifs than on those of 

 Howth. 



At the same time Mr. F. C. Woodforde has sent for examination 

 a fine female of the same species taken by him early this month in 

 Carnarvonshire, North Wales. This specimen is darker than any 

 previously seen, and without the tinge of purple in its brown colour, this 

 being replaced by a greyer black tinge, and the pale shades are scarcely 

 so large as in typical specimens, while the apex is certainly more pointed. 

 This is the first instance of which I have any knowledge of this species 

 in North Wales, and the specimen is of a form quite unlike that reared 



