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JOURNAL OF VARIATION. 



No. 1. Vol. I. April 15th, 1890. 



THE GENUS ACRONYCTA AND ITS ALLIES. 



By Dr. T. A. CHAPMAN. 



HE genus Acronycta contains species that are indi- 

 vidually of considerable interest, and as a group, 

 presents many points of attraction, both to the 

 systematist and to the field naturalist. My own 

 attention was drawn to the group many years ago. In rearing 

 Siniyra venosa {ArsiloncJie albovenosd) , I felt convinced that its 

 relationship to Acronycta riimicis was much closer than was 

 recognised ; and the curious brotherhood of psi and tridens 

 alwavs had a fascination for me ; then, some years ago, in 

 rearing A . alni the variation of one specimen in the number of 

 its moults, a subject I felt interested in, made me desirous of 

 more closely studying the group. It is only recently that I 

 have been able to do so, and in these notes I propose to record 

 some of the results. 



So far as I know, no details such as I have brought together 

 of the earlier stages of the Acronyctid.e have been published 

 in England, nor, indeed, on the Continent ; but this is merely 

 a confession of my ignorance of Continental literature. The 

 imagines have been abundantly dealt with, and the full-grown 

 larvae will no doubt be exhaustively treated in an early volume of 

 Buckler's larvae. I have therefore rather passed these stages by 

 in recording my observations. As I gained knowledge and expe- 

 rience of the group I found that I had missed in those species 

 first dealt with, several points worthy of note, and of all, I am 



