VARIATION. 177 



in which the central band is reduced to a small spot. — J. H. D. Beales, 

 Arthur House, Margate. Jtdy 2^th, 1890. 



Melanthia ocellata var. — On June 5th, I captured at 

 Wimbledon, a var. of Melanthia ocellata, in which the transverse 

 median band is almost obliterated, the normal inner edge of the 

 band being indicated by a smoky line. — F. J. Buckell. July 2^th, 

 1890. 



Yellow var. of Tortrix viridana. — I captured a yellow variety 

 of Tortrix viridana. I see Wilkinson mentions a primrose var. of 

 viridana, always female, mine is female. — T. A. Chapman, Hereford. 



Local Form of Abraxas ulmata. — The form of A. ulmata, which 

 I have captured near Chatham {ante p. 109) is very unlike that 

 which, in 1828, I captured about two miles from Bewdley in 

 Worcestershire. The Chatham specimens vary in the following way : 

 They are smaller; the ground colour of the anterior wings more silvery 

 white, and there are fewer clouds ; the fringes of the hind wings also 

 silvery white and not* bordered with brown. I understand the same 

 form occurs near Woolwich ; but a Worcester correspondent says that 

 only the large form exists in the Museum there. It is strange that 

 the localities where I have captured the large form have always been 

 near fresh water, and those where I have captured the small near salt 

 water. Can there be any connection ? — J. Tyrer, Jeffery Street, New 

 Brompton, Kent. August, 1890. 



[I do not see that any connection exists between the forms of the 

 species captured and the different localities, as far as the influence of 

 salt and fresh water is concerned. In Durham, specimens of extreme 

 size (large and small) occur in abundance in the same locality, and with 

 every apparent extreme in the quantity and depth of coloration of the 

 clouded markings. My specimens from the Midlands are all com- 

 paratively large, and those from Kent all comparatively small, but 

 perhaps this is more apparent than real owing to insufficient material 

 for comparison. — Ed.] 



Melanippe fluctuata var. neapolisata. — M. fluctuata varies some- 

 what on the Continent, but not so much as in Britain. The variety 

 was named and figured by Milliere. When sending me Milliere's 

 extract. Professor Blachier wrote : — " Milliere has found in and near 

 Naples, this obscure variety of fluctuata. Finding it interesting, he 

 figured the $ in the 'Iconographie, vol. iii., pi. 131. Last year, I gave 

 him one of the two females which you had sent to me in October, 1886, 

 and it is this female that he has figured in the Annates de la Societe 

 Entomologiqiie de France, 1887, pi. v., fig. 7. Cidaria fluctuata varies 

 much. It is necessary, however, to consider as the type those specimens, 

 of which the colour of the wings is of a whitish grey, with three black 

 spots on the upper wings ; the first at the base of the wings, the second 

 as large, placed on the costa, the third small, also on the costa. Var. 

 neapolisata is distinguished from the type by the darker colour of all four 

 wings, which are sometimes of a blackish brown, sometimes of a smoky 

 yellowish brown. In the upper wings, the second spot is continued 

 almost to the inner margin in the form of a more or less complete 

 band." The species has been found in several localities besides 

 Aberdeen, among others, Glasgow, London, Clevedon (Somerset), 



