254 THK entomologist's recokd. 



19th of that month, and the third on the 31st. By June 27th all 

 that remained (about 24) had spun up. On -July 3rd a $ emerged, 

 and on the 11th five more $ s and one J ; on the 14th nine S s and 

 one 5 , and on the 16th two 3 s. Of the imagines which emerged, 

 the males were very dark, entirely suffused with smoke-colour. The 

 females, however, although they varied, did not show the darkening to 

 the same extent. One of the females had the right antenna ^ and 

 the left 5 . (2). The next subject of my experiments were ova of 

 ( 'losteru curtida, obtained from insects which were bred from larvae I 

 had found on poplars here the previous summer. The ova hatched on 

 .June 12th, and were fed on poplar. I was absent a good deal of the 

 time, so did not note the changes of skin. By July 20th all the larvae 

 (about 30) had spun up. On July 28th two imagines emerged, and 

 subsequently three or four others, but the remainder did not emerge, 

 and remained in the pupal stage all the winter. Of those which 

 emerged I did not perceive any variation in the colour. I paired a <? 

 and 2 in the cage, and ova were deposited, but did not hatch. I 

 think this due to the fact that the ova were deposited in a small card- 

 board box, and the box (from the moisture) became mouldy, and that 

 the eggs were thus affected, and I may add that I subsequently paired 

 a (? and $ of Cerura viniila in the cage, and that the ova also did 

 not hatch. It may be, therefore, that the moist atmosphere had a 

 deleterious effect upon the ova. I secured a nice lot of ova from the 

 L. monacha, which had resulted from the imagines produced from the 

 larvae on which I had made my first experiments, and with these I 

 hope to continue my investigations. From the foregomg, two facts 

 seem to strike me, viz. : — 



(1) That the males seem to be chietiy affected by the conditions under which 

 they were reared.* 



(2) That in the case of C. curtula the second or summer brood is suppressed. 



There is, perhaps, nothing new in Avhat I have set forth above, but 

 1 thought possibly the results might be of some interest as confirming 

 (or otherwise) the experiments of more experienced entomologists than 

 myself. I shall be very pleased to continue my investigations in any 

 line that any more experienced experimenter may suggest. — Arthuk 

 Hope Rydon, Awbrook, Lindfield, Sussex. 



* This fact seems to correspond with the temperature experiments conducted 

 by Professor Standfuss {vide, Entomologut, 1900, p. 283). 



^ ARI AT ION. 



Aberration of Dilina (Smerinthus) tiliae. — On May 22nd I bred 

 an aberration of D. tiliae, which seems worth noting. The ground- 

 colour of the forewings is rather lighter than usual, and the dark- 

 green fascia is totally absent, being represented by a small dark-green 

 spot in the centre of the wing just interior to the junction of the 

 upper and middle median nervules. The moth, which, by the way, is 

 a male, was from a larva found at Streatham, S.W., in September, 

 1900. Having no proper place to keep the pupa on board ship, I had 

 simply placed it in a tin box on cotton wadding and had kept it in a 

 very dry and warm place ; the heat and drought may very possibly 

 have caused the aberration. — T. B. Fletcher, R.N., F.E.S., H.M.S. 

 Gladiator, Mediterranean Station. June 15th, 1901. [This is 

 apparently referable to ab. rmtriininrta, Clark, Ent. Bee, i., p. 329, 

 pi. A, fig. 7.— Ed.] 



