SCIENTIFIC NOTES. 297 



In the Ent. Record, vol. vii., p. 303, Mr. Douglas C. Bate notes, in an 

 article on the Macro-Lepidoptera of Dulwich, that in the years 1898 

 and 1895 he fancied that C. (jlancata had a partial Brd larood. If 

 any one has captured undoubted specimens of such a brood, or bred 

 them, it would be interesting to know whether the specimens are dark 

 like the first, showing that these two forms are alternate, or like the 

 second. If the latter be so, the darker form of the 1st brood might 

 possibly be the result of passing the winter, that is to say, a period of 

 six months, in the pupal state, instead of a few weeks as in the case of 

 the 2nd and partial Brd broods. — J. F. Bird, The Lodge, Cowfold, 

 Sussex. AiKjust list, 1901. 



Dark aberrations of Abraxas sylvata. — This year, on the ground 

 where the so-called " blue " aberrations of Abraxas sylvata have occurred 

 during the past few years, we found even the type extremely rare, no 

 dark aberrations and not many pale ones, while the proportion of 

 cripples was enormous. It occurs to me that this aberration is really 

 a diseased form. As far as my experience goes it will not breed true, 

 and the large percentage of cripples both among the aberrations and 

 the type seems to suggest an enfeebled race, owing probably to some 

 purely local cause, while the fact that the species is evidently decreasing 

 in numbers, points to a similar conclusion. I had ova last year from a 

 dark $ , but though sleeved out from the first on a growing tree, the 

 larv.ne did badly, and those that did produce moths yielded nothing like 

 an aberration. I should like to see this question threshed out. — • 

 (Rev.) C. D. Ash, M.A., Skipwith Rectory, Selby. Juhj llth, 1901. 



Dwarf Lepidoptera. — One noticeable feature of the season has 

 been the number of undersized specimens taken wild. Several 

 Tephrosia crepuscnlaria (bitnididaria) have been much below usual size, 

 and a <? Amphidasys betularia ab. donbledayaria, at Sledmere, was a 

 veritable dwarf. A number of Anthrocera lonicerae pupae, collected at 

 Sandburn are yielding very small specimens. Larvas of Tlwcla pnini 

 also, which pupated within 24 hours or so of capture, have yielded 

 some very small specimens, and many of the Urapteryx samhncafa, 

 which are now swarming everywhere, are little bigger than some of 

 the Ptioiiia lutcolata that we get here. Has the dry season here any- 

 thing to do with this ? Strange to say, during the last few days, I 

 have netted in my garden two of the largest and brightest Pericallia 

 syrini/ana, a species usually rare with us, that I ever saw. — Ibid. 



Aberration of Smerinthus tili.e. — I had the good fortune to breed an 

 aberration of Swerinthus tiliae on May 18th last, from a larva taken the 

 previous autumn at East Dulwich. It is very similar to fig. 7 on plate A 

 in Ent. Record, vol. i., with the exception of the ground colour, which is 

 of a darker browai, and the markings near the tip of forewing are an 

 intense green. The band on forewing is replaced by a spot as in fig. 

 7.— C. W. CoLTHRUP, 127, Barry Road, East Dulwich, S.E. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 



Gynandro:morphous Epione vespertaria. — On July 13th, I bred a 

 gynandromorphous Epione vespertaria from a larva swept with others 

 in .June. The sexual dimorphism of this species is so striking that 

 the presence of both sexes in one specimen gives it a very curious 

 appearance. The left side is 3 and the right side ? . The specimen 



