46 THE ENTOMOLOCilSTS RECORD. 



to what the form really was that I exhibited. My description was as 

 follows : — 



Anterior wings fuscous-black ; beyond the middle of the forewing a bright 

 fulvous fascia or band, which extends also across the hindwings, the latter being of 

 the same coloration as the torewings. Scales around thorax greyish. The under- 

 surface of fore- and hindwings fulvous to the fascia. 



This form occurs not uncommonly in Delamere Forest, and is 

 disturbed by beating firs. It has also been taken at Rudheath, in 

 Cheshire ; also in North Staffordshire, in July, 1903, in a large fir- 

 wood. — J. Collins, 10, Pierpoint Street, Warrington. Non'inbcr 21st, 

 1904. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 



Proportion of the sexes in broods of Lepidoptera reared from 

 OVA. — (1) 1865, Caynptixjrawma Jiuriato — 31 bred — 14 <? and 17 ? ; 

 16 bred — 8^ and 8 $ (inbred)." (2) 1866, Knmmios tiliaria — 21 bred 

 —13 <? and 8 2 ; 1867, 105 bred— 35 ^ and 70 ? (inbred). (3) 1867, 

 Daai/cJiira pudibunda — 12 bred — 6 3 and 6 $ . (4) 1876, Corewia 

 munitata — 6 bred — 4 J and 2 $ . (5) 1876, Selenia illnstrana — 66 

 bred— 39 3 and 27 ? ; 1890, 12 bred— 6 <? and 6 2 . (6) 1886, 

 Emiomos autuwnaria — 61 bred — 30 3 and 31 2 • (7) 1886, 7)0/7/- 

 pltora nicndlca — 7 bred — 2 3 and 5 2 ; 1890, 45 bred — 23 3 and 22 

 2 . (7) 1890, Satnrnia pamnia {carpini)—61 bred— 43 3 and 24 2 • 

 As far as my experience goes I think the proportion of the sexes, under 

 purely normal conditions, is about equal, but should any great 

 struggle for existence take place the 3 is the first to succumb. These 

 few records from my notes are not of great value. I rarely recorded 

 the sexes of specimens bred, which is unfortunate. — C. Fenn, F.E.S., 

 Eversden House, Burnt Ash Hill, Lee, Kent. December 28t]i, 1904. 



Protective resemblance or Momaorion. — I was fortunate enough to 

 capture a 2 of this rare and beautiful insect in King's wood, Maidstone, 

 on June 20th, 1904. It was in repose on the trunk of an oak about 

 5 p.m. Its environment lent additional interest to the capture. Close 

 beside it were patches of a broad species of lichen (Par)nelia caperata), 

 whose nature it is to lie close to the bark and whose delicate green 

 shade is similar to the prevailing colour in XL orion. The plant creeps 

 over the tree in the form of lobes, of broken and wrinkled outline, 

 projecting themselves unevenly in all directions. Consequently, where 

 its margins meet, intermediate spaces of shadowed bark are left visible 

 beneath. These closely resemble the black markings on the wings 

 and thorax of the moth. It is further noticeable on closer examina- 

 tions that, whereas in the lichen the wrinkled surface causes faint 

 lights and shades to appear in the green, in addition to which its 

 extreme edges are tipped with a lighter shade of green than the rest, 

 in M. orion, white markings, mingled with the green, produce the same 

 delicately shaded effect. The resemblance of the insect to its 

 surroundings was so close, that it was difficult to distinguish between 

 them. May not this lichen, flourishing as it does especially on oak, 

 have done something towards preserving the species of M, orion, 

 especially where the latter may have been fortunate enough, on emerg- 

 ing at the base of the tree, to crawl up and rest beside it ? I am 

 indebted to Miss A. Lorrain Smith, of the Botanical Department of 

 the British Museum (Nat. Hist.), for kindly naming the lichen. — 

 George A. Crawshay, Leighton Buzzard. November dth, 1904. 



