10 THE ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD. 



three forms " sirigi/is normal, fasciimaila normal, and var. ca?ia." To 

 my mind there is no difficulty with these, it is with these indescribable 

 vars. where strigilis var. athiops runs into black forms of fasciuncula 

 that the difficulty comes. I am rather surprised, too, to find that Mr. 

 Tugwell does not know that there are distinct links h&tvitQn fasduucula 

 and var. cana, and I certainly think he is wise in not being prepared to 

 argue that there may nut be such links. Would it not have been wiser 

 to have neglected mentioning these until certain, and then argue to th'j 

 bitter end. I will finish by suggesting that if, as Mr. Tugwell says, 

 "it is beyond dispute that the nine specimens sent by the Rev. W. F. 

 Johnson from Armagh are all, what might well be called a strong local 

 form," there is no need to separate the "all" which make up one 

 " strong local form " into two species, " seven of which are fasciuncula 

 and two strigilis" — J. W. Tutt. 



Aberration of Arctia hebe.— I have in my collection of European 

 Lepidoptera an aberration of A. hebe, L., ? ^•^ ^'^^i ir^ excellent con- 

 dition, which differs from the typical form in a highly interesting 

 manner. The bands of the superior wings are ochreous instead of 

 white, and not bordered with dark. The small round basal spot is 

 wanting. The first band is small, unequal and in the upper part cut 

 through by the ground colour. The second band begins at the upper 

 margin with an oval spot, continues small and goes downwards, be- 

 coming gradually broader, the exterior margin being somewhat convex 

 in the middle. The base of this band is formed by an equally broad 

 spot of yellowish white colour. Instead of the third band there is near 

 the upper margin of the left wing an oblong and vertical little spot, 

 which is wanting on the right wing. The 4th and 5th bands are small, 

 the transverse line is broad, the inferior half of the 4th band is not 

 directed convexly inward, but goes almost straight to the inner angle, 

 whereby the inferior black spot appears small. The edge equally 

 narrow and black ; the inferior wings black without any trace of red 

 colour, the marginal spots and the middle band deep glossy black. 

 The undersides of the superior wings black, last and upper half of the 

 penultimate band and transverse line nearly as dark yellow as above ; 

 the rest of the delineation of the bands scarcely visible. Inferior wings 

 exactly as above. Abdomen brilliant bluish-black with velvet-like black 

 dorsal and lateral stripes, the space between the first and latter, coloured 

 with light red, the margin of the lateral stripes above as below and 

 have from the 2nd to the 6th segment a very small very red point on 

 each of them. The size of this specimen is that of the common ? . — 

 E. Kautz, Coblentz-on-Rhine. March, 1891. 



Varieties of Vanessa urtic^ and Zyg^nid^. — Some twenty 

 years ago I called on a picture collector who bred large numbers of 

 showy butterflies. He opened one box that had eleven pale yellow 

 tortoiseshells, all perfect but one. This had three wings, one top wing 

 being loose in the box. Before I could say a word, he took out this 

 one and crushed it under his foot. I said something — low, no doubt 

 — but he soothed me down, saying, take what is left. He did not value 

 them, as he said they were not right ones. He never bred any more. 

 Of the yellow burnets a friend of mine has four that he bred from 

 the Sunderland district. He writes me the place is now destroyed. 

 I had one bred by a boy near Thorley. I have a specimen more of an 



