CURRENT NOTES. 127 



of the ordinary appearance of the females of the summer emergence of 

 the latter insect, of which I possess a very large number. It is much 

 to be regretted that in most cabinets that I have examined, the widely 

 different forms which appear in spring and summer respectively, are 

 not placed in separate rows. In my youthful days, the distinction 

 was always made, because the spring emergence was called F. napi, 

 and the summer F, napa. — J. Jenner Weir, Chirbury, Beckenham, 

 Kent. 



Arctia PLANTAGiNis VARS. — Mr. Wm. Reid's note {Ent. Record, 

 vol. iii., p. 57) on Arctia planiaginis, in Scotland, is very interesting. 

 It seems that in Scotland, at altitudes over 2500 ft., the variety hospita 

 takes the place of the typical form, and that the latter is not to be 

 obtained so high up. In Switzerland, we get both forms flying together 

 at considerable elevations. I have taken both forms in the Upper 

 Engadine at about 7000 ft., and they seem to be very common there. 

 I also obtained one specimen somewhat like hospita, but with the 

 black markings much more predominant, giving the insect a very dark 

 appearance. In " The Lepidoptera of Granbiinden," the type is said to 

 occur at over 8000 ft. elevation, and to be " characteristic of our 

 alpine meadows," besides occurring lower down. With regard to var. 

 hospita, it says, "principally in the Alpine region, but also abundant 

 as low as 3000 ft. — Leonard S. Sellon, Davos-Dorfli. 



Dark Varieties of Diurn^ea fagella. — Of what I take of this 

 species at Swansea, about 10 per cent, are black in various degrees, 

 and these are all taken on a few elm trees in the Park — standing in a 

 little patch by themselves, the other trees, which are isolated, only 

 producing the ordinary grey type. I do not know whether this is a 

 case of " natural selection," as mentioned in Mr. Tutt's paper on 

 " Melanism and Melanochroism in British Lepidoptera," as the trees 

 of this group are rather stunted and very much exposed to the weather, 

 the bark being very black, making it extremely difficult to distinguish 

 the black ones at rest. — R. B. Robertson, Swansea. April, 1892. 



5^URRENT NOTES. 



This month's British Naturalist contains a portrait of that veteran 

 entomologist, J. W. Douglas, who is happily still amongst us and still 

 actively engaged in entomological pursuits. 



Two most interesting scientific papers appear in the current number 

 of the British Naturalist — " The Secondary Sexual Characters of the 

 British Coleoptera," by Dr. Ellis ; and " Butterfly Life before leaving 

 the Egg," by the Rev. H. H. Higgins. 



An excellent article on " Our rush-feeding Coleophorse," from Dr. 

 Wood, appears in the E.M.M. By different characters connected with 

 the structure of their ovipositors, he subdivides what we have before 

 known as murinipennella and ccespititiella into five species : — (i) sylva- 

 ticdla (flies in May), larva on Luzula sylvatica ; (2) alticolella (flies in 

 ]\x\y),\dLX\di on /uncus la7nprocarpus ; (3) murinipennella (flies in May), 

 larva on Luzula cainpestris and Z. multiflora ; (4) ccespititiella (flies in 

 June), larva on many kinds oi /uncus ; (5) glaucicolella (flies in July), 

 larva on many kinds oi /uncus, particularly y". glaucusS. 



