"^^ AND ^^ 





JOURNAL OF VARIATION. 



No. 12. Vol. III. December 15th, 1892. 



THE GENUS ACRONYCTA AND ITS ALLIES. 



By Dr. T. A. CHAPMAN. 

 {Contimied from page 253.) 



|HE pupa oi Diloba cceruleocephala (PI. IV., fig. 5) is 18 

 mm. in length, brown, sometimes darker, almost 

 purple, or black, and with a bloom like Cosmia 

 trapczina or Halias prasinana, cylindrical, tapering 

 from the 6th abdominal segment, which is rounded, but for an 

 anal armature (seen dorsally), of a bat's-wing or fish-tail outline. 

 This ends in two points on either side, one in front of the 

 other. There is a minor point in the ventral aspect of the 

 anterior one. There are also four spines on either side, one 

 quite on the dorsal aspect and three lying in a line between 

 the ridges leading to the points. The general surface of the 

 pupa is finely wrinkled, but dorsally it is rough, with numerous 

 raised points. 



There is a slight ridge along the dorsal hind margin of the 

 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th segments. The incisions of the free seg- 

 ments are darker than the rest of the pupa and very finely 

 shagreened. There are two very minute hairs at the base of 

 the antennae, two in front between the eyes, and a rather longer 

 one above the ist spiracle. Each segment appears to have a 

 pair of dorsal hairs, of which that noted as near ist spiracle 

 is the first ; they are more dorsal afterwards, and extend to 

 the i2th segment. 



Affinities of Acronycta. — In Diloba ccernleocephala we have 

 a species that is very difficult to locate, but I can see but very 

 little affinity to Acronycta in any of its stages. The egg has 

 a similar form, but the sculpturing is very different, the larva 

 has no Acronyct characters, the pupa has some remote resem- 

 blance in anal armature to Bisidcia, and is certainly not very 



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