172 THE entomologist's recokd. 



the 2ik1 moult. Tndeefl, had tliey become mixed, it -would have been 

 almost impossible to separate them, as the only noticeable differences 

 were matters of degree — those of shades of colour— N. negleda, becoming 

 sooner grass-green, and the white of the sjiiracular line being less 

 intense in it. Their structure and habits seemed identical up to the 

 time mentioned. The larva3 of N. negleda died off in a similar manner 

 to those of A. agathina, without any apparent cause. I may have kept 

 both too long in the conservatory, which, in the early part of the year, 

 often became excessively hot diiring the day, and the shelter I gave 

 them may have been insufficient. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES & OBSERVATIONS. 



Have we two indigenous species of Euohloe ? — Mr. Newnham 

 bases his differentiation of his suggested new sjiecies E. hesperidis, 

 entirely on characters presented by the imago ; his claim, however, can 

 only be admitted when he has proved by breeding exi)eriments that the 

 form to which he gives this name always breeds true and never pro- 

 duces the ordinary E. eardamines. Probably, all collectors have met 

 with small specimens of this latter species. Newman, in his British 

 Butterflies, p. 158, quotes the following passage from I'he Northuiuherland 

 and Durham Catalogue, by Mr. Wailes : — " The usual expansion of the 

 wings is one inch and eight lines to one inch and eleven lines, but in 

 the year 1832 none exceeded one inch and three lines ; and so marked 

 was the difference all over the country, that many were inclined to 

 consider the specimens as those of a distinct species. The following 

 season there was no departure from the normal size." Newman then 

 adds: -" In Gloucestershire this variation in size has been noticed by 

 Mr. V. K. Perkins both in male and female." Mr. C. G. Barrett 

 {E.M.M., vol. XXV., p. 81), thus writes: — " When living at Haslemere, 

 in Surrey, I used every year to meet with perfect dwarf specimens — 

 about one-half the normal size— in both sexes, and the males of this 

 variety were invariably the earliest sjiecimens seen, the normal males 

 appearing two or three days later. fSimilar specimens occurred casually 

 in Pembrokeshire, but were not noticed to be earlier than the rest. In 

 a marshy valley near Pembroke, in one season, I found several males of 

 ordinary size, in which the black apical crescent was more or less 

 suffused inwards, and in one specimen so much so, that the suffusion 

 affected one-third of the orange blotch, being blackest on the nervures. 

 This form was searched for in succeeding years without success." Mr. 

 T. D. A. Cockerell in an article on " The Variation of Insects " (Entovi., 

 vol. xxii., J). 176), calls this small form EucMoiJ eardamines var. minor. 

 With regard to the position of the discoidal spot at the juncture of the 

 orange and white spaces, it would be interesting if every reader of this 

 magazine would examine his series of normal-sized E. eardamines, and 

 let us know whether there is any tendency to vary, as regards the 

 position of this spot. The value of the wing-scales in determining 

 specific difference is at present very indeterminate, although it would 

 not seem unreasonable to regard constant and Avell-niarked differences 

 in their shape, as a character of consideralile importance. If, as has 

 generally been sujjposed up to the present time, the small specimens of 

 Euchloc are in reality a race of eardamines, which has probably been 



