SOCIETIES. 209 



right. He also showed two bred examples of Cidana silaeeata, from 

 Morpeth ; both were very pale, and the markings were very indistinct 

 in one of them ; part of the brood emerged in August, and were dark, 

 the rest came out in the following May, and were mostly light. 

 Captain Thompson (on behalf of Dr. Buckell) : a long series of 

 Orrlwdia lu/ula ; they were bred from a batch of ova laid by a Hereford- 

 shire female, found by Dr. Chapman. The moths, as soon as their 

 wings had dried after emergence, crept under a piece of moss in 

 the breeding-cage, and remained concealed during the daytime. Mr. 

 Sauze : male and female specimens of Anthidmm manicatum (the 

 Hoop-shaver bee) from Deal. Mr. Tutt exhibited, on behalf of Mr. 

 W. F. de V. Kane, some specimens of Melitaea aurinia, illustrating 

 the var. praeclara, Kane, and the ab. hihernica, Birchall, and read the 

 following notes, which Mr. Kane had forwarded with the specimens : — 

 " The specimens sent consist of (1) Three specimens of M. aurinia 

 from Cromlyn, part of the batch out of which Mr. Birchall named his 

 ab. hibernica. Of these the 3rd is the nearest to his description. As 

 to the 2 , Mrs. Battersby has none in her collection two inches in 

 expanse, much less two inches three lines. Mr. Birchall says in his 

 descriptions: ' <? Fore- wings black, etc.'; ' $ Fore-wings fulvous' 

 and no mention of black on the wings. The damaged third is an 

 authentic specimen given by Birchall to the late Mr. S. R. 

 Fetherstonhaugh, of Dublin, apparently a ? var. scutica, and No. 



1 is a c? of the same." (2) " Four specimens of M. aurinia of my own 

 capture. No. 1 is from Wicklow, the best ab. hibernica I have ever taken. 

 Nos. 2, 3 and 4, my var. praeclara from Wexford, Kerry and Waterford." 

 Mr. Tutt, remarking on the specimens, said:— "There is no doubt 

 from Birchall's remarks in the E7it. Mo. Mag., vol. x., p. 154, that 

 he was not very conversant with the forms that M. aurinia takes, for he 

 considered the Scotch specimens to be the same as var. merope of 

 the Continent, on the strength of Staudinger's short diagnosis of 

 the latter ' alpina, minor, obscurior.' In the general information he 

 appends, he states that in Irish M. aurinia ' the fulvous spots on the 

 upper surface are largely replaced by white or cream-coloured blotches, 

 giving the insect at first sight the appearance of Melitaea cynthia ^ . 

 It is larger than English, and very much larger than Scotch 

 specimens of artemift, the wings of the female frequently reaching 2 J 

 inches in expanse.' So far as the remarks relating to size are 

 concerned, we must take Birchall's statement unless we charge him 

 with untruth. He gives, besides the general information mentioned 

 above — ' Expanse of wings, ^ 1 inch 4 lines — 1 inch 8 lines ; $ 



2 inches— 2 inches 3 lines.' The specimens from many localities 

 vary almost as much as this. The following is Birchall's description of 

 the male hibernica : — ' Alae superne nigrae, anticae maculis seriatim 

 dispositis fulvis ad marginem posticum, aliisque in medio plurimis 

 albis vel stramineo-albidis ad marginem interiorem coalescentibus, 

 liturara formantibus ; posticse fascia lata fulva secus marginem 

 posticum (exemplorum typicorum maculis fulvis margine postico nigro 

 angusto obsitis in varietate vel indiscretis-simis vel nullis) ornatae ; 

 svibtus pallide-fulvae, signatura simili at indiscreta.' ' $ Alee anticae 

 fulvae, seriebus macularum albarum vel stramineo-albidarum duabus, 

 interdum confluentibus faaciasque formantibus, fascia exteriore trans 

 alas posticas producta, notatie ; posticae ut in typicis, sed maculis 



