232 THE entojiologist's record. 



dark-pnrplish markings = ab. sui^'usa, Tutt. — About 10 or 12 per 

 cent, of the darker purplish -black marked forms among those bred 

 this year. 2. — Deeper orange-yellow form = ab. aurantia, Tutt. — 

 This year, for the first time, I bred about 10 per cent, of this form 

 from Surrey larvae." 



Mr. A. Adie Ualglish (Paisley) writes : — " Of the 40 specimens I 

 captured this year, all were of the pale yellow tone, only one having 

 a touch of orange in the colour. 1.— ]\Iost of the specimens were of 

 the pale yellow ground colour, with the usual red markings = 

 fulraijo, Linn. 2. — Three were pale yellow, with the central dot (one 

 of these has the subterminal line represented by a row of dots) = ab. 

 flavescens, Esp. 3. — Four have the ordinary red markings inclining 

 to a greyish-purple = ab. snfma, Tutt. 4. — One specimen is (as 

 before remarked) orange-yellow with typical red markings = ab. 

 aurantia, Tutt." 



The Eev. E. C. Dobree Fox (Castle Moreton) writes :—" 1.— 

 Our specimens of X.fidrat/o SiVe of the pale lemon colour, with red 

 bands =/»^'(///r*, Linn. 2. — We occasionally get the form Avith a 

 central spot only = a.h. ji a resccns, Esp." 



^Ir. Finlay (Morpeth) writes : — " 1.^ — The majority of specimens 

 in this neighbourhood are pale yellow with red markings =/»^'«//<;, 

 Linn. 2. — The aberration J^arescrns, Esp., is also taken here. 3. — 

 A few orange-yellow specimens also occur = ab. aurantia, Tutt." 



Mr. Whittle writes: — "I find that I have 21 specimens of 

 A^ fvlrai/o from Southend. Of these 20 are pale yellow, of which 17 

 are not strongly marked, and three have the dark band and markings. 

 The ab._//rt(v.s7r7?.s is not represented. Of the 21 specimens only one 

 is of the orange-yellow form." 



I trust our readers from other localities will give us summaries of 

 the proportion of the various forms they capture in their own districts. 

 —J. W. Tutt. 



Variation of Oporabia dilutata. — I have often observed this 

 species in the woods of Argyllshire and at Rannoch, but have never 

 noticed a decidedly dark unicolorous specimen. The usual form in 

 these places appears to be pale with many narrow transverse lines of 

 darker grey. Around Emsworth it is also common, and here the 

 paler lined form appears to be the usual one ; darker unicolorous 

 specimens, however, also occur. — W. M. Christy, F.E.S., Watergate, 

 Emsworth, Hants. 



On the distribution of the sexual forms of Noctua dahlii. — 

 The following summary will give some idea of the distribution of the 

 various sexual forms of AWtiia dahlii. It is Avell known, of course, 

 that the males of dahlii are usually chestnut coloured and mottled, 

 the female, purplish or reddish and less mottled. Yet, occasionally, 

 in some districts mottled chestnut-coloured females are to be met 

 with, and, on the other hand, occasionally, purplish-red males. For a 

 long time I have been under the impression that the Irish specimens, 

 both males and females, were almost entirely purple-red, but one 

 wants some detailed information before generalising. If our readers 

 will look over the specimens that they have obtained in various 

 localities, and will tabulate them under the same headings as are used 

 in the following table, the results are sure to prove useful. 



