VAKIAtlON. 331 



Melanic aberration of Eupithecia virgaureata. — E. vin/aureata, 

 in this country, has a melanic form very much like the ab. an;itiicata 

 of E. albipunctuta, and, I think, just as worthy of a distinct name. 

 Mr. Richardson, of Weymouth, first showed me this form in his 

 collection, and at the same time kindly told me where he got them. 

 I have bred them from his locality, and also from this district, but in 

 each case sparingly, not more than four or five per cent. I should be 

 interested to know if the aberration has been found elsewhere.— H. W. 

 Vivian, B.A., F.E.S., Glanafon, Port Talbot. [There are some 

 interesting notes on melanic Eupitheciae in Pmc. of the Sth. London Sac, 

 1890, pp. 59-60 ; 1891, pp. 20-21 and p. 52.— Ed.] . 



Notes on the variation of British butterflies. — I have just 

 obtained Mr. Tutt's very interesting new work, British Butterjiies, 

 and, although it is a long while since I paid any particular attention 

 to the subject, I have jotted down the following notes : — Ghrjjso- 

 phanas phlaeas. — The very striking ab. fasciatus should surely have 

 been included. It occurs both in the European and American forms. 

 There is also a v. chinensis, Feld. Polyommatus corydon ab. minor 

 was named in Entom., July, 1889. P. bellargns, — Nothing is said 

 about the black c?', ab. niger, Entom., .Jan., 1889. Does Mr. Tutt 

 doubt the sex reference ? Pohjommatus icarus v. riifina (Oberthiir) 

 was described in 1894 (Etudes Ent., xix., p. 14, pL, vi., fig. 52). I have 

 not seen the description. Colias hyale ab. pallida. — This name was 

 used by Robson and Gardner, in their 1885 list, for a whitish-yellow 

 form of the female. Apparently Mr. Tutt must re-name his ab. pallida, 

 though I infer that he does not consider that of Robson and Gardner 

 to possess valid distinctive characters. Colias edusa ab. suffusa. — 

 This name was used previously for a form of C. edusa. {^ee Entom., 

 March, 1889). C. edusa ab. ? ohsoleta. — This is a synonym of 

 pseudomas, Entom., 1889, p. 26. Pieris rapae. — I do not know who 

 was responsible for the extraordinary "explanation " (Brit. Butt., p. 

 235) about this insect and P. protodice, but it is, of course, absurd. 

 The two insects are so different, that Scudder now places them in 

 different genera. Pyrameis cardui. — The small form is ab. minor, 

 Can. Entom., 1890, p. 57. To the list of food-plants of P. cardui 

 add Sphaeralcea angustifolia , on which I found a larva at Las 

 Cruces, New Mexico, May 26th. Also hollyhock, to which the 

 larvse are sometimes quite injurious at Las Cruces, I once found 

 a single larva on a chrysanthemum, close to some hollyhocks. Py- 

 rameis cardui is one of the butterflies which visit the flowers of 

 the plum-trees during the first half of April, in the Mesilla Valley ; 

 last year it was particularly abundant, and with it numbers of Peri- 

 droma saucia, another British insect, as well as several Heliothis 

 armigera, and a few Anosia archippus. The plum-flowers, besides 

 attracting these lepidoptera, were visited by a remarkable series of 

 bees, mostly Andrena, including many new species. Goenonympha 

 typhon var. laidion. — Another synonym of this is v. orcadac, Robs, 

 and Gard. C. pamphilus ab. pallida appears to be a synonym of ab. 

 albescens, B.ohs. and Gard., 1885. — ^T. D. A. Cockerell,F.Z.S., F.E.S., 

 Mesilla, New Mexico, U.S.A. [I am indebted to Professor Cockerell 

 for the synonyms which have been overlooked. There are some dozens 

 of named forms, possibly, occurring in various parts of the world, of 

 our British species, not included in the work mentioned. The MS. 



