1880. J 223 



The other account is given by Kaltenbach (Pfl. Ins., 274). Ac- 

 cording to him, F. Eppelsheim bred the insect from hirvse feeding in 

 September on the yellow flowers of JSu^Ieurumfalcaf urn, hut no details 

 are given. 



Dr. Rudow, in his revision of the German species of AUantus 

 (S. E. Z., xxxiii, 137) expresses the opinion that disjmr (Jlavipes), arcua- 

 tus and Schcefferi are all varieties of one species, which he would name 

 marginellus, Pz. He says that the larvae of the three species just 

 mentioned are coloured alike, being of a green colour, which varies in 

 intensity. Before pupating they are brownish, often bearing brown 

 spots. He found them on Alnus, JJmhellifercB, and Achillea, but always 

 immediately before spinning up, so that he was in ignorance of their 

 precise habits, and he seems to be even in doubt as to the particular 

 food plants. There can, however, be no doubt that Jlnv2j)es, arcuatiis, 

 and Schcpfferi are all good and distinct species, and may, I believe, be 

 readily identified by the characters 1 have noted in the table. 



There seems to be considerable ambiguity about cingulum, zona, 

 and zonula. Eudow (J. c.) is of opinion that the last two are not dis- 

 tinct, and he appears to consider the first also as a variety of the same 

 species, which he would name bicinctus. Fab. To my mind, however, 

 cingulum is quite distinct from zonula, zona being easily known from 

 them by the blackish tegulse, &c. I have never seen any specimens 

 that I could refer to zonula, but it would seem, from Thomson's de- 

 scription (Hymen. Scand., i, 261, 7), to be a good species, readily 

 distinguishable from zona by the 7th abdominal segment having no 

 yellow band, while the four front femoi'a have no black on them. 

 Cingulum, again, has the 7th segment banded with yellow, while it has 

 all the femora black. The species I regarded formerly as zo7ia must, 

 I think, be A. 4-cincfus, Thoms. (Hym. Scand., i, 258, 3). I have, 

 however, no specimens at hand ; but, according to the description I 

 made from a specimen I had from Mr. Smith, it had the " head and 

 thorax opaque, punctured," which agrees well with Thomson's de- 

 scription of 4<-cinctus, while it had also the posterior tarsi and apex of 

 tibife reddish, while zona has these black and the mesonotum smooth. 

 The body-coloration in both species is the same. My impression is 

 that the puncturing was much less rugged than it is in 3-cj?2c^ms, next 

 to which Thomson places 4>-cinctus. I find, too, that I have described 

 the wings in Mr. Smith's specimen as " infuscated at the apex," which 

 is the case with the last mentioned species, and not apparently with 

 zona. I appear to have satisfied myself that the zona in Stephens' 

 collection was correctly named ; but the general coloration of it and 



