a THE ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD. 



Bacot's is not inore than 38mm., but this is evidently a question of 

 treatment ; Mr. Kaye's of the first generation were smaller than this, 

 whilst Mr. Gardner's of the second generation are at least as large as — 

 perhaps Inrger on an average than — Mr. Bacot's and mine of the first. 

 On the whole, as in the previous brood, the brighter red clarki average 

 the largest. 



Brood C.^Here, as in the parent brood (A), there are no true 

 intermediates between the melanic and the non-melanic series ; where 

 there is any infuseation at all, it is well pronounced, and is participated 

 m by both pairs of wings. The total number of moths is 77 (Bacot, 

 73 ; Prout, 4), of which 52 (Bacot, 60 ; Prout, 2) are melanic, and 25 

 (Bacot, 23 ; Prout, 2) non-melanic. Thus Mr. Bacot obtained 68*5% 

 melanic, against 31 -5% typical, while my unfortunate brood (too few 

 to be of any use for generalisation) yielded half and half ; resulting in 

 a total percentage of roughly 67'53% melanics. 



Of the melanic section, about seventeen are ab. clarki, six or seven 

 being of the brighter phase {Entn)ii., xxii., pi. vi., fig. Cl), the rest 

 more mixed with black (reaching to Clark's fig. C2) ; two or three 

 others have still a suggestion of a bright red ground-colour but are 

 very strongly and handsomely marked with jet-black, leaving only the 

 clear red in the costal area, with scattered red scales elsewhere. The 

 remainder, as ni the parent brood, shade oft' very gradually into ab. 

 niijrcscem, indeed, the gradations throughout the whole melanic section 

 are very gentle. I am mclined to call about 20 or 21 intermediates 

 (ab. cnrtisii, Newm., Prout restv. = nifo-iU!in'scens, Tutt), though some 

 half-dozen might almost as well be placed with the extrenier form ; 

 six or seven are to be referred to ab. nii/rescens-'-. The ab. nu/m (with 

 black hindwings) is still not entirely reached, though one of my two 

 comes very near to it, having very glossy black forewings, with the 

 markings nearly obliterated, and strongly black-powdered hindwings. 



The " typical " series presents one or two features of considei-able 

 interest. Mr. Bacot's 23 consist of one with rather dark grey forewings 

 (ahnost agreeing in this with Clark's fig. D^ — conmjtia, Adkin, nee 

 HI)., yet certainly not " melanic " from my point of view)f , ten ab. 

 pallida (of very much the prevailing tone of Clark's fig. Al and A2, 

 though two or three have less of the red tint and more of the greenish- 

 grey) and twelve ab. (/risea (without exception rather strongly tinged 

 with pinkish, whereas less than half of the (/risea of the parent brood 

 took this peculiar hue). One of the last-mentioned dozen is decidedly 

 darker and, at the same time, pinker than the others — a pretty and 

 uncommon aberration. My two " typicals " are ntterli/ difterent from 

 any of Mr. Bacot's 23, one being a bright ab. nifescena, Tutt (Clark, 

 fig. Bl)|, and the other being also distinctly referable to ab. nifescens, 

 though somewhat duller and greyer. It is not a little remarkable that 

 three out of my four (these two and the very black one mentioned 

 above) should be different from any in Mr. Bacot's long series, and it 



* A few (five) of Mr. Bacot's more or less melanic specimens, which were 

 sacrificed for ova, are too much worn to classify with exactitude. 



t Described (i)i/ni) as ab. firiseo-fuxcu. 



I I may take this occasion to remark that I have now, thanks to the courtesy 

 of Mr. Gervase F. Mathew, seen a southern English example of this aberration. 

 There is one, virtually as brifiht as the Scotch ones, among some interesting forms 

 which he has sent me for inspection, taken in his own (the Harwich) district. 



