1S73. 177 



Ilypermecia augustana, Wilk., the H. augustana, Hiib., cruciana. 

 Haw., Linn. (?), viminana, Guen. var. (of Doubleday's Synonymic 

 Catalogue) .■ — It is, indeed, a most variable species ; but tbat tbe 

 "basal patcb " seems always to be dusky greyish is unintelligible to 

 me, with a series of over 40 specimens before me, all bred from sallow 

 and willow growing on our coast : there are not two alike ; commencing 

 with light drab unicolorous specimens, they run down to dark rich 

 reds of various shades, — some specimens having acute, some rounded 

 wings ; some with a decided round dark patch or spot near the apex ; 

 some having the outer ordinary dark markings hardly developed ; 

 whilst others have a streaky dark mark beyond the triangular light 

 costal mark ; and in one or two, the rich red of the upper- wings 

 extends across the thorax. I breed great numbers of this species : 

 collecting the larvae in May and June in the terminal shoots of dwarf 

 sallow and willows, when I am in want of the larvae of Epliippipliora 

 epTiippana, &c. ; ill-fed specimens are very small, well-fed ones lai"ge, 

 but every degree of colour and markings pervades the broods bred here. 



Si/permecia augustana, Hiib. — Of this I know not anything ; but, 

 if so disposed, I should have little difficulty in picking out from my 

 series of specimens of cruciana, Linn., some which accord wonderfully 

 well with the description of this species. 



Antithesia (kSteph.) prcslongana, Gn. = sororculana, Zett. — We 

 shall have to adopt Zetterstedt's name for this species. I bred it 

 from larvae collected early in June, the perfect insect appearing at 

 the end of June ; the larvae fed on young birch trees growing on the 

 banks of Lake Windermere. 



Antithesia cynoshatella, Linn.- — This species feeds in the buds and 

 between united leaves of cherry trees, often defoliating the trees, in 

 May. 



Antithesia dimidiana, Sodoffsky, Bull. Moscou, 1830, I shall 

 adopt. — Like Mr. Chapman, I have bred this from Myrica gale; I 

 gathered the larvae in May and June (first week), and the moths 

 appeared at the end of the month. Eisley Moss, Formby Moss, Belle 

 Grange, Windermere. Bred specimens are always of a rich rosy. 

 colour. 



Antithesia marginana. Haw. — Wilkinson is not far A\Tong when 



he says " a rare species, and not variable ;" down here it is rare. 



1 When prospecting across from Belle Grange to Hawkshead in July, 



p870, 1 met with this species in plenty, flying with scores of Mmmelesia 



i<!iricetaria, Curtis ; I may say I took hundreds of both species, yet I 



