212 [October, 



believe, very little with the evolutionists. The facts appear to me to be of such 

 importance, that it seems worth while to make them as exact and complete as possi- 

 ble, and I have therefore strung together the following few supplementary observations 

 on the phenomena in the Midlands. 



Tephrosia biundularia. — I have a series of this species, quite unselccted, con- 

 sisting of ten caught specimens and eleven bred from one batch of eggs : of these 

 all the caught ones were taken during May and June, mostly at Sutton, two in 

 Wyre Forest ; the bred ones emerged chiefly during May, and the parent came from 

 a Warwickshire Wood. Of these, nine specimens (four caught, five bred) are of the 

 typical pale form, with the markings clear and distinct ; the remainder (six caught, 

 six bred) are dark, not of a uniform leaden hue, but dusted all over with smoky co- 

 loured spots, the markings almost obliterated, and with a pale subterminal line, usually 

 edged on the inner side with a darker line. The specimens vary, some being very 

 dark and with only the pale subterminal line showing, others paler and showing 

 more of the usual markings. The caught specimens were taken in 1887 and 1888, 

 and one very pale one in 1890 ; the others wei-e bred in 1889. 



Amphidasys betularia. — I have a series of fourteen quite unselected ; some 

 caught, some bred. Of these, four are quite black typical Doubledai/aria, three 

 were bred in 1888 (two Handsworth, one Knowle), and one in 1889 (Packington 

 Park) ; then there are two specimens in which the dark markings are about double 

 the usual size, marking a distinctly intermediate form — one was taken on The 

 Wrekin in 1887, the other bred from a Handsworth larva probably in 1888. The 

 remaining specimens are more or less typical, though one small male is a little dark. 

 This places the arrival of the black form in the Midlands at least two years earlier 

 than Mr. Barrett says, and I do not think either that we must call them " only casual 

 Bpecimens," as I have a fair proportion of my short series dark, and I know others 

 were taken about the same time. I believe that on Cannock Chase at the present 

 time the type is the exception, and I think that Mr. K.. Freer, of Kugeley, has taken 

 Doubledayaria there freely for years. 



Hibernia progemmaria. — I have four specimens ( c? ) of this species (two, Sutton, 

 1888, two Handsworth, 1889), in which the fore-wings are a uniform dark brown 

 with only a very faint trace of markings ; the hind-wings are paler and show the 

 markings, but are decidedly smoky in hue ; the thorax and abdomen are dark, but 

 not uniform in colour, somewhat peppered with light dots, but darker than the 

 type. I also have several other specimens taken about the same time and places in 

 which the dark colour has suffused only a portion of the wings, generally the basal 

 half; I also have two females (Handsworth, 1887 and 1889) with the bodies quite 

 black, and the wings also, excepting that the outside edges are paler. Somewhere 

 about this same date too (1888 ?) I distinctly remember Mr. E. C. Tye taking a 

 number of suffused specimens one night at light in Handsworth ; I cannot, however, 

 give further details of this. 1 have, unfortunately, not collected Lepidoptera of late 

 years, and so am unable to tell what proportion of dark forms to typical specimens 

 is to be found now, in this and the preceding species ; but 1 hope that Mr. Barrett's 

 article will lead to the recording of an increased number of facts, and enable us to 

 ascertain exactly the rate and extent of the change or evolution of these species. — 

 CoLBRAN J. Wainweight, 147, Hall Eoad, Handsworth: Seplemler \^th, 1895. 



