440 LEPIDOPTEROLOGIE COMPAREE 



periods varying from two to five years. Zonaria, too, is not free 

 from this habit, although it rarely, if ever, lies over more than 

 two winters. Strange to say, ail of the pupae of merana yielded 

 their imagines the foUowing ycar at the normal time. The maies 

 and females appeared at about the same time. 



Imago. 



I. Mâle (PI. A, Fig. 8). — Although, in the original descrip- 

 tion, the insect was described as being like zonaria, I think that 

 this is a mistake. The ground colour is pure white and there is 

 no weakness of the scaling such a we see in lapponaria. Thèse 

 facts combined with the suppression of the newly acquired 

 speckling of red scales of lapponaria, cause one to thmk that the 

 insect resembles a very dark zonaria — an idea that is conhrmed 

 by the strength of the black markings. Close inspection, however, 

 proves that thèse markmgs and Imes are much nearer to those 

 seen in lapponaria, although those of the latter insect only show 

 up well, when it is pinned on a dark background. 



In the ground, lapponaria has a bright silvery patch between 

 the lines before vein i, and this patch is clearly seen in merana. 

 Along the costa, merana has a broad black band derived, not 

 from the pale band of zonaria, but from the deep red and black 

 one of lapponaria although a few yellowish scales are ail that 

 suggest the red. It is very like the broad black band along the 

 Costa on the undeside of lapponaria wings. 



The ûrst line is very much thickened, and is just the same in 

 shape as that in lapponaria, whereas that of zonaria is obsolète. 

 The bulk of lapponaria maies hâve the médian line and the 

 second one fused for almost their whole length and, therefore, 

 aided by the absence of the médian line in zonaria, merana 

 possesses a line, to judge from its thickness, combining the médian 

 and second lines. The path of the second line in zonaria is less 

 curved and strikes more obliquely across the wing than in lappo- 

 naria, and in this, merana resembles the latter species, although 



