98 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



in cell 1 b (aual cell) remains ; otherwise the insect is typical 

 = ab. suhrianiia, n. ab. This form is intermediate between the 

 brownish-grey type and the quite black form of ab. salicis, Curtis. 

 The specimen is a female, and caught in the Palatinate." 



In ' Societas Entomologica,' xxiv. p. 59 (1909), Herr Gillmer 

 figures ab. sulirianjia, and quotes the original description, with a 

 translation thereof in German. In a footnote it is pointed out 

 that the outer transverse line is not so conspicuous as it appears 

 to be in the figure. 



A year or two ago Mr. T. Baxter, of St. Anne's-ou-Sea, 

 Lancashire, was good enough to send me a photograph (here re- 



AcRONYCTA RUMicis. — 1, aberration; 2, normal. 



produced) of an aberrant specimen of A. riimicis that he had 

 found on the golf-links in his neighbourhood on July 4th, 1905. 



This interesting example seems to be referable to ab. suJiri- 

 anna as described above. The only apparent difference is that, 

 whereas the basal area in siihrianna is stated to be black, this 

 area in the Lancashire specimen is traversed by a broad black 

 band which occupies only the outer two-thirds, the basal third 

 of the area being pretty much as in normal specimens. In the 

 figure of siiJirianna the basal area does not show wholly black 

 right up to the thorax. 



In his note, " Captures at Sugar in Yorkshire " (Entom. xliii. 

 p. 228), Mr. Bunce refers to one of the three specimens of 

 Acronycta alni as "strongly inclined to melanism." I lately 

 had an opportunity of seeing this specimen, and found it to be 

 an unusual (British) aberration of A. alni, closely approaching 

 ab. steinerti, Caspari. It may be briefly described as follows : — 

 Head and thorax blackish, the former narrowly edged with 

 greyish, the latter with a few greyish hairs. Fore wings brownish 

 grey, suffused with smoky ; black markings as in the type, but 

 the antemedial black line is rather broader ; postmedial and 

 submarginal lines a paler shade of the ground colour, the former 

 narrowly edged externally with black ; orbicular stigma of the 

 ground colour with black centre and outline ; reniform black 



