188 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



being " rampant." Whatever be the cause, it cannot be attributed to 

 smoke, and there are those who claim that we have not an excess of 

 moisture. 



Boarmia repandata. — The larva? mentioned (Entom. xxxvii. 74) 

 from mid-Northumberland were kept through the winter, as in the 

 case of A. nebulosa, but in flower-pots covered with gauze. They did 

 well until March, when they nearly all died off, and I only reared nine 

 moths (June 8th to June 18th), but beautiful specimens, well marked, 

 blotched, and dusted with brown-black on a grey ground — four males 

 and five females. The larva? showed signs of awakening from hyber- 

 nation on February 22nd, swaying to right and left, but not relaxing 

 hold of the withered sallow-leaves and twigs, which they grasped by 

 their anal claspers. Like A. nebulosa, they are night-feeders, and 

 prefer to spin up in dry moss. 



Abraxas grossulariata. — I had two dozen black larva), but the moths 

 reared were as typical as they well could be. 



Amphidasys bctularia. — A dozen of the green form of the larva, 

 taken in Delatuere Forest, all produced the black variety of the moth 

 (doubledayaria) ; in fact, we appear to get the black form of this 

 species. 



Odontopera bidentata. — Common in Delamere Forest, on Scotch fir, 

 in September and October. The pine-feeding bidentata are very unlike 

 the smooth light brown larva? found earlier on birch ; they are rougher, 

 with tubercles. They vary in colour — sooty black, ochreous brown, 

 with dorsal diamond pattern, and reddish or dark green patches. The 

 moths reared from these pine-feeders show a marked tendency towards 

 melanism. I have a sooty brown, almost black, specimen. 



Bupahts piniaria. — Plentiful on Scotch fir, Delamere Forest, in 

 September and October. On October 1st I took an example of the 

 yellowish olive-green form. 



Therafirmata and Kllopia f»'osapiaria = fasciaria. — Very common on 

 Scotch fir, Delamere Forest, in September and October. They are 

 then very small, and hybernate on the branches among the foliage, but 

 are difficult to bring through the winter in confinement. They are 

 best obtained after hybernation, in April, although their numbers are 

 then apparently thinned. 



Macaria liturata. — Fairly common in Delamere Forest, on Scotch 

 fir, in September and October. The usual colour is green, with 

 whitish yellow lines and stripes and reddish head. The last men- 

 tioned feature easily separates the species from the other pine-feeders ; 

 but there is a variety almost as common as the type, to the discovery 

 of which I am indebted to my friend Mr. J. Thompson, of Chester. 

 Some three or four years ago, to prove their identity, he placed twelve 

 in a flower-pot by themselves. The results were nine dark imagines 

 (var. nigrofulvata, Collins) ; two types and the remaining pupa died. 

 The following is a description of this variety of the larva : — Pale 

 pinkish grey or brownish, green entirely absent. Head dark purplish 

 black-brown, almost black. Lines and stripes as in the green form, 

 but paler grey than the general colour of the caterpillar. The side 

 stripes are interrupted by triangular patches of dark purplish brown. 

 The dorsal segment divisions are the same dark purplish brown. Legs 

 and clasuers brown. 



