SOME MINOR BUTTERFLY ABEPRA1I0NS OF 1918. 251 



a very extraordinary effect. I suppose this stunted growth is to 

 be accounted for by the excessive abundance of the species, the 

 later, and possibly feebler, caterpillars finding a shortage of food. 



In many of the smaller moths (notably Tortrix viridana) the 

 late-comers are frequently starved to death through this super- 

 abundance of the species, and the oaks in many parts of 

 Huntingdonshire this year were a pitiable sight owing to the 

 exertions of this moth's caterpillars, the resulting imagines being 

 in such countless thousands that at every stroke of the beating- 

 stick it was impossible to see or do anything for some minutes — 

 nothing but viridana.' 



However, I had no occasion to complain of the abundance of 

 corydon, as it enabled me to take many fine aberrations. 



Ab. semi-syngraj)}ia does not occur here to any extent, but the 

 following forms made up for them : 



Several males with the " eyes " at the base of the hind wings 

 on the upperside topped, and more rarely filled, with orange ; a 

 handsome form with distinct black discoidal spots, and very 

 broad and dark borders to the fore wings. 



Another beautiful and interesting form was one in which the 

 male approached ab. fowleri, with the outer margins whitish 

 instead of black, and with the ground-colour of a much more 

 intense blue than typical, i. e. lacking to some extent the usual 

 silvery tint. 



Ah. fowleri is, I believe, supposed to be confined to the Dorset 

 coast ; if so, my capture should be worth recording. The form 

 also occurred to some extent amongst the females, but is in 

 their case the more striking on the underside, the fore wings of 

 which are whitish, instead of the usual pale chocolate, and the 

 hind wings rich orange-brown, with the " eyes " large and con- 

 spicuous. 



Before proceeding with the females, another upperside variety 

 of the male deserves notice. This has the fore wings rather 

 thickly sprinkled with blackish scales, which presumably have 

 overflowed from the outer margin. The effect, however, is not 

 very noticeable in some lights. 



Aberrations of the female were numerous, and some rather 

 extraordinary uppersides were taken having one pair of wings 

 heavily besprinkled with blue and the opposite pair plain brown. 

 In all cases the blue wings were somewhat smaller than the 

 others, although perfectly proportioned. Variation amongst the 

 spots of the underside in both sexes was practically nil. 



Hipparchia semele. — One brightly coloured but rather small 

 female, with an extra spot on each fore wing situated between 

 veins 1 and 2. 



Many of the undersides were fine, but very pale, and in some 

 cases almost unicolorous, differing greatly from examples from 



