ZONOSOMA (ephyra) pendularia. 275 



Under side, female. — The spots vary much both in size and 

 number. An extreme specimen has only discoidal spot on the 

 hind wings, the basal spots being absent on the fore wings, and 

 the row of spots inside the hind marginal row being also very 

 small and indistinct. I have many varieties leading up to this. 

 The ground colour of the under side varies from dark brown to 

 pale or yellowish brown, and on the fore wings to almost white, 

 the white form of under side generally coinciding with variation 

 of colouring of the upper side. 



Alton Barnes Eectory, Wilts : Sept. 30th, 1902. 



THE NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE FORM OF ZONOSOMA 

 {EPHYRA) PENDULARIA. 



By F. C. Woodforde, B.A., F.E.S. 



The object of this paper is to call attention to a remarkable 

 form oi Zonosoma pendularia, which appears to be confined to a 

 very small area in North Staffordshire. The typical form of this 

 species has a very pale, nearly white, ground colour, which makes 

 the insect almost indistinguishable when sitting on the white 

 stems of birches. In the variety under consideration the ground 

 colour is a slaty grey, rather closely approaching that of Z. 

 orbicularia, while the whole of the centre of the wing is filled 

 up with a rosy pink. This rosy coloured portion has no clearly 

 defined edges, but merges gradually into the ground colour. It 

 is very difficult to describe colouration of this sort where the 

 colours are thus suffused, so as to convey a clear idea of the 

 object under description ; and the Editor, to whom I sent some 

 specimens, has kindly promised to include figures of one or two 

 of them in the next coloured plate of varieties published in the 

 * Entomologist.' 



The habit of most of the species of the genus is to sit during 

 the day on leaves, and, although I have often seen Z. jnmctaria 

 sitting on the trunks, yet I have obtained far more by beating 

 the bushes. Z. porata and Z. annidata (omicronaria) seem 

 always to choose a leaf for a resting-place ; Z. pendularia, on 

 the contrary, as far as my experience goes, seems always to rest 

 on the stems, generally of small birches, but not unfrequently 

 on the trunks of oak-trees. Very few of the birch-stems in this 

 district of North Staffordshire are white, by far the larger pro- 

 portion being reddish brown, mottled with dark green by lichens. 

 On such a stem the type-form, which is almost invisible on the 

 white birch-trunks of the New Forest, would stand out most con- 

 spicuously ; whereas the form under consideration is extremely 

 hard to see, even when one is close, and looking at the very spot 



z 2 



