254 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



important part pla3'ed by the electric fluid in the creation of 

 varieties. Here is still a vast field for exploration." 



With reference to the above notes I can scarcely deem it 

 probable that electricity can be a " chief agent in the 

 variation of Lepidoptera;" it is quite possible, however, that 

 so delicate a blue as that of Lycaena Adonis might be 

 affected by the moisture of the atmosphere during a storm. 

 1 once took some specimens of Procris globularise but just 

 emerged, and then of a beautiful green colour; I placed 

 them in a damp box, and was surprised, when proceeding to 

 set them, that they were all of a dark bronze colour, but when 

 they became dry they resumed the bright green colour. Still 

 as the colour of Lepidoptera often does not arise from a 

 pigment, but varies, apparently, according to the direction in 

 which the light falls upon the scales, the same effect might 

 be produced during a storm in the mode in which the scales 

 overlapped each other. I once took, and still possess, a 

 specimen of Lycaena Icarus, in which one of the wings, as 

 compared with the other three, is decidedly of a more lilac 

 colour. I have also seen specimens of Procris statices, which 

 were of a bronze colour; but whether they emerged green I 

 am not able to say. I believe that most of the cases, if not 

 all, in which an attempt has been made to produce varieties 

 of Lepidoptera, by feeding the larvae on different kinds of 

 food, have yielded but a negative result. 



J. Jenner Weir. 



C, Haddo Villas, Blackheath, 

 October 13, 1876. 



Description of ilte Larva of Euryviene dolahraria. — 

 Length an inch and a half; head notched and rounded on 

 the crown, rather smaller than the 2nd segn)ent. When at 

 rest, with the mouth tightly pressed to the legs, the first three 

 segments much resemble a miniature dog's head, the head of 

 the larva representing the dog's nose, and the protuberances 

 of the 3rd segment the ears and crown of the animal's head. 

 Head reddish brown, assuming a mottled appearance on the 

 cheeks; 2nd and 3rd segments blackish brown, each increasing 

 in size, the 3rd considerably so, especially at the sides, giving 

 the larva when at rest the singular appearance mentioned 

 above. Body, beyond the 3rd segment, \\\i\\ the exception 



