38 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



NOTES AND OBSEEVATIONS. 



Xylina furcifera. — I was much interested in the history (given by 

 the Editor) of the British specimens of X. furcifera (ante, p. 18). As I 

 was one of the earliest breeders of this beautiful insect, I should like 

 to add my experience of it. On Christmas Day, 1871, I received the 

 generous gift of eighteen eggs from Mr. Evan John, of Llantrissant, 

 Glamorganshire. The larva? hatched the following March. With some 

 difficulty I managed to feed them with bruised buds and bark of alder, 

 the tree not being in leaf at that early period of the year. I had the 

 singular good fortune of breeding the whole eighteen magnificent spe- 

 cimens, nine of which are in my collection now. — (Rev.) J. Greene ; 

 Rostrevor, Clifton, Bristol. 



Continental Locality for Lyc^ena (Polyommatus) arion wanted. — 

 I should be very grateful if any of your correspondents could tell me of 

 a locality on the Continent where Polyommatus arion is common, and 

 the approximate date of its appearance on the wing. I am anxious to 

 secure a number of females with a view to breeding this insect. — 

 C. Dallas; Lymington, Hants. 



The Basal Spot on Amphidasys betularia. — In the 'Entomologist' 

 for January, p. 16, Mr. J. Arkle asks whether the white basal spot is 

 confined to the females of Amphidasys betularia, as his limited experience 

 would seem to suggest. It will, therefore, interest him to know that 

 it is certainly not a sexual distinction. Of var. doubledayaria I have 

 thirty bred specimens (about equally divided between the two sexes) before 

 me as I write. In everyone of these the white basal spot is present, 

 thought it is, as a rule, larger and therefore more conspicuous in the 

 females than in the males, in which it is occasionally reduced to a 

 minimum. It is also present in both sexes of the typical form of the 

 insect, though, owing to the colours of the wing, it is not nearly so 

 noticeable as in the varietv. — Eustace R. Bankes ; The Rectory, 

 Corfe Castle, Dec. 31st, 1898. 



In reference to the note on this subject by Mr. Arkle (ante, p. 16), 

 we have a bred specimen of the black variety doubledayaria, a male, 

 which has the distinct white spot at the base of the upper wings ; and we 

 have also two females of the typical form with the basal spots present. 

 —J. and W. Hill ; Leek, Jan. 9th, 1899. 



Antennal Structure versus Genitalia. — In " Notes on the genus 

 Mamestra, Ochs., with descriptions of New Species" ('Entorn. News,' 

 ix. 240), Prof. Smith remarks : " The character of the antennal 

 structure is not so important as I believed at first, and would, if 

 strictly adhered to now, separate species closely allied. As it appears 

 now, the change from shortly pectinated to simply ciliated is so gradual 

 that no dividing line is possible, and the rearranged groups will, in 

 some cases, contain forms with simple and with pectinated antennae. 

 On the other hand, all the genitalic groupings have approved them- 

 selves ; and I am inclined to attribute increased importance to this 

 character in arranging the species of a large genus." 



New Work on British Lepidoptera. — Mr. J. W. Tutt is about to 

 publish, at the subscription price of 15/- per volume, an important 



