60 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



either Continental or British, that I can find, is in Merrin's 

 ' Calendar,' which gives September, as well as the early spring 

 months. Neither has the insect been found heretofore inland, 

 except on the Continent, where it haunts bare places and 

 clearings of woods in certain localities of Central France and 

 elsewhere in April. There is considerable variation noticeable 

 among the Irish specimens, chiefly with regard to the basal two- 

 thirds of the male fore wing up to the first white bar. On the 

 dark ground in some examples there are distinct white dashes, 

 a i^air at the base, two pairs in the median area, and three 

 separate ones towards the apex. These vary greatly in size and 

 definition, and in some Ballycastle specimens are quite absent, 

 producing an approximation to the coloration of its congener 

 N. liispidaria. On the other hand, a considerable proportion of 

 those from Connemara have the wing entirely white, broken by 

 dark nervures, and costa, and three strigfe parallel to the outer 

 margin. 



BisTON HiRTARiA, Cli'vck. — Very local, and apparently never 

 numerous. Specimens have occurred at Wicklow (7^.) ; Farn- 

 ham ; Cavan ; Hollybrook, Co. Sligo {MisPi Jf.) ; Killynon, 

 Westmeath {Miss 11.) ; and a few at Clonbrock {R. E. D.), 

 Co. Galway. 



Amphidasys steataria, Hiifn. — Birchall records this from 

 Wicklow (probably captured by Mr. Tardy) ; and this has since 

 been confirmed by Mr. Maurice Fitzgibbon at Wooden Bridge 

 and Professor Hart, who bred several from pupae taken at Glen- 

 malure. It is also fairly abundant at Clonbrock, whence I have 

 a nice series of the ordinary, somewhat variable forms. Mr. 

 Francis Stawell has taken it at Mallow, Co. Cork. 



Amphidasys betularia, L. — Widely distributed, and often 

 abundant in the larval stage. I have seen no remarkable 

 variations from any Irish localities, except in a series bred by 

 Mr. Thornhill, of Castle Bellingham, Co. Louth, from local 

 larvpe. Of these the greater proportion are of the normal type, 

 but among them is one specimen of var. douhledayaria, and 

 several showing a tendency to the development of the black 

 spots ; one especially having large black costal blotches, which 

 run into a series of spots, forming irregular transver&e bands ; 

 the outer marginal area being also heavily blotched. Another is 

 strongly powdered with black on the basal and costal areas. 

 This is a very notable instance of the sporadic appearance of a 

 melanic tendency in this species, and it will be interesting to 

 observe whether the dark aberrations increase and supplant the 

 type more or less in an Irish country district whose atmosphere 

 is untainted by manufactory smoke, and not remarkable for any 

 abnormal rainfall. The moth has been taken also in the follow- 

 ing localities : Kingstown and elsewhere in the Co. Dublin ; 



