ON BREEDING VARIETIES OF ANGERONA PRUNARIA. 37 



female and not varieties, and affords farther evidence, if such 

 were needed, of the variable nature of pruiiaria ; also what 

 anomalous forms are likely to result from long and continuous 

 experiments with this moth. The larvae I received from the 

 same friend in tlie autumn of 1885 were from the progeny of an 

 ordinary male and an ordinary variety of the female, which 

 progeny he informed me comprised as many varieties as types, a 

 notable peculiarity with the banded forms being that in the 

 majority of cases the bands were much interrupted, extremely so 

 in some instances. The perfect insects resulting from the larvae 

 given me were three ordinary males, eight ordinary females, five 

 speckled variety males, and three banded variety males, — total, 

 nineteen ; the greatest proportion proving typical forms. View- 

 ing the result, however, as regards the effect of sex on offspring, 

 it will be seen that three only were types of the male and none 

 of the female parent, the effect generallj^ being that the male 

 varieties resembled the female, and the typical females the male 

 parent; but this cannot be considered a fair criterion, as the 

 remnant of the larvee, about thirty, died during hybernation. 



I would observe that during the whole course of these experi- 

 ments the males were more numerous than the females. The 

 numerical superiority of the male is doubtless of frequent occur- 

 rence, and probably the rule with lepidopterous insects. 



In continuing these experimental crossings, I propose to note 

 carefully which sex in the parent the progeny most resemble, as 

 well as which sex most preponderates, as it is only by repeated 

 experiments and exactness of detail that reliable data can be 

 gained on which to base an opinion of any scientific value on the 

 subject of hereditary descent in insects. 



The foregoing remarks comprise all that is worth recording 

 concerning my experiments with A.prunai'ia to the present time, 

 unless the following description of the principal characteristics of 

 the female aberrant forms, referred to in my first notice (Entom. 

 xviii. 253), may be deemed of interest, viz., — First example: — 

 Colour of wings rich dark brown, with bright yellow transverse 

 central bands ; ordinary yellow spot at tip of fore wings, replaced 

 by a minute indistinct yellow dot ; no yellow markings near apex 

 or tip of hind wings, and but few on cilia of wings, lunated, 

 scalloped, or otherwise ; central transverse discoidal streaks 

 sharply and clearly defined. Second example : — Same as first. 



