THE ENTOMOLOGIST, 129 



not, and therefore deferred to Mr. Doubleday's judgment ; 

 but anyone having seen typical continental ctesia could tell 

 later specimens, '.vhen fine, were caesia at a glance, as they 

 are not blue, but suffused whitish, with a darker central 

 fascia, the stigmata well defined, and a row of dots outside 

 the fascia, &c. It is only because I took and bred above 

 twenty specimens, with little if any variation amongst them, 

 in May, and quite as many of the typical form later in the 

 season, that I ventured to give the permanent variety a 

 name ; and however much I may regret having done so, for 

 Mr. Parry's sake I must tell him it was named long before he 

 visited the Isle of Man in June. The variety being per- 

 manent, the name must be used when speaking of it, just as, 

 in speaking of Pieris Napi from the Swiss Alps, we say var. 

 Bryoniae, God., or of Anthocharis Siuapis var. Erysimi, Bork., 

 or var. Diniensis, Bdv. ; or as, now 1 have been so fortunate 

 as to obtain specimens of Vanessa Urticae from Havvkshead, 

 North Lancashire, without the two outer discal spots (said 

 to be ever present), we shall have to say var. Ichnusa, Bon., 

 the said form being common to Sardinia ; or perhaps I may 

 give a better illustration from some beautiful specimens of 

 Vanessa Prorsa, Linii., given me by Mr. Doubleday : here we 

 have the spring brood and summer brood so distinct-looking 

 that until recently Vanessa Levana, Linn., and V. Prorsa, 

 Linn., were never suspected to be father, mother, and their 

 children ; the one brood (V. Prorsa) being the colour of Li- 

 menitis Sybilla, with a light band like that species has ; 

 whilst the other {var. V. Levana) is the colour of a Melitaea, 

 without the slightest yellow or whitish band through the 

 wing, like its relative, but with a light mark on the costa, 

 like Vanessa Urticae ; whilst V. Prorsa at most has but a 

 small spot so situated. The specimen of Dianthoecia caesia 

 exhibited at the Meeting of the Entomological Society by 

 Mr. Bond seems to have been, like Mr. Parry's specimens, 

 light-coloured, if I may judge by the specimen in the Bent- 

 leyan collection (said to be like those exhibited), which I 

 remember well in Mr. Carter's collection doing duty as Polia 

 polymita, perhaps twenty years ago ; it was afterwards given 

 to Mr. Bentley by Mr. Carter, but I have no idea where it 

 came from. It will be seen from this that I believe in the 

 propriety of naming penuanent varieties (as such) or races, 



