234 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



determination from Dr. Graham-Smith two females of Atractodes 

 exilis, Hal., hred from puparia of Onesia cognafa, Mg. (bluebottle-fiy), 

 the larvae of which were found to be parasitic on certain snails ; the 

 account of this will appear in ' Parasitology,' by D. Keilin. One 

 male of A. exilis, Hal., bred from a puparium of the Anthomyid 

 Dipteron Hydrotcea dentipes, Fab. One female of Atractodes tene- 

 hricosus, Grav., also bred from H. dentipes ; the account of these 

 will appear in the ' Journal of Hygiene ' by J. E. M. Mellar. The 

 Stilpnides is an obscure group, and one which has not been adequately 

 worked out since the appearance of Haliday's paper in the ' Annals 

 and Mag. Nat. Hist.' of 1839. Arnold Forster greatly complicated 

 their study by a ridiculously elaborate " Synoptische Uebersicht der 

 Gattungen und Arten in der Famihe der Stilpnoiden " (' Verb. Wien. 

 z.-b. Ges.,' 1876), and but little good work has since appeared on the 

 group. — Claude Moeley. 



Variation in Chrysophanus phl^as, Aeicia medon, and 

 NisoNiADES TAGES.— The following variations of C. phlcBas observed 

 by me in the past two seasons may be of interest : (1) 22 mm. in 

 breadth when ordinarily set ; each wing 8| mm. from base to apex. 

 Pale straw-yellow replacing the normal copper. Approaches ab. 

 ciiprinus, Tutt, in this respect ; the brown rather washed out. 

 Appears to be a combination of ab. minor, Tutt, and ab. cupirinus — 

 ab. minor -cuprinus (Burnham Beeches, August 10th, 1918). (2) A 

 slightly larger specimen, approaching ab. intermedia, Tutt (Mortimer 

 Common, August 21st, 1918). (3) ab. intermedia (same date and 

 locality). (4) ab. intermedia, but with distinct tails = ab. intermedia- 

 caudata (Weston-in-Jordans, August 11th, 1919). (5) ab. cujwinnus 

 very pale trs. ad alba, Tutt (Mortimer, August 21st, 1919). I think 



(1) must be unusually small, and Tutt says that (4) is unusual in 

 England. At Clevedon, Somerset, I have taken this year three 

 rather odd forms of Aricia medon : (1) Probably teratological, 21 mm. 

 Eight posterior wing well marked, but much reduced in size ; from 

 the base to the farthest point in the outer margin barely 5 mm. 



(2) 18 mm. in expanse ; might be called ab. minor. (3) Approaching 

 var. arta.rerxes, the black discoidal spots on the wings iDeing dis- 

 tinctly surrounded with white. [This rather suggests to me ab. 

 albiannulata, Harrison. — H. E.-B.] I also took a somewhat remark- 

 able pathological example of Nisoniades tacjes at Bradfield, Berks, 

 which was dull yellow all over, shading in places with brown scales. 

 — John E. Blackie ; The Vicarage, Windsor, Berks, September 8th, 

 1919. 



Attacus PROMETHEUS IN ENGLAND. — You may like to hear of 

 the extraordinary occurrence of Attacus p)rometheus at Ditton Park on 

 April 4th, 1918. The specimen is in my collection, and its appearance 

 is to be explained, I suppose, by importation of the pupa among 

 plants. — John E. Blackie ; The Vicarage, Windsor, Berks, September 

 8th, 1919. 



[As there were practically no imports of plants during 1916-18 

 the appearance seems to me due to an escape, possibly from a breeding- 

 cage, where successive generations of A. jJrometheus have been propa- 

 gated.— H. E.-B.] 



