NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 289 



lowing seem to be of interest : — A female specimen of Pieris napi, 

 bred in the spring of the present year. The example is of full size, 

 but on the under side of the hind wings there is a curious partial ab- 

 sence of dark shading to the venation ; this only extends along the 

 nervures, and about half-way along the first median nervule, is rather 

 faint. Of Euchloe cardamines there is a female specimen with two 

 longitudinal irregular streaks on the under side of the hind wings, 

 extending from just inside the cell almost to the outer margin of the 

 wing. This was taken at Darenth last May, and on the day it was 

 captured only one other female and two males of this species were seen. 

 Two specimens of Vanessa urtica; reared from larvfe have unusually 

 vivid blue outer marginal spots ; these spots are larger than normal, 

 and somewhat wedge-shaped. Several more or less aberrant specimens 

 of Chrysophanus phlceas were bred in July this year. One is of a pale 

 golden colour ; two others are dark copper, tinged with purple on the 

 basal half; one of the latter has rather large blue spots before the 

 band on the hind wings ; a fourth specimen has abnormally long tails. 

 The best variety, however, of phlceas is a female example in which 

 spots 1, 2, 3, and 5 of the submarginal series are extended inwards, 

 forming conspicuous black bars ; 2 and 3 unite with the outer discal 

 spot. This aberration agrees very closely with an example figured in 

 Entom. xxix. 191. An interesting point in connection with these 

 aberrations of C. phlceas is that the females from which the ova were 

 obtained are described by Mr. Sabine as " exceedingly commonplace." 



CcENONYMPHA IPHI3 IN Brittany : A CORRECTION. — We havo scen the 

 specimens recorded from Brittany by Mr. Denis Turner as Gceno- 

 nympha iphis [ante, p. 246), and find that they are not examples of 

 that species but of C. arcania. The error in identification is to be re- 

 gretted, and with such an insect as C. arcania should not have occurred. 



Aberration of Arctia caia. — Mr. F. Hind, of Nottingham, found 

 an unusually pretty aberration of A. caia, resting under a hedge in 

 August last. The specimen is normal in every respect, except that 

 the ordinary cream-coloured markings of the fore wings are bright 

 yellowish buff, similar in tint to the hind wings of A. villica, but 

 perhaps hardly so yellow. 



Vagaries of the Season. — I can add some further information to 

 the interesting note on this subject [ante, p. 267), for on Monday, 

 Sept. 21st, I found a full-grown larva of Arctia caia feeding on 

 groundsel, which spun up in three days. Epinephele ianira was still 

 flying here — more than one, on Friday, Oct. 9fch. — Hugo Harpur 

 Crewe ; Stanleys, near Brockenhurst. 



Abraxas grossulariata : second Brood. — In the October number 

 of the ' Entomologist ' I recorded the fact of a larva of this moth 

 spinning up for pupation on Sept. 21st {ante, p. 266). I am glad to 

 record that it pupated, and that the moth emerged some time during 

 the night on Oct. 13th. The pupa remained for two weeks outdoors, 

 and for the other six days was kept in a warm room. The perfect 

 insect is a small one, as I expected from the size of the pupa, but is a 

 pretty specimen, having the third series of usually sub-confluent spots 

 on the fore wings almost forming an intensely black transverse band. 



ENTOM. — NOVEMBER, 1!'U3. 2 A 



