THE KILLING. AND PRESERVATION OF INSECTS. 381 



though in our melanic var. of D. ccesia it is obsolete, but tvelL 

 marked in its continental type. 7. The tufted abdomen. All 

 these are well-recogaised Dianthoecian characters ; but it still 

 remains a question what should be the strict definition of 

 luperina, given so indefinitely in such text-books as I have 

 reference to, and continental authors differing so widely in the 

 species included. 



DiANTHCEciA CiEsiA, Bork., var. manani, Gregs. — This species 

 is to be found in all suitable spots on the rocky coast-line of the 

 South of Ireland, from Hook Point to Dingle Bay, as well as the 

 Isle of Man, which possesses a distinctly Irish fauna, and 

 probably was once conterminous with or nearer to the now 

 subsiding east coast of Ireland. The cliffs of Antrim, Derry, 

 and Donegal still await investigation, little work having been 

 done there either by myself or others. As with our form of 

 D. luteaf/o, the Irish form of D. ccesia is distinctly melanic, the 

 greyish blue of the Swiss type being darkened to a dingy slate- 

 grey. Some of our specimens exhibit a parallel mottling to 

 that of Borkhausen's type, the ochreous central fascia being 

 reproduced by a paler suffusion, occasionally showing some 

 trace of yellow ; the basal patch and a portion of the waved 

 antemarginal band of the type being sometimes also suggested. 

 In the S.W. extremity of Ireland, on the Blasket Islands and 

 elsewhere, very dark blackish blue unicolorous forms occur. The 

 first capture of this species in Ireland in 1867 closely followed 

 Mr. Gregson's discovery of the insect in the Isle of Man, one 

 larva being taken by Mr. Warren Wright at Tramore, from 

 which he bred an imago, which was submitted to Mr. Birch all, 

 and notified in his Supplemental Irish List of 1872. No other 

 Irish records were added till 1883, when I had the pleasure of 

 taking the imago at Tramore and eleven other southern stations, 

 among which Minehead, Ballycottin, Eoches Point, Old Head of 

 Kinsale, Galley Head, cliffs near Glandore, Dursey Island, and 

 the Blaskets are the most notable. 



(To be continued.) 



"THE KILLING AND PEESERVATION OF INSECTS." 

 By B. Stafford-Chope. 



In the July number of this year's ' Entomologist ' (ante, 

 p. 205), a correspondent writes asking for information upon some 

 very important points respecting the killing and preservation of 

 insects. No replies to those queries have, to the best of my 

 knowledge, been forthcoming up to the present ; but I think this 

 subject should not be allowed to drop without some attempt being 



