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IV. Incidental observations in Pedigree Moth-breeding. 

 By Frederic Merrifield, F.E.S. 



[Bead December 5th, 1888.] 



*The experiments in hereditary moth -breeding which I 

 reported last December are continuing. Of the broods 

 there mentioned the forced illunaria have come to an 

 end under circumstances I will describe ; the sleeved 

 illunaria are continuing in the A and M lines only, 

 the Z line having failed, and the illustraria are con- 

 tinuing in all the three lines A, M, and Z. Without giving 

 any detailed account of these experiments, — an account 

 which will be more useful if deferred until they have 

 been continued for some generations longer, — I propose 

 on the present occasion to mention some facts, inci- 

 dentally observed in the course of them, which appear to 

 have a bearing on questions lately much discussed 

 among naturalists, and may be of interest to members 

 of the Society. I venture to hope also that my state- 

 ments may elicit suggestions which will be of assistance 

 in the further prosecution of these researches, and may 

 thus peihaps prevent time from being wasted in pursuing 

 them in directions not likely to yield valuable results, and 

 save me from doing what more qualified observers have 

 done before, or are doing much better than I can. 



End of forced illunaria. — When my last paper was 

 read on the 7th December, 1887, I exhibited some 

 larvse of the fifth generation of the year (reckoning the 

 first generation as ending with the moths captured in 

 the spring) of forced illunaria. At that time the larvse 

 numbered about 250. Only about thirty emerged as 

 moths, and these appeared between 26th December and 



* In some cases where the paper as read stated only 

 general results, I have instead of these given full details, so as to 

 enable others to judge as to the inferences to be drawn from them. 

 These, with some additional explanatory remarks, are distmguished 

 by brackets. 



TRANS. ENT SOC. LOND. 1889. PART I. (MARCH.) 



