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XVIII. Notes on an extraordinary race of Arctia mendica, 

 Linn. By Geoege T. Pobbitt, F.L.S., &c. 



[Read July 3rd, 1889.J 



Plate XIV. 



It will be remembered that a year ago, — on July 4th, 

 1888, — I exhibited, at a meeting of this Society, a long 

 and curious series of 25 male and 19 female specimens 

 of Arctia mendica, which I had bred from a small batch 

 of eggs found on a dock-leaf. Of this series only 

 about eight (including both sexes) approached the 

 ordinary type of the species. A representative series 

 of these specimens are the subjects of the first eight 

 figures on Plate XIV., and an account of them has appeared 

 at p. 39 of the 'Entomologist's Monthly Magazine' for 

 July, 1888. I failed in an attempt to obtain eggs from any 

 of these specimens ; and as it did not occur to me 

 that another attempt from casually found eggs would be 

 likely to produce equally interesting results, I had no 

 thought of further carrying on the experiment. How- 

 ever on June 7th my friend Mr. G. W. K. Crosland 

 made a search for the species, and exactly on the same 

 spot where the previous year's eggs were collected he 

 found two female moths and another small batch of 

 about 50 eggs. One of the moths — which was very 

 strongly marked, much indeed like the most striking 

 of those bred last year — having deposited a large batch 

 of eggs, Mr. Crosland very kindly gave me the little 

 batch he had found on the dock-leaf. From these I 

 reared 47 larvte, which during the week ending on May 

 14th last produced 45 moths, of which 22 were males 

 and 23 females ; and a more extraordinary series of 

 moths from so small a batch of eggs I never saw. The 

 10 specimens I have picked out for my cabinet series, 

 including the palest specimen bred as well as the 

 darkest, I exhibit this evening, and they also form 

 the subjects of the ten lower figures on the Plate, which 



TRANS. ENT. SOC. LOND. 1889. — PART III. (oCT.) 



