328 Miscellaneous. 



Z. tephropleura of Gould, from Lord Howe Island, but the 

 latter species can be readily distinguished from the spring 

 plumage of Z. ccerulescens by its bright yellow under tail- 

 coverts and by its larger and more robust bill. At the 

 Macleay Museum I have examined the type of Z. Ramsayi, 

 described by Mr, George Masters from s))ecimens obtained by 

 him on one of the Palm Islands lying north of Halifax Bay, 

 N.E. Queensland. It is a good and distinct species, with 

 olive-yellow under tail-coverts and a broad zone of white 

 feathers round the eye. Dr. iSharpe, from the description of 

 this species given in the ' Proceedings of the Linnean Society 

 of New South Wales ' *, considers it probably identical with 

 Z. westernensis ; but there is no question that the specific 

 character pointed out by Mr. Masters and the olive-yellow 

 under tail-coverts will prevent one when examining this 

 species from confounding it with the spring or summer 

 plumage of Z. ccerulescens or with any other Australian 

 member of this e:enus. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



On the Coloration of certain Insects of the Order Lepidoptera. 

 Bj' E.MiLE Blanchard. 



I HAVE made numerous experiments with a view to modifying the 

 colour of certain Lepidoptera ; these experiments have been made 

 more particularly on the biitterfly commonly known as the Peacock 

 ( Vanessa io), the most richlj' coloured of all our Lepidoptera. 

 Taking young caterpillars on the point of hatching from the egg, I 

 placed them in boxes under red, green or blue, and violet-coloured 

 glass. On the day of hatching no colour had undergone the slightest 

 modification. Individuals reared in complete obscuritj* were 

 hatched as brilliantly adorned as those reared in the full light. As 

 the larvae of the Peacock feed on nettles, the stalks of nettles, passing 

 through small holes in the bottom of well-closed boxes, were received 

 in vessels of water, so as not to need renewing very often ; when 

 changing became necessary, this was done in a darkened chamber. 

 Notwithstanding every care no alteration took place in any shade 

 of the wing of the butterfly. 



There is, however, one point of difference which appears well 

 indicated— the action of light. A small species of the genus 

 Vanessa, known by the popular name of Carte geographique, from 

 the pattern of its wings, has two annual generations. In the indi- 

 viduals the whole of whose metamorphoses take place in the summer 

 the wings are black : this is Vanessa prorsa. In the individuals 

 which pass the winter in the pupa state the wings are fawn : this is 

 the variety levana. — Comptes Rendus, Dec. 16, 1895. 



* Vol. i. p. 50. 



