NOCTUAS. 



387 



and must be so recorded." But subsequently 

 writing to me on the 24th of this present 

 October Mr. Birchall adds: " This insect k 

 the Irish representative of D. carpophaga, and 

 in my opinion only a variety of that species, 

 and reaches its extreme point of divergence 

 from the English and continental type iu the 

 Isle of Man. The difference between Capso- 

 phila and Carpophaga is wholly one of colour, 

 and only exists in the perfect insect, the 

 caterpillars and chrysalids presenting no 

 difference. As we travel northward in Great 

 Britain there is a gradual deepening of the 

 shade of colour from the clay-coloured almost 

 immaculate Carpophaga of the southern coun- 

 ties to the rich brown specimens obtained in 

 Argyleshire. Amongst the Irish Capsophila 

 an occasional dark brown specimen occurs, but 

 the colour of the majority is dark gray, and 

 the Manx specimens are usually still darker, 

 sometimes almost entirely black. The expla- 

 nation seems to be that the species has reached 

 Ireland by way of Scotland, and that the 

 effect of insular conditions has been still 

 further to increase the divergence from the 

 original type of the mainland. As respects 

 its natural history, the Isle of Man is certainly 

 an outlying province of Ireland, in many 

 respects Hibernior Hibernicis. Capsophila 

 occurs on the Irish coast from Belfast to 

 Waterford, but I have not seen or heard of it 

 on the Western coast, or in the interior of 

 Ireland. There have been records of its 

 capture in North Wales, but I have not seen 

 the specimens, and cannot say whether they 

 ought to be referred to Carpophaga or Capso- 

 phila" This species was first discovered by 

 Anderegg, in Switzerland. Guenee gives 

 " Alpsof the Yalais, neighbourhood of Digne," 

 and "Spain," as the continental habitats ; and 

 he describes the Spanish form " as much 

 darker than the Swiss, and almost black, with 

 the transverse lines very white and slender, 

 the wing-rays powdered with white, and the 

 underside very dark." This seems to militate 

 against the opinion expressed above by Mr. 

 Birchall ; and it is a remarkable fact that the 

 most northern and most southern examples of 

 the species are the darkest. 



616. The Lychnis (Dianthcecia copstncola). 



616. THE LYCHNIS. The palpi are por- 

 rected, the terminal joint very small and in- 

 conspicuous ; the antennae are simple in both 

 sexes : the fore wings are nearly straight on 

 the costa, blunt at the tip, and slightly waved 

 on the margin ; their colour is umber- brown 

 with sharply-defined paler markings; the 

 discoidal spots have a distinct pale circum- 

 scription, and they are connected at the lower 

 extremity by a pale wing-ray ; there is a very 

 irregular but very distinct pale line parallel 

 with the hind margin : the hind wings are 

 smoky-gray, the basal area being much paler 

 with the exception of the wing-rays : there is 

 a white spot near the hind margin, and nearer 

 the anal than the apical angle : the head and 

 thorax are variegated like the fore wings ; the 

 body is dorsal ly crested, and is tufted at the 

 extremity in the male ; in the female it is 

 conical, and terminates in a long and sharp- 

 pointed ovipositor. 



The CATERPILLAR rolls in a ring when 

 touched : the head is rather small ; the body 

 is smooth and attenuated at both ends : the 

 colour of the head is pale brown, and very 

 shining : of the body dingy brown, and 

 opaque, with a very slight indicat : on of a 

 medio-dorsal stripe, and having each segment 

 marked on the back with a somewhat obscure 

 smoke-coloured V-shaped mark, the apex of 

 which points towards the posterior extremity ; 

 near its apex each V encloses a small trans- 

 verse bar of its own colour, and at each ex- 

 tremity of each bar is a nearly circular dot, 



