28 VAHlteTtfcS OF NOCTUA3 



that these specimens were bred from larva) taken at large with those 

 of D. conspersa and D. capsincola, and not bred from ova. It is well 

 in formulating ideas from results obtained from larvae taken at large, 

 to remember Guenee's warning, and his remark that " the most dis- 

 tinct species have larva? which can scarcely be distinguished, e.g. albi- 

 macida, conspersa and capsincola, especially when one finds them, as 

 they frequently are to be found, feeding together on the same plant " etc. 

 ( Noctuelles,' vol.vi., pp. 17-18). Mr. W.F. de V. Kane writes:" I have 

 collected D. capsophila in very considerable numbers from time to 

 time, and also bred them from the N. S. E. and W. of Ireland, and 

 have seen numbers of the Isle of Man specimens ; and there is abso- 

 lutely no approximation to carpophaga that would puzzle any but a 

 tyro. D. carpophaga, however, is a variable species, and sometimes the 

 darkest specimens look to an experienced eye like worn carpophaga, 

 but it never, so far as I have seen it, acquires the true colour " (' Erit. 

 Kecord ' &c., ii., p. 273), whilst Mr. Murray writes : " I hold the 

 opinion of Mr. Kane as to D. capsophila and 1). carpophaga being true 

 species. I have caught and bred many hundreds, I may say thousands, 

 of both, and have seen no carpophaga so near capsophila, as those from 

 our own coast, yet there is not the slightest puzzle in picking these 

 out, by anyone really knowing the species. I consider we have many 

 species much more difficult to distinguish than these (' Ent. Record ' 

 &c., vol. iii., p. 8). Mr. Eobson writes of capsophila : " Very similar 

 to the last species, (carpophaga), but darker and not so much of an 

 ochreous-brown in colour. Some have considered it to be merely an 

 Irish form of carpophaga, and Mr. Birchall, who was in a position to 

 speak with some authority, suggested, as previously mentioned, that 

 it might have i 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.' From Ireland, he supposed 

 it to have reached the Isle of Man, where the specimens taken are still 

 darker. I have no personal experience of the matter, and can only 

 speak from my limited acquaintance with the species in my own and 

 other collections. The objection I see to the suggestion, is' that, as 

 already said, in carpophaga, the paler and darker shades preserve a 

 relative proportion to each other whether the specimen be dark or 

 light. In capsophila, on the contrary, the paler markings are distinctly 

 brighter than they are even in examples of carpophaga, that are not 

 nearly so dark as those of the other species. Besides this, capsophila 

 was first taken, not in Ireland, but in Switzerland, and was figured by 

 Duponchel some years before it was found in Ireland. It also occurs 

 in Spain and elsewhere. The Spanish specimens are said to be nearly 

 black with the markings white, in which respect, therefore, it still 

 more forcibly contrasts with dark examples of carpophaga. The habits 

 of this species in some respects resemble those of its congener" 

 (* Young Naturalist/ vol. iv., p. 182). Much, therefore, as I am in- 

 clined to fall in with the hero worship we generally give to the 

 opinions of Mr. C. G. Barrett, I am inclined to disagree with him 

 about these species, and believe capsophila to be sufficiently well 

 differentiated from carpophaga to be kept distinct in our collections. 



Dianthcecia, Bdv., carpophaga, Bkh. 

 This species is perhaps the most variable in the genus. The 



