NOTES ON NEW AND RARE BRITISH LEPIDOPTERA. 131 



which must have presented a charming melanotic appearance 

 at the end of their journey. Then we have A. iSelene near]y 

 all black with a small patch of the ground colour in the 

 centre of either hind wing, a pale Vanessa urticcc, and speci- 

 mens of the same dwarfed by the heat of the preceding hot 

 summer, ns well as curious varieties of A. Iris, JR. comma, 

 L. Adonis, A,filipendul(e (witli orange instead of red ground 

 colour and otherwise), A. lubricepeda, D. capsincola (an 

 extraordinary monstrosity with one side like the type and 

 ihe other very different), transparent^, quercus $, &c., and 

 a gynandromorphous example of the last-named species. 



There is one more " variety" demanding special attention : 

 it is represented by a fine series of a black Tortrix bred from 

 beech masts by the Hon. Thomas de Grey, and has been 

 decided by Professor Zeller to be Carjwcapsa Juliana var. 

 The case is precisely analogous to that of a small so-called 

 vaiiety of Prays Curiisellus, of which Mr. Machin bred a 

 large number some years since, and which in the larval 

 state had, I believe, very different habits from those of the 

 typical Curtisellus. Mr. de Grey is not yet convinced that 

 his insect is not distinct from juUana, and here we leave the 

 matter in abeyance. 



We now come to those topics of interest which have 

 arisen during the past season. 



Vanessa cardui m^ith two Forms of Larva. 

 Having just done with Mr. de Grey's Carpocapsa, whose 

 striking peculiarities, if it be truly Juliana, must be mainly 

 due to change of diet, another question of the power of food 

 to produce variation comes uppermost. In this case, how- 

 ever, the modification takes place in the larva — that is, if the 

 phenomenon be due to food at all. At p. 297, vol. vi. Ent. 

 Mo. Mag. Mr. Buckler describes for us, with his intuitive 



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