NEW BRITISH SPECIES. 137 



specimens of the insect would be found. At last, after all 

 these weary years, the response comes to his query, but not 

 as yet, I fear, to his conviction. 



This Leucania bears a considerable resemblance in size, 

 cut, colour and markings to its congener L. comma^ but pre- 

 sents certain characteristic points of difference which at once 

 separate it from that well-known species. As its name im- 

 plies, an L-like mark is imposed upon its fore-wing, but it is 

 a ^* lower-case," not a '* capital," letter which is represented. 

 This hieroglyphic, conspicuous for whiteness and sharpness 

 of definition, is situated on the discoidal cell, running longi- 

 tudinally towards the base, but stopping short at the inner 

 third of the wing, whereas in L. comma, the corresponding 

 streak extends nearly to the thorax; then again the dark 

 curved dash below this is much less marked, and the inner 

 two-thirds of the costa are paler than in comma; and besides 

 these there are two somewhat fine but clearly expressed 

 whitish longitudinal lines near the middle of the apical 

 margin. 



The larva has been described by Treitschke. 



Mons. Guenee observes that the species is distributed over 

 the greater part of Europe, occurring in June and Septem- 

 ber, and is particularly common in the last-named month. 

 It sports itself in the evening, and shows an unmistakable 

 partiality for the juice of the grape, upon which it delights 

 to regale itself. Guenee himself is evidently at a loss to 

 conceive how a species so widely disseminated in his own 

 country should not sooner have been detected in Britain. 



The fortunate captor is a Mr. Parry, who thus records his 

 luck (Ent. 355) : — " I took a specimen of Leucania l-alhum 

 on the 18th of the present October at sugar in a wood near 

 Canterbury, and have sent it to Mr. Doubleday for the name." 

 Of course the naive way in which our Canterbury friend 



