64 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



25th, 1909, Mr. Newman exhibited a Leucanid moth, taken at 

 Cranleigh, Surrey, that had been identified as favicolor, as 

 pallens, and also as straminea. The specimen had been examined 

 by genitalia experts, who reported that the specimen was cer- 

 tainly not straminea, but whether it should be referred to favicolor 

 or to pallens they were unable to say. Mr. Edelsten (Entom. 

 xliii. 34) records a specimen of favicolor, labelled " Hackney 

 Marshes, 2. vii, 05," that he detected in a series of L. pallens, 

 ex coll. Clark. 



In a detailed account of the life-history of Leucania favicolor 

 (Ent. Mo. Mag. xli. 77), Mr. Mathew compares the larvae of 

 favicolor with those of pallens, but up to the half-grown stage 

 found very little difference between them, except that the former 

 were of a rather " warmer colour, less attenuated, larger, and 

 more plump." In their last skin the larvae of favicolor were 

 " cylindrical, short, and plump, very slightly attenuated towards 

 each extremity, and their general colour was of a warm reddish 

 ochreous, and more resembling the larvae of lithargyria than 

 those of pallens, which are always of a more or less cold greyish 

 or putty colour with very slight tints of ochreous. The larvae 

 of favicolor, moreover, are considerably larger than those of 

 pallens, which are also much more attenuated, and more 

 slender " (p. 106). 



Mr. A. W. Bacot, to whom eggs of favicolor were sent by 

 Mr. Mathew, states in the same paper (p. 134) that he carefully 

 compared the larvae oi favicolor with those of pallens. He could 

 find no trace of difference in structure, nor in markings, only 

 some divergence in the general colour ; but here, he remarks, 

 " one was met by the difficulty of discriminating between how 

 much was individual and how much specific variation, as there 

 was considerable variation in this respect in the larvae of each 

 batch." 



With regard to the male sexual organs, important in questions 

 affecting specific rank, the opinion of Mr. F. N. Pierce may be 

 quoted. Referring to the type specimen of favicolor, he states : 

 " I can see no difference in the form of the genitalia of this and 

 pallens, except that favicolor is larger " (' Genitalia of the 

 Noctuidae,' p. 27). 



In the foregoing notes the more important facts connected 

 Viiih. favicolor are presented in the hope that entomologists in a 

 position to do so will endeavour to ascertain the insect's true 

 status. To arrive at anything definite in this matter it would, 

 of course, be necessary to veav favicolor from the egg, and to 

 have knowledge of both parents. The rearing oi favicolor from 

 ova oi pallens, or of pallens from eggs of favicolor is strong pre- 

 sumptive evidence of the male parent having been favicolor in 

 the one case and pallens in the other ; still, it would be more 

 conclusive if the male was known in each case. Mr. Crocker, 



