1952 The Zoologist — December, 1869. 



walking by ibe river, noticed tlie bird, and as it appeared to be a strange visitor, he 

 procured some assistance and ran it down. It was in very poor condition, probably 

 having been driven inland by the rough weather of September, and only just able to 

 support itself in its new home. — T. A. Preston. 



Varieties in Lepidoptera. — Having for many years continued experiments on the 

 larva) of Arclia caja without any marked results, I this year tried another of a diflferent 

 nature. I selected the tortoiseshell butterfly, as one of the least variable species we 

 have, and I procured several broods of young larvae just emerged from the egg. 

 These 1 kept in a dark box until I had all ready, and then I divided each brood into 

 three lots, putting one-third into a box in my photo;; rrfphii; room, which is lighted 

 with orange-coloured glass, one-tliird into a box lighted with blue glass, and the venti- 

 lators carefully shaded, so that only light of a blue colour, could reach the larvae; the 

 remainder were put into an ordinary cage, in the nalmal, light. The latter fed up and 

 came out into butterflies in the usual time. Those i;i the blue light were not healthy, 

 and thuugh every care was taken at least fifty or sixty died before changing, and a 

 considerable number changed into chrysalides, alid then died: those that came out 

 into perfect insects were very much smaller than usual. Those lighted by orange- 

 coloured glass fed up very well, but many of tli^ two first lots had come out before one 

 of them changed into chrysalis; scarcely onaof them died, and I examined each one 

 before I allowed it to fly, to see what tfl'ecl !iad been produced. I retained a few 

 specimens of eacli lot, and now proceed to describe the difl'erence. Those reared in 

 the blue light differ from the ordinary form in being on an average much smaller; the 

 orange-brown is lighter in shade, and the yellow and orange run into each other, in- 

 stead of being distinct and separate. Tlio^-c roared in the non-aclinic or yellow light 

 are also smaller ; the orange-brown is .eplaced by a salmon-colour, the venation more 

 strongly marked, and the blue dashe- at the edge of the wings in the usual form, are 

 in these of a dull slatey colour. One evening 1 found about sixty butterflies out of 

 chrysalis, of those in the photogrannic room, and taking each one carefully I examined 

 them all and allowed them to fly; shortly afterwards I found the whole of them had 

 settled against the wall of the house, and ])resented a most remarkable appearance: 

 they remained there more th;in half an hour: the western sun was shining against the 

 wall, and it is not unlikely, when being suddenly brought from the red light where they 

 had spent all their lives to the bright daylight, they had been so dazzled as to act in 

 this peculiar manner. The results of this experiment do not show any very startling 

 change in colour, such ^s one would have expected from the known effects of light on 

 plants, and from the very much more strange varieties one now and then meets with, 

 which cannot have been subjected to such severe treatment: still when we consider 

 that even this difl'erence is caused in one generation, and in the course of a month, it 

 is a very suggestive fact, and leads one to think that light has certainly as much or more 

 effect on the colours of Lepidoptera than the difference of food, and might in a 

 long series of generations lead to very material changes in both form and colour, 

 and perhaps considerably modify our ideas of what constitutes a species. — Joseph 

 Sidebotham ; Manchester. 



E. KEWMAK, PEINTER, 9, DEVONSHIKE STREET, BISHOI'SGATE. 



