Mendel's law of heredity. 19 



active work, and I had to content myself with looking and thinking, 

 but Monday found the sugar-pot at work, and P. f/laucinalis fairly 

 swarmed. I boxed 40 or 50, and filled all my boxes, while scores got 

 away. Two nights later I essayed to repeat the performance with a 

 greater number of boxes. Imagine my chagrin when not a sign of the 

 species was to be found. I was fairly nonplussed, the weather had 

 been grand, and yet here was a species in swarms one evening, and two 

 nights later not to be seen, while all the other species were in about 

 the same abundance as on the first night. Being exceptionally busy, 

 the autumnal larvae got a rest, but I saw during the daytime Aciclalia 

 marginepunctata dotting every lamp in the district, while a nice lot of 

 Calamia lutosa were found clinging to the reeds, with two or three 

 Charaeas (/raminis and Tapinostola fulva on the wing, when a search 

 was made for these species, just after dark. 



An afternoon and evening spent in and round the woods capping the 

 chalk downs in June gave a fair supply of such insects as llythia camella, 

 Ennycliia nigrata, Pyrausta purpuralis, P. aurata, Crambus pinetellus, 

 Larentia olivata, Triphosa dubitata, Selenia illunaria, Hypsipetes sordidata 

 (fine forms), and a few others. I only paid the ivy bloom two visits, 

 and saw nothing worth noting. One evening I felt considerably fogged ; 

 we went to an old castle, the walls of which were covered with ivy in 

 bloom, from which the pollen was falling in clouds with every puff of 

 wind ; it was an ideal night, but the only insects I saw were one 

 Anchocelis pistacina and a caddis-fly. A nice walk round Cobham 

 Park in the third week of November gave a fine series of Hybeniia 

 aiirantiaria, both sexes ; H. defoliaria, males only ; while Cheimatobia 

 bruniata hung in hundreds from the grass-stems, the fences, and every 

 imaginable place, and marched like soldiers up the smooth trunks of 

 the beeches and hornbeams in every direction. This, I think, finished 

 my entomological rambles for the year, and I think I can say I have 

 been nearly satisfied with the season of 1905. 



Mendel's Law of Heredity. 



By L. DONCASTEE, M.A. 



In the October number of the Entomologist's Record a paper appeared 

 by my friend Eev. G. H. Raynor, under the heading "Heredity Notes." 

 In it occur one or two statements which seem to me to be founded on 

 a misapprehension, and which I should like to correct. In Mr, Raynor's 

 statement of Mendel's Law he writes that a normal male paired with 

 an aberrant female, or vice versa, will give progeny of the first generation 

 which are all normal. This is not necessarily the case. In species 

 which follow Mendel's Law all the offspring will follow one parent or 

 the other (provided that both parents are "pure" to start with), but 

 only experiment can show whether the "type" or the "variety" is 

 dominant. For example, in Angerona priinaria the var. sordiata is 

 dominant, and a pure sordiata bred with a prunaria will give offspring 

 all having the sordiata character. So it is plain from the facts given 

 by Mr. Raynor that the var. comma-notata is dominant over the typical 

 C. trimcata. 



Secondly, in his statement of the law, Mr. Raynor says that when 

 first-cross young are paired together they will yield offspring one-third 

 of which are aberrant, two-thirds normal. The ratios are not one- 



