VARIATION. 47 



special emphasis, that they are "just beyond the middle," which sug- 

 gests that he had not the true 0. hieracii before him. — Ibid. 



Crosspaieing of Vanessids. — Successful rearing of Zonosoma 

 HYBRIDS. — It may be of interest to your readers to know that during 

 the last summer I have paired Vaneiim to ^ with Euvanessa antiopa 

 5 , although the eggs were infertile. Similarly I obtained a pairing 

 of Vanessa io $ with Euijunia pulycliluron J ; the eggs laid went 

 through all the colour-changes usually associated with fertile ova of 

 E. polychloros, yet failed to hatch ; they appeared to have dead larvae 

 within the shell, much as one often observes in the eggs resulting 

 from a pairing of Amorpha populi ^ with Smerinthus ocellata ? . 

 With the hybridisation of the Zonosomas, however, I have been, on 

 the whole, during the past two or three seasons, successful. I 

 obtained pairings of Zonosoma orbicularia $ x pendnlaria $ , and the 

 reciprocal cross Z. pendnlaria $ x orbicularia 2 , Z. orbicularia ^ x 

 annulata ^ , its reciprocal Z. annulata 3 x orbicularia $ , and lastly, 

 Z. orbicularia g- X porata J . All these produced fertile eggs and 

 larvse, and, although those from the two last named crosses unfortu- 

 nately died when nearly fullfed, owing apparently to the very wet 

 weather that occurred whilst I was rearing them (they were fed in the 

 open in sleeves), yet the others produced imagines in due course, of 

 the first two of which I forward you specimens. — H. W. Head, Scar- 

 borough. December 20th, 1905. [We hope to describe these in an early 

 number. — Ed.] 



^^ ARIA T 10 N . 



OpISTHOGRAPTIS LUTEOLATA AB. albescens, CkLL. = LACTICOLOR, 



Harrison. — The pure white form of 0. (Rumia) luteolata( = crataeyata) 

 was recorded by Mr. Tero in FJntom., xxi., p. 15 (1888), and named 

 albescens by Cockerell on p. 113 of the same volume ; Mr. Harrison's 

 lacticolor {Knt. Bee, xvii., p. 338, 1905) will therefore sink as a 

 synonym. The " Research Section " of the " North London Natural 

 History Society " is devoting part of its attention to the bibliography 

 of variation in the lepidoptera, and my valued assistant, Mr. V. Eric 

 Shaw, promptly called my attention to this duplication of name. — 

 L. B. Prout (Hon. Res. Sec, N. Lond. Nat. Hist. Society). December 

 21st., 1905. 



On the red spot near the anal angle of the hindwing of Thecla 

 w-album. — In Mr. Bird's excellent paper {antea, vol. xvii., pp. 311 et 

 seq.) he writes : " We have noticed a slight variation of the upperside 

 in Thecla w-albiim ; this is in the size of the red spot on the hindwing 

 at the anal angle. In every description of this butterfly we have read, 

 this marking has been totally ignored, though it is generally present, 

 or at least indicated by a few red scales. Most of our specimens are 

 so marked, but we have one or two of both sexes where it is quite 

 absent." This must be due to limitations connected with the extent 

 of library, for, in the first description I looked up, Ruhl's Pal. Gross- 

 Schmett., p. 181, I read : " Beim ? steht am Afterwinkel der Hinter- 

 fliigel ein rother, auswarts schwarz umzogener Augenfleck, etc.," which 

 suggests that the mark is known to our scientists, even if 

 exigencies of space have kept its description out of popular books. — A, 

 M. Cochrane, Lewisham. December Mth, 1906. 



