60 THE entomologist's record. 



were so disposed, and the time was ten days or a fortnight earlier than 

 that of our visit. 



{To be continued.) 



A Critical Study on some often disputed aberrations of Atnorpha 



populi, Linn.* {with plate). 



By M. GILLMER. 



{Concluded from p. 32.) 



I have not yet decided to which group Koch's figure is to be 

 referred. Were the light-grey colour predominant and the brown 

 colour only admixed, I would include the aberration in my cinerea 

 group ; but, if the brown colour is to be considered predominant and 

 the grey-colour only admixed, I should prefer to refer it to wiy ferriujinea 

 group. I received a letter from Frankfurt-a.-Main telling me that the 

 figure is brown, whilst the original specimen has become pale-grey in 

 colour, owing to the influence of the light. On the whole, opinion as to 

 the colour of Koch's picture differs; from Stettin, one told me it was of 

 an olive colour, yet, I cannot discover any green shade. Whilst 

 Herrich-Schaffer calls the picture "middlingandrathersuperfluous,'' Dr. 

 A. Seitz (Prankfurt-a.-Main) and the late clergyman, A. Fuchs(Bornich) 

 call it a good one. As the opinions on this question are so various, 

 one must nob be astonished if I cannot decide to which group Koch's 

 specimen belongs until I have seen the moth myself. I picture an 

 uui-coloured bright grey cxs quite another shade from that which 

 Koch shows in his figure. I, therefore, cannot assert that Koch's ab. 

 treinulae bred by Binzer in Giessen was the real thing. To show what 

 I understand as being a light-grey specimen of A. populi, I proposed 

 giving the picture of an example bred by Mr. F. G. Tonges in Offen- 

 bach (pi. iii., fig. 1), but Mr. Tutt writes me that he could not undertake a 

 coloured figure. For this reason the picture is omitted and a short 

 description is substituted. This specimen represents the real ab. 

 tremulae, Borkh., being without special markings of the transverse 

 lines. The light, undulated band of the marginal area is to be seen, 

 the nervures are of a yellowish colour and the ruddy-coloured basal 

 blotch of the hindwings is visible, although weakly marked ; for, to 

 the present time, there appears to have been no specimen of A. populi 

 without the red basal spot recorded. 



I have obtained a photograph, made by the firm of C. F. Fay, in 

 Frankfurt-a.-Mam, of Koch's original specimen, which is kept in 

 the collection of the Zoological Gardens in Frankfurt-a.-Main, which 

 is given herewith (as no. 10125). This photograph has been a 

 success, and pi. iii., fig. 2 is a fine copy of it. By it you can see 

 that Koch's specimen, although it is fifty years old and appears 

 quite pale, still shows weak marks of the two dark transverse lines 

 bounding the median area. Besides these it shows a very light- 

 coloured thorax, a bright basal area, a slightly darkened median area, 

 and a pretty dark marginal area in which is to be seen the rest of the 

 light undulated band in the anal angle. The hindwings, the fringes 

 of which appear white in the indentations, are unicolorous, similar 



* To understand clearly the points raised in this article, British lepidopterists 

 should consult Tutt's account of Amorpha lyopuli {Natural Histor;/ of the British 

 Lepidoptera, vol. iii., pp. 469-471). 



