:62 THE entomologist's record. 



Concerning HoUe's " moss "-form oiA. jMpuli, I believe that the same 

 must still have been in his collection when he died in 1902. By the help 

 of Mr. E. Sartorius of Hamburg, I obtained from this collection six 

 specimens of A. popidi of which only one belongs to the "moss" form ; 

 pi. iii., fig. 3 is a photo of the same. HoUe's collection was placed in boxes 

 on the walls, and has been ruined by the light and by the insecurity of 

 the boxes. Judging from the specimen in question, one can easily 

 estimate that it is at least forty years old. It is of a pretty definite 

 clay-colour (yellow), which is nearly identical with the ochreous colour 

 of 6r. populifolia, the tinge being a little dirtier; the moth is a female. 

 As it is to be seen from the photo, the transverse lines have not quite 

 disappeared ; on the boundary of the median and outer area of the 

 forewings, as also of the hindwings, the transverse line is still noticeable. 

 The marginal area beneath the apex of the forewings, as also the hind 

 part of the median area, are of a little deeper ochreous colour. The 

 rust-red basal spot of the hindAvings is still distmctly visible, not 

 very extensive, not very pale, but of a distinct reddish tint. The thorax, 

 mixed with a dirty grey colour, appears a little darker than the 

 abdomen, which is identical with the colour of the upperside of the 

 wings. The apex of the hindwings of this specimen is rather 

 prominent. One also recognises the undulating band of a yellowish- 

 white coloration in front of the anal angle of the forewings. A whitish 

 discoidal lunule and the whitish division of the apex are still to be seen. 

 The underside, which has not been affected as much by the influence 

 of the light as the upperside, is of an ochreous colour. (The colour of 

 the upperside has lasted far longer than the colour of two other 

 specimens, which perhaps may be older. The three other specimens 

 seem to be more recent, judging by their condition.) The underside of 

 the first named specimen is of a darker colour on the base of the 

 hindwings and beneath the apex of the forewings ; besides this, the 

 transverse line and the undulating band of the forewings are to be 

 seen. As the photo shows, the specimen is 65*5mni. in expanse, and 

 therefore is 11mm. smaller than the largest of the six specimens. 

 The length of the forewings is 31mm., the length of the hindwing 

 19mm. It IS a female of not quite the middle size. The specimen 

 belongs to my pallida group and is identical with ab. pallida, Tutt. 

 As the transverse lines of the upper- and underside are still to be 

 seen, it cannot be identical with ab. subflava, Gillmer. Besides, it is 

 of a far darker yellow colour than my ab. subflava, the colour of which 

 in this case is far more like the yellow colour of the male Sichia 

 querciis. 



In 1902, Holle's collection did not contain a single specimen of 

 Amorpha popitli agreeing exactly with the description on p. 95 of his 

 book ; one has, therefore, reason to think that there never has been 

 a specimen of this sort in Holle's collection. Of course it is possible 

 that Holle has given away all specimens of this variety. But I would 

 not like to do injustice to the dead ; and I must state that, making his 

 acquaintance in 1894, on the "moss" of Eppendorf, he left the 

 impression on me of being very conscientious. Anyhow I cannot 

 get rid of the thought that Holle has diagnosed his var. salicis 

 or palustri.t under the idea that it was a form adequate to Esper's 

 variety {viz., " the ground colour simply light-grey without markings 

 and rusty-brown basal blotch"). Besides, Esper's variety has a 



