OPORABIA CHRISTYI, PROUT : A DISTINCT SPECIES. 87 



FooDPLANTS AND HABITAT. — 0. christyi is a woodland species, but 

 appears to be very fastidious in its choice of habitat. At Enniskillen 

 I know of two localities for it ; in one it seems to be attached to beech, 

 and in the other to beech and elm. Mr. E. A. Cockayne has beaten the 

 larva from elm at Rannoch [Ent., xxxix., p. 55). Mr. Prout speaks of its 

 attachment to birch. I have bred a few from supposed 0. autumnata 

 larvae taken on elm and sallow (and possibly birch), but these may 

 have been stragglers from the neighbouring beeches. In another 

 place I once took four specimens, very late in the season, on fir-trunks 

 and branches. I do not think this indicates any attachment to fir, 

 since many species, including 0. autumnata (and O. filif/rammaria), 

 seem to regard fir-trunks, when available, as an eligible resting-place. 

 Probably the specimens were stragglers from some colony hard by, 

 the headquarters of which I have not yet discovered. I should put 

 down beech and elm as the favourite foods, with alder, birch and 

 sallow as occasional substitutes. I frequently rear the larvfe from the 

 egg on hawthorn, but have never taken them wild on either oak or 

 hawthorn. 



Localities. — 0. christyi was first named from specimens taken by 

 Mr. W. M. Christy, at Rannoch, where it appears to be common. I 

 , have specimens from the neighbourhood of Oban. In Ireland it is 

 common, but very local, near Enniskillen, and Mr. Kane has it from 

 i Killarney and Sligo {Ent., xxxiv., p. 85) and from TuUamore (King's 

 Co.) (teste Mr. Prout). Mr. Prout has specimens from Epping 

 Forest, and has seen others from Surrey and Sussex, from various 

 parts of Germany, and from Prague. Probably when it comes to be 

 recognised it will be found to be very generally distributed. 



Specific distinctness. — As already stated, the evidence for the 

 specific distinctness of 0. christyi falls under three heads : (1) Difer- 

 ence in markinys in the imayo. — -This is not very striking. Most of the 

 males might easily pass muster in a series of 0. dilutata as only slight 

 casual aberrations. The most striking characteristic, the wide curve 

 of the outer line round the central spot, is indistinct or absent in 

 some males, owing to the faintness of the transverse lines. Neverthe- 

 less, I think that after a season's acquaintance with the species in its 

 ; natural haunts, and breeding it from the egg, one may begin to feel 

 ij fairly confident of being able to distinguish it, provided the specimens 

 ' are fresh. Certainly, I would rather have to sort out a box of O. 

 christyi and 0. dilutata, than a box of Ciclaria truncata and 

 C. immanata, or of Anthrocera lonicerae and A. trifolii. About the 

 females there is not much difficulty, for the transverse lines are nearly 

 always distinct, and the curve of the outer line round the central spot 

 I is easily observed. The form of the female with the bars united 

 I might possibly escape detection if it occurred singly, though even then 

 j'i I think the clearness of its ground colour and the arrangement of the 

 I lines would cause suspicion. (2) Extreme localisation. — Of this I have 

 I already spoken, under the heading of habitat. My acquaintance with 

 I 0. christyi dates from the year 1900. In that year I was sending some 

 of my Enniskillen Oporabias to Mr. Prout ; among them was one 

 ! which had come out among my 0. autumnata from larvae beaten from 

 alder, and which, I supposed, must be <). autumnata, though a peculiar 

 ■ form ; also three captured specimens, which I had at first passed over 

 ' as 0. dilutata, but which, on closer examination, seemed almost as 



