184 [January, 



hind-wings are narrower and more pointed than those of posticana. 

 If this is the case, the question with regard to our Scotch form is 

 finally settled, since its hind-wings are not broader, nor its costa more 

 curved than in turionella, but the two forms are proportionately most 

 accurately the same in shape of fore- and hind-wings. 



Therefore, in the absence of typical specimens, I think I am 

 justified, not only in the belief that our Scotch insect is identical with 

 turionella, but also in the supposition that Zetterstedt may have had 

 under his notice another species, closely allied, but of different 

 structure. 



I am still faced by two difficulties not fully bridged over : one is 

 that Mr. Warren is generally most accurate and reliable in his deter- 

 minations of species ; the other, that Mr. Salvage believes that he 

 reared one of his specimens from a pupa found under fir bark. This 

 latter habit, if confirmed, would be somewhat startling. 



King's Lynn : December 3rd, 1888. 



Plusia ni in Dorset. — With reference to the capture of Plusia ni recorded in 

 your last number, it may interest Mr. Barrett and others of your readers to hear 

 that my brother netted an excellent specimen of the above mentioned insect in the 

 vicinity of Swanage, Dorset, in August, 1885. Unfortunately, the net being damp, 

 the thorax is somewhat rubbed, otherwise the insect is in first-rate condition. 

 Although the species is readily to be distinguished from its allies, to make assurance 

 doubly sure, I showed the specimen to Messrs. Butler, Waterhouse, and other ento- 

 mologists, who all unhesitatingly pronounced it to be an indubitable P. ni. — B. Gh 

 Nevinson, 6, Tite Street, Chelsea, S.W. : December 15th, 1888. 



Lepidoptera near Marlborough in 1888. — The following are a few notes on 

 species new to the district, or otherwise interesting. As a whole, the season was the 

 latest here of which we have any record ; many species were a full month late. For 

 example, Liparis monacha usually appears here in August, about the 4th (the average 

 of seven previous first observations) ; this year the first specimen, freshly emerged 

 on a tree trunk, was taken September 24th, and others equally fresh for several days 

 afterwards, the species being found up to October 10th. 



Zygcena filipendulce. — A colony of this species, frequenting a small patch of 

 heath, was remarkable, in that the sixth spot of the fore- wings was, in fully three-fourths 

 of the individuals, greatly reduced in size, sometimes indeed so inconspicuous that 

 it might well have been passed over as absent. As in the other fourth the spot was 

 of its usual size (with connecting links), and as there appears to be no other definite 

 difference between the forms, I suppose we hare here a case of an individual variation 

 becoming prevalent through isolation ; or might the colony possibly have been crossed 

 with one of the five-spotted species ? I observed no specimens showing this variation 

 among other colonies in the district ; and where the species are so little defined as 

 in this genus, it appears worthy of record. 



JEupithecia irriguata. — I found this species in plenty on a fence beneath oaks 



