188 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



usually pass muster as the var. hihernica. Mr. Adkin has a 

 characteristic example from Lancashire, along with others of 

 var. prcsclara approximating this form in the dull coloration of 

 the straw-coloured series. 



Ab. hihernica, Birchall.— "(? . Wings above black. Fore 

 wings ornamented with fulvous patches arranged in a series 

 near the hind margin, and with a number of others in the 

 middle white or whitish straw-coloured, joined at the inner 

 margin, forming a blotch. The hind wings with a broad fulvous 

 fascia along the hind margin (the fulvous marks on the narrow 

 black outer margin of examples of the type being indistinct or 

 obsolete in the variety) ; beneath pale fulvous, with similar but 

 indistinct pattern. ? . Fore wings fulvous, marked with a 

 double row of white or pale straw-coloured patches, sometimes 

 confluent and forming fasciae, with the outer band carried on 

 across the hind wings. Hind wings as in typical forms, but 

 ornamented neither with pale straw-coloured nor fulvous patches. 

 Expanse of wings : ^ , 1 in. 4 lines — 1 in. 8 lines ; 2 , 2 in. — 2 in. 

 3 lines. Larva not distinguishable from that of the English 

 form of Artemis. Habitat: the central bogs of Ireland."* 

 The selected specimens from which the above description was 

 taken were sent to Mr. Birchall by Mrs. Battersby, Cromlyn, 

 Eathowen, Westmeath. It has been commonly supposed, owing 

 to a misconception of his prefatory remarks, that Mr. Birchall' s 

 var. hihernica is the ordinary Irish form, but this is far from being 

 the case. Only a small proportion of the Cromlyn insects (var. 

 scotica) present the extreme characters above given. I have, by 

 the kindness of the captress, eight specimens, of which only one 

 nearly accords with the definition, falling short however in size. 

 I have also seen Mrs. Battersby's collection, and though all are 

 more or less distinguished by the predominance of the black 

 ground and the pallor of the straw-coloured markings, yet they 

 vary very considerably iwier se, many being simply dark examples 

 of the var. scotica, and none approach the size mentioned above, 

 the largest female measuring 1 in. 10| lines. I have not seen the 

 true ab. hiher-nica from any other locality. It seems necessary 

 here to refer to Mr. Birchall's prefatory remarks, in which he 

 lays great stress on the distinction between the Irish and Scotch 

 forms of M. aurhiia, the latter corresponding, he considers, to 

 the var. merope of Duponchel. I am reluctantly compelled to 

 differ wholly from my late friend's conclusion, and can only 

 suppose that he was not well acquainted with the alpine variety 

 in question. I much regret that the publication of these care- 

 lessly written comments on this remarkably aberrant form has 

 led to so much confusion and misapprehension, Mr. Dale and other 

 writers having been led astray in their references to the Scottish 



* Translated from the original Latin description given in Ent. M. M. vol. x. 



