250 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



except in being slightly narrower. The thorax has the posterior angles 

 very strongly and peculiarly developed. It may be described iu the 

 following terms : — Thorax slightly broader than long ; anterior angles 

 blunt, the margin slightly emarginate, but with a very slightly curved 

 raised carina extending from angle to angle ; lateral margins very strongly 

 emarginate, a slight longitudinal almost obsolete depression towards 

 posterior portion ; posterior angles very much developed, and produced into 

 a blunt point with the centres depressed. In the centre of the produced 

 angles there is a raised carina, which seems to divide the produced angles 

 into two portions ; the outermost portions of the angles are deeply 

 excavated. Posterior margins slightly emarginate and sinuate. Two 

 small depressions are situated close to the margin at the inner side of the 

 origin of the posterior angles. — John W. Shipp ; Oxford University 

 Museum, March 23, 1893. 



Extraordinary Aberration of Triph^na pronuba. — A remarkable 

 variety of T. pronuba was taken by my friend Mr. Woodforde and myself at 

 sugar, in Dovedale, on Saturday last. The right upper wing and right 

 side of the thorax are coloured as in the dark mottled forms of the species ; 

 tlie left upper wing and half of thorax as in the light reddish yellow variety. 

 — E. W. H. Blagg; Green Hill, Cheadle, July 4, 1893. 



[As our correspondent most kindly proposed to send us the specimen 

 referred to above for examination, we very gladly accepted his offer. We 

 find that the insect is quite as described ; that is, the left half of the thorax 

 is unicolorous with the fore wing on that side, and represents the 

 var. mftM^a, whilst the right half of thorax is darker, edged in front with pale 

 colour, and the fore wing on this side is mottled as in the typical form of 

 the species. It is certainly a very curious and most interesting aberration. 

 —Ed.]. 



CAPTURES AND FIELD EEPOETS. 



Thk Early Skason : — 



Bucks, Herts, and Middlesex. — With the exception of excursions to 

 Horsley and Oxshott with members of the South London Entomological 

 and Natural History Society, my collecting has so far this season been con- 

 fined to afternoon rambles in the neighbourhood of one or other of the 

 stations on the Metropolitan Railway between Harrow and Aylesbury. 

 Although many species of Lepidoptera have been unusually early in their 

 appearance, I am inclined to think that several of them have been less com- 

 mon than in other years. The following notes are extracted from my diary : — 



April 11th. — Amersham, Bucks (cloudy with gleams of sunshine; 

 wind N.E. ; cool). Saw two specimens of Pieris brassiccB and one of 

 Coremia unidentaria. 



April 22nd. — Amersham (warm sunny day; wind N.E.). P. hrassiccB, 

 P. rapcR, and P. napi, all common. One or more specimens of the 

 following species were also captured or noticed : — Euchlo'e cardamlnes, 

 Pararge egeria, Strenia clathrata, Bapta temerata, B. bimaculata [tami- 

 nata), Coremia unidentaria, C. ferrugata, Phoxopteryx lundana, and Coccyx 

 strobilella. The last-named species was flying in numbers about spruce firs 

 {Abies excelsa), but mostly out of reach. Five specimens were bred a few 

 days earlier, from a fir cone picked up in the same locality on April 11th. 



May 6th. — Rickmansworth, Herts (sunny; wind N.E.). Bumia 

 luteolata [a'atcegata], Panagra petraria, Coremia ferrugata, and C. uniden- 



