ON CERTAIN SPECIES OF NORTII AMERICAN HYPENID^. 811 



noticeable. M. cynthia has been cited as an instance of a high 

 Alpine insect assuming darker tints than is usual, but it should 

 be remembered that this is the attribute only of the male, and is 

 accompanied b}^ a whiter central series than is found in any of its 

 congeners, while the female remains of an ordinary fulvous tint, 

 with the black shadings very poorly developed ; and as to the 

 dwarf mountain form merope of M. aurinia, it is by no means of 

 so dark coloration as some lowland forms, and has the fulvous 

 patches very bleached. Nor in the genus Coenonyinpha can I 

 find an}' support to the theory, the bleached colour and obsolete 

 markings of the northern form of C. typhon being a very striking 

 instance of what I conceive to be the rule in species which have 

 a northerly range. The exclusively Northern and Alpine genei'a, 

 such as Parnassiiis and Q^neis, are no darker than the Southern 

 Pieridse and Satyridse. But I cannot here discuss the problems 

 at any length, but may venture to suggest an opinion that we 

 ought to study these phenomena from a narrower basis, and give 

 more prominence to the effects of congenital tendencies. Some 

 genera appear to tend to vary in one direction, some in another ; 

 and if we could have before us the archaic types of Pieris and 

 Melanargia, it seems to me possible that we should find the pure 

 white of the former was its most recent development, and the 

 deep black of the latter, in South European forms, similarly a 

 late acquisition ; so that an Arctic climate would produce a 

 reversion to a dingier type of Pieris ; and a soutliern latitude 

 give rise to the black forms procida and turcica of Melanargia 

 galatea. 



Just a few words, in conclusion, with regard to the Noctuse. 

 There can be no doubt that moisture and shade are most 

 conducive to the welfare of the larval stage of many Noctuse, 

 while dry and sunny conditions bring others to the highest state 

 of perfection. It is not therefore likely that the same causes 

 would bring about the same results in every case, and it is 

 therefore probable that generalisations based on external pheno- 

 mena alone, unaccompanied by research into the racial characters 

 of the particular genus or species, will only lead to confusion. 



Drumreaske House, Monaghan. 



ON CERTAIN SPECIES op NORTH AMERICAN HYPENID^. 



By a. G. Butler, Ph.D., &o. 



Professor John B. Smith^ in his extremely useful ' Catalogue 

 of Noctuidge,' just published, has made a singular statement 

 respecting Walker's Hypena clamnosalis, which (as it is entirely 

 incorrect) ought, I think, to be set right without delay. He 



