346 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



8PIL0S0MA LUBRICIPEDA vae. ZATIMA IN ENGLAND. 

 By Eichakd South. 



Since the publication of my remarks on Spilosoma luhricipeda 

 var. zatima {ante, pp. 257-259), I have had considerable corre- 

 spondence respecting the occurrence of the English equivalent of 

 that form (i.e., var. radiata, Haw.) in Yorkshire. Mr. Porritt 

 (ante, p. 296) has already shown that the form of S. luhricipeda 

 referred to by himself, and probably also by Mr. Carrington, is not 

 true 7'adiata ; and the general opinion among Yorkshire entomo- 

 logists of the present day appears to be that the true zatima 

 (=: radiata) form was not known in their county until Mr. 

 Harrison bred a female in 1891, from which he subsequently 

 obtained a large stock of the variety in question. It was inferred 

 that as Mr. Harrison's original female example of the variety was 

 bred from a pupa received either from Grimsby or London, 

 neither she nor her offspring could be considered as having any 

 claim to be regarded otherwise than as aliens in the county of 

 Yorkshire. It therefore became incumbent upon me to obtain 

 more precise information about the early history of the female 

 parent. So I ventured to write to Mr. Harrison, suggesting to 

 him that as a good deal of uncertainty existed among entomolo- 

 gists generally as to the exact locality from which his female 

 zatima was received in the pupa state, he might perhaps feel 

 disposed to furnish more definite particulars concerning it than 

 were to be found in the accounts already published. Mr. Harrison's 

 reply was most courteous, but I need only quote such parts of it 

 as directly bear on the point upon which information was sought. 

 He says : — 



" My original female radiata, and the only one I had emerge, 

 came from a mixed lot of pupae (luhricipeda^ menthastri, and per- 

 sicarm) sent me by Mr. J. Riches, 52, Calverley Grove, Hornsey 

 Rise, London. It is small in size, and of a pale radiata form. 



" The male would be no doubt from those [pupee] sent me by 

 Mr. Tero, Grimsby, but not of the radiata form at all ; in fact, 

 all the others came out such ordinary forms that I liberated most 

 of them after trying to pair them with mendica. 



" I send you the original parents for inspection." 



I have examined the specimens so kindly sent by Mr. Harrison, 

 and notice that each of them has lost the apical portion of right 

 fore wing. The female, bred from a pupa received from London, is 

 referable to zatima ; and the male, bred from a Grimsby pupa, is 

 also a variety of S. luhricipeda, but not of the zatima form. 



With a view of completing the history of this notable female 

 moth, I also wrote to Mr. Riches for any items of information he 

 might be able to contribute, and the substance of his reply runs 

 as follows : — 



