358 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



then much more so. Almost every blade of grass had its insect ; in fact, 

 I do not believe that so many moths were ever before seen together. The 

 majority were females, and Mr. Bedell found some eggs, which had 

 apparently been recently deposited on the grass. Several subsequent visits 

 were paid to the spot, and always with the same results; the quantity Oi 

 moths visible, however, varying greatly on different nights, cold and windy 

 weather having the effect of diminishing the number. The species taken 

 were G-iJleota, G.punicea{bella), G.c-nigrum, L.umhrosa, S. xanthographa, 

 G. micacea, A. fibrosa, L.pallens, 0. lunosa, L. spectrana, and N. hybridalis." 

 — H. G. Knaggs ; Gamden Road, London, N.W. 



Aberrations op Ltc^na icarus, Rott. — Perhaps the following notes 

 on the aberrations of Lyccena icarus, which I have taken this season, may 

 be of interest. Variety (1) is a female example, which I took in Nice on 

 July 4th, having a small supernumerary dot joined to the basal spots on 

 the under side of the fore wings. (2) Also a female, and taken on the coast 

 at Nice, has the hind-marginal row of spots, which almost coalesce, uniform 

 in size, thus forming a band. (3) I caught a very interesting female speci- 

 men, on August 30th, at Caussols, Alpes-Maritimes (3795 feet altitude), 

 combining in one individual the forms ab. icarinus, Scriba, and v. ccerulea, 

 Gar. ; that is to say, that the under side was of the ab. icarinus, with the 

 basal spot on the under surface of the front wings absent, and the upper 

 side was of the ab. ccerulea, being suffused with blue in the usual manner. 

 (4) I caught a female icarus at the last-mentioned place, on August 31st, 

 having the two black spots nearest the inner margin, on the under side of 

 the fore wings, confluent and arched, thus forming a crescent. I took two 

 more subsequently (one male and one female); and my cousin E. 0. Casey 

 informs me he has another in his collection, taken prior to my examples; 

 so that it appears not impossible that this last form may be considered as a 

 constant variety, if it is not already recorded. The above are only a selection, 

 and I could describe several more of almost equal interest. From a close 

 examination of some numbers of icarus, I found that nearly every one had 

 one or more extra spots on the under side (sometimes so small as to be 

 hardly noticeable), which were not present in the type. — F. Bromtlow; 

 Caussols, Alpes-Maritimes, France, Sept. 19, 1893. [Most of the aberra- 

 tions of L. icarus referred to by our correspondent are not uncommon in 

 Britain ; but remarks on the variation of this, and also of other species, 

 in places outside our own limited area, are always of interest. — Ed.] 



Variation in the size op Argynnis paphia. — While collecting in the 

 New Forest last June, I noticed very considerable variation in size of A. 

 paphia. A dwarf form was particularly numerous, some being remarkably 

 small, the males measuring in expanse only 3 in. against 2 and 1 l-16th in. 

 of the average male, and females 3 and l-8th in. against 2 and 7-8th in. 

 average female. Undoubtedly this dwarfing is attributable to the great 

 dryness of the season, as A. paphia appears to be much influenced by 

 climate, which was especially noticeable this season ; for instance, the var. 

 valesina, although fairly abundant, was very inferior in colour and size ; 

 hardly with exception, all the specimens I have seen of this year's capture 

 were decidedly paler in colour, having a washy appearance, in great contrast 

 to the large, rich and dark specimens of damp or rather wet seasons. The 

 white-spotted form was this year abundant, which may also tend to bear on 

 the subject 5 my friend Mr. J. H. Carpenter took a very fine series of these 



