NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 209 



NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 



Correction of Nomenclature of Microlepidoptera. — 

 Phalonia grisescens, nn. (= § griseana, Hw.). This brief note is 

 published for the immediate correction of the name of a species now 

 under special study. The much-discussed Conchylis "griseana, Hw." 

 must still be criticised from another point of view. Tortrix griseana, 

 Hw., ' Lp. Br.,' 402 sp., 25 (1811), is absolutely homonymous with 

 Tortrix griseana, Hb., ' Smlg. Eur. Schm.,' 7. Pf. 21. 135 (1797). 

 Haworth's species is therefore nameless, and grisescens, nn., is sug- 

 gested to replace it. — Jno. Hartley Durrant and J. de Joannis ; 

 British Museum (N.H.), August 19th, 1922. 



Vanessa c-album in New Eorest. — At Brockenhurst, on 

 Tuesday, August 15th, I took a specimen of c-album off a lime tree 

 nearly opposite the New Eorest Lawn Tennis Club. I believe that 

 this species is extremely uncommon in the forest. Colias croceus 

 was plentiful, though I did not come across var. helice. — L. H. Bond ; 

 The Cottage, Welby Gardens, Grantham. 



Colour-Preservation in Dragonflies. — L. E. Campbell- 

 Taylor writes : " I suppose you do not know if there is a method by 

 which the colours of the Odonata can satisfactorily be preserved. I 

 have tried for many years in a great number of ways and cannot yet 

 find a satisfactory method. Lucas states in his book that Nunney 

 says the colours of Aeschna cyanea treated with an injection of boro- 

 glyceride were as bright after two years as when the insect was alive. 

 I feel bound to question the accuracy of this — at any rate boro- 

 glyceride will not do this for me ; in fact it does not preserve the 

 colours tioo months, let alone two years." 



[Nunney's method of preserving the colours of Odonata was quoted 

 for what it was worth. I have not tried it myself, nor have I heard of 

 anyone else doing so, previous to Campbell-Taylor's attempt. Per- 

 sonally I should not care to put insects so treated into the cabinet. If 

 dragonflies are placed in spirit before any decomposition has taken place 

 their colours will usually be preserved almost or quite unchanged, and 

 will be available for examination. Many species of course do not 

 lose their colours in drying, especially after evisceration, and occasional 

 specimens of other species retain them perfectly. If the conditions 

 under which these latter keep their colours were known we should 

 be on the way to our desired result. Unfortunately we cannot tell 

 beforehand which specimens are going to retain their colouring, or 

 we might discover the determining cause. Keeping dragonflies 

 alive for a time without food seems to be an undoubted aid to colour- 

 preservation. Aeschna cyanea is one species that frequently retains 

 its colours unchanged, hence perhaps Nunney's success with that 

 species in connection with the boroglyceride method. If, after speci- 

 mens had been dried in spirit, we could relax the legs and wings 

 without interfering with the abdomen, we might perhaps achieve some 

 measure of success from the cabinet point of view at any rate ; but for 

 scientific purposes a naturalist would prefer to have his specimens 



ENTOM. SEPTEMBER, 1922. T 



