HEWETT: SPILOSOMA LUBRICIPEDA AND ITS VARIETIES. 355 
specimen that I had out at the time the female radiata came out to 
pair with. I have kept the original parents. 
Mr. J. N. Young, of Rotherham, to whom along with 
Mr. Harrison, of Barnsley, many of us are indebted for our series of 
var. radiata, replying to a similar query of mine re variation of 
S. ubricipeda at Rotherham, says :—‘I have not bred any variety of 
S. lubricipeda from larve collected in this district, in any way 
approaching to var. fasciata or eboract; the form here is very plain, 
and almost without markings.’ 
Mr. J. Bloor, of Rotherham, also confirms Mr. Young’s state- 
ment. Whilst at Rotherham on the 27th October Mr. Young 
showed me some 120 specimens of var. radiata, which he had 
recently bred from Harrison’s strain, also a photograph of r08 
of these specimens. 
Mr. Young informed me that var. radiata pairs more readily with 
typical wild specimens of S. /ubricipeda than inter se, and that the 
offspring from this union were fertile. Much of the vitality in var. 
radiata seems to be lost by in-breeding, especially is this the case 
with the males, which are very sluggish. I have frequently heard 
it suggested that var. radiata is,a distinct species, but the fact 
of there being no apparent difference in the ova, larve, or pupa, and 
that when paired with typical wild specimens, the offspring are 
fertile, seems in my opinion to warrant our assuming that it is a fixed 
variety only. 
There are some entomologists I know who take exception to 
the larger size of the specimens of var. radiata, and urge this as 
a reason for its not being of British origin, but size, in my opinion, 
is chiefly dependent upon the supply of food and selection, as all 
entomologists who breed large numbers of lepidoptera are perfectly 
well aware. I have specimens of S. /ubricipeda in my collection, and 
have seen others, which are to the full as large as any var, radiata 
that I have yet seen. 
ith regard to the occurrence of the variety radiata 
in Lincolnshire, several specimens appear to have been bred by 
Mr. Mossop from larvze obtained at Saltfleet feeding on elder, August 
1836. These emerged in June 1837, and some of the specimens 
are still in the possession of his nephew, Mr. W. H. B. Fletcher, F.E.S., 
of Worthing ; others were sent by Mr. Mossop to Mr. James C. Dale, 
father of the Rev. C. W. Dale. 
Mr. W. H. B. Fletcher obligingly furnishes me with the following 
particulars :—‘ My knowledge of the occurrence of the varieties of 
S. lubricipeda is practically confined to that which is stated in my 
letter to Mr. Tugwell, in his article in the Entomologist for April 
Dec. 1894. 
