284 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



from, P. devergens, and may (I think) prove to be the P. devergens 

 of American lists. It differs from the European species in its 

 mach less strongly dentated submarginal line, wider central 

 belt, and less oblique V-shaped central marking on primaries, 

 and decidedly broader black marginal belt on secondaries. 

 Grote's P. alticola = ignea is nearer to P. hochenwartld, from 

 which it chiefly differs in its much superior size. 



Plasia virgula. 

 Plusia virgula, Blanchard, in Gay's 'Fauna Chilena,' vii. 



p. 84, n. 2 (1854). 

 P. certa, Walker, Lep. Het. xii. p. 920, n. 70 (1857). 

 Triphcena signata, Philippi, Linn. Ent. xvi. p. 293 (1860). 

 ChiH. In Coll. B. M. 



Mr. Hampson has pointed out to me that the genera Risoba 

 and Pitrasay hitherto placed near Thyatira (on account of their 

 general resemblance to that genus), are actually Plusiidae; 

 Risoba will stand next to Plasia, which should terminate with 

 P. thyatiroides ; next to Risoba should come Leptina, followed by 

 Pitrasa and Plusidia. The type of the last-mentioned genus is 

 P.^-abrostoloides =■- Plusia cheiranthi, Tausch. 



(To be continued.) 



NOTES AND OBSEEVATIONS. 



AcHEEONTiA ATROPos I NoTES ON Larva. — TliG larva of this moth 

 is unusually abundant here this year, and full-fed specimens were 

 brought to me about the middle of July. In a garden near here it 

 was noticed on the potatoes, and was feared as being probably an 

 invasion of locusts ! Five specimens brought to me from this garden 

 illustrated three well-marked varieties, though the dimorphic dark 

 form of the larva was not among them. Three of them belonged to 

 the here usual greenish-yellow form with moderately distinct violet- 

 purple oblique stripes. One, however, was a pure green variety with 

 the stripes very faint, and at first sight reminded one of the privet 

 hawk moth caterpillar. The third variety was very beautiful, being 

 yellow, with the oblique stripes very extensive, definite, and deep- 

 coloured. This individual exhibited a remarkable pecularity, inasmuch 

 as on the second abdominal foot of the left side there was no trace 

 whatever of any of the clasping hooks ; the leg seemed in other 

 respects quite normal, and all the other legs had their full complement 

 of hooks, these structures being in this species numerous and large. 

 This specimen had received some injury near the anus, and I am 

 sorry to say was attacked with diarrhoea and died, so that I had no 

 opportunity of ascertaining whether there might be a repair of the 

 deficiency at the last moult, which possibly (but not certainly) had not 

 taken place in this individual. While examining it after death (or 

 after apparent death), when flaccid, discoloured, and shrunk to about 

 half its normal size, and lying on its side on blotting-paper an 



