164 BRITISH LEPIDOPTERA. 



described aberration from Berlin collectors. I believe there were 2 

 or 3 $ s from Riidersdorf or Bernau, and from Finkenkrug one has 

 already long been known. As I have recently received again a number 

 of the same form — 10 yellow $ s, 2 grey-yellow $ s, and 3 pale yellow 

 $ s — which were found in the larval state at Straussberg, I no longer 

 hesitate to introduce this form as an interesting local variety under 

 the name of berolimnsis, for, although potatoria everywhere 

 varies somewhat, yet I have never before come across such a definite 

 yellow form as this, which, especially in the $ , is widely enough 

 removed from the type to deserve a special name. The finder 

 and breeder of the above-mentioned little lot informs me, that he has 

 obtained about 100 typical males to one yellow one, and that other 

 collectors have had even smaller results. The larvae were collected 

 young, and were, in breeding, kept in the open, and one had not, 

 therefore, to do with artificial production." These notes suggest 

 that the occurrence of ab. berolinensis is practically identical in 

 Germany and England, where yellow males (including berolinensis, 

 potatoria and lutescens) are locally not rare, occurring, however, in 

 very small proportions in special localities with the type form. On 

 the other hand, as supplementing Heyne's note, Belling records 

 (Berl. Ent. Zeits., xlv., Sitz. p. 43) that a Berlin collector breeds 

 ab. berolinensis from larvae that came originally from Rehfelde, 

 near Straussberg. The breeder (Herr Szczodrowski) considers the 

 pallid coloration to be due to the hothouse treatment used for 

 forcing, and not to any peculiarities of natural environment, 

 a strange conclusion considering that the yellow $ aberrations are 

 widely distributed under quite natural conditions, and where one 

 suspects that excessive heat certainly can play no part. One may 

 here note that the yellow $ s (forms not detailed) have 

 been recorded in Britain from — Darenth (Newman), Armagh, July 

 2nd, 1887 (Johnson), Norfolk Broads (Abbott), Haileybury (Bowyer), 

 Wicken, frequently (Tutt and others), Blyth (Crass), King's Lynn dis- 

 trict (Atmore), Epping (Bayne), and Wisbech (Glenny). From Berlin 

 (see supra) many of a whitish ochre-yellow colour are recorded, some 

 with delicate grey tint, the $ s lighter and of a more delicate yellow 

 than usual (a remark that quite contradicts Caradja's statement that 

 in Denmark and northern Germany the pale males are accompanied 

 by dark $ s) (Schulz, Bed. Ent. Zeits., xliv., p. 14). 



y. var. askoldensis, Oberth., "Etudes d'Entomologie," vol. v., p. 38 (1880); 

 Graes., "Bed. Ent. Zeits.," xxxii., p. 126 (1888) ; Leech, " Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond.," 

 1888, p. 628(1888); Staud., " Mem. Lep.," vi., p. 316 (1892); "Cat.," 3rd ed., 

 p. 122 (1901); Auriv., "Iris," vii., p. 163 (1894). — Beuicoup plus jjrande, et les 

 deux sexes d'un brun roux bien plus fonce que le type d'Europe*. [L' Odonestis 

 albomaculata, Bremer, pa rait etre de meme couleur que la varicte askoldensis \ mais 

 si l'on juge par les figures de Bremer (Lep. Ost-Sibiriens, pi. iv., fig. 0, ^ ; pi. iii., 

 fig. 20, $ ) et par sa description floe. <•//., pp. 42, 43), 1' Odonestis albomaculata serait 

 imc tspece dislmete de potatoria. Malheureuscment les figures tie I'ouvrage de 



* Barrett's note {Lep. Brit., iii., p. 42) is quite incomprehensible, lie writes: 

 "The pale variety of the S already described, has been received from Japan, and 

 has been named askoldensis, whilst the dark, rich, chocolate-coloured form of the 

 c? , precisely as obtained in Pembrokeshire, but with a still nunc extreme variety 

 of $ — rich chocolate-red with the two white spots expanded into handsome silvery - 

 white blotches — is named albomaculata.'' 1 Certainly we should not translate 

 Ohcrthiir's " d'un brun roux bien plus fence - que le type d'Europe," as "the pale 

 variety, ol the male." nor do we think that Mr. Barrett has taken Cosmotricht 

 albomaculata in Pembrokeshire. 



