PREFACE. 



The delay in the appearance of this volume has 

 been almost entirely occasioned by difficulties experi- 

 enced in connection with hand- colouring the plates. 



At the commencement of Mr. Stainton's long and, 

 as it unhappily proved, fatal illness, the plates were 

 already all lithographed, and he was able to begin the 

 copying out of the manuscript for, the letterpress, but 

 could not proceed far with it. The task was com- 

 pleted by Mr. W. D. Koebuck of Leeds, under the 

 supervision of Mr. G. T. Porritt of Huddersfield, so 

 well known for his experience regarding the Larvse of 

 British Macro-Lepidoptera. Mr. Porritt has kindly 

 undertaken to edit the remaining volumes in succession 

 to Mr. Stainton, and he has already in hand Vol. VI, 

 which will complete the Noctuse. 



For many reasons it is desirable that the colouring 

 of the plates should be continued by the same artist, 

 but if any serious delay again occur, arrangements 

 for expediting the work will have serious attention. 



In the present volume it will be seen that the number 

 of British species, of which no figure whatever was 

 made by the late Mr. Buckler, is comparatively small. 

 But the descriptive text is necessarily incomplete, for 

 no descriptions of many of the species were published 

 by him, nor do they occur in his Note Books, nor, with 

 few exceptions, amongst the published descriptions by 

 the late Mr. Hellins. A few of the missing descrip- 

 tions have been supplied from those published by 

 Mr. Porritt. 



R. MoLaohlan, Treasurer, 

 Thos. Wiltshire, Secretary. 



