6102 



Insects, 



also a very dark insect, abundant in the New Forest and on various heaths in the 

 South of England. It would be very interesting to compare the larvee of all the 

 varieties and ascertain if any difference exists between them, or whether the great 

 and constant difference in the colour of the perfect insects is merely attributable to 

 soil. T have not used any specific names for the several varieties, as there seems con- 

 siderable confusion among them.— P. H. Vaughan ; Redland, Bristol.— Id. 



Gnophos obscuraria. — Although it is quite true that all the specimens of Guophos 

 obscuraria taken on Parley Heath are of a dark colour, I do not consider that character 

 sufficient to distinguish them as a species from the lighter-coloured ones. 1 took one 

 specimen on Parley Heath, which, placed by the side of some of the darker specimens 

 from Charmouth, would puzzle any entomologist to say to which species it belonged. — 

 J. C. Dale ; Glanville's Wootton, near Sherbourjie, May 8, 1858. 



[The following extract from the * Entomological Magazine,' i. 515, dated October 

 1833, will show that the excellent entomologist who contributes the foregoing para- 

 graph entertained and published the same opinion as to the extending the limits of this 

 variable species twenty-five years ago, which is now gaining ground through the advo- 

 cacy of that no less accomplished observer, M. Guenee. " I have taken Charissa 

 serolinaria on a chalk soil, as in the Isle of Wight, for instance, and always whitish ; 

 C. pullaria, on stony chalk, at Dover, is rather darker ; and another variety, on Portland 

 stone, darker still ; besides a variety at Monk's Wood, which appears intermediate. I 

 have taken C. dilucidaria at Teignmouth, between grass and heath ; and one, very nearly 

 allied, on the Mendip Hills, out of furze and on old walls. C. obscuraria, which I 

 have taken on Parley Heath, is very dark indeed. Is it not possible that all these are 

 but one species ? — J. C. Dale.''' — Edward Newman]. 



Gnophos pullaria, ^c. — I have before me larvae of this insect, taken by Mr. 

 Vaughan at Durdham Down, furnished to me by Mr. Greening, and also larvae col- 

 lected by Mr. Greening, Mr. Almond and myself at Llanferros, Denbighshire, and at 

 Prenton, in Cheshire, and of some larvae which I met with on Bidston Hill last week. 

 Having paid much close attention to the egg, larvae and imago of this insect, I have 

 no hesitation in pronouncing the whole of these larvae to be those of one variable spe- 

 cies. It may be said, "So says Guenee;" but, however proud we may be of 

 M. Guenee's admirable works, we must not take all for granted that even he says, as, 

 for instance, Cheimatobia filigrammaria and C. autumnaria, which he gravely tells us 

 are one species (simply because he was short of information upon this point) do not 

 even appear in the same localities or within a month or two of each other; but, as it 

 is more than probable that I shall have the larvae of both species this season, I reserve 

 my remarks for a time, merely observing that I already possess sufficient information 

 respecting both species to warrant me in saying they are distinct. I may also observe 

 that I have a full set of another equally distinct species (a birch feeder) in my cabinet, 

 under the name Cheimatobia approximaria : the female of this species is even more 

 distinct from either of the above species than the female of autumnaria is from the 

 female of filigrammaria. — C. S. Gregson ; Stanley, May 9, .—Intelligencer . 



Gnophos obscurata and G. pullata. — In Mr. Stainton's 'Manual' two species of 

 the genus Gnophos are given as British, viz., obscurata and pullata. Whether we 

 have or have not more than one species, it is certain that the pullata of Treitschke, 

 Herrich-Schaeffer and Guenee, and which is considered to be the species intended by 

 this name in the Vienna Catalogue, has not yet been found in Britain, and therefore 

 the name ought not to be applied to either of the varieties or species found here. Tiie 



