26 



THE BRITISH NATURALIST. 



[February 



with a small dark blotch before the fissure ; the first two feathers of 

 h.-w. slender, the third feather rather long " (" Manual," II., p. 440). 

 The type is thus described by Linnaeus : — " Alucita alis patentibus, 

 linearibus indivisis " (" Systema Naturae," X., p. 542). He further 

 adds in the " Fauna Suecicae," p. 370. — Alae cinereae : Superiores 

 lineares, indivisae, subtus caniculatae, sub quihus inferiores abscondun- 

 tur. Inferiores fere tripartita^ : ramo postico usque ad basin diviso." 

 In the "Entomologist," Vol. XVIII., p. 279, we read: — "Lord 

 Walsingham in his " Pterophoridae of California and Oregon," writing 

 of PteropJwrus monodactyla (p. 40), says: — "One distinguishing 

 peculiarity of this genus and species, whether in Europe or in 

 America, by which it may always be immediately recognised, is the 

 presence of brush-like tufts of appressed-like scales on the upper side 

 of the hind feet. In good specimens these are noticeable on each side 

 of the tarsal joints below the second pair of spurs. . . . It is remark- 

 ably constant, and does not occur, so far as 1 am aware in any other 

 genus of the Pterophovidce. '" (" Entomologist," Vol. XVI II., p. 279). 



Variation — The species varies very considerably in colour. The 

 ordinary grey form is the Linnaean type, whilst the redder form is the 

 pterodactyla of Hiibner, but not of Linnaeus, which is Stainton's 

 fuscus. The Irish specimens which I have received from Mr. Percy 

 Russ of Sligo, are particularly bright in colour and large in size, but 

 the most remarkable local form of this species with which I have yet 

 met is the Wicken Fen form, and even now it is somewhat difficult 

 to believe that some of the specimens are really this species. This 

 race, for which I propose the varietal name of pal udis, is much smaller 

 than the ordinary wood and garden form, although there is some 

 variation in the species inter se, the larger appearing more Mike typical 

 monodactyla, the smaller, with their shorter wings (which look broader 

 in proportion^, having every possible superficial appearance to the 

 members of the genus Leioptilus, to which, without the larger speci- 

 mens, one would be certainly inclined to refer them. - These specimens 

 have all been captured in 1891-92, between July 25th and August 

 10th, and it is probable that they feed on Convolvulus in the Fen, as a 

 few plants grow where the specimens occur. The clear ochreous 

 form, which appears to occur more commonly in the most open 

 localities frequented by this species, has apparently not been specially 

 described ; but the reddish form, inclining to cinnamon-brown, is 

 certainly the pterodactyla of Hiibner. The forms we get appear to 

 be : — (1) Grey = type = monodactyla, Linn. ; (2) Ochreous = var. 

 ochracea ; (3) Reddish = pterodactyla, Hb. ; (4) Small local Fen form 

 (grey or ochreous rarely) = var. paludis. 



Larva — Of the larva of this species, Mr. Porritt writes :—" During 

 last summer a young 1 plume ' larva, which proved to be this species, 



