10 



THE YOUNG NATUEALIST. 



ent specimens, but there appears to be a 

 decidedly darker brown on the wings of 

 specimens from the north and brighter on 

 those from the south. The hind wing is 

 subject to much greater change. Mr. 

 Stainton, Mr. Newman, and others call the 

 colour pink. Mr. Gregson calls it red. 

 This is a difference of terms only, for the 

 hue does not vary, though the depth of 

 colour and extent of it do, and these gentle- 

 men mean the same thing, though they use 

 a different name for the particular shade. 

 To me it appears a rather deep pink with a 

 little carmine in it, but it will be better to 

 call it pink to avoid misunderstanding. In 

 some specimens from Scotch localities the 

 only trace of pink on the hind wing is on 

 the fringe. These examples are generally 

 smaller than those from more southerly 

 localities, and are rather dark, dingy-looking 

 insects, The same form occurs also in 

 Lapland, and is called Borealis by Dr. 

 Staudinger. The species does not seem to 

 have been met with by the collectors who 

 have recently been investigating the lepi- 

 dopterous fauna of the Shetland and Orkney 

 islands, but it has been taken by Mr. 

 M 'Arthur in the Isle of Arran. No special 

 reference is made to this insect in the 

 acount of the captures in The Entomologist 

 for last month, it may therefore be assumed 

 they were of the ordinary northern form. 

 In other Scotch localities and in the north of 

 England the pink hue is to be found extend- 

 ing up the inner margin and spreading more 

 or less towards the centre of the wing, but the 

 portion from the anal angle to the tip and 

 thence to the base is always dark. As we 

 travel south we find the pink extends still 

 further across the wing, till in the midlands 

 it has covered it all except a black band 

 from the tip nearly to the hind margin. 

 Still further south the pink colour is more 

 extensively spread across the wing, and the 

 band becomes less regular. Mr. Bond has 

 specimens in which the band encloses pink 



spots: a form I have never seen. One in 

 my own collect'"on from the south coast has 

 the band quite broken in the middle. But 

 the greatest extreme is reached by a speci- 

 men in Mr. Mosley's collection, also from 

 the south coast, which, instead of a band, 

 has four spots, not very large, the space 

 between them being wider than their own 

 diameter. This form is, I believe, very rare 

 in Britain, and is called Fervida by Dr. 

 Staudinger, who gives the south of Europe 

 as the locality for it. In a specimen also in 

 Mr. Mosley's possession, which was taken 

 in the island of Corsica, there are only 

 three spots remaining, small enough to be 

 called dots. These remarks refer only to 

 the band ; the two central spots named in 

 Mr. Stainton's description are present in all 

 specimens I have seen, or heard of in addi- 

 tion to the others. From the above it will 

 be seen that the hind wing of the insect has 

 a decided tendency to become more suffused 

 with black scales in the north and with pink 

 scales in the south. If the intermediate 

 forms did not exist the extremes would 

 probably be considered distinct. 



The insect expands from under one inch 

 to nearly two. The darkest specimens are 

 the smallest ; those with most pink are the 

 largest. British specimens average about 

 an inch and a quarter. 



It Emerges in May or June and deposits 

 its eggs in clusters on the leaves of low 

 plants on which the larvae feed. Of the egg 

 I have no description. 



The Larva, when full fed, is about an 

 inch long, and being covered with close 

 short hairs looks rather stumpy. Preserved 

 larvae are often stretched out too much. 

 The hairs vary from very pale yellowish 

 brown to very dark brown, and it appears 

 to vary equally wherever it occurs. In the 

 north of England and in Scotland it feeds 

 up in autumn, and passes the winter full 

 fed, to spin up in spring- Further south it 

 would appear that part of the brood feed 



