Morley : Lepidoplera of South Yorkshire. 



19 



utropos ; numerous reports of its capture from various parts 

 of the county are to hand. In the neighbouring village of 

 Shepley a dead one was found in a spider's web. It was tethered 

 fast in the web, and had probably been killed by the spider, 

 surely a record of spider pugnacity, for besides having its 

 clumsy captive to contend with, its efforts in securing the 

 monster would be accompanied by a squeak sufficiently un- 

 nerving to fill with fear much higher organisms than spiders. 

 The insect was a male, and, considering its ignominious death, 

 was in fair condition. The Geometrae have always been below 

 the a^^erage, which is rather surprising, considering the fine 

 summer we have had, but probably the cause may be traced 

 to the miserabl}/ bad weather of last year. Many usually 

 com.mon species have scarcely put in an appearance, and others 

 have not been noticed at all. However, Selenia lunaria, a 

 scarce species in the West Riding, has been taken both at 

 Barnsley and Skelmanthorpe. A visit to Thorne Waste on 

 Jul}/ nth, although a wet day, resulted in the following being 

 taken commonly: — Macaria lititrata, Timandra amataria, 

 Eiibolia limitata, and other common geometrse. I no statices 

 and Zygcsna filipendidcB were also both common there. Of 

 butterflies there is little to report, the Skelmanthorpe district is 

 a very poor region for the Rhopalocera. Melanism seems to 

 be on the increase, and is especially noticeable in Aplecta 

 nebulosa, the var. robsoni being common (at Haw Park) ; and 

 the local races of C. viminalis, A. agathina, M. strigilis and 

 C. duplavis seem to be entirely black. X. polyodon, L. muUis- 

 trigavia, L. ccEsiata, A. ociilea, B. repandata, P. pilosaria are 

 all species very much subject to melanism ; indeed, extreme 

 black ones of each species are of common occurrence. 



Another species in which m.elanism was not suspected has 

 been brought to our notice in Himera pennaria. Mr. H. 

 Dyson, of Skelmanthorpe, reared a brood from eggs obtained 

 from an apparently quite ordinary female, and nothing more 

 than an ordinary bred series of insects was expected as the 

 result. All the brood, -however , are of a dark reddish brown 

 colour, darker than any we have previously seen, and many 

 of the males have the basal half of the fore-wings heavily 

 suffused with lead colour, giving them a very dingy appearance. 



From other districts friends have supplied m.e with the 

 following valuable records. Mr. Porritt has taken in a wood 

 near Sheffield, Macaria lititrata var. nigrofiilvata, a variety sup- 



IQC9 January i. 



