G2 
kindly sent me six larvae of variata, ranging from smallish to nearly 
full-sized. On these I made the following rough notes (chiefly by 
comparison with Fenn’s and my own MS. notes on obeliscata, as a 
journey to Oxshott failed to secure me new material). 
“ Shape of the allies, head unicolorous green, only by the utmost 
stretch of imagination one might assume the presence of a trace of 
continuation of dorsal line down face or whitish dash on outer side of 
each lobe, both given by Fenn. A rather broad pale dorsal stripe, 
usually weak, in only one out of six “ white ”* (and even here greenish 
white) divided into two by a greener mediodorsal line, subdorsal line 
similiar (whitish in the last-mentioned example, weak in most), some¬ 
times more broadly broken (i.e., forming two more slender, more 
separate pale lines), in one case the dorsal of the two lines more distinct 
than the other, perhaps making an approach to obeliscata, which Fenn 
describes as having the subdorsal line “ fine, thread-like.” Ventral 
area little paler, the “ three parallel pale longitudinal lines ” given 
for obeliscata here hardly suggested. Spiracular line about as described 
for obeliscata. Legs and mouth parts not or inappreciably red. Thus, 
as Major Robertson thought, variata larva would seem to be, on an 
average, a more neatly-marked larvae than its ally.” Further 
comparisons, side by side, are, however, still badly needed, the more 
so as both larvae are evidently somewhat variable. 
For the details of the introduction of Thera variata (vera) to our 
British list, I would refer you to my already repeatedly quoted article 
in the “ Kntonwloyist.” The discoverer (Major Robertson) and our own 
member, Dr. Cockayne, are still interesting themselves in it, and I am 
hoping the latter will be able to exhibit larvae here. From several 
letters which I received, I have reason to think that my article aroused 
a fair amount of interest among other lepidopterists, and I hope, ere 
long, we shall know a good deal about the distribution of the species 
in our islands. I have some further records of obeliscata larvae on 
spruce, both from the New Forest (Major Robertson) and from Taunton 
(Mr. H. Doidge), though, in the latter case, the spruces were all dwarf 
and the larvae might easily have fallen into them from the tall Scotch 
firs. Still, it is evident that nobody will be entitled to jump at a con¬ 
clusion that he has got the larva of true variata because be finds it 
feeding on spruce. It remains to be seen whether variata will accom¬ 
modate itself in a state of nature to the favourite foodplant of its ally, 
Pinos sylvestris. 
Having now considered the two species together, I propose to give 
some attention to the imaginal variation, etc., of each separately. 
Thera variata (Schiff.). 
So far as has been ascertained, this abundant species remained 
undetected during the earliest years of binomial nomenclature, and 
received its first name from Schifl'ermiiller in the “ Vienna Cataloyve ” 
of 1775 (p. 110.) He placed it in Family K., “ Ph. Geometry 
* In my obeliscata the dorsal stripe, which the books call white, was really 
pale violet, narrowly bounded on either side by very pale bluish ; but I think the 
colour varies. 
xxii.-xxiii. 
