31 
(especially five from Sir George Hampson) suggests almost a “ local 
race,” being of a greyer brown colour, rather rough looking, with a good 
deal of whitish in the forewings, one or two with a slight suggestion of 
the shiny appearance so characteristic of manylcelandLarentiids (notably 
Rheumaptera thulearia). Of the typical forms ( affinitata , Stph.), two of 
Zeller’s (labelled “ Europa ”) bear the manuscript name of “ deplorata, 
Z.,” which I cannot find to have been published ; seven others labelled 
either Waldeck, or as coming from Dr. Speyer (probably also Waldeck) 
quite agree with my Stettin form. 
An aberration is figured by Herrich - Schaeffer (Neu. Schmett., fig. 28), 
and is described by him (Syst. Bearb., vi., p. 188) as : “ $ . A var. 
from Reutti, from Lahr. Small, the white double band broad, exactly 
in the middle of the wings.” It is almost the colour of the Dovrefjeld 
form, described above, and the outer margin of the central area is 
almost straight, as is consequently the “ rivulet.” 
I know of no recorded foodplants excepting species of Lychnis and 
perhaps Silene and Dianthus. I have an impression that I have seen some 
continental records for Silene nutans, but I believe that in this country 
it is confined to Lychnis, and indeed has a decided preference for the 
common red species (L. dioica). Stange (Stett. Ent. Zeit., xlvii., p. 280) 
records variation in larval (and imaginal) dates, and finds the pupae 
generally go over more than one winter. I have occasionally found 
larvae which I have believed to belong to P. affinitata, but they have 
all been ichneuinoned; like Buckler, the only member of the genus 
which I have yet succeeded in breeding from Lychnis dioica is the 
common P. ffavofasciata. The lifehistory was first worked out by 
Lyonet, who gives excellent figures and description ( Recherches, etc., 
.p. 565, pi. 27, fig. 7-12, first published in 1830), named “ alchemillata” 
by the editor De Haan. The larva was rediscovered by Plotz, on 
“ Lychnis sylvestris ” ( = dioica), and was figured by Freyer in 1856 
(Neu. Beitr., vii., pi. 655.1, p. 95) together with an extreme var. 
rivinata bred therefrom. P. affinitata seems to be very subject to 
parasites, and I should not call it at all a common species. I have 
very occasionally beaten it from hedges by day, at Sandown and Lyntou, 
or netted it on the wing at dusk among its foodplants. It has not a 
very wide geographical range, but is well distributed through the 
British Isles; I have an impression that it is commoner in parts of 
Scandinavia, and in the Baltic provinces, than elsewhere in Europe. 
Perizoma alchemillata, Linn.—This common little moth was long 
known on the Continent by the name of riuulata, Linne’s alchemillata 
having been misidentified by Schiffermuller (followed by Hubner and 
others), and its name applied to the “common carpet” (alteniata, 
Mii.lL, =sociata, Bork.). Laspeyres (111. May., ii., p. 163), was the 
first to suspect that rivulata, Schiff., was the true alchemillata, L., 
and although Treitschke (Schmett. Eur., vi., 2, p. 42) wrongly con¬ 
troverted this, it was confirmed from the Linnean collection and other 
sources, and is now universally accepted. True, it involved a “ false 
proposition,” but fortunately, the British Association rule permitting 
alteration on this score is falling into deserved disrepute, and I regard 
the immutability of this name, imposed in the very first year of 
binomial nomenclature, as well assured. The name, of course, suggests 
some connection with the botanical genus Alchemilla, while no such 
connection exists ; the explanation being that Linne thought he recog- 
