NOTES—ORIGINAL AND SELECTED.
61
INSECTA.
LEPIDOPTERA.
Dark variety of Arctia caja at Shenfield.—Mr. R. G. Willament, of
Brentwood, sends particulars of an interesting aberration of the Garden Tiger
Moth (Arctia caja) which he has bred from a larva found on Shenfield Common
in May, 1896. The moth is a female of normal size, but the fore-wings are dark
brown, and the hind-wings blackish brown, with buff margins ; the usual
blue-black metallic spots being just visible through the dark ground colour.
Melanic "sports" of this extremely variable insect seem to be of more
frequent occurrence than the lighter varieties, but judging from the description,
Mr. Willament's "Tiger" is a very fine example. It resembles one figured
by Mr. C. G. Barrett on plate 71, vol. ii., in his magnificent work on the
Lepidoptera of the British Islands, from Dr. Mason's collection, but the latter is
a male. Almost all "varieties" of A. caja appear to be bred in confinement,
and mainly from larvae collected in Lancashire and Yorkshire.—Ed.
BOTANY.
PHANEROGAMIA.
Epping Forest Plants.—Of the plants recorded as growing in Epping
Forest there are in existence several lists, the most recent, I believe, being that
published by Mr. J. T. Powell, in the Essex Naturalist, in 1892. A copy
of this list having recently come into my possession, I note that the following
two plants are not recorded, nor are they given in the list of Epping Forest
plants in Buxton's Epping Forest. They both probably have been seen by
other observers than myself. Stellaria umbrosa, Opiz. in the forest, near
Chingford; Limnanthemum peltatum, S. P. Gimel., pond south-west of Epping.
The latter plant is given for Woodford (including the River Roding) in
Cooper's Flora, Metropolitana, 1836, upon the authority of Warner.—C. E.
Britton, 189, Beresford Street, Camberwell, S.E., in Science Gossip,
October, 1896.
PALAEONTOLOGY.
Gryphaea incurva, with Upper Valve in position.—In the course of
some observations on this fossil in The International Journal of Microscopy and
Natural Science for January, 1897, Mr. John French remarks that this species
does not often occur as a perfect fossil:—"The geological range of these
fossils is from the Lias to the Chalk (both inclusive) but so far as I know
Liassic examples do not occur in Essex. Our derivatives, I believe, are
principally from the Oolitic series (Oxford Clay, &c). The abrasion of the
Gryphaea, for the most part, must have long anteceded the advent of the
Boulder Clay, for most of the examples, broken from their matrix of hard
rock, show considerable wear. It seems to be the fate of this shell generally
to appear under this aspect, even in Liassic specimens. The amount of wear
and tear and tossing about can also be inferred by another standard, and that
is the general absence of the right or upper valve. Perhaps I should be within
the truth if I said that not one specimen in a hundred bears this appendage.
I could also safely say that not one specimen in a thousand (from
the Essex Drift, at least) is a perfect fossil, but it has been my good fortune to