44 BULLETIN 38, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



The following table will aid iu separating tlie species : 



Largest; apex distinctly produced; color, dark gray to blackish; transverse liues, 



contrasting white - speciosa. 



Smaller; primaries with a yellowish tint; transverse macnlation, dark pressa. 



Apex of primaries, rectangular; wings, iuore abruptly widening at base. 



Ordinary spots, whitish; s. t. space, yellowish brown; s. t. line not jireceded by 



sagittate dashes trabalis. 



Orbicular whitish, reniform dusky ; even gray, lines very distinct; s. t. lino pre- 

 ceded by black sagittate dashes sincera. 



Orbicular suffused with reddish; s. t. space very narrow, gray impeuita. 



Platagrotis speciosa Hbn. 



1815. Hubu., Lep. Eur. Noct., 491, Noctiia. 



181G. Hubn., Verzeichuiss, 218, Envois. 



18.')2. Gn., Sp. Gen. Noct., ii, 80, Jplecta. 



1866. Moeschl., Wien. Eiit. Monatschr. viii, 199, Agrotis. 



1883. Moeschl., Stett. Ent. Zeit., 44, 117, Agrotis. 



2)erqniriia Morr. 

 1874. Morr. Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., 17, 13G, Polia. 

 1880. Grt., Bull. Bklu. Ent. Soc, in, 37, pr. syn. 



baUeijana Grt. 



1879. Grt., N. Am. Ent., i, 92, Agrotis. 



1880. Grt. Can. Ent., xii, 185, per syn. 



1880. Grt., Bull. Bkln. Ent. Soc, in, 37, per syn. 



mixta Wlk. 

 1856. Wlk., C. B. Mus. Lep., ix, 02, Acronycta. 

 1882. Grt., 111. Essay, 39, pr. syn. 



var. ARCTICA Zett. 

 1839. Zett., Ins. Lapl., 339. 

 18G4. Wlk., Stett. Ent. Zeit., 180, pr. var. 



Dark gray to blackish, somewhat powdery. Transverse lines all dis- 

 tinct, accompanied by a broad white shade. Basal line distinct; t. a. 

 line outwardly oblique, irregular. T. p. line crenulate, nearly parallel 

 with outer margin. S. t. line narrow, even, in pale specimens obsolete, 

 marked by a row of variably sized black spots. Claviform small, coii- 

 colorous, outlined in black; orbicular large, rather oblique, oblong, 

 whitish powdered with ground color ; reniform moderate, concolorous 

 annulate with white. Thorax mixed with considerable white. Second- 

 aries dirty, somewhat yellowish gray. Beneath powdery with a dis- 

 tinct irregular common line and discal lunule. The latter more dis- 

 tinct on secondaries. 



Expands 46"""; 1.75 inches. 



Habitat. — Mountainous districts of Enrope, Canada, Adirondacks, 

 White Mountains, Vermont. 



This is a very x^eculiar species for an Agrotis, and, though so well 

 marked is rich in synonyms. Arcfica is applied to the dark, evenly 

 colored forms in which the white shades are narrow, and the ordinary 

 spots somewhat reduced iu size. 



