116 THE entomologist's recoed. 



corctilata, while in Germany, our ferrugaria passes as spddicearia, I think 



some at least of you will agree with me, that it is time something was done 

 towards bringing about a common understanding ; for, however little 

 value we may attach to the " law of priority," surely nothing but con- 

 fusion can arise, if Ave go on applying German notices of ferrugata to 

 our British species of that name, when they really belong to our red 

 unidentaria. 



We owe the name ferrugata, to Clerck, who in his Icones, 1759, 

 (pi. 6, fig. 14), figures one of our two species under that appellation ; 

 Linnajus following with a brief diagnosis in the Fauna Suecica, Ed. 

 Alt., 17G1 (p. 338, No. 1292); "alls purpurascentibus ; strigis tribus 

 albidis, postice cmereis ; macula didyma fusca." The next name in the 

 field was Hufnagel's corculata (Berl. Mag., 1769, p. 616, No. 94) ; there 

 can be no doubt that this belongs to unidentaria. Haw., rather than to 

 ferrugaria. Haw., for though Hufnagel describes it as " reddish-brown," 

 yet Kottemburg distinctly says that the transverse band is " broad, and 

 almost entirely black." 



In 1776, the Vienna Catalogue gave us spadicearia, "the ochre- 

 brownish red-striped geometer," which Fabricius, Illiger, and Treitschke, 

 take for a variety ol ferrugaria, W. V. Borkhausen's spadicearia (Eur. 

 Schmet., V. 190, 1794), is no doubt identical with this, and is certainly 

 the extreme form oi ferrugaria, Haw., of which I have examples from 

 Dr. Staudinger, at the top of my second drawer. 



Esper Hgnres ferrugaria, Haw. (Die Schmett. in Ahhild., pi. 40, fig. 5) 

 under the name of alchemillaria, which must be due to some misunder- 

 standing, for he quotes De Geer, whose alchemiUata is quite another 

 species, namely didymata, L. 



Next Haworth (Lep. Brit. II., p. 308), not knowing Hufnagel's 

 name corculata, rechristens the black species unidentaria ; he had ap- 

 parently seen red forms of that species, but took them for varieties of 

 ferrugaria, for he seems to describe such under his ferrugaria var. j3. 



But the most difficult question still remains. Which of the red 

 species did Clerck figure as ferrugata ? I have spent a great deal of 

 time in studying his figure, and yet I am afraid to express any positive 

 opinion on the question. The figure is very poor, with whitish ground 

 colour, pale red central band traversed with distinct lines, and large 

 didymated spot, coalescing in heart form. On account of the colour 

 of the band and the distinctness of the lines, Zeller, Guenee, and the 

 Scandinavian lepidoj^terists have accepted it as representing spa cZ/cearm, 

 Bkh. (= ferrugaria. Haw.), and Prof. Aurivillius (to whose courtesy I 

 am indebted for some Swedish specimens sent to assist in clearing up 

 the synonymy) sent me this species as " the true ferrugata, CI." On the 

 other hand, the whitish outer area in Clerck's figure is quite irrecon- 

 cilable with any representative of this species I have ever seen, but 

 agi-ees well with my " var. corculata " from Sweden, and with the Lin- 

 Ucean type of "ferrugata ;" both these latter are certainly of the species 

 known here as unidentaria. On the whole I am rather inclined to be- 

 lieve that the entire absence of an outer ochreous band shows that 

 Clerck had red unidentaria before him, and that therefore, as Ereyer, 

 Herrich-Schaffer, and probably Staudinger (all having access to Clerck's 

 work) admit, the name ferrugata rightly belongs to the darker-banded 

 of the two species, and that the ferrugaria of Haworth should be called 

 spadicearia, W.V. or spadicearia, Bkh. 



But, such conflicting views obtaining about the identity of 



