THE GENUS CAUADlllNA, ETC. 223 



I'he British Representatives of tlie gequs Garadrina-* 



By LOUIS B. PliOUT, F.E.S. 



(Concluded from page 198). 



Concerning the differentiation of (il-tines ;uid taracaci hy scale - 

 markings, I do not think I can add anything to wliat is contained in 

 Brit. Noel, dc, viz. : that ahiiws is generally more ochreous in tone, 

 rongher-looking, with more black markings, the central shade (and 

 also the inner line) nearly always well pronounced. Continental 

 writers generally make a point of its larger size, broader wings, 

 and generally stronger build ; but, though we do get one form of 

 alsines larger than any faraxaci which I have seen, yet this will not hold 

 in the majority of cases ; neither is there very much importance in the 

 differences of the hind-wings, which are often (juoted on the Continent ; 

 the hind-wings of aUlnes are generallj/ darker and, perhaps, more 

 yellowish-tinted than those of taraxaci; but our taraxaci do not, as 

 a rule, have such whitish hind-wings as appears to be normal on the 

 Continent. 



The times of appearance of these two species seems to vary very 

 much in different places. Rossler says, that there are at least two 

 broods of alsines at Wiesbaden, but I do not think his ex])erience is 

 general. Most authorities, however, agree that it appears somewhat 

 earlier in the summer than tara.caci, which latter belongs rather to the 

 end of July and August. I am not aware whetlier there is ever 

 an attempt at a second brood of Uiraxaci in a state of nature, but a few 

 larvje in a batch that I reared in 1893-4 fed up much more rapidly 

 than the rest, and produced imagines in the autumn of 1893. This 

 behaviour, as I have remarked earlier, is quite normal in quadri punctata. 



The geographical distribution of the taraxaci group is decidedly 

 irregular. In most places on the Continent, from which I have seen 

 records, alsines is by far the commonest ; but in some others — e.g., 

 parts of France (according to Guenee). Dresden (according to Steinert, 

 Iris, vol. vi., p. 261) — our rarity, ainhiijna, is even commoner; again, 

 in the Rheingau, Fuchs reports the generallj^ rare snperstes as commoner 

 than amhigua; while taraxaci, so common in many parts of Britain, is 

 generally comparatively rare on the Continent. 



I have occupied so much time with these general notes on the 

 genus, that I must content myself with cataloguing the species with 

 their varieties in almost as concise manner as Mr. Tutt has done in 

 Brit. Noct. My excuse for going over that ground at all is that a good 

 deal has come to light since Mr. Tutt wrote, so that this very intricate 

 group seems to require a thorough overhauling ; and also that I have 

 been able to devote much more time to the genus than he could 

 possibly have spared, with the gigantic work of the whole of the 

 NocTUAE before him. 



Group I. 



Caradkina (?Laphygma) yuADRiPUNOTATA. — Clavipalpis [?Scop., Ent. 

 Cam., p. 213 (17G3)] : Snellen, Vliml, i., p. 444 (1867): grisea, 

 [Hufn., Berl. Mag., iii., p. 412, No. 91 (1766)]: Rott., Natnrf., St., 



* A paper read before the City of Lond. Ent. and Nat. Hist. Soc. on March 

 19th, 1895. 



