CALAJIIA LliTOSA, tTS VARIATION, HABITS, EtC. 275 



forming thus a curious zig-zag line with points directed towards the base 

 of the wing. The effect is marked and suggestive. I know no other 

 Wainscot (but of course my knowledge is limited) which indicates 

 the same approach to the marking of the rest of the Noctuides, unless 

 it be Tapinostnla hdlmanni. 1 have tabulated the number of 

 specimens examined which exhibit this development : — 



(1). ab. inUcornix — 4 males and 5 females. (2). ab. craxsiconiis—-^ males 

 and 2 females. (3). ab. caiuiae — 1 male and 1 female. 



That is, 15 out of 91 specimens. The numbers being so e(j[ually 

 balanced between males and females proves that the mark is not sexual. 

 In some specimens this mark is very indistinct indeed, so much so as 

 to require a lens for its detection ; often the little black scales merely 

 indicate by their positions an attempt to arrange themselves in 

 abnormal lines. 



I had thought that some point might be made of the unusually 

 dark hind-wings of some of the specimens ; but it does not appear that 

 they indicate anything in particular. As a matter of fact, 1 have 

 picked out 5 males and 1 female from the 91 specimens with 

 dark hind -wings, which seems to be quite contrary to the general 

 rule. I have had some difficulty in arranging the specimens to 

 my own satisfaction, dealing as I have done with so many 

 poor and worn examples. 



I have pointed out that the great majority of those arranged under 

 the 0. Intnsct (type) label are quite unworthy of the distinction. Wear 

 and tear reduce both the light and dark forms to the spotless, and it is 

 quite necessary to examine specimens carefully before deciding what 

 the markings are. 



I fancy that Mr. Tutt might have added to his arrangement two 

 other forms which I have come across, that is a form streaked, but not 

 spotted, in both light and dark ; yet, at the same time, it is well 

 to warn intending students of the species that the more worn a 

 specimen, the more distinct streaks will it show in some lights, and 

 that the streaks intended in the classification are those caused by the 

 concentration of black scales, and not the shadows thrown by the 

 folds or crinkles of the wasted wing. 



A last word as to the distribution of Calaiiiia lutosa. I feel perfectly 

 certain that it is by no means a rarity. Observing that it is the 

 the more abundant the less promising the reed-growth appears, and 

 that it may occur in great numbers where there are actually no well- 

 grown plants at all, I infer that it is to be found, if looked for at the 

 proper time, in most places. I am convinced, for instance, that it 

 ought to be found throughout the course of the Lea and Roding 

 wherever the food-plant occurs. I have seen it, to the number of three 

 or four at a time, in a little damp corner far from running water, where 

 a few reeds strive for a living beneath the shade of thick oak trees. I 

 am sure that given a ditch and a few reeds, there the insect may be, and 

 probably will be, found. But it wants looking for, for it is an insect 

 with an unobtrusive habit ; it will not force itself upon our notice, 

 and, until we go to its haunt to get it, we may not come across it at 

 all. 



Certainly, where one or two have turned up at light or sugar, there 

 I should expect to find more, and the search ought neither to l)e long 

 nor difficult, when one knows the sort of place in which to look. 



