248 THE entomologist's kecord. 



which are so closely related to it as to have been considered, at one 

 time or another, probable varieties thereof. 



1. — Nebulata, Thnb. — The common and widely-distributed, and 

 always variable, " dilutata " boasts a long array of synonyms ; dilntata, 

 W.V., is a mere catalogue name, and the first description is by 

 Borgstrom (Thunberg's Dissertatiuncs, i., p. 12), who, in 1784, gave 

 the name of nebulata to the ordinary cinereous form with the markings 

 fuscous. 



Neijlectata (Steph. M.S.), Weaver, was erected in the Zoohxjist for 

 1852 as a distinct species, and the series in the British collection at 

 Cromwell Road is still labelled by this name. It is a huge form, 

 perhaps almost peculiar to Scotland as far as Great Britain is con- 

 cerned, but Weaver's supposed distinctive characteristics— its stouter 

 antennas and its separate habitats — have not been found to hold. 

 Mr. McArthur informs me that the forms occur together, and that it 

 is simply the largest which are picked out for lu'iilcctata. Several 

 correspondents have told me that the Scotch forms are, on the average, 

 larger and finer than the southern ones, and Doubleday I Zool., 1858, 

 p. 6103) especially mentions the Perthshire specimens as being 

 " nearly double the size of those taken in the South of England." 



Pnriirsaria, Weaver, has also been the subject of some difhculty 

 and uncertainty — and no wonder, for he really does not describe it at 

 all, and the name has no standing ; Guenee and Staudinger refer it 

 to jili(jrcun)naria, and this may be right, as Weaver bred a specimen 

 from a larva found on heath. But Weaver himself cites Gregson 

 MSS., and though Mr. Gregson does not seem to have published his 

 precursaria uxiiil later ( ZooL, 1859, p. 6347), yet the name really 

 belongs to this. He says, " It is exactly like O. borcaria in the upper 

 wings, but has a band across the elongated under wings, as in O. 

 (ilipni.ruiiaria, not parallel with the cilia, as in (>. dilntaria." The 

 only specimen he records was bred in August, from a larva feeding in 

 sallow catkins, in the central ride in Wharnclift'e Wood, Yorkshire ; 

 and he admits that both Doubleday and Bond determined it as a 

 variety of dilutata. By the courtesy of Mr. Sydney Webb, I have had 

 the opportunity of inspecting three specimens labelled precursaria, 

 from Mr. Gregson's collection, and there can be no doubt they are 

 somewhat darkened, weakly-marked dilutata, tinged with brown, 

 perhaps partly through age. The comparison with C. borcata does not 

 seem to me particularly happy, but it gives a rough idea of the form, 

 and is not to be changed ; all nomenclators agree that the diagnoses 

 rest primarily on a basis of liti'iaturc, not of ti/pc upcriniejts. The 

 month in which the specimen was bred (August) is unusually early 

 for this country, but I find several Continental records for August. 



I must next refer to the most important of the doubtful species 

 which have been associated with (K ndndata, namely, 0. autuiiniaria, 

 Bdv. MSS. = amumnata, Gn. I have had so little opportunity of 

 studying this form, that I will not commit myself to any opinion as 

 to its specific validity. Guenee, in erecting it, seems to me to be 

 very disappointing ; he relies solely on the following points, any of 

 w'hich could probably be matched in certain undoubted examples of 

 nebulata (dilutata), through, perhaps, they may have considerable 

 cumulative force : — (1st) The four wings concolorous, silky, of a dirty 

 white, never greenish. (2n(l) The hues all partially obliterated, only 



