Vay, 1881.] 265 



As I cannot find among the numerous old descriptions of (so- 

 called) species of Peronea — since deservedly reduced to the ranks of 

 varieties, — any that can be relied upon as referring to this species, I 

 am compelled to find it a name, and, therefore, adopt one which it has 

 thoroughly earned. 



Peronea perplexana, sp. n. 

 Fore-wings long, with costa much arched at the base, apex slightly pointed, and 

 anal angle full and rounded, so as to give the wing a rather truncate form. Glossy, 

 pale chestnut, varying to greyish-brown, and very dark grey-brown, almost black, 

 appearing rather reticulated from being crossed by five irregular lines of slightly 

 raised brown dots, and having in the middle of the second of these lines a distinct 

 raised " button " of brown scales, which is very apparent in the darker varieties. 

 Margin of basal blotch indicated by the usual brown streak from the base of the 

 dorsal margin of the wing. Costal triangular blotch large, red-brown, varying to 

 black-brown, reaching two-thirds across the wing, and nearly to the apex, but often 

 merged into a broad, oblique fascia, which then occupies great part of the posterior 

 half of the wing. The anterior margin of this triangular blotch coincides with the 

 second line of dots and raised button, already mentioned, and is of a rich red-brown 

 in even the darkest specimens. Cilia brown, with a darker interrupted line at the 

 se. Hind-wings faintly tinged with grey, with darker margin, and pale cilia. 

 Head and thorax brown or grey-brown, varying with the fore-wings, abdomen 

 greyish, with a light brown anal tuft. 



It differs from Schalleriana in the more decided basal arch of the 

 costa, from that species and comparand, in its longer wings and more 

 truncate hind margin, and from logiana in its more pointed apex and 

 longer wings. It is altogether a broader-winged insect, and larger 

 than comariana. In colour it resembles some varieties of comariana and 

 comparand, and in its produced blotch, the variety latifasciana of 

 Schalleriana, but its triangular blotch is not so flat as in these species, 

 and is never margined with white as in the last-named. Its larva is 

 rather slender, cylindrical, not active. "When young, yellowish-white, 

 with a reddish or greenish internal dorsal vessel, head and dorsal plate 

 black ; when older, greenish-white with green dorsal vessel, head and 

 dorsal plate pale brown. On hawthorn {Cratcegus oxyacanthd) and 

 blackthorn. (Prunus spinosa), folding down the edge of a leaf length- 

 wise, or drawing it together, feeding in the middle of June. Pupa 

 light brown. I think that the larva spins up in its leafy habitation — 

 certainly it does so sometimes. The imago appears about the middle of 

 July, and is almost always found in hawthorn bushes, though I have 

 reared it from blackthorn. In this district it frequents warm, sheltered 

 lanes, especially near the sea, but I have seen specimens from Hereford- 

 shire, and, I think, from Kent. I do not think that it is a generally 

 distributed or common species. 



