52 



LEPIDOPTERA. 



ovate, edged distinctly with black ; cilia of the ground 

 colour, tipped with white. Hind wings elongated toward 

 the apex, rather shortened behind ; the margin strongly 

 crenulated ; pale brownish-drab ; central spot a black ring, 

 followed by a rather sinuous central cloudy black line, not 

 curved, but directly crossing the wing, and sometimes 

 partially duplicated ; extreme hind margin and cilia rather 

 paler brown, the latter tipped with white. Female a little 

 paler, dusted with dark brown, body much thicker, antennae 

 simple. 



Underside of all the wings shining, very pale brownish- 

 drab ; costa dusted with black ; central spot in each a black 

 ring, and beyond it is a slender cloudy black transverse 

 stripe. Body and legs pale brown. 



Subject to local and climatal variation. In the North of 

 England, and even in the Midland hill districts, there is 

 much darkening of the ground colour, or it is dusted with 

 dark scales, the transverse lines becoming more strongly 

 marked, and both of them often edged with white dots; in 

 some of these the middle portion of the wing is darkened 

 so as to form a central band. In Scotland this darkening 

 often takes the form of abundant dark dusting ; or the lines 

 are strongly marked in spots on a brown ground ; while in 

 Ireland a tendency is noticed to special darkening of the 

 area outside the second line, as is seen in EniiomoH fuscan- 

 taria ; others from this countr}- have ferruginous tints ; 

 others again have a darkening of the middle of the median 

 nervure, which unites the first and second lines ; and a speci- 

 men in the collection of the Rev. John Bristowe at Belfast 

 has vei'y black transverse lines upon a pale ground coloui\ 

 Specimens from Durham are often beautifully clouded with 

 grey ; others from South Yorkshire with dark brown and black ; 

 some of those from Northumberland with dark ground colour 

 and black lines have arpaler central band ; and Mr. Gr. T.Porritt 

 has one quite smoothly black-brown, with scarcely a trace of 

 lines or markings. From the Lancashire mosses a form has 



