174 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



dark red and black specimens to ohelisca, whilst all other speci- 

 mens have been referred to tritlci. Those which have had no 

 costal streak have been generally lumped together under the 

 name of cursoria. Such has been the general method of dealing 

 with these species. To return to the early authors, Hiibner only 

 figures one specimen of tritici and that is, according to Dr. 

 Staudinger, a male crassa, but he figures three aquilina. His 

 figure 135 which I have previously described, is a really good 

 example of the form known as aquilina in Britain, but his other 

 two figures of aquilina 585 and 586 are nothing like his figure 

 135, and themselves represent two entirely different forms. His 

 figure 535 has a yellowish costal streak and a white median 

 nervure, whilst the figure 530 is of a dark red colour with a 

 white costa and white median nervure. Thus we see Hiibner 

 figures three distinct aquilina, and all three represent different, 

 and not uncommon forms of tritici. Unless we are ready to 

 accept all dark brown and red-streaked tritici as aqmlina on the 

 strength of Hlibner's three figures, we must throw out all idea 

 of aquilina as a species. Boisduval, many years after, described 

 a number of varieties of tritici, including some of Hlibner's 

 so-called species ; but after a few years Guenee, when writing 

 his ' Noctuelles,' vol. v., p. 289, takes Boisduval to task for 

 referring Htibner's Jictilis to tritici instead of, as lie thought, 

 to aquilina. Thus we find these two great naturalists at war 

 about the matter, and we find Guenee lajdng down the law that 

 the type of aquilina consists of " those individuals of a pale, 

 clear, brownish ground colour, with the markings, stigmata, and 

 wedge-shaped marks clearly developed." We must, however, 

 bear in mind that afterwards ('Noctuelles,' vol. v., p. 289) he 

 includes fictilis and vitta as varieties of aquilina. To show too, 

 how little faith should be pinned in Hlibner's power to dis- 

 criminate the species of Agrotis, it must be remembered that 

 fictilis, as well as vitta, eruta, ruris and villiersii were figured by 

 him as distinct species. Since Guenee, no one, except the 

 British authors, has ever attempted to set up aquilina as a 

 distinct species ; and no one but British lepidopterists now 

 attempts to prOve what seems to me an utter impossibility. I 

 have specimens of the species from most of those lepidopterists 

 who think they get it. Nearly all the specimens are brownish (as 

 of necessity they must be) ; all are taken freely where tritici 



