VARIETIES OF NOCTUJi; IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 271 



breeding, considerably earlier. I hold it to be a distinct var., but 

 liave not sought general information, and am open to correction " 

 {in Utt.). With regard to this I may add that I have bred a con- 

 siderable number of the orange form, var. flavoauratum, but 

 do not remember breeding pale ones, although I have captured 

 them late in September. Thus I have both forms from this 

 neighbourhood (Greenwich), and my Hull specimens are of both 

 forms. Taking therefore the pale form as the type, I shall call 

 the darker form : — 



Var. flavoauratum, mihi. — Superior wings of a bright golden 

 yellow colour, with the two ordinary transverse bands dark 

 purplish brown, the nervures of a bright reddish colour. Inferior 

 wings of a pale yellowish grey colour, with a blackish lunule and 

 a blackish band parallel to the hind margin. This is described 

 under the name of flavago by Guenee, ' Noctuelles,' vol. v., p. 

 122; by Newman, ' British Moths,' p. 279 ; by Stainton, ' Manual,' 

 vol. i., p. 197 ; by Humphrey & Westwood, 'British Moths,' vol. 

 i., p. 213 ; and by Haworth, under the name of ochraceago, ' Lepi- 

 doptera Britannica,' p. 234. In fact Hiibner and Sepp seem to 

 be the only authors who figure and describe the pale type. 



Hyclroecia, Gn., petasitis, Doubleday. 

 Guenee, in his 'Noctuelles,' vol. v., pp. 127, 128, treats this 

 as a variety of H. vindelicia of Freyer and Herrich-Schaeffer, 

 but this latter is sunk as a synonym by all modern authors. A 

 full description of the type is given by Newman in his * British 

 Moths,' p. 281 ; and on p. 282 of the same work, Newman 

 points out that, if vindelicia is a less obscure form, as mentioned 

 by Guenee, petasitis is the prior name to vindelicia, and the 

 former therefore would become the type and the latter be retained 

 simply as a varietal name. Comparing petasitis with vindelicia, 

 Guenee writes, " Much smaller, the markings of the superior 

 wings very confused, and all the wings are more shining and 

 more thickly scaled " (' Noctuelles,' vol. v., p. 128). Our 

 specimens of petasitis present a slight sexual variation, the 

 females being larger and darker than the males. 



a. var. vindelicia, Frey. — Gueneu's description of vindelicia 

 (' Noctuelles, vol. v., p. 127) is as follows :— " Superior wings 

 greyish brown with a slight violet tinge, and all the exterior part 

 of the median space, the outer margin, and a streak from the 



