INVESTIGATIONS ON SCIAPHILA WAHLBOMIANA, ETC. 51 



attempted to separate into the species enumerated by Herrich- 

 Scliiitier, in his •' Schmetterlinge von Europa," vol. iv. p. 199, 

 et seq. 



Only quite lately, when examining repeatedly my materials 

 in order to prove the correctness of Heinemann's opinion, 

 that Sc. incertana, Wahlbomiana, communana^ alticolana^ 

 minorana^ and virgaureana, were all simply varieties of the 

 Linnasau Wahlboiniana, I succeeded in finding a character, 

 at least in the females, by which they may be sharply and 

 decidedly divided into tivo species. 



In the one species the female abdomen ends obliquely 

 truncate, and is surrounded by a crown of pale yellow-grey 

 hairs and scales, within which is the very short and thick 

 ovipositor, which on its upper side bears a dense tuft of dark 

 yellow (sometimes almost orange-yellow), stiff, bristly hairs, 

 so that the end of the abdomen, even at a superficial glance, 

 appears to be very distinctly coloured yellow. 



When viewed through a microscope, which magnifies 60 

 times, the yellow tuft of hairs is seen to be covered above 

 by two longish, round, yellowish, horny plates, which meet 

 together at a central line and have long hairs at the fine 

 margins, and that the individual bristles at the end are very 

 neatly expanded spoon-shape, and are curved downwards. 

 If we rub away the scales at the end of the abdomen, which 

 is easily done with a camel's-hair pencil, we can readily see, 

 with only a simple lens, the above-mentioned two horny 

 plates very distinctly protruding beneath the straight, free 

 margin of the last abdominal segment. 



If we now turn to the other series of females, we find the 

 formation of the ovipositor is quite different. The abdomen 

 here terminates pointed, and with a thin, long, two-jointed 

 ovipositor, at the base of which, on the upper side, stand 

 two thin, directed upwards and outwards, pale yellow-grey 



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