VARIETIES OF NOCTURE IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 9 



subject should not, however, be insurmountable ; and there ought 

 to be, with some little care in the selection of suitable observations, 

 a sufficiency of reliable data forthcoming to enable Mr. White to 

 l)rosecute his task to a successful conclusion. 

 Lewisham, December, 1888. 



COXTRIBaTIOXS TOWARDS A LIST OF THE VARIETIES 



OF NOCTURE OCCURRING IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 



By J. W. TuTT, F.E.S. 



(Continued from vol. xxi., p. 31o.) 



Axylia, Hb., imtris, lu 



The type of this species is described by Liiiusus as : — 

 " Noctua spirilinguis cristata, alis detlexis obsoletis subpunctatis, 

 niargine exteriore fusco adjecta macula subocelLiri." " Color 

 ligni putride, ut in exsoleta s. verbasci, sed brevis." (' Systema 

 NaturjB,' p. 850, No. 152). Haworth describes the species as, 

 '■ Ala^ pallidse sive llavicantes costa late fusca," &c. ('Lepidoptera 

 Britannica,' p. 172, No. 34); and Guenee, again, describes it as, 

 " Superior wings of a very clear, pale yellow, with the costa 

 broadly brown," &c. (' Noctuelles,' vol. v. p. 134). Hiibner 

 figures the species under the name of lignosa, and his figure 

 (245, by error 215) is not quite typical, the anterior wings being 

 " yellowish ochreous with black markings." Newman, in his 

 'British Moths,' p. 282, describes the species as "pale wainscot- 

 brown with dark umber-brown markings." These seem to be 

 the chief points of variation, viz., the ground colour varying from 

 whitish or pale yellowish to dark ochreous or wainscot-brown, 

 and the markings from brown to black. I have both forms in 

 my cabinet. Those with typical pale yellow wings and black 

 markings would appear to be the sicca of Guenee. Mr. Russ 

 has sent me a specimen from Sligo with a distinct dark shade, 

 reaching from the base of the reniform to the inner margin. 



«. var. VujHosa, Hb. — Grouud coloiu- yellowish-ochreous instead of pale 

 yellow or whitish ; the ordinary markings black instead of brown, much 

 irrorated with fuscous dots. A lull description of Hiibner 's lignosa would 

 be, " Anterior wings with the grouud colour of a yellow ochreous shade, 

 with a black basal streak, the orbicular and reniform outlined in black; a 

 double transverse line of dots beyond the reniform ; the median uervure 

 continued through the wings as a dusky shade; a broad black costal streak 

 runs along from the base of the costa to the apex where it ends ; two short 

 dusky shades are placed in the upper part of the outer margin. Hind wings 

 grey, with the outer margin slightly ochreous." Newman's figure, ' British 

 Moths,' p. 282, is much too dark for the type, and apparently belongs to 

 this variety. 



(?)/?. var. sicca, On. — Guenee describes a species under the name of sicca 

 as follows ; — " A little smaller than piUris, the superior wings of which 



