60 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



variety comhusta. It would be impossible to describe the rich 

 chestnut colour of some of these most beautiful specimens, and 

 in many instances the ground colour is in strong contrast to the 

 dark markings" (Entom. xiv. 220). 



a. var. ochrea, mihi. — The ground colour of the anterior wings of a 

 clear yellowish-ochreous, the darker markings found in the type are all pre- 

 sent, but much paler, and of a more distinctly red colour ; a white dash on 

 the inner margin near the anal angle, another on the inner margin just 

 under the dark dash at the base of the wing. Thorax the same colour as 

 the darker markings on the wings. Posterior wings pale grey, with dusky 

 nervures ; the lunule and base of the pale transverse line faintly discernible. 

 This variety would include most of the pale forms captured in Britain and 

 probably on the Continent. I have captured it in many localities in Kent, 

 and have received it from almost all parts of Britain, including the Orkneys, 

 Hebrides, and the West Coast of Ireland. 



/5. var. intermedia, mihi. — The ground colour of a clear reddish-ochreous, 

 the dark markings of the type being clearly developed in a darker shade 

 than the ground colour. The stigmata rather indistinct, owing to the 

 deeper ground colour. The pale transverse line on the posterior wings is 

 more distinct than in the type. This is a form distinctly intermediate 

 between var. ochrea, and var. fiavorvfa. It has all the distinct markings 

 of ochrea, but the reddish ground colour of fiavo-rufa. This form occurs 

 with the type, but appears to be rare. I have seen but few specimens, 

 and am indebted for those I have to Messrs. Rose and Harrison, of 

 Barnsley, and Mr. Boult, of Hull. It is recorded from Derby by Mr. 

 Hill, in the 'Entomologist's Monthly Magazine,' vol. xxiii. p. 6. This 

 is the var. fB of Guenee's ' Noctuelles,' vol. v. p. 138, but it is uncertain 

 whether it is the La Bigarree, of Engramelle. Guenee says of his 

 var. P'. — "All the markings reappear, even the ordinary lines which 

 are obliterated in the type. The ground colour is reddish-brown, mixed 

 with yellow-ochreous and whitish." In Humphrey and Westwood's 

 * British Moths,' vol. i. p. 159, we find, " Varieties occur, with the ground 

 colour of the fore wings bright ochre- red, with the stigmata distinct." 



y. var. flavorufa, mihi. — The ground colour of a dull yellowish-red 

 tint, and so far resembling var. intermedia, but the typical markings almost 

 entirely obsolete and lost in the ground colour. Both stigmata very 

 distinct and outlined in yellow ; some short yellow dashes along the costa 

 (the remaining parts of the obsolete line) ; a yellow patch at the costal 

 base, and a few yellow scales on the outer part of the otherwise dusky ner- 

 vures, are the only markings on the anterior wings of this otherwise 

 unicolorous variety. My specimens have come from Rannoch, Barnsley, 

 Glasgow and Ripon. 



^. var. putris, Hb. — The jnitris of Hb., fig. 241, is without doubt a var. 

 of rurea. It may be described as, " Anterior wings of a pale brownish 

 grey, base paler, with a much waved, transverse, basal line ; a longitudinal 

 pale orbicular, and a reniform outlined in pale ; a distinct transverse 

 black wavy line beyond the reniform. Between this and the basal line the 

 colour is dark brown, a black line passing through this darker part between 

 stigmata, from costa to inner margin. A row of dots parallel to the hind 

 margin ; extreme hind margin dotted ; hind wings dark grey, base paler, 

 dark transverse line and dark lunule." This description of Hiibner's 



