233 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



yellowish, wavy, broken in the centre and marked with an M, and preceded 

 by three or four black wedge-shaped marks. The three stigmata clear, the 

 outline of the reniforra yellowish, the claviform short, black, often indistinct. 

 Fringe spotted. Inferior wings greyish yellow, with a broad dark border, 

 cut near the anal angle by a short clear line, and a large dark lunule." 

 I do not think we get so pale a variety of furva as this in Britain. 

 Mr. N. F. Dobree writes : — " I have specimens from Turkestan, and these 

 agree pretty closely with the var. ochracea " {in I'M.). 



/?. vsLr.freyeri, Frey. — The type of this variety is figured by Freyer in 

 his ' Neuere Beitrage,' &c., pi. 159. It has the " Anterior wings of a more 

 blackish ground colour." But Guenee, in his * Noctuelles,' vol. v., pp. 197, 

 198, writes, " I have seen a specimen sent from Germany under this name, 

 which does not differ in tint from the ordinary /wz-ya." My own description 

 of freyer i is as follows : — "Anterior wings blackish grey, with seven short 

 black costal streaks, with pale (almost white) transverse basal line ; orbicular 

 and reniform outlined in white, a pale wavy line directly beyond the reniform, 

 followed by a transverse row of pale ochreous dots, and a pale wavy line 

 (white), edged internally with blackish wedge-shaped marks (in contact) 

 parallel to the hind margin. Hind wings pale grey, outer margin dark 

 grey, lunule and nervures still darker." 



y. var. inf emails, Ev. — " Eversman, 'Bull. Mosc.,' 1842, =/wrya, 

 ' Fauna Ural.,' p. 247," is the reference given by Guenee for this variety. 

 He also describes it as: — "Differs but little hoxo. furva. It is a little 

 darker. The spaces in the stigmata are marked in brown. The discoidal 

 line of the under sides of the inferior wings is a little more wavy, clearer, 

 and appears a little on the upper side ; but these differences are very slight, 

 and perhaps not constant. Localities : Casau, Orembourg, and Ural " 

 (' Noctuelles,' vol. v., p. 198). The specimens I have from Aberdeen would 

 apparently belong to this variety. 



^. var. silvicola, Ev. — Guenee, also on p. 198, describes another Russian 

 variety as " Superior wings still darker, almost black, with the stigmata and 

 lines more or less absorbed by the ground colour. Inferior wings of a 

 blacker shade. Thorax and anal tuft not mixed with yellow scales. 

 Locality : Woods of the Ural." The specimens I have from Sligo would 

 appear to belong to this variety. 



Mamestra, Och., albicolon, Sepp. 

 The type of this species is figured by Sepp in his 'Beschouwing 

 der Wonderen Gods,' &c., II., pi. 1, figs. 1-9 ; and is described by 

 Guenee, in his ' Noctuelles,' vol. v., p. 19G, as : — '' Anterior wings 

 of a blackish grey, on w^hicli stands out strongly the little white 

 broken C, which borders the lower and outer edge of the reniform. 

 None of the other markings are very distinct." Guenee also adds : 

 — " I have never found the type in our country (France), where 

 the following variety (hrunnea) is found occasionally." I have 

 taken this dark type at Deal, and have also received it from Mr, 

 Baxter, where it was taken in the neighbourhood of Fleetwood ; 

 but generally our British specimens are the grey albicolon of 

 Stephens. Mr, N. F. Dobree, however, writes: — "I have taken 

 albicolon through a series of years on the sandhills at the mouth 

 of the Huniber, and there the dark form predominates " {in litt.). 



