252 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



6. var, cmdalusica , Stdgr. — Dr. Staudinger has a variety iu his 

 'Catalog' under this name, which he describes as, " dilutior, raagis 

 unicolor." I tliought tliat probably this variety might refer to my var. 

 ochracea, as this short description is so vague that it is impossible to tell 

 from it to what form Dr. Staudinger refers. Mr. Dobree, however, in 

 answer to a query, writes: — " Andalusica is certainly not the Amur type. 

 It is merely the pale form so constantly occurring in all continental, as 

 opposed to British, Lepidoptera, tlie ground colour of the Amur type [vide 

 above) is ochreous, but that of Andalusica is grey " [in I'M.). 



Mamestra, Och., persicarice, L. 



This species, as far as my knowledge extends, appears to be 

 verj' constant in Britain. I find a slight variation in the amount 

 of ochreous colour in the white discoidal, some variation in the 

 extent of the orbicular being obsolete, and rather more in 

 the character of the subterminal line. I have some in which 

 this latter is obsolete, others in which it is represented by a 

 more or less complete series of ochreous dots, and one only 

 in which it is quite complete. On the Continent, however, it 

 appears to be more variable, at any rate, so far as the discoidal 

 is concerned ; in some specimens it is ochreous, and in others 

 only of the ground colour. The former is, according to Guenee, 

 the occipitr'uia of Esper, the latter the unicolor of Staudinger, 

 although, as mentioned below, Dr. Staudinger considers accipitrina 

 a distinct species. The type of this species is described by 

 Linnaeus, ' Fauna Suecic£e,' pp. 319, 320, No. 1208, as : — " Noctua 

 spirilinguis cristata, alis fusco-nebulosis : macula reniformi albo 

 papilla lunariflavescente." "Alse superiores fusco nigricantes, venis 

 nebulosa>, margine postico quasi dentato atomis albis. luferiores 

 antice pallida;, postice fuscescentes margine albido. Subtus 

 omnes glaucescentes : fascia lata, obsoleta et puncto nigro. Anus 

 ferrugineus " ; and in the ' Systema Naturae,' p. 847, we read, 

 " Alarum superiorum margo posticus albo-dentatus." Our speci- 

 mens have an ochreous subterminal line, not " white." 



a. var. accipitrina, Esp.(?) — Of this variety tliere are specimens in the 

 Doubleday collection (continental), with "the reniform ochreous, and the 

 whole insect much less strongly marked." Guenee says of it : — "Accipitrina, 

 Esp., pi. 129, fig. 4, appears, after what he himself states in his text, to be 

 a purely accidental and very singular variety oi' persicaria;." Dr. Staudinger, 

 in his ' Catalogue,' says: — "Accipitrina of Esper is another species, the 

 var. accipitrina of collections is not Esper's accipitrina." He then suggests 

 for the accipitrina of continental cabinets the varietal name oi unicolor. 



/?. var. unicolor, Stdgr. — Of this variety, Staudinger says in his 

 ' Catalog,' " Al. ant. absque macula alba." Mr. Dobree writes: — "I have 

 specimens of this variety in my collection. It seems to be a common 

 continental variety " [in litt.). 



Apamea, Och. 

 The genus Apamea brings us face to face with the great 

 difficulty of dealing with our Noctua varieties, for iu this genus 



n 



