86 LEPIDOPTERA. 



brown shade crossing the wing ; cilia concolorous. Hind 

 wings broad and ample, smoky-brown ; nervures darker ; 

 cilia purplish. Female quite similar. 



Underside of the fore wings smoky-black, shading to purple 

 at the costal and hind margins ; reniform stigma visible 

 as a black spot, and beyond it a blackish transverse line most 

 visible on the purple costa. Hind wings whitish, dusted with 

 grey, with the front margin broadly purplish-red ; central 

 spot large, lunate ; beyond it a blackish, curved, and re-curved 

 stripe, and the nervures dusted with blackish ; legs dark 

 brown; leg tufts and abdomen dull brown tinged with 

 purplish ; anal tuft bright purple-red. 



Variation very slight, except the general range of ground 

 colour, already mentioned, from reddish-brown to purple- 

 brown, or even purplish-drab ; but occasional specimens are 

 very pale in colour, or have pale transverse lines ; in other 

 instances the usually obscure markings are more distinct. In 

 Mr. W. H. B. Fletcher's collection is a specimen in which the 

 subapical black triangle is broken up into three black wedges, 

 from which the wing is crossed by a row of black dots. Mr. 

 P. M. Bright has a singular variety from Scotland, ver}- 

 dark red-brown with pale transverse lines. 



On the wing in July and August. 



Larva rather plump ; head slightly retractile, globular, 

 and shining, rather narrower than the second, and very much 

 narrower than the third segment ; body cylindrical, rather 

 obese ; the segmental divisions distinct, and the skin soft and 

 smooth. Ground colour dirty ochreous-brown tinged with 

 red, in some specimens the red being much stronger than in 

 others, especially on the dorsal surface ; head pale brown, 

 with a conspicuous dark brown mark on each lobe in front. 

 A narrow yellowish line edged with smoke colour forms the 

 dorsal line ; subdorsal lines also yellowish ; these and the 

 dorsal are very much interrupted, and very conspicuous only 

 on the second segment, where they are much broader and 



