TRIFID^. 173 



brownish-grey, the nervures a little thickened ; discal cell 

 partially filled with long dark hair-scales ; at the end of this 

 cell is a brown spot, closely followed by the faintest possible 

 darker transverse stripe. Hind wings white, dusted toward 

 the costal margin with greyish-brown ; nervures pale brown ; 

 central spot small, deep brown ; hind margin edged with a 

 scalloped brown line ; body and leg-tufts whitish-brown ; legs 

 umbreous, barred in front with dull yellow. 



This description applies to the ordinary form of the species 

 as found locally in the South and West of England. Here 

 it varies but little, except that in some specimens, more par- 

 ticularly from Sussex, the central band is darker, and its 

 markings are more visible ; on the other hand, some speci- 

 mens from Wales are more tinged with ashy-grey ; and in a 

 few instances the hind wings of the females are much paler 

 being tinged to the middle, or even over the whole surface, 

 with the white of the male. One specimen from Sussex, in 

 my own collection, is of a clear pale grey. 



In some parts of Scotland and Ireland the insect assumes 

 very different characters. In one constantly recurrent form 

 in those localities the antennae are black ; the head and 

 thorax glossy black-brown, or almost jet-black ; fore wings 

 slate-black or glossy-black, with the first and second lines 

 still deeper jet-black, the space between them equally 

 black or blotched with deep black, and the stigmata edged 

 with jet-black ; the subterminal line is only obscurely indi- 

 cated by a cloudy indented bar tinged faintly with red or 

 yellow, and inwardly bordered with deep black ; hind wings 

 white in the male, with rather darker nervures and a dark 

 central dot, the scalloped hind-marginal line black ; in the 

 female vf^-y dark smoky-grey. H'his very beautiful local race 

 is usually known in these islands as var. Lunchurgensis, but 

 considerable doubt exists as to whether this varietal name is 

 correctly applied. 



Along with it in the same localities, and, like it, occurring 

 in both sexes, is an even more beautiful recurrent race. Fore 



VOL. IV. S 



