THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 
Vou. XIIL] - DECEMBER, 1880. (No. 211. 
THE MACRO-LEPIDOPTERA OF THE SHETLAND ISLES. 
By J. JENNER WEIR, F'.L.S., F.Z.S. 
(WITH A COLOURED PLATE.) 
(Concluded from p, 251.) 
Hepialus velleda.—The Shetland specimens are very rich 
in colour in most instances, although amongst them some 
are much paler than the normal colour of the species; the 
range of varieties is not nearly so great as in H. humuli. A 
male and female are figured in plate 4. 
Nemeophila plantaginis—The variety Hospita of this insect 
apparently does not occur in Shetland, but some of those 
captured exhibit a coloration exactly the reverse of Hospuita, 
which has the ground colour of the under wings almost white, 
and the upper wings a very light yellow; those taken by Mr. 
Meek’s collector have the upper wings of a light yellow, and the 
lower much more darkly coloured. 
Agrotis porphyrea.—The Shetland specimens are much larger 
than any I have seen before, and some are distinguished by 
a total absence of purple on the wings. 
Noctua festiva var. conflua.—This insect varies very much ; 
some resemble the ordinary varieties of conflua, others are 
in coloration more like N. Dahlii, and others are very like 
N. brunnea; all are darker than the normal N. festiva. Some 
have a hoary appearance, and indeed present such singular 
differences that I do not doubt if the more remarkable aberra- 
tions were examined separately they would, in the absence of 
links, be regarded as distinct species. 
2P 
