74 PLUM. [1900 



Mr. 0. E, Janson, F.E.S., 44, Great Eussell Street, London, W.C, 

 who kindly replied on July 7th : — 



" From your sketch and what you describe, I should think your 

 insect is probably P. ci/)wsb(itdl(t (or varietjana, as it is now called) ; but 

 the species of this group are very close and difficult to distinguish from 

 one another. They also vary, which adds to the trouble of making 

 them out without a special knowledge. I will see if I can obtain 

 authentic examples of the two species," &c. — (0. E. J.) 



As, however, precise identification was important, I forwarded my 

 two specimens to Mr. Janson, who went into the matter, and also 

 obtained me the authoritative opinion of Mr. Barrett, F.E.S., for which 

 I beg to express my best thanks. Mr. Janson wrote as follows : — 



" The Penthina arrived safely, and upon examining them we came 

 to the conclusion that they were ci/nosbatclla [= varict/ana); but, in 

 order that there might be no doubt, we submitted them to Mr. C. G. 

 Barrett, who confirms our identification. He says : ' Both specimens 

 are certainly cynosbatclla, yet neither is quite an ordinary specimen, 

 and the upper is of a quite unusual grey tone of colour ; pruniana has 

 the fore wings shorter and broader, the costa more arched, and the 

 round dot wanting.' " * 



Of the specimens of variegona sent to myself, one was as nearly as 

 possible three-quarters of an inch in expanse of the fore wings, the 

 other not quite so much. They differed slightly also in tint and 

 marking. In each case the basal half or rather more of the wing was 

 brown varied with darker and lighter specks or markings ; but in one 

 specimen the ground colour of the anterior portion of the wing was of 

 a pale grey, and in the other of a pale yellowish tint. The tip or 

 extremity of the wing was dark. 



In the pale anterior portion of the wing there was (in each moth) 

 a grey spot, a little within the hinder margin ; and between this and 

 the front border was a kidney-shaped greyish marking fairly well-defined 

 on the greyish ground, but less so on the yellower tint. — (E. A. 0.) 



The moth of P. raricffana, just shortly described, is seven to ten 

 lines in expanse of the fore wings, of which the lower half or rather 

 more is brown or blackish, with black and brown clouds, or spots; the 

 terminal third of the wing paler up to being at times nearly white, 

 partially clouded with grey, and with a spot, as figured (p. 73), tbe tip 

 of the wing in my specimens greyish. P. pruniana is slightly less in 

 expanse of wing, varying from six and a half to eight lines, and so 

 minutely resembles varit'^ana in general appearance, that the general 

 description of the basal two- thirds of the fore wing being dark, and 



* The figure of P. prtmiana is added to that of P. variegana = cynosbatella at 

 p. 73 to show the differences between these two species in size, shape, and markings 

 more clearly than can be conveyed by description. 



