6 VARIETIES OF NOCTIL&: 



description of the type is : " Alis superioribus cinereis, strigis tribus 

 atris, antennis luteis " (< Systema Naturae', p. 856). I would draw 

 attention to the variation in distance between the transverse lines, and 

 the striking dissimilarity in shape, position, &c. of the stigmata. This 

 is a very common form of variation in many families. 



a. var. galbanus, mihi. Of a yellowish-green colour, with ex- 

 ceedingly pale transverse markings, the stigmata pale and indistinct, 

 the costa at the base and above the stigmata yellow. Posterior wings 

 very pale. Our southern specimens are altogether unlike the type, 

 and are generally pale yellowish-green. The extreme difference 

 between this pale form (galbanus) and the other varieties is very 

 striking. 



/3. var. scotica, Staudinger. The ground colour is of a very much 

 darker grey than in the type, although the ordinary markings are very 

 distinct. The costa, at the base and above the stigmata is whitish- 

 grey, and the discoidal spots clear yellowish. It is the usual Kannoch 

 and Perth form, hence its name. I have also received it from York- 

 shire, where it is occasionally captured with the type. 



y. var. rosea, mihi. Like var. scotica, brightly marked with 

 distinct yellow stigmata, but the anterior wings richly suffused with 

 reddish (or rather purplish) colour. My specimens came from 

 Rannoch. 



Asphalia, Hb., ridens, F. 



The type of this species, with a dark green central band, and the 

 pale markings before and beyond the band, white, is rare in Britain. 

 A large proportion of our specimens belong to Hiibner's xanthoceros 

 which has the central area dark-green as in the type, but with the 

 paler parts of the wing of a greenish-ochreous colour. Esper describes 

 and figures a variety under the name of erythrocephala with the central 

 band fuscous, the base paler fuscous, the transverse lines black and 

 white ; Esper, however, adds to his description " with two reddish 

 spots on the disc." I notice that the claviform is sometimes slightly 

 reddish, so that Esper probably had a specimen thus peculiarly 

 marked. I have such fuscous specimens with scarcely a tinge of 

 green. Some specimens have the outer area of the wing very pale, so 

 that the outer strigee become almost obsolete and the central banded 

 area stands out very strongly. All my specimens of the type and 

 many of my specimens of the other varieties came from the New 

 Forest. The type is thus described by Fabricius : " Noctua cristata 

 alis deflexis viridi fusco alboque variis macula baseos strigisque duabus 

 undatis albis, antennis flavescentibus." " Caput et thorax virescentia 

 albo irrorata. Antennad flavescentes. Abdomen pallidum. Alee 

 viridi fusco alboque varire macula magna distincta alba baseos ad mar- 

 ginem exteriorem, quee strigam, undatam albam attingit. Pone 

 maculas ordinaris striga altera undata alba. Versus apicem strigse 

 lineolis albis lunulisque atris" ('Mantissa,' p. 180, No. 289). The type 

 is figured in Newman's ' British Moths,' p. 243, and has a dark central 

 band across Hie anterior wings. 



