IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 27 



has a slender white striga parallel to the hind margin. Euphorbia 

 Haw. differs in having an ashy instead of a white line ; whilst 

 Stephen's euphrasice is a pale greyish-ochreous form. The solids of 

 Stainton is a strongly melanic form. It would seem that in Britain 

 our specimens of rumicis from the South-west are very pale ; much 

 suffused with brown in the South, South-east, and the Midlands ; and 

 much suffused with black in the North of England and Scotland. 

 M. Guenee writes : " Eumicis varies but little with us ; I am not able 

 to describe the individual varieties of Stephens, specially, as I have not 

 seen types coming from England " (Guenee's ' Noctuelles,'vol.v., p. 53). 

 It would appear, therefore, that rumicis does not vary either in France 

 or Germany. So far as my experience goes, I find only the type with 

 distinct white markings or var. solids occurring in Scotland. In the 

 South of England the paler markings are rarely white but generally 

 dull ashy grey. 



a. var. solids, Curtis. This melanic form was figured by Curtis 

 (' Brit. Ent.,' pi. 136) with the larva of menyanthidis, the imago, from 

 which the figure was obtained, is stated to have been bred by Curtis 

 from a larva captured on sallow in the Trossachs " (vide ' Substitute,' 

 p. 212). It is described in Stainton's ' Manual,' vol. 1., p. 183, as a 

 distinct species. It is undoubtedly a melanic form of rumids. It is 

 the A. nobilis of Gregson (' Entom.' iv., p. 50). The anterior wings very 

 much suffused with black scales ; the orbicular is distinct, but the 

 reniform generally inconspicuous ; there is a pale lunular mark at the 

 base of the third striga, and a row of white dots parallel to the hind 

 margin. It is figured in Newman's ' British Moths,' p. 255, fig. 2, and 

 occurs in the North of England and Scotland. My own specimens 

 came from Mr. Finlay, Meldon Park, Morpeth ; Mr. Henderson of 

 Glasgow; Perth; &c. At 'Entom.' x., p. 12y, we read "A. rumids also 

 occurs nearly black at times with us," i.e., in the E. Eiding of Yorkshire. 

 It is not uncommon near Beverley (E. Yorks). Mr. Kane writes : 

 " I have specimens of this (solids) variety in which neither the reniform 

 nor orbicular stigmata are represented. The only pale markings are 

 the white lunular one near the anal angle on the inner margin and the 

 row of pale dots along the hind margin." This form with obsolete 

 stigmata is not uncommon in the North of England and Scotland ; but 

 generally var. solids has an orbicular, although the reniform is usually 

 absent. 



j3. var. euphorbite, St. (non Hb.). Under this name our early 

 British lepidopterists figured and described a var. of rumids, which 

 they erroneously referred to Hiibner's euphorbice, which is a very 

 different species. There is a figure in Humphrey and Westwood's 

 ' British Moths,' pi. xlii., fig. 13, and a description, vol. 1., p. 197. The 

 figure does not agree with the description very well. The figure 

 depicts a form which has the space between the stigmata pale, and 

 suffused more than is usual with dark brown blotches. I have seen 

 nothing answering to the figure, but the description represents a form 

 fairly abundant in the S. E. district. The description, as copied from 

 Humphrey and Westwood, is : " Ashy brown coloured, with brown 

 blotches ; the stigmata whitish coloured, preceded by the two ordinary 

 striga3; the space between the stigmata is pale; the anterior stigma is 



