48 VARIETIES OF NOCTUJE 



follows : " Acosmetia morissii is described in the ' Naturalist ' for 1837, 

 p. 88. It is a white var. of Miana (Chortodes) arcuosa and has occurred 

 at Chermouth." Some of our specimens have very white fore wings. 



Ccenobia, St., rufa, Haw. 



Haworth's rufa (' Lepidoptera Britannica,' p. 260) is the type of 

 this species. Haworth's description is : " Alis oblongis ciliisque rufis 

 unicoloribus posticis ciliisque pallidis striga medio macularum obscura- 

 rum." " Caput inter antennas album." This last phrase is very 

 significant and is clearly shown in some specimens. Geyer, in his 

 supplement to Hiibner's ' Schmett.,' gives a good figure of the type (fig. 

 75 1) under the name of despecta. This delicate little species is subject 

 to a great deal of variation in ground colour. I took a very long series 

 at Deal (1886-1890), and found every gradation in colour, from a very 

 deep reddish, to an exceedingly pale greyish- white, the latter being in 

 baautiful condition. There seems to be three distinct forms : (1) a 

 very red form = the type (rufa) ; (2) a grey form tinged with red = var. 

 lineola, St. ; (3) a pale grey form with no trace of red = var. pallescens. 

 It may be advisable to add that the female has a very different 

 appearance to the male. It is much narrower winged, and with 

 scarcely a trace of dots on either the anterior or posterior wings. 

 It is but rarely captured, and owing to its habit of remaining hidden 

 in the herbage by the side of the ditches where it occurs, is generally 

 worn. 



a. var. lineola, St. The type of this variety is described as having 

 " the fore- wings shorter than in rufa ; colour, reddish-grey, with a 

 longitudinal brown line at the base, occasionally branching thus >- ; 

 a row of dots parallel with the hind margins ; fringe reddish : posterior 

 wings with a row of dots parallel to the hind margin " (Humphrey 

 and Westwood's ' British Moths,' vol. i., p. 245). This intermediate 

 form does not vary in the length of the fore- wings, more than the 

 specimens of the type, i.e., they both vary slightly. The small basal 

 branching line is as frequent in the reddest types as in the variety. 



P. var. pallescens, mihi. I have a series of a fine pale form of 

 this species, varying from pale whitish grey to almost white, without 

 a trace of rufous colouring; the spots as in the type. My speci- 

 mens came from Deal. I have seen specimens of the type and var. 

 lineola from Epping Forest, but do not know whether pale forms occur 

 there. 



Senta, St., maritima, Tausch. 



The type of this species is of a silky grey colour, with the stigmata 

 pale and scarcely discernible, a faint row of black dots in place of the 

 angulated transverse line. Hind wings pure white, with a faint trace 

 of a row of black dots on the nervures. 



a. var. ulvce, Hb. All Hiibner's figures are more or less reddish. 

 As this is not at all usual, it is, perhaps, advisable to keep Hiibner's as 

 a varietal name. His figure 666 is the most marked form, and may be 

 described as : A male with anterior wings all reddish, except the 

 costa which is dark grey ; the stigmata lined in with white. A row of 

 tiny black dots occurs just within the fringe, then a dark shade parallel 



