IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 53 



to hind margin. Both these are figured by Hiibner under the name 

 of arundinis. Guenee, in his ' Noctuelles,' vol. v., p. 108, writes: 

 " Varies extremely in colour." In the ' Ent. Mo. Mag.,' vol. xxii., 

 p. 170, Mr. F. D. Wheeler, M.A., who has given especial attention to 

 this rare British species, writes : " Our Norfolk specimens are rather 

 brown than red, some of them, indeed, are getting on for black, and 

 the colour helps to make them inconspicuous." 



Nonagria, Och., sparganii, Esp. 



Esper's description of the type is as follows : " Alis superioribus 

 subrepandis, supra pallide griseis, lunula media, strigisque duabus 

 punctatis nigris, subtus nigricantibus, limbo pallido nigro punctate ; 

 inferioribus pallidis fere concoloribus " ('Die Schmetterlinge,' &c., p. 

 481). This species is a most variable one and ranges from pale 

 ochreous to deep red. Guenee, in his ' Noctuelles,' vol. v., p. 108, 

 writes : " The males vary from whitish grey and ochreous to reddish 

 brown." Most of the specimens in my collection are fairly typical, 

 in so far as they are pale yellowish dusted with fuscous scales, espe- 

 cially under the median nervure, with a median lunule (the character of 

 this lunule is rather uncertain, but it would appear to consist of a 

 series of dots placed around the lower part of the reniform stigma 

 which is otherwise obsolete) ; an ill-developed transverse row of dots 

 towards the base, of which only two or three (placed on the nervures) 

 appear to be developed (in var. bipunctata the dot on the median ner- 

 vure is developed into a distinct lineola), a transverse row of black 

 dots parallel to the hind margin, and another within the fringes. Mr. 

 Sydney Webb, who added this species to the British fauna, writes of 

 the variation in this species : " I may say that it is, without doubt, of 

 all the family, most given to vary. The ground colour not only 

 ranges from bone colour to reddish ochreous, but oftentimes these hues 

 are both present (one covering the other in streaks from the base over- 

 lying and extending beyond the wing rays), whilst the dark scaling 

 seems to vary in every individual " (in litt.}. The specimen figured 

 (' Entom.' xiii., p. 49), (the one to the left) is perhaps slightly darker 

 than the type, but otherwise agrees well ; the lunule referred to can be 

 very distinctly seen. 



a. var. obsoleta, mihi. The anterior wings of the same pale 

 ochreous colour as the type, but sparingly scattered with fuscous 

 scales, the nervures simply a little more dusky than the ground colour, 

 the black lunule and all the markings of the central part of the 

 wing obsolete. The two transverse rows of dots fainter than in the 

 type. 



(3. var. bipunctata, mihi. Ground colour pale ochreous, with no 

 trace of a dark shade under the median nervure, and no scattered 

 fuscous scales. A short black lineola on the median nervure, just 

 before the centre of the wing, above which (the lineola) can be traced 

 the faintest possible outline of the orbicular, and the characteristic 

 small black lunular mark (which seems to be the circumscription of 

 the lower part of the obsolete reniform), stand out conspicuously. A 

 transverse row of minute dots outside the lunule is followed by a more 

 sharply defined row placed just within the pale fringe. Hind wings 



