78 VARIETIES OF NOCTTLS! 



intermediate varieties between the type and the variety combusta* It 

 would be impossible to describe the rich chestnut colour of some of 

 these most beautiful specimens, and in many instances the ground 

 colour is in strong contrast to the dark markings " (' Entom.,' xiv., 

 p. 220). 



a. var. argentea, Tutt. This variety is described in the 'Entomolo- 

 gist's Kecord and Journal of Variation,' vol. i., pp. 12-13, as follows : 

 " Anterior wings shiny silvery white with faint traces of the typical 

 costal streaks in pale brownish. The typical darker area on outer 

 margin very faintly marked in pale, and the typical dark longitudinal 

 basal marks brownish ; no trace of orbicular, transverse lines, or central 

 shades ; the reniform faintly outlined ; hind wings grey, whiter at the 

 anal angle. This remarkable specimen, of rurea, which appears to 

 agree with the specimens mentioned in the ( Entom.,' vol. xxii., p. 39, 

 as captured in Scotland, by Mr. Salvage, was taken by Mr. K. Dingwall, 

 who kindly gave it to me. Mr. Dingwall writes : * The white specimen 

 of rurea I took in a web in Scotland, at Ballachulish, in the Pass of 

 Glencoe. When I took it, it was a perfect specimen not rubbed, but 

 very dry and brittle. I thought I had got something new, as it was in 

 a shed under cover, and well protected from damp and weather ; so I 

 pinned it and put it by for identification. When I unpacked at Inver- 

 ness, the box was loose and the specimen somewhat injured ; however, 

 I set it, and the result is the specimen I am sending you. I cannot 

 imagine whether the atmosphere or the turpentine emanating from the 

 saw-mill where I took it had bleached it, or whether it is a natural 

 variety. The weather could not have done it, as it was so well pro- 

 tected ' (in Utt.). The specimen is, I should say, without doubt, a 

 perfectly natural variety, showing a great tendency towards almost 

 perfect albinism. At present the scales are but little injured, and it is 

 such a variety as one might expect to find in this species, and its colour 

 is undoubtedly due to the spread of the white colour found along the 

 inner margin of the wing in typical specimens, coupled with the sup- 

 pression of the dark markings. Surely some of our Scotch lepidopterists 

 will soon tell us something more about such a striking form." 



P. var. ochrea, mihi. The ground colour of the anterior wings of 

 a clear yellowish-ochreous, the darker markings found in the type are 

 all present, but much paler, and of a more distinctly red colour ; a 

 white dash on the inner margin near the anal angle, another on the 

 inner margin just under the dark dash at the base of the wing. Thorax 

 the same colour as the darker markings on the wings. Posterior wings 

 pale grey, with dusky nervures ; the lunule and base of the pale trans- 

 verse line faintly discernible. This variety would include most of the 

 pale forms captured in Britain and probably on the Continent. I have 

 captured it in many localities in Kent, and have received it from 

 almost all parts of Britain, including the Orkneys, Hebrides, and the 

 West Coast of Ireland. 



y. var. intermedia, mihi. The ground colour of a clear reddish- 

 ochreous, the dark markings of the type being clearly developed in a 

 darker shade than the ground colour. The stigmata rather indistinct, 

 owing to the deeper ground colour. The pale transverse line on the 

 posterior wings is more distinct than in the type. This is a form dis- 

 * The extreme Hebridean form is var. nigro-rubida. 



