94: VARIETIES OP NOCTTL*: 



This is as complete a classification as I can make. Incidental 

 varieties, especially of colour, will undoubtedly occur, but I do not 

 feel justified in dealing with this species except in the most general 

 way. Most of the varieties, fortunately, have been named in the first 

 instance as distinct species. When a variety has forms with both 

 " whitish " and " ochreous " reniform, I have simply affixed -albo or 

 -flavo to the existent name. Esper's type of the species is the ochreous 

 form, with a dark central band and HH-like mark. The description I 

 made from Esper's ' Die Schmetterlinge,' &c., PI. 126, fig. 7, was as 

 follows : "Anterior wings with ground colour ochreous, nervures fus- 

 cous, ten short black costal streaks, orbicular small, reniform white ; 

 two longitudinal black basal streaks ; basal line before orbicular and 

 another transverse line beyond reniform, with a black >-i-like mark 

 joining them, the whole space between these reddish, forming a cen- 

 tral band ; a double wavy line parallel to hind margin, outer margin 

 dark grey. Hind wings grey, base tinged with reddish." 



Guenee's oculea is referred by him to the Linnsean (* Fauna Sue- 

 cicse,' &c., p. 321, No. 1215) oculea, but this is an error. He says of his 

 own : "Superior wings ochreous grey, more or less clouded with reddish 

 or brownish, with a large brownish blotch occupying the costa from 

 the base almost to the angulated line, and often to the subterminal, 

 widening out in the median space, of which it only occupies the upper 

 half. Terminal space of a similar brown, ordinarily divided into two 

 blotches. Kenif orm of the ground colour, or whitish. Inferior wings 

 grey-brown, base paler " (' Noctuelles,' vol. v., p. 210). It will be seen 

 from the above that Guenee includes in his description the var. furca 

 of Haworth. Kegarding its variation, Guenee writes : " This Noc- 

 tuelle varies exceedingly. I have only described the type here, which 

 is most certainly the oculea,* both of Linnasus and Fabricius, and which 

 has been, in all French and German collections, erroneously called 

 didyma. Its varieties, which many (especially English) authors have 

 described as distinct species, appear to belong to the groups, A = var. 

 nictitans, Esp., and B = var. secalina, Hb." ( Noctuelles/ vol. v., pp. 

 210, 211). Haworth describes five sub- varieties of his type, but his 

 ocidea = the didyma of Esper. Mr. Kobson, ' Young Naturalist,' vol. 

 ii., pp. 101, 102), writes somewhat fully of the varieties of this species. 

 As far as I know, none of the varieties are restricted to particular 

 localities, although some are much rarer than others ; this appears to 

 be especially the case with the unicolorous varieties (grisea, rufa, and 

 nigra). I would call attention to the development of the white colon (:) 

 at the outer and lower corner of the reniform, thus resembling Mamestra 

 albicolon and the allied species. There appears to be no sexual variation, 

 the different varieties being distributed through both sexes. There is 

 also very little variation in the depth of colour of the hind wings, the 

 hind wings of all the varieties being dark grey, with rather paler base. 



A. With grey or whitish-ochreous ground colour, 

 a. var. grisea, mihi. (1). Grisea-albo. The anterior wings pale 



*This is undoubtedly an error. Linnaeus refers his nictitans of the ' Syste- 

 ma Naturae,' 141, to his oculea of the ' Fauna Suecicse,' No. 1215, p. 321, and 

 describes it in the same words. If, therefore, the nichtans of Linnaeus stands, 

 certain it is that his oculea of the 'Fauna Suecicee' is the same species, and 

 Linnaeus' description of oculea undoubtedly refers to nictitans. 



