106 VARIETIES OF NOCTI^E 



posticis cinereis fimbria latissima fusca " ( ' Lepidoptera Britannica, 

 p. 215). 



D. Ground colour pale reddish-ochreous. 



a. var. pidmonarice, Dup., Gn. (non. Hb.). This variety has the 

 basal area reddish-ochreous, the outer area very pale ochreous or pale 

 grey. Guenee writes of it : " The ground colour is of a yellow-ochreous 

 tint, approaching brownish ; the separation of the wing into two colours 

 is less distinct than in terminalis, Haw. (i.e. var. a.), and the two 

 stigmata are ordinarily outlined in pale " ('Noctuelles,' vol. v., p. 217). 

 Guenee's var. D appears intermediate between this and the var. furun- 

 cula of Hiibner, being paler in the basal area (more mixed with yellow) 

 than var. furuncula, and darker than var. pulmonarice. The presence of 

 the yellow would almost lead one to class it as a sub-variety of the 

 latter. 



/?. var. rufa-reticulata, mihi. Like fusca- and grisea-reticulata but 

 with the ground colour reddish-ochreous with a yellow tinge. 



y. var. rufuncula, Haw. This pretty unicolorous red variety is 

 treated by Haworth as a distinct species. His description is : " Alis 

 totis runs, strigis tribus obsoletissimis pallidioribus." " Thorax, abdo- 

 minis barba, alseque anticse rufa, strigis duabus rectis medio, alteraque 

 undata juxta marginem posticum pallidioribus, at nisi lente vix con- 

 spicuis, et interdum plus minus obliterates. Posticae rufo-fuscee, ciliis 

 rufis. In ipso margine postico anticarum, lente, ordo punctorum nigro- 

 rum lunato-triangulatorum " ('Lepidoptera Britannica,' p. 216). 

 Haworth's type was captured in Norfolk. Of this variety Guenee 

 writes : " In this variety the whole of the wing is of a unicolorous 

 tint ; only the central line, the basal, and traces of a blackish colour 

 in the terminal space can be faintly traced " (' Noctuelles,' vol. v., p. 

 216). In the ( Entomologist's Monthly Magazine,' vol. in., p. 74, Mr. 

 E. Birchall writes : " The variety rufuncula of Haworth occurs com- 

 monly at Howth. The wings are uniformly clay-coloured without 

 lines or spots. The insect has a strong superficial resemblance to 

 Nonagria concolor" Dr. Staudinger in his ( Catalog,' p. 103, writes : 

 "al. ant. fere unicolor, rufescenti-griseis." 



8. var. vinctuncula, Hb. This is a striking form with the anterior 

 wings unicolorous, except a fine black transverse line crossing the 

 wing between the reniform and orbicular, really the boundary-line 

 when the wing is divided into two distinct shades of colour. Hiib- 

 ner's fig. 96 may be described as of a " dark greyish (tinged with red) 

 colour, with scarcely discernible stigmata ; greyish hind margin, with 

 a white line bordering it ; a fine black line crosses the wing from 

 costa to inner margin between the stigmata ; there is also a small black 

 (longitudinal) basal streak." I have never seen a specimen of this 

 description. Guenee says of it : " This is only a modification of 

 Haworth's rufuncula, where the centre line is of a very pronounced 

 black. I have never seen it in nature" ('Noctuelles,' vol. v., p. 217). 

 Dr. Staudinger says of it in his ( Catalog,' p. 103 : " ut rufuncula, sed 

 fascia media tenui nigra margineque exteriore grisea." 



Miana, St., literosa, Haw. 



The type of this species is described by Haworth in his ' Lepi- 

 doptera Britannica,' p. 213, as: "Alis glaucis striga postica flexuosa 



