IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 109 



describes this variety : " Of a deep blackish brown, with the subter- 

 minal wedgeshaped spots of an intense black, the stigmata arid the 

 geminated nervure dull white." " Locality, Casan." This seems to 

 run Freyer's erupta closely. Eversmann's description of mono is : 

 " Antennse maris crenatae et vix ciliatae ; abdomen griseo-nigricans ; 

 thorax nigro-fuscus ; alas anticse atro-fuscae, fascia submarginali palli- 

 diore, striga interna et externa obsoletis, striga submarginali albida 

 adjacentibus maculis triquetris atro-fuscus notata, nsevo minuto, 

 macula media furculaque sub ea nervi tertii albidis ; posticas nigri- 

 cantes, externa obscuriores " (' Fauna Volgo-Ural.,' p. 272, No. 2.). 



e. var. erupta, Frey. Freyer in his 'Neure Beitrage,'&c., plate 472, 

 figs. 1 and 2, represents a variety of haworthii under this name. 

 His fig. 1 may be described as : " $ . Anterior wings blackish-grey 

 with a short transverse basal streak, followed by another near the or- 

 bicular edged internally with slaty. Orbicular and reniform ochreous- 

 white, with a geminated line extending from base of reniform to outer 

 edge of wing ; two transverse lines directly beyond reniform, upper 

 part dark, lower part very pale ochreous followed by another pale 

 ochreous transverse line ; hind wings dark grey, base paler, nervures 

 distinct. Fig. 2 is a $ and like fig. 1, but there is an ochreous patch 

 between reniform and apex, and the outer pale line is double." 



Mamestra, Och. 



With regard to the genus Mamestra, most of the species have two 

 extreme forms of variation, one, pale brownish grey ; the other, black, 

 with almost all intermediate forms. Sordida (anceps) in its palest forms 

 seems to be the extreme ochreous type of the genus, persicariaz the 

 extreme black one. Based on variation, the position of furva seems 

 somewhat anomalous, and it seems to me that this species should 

 hardly be placed in this restricted genus at all. With regard to the 

 other species, dbjecta has two extreme forms, so has albicolon (Gruenee's 

 ' Noctuelles,' vol. v., pp. 194 and 196), but we do not apparently get 

 the darkest forms of the latter species in Britain, though there is a 

 great deal of variation in our specimens, and brassicce has also two ex- 

 treme forms. With regard to another phase of variation in this genus, 

 a careful selection of varieties shows that the albicolon mark, supposed 

 to be characteristic of one species, is really well-developed in aberrant 

 members of all the other species, the only species in which it is not 

 traceable being in persicarice, but my series of the latter does not con- 

 tain specimens of those varieties in which the reniform is more or less 

 obsolete, and it is in such I should expect to find it. This genus is of 

 course closely allied to Hadena, although so far removed from each 

 other in our British lists. Abjecta comes especially near to Hadena 

 adusta. 



Mamestra, Och., abjecta, Hb. 



The type of this species is represented by Hiibner's fig. 539, 

 ' Sammlung Europaischer Schmet.,' &c., which may be described as hav- 

 ing "Anterior wings of deep, but clear, brownish (almost reddish) grey, 

 an abbreviated basal transverse line and a complete one in contact with 

 the inner edge of orbicular, both double ; a short dark longitudinal 

 streak under base of median nervure ; orbicular distinct, reniform out- 

 lined in white ; an oblique line from costa to median nervure between 



