IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 



115 



ft. var. cinerascens, mihi. This is the English form, which is 

 much greyer than the continental specimens. It is Guenee's second 

 var., which he calls albicolon, St., and he takes as his type, Stephens' 

 ' Illustrations,' &c., vol. ii., p. 184, and pi. xxiv., fig. 3. He describes 

 it, ' Noctuelles,' vol. v., p. 196, as: "Anterior wings ashy grey, 

 strongly sprinkled with black atoms, with all the markings very dis- 

 tinct. The subterminal line as in var. A. The two stigmata paler and 

 clearer. The reniform almost entirely surrounded with white. The 

 black terminal points triangular, and well marked." The only locality 

 Guenee gives is " England." As a rule, our English specimens have 

 not the wedge-shaped spots so distinctly marked. Of this grey 

 (British) variety, Mr. Robson has a strongly-marked specimen, which 

 almost resembles Guenee's second var. albicolon, St. It is of a pale ocb- 

 reous grey ground colour, with the black transverse basal lines very 

 strongly marked, and the space between the strigas directly before and 

 beyond the reniform filled in with darker, so that it resembles a 

 narrow band. I have seen no other specimens like it. 



Mamestra, Och., brassicce, L. 



The type of this excessively abundant and widely distributed 

 species is described by Linnaeus, in the ' Systema Nature,' l()th edition, 

 p. 516, No. Ill, as follows: " Noctua spirilinguis cristata alis depressis 

 cinereo nebulosis : unco nigro supra maculam priorem." In the 12th 

 edition, p. 852, No. 163, he adds : " Stigmata alas ordinaria punctis 

 albis notata et margo inferior punctis 3 albis." It must be noted that 

 no mention is made in the Linnasan description of a subterminal 

 line, and mention is made of three white dots on inner margin. My 

 specimens have one or two of these dots present, not three ; and I have 

 specimens in which the subterminal striga is practically obsolete ; the 

 " uncus " is well seen around the claviform, and there are traces in 

 some specimens of another around the lower part of the orbicular. It 

 would appear that we rarely get specimens in Britain satisfying the Lin- 

 naean description of the type, our specimens being principally referable 

 to var. albicolon, St. Guenee, in his ' Noctuelles/ vol. v., pp. 198, 199, 

 says of the variation of this species : " It varies a little both in colour 

 and markings, but I have never seen a distinct race. Albidilinea of 

 Haworth has the reniform and subterminal line well marked in white ; 

 albicolon of Stephens is, on the contrary, of mixed colours, with the 

 claviform obliterated ; lastly, the figure d of Engramelle has a yellow 

 ochreous tint. These last specimens are generally smaller than the 

 type." Regarding this ochreous form, Mr. Dobree has specimens, a 

 description of which he has kindly given me (vide var. ochracea). 

 In England we appear to get three fairly distinct forms : (1) Ashy 

 grey, mottled with darker on the costal margin and with ochreous on 

 the inner (the ochreous often with a reddish tinge), with distinct stig- 

 mata and subterminal line = var. albicolon, St. (2) An almost uni- 

 colorous blackish grey form, with all markings and lines, except 

 reniform, almost obsolete = var. unicolor. (3) An intensely black 

 form, with very distinct white subterminal line and reniform = var. 

 albidilinea. Hiibner figures (88) the pale form under the name of 

 brassicce. Mr. Gregson (' Entomologist,' iv., p. 52) writes : " Of this 

 constant and abundant species I dare not say how many I have care- 



