Itf THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 13? 



medium, quse interne terminantur striga atra. In medio maculae ordi- 

 naria? annulo albo. Posticae albse niargine interdum fuscescente." 

 Hiibner figures (428) cespitis as " brown with a reddish tinge ; a pale 

 abbreviated, followed by a complete, basal streak, outlined in black ; 

 stigmata outlined in yellowish ; a pale wavy line beyond thereniform, 

 edged externally with black ; another pale transverse line parallel to 

 hind margin. Hind wings dark grey, base paler, a pale line parallel 

 to hind margin." There appears to be a little variation in size. I 

 have some specimens from South Wales much larger than others from 

 Lancashire and Sussex. There is also a slight sexual variation, the 

 hind wings of the female being darker than those of the male. The 

 hind wings of the male vary in colour, as noticed by Newman in his 

 ' British Moths,' pp. 297, 298 : " The hind wings of the male are very 

 pale, almost white, sometimes with one, sometimes with two darker 

 bars, parallel with the hind margin : in some specimens I find scarcely 

 any trace of these bars." 



a. var. confinis, St. ? In Humphrey and Westwood's ' British 

 Moths ' (vol. i., p. Ill) we read : " Mr. Stephens in his ' Catalogue ' 

 regarded as a doubtful variety of this species a unique specimen ob- 

 tained from the Marshamian collection, which in his 'Illustrations' 

 he described as distinct, under the name of Charceas confinis, which 

 differs from the foregoing (cespitis) in the paler colour and narrowness 

 of the fore wings, nearly uniformly coloured hind wings, and slightly 

 pectinated antenna}." 



Luperina, Bdv., testacea, Hb. 



The type of this most variable species is figured by Hiibner in 

 his ' Schmetterlinge, &c.,' fig. 139. It has the " anterior wings of a 

 very deep (for this species) brown, with a dark outer margin, and 

 clouded with darker around and under the stigmata. The mark, on 

 which Haworth named his varieties, not complete. Hind wings white, 

 lunule clearly marked, with a clouded hind margin." Hiibner's type 

 has a central band almost as in Newman's ' British Moths,' p. 296, fig. 

 1, but has the outer margin darker, and a shade on the outer margin 

 of the inferior wings. This common species varies very much through- 

 out Britain. I have specimens of a clear whitish-grey colour, with 

 scarcely a trace of typical markings (var. obsoleta), and other extreme 

 forms almost black (var. niyrescens.) The specimens from the coast 

 districts of Lancashire, and the neighbourhood of Deal and Sligo, 

 sometimes show a great tendency to melanism. The markings also are 

 very variable. Some specimens have a distinct, dark, central band, others 

 have no trace of it. On the hind wings, too, our specimens rarely 

 have the lunule well-marked. In Britain, the specimens are not 

 generally brown, although a certain percentage are ; grey is the pre- 

 vailing colour, differing greatly, however, in intensity in different 

 specimens. The Hartlepool specimens are, as a rule, much browner than 

 those I have from any other British locality. One specimen from this 

 locality, captured by Mr. Kobson, has the nervures of the anterior 

 wings much dusted with white, giving it a peculiar appearance. I 

 have also seen very brown specimens from Barnsley. Haworth named 

 three forms of this species, and Guenee described two others besides 

 the type. There is but little doubt that the yucneei of Newman's 



