IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 139 



sent me a specimen of the genus Luperina to look at, a short time since, 

 about which he wrote : "I beat out a Luperina from a blackthorn 

 bush in Abbott's Wood, which 1 think is guentei." It is, I think, un- 

 doubtedly this variety, but it is exceedingly small* (scarcely larger 

 than Miuna strigilis), very pale grey, with a few very indistinct black 

 costal markings, all the markings of testacea faintly marked, the three 

 stigmata traceable although indistinct. Hind wings pale grey. The 

 history of the original gueneei may be found in the ' Entomologist,' vol. 

 xviii., p. 54. 



y. var. cinerea, mihi. I have given this name to Guenee's var. B., 

 a not uncommon form in Britain. Guenee thus describes it : 

 " Superior wings of an ashy grey, with a slight reddish tinge. The 

 transverse lines indistinct, the basal one having the points at the 

 lower part very pointed. The terminal space edged by a series of 

 blackish streaks, which are placed between the nervures. Inferior 

 wings of very pure white, with an indistinct shade. Locality, the 

 Eastern Pyrenees." " This is very different to our testacea, but M. 

 de Graslin, who has reared it from the larva, and who is better able 

 to recognize any variation in all its stages than myself, considers it 

 a simple variety " (' Noctuelles,' vol. v., p. 283). This grey form is 

 probably the most common one in Britain ; I have it from Sligo, 

 Lancashire, Hartlepool, Aberdeen, Strood, Deal, London, and other 

 localities. 



8. var. nigrescens, mihi. Anterior wings blackish-grey, varying in 

 intensity. The markings too, vary, some having them darker than the 

 ground colour, while others have them so nearly of the same hue as to 

 make the specimens look almost unicolorous. I have specimens in my 

 cabinet from Sligo, Aberdeen, St. Anne's-on-Sea (Preston), Lytham, 

 and Strood. A black specimen is also recorded (' Entom.', vol. iv., p. 

 305) as being captured at St. Ives, Hunts ; and Mr. Eobson informs 

 me that it occurs at Hartlepool. Mr. C. G. Barrett, ' Ent. Mo. Mag.,' 

 vol. xxii., p. 124, writing of this species at Belfast, says : " Several of 

 the L. testacea were nearly black ; " whilst at p. 188 of the same 

 volume, we read that Mr. Porritt exhibited at the London Society's 

 meeting a melanic specimen from Glasgow. 



e. var. lunato-strigata, Haw. Haworth's type of this variety is 

 described by him as follows : " Noctua. Alis rufescentibus nigro 

 nebulosis, strigis duabus fasciaque marginali fuscis." "Praecedenti 

 vix differt nisi magnitudine minore, et coloribus saturatioribus, sed 

 rarissime variat " (' Lepidoptera Britannica,' p. 194, No. 97). This 

 form, without the mark under the stigmata, is not uncommon in most 

 localities. 



. var. unca, Haw. Haworth's type of this variety is described 

 by him as follows : " Alis pallide rufescentibus strigis duabus fas- 

 ciaque marginali fuscescentibus." " Alse anticse subnebulosas, striga 

 undata fracta ante medium : tune stigmata ordinaria fusco pallidoque 

 imperfecte marginata ; tune striga secunda extus arcuata, ex lunulis 

 confertis nigris pallido extus adnatis composita ; et priore fascia con- 

 nexa per lineolam nigram unciferam. Margo posticus undatim sub- 



* It is worthy of note that Mr. Gregson, ' Entomologist,' vol. iv., p. 51, writes 

 of this species : " I possess specimens from less than 1 inch to 1 inch 4 lines in 

 expansion." 



