140 VARIETIES OP NOCTUJfc 



fuscus apice pallido. Cilia rufo-cinerea maculis cinereo-fuscis. 

 Posticae albas striga in ipso margine subinterrupta fusca, ciliis rufes- 

 centibus " (' Lepidoptera Britannica,' p. li)4:, No. 96). This form, with 

 a simple curved or hooked lineola, joining the transverse lines and 

 extending under the stigmata, is one of our most common varieties. 



77. var. ^-notata, Haw. Haworth's description of this variety 

 is : " Alis rufescentibus macula oblonga nigra utrinque emarginata in 

 medio, strigaque arcuata pone medium ex lunulisnigris." "Precedent! 

 valde affinis (lunato-strigata), at magis rufescens. Antennae hirto- 

 pectinatae ut in ilia, at macula media nigra diversa est. Ala3 posticas 

 alia?, apice strigaque in ipso margine fulvis " ('Lepidoptera Britannica, 

 p. 194). Another not uncommon form, with the mark under the 

 stigmata somewhat x-shaped ; this is due to the nearness with which 

 the two transverse strigse approach each other under the stigmata. 



6. var. incerta, mihi. Anterior wings greyish-fuscous, with a 

 slightly ochreous tinge, a short basal longitudinal line under median 

 nervure ; an abbreviated basal line (with a distinctly pale costal spot) 

 is followed by a complete transverse double line before the orbicular, 

 also paler on the costa ; another double transverse line beyond the reni- 

 form, bends under the reniform until it nearly touches the previous line ; 

 a pale wavy line near hind margin. The orbicular is oval, pale, outer 

 line darker ; centre of reniform also of ground colour, surrounded by 

 paler. The claviform shows a tendency to form a line under the 

 orbicular and reniform ; a row of dots on the extreme hind margin. 

 Fringes alternately pale (like transverse lines) and darker (like ground 

 colour). Hind wings pure white. This is the variety captured by 

 Mr. T. Baxter, at St. Anne's-on-Sea, and referred to in the ' Entomo- 

 logist's Kecord,' vol. ii., pp. 21 22, where the reasons for considering 

 it as a simple var. of testacea, and not in any way linked with 

 nickerlii Freyer are fully discussed. 



Caradrinidce, Bdv. 



We now reach a small group of NOCTU^E, distinct in themselves as 

 a family, but with some of the species very closely allied. Guenee 

 says of this group: "The family is composed almost entirely of 

 European species, of which the greater part have been very long, I 

 should say, too long, known, for there exists such a confusion that 

 their synonymy is almost inextricable. The English authors have 

 increased this difficulty by creating a crowd of species, so badly charac- 

 terised that I have not been able to classify them even as constant 

 varieties " (' Noctuelles,' vol. v., p. 235). One of the species, Hydrilla 

 palustris, in this family is very rare in Britain. Grammesia trigram- 

 mica (trilinea) is subject to a fairly wide range of variation, but the 

 genus Caradrina itself, has, as Guenee remarks, been overnamed, and 

 even now it is not at all an easy matter to follow out what the different 

 authors have meant by their descriptions. 



Grammesia, Stphs., trigrammica, Hufn. 



This is a variable species, and strange to say, in Britain more so 

 in some years than others. The usual colour is whitish-grey, but 

 ochreous specimens (sometimes with a reddish tinge) are moderately 

 common ; occasionally, however, the wings are dark fuscous. Huf- 



