IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 151 



fuscum. Ordo punctorum minutissimorum marginalia. Alae inferiores 

 pallidiores " (' Lepidoptera Britannica,' p. 208). From Haworth's 

 large size 1". 4"', I was inclined to think that this referred to a larger 

 species, but Bentley in his article in the ' Entomologist,' vol. i., says 

 that his variety of this species " was examined and named by the late 

 Mr. Ha worth." My most characteristic examples of this brownish ob- 

 solete form are from Forres and from Chattenden Wood in Kent. In 

 Humphrey and Westwood's ' British Moths,' p. 144, we find : " Sor- 

 dida is rusty or reddish, with two transverse fuscous strigse approxima- 

 ting towards the inner margin ; posterior margin clothed with black.' 

 /?. var. ambigua, St. The ambigua of Stephens is described in Mr. 

 Bentley's previously quoted paper ( Entom.,' vol. i.) as having " the an- 

 terior wings ashy-brown with three darker transverse strigas, the first 

 between the stigmata, the second behind the posterior stigma composed 

 of black dots, the third undulated near the posterior margin, stigmata 

 distinct with slender pale margins, posterior wings ashy with dusky 

 margins." This, as will be seen, is one of those forms in which the 

 markings and stigmata are distinctly developed. 



y. var. redacta, Haw. Similar to var. ambigua but with the 

 stigmata and markings more indistinct. Haworth's description of 

 redacta is as follows : " Alis griseis strigis tribus obsoletis fuscis, 

 aliaque postica pallescente, stigmatibus albido marginatis " (' Lepi- 

 doptera Britannica,' &c., p. 206). This is a simple sub-variety of the 

 preceding and is of the more obsolete form. In Humphrey and 

 Westwood's ' British Moths,' p. 144, we find : " Smaller than the type, 

 with the stigmata and markings more indistinct." 



8. var. blanda, Gn. Of this Guenee writes : " Superior wings 

 less yellow than in akine*, dusted with reddish-grey, always 

 powdered with white, the median transverse shade less distinct, the 

 inferior wings slightly hyaline, with the nervures distinctly darker 

 especially on the outer margin in both sexes " (' Noctuelles,' vol. v., p. 

 245). This reddish or purplish-grey form is called taraxaci by 

 Herrich-Schaffer and described as : " Violacea-fusca, alis posteriori- 

 bus albidis limbum versus fuscis." He also adds : " Chocolate-brown 

 with violet tinge and sprinkled with grey dots, the males often much 

 lighter than Hiibner's fig. 575. Hind wings dull whitish-yellow, 

 blackish-grey on the hind margin, paler at base" ('Systematische Bear- 

 beitung,' &c., p. 211). This is an excellent description of our specimens 

 from the coast of Kent, where the specimens are rarely brown, and 

 often have a distinct purplish tinge, the basal area of the hind wings 

 of the male also being of a very pale grey. 



e. var. egens, Haworth. Another clearly 'marked form, which 

 Haworth says is very similar to his redacta, but scarcely the same. 

 His description is : " Alee anticaB unif ormiter f uscescentes, stigmatibus 

 ordinariis fuscis distinctis, strigaque postica fusca, angustiore quam in 

 sequente (sepii). Posticse maris ut in pra3cedente ; feminae, pallidiores 

 ut in prsecedente " (' Lepidoptera Britannica,' p. 206). This is one of 

 our most common forms of the species. 



. var. alsines, Wood. This is in reality only a slight sub-variety 

 of the preceding with the reniform outlined in white. It is described 

 as : " The anterior wings fuscous with two transverse striga?, the pos- 

 terior stigma large and distinctly outlined in white." 



