4 VARIETIES OF NOCTUJE 



with the varieties of this particular group, I have based my classifica- 

 tion (1) on ground colour, (2) on the character of the markings, and 

 have explained this fully in a paragraph preceding my descriptions of 

 these species. Other details, bearing on the variation of particular 

 species, I have noted in my general remarks on the species. 



The under wings of some of the species of this genus give us 

 a rough basis on which to group them. Thus saucia, suffusa and segetum 

 distinctly belong to one group ; lunigera forms a connecting link with 

 exclamationis, corticea, puta and cinerea ; whilst ripce forms a good con- 

 necting link between these and tritici, obelisca, cursoria nigricans and 

 vestigialis. On the other hand, the other members of the genus form 

 a heterogenous mass with very little to connect them in any way, so 

 far as the character of the imagines is concerned. The following notes 

 which I wrote in 1889, will show too, how completely the hind wings 

 of some of these species tend to show sexual dimorphism. " Saucia. 

 Male. Hind wings hyaline, whitish-grey, with a dark hind margin ; 

 dark nervures ; lunule more or less distinct, rarely absent. Female. 

 Hind wings hyaline, darker grey than in the male ; distinct lunule ; 

 dark nervures (worn specimens show the lunule least). Sujfusa. 

 Male. Hind wings hyaline, whitish-grey, with a narrower hind 

 marginal band than in saucia; nervures dark; no lunule. Female. 

 Hind wings almost as in the males, but slightly darker ; lunule indis- 

 tinct. Segetum. Male. Hind wings white ; no lunule ; dark 

 nervures. Female. Hind wings white ; with dark outer margin ; no 

 lunule, dark nervures. Lunigera. Male. Hind wings pure white ; 

 nervures darker, but differing much in intensity ; lunule varying from 

 entire absence to being decidedly marked. Female. Hind wings 

 white, with broad hind marginal band ; nervures blackish ; lunule 

 distinct. Exclamationis. Male. Hind wings white, with faint traces 

 of a marginal band in some specimens ; nervures variable in intensity 

 from dark grey to very indistinct ; lunule sometimes faint, generally 

 absent. Female. Hind wings dark grey ; base slightly paler ; ner- 

 vures darker ; lunule generally defined, sometimes very distinct. 

 Corticea. Male. Hind wings variable from whitish-grey to dark 

 grey ; nervures slightly darker ; lunule variable in intensity but 

 generally distinct. Female. Hind wings dark grey ; nervures dark ; 

 lunule generally distinct. Ripce. Male. Hind wings white ; nervures 

 slightly darker ; lunule indistinct. Female. Hind wings variable in 

 colour, from white to dark grey ; lunules generally distinct, but some- 

 times faint or absent (< Young Naturalist,' vol. x., p. 46). 



Agrotis, Och., saucia, Hb. 



This species offers a moderate amount of variation, some specimens 

 being pale ochreous in ground colour, others very deep reddish-black. 

 Although some of the specimens have the whole of the wing area of 

 the same colour, others have the costal area very dark, others very 

 pale, and there are many intermediate forms. Normally, there are two 

 transverse basal lines, the three ordinary stigmata, and two transverse 

 lines beyond the stigmata, but all these markings are very inconstant. 

 There is also a great deal of variation in the shape, size, and intensity 

 of the orbicular, rather less in the reniform, and the claviform is often 

 very ill-developed. The hind wings are pearly-grey, darker on the 



