30 VARIETIES OF NOCTUJE 



the rest of the wing, the ash-coloured stigmata larger, the claviform 

 almost absent. The inferior wings whiter, tinged with blackish on 

 the outer edge in the $ " (' Noctuelles,' vol. v., p. 292). Guenee also 

 adds : " It is rare and forms a link between the type and the variety 

 villiersii, but has not the same outline of wing as the latter." It will 

 be seen that this differs from Hiibner's ruris in having no pale 

 costa. 



y. var. plectoides, Gn. This variety is described by Guenee as 

 follows : " Shape of the type. The superior wings more pointed at 

 the apex, of a shiny violet-brown colour resembling Noctua plecta, 

 uniform, without any transverse line and with only slight pale traces 

 of the subterminal. The costa and stigmata of a pale testaceous, the 

 orbicular slightly angled ; the reniform lengthened out, the whole 

 placed in an elongated isosceles triangle, deep black in colour. Clavi- 

 form absorbed in the ground colour. Inferior wings very dark." He 

 then adds: "This variety has a particular facies, and I should not 

 hesitate to make it a distinct species, if I did not know what astonishing 

 variations obelisca presents. However, it is necessary to see many 

 more specimens " (' Noctuelles,' vol. v., p. 292). The $ specimen 

 described, came from Lapland. 



8. var. villiersii, Hb.-Gey. Geyer's fig. 869, is a male. " The 

 anterior wings pale purplish-grey with primrose-yellow costa ; a short, 

 dark costal streak, whilst another before the orbicular is the commence- 

 ment of an incomplete, double, transverse basal streak ; the claviform 

 is represented by a broad black lunule ; the orbicular and reniform 

 are yellowish, surrounded with black ; a wavy line directly beyond 

 reniform, another near hind margin ; nervures distinct on outer mar- 

 gin. Hind wings grey, with a pinkish tinge, nervures distinct " 

 (' Sammlung europaischer Schmet.,' fig. 869). Fig. 870 is a female, 

 with the markings as in 869, but the ground colour deep purplish with 

 a slight but distinct reddish tinge. Staudinger again ( Catalog,' p. 

 88) incorrectly refers Guenee's as well as Geyer's villiersii to the same 

 variety. 



c. var. villiersii, Gn. Guenee's original description of this variety 

 is : " Agrotis. $ . Alis anticis, ochraceo-cinereis, maculis duabus 

 costaque albicantibus, posticis albis ; antennis pectinatis ; apice filiform- 

 ibus. $ . Alis anticis cinereo fuscis ; posticis ad marginem late 

 infuscatis ; antennis filiformibus " ('Ann. Soc. France,' 1837, p. 173). 

 This is of course a costal-streaked form and differs considerably from 

 his description in the ' Noctuelles,' where he writes : " Always larger 

 than the type, the superior wings proportionally more oblong and 

 squared, powdered with clear greyish-ochreous ash colour ; the termi- 

 nal space slightly darker, the costa and the stigmata less marked, 

 compared with the clearness of the ground colour ; the stigmata 

 outlined finely with black ; the claviform more oblong. The under- 

 side of the superior wings with a blackish cellular spot. Antenna 

 long, strongly ciliated for almost half their length, then roughened to 

 their tips. Thorax almost unicolorous and pale." This variety was 

 described from specimens taken in central France. Guenee also 

 adds : " I have seen a subvariety in which the superior wings are 

 unicolorous and almost without stigmata" (' Noctuelles,' vol. v., p. 292). 



