86 VARIETIES OF NOCTTL3E 



If poll.)." He then adds: " Noctua hyperborea. Dalm. in literis. 

 Hadena, Boisd. (' Ind. Lepid.,' p. 71). Hab. in Lapponia. Mus. Keg. 

 Acad. Holm., etiam Schonherri, e quo specimina typica heic descripta 

 mihi benigne communicata (Lappon. borealis). Valde similis H. alpi- 

 colce, sed colore alarum anticarum non tarn laete nee pure cinereo, 

 strigis repandis paullo magis conspicuis, maculis ordinariis nonnihil 

 minoribus ferrugineo fuscoque subtinctis (nee tantum una macula 

 rubenti, altera s. interior! alba) harum exteriori reniformi, interior! 

 omnino rotunda, nee ovali nee subobliqua, &c. ab ilia certe distincta. 

 Antenna ut in H. alpicola, etiam secundum sexum " (' Insecta 

 Lapponica,' p. 938). The northern part of the Continent of Europe 

 produces almost entirely ashy specimens, whilst those from the Alps 

 are red or reddish-grey like our Rannoch forms. These red forms are 

 known as carnica and glacialis, whilst the ashy forms are known as 

 hyperborea, alpicola and aquilonaris. Of a form intermediate between 

 the red and grey forms Dr. Staudinger writes : " Mr. Janos of 

 Frivaldesky found on the Alps of the Leptauer Comitats, a continuation 

 of the Sudeten Eange, a very interesting specimen of A. hyperborea 

 which is exactly intermediate between the type and carnica, Hering, 

 and unites the two species most certainly, an opinion which I have 

 already expressed in this magazine in 1861, p. 361. Those hyperborea 

 found since in the Tyrol and Switzerland, differ very considerably 

 from those found in the north " (< Stett. ent. Zeit.,' 1869, p. 90). I 

 do not think forms exactly identical with the richly coloured and 

 brightly marked Shetland specimens have been yet taken on the 

 Continent, but Herrich-Schaffer's fig. 424 is the nearest approach to 

 this form. This species appears to offer an almost parallel range of 

 colour variation to A. subrosea, the northern forms of which are 

 ashy-grey in colour, while the British form is of a rich rosy-grey or 

 rosy-brown. It may be looked upon as another illustration of 

 melanochroism accompanying areas of greater humidity and not higher 

 latitudes or colder areas, for while the cold open plains of Finland and 

 Lapland produce pale ashy-coloured specimens, those from the humid 

 districts in Scotland and the Alps develop a depth of colour unknown 

 elsewhere. There is a certain amount of sexual variation, the females 

 being smaller than the males, the abdomina of the females are also very 

 large as in cinerea. 



The following is a table of the described varieties : 



1. Ashy, with more distinct markings = hyperborea, Zett. 



2. Ashy, central area reddish-brown = alpicola, Zett. 



3. Ashy, clouded with reddish, markings obsolete = aquilonaris, 



Zett. 



4. Red, with slaty lines = coerulescens = glacialis, H.-S. (fig. 424). 

 5. Buff-grey, with cuneiform spots = alpina, H. and Wd. 

 6. Red, with cuneiform spots = carnica, Hering. 

 7. Red, without cuneiform spots = glacialis, H.-S. 



a. var. alpicola, Zett. This is also treated as distinct by Zetterstedt, 

 who describes it as : " Alis anticis laete cineriis, parce f usco-maculatis, 

 maculis ordinariis canis, harum reniformi in medio rubenti ; posticis 

 griseis, basi dilutioribus. <? ? . (Long. al. exp. 1| poll.). Hab. in 

 Lappon. rar. ; marem scilicet n monte subalpino Stoettingsf jellet latere 

 Suecico summi jugi alpini d. 31, Jul. 1832 detexit D. Dahlbom, et 



