92 VARIETIES OF NOCTTLJE 



outer margin black " (' Die Schmet. in Abbildungen ' &c., PL 104, figs. 

 4-5). His diagnosis on p. 150 of the same work is : " Noctua spiri- 

 liuguis subcristata alis incumbentibus superioribus fuscis viridi et 

 violaceo nebulosis, posticis luteis limbo basique nigro." Green is a 

 very unusual tint in British specimens of this species. Mr. Gregson 

 writes : " The only variety I have seen of this species was bred last 

 year, from a larva taken near Conway: the ordinary orange of the 

 hind- wings is straw-coloured " (' Entom.,' iv., p. 53). 



a. var. rufa, mihi. This differs from the type in having the 

 purplish-red ground colour of the anterior wings replaced by bright 

 red. It is otherwise like the type in markings &c., and is in fact a 

 simple colour variety, occurring apparently, in most localities with the 

 type. Intermediate forms between this and the type are not at all rare . 



Triphcena, Och., fimbria, L. 



This species, probably one of the richest coloured and most 

 attractive moths we have, is subject to a very considerable range of 

 colour variation. This variation runs in two parallel grooves, one, 

 from the palest wainscot- brown, or pale yellowish, through bright 

 red-brown to deep mahogany-brown, the other, from pale greyish- 

 green to a deep, dark green, generally, however, with slight traces of 

 brown in it. The Linnaean description of the type is as follows : " Noctua 

 spirilinguis laevis alis incumbentibus griseo fasciatis ; inferioribus 

 helvolis macula lineari atra." " Similliina pronubce. Corpus incarnato- 

 griseum. Thorax vix cristatus. Abdomen helvolam subtus albicans. 

 Alse supra superiores fasciis liturisque obscurioribus inasqualibus. 

 Inferiores helvolas macula longitudinali nigricante apicibusque albi- 

 cantibus. Subtus superiores helvolas macula longitudinali nigricante, 

 apiceque albicante. Inferiores concolores paginas superiori, apici 

 albidas " (' Systema Naturae ' xii., 842). Newman says of the variation 

 in this species : " The colour of the fore wings is pale wainscot- 

 brown, or rich mahogany-brown, or rich olive-green ; the specimens 

 of the mahogany-brown colour are comparatively rare, those with the 

 wainscot-brown and olive-green colour are equally common " (' British 

 Moths,' p. 339). Guenee writes : " I consider as the type, those 

 specimens in which the thorax and wings are of a clear pale nankin 

 colour, with a median band and other markings of a deeper brown, 

 the two black apical spots scarcely visible, sometimes altogether 

 absent. Hiibner has not figured the form " (' Noctuelles,' vol. v., p. 

 318). The following is a list of the principal varieties : 



1. Pale yellowish-grey = fimbria, L. 



2. Keddish-ochreous (almost red-brown) = var. rufa. 



3. Mahogany-brown = var. brunnea. 



4. Pale greenish = var. virescens^ 



5. Dark green = solani, Fab. 



a. var. rufa, mihi. The anterior wings of this variety differ from 

 those of the type in being of a rich reddish-ochreous, extending into 

 red-brown. The stigmata are generally as distinct and the transverse 

 lines as well-marked as in the type. I took about a dozen specimens 

 on the Deal sand-hills in 1885, all of this form. I have the variety, 

 however, from other localities, and there is no doubt that it occurs 

 generally with the type. This is Guenee's var. B, of which he 

 writes : " The green of var. solani is replaced by a clear brick-red ; 

 it is not only this species that is thus modified, as we find the 



