IK TSfi BRITISH ISLANDS. 97 



Guene'e lays much stress on the marked costa, but Hiibner's figure 

 certainly does not show our characteristic, short, black streak." Guenee 

 writes of it : " Of a greyish-black, with the white spot which follows 

 the elbowed line very marked on the costa, forming a clear descending 

 band. The two apical marks lost in a large blackish costal blotch. 

 Inferior wings with the border and the lunule larger." " Southern 

 Russia " (< Noctuelles,' vol. v., p. 319). Staudinger says of it : " ob- 

 scurior et punctis nigr. distinctis " (' Catalog,' p. 81). Mr. Adkin has 

 apparently come to the same conclusion that I long ago arrived at, 

 for we read : " Hiibner's consequa should be regarded as a form of 

 comes, Hb., rather than orbona,* Hufn., to which it had hitherto been 

 referred, and supported his contention by specimens known to be 

 forms of comes, Hb., which agreed with Hiibner's figure of consequa " 

 ('Entom.,' vol. xxiv., p. 102). This is a not uncommon form in 

 Scotland, and occasionally occurs in England, being the darkest form 

 we obtain in the southern counties. 



e. var. ochrea, mihi. The anterior wings of a pale greyish- 

 ochreous tint, with the markings and stigmata varying slightly in 

 intensity. But for the ground colour, the form is a great 

 deal like var. adsequa. Sub-var. rufo-ochrea has the ochreous ground 

 colour tinted with reddish. This is really a more usual form than 

 var. ocJirea itself. It appears to occur in most English and Scotch 

 localities. Another sub-var. has the ochreous ground colour tinted 

 with green =virescens, but the green tint is very evanescent. 



. var rufescens, mihi. This has the anterior wings unicolorous 

 pale red, with the stigmata and markings generally well developed. 

 It is a fairly common form in Britain, in both northern and southern 

 localities. It is figured ' Entom./ xxii., pi. vi., fig. B, 1, but the colour 

 here is rather too marked. 



77. var. rufa, mihi. An extreme development of rufescens, with 

 the anterior wings of a deep, but bright red colour, the posterior wings 

 in Scotch specimens often being much darker than those found in 

 England, although the form is obtained throughout Britain. It is, 

 however, very rare in the south of England. This variety is figured 

 ' Entom.,' xxii., pi. vi., figs. B, 2 and B, 3. The description Group B, 

 p. 145 shows that these figs, are not so good as they might be. 



9. var. curtisii, Newm. = var. consequa, Curt. The name curtisii 

 has recently been applied to almost all Scotch specimens of orbona 

 varying from pale grey to intense black. As it was originally meant 

 to apply only to the very dark brown form with a distinct red costa, 

 it is advisable to retain the name for that form. In the ' Entomo- 

 logist,' vol. v., pp. 224-225, Mr. Newman writes : " The perfect 

 insect is admirably figured in Curtis' beautiful ' British Entomology,' 

 fasc. 348, dated 1st March, 1831, under the name of Tryphcena consequa 

 or Bute Yellow Underwing, but, as it certainly is not the Noctua con- 

 sequa of Hiibner, I at once suggested that it should receive the name of 

 the talented artist who described it, and who has figured it so beauti- 

 fully. Mr. Curtis possessed but a single specimen, taken by himself 

 on the heath at the back of Mr. Kean's house, in the Isle of Bute, on 

 the 27th of July, 1825. Mr. Norman has taken it more abundantly 

 during the past summer, near his residence at Torres. Mr. Curtis 



* Used erroneously for subsequa, Hb., as in Staudinger and "Wocke's 

 Catalog.' 



H 



