IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 105 



J3. var. lewis, Haw. This form is intermediate between the type 

 and var. neglecta in colour, being of a reddish-grey. Haworth's 

 description is : " Alis cano sub-rufescentibus, strigis obsoletissimis 

 punctoque medio fusco, posticis perfuscis." " Strigse fere ut in N. 

 tetrayona (= xantographa var.), at tenuiores et obsoletiores, nisi lente 

 vix conspicuss. Stigma anticum deest ; posticum reniforme, margine 

 solo manifestatum basi puncto nigro. Cilia anticarum sordide rufes- 

 centia, posticarum pallidiora " ( Lepidoptera Britannica,' p. 207)> 

 This is the same form as the cerasina of Fieyer, the anterior wings of 

 which are of a dark purplish-red, unicolorous, except a pale subter- 

 minal line, which is margined on its inner edge with blackish, and having 

 a very faint outline to reniform. Hind wings dark blackish-grey " 

 ( Neuere Beitrage,' pi. 312). Lcevis is almost as common in Britain as 

 the purely grey form, neglecta. I have it from several Scotch localities 

 extending from Aberdeen in Scotland to Shirley in Surrey. 



y. var. pallid* t mi hi. This beautiful variety, given to me by Mr. 

 Home, was captured at Aberdeen. It is totally unlike any of the other 

 forms, being of a pale whitish-ochreous ground colour, with the reni- 

 form and orbicular outlined in red ; the subterininal line is composed 

 of a series of red dots ; otherwise the specimen is unicolorous without 

 any other transverse lines. I have only seen the specimen mentioned 

 above, which is in my collection. 



Noctua, Linn., baia, Fab. 



The red form of this species is the type, and is thus described by 

 Fabricius : " JV. cristata alls deflexis ferrugineis : puncto parvo baseos 

 gemiuatoque apicis nigris." " Kustica media. Palpi ferruginei apice 

 pallidi. Thorax ferrugineus. Abdomen cinereum. Alas anticae ferru 

 gineaB puncto baseos distincto atro, in medio paullo obscuriores maculis 

 ordinariis et apice versus marginern exteriorem puncta duo approximata 

 atra. Posticse fuscge ciliis ferrugineis " (' Mantissa,' pp. 175- L 76). In 

 Humphrey and Westwood's ' British Moths,' pp. 130-131, we read: 

 " This species varies from 1J to If inch in the expansion of the fore 

 wings, which are of a grey or brownish-grey colour, somewhat clouded, 

 and obsoletely strigated with several rows of dusky dots or slightly 

 distinguishable lunules ; the stigmata are not very distinct, the anterior 

 having a pale circle edged slightly with dusky, and the outer stigma 

 large and reniform with a pale margin ; beyond the latter runs a 

 curved pale striga, followed by another rather darker than the ground 

 colour of the wing, having a blackish apical patch on the costa. The hind 

 wings are reddish-grey, with the margin darker and cilia rufescent. The 

 female is darker-coloured with the strigse more obsolete." There is no 

 doubt that the tricomma of Esper also represents the type. It is described 

 as : "Alis superioribus ruf(f)escentibus strigis oblit(t)eratis fuscis, apice 

 maculis tribus contiguis nigris ; inf erioribus flavescentibus" (' Die Schmet. 

 in Abbildungen ' &c., p. 603, PI. 167, fig. 6). There are two very dis- 

 tinct forms in this species ; pale greyish, and red-brown. There are 

 also two other forms, one, of a clear, purplish coloration, 

 another, with a distinct slaty tinge as in certain varieties of Afoctua sobrina, 

 Agrotis hyperborea &c., but the red (the type) is by far the most com- 

 mon form. Sexual variation is exhibited in the colour of the hind 

 wings, those of the males being paler than those of the females. The 

 black apical dash is found to consist of one, two or three indistinct dots. 

 None of my specimens have this dash quite obsolete, although some 



