108 VARIETIES OF NOCTUJE 



species of Cuspidia and Vinunia, which have a similar grey ground 

 colour. Esper's diagnosis of this species is : " Alis cinerascentibus, 

 punctis baseos et pupil lis stigmatum nigris ; strigis tribus posterioribus 

 albidis" ('Die Schmet. in Abbildungen ' &c., p. 387). Our own pale 

 specimens are distinctly of two forms, one, of a pale whitish-grey, the 

 second, of a pale lilac-grey, the former being the more common form 

 found on the Continent, the deepening in tint in some of our specimens 

 being, perhaps, a foreshadowing of the intense melanism which is so 

 characteristic of the Shetland Isles and probably of the Scotch Highlands. 

 The hebraica of Hiibner is almost typical, having the space between 

 the two outer transverse lines of a rather darker grey " (' Sammlung 

 europaischer Schmet.,' fig. 642). I have never seen specimens 

 actually intermediate between the grey and black forms, but Mr. 

 Wylie writes : " During 1887, I took a great number of this species, 

 varying from black to the normal type, with many intermediate forms 

 and rosy vars." ('Entomologist's Record' &c., vol. i., p. 11). The 

 Morpeth form, too, sometimes runs very dark grey. 



a. var. rosea, mihi. This beautiful variety of glareosa has the 

 ground colour of a delicate lilac-grey, tinted all over with beautiful 

 rose colour, and thus offers a parallel form of variation to that obtain- 

 ing in certain species of Viminia and Cuspidia. I have many specimens 

 thus tinted, from different Scotch and English localities. This is the 

 var. A of Guenee, who writes : " The ashy-grey replaced by a rosy 

 tint." " I once reared a specimen from the larva " (' Noctuelles,' vol. 

 v., p. 324). The I-gemmiim of Duponchel is intermediate between the 

 type and var. rosea, having the basal part grey and the outer rosy. 

 Duponchel's description is : *' It has the superior wings above, of a 

 pale bluish-grey, extending from the base almost to the middle of the 

 wing, the remaining outer area being reddish-grey ; there are 

 three transverse lines, pale grey in colour j^one wavy, near the outer 

 margin, the second arched, a little nearer the centre, and the third, 

 equally arched, at a little distance from the base. Between these last, 

 one notices a sharp black mark which fills the space between the 

 ordinary stigmata, of which the orbicular is almost effaced. A some- 

 what similar black mark is situated between the orbicular and third 

 (basal) transverse line, whilst two black contiguous streaks are situated 

 a little from the base. The fringe is separated from the outer edge by 

 a row of black dots. The inferior wings are of a reddish-white with 

 brown nervures " (' Histoire naturelle ' &c., pp. 88- 89, pi. 77, fig. 6). 



p. var. suffusa, mihi. " This is one of the gems of the collection ; 

 the ground colour of the upper wings, instead of the usual grey, is of 

 a rich dark brown, vide fig. 1." So writes Mr. J. Jenner Weir, in the 

 4 Entomologist,' vol. xvii., p. 2, of the melanic forms of glareosa in the 

 collection of lepidoptera made by Mr. McArthur, at Unst, and figured 

 very unsatisfactorily in connection with Mr. Weir's remarks. This 

 beautiful variety, almost peculiar to the extreme northern part of the 

 British Islands, may be described as having the anterior wings brownish- 

 black, with the transverse lines rather paler, whilst the quadrate spot 

 between the stigmata, the black mark between the orbicular and 

 transverse basal line, and the basal dots are of a still more intense 

 black. It is recorded, * Entomologist's Record' &c.. vol. i., p. 11, as 

 captured by Mr. Wylie near Perth. He writes : " Very dark varieties 

 of this species have been frequently recorded from the Shetland Isles, 

 but on the 18th of August, 1887, while sugaring on Kinnoull Hill, 



