IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. Ill 



black mark in the middle of the fore wings resemble a Hebrew 

 letter, 3- Linnaeus found some resemblance to a letter in Gothic 

 writing, hence the name gothica arose." After pointing out the error 

 of the authors of the ' System Verz.', he added under the same name 

 (nunatrum), and figured under the name of singularis, what he con- 

 sidered two vais. of gothica, but which prove to be a var. of c-nigrum. 

 Of this he writes : " In the third figure T have still pictured another 

 moth which agrees with the principal markings (of gothica), but varies 

 considerably. The black mark in the fore wings is here of different 

 shape ; it is very narrow, and both ends rise equally ; the black 

 streak towards the inner margin is absent, and an interrupted line runs 

 through the wing instead of the lighter streaks. The outer line, too, 

 has a blackish border " (' Die Schmet. in Abbildungen,' iii., p. 384, 

 pi. 76, fig. 3). 



ft. var. su/usa, mihi. This is the var. A of Guenee, who writes : 

 " Of a deep violet-black. The pale costal blotch of a reddish flesh- 

 colour; inferior wings dark greyish-black, as in ditrapezinm." "North 

 America." " Despite the colour of the inferior wings of this Noctuelle, 

 the designs are so exactly similar to those of our c-nigrum, that I dare 

 not make it a separate species " (' Noctuelles,' vol. v., p. 248). 



y. var. rosea, mihi. This is Guenee's var. B, of which he writes : 

 " Of a clear testaceous, slightly rosy, with the cellular spots (between 

 the stigmata) and the spot at the base, alone black. The subterminal 

 line spotted, blackish, distinct." " Pondicherry " (' Noctuelles,' vol. 

 v., pp. 328-329). The form in which the clear ground colour is 

 slightly rosy, is occasionally found in Britain. 



Noctua, Linn., ditrapezium, Bkh. 



Of this species there appear to be red, and dark red-brown forms, 

 but these, so far as I can judge, represent the sexes, the red form being 

 males, the duller coloured form, females, and, whilst Borkhausen 

 describes the male, Treitschke describes the female as tristigma, and 

 Godart as a var. of sigma. Treitschke's description is : " Noctuaalis&nti- 

 cis fusco brunneis, macula rhomboidea, altera triaugulari tertiave baseos 

 irregulari atris " (< Die Schmet.,' vol. v., 1st part, p. 243). The fig. 3, 

 Plate 61, of Godart and Duponchel's ' Histoire naturelle ' &c., is a 

 beautiful reproduction of the female, under the name of sigma, and 

 from his letterpress, p. 17, we learn that he considered the male a 

 variety of his sigma (the female), for he writes : " The N. ditrapezium 

 of Hiibner and of Borkhausen, and the Graphiphora tristigma of 

 Ochsenheimer (Treitschke) certainly form only a variety of sigma. It 

 differs in having the upper wings with a more violet tinge, and the 

 three transverse lines are ferruginous instead of black, otherwise the 

 markings are exactly the same." This is exactly it, only Borkhausen's 

 redder form is the type, and Duponchel's sigma would be the var., if it 

 were not apparently only the other sex. Borkhausen's description 

 is : The ground colour of the fore wings is reddish-brown tinged 

 here and there with pale grey. Near the base is a small black spot 

 which joins the abbreviated basal line. This is followed by a dark 

 brown wavy transverse line. On this stands a blackish-brown square- 

 shaped or trapezoidal spot, which joins, under the orbicular, another 

 such spot between the reniform and orbicular. A small narrow shade 

 crosses the reniform, followed by the elbowed line, whilst beyond this 

 is the subterminal line. Between the elbowed and subterminal lines 



