116 VARIETIES OF NOCTILS3 



than elsewhere, the reddest specimens I have ever seen coming from 

 Perth and Chattenden (Kent), widely distant localities enough. True 

 f estiva and our forms erroneously called conflua, in their reddest varieties 

 are bright red, more like the red of bright Noctna rubi but even 

 brighter than the brightest of these, still there is none of the dull- 

 brown colour in these f estiva vars. that is characteristic of the true 

 Icelandic and Shetlandic conflua, the reddest of which resemble some- 

 what in colour the red-brown type of N. baia. These specimens, too, 

 have a differently shaped wing as mentioned by Herr Hoffmann in his 

 extract quoted below, and this is quite a constant character, whilst no 

 Scotch conflua, so-called, exhibit this essential character, whatever their 

 size. That the so-called conflua of Scotch localities are anything more 

 than festiva, I fail to see, whilst, at the same time, I consider that the Shet- 

 land race is so far differentiated that it can be at once separated from 

 any forms of festiva known. I treat, therefore, all our English and 

 Scotch festiva as such, dropping altogether Newman's erroneous use of 

 the name conflua, and at the same time treat our Shetland specimens 

 as a distinct sub-species under the name of conflua, Tr. Those who 

 have not the Shetland sub-species will of course find it difficult to 

 follow out the intricate muddle that has been woven round this species, 

 but I believe I can safely say that in no part of the mainland of Great 

 Britain has the conflua of Treitschke been taken, and, although undoubted- 

 ly some of our festiva may to a small extent superficially resemble some 

 of the forms of the allied sub-species, there can be no possible 

 doubt in determination. Of the true conflua in Iceland, Dr. Mason 

 writes : " Very abundant and variable ; this was first described as a 

 species from Icelandic specimens, and differs from the form usually 

 called N. festiva var. conflua in British collections from its smaller size ; 

 the only British specimens of this form which I have seen were taken 

 by the late John Sang, at Wolsingham in Northumberland " (' Ent. 

 Mo. Mag.,' xxvi., p. 198); whilst we also read: "The Rev. Dr. 

 Walker exhibited a few Noctua conflua, illustrating the varied forms 

 of this species occurring in Iceland ; and Dr. Mason said that the 

 only British specimens of N. conflua which he had seen resembling the 

 Iceland form of the species were taken at Wolsingham, Durham " 

 (' Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond.,' 1 890, p. xxxvii). I believe that these two 

 references apply to the same specimens, although the county is named 

 differently in each by Dr. Mason. It appears, too, that the Wolsingham 

 specimens only " resembled " the Icelandic conflua, which is the nearest 

 statement I can make of British (except Shetlandic) specimens. So far, 

 I believe we have never obtained the true conflua on the main- 

 land of Great Britain. Concerning the conflua from Shetland, Herr 

 Hoffman writes : " On the authority of Dr. Rossler, I consider 

 conflua a var. of festiva. I saw eight specimens of conflua from the 

 Shetland Isles, which differ as much from the conua of Altvater from 

 the mountains of Norway and Lapland, as they vary among themselves, 

 at least in colour. First, the Shetland form has narrower wings, and 

 the fore wings have the apex more pointed, although this is not shown 

 in the figs, in the ' Entomologist,' 1884, plate 1, figs. 8, 9, 10. In 

 colour, they vary from dark grey-brown to reddish-brown and to a 

 reddish-ochreous. In Iceland, according to Staudinger, quite similar 

 forms occur. Dr. Rossler considers conflua. the mountain form of festiva, 

 whilst ova of conflua, brought by Dr. Bodemeyer from the Silesian 

 mountains, produced, in Wiebbuden, only /nritVa in all its varieties, but 



