126 VARIETIES OP NOCTU^B 



or greyish-ochreous form, is one of the commonest varieties in the 

 South of England, but becomes rarer in Scotland, where the darker 

 varieties take the place of the paler ones. Of this variety Staudinger 

 writes : " Dilutior, grisescens " (' Catalog,' p. 83). 



J3. var. rnfescens, mihi. Under this name I would include all 

 those pale reddish forms which are not of the decided red colour of 

 var. rvfa, but which have the red coloration more pronounced than 

 the pale grey of var. cohcesa, or the dark grey of the type. A very 

 large per-centage of our southern forms are of this character, and it is 

 generally the palest form obtained in Scotch localities where the very 

 pale grey form is almost unknown. The markings are generally as 

 distinct as in the type and var. cohcesa, and the stigmata are generally 

 well marked. 



y. var. rufa, mihi. Dark red varieties inclining to chestnut 

 colour, are occasionally met with in the South of England, and become 

 common in Scotland. There are specimens with distinct, clearly- 

 marked stigmata, but generally more indistinct transverse lines, whilst 

 other specimens have the stigmata and transverse lines quite obsolete 

 (obsoleta-rvfa) and the form then becomes unicolorous. All these bright 

 red forms I would include under the name rufa. 



8. var. obscura, mihi. The anterior wings of a deep reddish- 

 black, with the markings ill-defined, but the stigmata clear and well 

 marked. The posterior wings deep blackish-grey. A great many of 

 the specimens of var. obscura have the stigmata and transverse lines 

 quite obsolete and merged into the ground colour (obsoleta-obscura). I 

 have seen no specimens of this form from the South of England, but 

 they are not rare in the Northern counties, and become common 

 in Scotland. Writing of ' The Lepidoptera of Unst,' Mr. J. Jenner 

 Weir remarks : " The specimens are mostly very dark, some with the 

 distinct yellow spots, from which the name is derived ; and in others 

 the reniform and orbicular stigmata are almost obsolete " (' Entomolo- 

 gist,' vol. xvii., p. 2). 



. var. nigra, mihi. Just as vars. rufescens and rvfa develop an 

 intensely dark reddish-black form (var. obscura), so var. cohcesa and 

 the type have a greyish-black form, as intensely black as, but without 

 the red tinge of var. obscura. As in the latter variety, some specimens 

 have distinct stigmata, whilst others have them obliterated, and a 

 perfectly unicolorous form is produced (obtoleta-nigra). I have only 

 seen Scotch specimens of this variety. 



Nociua, Linn., plecta, Linn. 



This is another Linna3an species, which was described as follows : 

 " Ph. Noctua plecta, spirilinguis subcristata, alis brunneis linea nigra 

 margineque crassiore albido." " Media sed minor. Alas superiores 

 brunnese, margo crassior a thorace fere ad apicem albidus ; linea nigra 

 a thorace per maculas ordinarias ducta distinguit alam brunneam a 

 margine albo ; postice margo exterior punctis tribus, albis minutissimis. 

 Subtus alae superiores margine postico rufescentes. Alee inferiores 

 albida3, puncto subtus nigro " ('Fauna SuecicaB,' p. 321). There are 

 two forms of this species, one, red-brown, the other, violet-brown in 

 colour. The former is the type, the latter is var. anderssoni, a variety 

 described from Scandinavia. The red form appears to be the most 

 common throughout Britain. Guenee writes : " The specimens from 

 North America do not differ in any way from those of Europe" 



