154 VARIETIES OF NOCTILas 



more distinct and the stigmata united. The female is duller coloured " 

 (' British Moths,' p. 138). Esper's diagnosis of the type is: "Alis 

 deflexis superioribus griseis, atomis nigricantibus adspersis, et stigmate 

 obliterate fusco ;" while of the general appearance of the species he 

 writes : " The fore wings are reddish-brown, sprinkled with innu- 

 merable minute black dots, mottled here and there with indistinct 

 reddish-ochreous spots. In the middle stands a faint brown spot 

 formed by the two discoidals. The female has this outlined more 

 distinctly, owing to the paler ground colour." The figures to which 

 this description refers are : " Fig. 5, dark reddish, dusted with minute 

 black atoms, reniform composed of three black dots placed transversely. 

 Fig. 6, paler red, orbicular blackish with a paler outline, reniform 

 8-shaped, the two central areas of the 8 filled in with black " (' Die 

 Schmet. in Abbildungen,' p. 386, PI. 76, figs. 5-6). The cruda of 

 Hiibner appears to come near the type, but is of a browner colour, and 

 not tinged so distinctly with reddish. 



1. Pale greyish or ochreous- white = var. pallida. 



2. Dull grey = var. pusittus. Haw. 



3. Pale reddish-grey = var. nanus, Haw. 



4. Dark reddish-grey = pulverulenta, Esp. 



5. Bright red = var. rufa. 



6. Brownish-grey = var. cruda, Hb. 



a. var. pallida, mihi. This is the palest form of the species. The 

 anterior wings of a pale greyish or ochreous- white, with but a very 

 slight (if any) reddish tinge. The males particularly have the reni- 

 form well-marked, and the elbowed line often forms a very distinct 

 row of tiny black dots. My specimens have come from Farnboro' 

 (Kent), Chattenden, Shooter's Hill, Hereford and Halstead (Essex). 



p. var. pnsillus, Haw. This is a grey form of pulverulenta, which 

 is described by Haworth as follows : " Alis griseis stigmatibus con- 

 tiguis obsoletis lineolaque f uscescentibus, strigaque marginali punctorum 

 fuscorum." " Praacedenti (nanus) valde afnnis, sed fere duplo minor 

 magisque crassa pro ratione magnitudinis. Antennas desunt. Abdo- 

 minis barba grisea macula nigra quas praecedens caret. Alas anticae 

 niagis rotundatas seu retusae, stigmatibus minus remotis, postico seu 

 reniforme majore oblongiore saturatiore, lineola crassa fusca subinter- 

 rupta a stigmate anteriore versus basin ducta, quaa oumino deest in 

 prascedente. Omnium nostratum Bombycum minimus est, sed pro 

 ratione magnitudinis valde obesus " (' Lepidoptera Britannica,' p. 124). 

 Grey cruda are not rare, with the reniform well filled in with fuscous ; 

 the central shade, too, is in this variety, altogether absent or indistinct . 

 Of pusillus(a), Humphrey and Westwood write : " This species 

 measures an inch in the expanse of the fore wings, which are of a dull 

 grey colour, with the stigmata contiguous but obsolete and of a brown 

 colour, with a broad, brown, interrupted line running from the anterior 

 stigma to the base of the wing ; the apical margin marked with a row 

 of brown punctures ; the abdomen is proportionately stouter than in 

 the last, with a great beard having a black dot. Considered by Mr. 

 Stephens as a variety of 0. cruda ; but Mr. Haworth states that the 

 wings are more rounded or retuse in form. Taken in Richmond Park, 

 but rare" (' British Moths,' p. 138). 



y. var. nanus, Haw. This is the pale reddish-grey variety ; per- 

 haps the commonest form we get in Britain. It is described by 



