IH THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 159 



which the upper and lower edges of the claviform occasionally 

 extend outwards in the form of two curved black lines is very 

 remarkable, and they occasionally extend outwards as far as the 

 elbowed line, but such an extension is rare. The wedge-shaped spots 

 so frequent in Agrotis are well-developed in this species. Borkhausen 

 describes no particular form of the species, but makes a comprehensive 

 description to include most of its various forms. Of the species he 

 writes : " The ground colour is variable, and differs in almost every 

 specimen, sometimes it is a mixture of bistre- and umber-brown/some- 

 times it is greyish-brown, sometimes it is only a pale bark colour ; there 

 are the three ordinary stigmata, bordered with brown, and filled in with 

 a blackish shade ; the reniform and orbicular nearly join at their lower 

 edges, and the space between them is usually y-shaped and filled in with 

 black ; below the outer stigma is a small wedge-shaped mark, yellow-grey 

 in colour with a brown border ; there are varieties, where the reniform 

 and orbicular are quite joined at their lower borders, and between them, 

 above the junction, as well as before the outer stigma, there are black- 

 brown spots ; the claviform is bordered with black-brown and then has the 

 appearance of an ypsilon. In some, especially dark specimens, the stig- 

 mata are like the ground colour and only perceptible by the borders which 

 are whitish. In other vars. between the reniform and inner streak is a 

 trace of an arched line, and with a specimen before me this line is 

 clearly marked " (' Naturgeschichte ' &c., p. 504). From this it will be 

 seen that Borkhausen knew almost as much of the general variation of 

 this species as we at present know. Ha worth's description of the 

 type is as follows : " Noctua alis subfuscis, notis duabus in medio 

 nigris fissis." " Alae pallide fuscse subnebulosas costa albo punctata. 

 Stigmata ordinaria obsoletissima cinerascentia, inter haec litura nigra, 

 aliaque longitudinal! opposita marginem tenuiorem versus fissis! 

 Juxta marginem posticum striga obsoleta pallescens undata, intus 

 punctis trigonis nigris plus minus adnata. Posticse alse pallidiores, 

 sive pallide fuscescentes " (' Lepidoptera Britannica,' p. 197). Guene'e 

 says of this species : " It varies but little, except in the shade of the 

 ground colour, which is sometimes paler and more ochreous" 

 (' Noctuelles,' vol. v., p. 362 ) ; whilst Humphrey and Westwood 

 write : " All the markings of the fore wings are, however, liable to 

 obliteration, except the subapical pale striga, and occasionally the 

 ground colour is almost black " (' British Moths,' p. 140). 



The principal forms of this species are as follows : 

 1. Pale greyish-fuscous = fissipuncta, Haw. = ypsilon., Bork. 

 2. Keddish-ochreous = var. corticea, Esp. 

 3. Dark or blackish-fuscous = var. nigrescens. 

 4. Variegated, dark with pale markings = var. variegata. 



a. var. corticea, Esp. This is the reddish form of fissipuncta, and 

 Esper lays stress, not only on the colour, but also on the peculiar way 

 in which the upper and lower borders of the claviform extend and 

 branch out into the centre of the wing, forming, as it were, a bifurca- 

 tion from the complete basal line. His diagnosis is : " Alis fuscis, 

 strigis, maculis, lineolisque duabus baseos bif urcatis (referring to bifur- 

 cation of complete basal line to form the claviform, and then extending 

 beyond it) nigris, stiginatibus albidis." The figure referring to this 

 description has " the anterior wings reddish-brown, the nervures 

 blackish, the subterminal in the form of arches, and the stigmata out- 



