108 VARIETIES OF 



strigas ala3 fuscescunt usque ad cilia grisea. Striga fusca obsoleta ex- 

 currit oblique a basi stigmatis postici, usque ad strigam anticam in 

 margine tenuiori, quaa huic speciei forte peculiaris est. Ala3 posticaB 

 fuscaB ciliis cinereis, nee run's " (' Lepidoptera Britannica,' p. 282). I 

 have an extreme form of this variety from Dr. Chapman of Hereford, 

 in which the reddish-brown colour is replaced entirely by a distinct 

 brown with an ochreous tinge. I have seen no other exactly like it. 

 Most of the specimens are as Haworth describes them " of a dirty 

 reddish-brown." 



fj.. var. canaria, Esp. This is the only described variety of this 

 species, of which I have 110 British specimen which I can reliably 

 refer to it, nor do I remember having seen one. Esper's diagnosis 

 is : " Alis deflexis, superioribus f usco nigricantibus ; stigraatibus, 

 striis longitudinalibus et transversis posticis fiavis ; inferioribus supra 

 cinereis," whilst the figure to which this refers may be described as : 

 *' Anterior wings dark blackish-grey with pale ochreous nervures and 

 ochreous transverse lines " (' Die Schmet. in Abbildungeri,' p. 524, pi. 

 156, figs. 5-6). Guenee writes of this variety : " Generally larger, of 

 a greyish or greenish -black, little or not at all mixed with reddish and 

 always dark, so that the terminal spaces are concolorous. The nervures 

 very distinct, the designs strongly marked, the costa concolorous. The 

 blackish specimens which Treitschke mentions and which Dahl has 

 recorded from Italy, appear certainly to belong here " (' Noctuelles,' 

 vol. v., p. 365). Staudinger simply writes : " Obscurioribus, fere 

 nigricantibus" ('Catalog,' p. 116). 



v. var. rnetaUica, Ckll. This aberration was named b}' Mr. Cockerell. 

 It was originally recorded by Mr. Stewart as follows : " While sugar- 

 ing near Caterham on October 6th, I took a fresh specimen of A. 

 pistacina, which retains the usual markings, but each fore wing is 

 ornamented with a large blotch of a metallic cast near the hind mar- 

 gin, and reaching from the costal to the inner margin " (' Entomologist,' 

 vol. xi., p. 21). Mr. Cockerell writes of it : " This remarkable 

 aberration was described as having on each fore wing a large patch of 

 metallic cast, thus simulating the condition that is normal with some 

 species of Plusia " (' Entom.' vol. xxii., p. 3). Strange to say there is 

 not normally, in this species, the slightest trace of a shiny or lustrous 

 area where this metallic appearance was developed, although there 

 is a slightly shiny area, parallel to the subterminal in the allied 

 species lunosa. I can suggest no reason for such an abnormal 

 development. 



Anchocelis, Gn., lunosa, Haw. 



This species has a very limited range on the Continent. The 

 chief feature of the species is the longitudinal striation along the ner- 

 vures of the upper wings, a character occasionally developed in pistacina. 

 In colour, there are several very distinct shades, varying from pale 

 ochreous to black. Haworth's description of the type is as follows : 

 " Noctna alis griseo-rufescentibus striga valida postica punctorum nigro- 

 ruin, posticis albis lineola maculisque tribus fuscis." " Affinis praBce- 

 denti (helvola) at longe pallidior. Stigmata ordinari.i valida fusca, 

 anteriore ovali introrsum spectante. Tune striga subundata obsole- 

 tissima pallescens, strigaque alia punctorum nigrorum validorum ; et 

 inter hanc et strigam, color saturatior. In ipso margine postico striga 

 alia punctorum fuscorum. Postica3 albas, lineola basi, qua3 terininat in 



