IN TUB BRITISH ISLANDS. 7 



dark grey, paler base " (< Saminlung europ. Schmet.' &c., fig. 438). Of 

 this variety Guenee writes:" Differs from the type in having a very 

 dark violet-brown tint, especially in the median and terminal spaces, 

 and part of the basal space." He further adds : Treitschke sup- 

 posed that this variety was distinct from enjthrocephala, and that the 

 larva) also differed, that of glabra having, he said, a white stigmatal 

 line wanting in the former. I have reared both forms in numbers 

 from the same larvae, and have formed an entirely different opinion " 

 (' Noctuelles,' vol. v., pp. 383-384). Esper, in ' Die Schmet. in Abbil- 

 dnngen,' pi. 162, figs. 3-4, figures var. glabra as a var. of vaccinii. 

 Staudinger says of this variety : " Al. ant. obscurioribus, costa, 

 maculis, 2, fasciaque antemarginali griseis " ('Catalog,' p. 118). 

 Dasycampa, Gn., rubiginea, Fab. 



Our specimens of rubiginea vary considerably in the quantity of 

 the red colour in the central area of the wing, and the number of 

 black dots present. Usually, the redder the specimens, the fewer the 

 black dots, until one reaches a dark red form with the black dots 

 practically absent. The lower part of the reniform makes a very 

 striking black dot. The orbicular is generally 8-shaped, with both 

 the upper and lower parts filled in with darker. The type is 

 described by Fabricius as : " Noctua leevis alis deflexis flavis fer- 

 rugineo undatis : punctis nigris sparsis." " Alae anticae flavas strigis 

 plurimis undatis ferrugineis. Puncta nigra plurima, imprimis versus 

 apicem. Posticas fuscae margine fulvo " (' Mantissa,' p. 142). Guenee 

 also describes the species as " jaune-fauve " in colour. Esper 

 describes the red-brown form as tigerina, but I do not find that any 

 author notices an unicolorous form. 



a. var. tigerina, Esp. Esper's description of this redder form 

 is : " Noctua spirilinguis laavis, alis deflexis fulvo-ferrugineis, strigis 

 duabtis fuscis, punctisque numerosis nigris," whilst his figure (3) to 

 which the description refers, is also " reddish-brown in colour " (' Die 

 Schmet. in Abbildungen ' &c., pi. 123, fig. 3). The fig. 4 of Esper is 

 grey. I have seen no specimen like it. Hiibner's fig. 183 is a dark 

 reddish brown form like Esper's tigerina. 



/?. var. unicolor, mihi. An extreme form of tigerina, but without 

 the characteristic black spots sprinkled over the fore wings. These 

 are of an almost unicolorous red-brown. I am indebted to Mr. Mason 

 of Clevedon for my British specimen of this variety. 

 Scopelosoma, Curt., satellitia, Linn. 



This common species varies somewhat in ground colour, but in 

 Britain is almost always of a reddish tint, shaded more or less with 

 fuscous, extreme forms inclining to blackish. The orbicular is 

 generally absent or slightly reddish, whilst the reniform is either 

 white, orange or red. The description by Linnseus is as follows : 

 " Noctua spirilinguis, alis deflexis : superioribus subgriseis puncto flavo 

 inter punctula duo alba." " Alas superiores supra griseae strigis 

 aliquot repaiitlis fuscis, in medio ala?. Punctum flavum inter puncta 

 duo nivea minutissima, quorum exterius visum fere fugit. Posteriores 

 supra fuscescentes. Subtus onmes glaucesceutes cum striga fusca et 

 in iuferioribus limula fusca " (' Systema Naturae,' xiith, 800). The 



