20 VARIETIES OF NOOTTLS3 



suggested that these were probably varietal forms. His description 

 of gracitis is : " Noctua alis emarginatis fuscis strigis duabus sesqui- 

 altera, marginibusque stigmatum pallidioribus " (' Lepidoptera 

 Britannica,' p. 251). Humphrey and Westwood write of it : " Noctua 

 c/racilis is retained as a species by Curtis, Stephens and Wood, although 

 Stephens, as well as Haworth, considers it as a probable variety of the 

 preceding insect ; it is, however, rather larger, measuring 13 lines in 

 expanse ; the wings of a brown colour, with the strigas less distinct ; 

 the subapical one being entirely obsolete " (' British Moths,' p. 295). 

 Plastenis, Bois., siibtusa, Fab. 



This species offers a slight variation in the tint of the ground 

 colour, but I have only once seen a decided variety, and, in that ex- 

 ample, the ground colour is of a pale whitish-grey. There is, however, 

 some difference in the tint of the olive-grey ground colour of the type, 

 some specimens being much darker than others. Fabricius' description 

 of the type is : " Noctua cristata, alis incumbentibus fusco cinereis ; 

 strigis quatuor annulisque tribus flavescentibus." " Ale anticse obscure 

 cinerese striga parva baseos, altera ante medium, tune annuli tres, 

 anteriori striga secunda connexa, posteriori majori, reniformi, demurn 

 striga incurva et ultimo striga undata flavescentibus. Posticfe fusca3 " 

 (< Mantissa,' pp. 152-153). 



a. var. pattida, mihi. Anterior wings of a pale whitish-grey, with 

 scarcely a trace of the olive tint generally present, and no suggestion 

 of fuscous. It must be a very rare form, as, out of a large number, 

 I have seen only a single specimen. That came from Derbyshire. 



Calymnia, Hb., pyralina, View. 



This beautiful species has two distinct forms, one being consider- 

 ably brighter in tint than the other. Otherwise it appears to vary 

 but little. The red form is the more usual in Britain; the dull 

 purplish-brown form being apparently very rare. The type is thus 

 described by Vieweg : " Noctua pyralina cristata alis deflexis : anticis 

 brunneis fusco undatis, macula postica costali albida puncto gemino 

 nigro adjacente " (' Tabellarisches Verzeichniss,' p. 87). He then gives 

 a full description of the duller brown form of the species. The 

 brighter and by far the more common form, is the corusca of Esper. 



a. var. corwsca, Esp. Esper's diagnosis of this beautiful form 

 is : " Alis deflexis russo-f ulvoque nebulosis, macula apicis lunari albida, 

 punctis duobus nigris, strigisque obliquis nigrescentibus ;" whilst the 

 figure to which this description refers has the " anterior wings very 

 bright red, with the basal, elbowed and subterminal lines whitish, 

 edged with black internally " (' Die Schmet. in Abbildungen ' &c., p. 

 424; pi. 135, figs. 4-5). 



Calymnia, Hb., diffinis, Linn. 



This species varies a little in the depth of the ground colour, 

 some being more purplish-red than others, but there is no very distinct 

 development in this direction. The transverse lines commence as 

 white costal marks. Of these, the white costal mark of the abbreviated 

 basal line is frequently absent, whilst that of the complete basal line 

 varies considerably in its depth from the costa. Altogether this 

 species varies but little. The Linnrean description of the type is : 



