.32 VARIETIES OF NOCTTJJE 



of carpophaga in touching the colour of British specimens. It is of " an 

 ochreous-brown tint, with numerous (10) short black costal streaks ; the 

 lower part of the complete basal line, the lower part of the elbowed 

 line, the outlines of both stigmata, the whole of the subterminal, and 

 the extreme edge of the outer margin white. The subterminal with 

 a complete row of small cuneiform spots upon it. Hind wings dark 

 grey, with a pale base " (I.e. iv., pi. 58, fig. 8). Guenee says of this 

 species : " Larger than carpophaga, from which it differs chiefly in 

 its blackish colour, whiter lines, slightly less distinct markings ; in a 

 way it seems to be intermediate between that species and capsincola " 

 (' Noctuelles,' vol. vi., p. 20). Of the general variation, the same 

 author writes : " CapsopTiila varies like carpophaga, and it is only 

 with practice that one becomes able to distinguish it from the dark 

 varieties of the latter species " (I.e. p. 21). Our British specimens are 

 occasionally typical and tinted with brown, but the great mass of our 

 Manx and Irish specimens are of the dark form called by Guenee var. 

 A. Of some of the early captures in the Isle of Man, Mr. Gregson 

 writes : " It may interest some of your readers to know that I took 

 Dianthcecia capsophila freely during my stay : they varied considerably 

 in colour, and were finer than any I have ever taken at, or seen from, 

 the Hill of Howth, near Dublin or in Cumberland " ( Entomologist,' 

 iii., p. 104). 



a. (?). var. capsohphoba, Rbr. The capsophoba of Rambur appears 

 to be only a brown capsophila with a white subcostal nervure, and the 

 basal line, outlines of reniform and orbicular, edging of elbowed and 

 subterminal lines all whitish (vide ' Cat. Sys. de 1' Andalousie,' PI. 9, 

 fig. 2). 



/?. var. suffusa, mihi. This is Guenee's var. A of which he 

 writes : " Always darker and almost black, with the lines very white 

 and generally finer, the nervures more powdered with white, and the 

 undersides darker." "Spain" ('Noctuelles,' vol. vi., pp. 20-21). 

 This would apply to most of our specimens which are generally black 

 or dark grey, rarely brown. 



Dtanthceria, Bdv. capsincola, Hb. 



For a common species, this exhibits but very little general varia- 

 tion. In colour, some specimens are browner than others, whilst there 

 is occasionally some tendency for the orbicular and reniform to join 

 at their bases, as is normal in the allied species cucubali. Guenee 

 writes : " It varies very little. Of all the Dianthoecice the female of 

 this species has the longest ovipositor " ( Noctuelles,' vol. vi., p. 21). 

 Of the type figure of this species I made the following description : 

 " Ground colour dark grey, with black edges to the pale transverse 

 lines ; the claviform black, and a black quadrate spot between the 

 stigmata ; the central band containing these black spots well marked ; 

 the transverse lines and outlines of stigmata pale grey, a row of black 

 cuneiform spots on the pale subterminal " (' Beitrage zur Geschichte ' 

 &c., PI. 3, fig. p 3). Mr. Kobson writes of capsincola : " Rather 

 colder brown than the others, and very similarly marked ; larger than 

 the preceding (capsopliila), and generally larger than the succeeding 

 species (cncnbali). It cannot be mistaken for any other except cucnbali, 

 and the purple shade in the latter makes it easy to distinguish them. 



