IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 59 



p. 274). 1 suppose that Staudinger made an independent description 

 from such specimens in his possession, which were known to him as 

 liineburgensis, and that he added Freyer's name as the nomenclator to 

 his (Dr. S.) description. It is almost the only explanation of Freyer's 

 name being applied to this description. 



Epunda, Dup., nigra, Haw. 



There is practically no variation in this species except that pre- 

 sented by the sexes, the hind wings of the females being much darker 

 than those of the males, although the hind wings of the former have 

 sometimes paler bases than at others. I note also, that the coloured 

 part of the reniform is sometimes pale yellow, at others deep orange, 

 and that this difference of colour is not sexual. Haworth's description 

 is : " Noctua alis anticis nigris fascia lata saturatiore, stigmatibus 

 ordinariis fere obliteratis, postico albicante, posticis albis " (' Lepidop- 

 tera Britannica,' p. 192). 



Valeria, Germ., oleagina, Fab. 



The right of this species to be considered British rests on very 

 slender evidence. Newman writes : " I believe there is no ground 

 for doubting the capture of this beautiful moth in Wales. Several 

 specimens occur in the older British collections which, from time to 

 time, come under the hammer, and they are always set in the 

 customary English fashion, and with English pins. At that early 

 period, the setting-boards which are so commonly used by beginners, 

 and which flatten out the partially folded character of the hind wings, 

 had not been invented. Few of our English entomologists adopt the 

 old fashion of setting insects with card braces beneath the wings, but 

 Mr. Doubleday is one of them, and his specimens are always dis- 

 tinguishable by the perfectly natural elegance of the shape. The 

 specimen of this moth in the collection under my care is from the 

 late Mr. Haworth's cabinet " (< British Moths,' pp. 401-402). In the 

 ' Entomologist,' vol. xvii., p. 129, the Rev. Joseph Greene writes 

 what is called ' The story of Valeria oleagina,' and says : " In the year 

 1856, I sent to < The Zoologist ' (vol. xiv., p. 5073) a short article 

 entitled ' Adaptation of the colouring of Moths to autumnal tints.' 

 At the close of it, I asked whether any one could inform me in whose 

 collection were to be found authentic specimens of the above insect. 

 My object in doing so was to obtain some particulars as to when, 

 where, and by whom it was discovered. From that day to this my 

 question has remained unanswered. A few months ago I obtained 

 some curious fragments of the * Entomological Transactions.' One of 

 the papers is headed thus : 'Review of the Rise and Progress of^the 

 Science of Entomology in Great Britain ; chronologically digested,' by 

 A. H. Haworth, Esq., F.L.S., F.H.S. and P.E.S. In this, Mr. Haworth 

 says : _< Plate 37 finely represents, as a new species, the rare Bombyx 

 oleagina of Fab. and of ' Lep. Brit.,' and Noctua oleagina of Hub., 

 ' Schmet., cum icone.' I have seen Mr. Plastead's specimen, here 

 mentioned, several years since, that gentlemen having dug the pupa 

 in Battersea fields, along with Noctua persicarice. I have also seen 

 another which was caught in Scotland twenty years ago ; and my 

 friend, Mr. Donovan, F.L.S., found one in Wales.' And so here at 

 last after so many years, I find an answer to my question ! Can any 



