60 VARIETIES OF NOCTUJE 



of your readers inform me whether the three specimens above referred 

 to are still in existence ? There can be no reasonable doubt, I should 

 imagine, as to their being genuine British specimens. It seems very 

 strange, considering the number and indefatigable zeal of collectors since 

 that period, that no other example, so far as I am aware, has since 

 been taken. It is the more remarkable, when we consider the widely 

 separated localities in which the above were taken, viz., Battersea, 

 Scotland, and Wales ! " In a footnote, Mr. A. E. Fitch says : 

 " Donovan (' British Insects/ vol. xiii., pi. 439), states that he took his 

 specimens on the wing, by a low hedge, near Fishguard, Pembroke- 

 shire, in July, 1800. Newman (' British Moths,' p. 401) mentions that 

 the specimen in the Entomological Club collection is from the late 

 Mr. Ha worth's cabinet. The collection is under the care of B. T. 

 Lowne, and still contains the insect in question." The type is thus 

 described by Fabricius : " Bombyx alis deflexis viridibus fusco subun- 

 datis : maculis duabus albis, anteriore pupillata, posteriore majore." 

 " Antennae pectinatse, ferrugineas vachi alba. Maculae duae distinctae 

 alae anticae, antica pupilla ferruginea, postica majori. Posticae albidae 

 margine fusco" (' Mantissa,' p. 117). Humphrey and Westwood 

 write : " The moth is of great rarity (in Britain), but is very widely 

 dispersed, having been taken near London, in Richmond Park, near 

 Bristol, in South Wales and in Scotland " (' British Moths,' p. 186). 



Miselia, St., oxyacantJice, Linn. 



We have three forms of this species in Britain, one of which var. 

 capucina is very distinct. The ground colour varies from a pale red- 

 dish-grey mottled with bright green, to a deep reddish-brown without 

 any trace of the latter colour. The subterminal area varies very much, 

 in some specimens it is of a pale pinkish-white, in others, the pale 

 colour is obsolete and absolutely lost in the ground colour. It is very 

 susceptible to exposure, and readily bleaches. I have a specimen from 

 which the colour has almost entirely disappeared, presumably from 

 this cause. It is one of those species, too, which exhibits the transition 

 from green to red, as the darker red specimens are almost, or frequently 

 absolutely, without the beautiful green colour which characterises the 

 paler and more variegated forms. The Linnaean description mentions 

 this green colour as " caarulescente," so that it may occasionally become 

 blue, and if so, it offers a parallel instance to Actebia prcecox var. 

 prceceps, but I have never seen any such specimens. This description 

 is : " Noctua spirilinguis cristata, alis deflexis bimaculatis, margine 

 tenuiore casrulescente " (' Systema Naturae,' xth., 516). Linnaeus further 

 adds : " Alas superiores griseae macula unica ; majore, ovali, lutescente ; 

 postice margo latior cinerascens ; ad marginem tenuiorem juxta anum 

 litura linearis alba fere longitudinalis " (' Fauna Suecicae,' p. 319). 

 With reference to the term " caerulescente " and the interchange of 

 the red and green coloration, it may be interesting to notice a remark 

 of Guenee. He writes : " Two old authors present to us, in this 

 species, anomalies which have not since been observed. The first is 

 Kosel, who figures in bright rose colour all the markings which are 

 usually olive-green ; the other is Sepp, who figures the ordinary 

 stigmata, larger and of a clear brown with green only on the inner 

 and outer margins " (' Noctuelles,' vol. vi., p. 55). Mr. G-regson 

 writes ; " I have one raved variety, and a series of dark, almost uni- 



