IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 63 



that have been sent to him by collectors from Durham. The space 

 between the subterminal and basal line has the black coloration, 

 generally restricted to a central fascia, spread over it so as form a 

 central band. Such varieties are very striking and beautiful. A 

 specimen, approaching this form, is figured in Newman's * British 

 Moths,' p. 402, fig. 2. Mr. Mason writes of a specimen bred in 

 1891: "I have bred an unusually fine form of Agriopis aprilina, 

 from pupae collected the first week in September at the base of an 

 oak. It is the finest and darkest of seven or eight very large 

 specimens from the same tree. It has the central area between the 

 elbowed and basal transverse lines filled in with black, making a 

 decided central band " (' Ent. Eec.,' &c., vol ii., p. 273). It must be 

 borne in mind that typical specimens generally exhibit a blackish 

 central fascia. This is not what is referred to here as a central band, 

 but a much more highly developed character. 



Brotolomia, Ld. (Phlogophora, Och.), meticulosa, Linn. 



In this common species, we get very little variation, the colour 

 sometimes varies towards a greenish tinge sometimes towards reddish. 

 The characteristic central triangular blotch, however, varies some- 

 what, the outer lines forming the blotch being sometimes separated 

 some distance on the inner margin (at apex of blotch) and sometimes 

 joining on the margin. The inner line which bounds this blotch is 

 the basal line, but the outer line is only at its lower extremity joined 

 by the angulated line, which is ill-developed but perfectly distinct in 

 its upper part. A small blackish lunular mark on the outside of the 

 subterminal near the apex is, in some specimens, much better developed 

 than in others. The Linngean description of the type is : " Noctua 

 spirilinguis cristata, alis erosis pallidis : superioribus basi incarnata 

 triangulo fusco " (' Systema Naturae,' xth., p. 513). Strange to say 

 the rosy or redder form which is much the rarer, I believe, with us, is 

 taken as the type by both Linnseus and Haworth, whilst Guenee treats 

 the red form as his var. A. Haworth writes : " Noctua alis eroso- 

 dentatis, roseo-albidis, fascia triangulari medio purpurascente " 

 (' Lepidop. Britannica,' p. 244). Guenee writes of this form : 

 " Ground colour reddish, the olive-green replaced by brownish-red " 

 (' Noctuelles,' vi., p. 65). I have two or three very red specimens 

 from Deal. 



a. var. pallida, mihi. The ordinary British form of the species, as 

 described in Newman's < British Moths,' p. 403, is tinged slightly with 

 olive-green and without the strong reddish ground colour of the type. 

 Guenee treats this as the type. 



Trigonophora, Hb., flammea, Esp. 



The naming of this species exhibits one of Staudinger's 

 peculiarities. He alters ypsilon, Bkh. to fissipuncta, Haw., in the 

 genus Dyschorista, because there is another NOCTUA named ypsilon in 

 the genus Agrotis. He alters empyrea, Hb. back to flammea, Esp., 

 although he allows another species, Meliana flammea, to exist under^the 

 same specific name, vide ' Catalog,' pp. 104 and 108. Esper's PI. 53, 

 fig. 3. is an excellent drawing of our species. His diagnosis is : 

 subdentatis rufis, macula disci flava repanda adjacente linea 



