?4 VARIETIES of 



nearly approach Esper's type " (in litt.}. It is strange that whilst 

 the Shetland specimens from Mainland and Unst are paler than 

 usual, Mr. Gregson writes of those from Hoy : " Rather dark " 

 (' Young. Nat.,' vol. vi., p. 274). The few specimens which are occa- 

 sionally captured in our more southern English counties are generally 

 of a very pale tint, inclining to grey, with an absence of deep red and 

 a minimum of dark shading, although the reddish tinge is generally 

 traceable. I suppose these pale specimens, belong to the form called 

 baltica on the Continent. It is strange that the specimens from the 

 south coast of England are most like the Shetland form, although rather 

 greyer. It is difficult to classify the varieties of this species, but there 

 appear to be the following forms : 



1. Pale reddish-grey, with distinct markings = var. baltica, Hering. 

 2. Pale reddish-brown, very distinctly marked = var. virgata. 

 3. E eddish-brown, mottled with blackish, distinct paler markings 



= adusta, Esp. 

 4. Brownish-black, or blackish-fuscous, markings moderately distinct 



= var. duplex, Haw. 

 5. Brownish-black, more unicolorous = var. satura, St. 



a. var. virgata, mihi. This is the palest form of the species, I 

 have seen. It is of a pale reddish-brown tint, with the basal, as well 

 as the angulated and subterminal lines ochreous, almost white ; the 

 HH - like mark well-developed and the space between and directly 

 outside the stigmata dark, forming as it were a central band. Of 

 Hadena adusta from the Shetland Isles, Mr. Jenner Weir writes : 

 " The specimens of this insect are remarkably rich in colour, and with 

 the markings more defined than usual " ( Entomologist,' vol. xiii., 

 p. 290). This is the form which Mr. Hoffmann refers to in a previous 

 quotation as " more distinctly marked than the ordinary form, and 

 agrees more with the specimens from the Upper Hartz ; " whilst 

 Mr. Robson writes : " Examples of this insect from Shetland are 

 much paler in ground colour and have the markings more distinct " 

 (< Young Nat.,' vol. viii., p. 122). 



P. var. baltica, Hering. Of this variety, Staudinger writes : 

 " Multo dilutior " (' Catalog,' p. 100). This would appear to be the 

 vulturina of H.-S., but not the vultarina of Freyer, which is a much 

 darker form. Guenee combines the two, but his description appears 

 to apply only to the former. He writes : " Of a pale grey mixed 

 with reddish ; no cuneiform streaks on the subterminal, reniform 

 concolorous. Inferior wings with the lunule well-marked, and a 

 double dark smoky band " (' Noctuelles,' vi. p. 86). Bering's original 

 note on this form is : " During several years in July, I have met 

 here with a NOCTUA which at first appeared to me Hadena satura, but 

 later was named a var. of H. adusta, a species which also occurred in South 

 Germany. It can be seen that it has nothing in common with satura, 

 and more importance should be given to the opinion of several 

 experienced entomologists that it is a var. of adusta although I am not 

 able to share the opinion. That both occur together in South 

 Germany proves nothing. In H. baltica there is a reddish tinge 

 on the fore wings, which I can never find in adusta. The central area 

 is singularly marked in both species, but in adusta it is bordered by 

 a double dentate black line edged with white towards the base, whilst 



