80 VARIETIES OP NOCTUJE 



tur nostra quadriposita. Ab H. frigida (No. 7) etiam vix nisi maculis 

 illis nominatis 4 dignota " (' Insecta Lapponica,' p. 939). This is a 

 form in which the glaucous tint is reduced to a minimum and replaced 

 by fuscous. I have a specimen or two apparently of this form from 

 Yorkshire. 



Hadena, Och., ndna, Hufn. = dentina, Esp. 



I have already stated (ante pp. 36-37) that Hufnagel's description 

 of nana in the ' Berlinisches Magazin,' applies to this species. He 

 writes of it : " Anterior wings whitish-grey, shading into dark grey, 

 with a whitish-grey dentate spot in the middle of the fore wings. Of the 

 third size. On tree-trunks. Common." The name nana, therefore by 

 the law of priority, belongs to this species and not to conspersa. This is 

 a variable species, and its varieties are as difficult as either those of 

 adusta or protect, to classify. The ground colour varies from the palest 

 whitish-grey to dark brownish-black, and the markings from almost 

 total obsolescence to a dark central area containing pale stigmata. 

 The character of this species turns entirely on the dark shade around 

 the stigmata. When this becomes obsolete, and the stigmata are also 

 of the ground colour, the insect presents a most unicolorous appear- 

 ance, and some of the specimens from want of markings, appear most 

 obscure. The dark central shade which is of a blackish-grey or 

 blackish-brown, even in the most distinctly marked specimens, rarely 

 passes below the claviform. The orbicular and reniform generally 

 partake of the ground colour, but the claviform varies with the dark 

 central band. We appear to get four fairly distinct forms : 1 . 

 Whitish-grey = var. leucostigma, Haw. 2. Ashy-grey = dentina, 

 Esp. 3. Ochreous-grey = dentina, Fab. = var. ochrea. 4. Brown- 

 ish-black = var. latenai, Pier. Guenee writes : " This species varies 

 little, and always in such a manner that its varieties may be recognised 

 by an experienced eye " (' Noctuelles,' vol. vi., p. 95). Of specimens 

 from the Shetland Isles, Mr. J. Jenner Weir writes : " Some of those 

 taken are very darkly coloured, whilst others present but little differ- 

 ence from the English type of the species " (' Entomologist,' vol. xiv., 

 p. 279). The darker specimens are var. latenai, Pierret. Esper's 

 diagnosis of dentina is: " Noctua spiril. cristata alis superioribus 

 cinereo-fuscoque variegatis, stigmatibus ordinariis, macula disci albida 

 bifida " (< Die Schmet. in Abbild.,' p. 380). 



a. var. leucostiyma, Haw. This is the whitest form of the species, 

 and is described by Haworth as follows : " Noctua alis cinereo-albi- 

 cantibus arcu obsolete ex maculis subfulvis composito, in quo stigmata 

 tria albicantia, infimo fisso " ('Lepidoptera Britannica,' p. 198), to which 

 he adds : " Of the last but one (plebeia, Haw.) it may possibly be only 

 a variety, as it agrees with it in almost everything, except being much 

 lighter coloured ; and in being fulvous, subfulvous or rusty-flavous, in 

 every part where that is brown or black." Some of these pale whitish- 

 grey specimens have, however, the central band as black as the darker 

 forms. This appears to be the Man's of Zetterstedt, who writes : 

 " H. hilaris : alis anticis cano f uscoque variis, macula bifida cum macula 

 ordinaria interior! subtus confluente strigaque postica dentata albis." 

 " Hab. in Lapponia passim ; ad Tromsoe Nordlandiaa Norvegicae d. 24. 

 Jul. 1821, et ad Asele Lapponias meridional. Suecicas d. 25. Jul. 1832, 



