IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 83 



striga cinerea bidentata " (< Mantissa,' p. 156). This would appear to 

 be the verna of Esper, whilst there is a pale ochreous form described 

 under the name of saucia by the same author. In our British speci- 

 mens, two or three minor points of variation are worthy of mention. 

 The transverse row (sometimes double) of white dots found in certain 

 species of Mamestra, Xylophasia, Apamea &c., directly outside the 

 angulated line is very noticeable in this species (It is also remarked 

 in Treitschke's description of peregrind). The subterminal is some- 

 times perfectly obsolete, although generally well-developed ; the 

 orbicular, too, varies very 'much in size and is frequently distinctly 

 marked as a whitish spot, whilst at other times it is lost in the ground 

 colour. These minor points of variation are very inconstant and 

 intermediate forms are frequently found. The most striking character 

 of this species is the dark shading in the lower part of the reniform 

 which is occasionally very strongly developed. Some specimens have 

 a tendency also, to occasionally become somewhat unicolorous, due 

 apparently to a partial failure of scale or pigment development or 

 both. Several such specimens were exhibited by different members 

 at the meeting of the City of Lond. Ent. Society on March 17th, 1892. 

 In this work, I have studiously neglected the consideration of North 

 American forms, as some species, which appear to be frequently 

 almost identical with ours, very properly go by different names at present, 

 and are spoken of as " representative species" by American lepidopterists. 

 Dr. Speyer (' Canad. Entom.' 1877, p. 28) considers albifusa, Walk., 

 as a var. of trifolii (clienopodii), and in the ' Can. Ent.' 1881, p. 230, Grote 

 describes a probable var. of trifolii from Oregon under the name of 

 oregonica, whilst in the same magazine for 1881, p. 128, albifusa, Walker 

 is given as synonymous with trifolii, Kott. There certainly appears to 

 be no very essential difference between the specimens called oregonica, 

 Grote in the British Museum collection, and our trifolii. There is, as I have 

 said, unfortunately no description to Kottemburg's name of this species, 

 but Mr. Kirby, who has been kind enough to look up the matter in 

 the papers and books which he has to hand at the British Museum, 

 writes : "The references to Phalcena trifolii by Hufnagel and 

 Rottemburg and to Eosel's figure are all understood to refer to Hadena 

 chenopodii " (in litt.). Bosel's figure is certainly a poor one of typical 

 tripolii. 



a. var. saucia, Esp. This is a pale ochreous tinted form of the 

 species, which Esper describes as follows : " Alis superioribus cinereo 

 flavescentibus, stigmatibus striisque abbreviatis nigricantibus, fascia 

 postica maculata rubescente " (' Die Schmet, in Abbild.' &c., p, 505) ; 

 whilst the figure to which it refers may be described as : " Pale 

 ochreous, with dark outlines to stigmata, dark transverse lines with 

 an inner edging of red to the subterminal " (I.e. PI. 152, fig. 5). In 

 Britain when our specimens have a tendency to become ochreous, the 

 tint tends to brown not to yellow. 



/3. var. indistincta, mihi. Varieties of the grey form occasionally 

 occur in which the ground colour is unicolorous dark grey, with the 

 ordinary markings and lines obsolete sometimes even the dark reniform 

 spot. The specimens frequently look badly scaled as well as wanting 

 in pigment, giving one the idea that the result is due to imperfect 

 development (Compare with description of oregonica). 



G2 



