IK THfi fcRlTlSfl ISlAtfDS. 89 



deep fuscous-brown. The orbicular is occasionally very strongly 

 outlined with white, sometimes it forms a white dot, whilst occasion- 

 ally it is obsolete. The reniform is orange, sometimes however more 

 yellow in tint. The subterminal is usually white, but now and then 

 almost obsolete. When well-marked, it has frequently a peculiar 

 white shading in the inside of the hollows of the W mark in the 

 subterminal. The hind wings of the male are variable, sometimes 

 very pale at the base. I have one specimen with the dark hind 

 marginal band broken. The hind wings of the females are generally 

 darker than those of the males, but not much more so than the darkest 

 of the latter. Our Southern specimens are either bright red-brown or 

 dark reddish-fuscous. I have never seen any of the forms referred to 

 by Mr. Gregson who writes of the specimens from Hoy as follows : 

 " Like rubricosa this appears to have lost its ruddiness at Hoy, and 

 appears in light greys of various shades " (' Young Nat.,' vol. vi., 

 p. 274). The type is thus described by Linnaeus : " Noctua spiri- 

 linguis cristata, alis deflexis ; superioribus fuscescentibus bimaculatis 

 striga marginis postica bidentata " (' Systema Naturae,' xth., p. 517). 

 The spinacice of Borkhausen also represents the type. Taking, there- 

 fore, the dark fuscous specimens as the type, we have only the red 

 form to deal with as a variety. 



a. var. rufa, mihi. The anterior wings bright red-brown, with- 

 out the dark fuscous shading in the ground colour of the type. The 

 stigmata are generally well-marked and the subterminal distinct. 

 The hind wings, too, are rather paler. My specimens of this brighter 

 form have come from Westcombe Park and Deal, but I dare say it is 

 widely distributed. 



Hadena, Och., pisi, Linn. 



The first thing that strikes one in the general appearance of this 

 species is the mottled look some specimens have compared with 

 others. This appears to be principally due to the development of the 

 central shade and the amount of dark shading on the inner edge of the 

 subterminal. The basal lines in the more varied specimens are also 

 well-marked while they are obsolete in the more unicolorous forms, 

 the orbicular also varies from a well-defined pupillated spot, to perfect 

 obsolescence. The subterminal line is almost always well-marked 

 and strongly ochreous, although, in a few specimens, it consists merely 

 of a row of dots with a larger one near the anal angle. This dot near 

 the anal angle varies very much both in size and shape. In colour, 

 there is a great deal of variation. Our specimens from the South of 

 England are generally red with more or less ochreous in their tint and 

 a large proportion are pretty well mottled. In the Northern counties 

 of England, the bright red forms are rare, and are generally replaced 

 by dull red-brown specimens, whilst the Scotch specimens, and some 

 North of England examples have a strong purple tint. In Aberdeen- 

 shire, the purple becomes strongly suffused with a glaucous tinge, and 

 I believe red forms are practically unknown. Besides these, specimens 

 of the palest reddish-grey colour are occasionally found, and I have 

 seen a melanic specimen with the red entirely suffused with black 

 scales. This was bred by Mr. Acton of Warrington. I have speci- 

 mens approaching this from Mr. Collins of the same place, so that it 



