92 VAfeifttifts off 



cinereis puncto lunari medio fimbriaque fuscis, et in fimbria fascia ab- 

 breviata albicante " (' Lepidoptera Britannica,' p. 193) ; whilst of 

 splendens, Guenee writes : " Of a deep red-brown, with the lines 

 darker, and the subterminal partly effaced, persisting only at the anal 

 angle " (' Noctuelles,' vi., p. 102). This is most particularly a North of 

 England form rarely occurring in the South, where the reddest forms 

 (rnfa &c.) take its place. 



8. var. scotica, mihi. Although I call this variety scotica, it is in 

 no way confined to Scotland, being well distributed in the North of 

 England localities with the type and var. splendens, and it also occurs 

 in Ireland. I have seen specimens from Warrington, but the grandest 

 forms come from Aberdeenshire. To make the nomenclature uniform 

 with that of var. rufa, I would call the more unicolorous form with 

 purplish ground colour and pale subterminal scotica, the variegated and 

 mottled specimens sub-var. distincta-scotica. My specimens of the 

 sub- var. from Aberdeeushire are of a rich purplish colour, tinged with 

 ashy-grey, with a dark central shade, and pale-edged transverse lines, 

 the stigmata pale and distinct, the subterminal well-defined and very 

 pale. I have never seen such from South of England localities. 



e. var. suffusa, mihi. This form has the red colour entirely lost 

 in a suffusion of melanic scales, the ordinary markings appearing still 

 darker than the ground colour. Even with us in Britain, where melanic 

 forms are so prevalent, this is very rare. I have only seen one perfectly 

 melanic specimen which was bred by Mr. Acton of Warrington, although 

 I have some almost as dark from Mr. Collins of the same place. 



Hadena, Och., thalassina, Rott. 



Of this species, my largest specimens have come from Leeds, the 

 reddest from Sligo, the greyest from Chattenden, whilst there appear 

 to be both mottled and also more obsolete forms occurring in all 

 localities. The pale basal mark appears to tend more to ochreous in 

 Scotch specimens and I have one specimen with the black, longi- 

 tudinal basal line much shorter than usual. The orbicular varies not 

 only in size and shape, but also in direction, and appears to be never 

 obsolete. In some specimens, the reniform and the upper parts of 

 the elbowed and subterminal lines merge into the ground colour. 

 The cuneiform spots are frequently obsolete and rarely number more 

 than three. The HH -like mark under the stigmata appears to be 

 developed, when present in this species, directly from the claviform, 

 whilst, in the best marked specimens, a transverse row of tiny white 

 dots runs parallel to the angulated line and between that and the 

 subterminal. Of H. thalassina from Hoy, Mr. Gregson writes : 

 "Light and beautiful" (' Young Nat.,' vol. vi., p. 274). Of this 

 species Newman writes : " The colour of the fore wings is reddish- 

 brown, brightly variegated with darker shades ; both the discoidal 

 spots are clearly defined by a slender black circumscription ; the 

 orbicular has also a white circle within this black one : there is a pale 

 blotch at the base of the costal margin, which gives its name to the 

 species, and there are three transverse pale lines, the first before the 

 orbicular and nearly direct ; the second beyond the orbicular and 

 much bent ; and the third parallel with the hind margin, and near its 

 middle projecting a W-mark towards the hind margin; resting on 



