94: VARIETIES OF NOCTUA 



bicular to the anal angle is unicolorous greyish, the angulated and 

 subterminal lines blending into the ground colour. The nn-like mark, 

 when present, is formed from the claviform. Of Hadena contigua from 

 Cannock Chase, Mr. C. G. Barrett writes : " Pretty reddish specimens 

 of Hadena contigua occurred " (' Entomologist's Monthly Magazine,' 

 vol. xxiii., p. 197). Viller's diagnosis of the type is : " Noctua cristata, 

 alis planis fusco cinereoque nebulosis, striga postica bidentata alba, 

 thoracis crista bifida " (' Car. Lin. Ent.,' iv., 468). The greyer form, 

 therefore, is the contigua of Villers. It is also the spartii of Brahm, who 

 writes : " Fore wings somewhat small, dark grey, with here and there 

 a brownish tint. The base is light grey mixed with brown with a 

 small black dash ; just before and beyond the middle stands a light 

 grey dark-bordered waved line, and in the space between are the ordi- 

 nary stigmata " (' Insekten Kal en.,' ii., 323). The type is Haworth's 

 dives var. /2 of which he writes : " This beautiful insect is, perhaps, 

 a sexual variation only of N. dives, but all the " Brocade Moths " have 

 very nearly the same markings, which are more easily perceived than 

 described. Its thorax and the posterior margin of its upper wings are 

 much deeper, as are all its other characters, and with more of the 

 bluish blossom-like tint " (' Lepidoptera Britannica,' p. 190). This 

 variation is not strictly sexual, although the females are inclined to be 

 slightly darker and to have more of the bluish tint than the males. 



a. var. dives, Haw. Haworth's dives represents the paler variety 

 of this species in which the space between the elbowed and subter- 

 minal line is pale, almost white. He writes of it : " Noctua thorace 

 cano striga nigra transversal, alis diversicoloribus fascia antrorsum ob- 

 liqua alba interrupta ; postice canescentibus." " Alas antics nebulosee, 

 fusco fulvo alboque varies : macula alba cos tali ipso basi, alteraque an- 

 tica majore fere marginis tenuioris : tune fascia fracta in medio 

 antrorsum obliqua, composita ex stigmate anteriore rotundo albo, 

 macula bifida albida adnato ; et macula alia alba marginis tenuioris, 

 Postica pars alas pallescit vel cinerascit striga alba dentata punctis 

 paucis sagittatis intus adnata ut in aliis hujus sectionis. Alas posticas 

 albidae, nervis strigaque ipsius marginis postici fuscis " (' Lepidoptera 

 Britannica,' pp. 189-190). The pale form appears to occur generally 

 with the type. I have both forms from Sligo in Ireland, and Glasgow 

 in Scotland. 



Hadena, Och., genistce, Bkh. 



I am unable to notice any variation worth speaking of in this 

 species, except that the females are generally slightly darker than the 

 males. The HH -like mark, however, is a compound structure made 

 up of the claviform and a second stigraal marking which meets the 

 claviform and has its origin on the angulated line. The type is thus 

 described by Borkhausen : " The ground colour is an agreeable mix- 

 ture of slate colour and red-brown. On the base of the costa stands a 

 whitish oval spot, which is bordered below by a black longitudinal 

 streak which starts from the base. Following this is a whitish, 

 angulated, transverse line bordered with brown. Then follow the 

 ordinary stigmata in a brown ground, the first, orbicular, the second, 

 reniform in shape. Both are pale brownish, bordered with Whitish 

 and black, and the hinder has in its centre a yellow lunular spot. 



