130 VARIETIES OF NOCTtTJB 



stigma in all my other specimens is white. The orbicular is generally 

 more or less indistinct, occasionally clear ashy. The border of the 

 hind wings appears to vary but little in breadth, and the base appears 

 never to be suffused. Thunberg's diagnosis of the type is : " Alis 

 anticis nigris fasciis undatis albis, stigmate albo ; posticis flavis 

 margine nigro" ('Mus. Nat.,' p. 72). The "white" (or as I should term 

 them grey) fasciae point to the banded form as the type and this is 

 certainly the most common form in Scotland. 



a. var. variegata, mihi. With the central black band broken by 

 a transverse ashy fascia between the stigmata, giving the insect the 

 appearance of being grey, with a black transverse fascia between the 

 angulated and subterminal lines and another down the basal line. 



P. var. suffusa, mihi. A very rare form with the basal area, 

 central band and space between the angulated and subterminal lines 

 continuously black, leaving only the extreme hind margin (outside the 

 subterminal) whitish. As before mentioned I have a specimen of this 

 form with an ochreous, instead of white, reniform. Of this variety Mr. 

 Eobson writes : " Mr. Gregson has two specimens of this species 

 with the whole of the fore wing (except the white stigmata) as dark 

 as the central band "('Young Naturalist,' vol. viii., pp. 122-123). It 

 appears to occur in the various Scotch localities with the type. 



Anarta, Tr., melanopa, Thnb. 



This species shows a very considerable amount of variation, some 

 specimens being pale grey with darker grey markings, some dark grey, 

 with still darker markings ; of course, these latter look much more uni- 

 colorous, and one fine variety I have is strongly ochreous. In the hind 

 wings, this species shows more variation than any of its allies, extending 

 from pure white with a black margin and black lunule, to entirely black, 

 with a white lunule just outside the normally black one, there being 

 more or less intermediate forms in a long series. The stigmata in the 

 fore wings vary, especially the orbicular, in size and shape, and there 

 is a tendency to form a dark transverse fascia through the reniform, in 

 some specimens. The grey irrorated form with distinct white hind 

 wings and black marginal band and lunule is the type. Guenee 

 describes the type under the name of vidua, Hb., whilst his melanopa 

 is var. rupestralis (' Noctuelles,' vi., pp. 1 90-191). Thunberg's original 

 description of the type is : " Alis deflexis, anticis nigris griseo, 

 irroratis ; posticis albis : macula margineque nigris " (' Diss. Ent. sist.' 

 &c., 2nd. pt., p. 42). 



a. var. wistromi, Lampa. The original description of this variety 

 is as follows : " The fore wings much darker, bordering on yellowish- 

 brown ; the black markings rather rough and in places running 

 together. The spot between the reniform and the transverse line has 

 black longitudinal streakings on one specimen, and the underside has 

 a broad black border like the hind wings " ( Entom. Tidskrift,' 1885, 

 p. 81). This would appear to be the var. brunnea of Robson, who, 

 writing of the melanopa in Mr. Gregson's collection says : " A 

 browner form with four dark bands, showing the veins lighter, Mr. 

 Gregson calls brunnea " (' Young Nat.,' vol. viii., pp. 122-123) ; whilst 

 of Anarta melanopa from the Shetland Isles, Mr. Jenner Weir writes : 

 " The ground colour of the upper wings is much yellower than that 



