12 VARIETIES OF NOCTU-ffi 



when reared on Centaurea calcitrapa and Phagnalon, and which is 

 common in Corsica. But the larvae of my variety rubefacta not 

 appearing to differ I have reunited the two insects provisionally. 

 Rubefacta lives in flowers of Inula viscosa in October and November ; 

 I have found it commonly but have neglected to rear it " (' Ann. Ent. 

 Soc. France,' 1869, p. 56). 



Thalpochares, Ld., paula, Hb. 



I am very doubtful as to the right of this to be considered a 

 British species. Guene'e writes of it : "It is the commonest of the 

 genus " (' Noctuelles,' vi., p, 245) ; whilst Treitschke writes : " Paula, 

 as already mentioned, has long been mistaken for minuta, Hiibn., 

 although the colour and markings are very different. The head, 

 collar and thorax are white with scarcely perceptible darker borders ; 

 the body is ash-grey with the segments darker ; the antennae are pale 

 rust-brown and slightly pectinated, the legs also brown. It is of the 

 size of the preceding (minutd). The ground colour of the fore wings 

 differs from that of minuta. The white is not pure but yellowish, 

 dusted with ash-grey, sometimes the colour is yellowish-brown. The 

 basal area is bordered by a brown band edged with a white line ; the 

 middle area is dusted with brownish ; the angulated line is white 

 bordered with brown, almost straight with a slight arch (bow) in the 

 middle but not with a decided angle. All the markings are quite 

 different in minuta. More similar are the subterminal line and the 

 following row of brownish dashes or dots which extend to the white 

 fringes. We have received the moth, the life history of which has not 

 been discovered, from Dalmatia and Italy. It has often been taken 

 there on thistles in June in company with parva and ostrina. It also 

 occurs in Hungary but much more rarely" (< Die. Schmet.' etc., 

 vol. v., pt. 3, pp. 268-269). 



IV. Sub-class: PHALENOIDJE, Gn. (BKEPHIDES, H.-S.). 

 Of this sub-class Guenee writes : " Everything is abnormal in this 

 family which is composed of a single genus, and if only the organs of 

 the insects were studied, one would soon be entirely puzzled. The 

 palpi are scarcely worthy of the name, all the joints being reduced 

 to a minimum, disclosing only the tufts which are situated there ; the 

 wing- roots and the collar, which are almost in the same condition ; 

 the spines on the fore-legs which are aborted, and which are noticed 

 with difficulty, all seem to suggest an insect very little understood. 

 The antennas and the wings are perfectly developed, although bearing 

 also, as one would expect from the other characters, some traces of an 

 abnormal nature. One notices also the anal flaps of the $ and the 

 disposition of the terminal tufts which have, like the other characters, 

 their trace of originality" ( Noctuelles/ vol. vi., pp. 263-264). 

 Meyrick considers the species in this family true Geometers and 

 places them next to Anisopteryx cescularia, vide, ' Ent. Kecord ' etc., 

 vol. Hi., p. 111. Knowledge of the larvaa would have prevented such 

 an erroneous suggestion. 



Brephos, Och., notha, Hb. 



The chief characteristic of this species is the distinct pectination 

 of the antennas of the males. Guene'e writes : " This species is easily 



