IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 23 



nitudo N. festucce. Thorax cristatus griseus punctis nigris. Alee 

 anticse aureaa strigis atomisque fuscis, apice obscuriores. In medio 

 annulus duplicatus argenteus quadro fusco notatus. Posticaa cinereae " 

 (' Mantissa/ p. 162). I have before referred to a form recorded by 

 Mr. Dobree, very different from the European form and the above 

 type description. 



a. var. esmeralda, Oberthiir. The variety referred to by Mr. Dobree 

 was described by Mons. Oberthiir as follows : " Differs from the Swiss 

 and Normandy form by the yellowish- white tint, which in esmeralda 

 replaces the f auve tint on the upper side of the superior wings in 

 moneta ; this difference of colour gives var. esmeralda a very distinct 

 facies, and at first sight it does not appear to resemble typical moneta 

 at all, of which, however, it has exactly the same markings, except so 

 far as concerns the bent extrabasal line below the median nervure of 

 the f superior wing. This line is double in moneta, simple in esmeralda " 

 ( ' Etudes d'entomologie,' v., pt. 1, p. 85). This is described in a work 

 dealing with the ' Lepidopterous Fauna of the Isle of Askold,' where the 

 type specimens of the variety were obtained. 



Plusia, Och., illustris, Fab. 



Of this species as an inhabitant of Britain Guene'e writes : 

 " Messrs. Stephens and Haworth maintain that this species has been 

 taken in England, but it would appear that this is due to erroneous 

 determinations " (' Noctuelles,' vol. vi., p. 330). He also adds : " It 

 varies moderately, above all in the depth of the green and red " (I.e.). 

 The type is thus described by Fabricius : " Noctua cristata alis de- 

 flexis integris viridi cinereoque nitidulis : maculis tribus f errugineis 

 distinctis." " Alee anticas cinereo, viridi carneoque variegataa, nitidae 

 et ad marginem posticum maculaa tres distinctae ferrugineae, strigis 

 duabus pallidis inclusis. Posticae cinereas " (' Mantissa,' p. 164). Of 

 this species Humphrey and Westwood write : " Although figured by 

 Mr. Curtis in illustration of the genus Plusia, the present insect is a 

 very aberrant species from the true gold-spangled type of the genus. 

 It measures rather more than 1^ inch in the expanse of the fore 

 wings, which are of a greenish-brown, and very glossy, with an oblique 

 pale line, edged externally with black, extending from the inner 

 margin near the-Jmse to the anterior stigma, which is oblique and 

 elliptic, divided by a slender pale line into two parts ; the outer stigma 

 is succeeded by a rosy patch ; beyond the stigmata is a flexuous striga, 

 rosy externally, and pale inwardly ; the subapical striga nearly straight 

 and pale, as well as the margin itself ; the hind wings are brown, 

 rather darker along the margin, and with a short fascia near the 

 middle. The caterpillar is gre<m, with a dark dorsal and pale 

 lateral lines, and black setigerous vjbercles. It feeds on Aconitum 

 lycoctonum and Thalictrum aqmlegifolium in May and June, when it 

 forms a delicate cocoon and the moth appears in June and July. 

 Formerly taken in some numbers on Salisbu^ Plain, and since, in 

 South Wales, by Mr. Donovan" (' British Moth?,', pp. 230-231). Mr. 

 C. G. Barrett writes : " Another of the specimens in the Rev. Henry 

 Burney's collection is Plusia illustris which also came from an old 

 British collection, but without label or name. It is in fair preserva- 

 tion, but ill-set, obviously very old, and entirely without a history. 



