IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 25 



ment and subsequent union of the brown patches on the costa and 

 inner margin in the centre of the wing. The stigmata in this species 

 are in the brown central costal patch but are very indistinct. Guence 

 writes : " It varies very much in size, and also in the colour of the 

 golden band, which is sometimes greenish and pale, and more rarely 

 of a rich golden yellow. It often happens that the two metallic bands 

 are more or less united, but this last variety hardly constitutes a distinct 

 race, as it is allied to those in which the bands are isolated by a crowd 

 of intermediate forms " (' Noctuelles,' vol. vi., p. 335). The type is thus 

 described by Linnaeus : " Noctua spirilinguis cristata, alis deflexis : 

 superioribus orichalceis fascia grisea " (' Systema Naturae/ xth., 513), 

 to which he adds: "Alas superiores nebulosee, versus marginem 

 posticum cinereo-obsoletae ; dein fascia pallido-aurata ; turn nebulosaa 

 sunt ala3 cum tinctura aurea, qua? quasi alteram fasciam auream con- 

 stituit ; demum nebuloso cinerascentes ad basin alaa. Alee inferiores 

 supra fuscescentes " (' Fauna Suecicaa,' p. 311). The form with two 

 distinct metallic bands is, therefore, the type ; that in which they are 

 united being the variety. 



a. var. jtmcta, mihi. The two metallic bands on the fore wing 

 joined in their centres by a transverse band, instead of being separated 

 throughout their length. This form appears to be much commoner in 

 England than the type. 



Plusia, Och., chryson, Esp. 



The tint of the metallic portion of the wing in this species varies 

 somewhat similarly to that in chrysitis, some specimens having this 

 part quite golden, others tending to green. There appears to be, 

 however, no other point of variation except that the size of this blotch 

 varies slightly. The elbowed line is very distinct and sometimes 

 forms a small metallic lunule at its termination on the inner margin. 

 The stigmata are traceable but are very inconspicuous. The type of 

 this species is thus described by Esper : " The ground colour of the 

 fore wings is a mixture of dark or rather brownish-violet, which 

 merges into red-brown. Through the middle area of the wing run 

 black interrupted lines, but fresh specimens have a reddish-yellow 

 uninterrupted line near the outer margin. Over the upper half of the 

 outer margin spreads a golden yellow spot, through which passes a 

 brownish line. The inner margin is broadly bordered with red- 

 brown. On the costa stands a dark spot which is absent in some 

 specimens. The hind wings have an uniform ground colour with a 

 broad brownish border, in which is a somewhat paler transverse line " 

 (' Die Schmet. in Abbildungen,' p. 447). In sinking Fabricius' name 

 orichalcea, Staudinger says : " It appears certain to me, that the 

 orichalcea of Fabricius is another species, not only from the description 

 but from the locality "* (' Catalog,' p. 126) ; I do not quite agree with this 

 latter remark. This species was, until a few years ago, very rare in 

 England. A few specimens were recorded some forty or fifty years 

 ago from that part of the Kent coast near St. Margaret's Bay, be- 

 tween Deal and Dover, but now washed away by the sea, and odd 

 specimens had occasionally occurred in one or two other localities. The 

 " Fen " workers at last turned up the species and found the larvae in 

 great numbers at Chippenham. Since then Mr. Farren and others 



* Mons. Oberthiir records it from the Isle of Askold. 



