IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 27 



bus flavo ferrugineoque variis : maculis tribus argenteis " (' Sy sterna 

 Naturae,' xth., p. 513). 



Plusia, Och., jota, Linn. 



There is, in different specimens of this species, some little differ- 

 ence in the tint of the dark central shade directly under the almost 

 obsolete stigmata, in which the y or i mark is situated. In some 

 specimens, this patch is strikingly dark compared with the costal area ; 

 in others, the two approach somewhat towards uniformity, owing to 

 the redder character of the patch, and hence give such specimens a 

 less marbled appearance. The characteristic golden letter or mark is 

 usually composed of two separate parts, a v-shaped part nearer the 

 base, and a dot near the point of the v. Sometimes this dot is linear, 

 and it then occasionally become united to the v, thus forming a com- 

 plete y-like mark = var. percontationis. I have a specimen in which 

 both parts of this mark are very small indeed, although the character- 

 istic shape and appearance of both parts are preserved. For this, I am 

 indebted to Mr. Finlay of Morpeth. Of this species, which was con- 

 founded with pulchrina by Continental entomologists, long after it had 

 been bred from a distinct larva in England, Guenee writes : u We 

 appear really to have two distinct species in our collection under the 

 name of. jota. Mr. Doubleday and one of his friends have assured 

 themselves on several occasions that they (the species) were not bred 

 from the same larvae and that they appeared at different times of the 

 year. I give, therefore, the description of typical jota as it exists in 

 the Linnaean collection, and will then describe the other species under 

 the name of v-aureum, by comparing it with the former " (' Noctuelles,' 

 vol. vi., p. 338). The Linnsean description of the type is as follows: 

 " Noctua spirilinguis cristata, alis deflexis : superioribus ferrugineo 

 griseis i resupinato aureo inscriptis." " Alas superiores griseo fuscoque 

 variae ; in medio versus marginem tenuiorem magis luteae ; in centro 

 alae jota graecum s. signum interrogationis aureum, a praacedentis 

 (interrogationis} speciei diversissirnum " (' Systema Naturae,' xth., p. 

 513). The two species (jota and pulchrina) are now well understood 

 on the Continent, and thoroughly differentiated. The variation in the 

 y or t mark is parallel in both species. The essential differences between 

 jota and pulchrina would appear to be, that in the former, there is a 

 distinct rosy tinge, whilst the latter is distinctly rich purplish in 

 colour ; in pulchrina the stigmata are more distinct, and both these and 

 the transverse lines are edged with metallic scales. The more rosy 

 colour of jota, however, frequently finds a parallel variation in the 

 brighter and more rosy tint in pulchrina and vice versa, and the brighter 

 outlines to the transverse lines and the stigmata more generally cha- 

 racteristic of pulchrina are also occasionally reproduced, as a parallel form 

 of variation of course, in jota. Certainly the two species are very 

 closely allied. 



a. var. percontationis, Tr. Of this Staudinger writes : " Signo 

 argenteo confluente in litteram y " (' Catalog,' p. 126). This is Haworth's 

 var. (3 of which he writes : " Alis brunneo griseo ferrugineoque 

 variis, gamma aurea perfecta in medio " (' Lep. Britannica,' p. 256). 

 Treitschke's original description of the type is as follows : " After long 

 and careful observation, I cannot agree with my late friend Ochsen- 



