IN TIIK BRITISH ISLANDS. 45 



take the designs of the upper wings, but ordinarily have the base 

 white or glossy, at other times, they are marked with blue or white 

 bands ; lastly, some are entirely unicolorous. The females differ very 

 little from the males in this family, in which the antennas are never 

 decidedly ciliated, and the abdomen is either crested or smooth in both 

 sexes " (' Noctuelles,' vol. vii., pp. 40-41). 



Catephia, Och., alchymista, Scbiff. 



This species is referred to Schiffermiiller and Denis, as the 

 nomenclators by Staudinger. In the * Sys. Verz. Wien.' &c., 

 pp. 150-151, we read : ' Here we must observe, in order to escape 

 the suspicion of an error, that this species which differs from the 

 leMcomelas of Linnseus, was named alchymista by Geoffroi, although 

 these authors refer to each other. The former, as he found his 

 NOCTUA chiefly white and black, thought perhaps that the want of 

 white spots on the fore wings might be a freak of nature, or an ab- 

 normal form, as he left out, on reference to the Linnsean description, 

 the following words : ' Macula alba.' Linnaeus, however, must have 

 referred Geoffroi's alchymista to Ph. leucomelas without reading an 

 exhaustive description, or he would then have observed, not only that 

 the insect was twice as large, but also the absence of the white spot, 

 and the lighter brown transverse lines spreading towards the inner 

 margin, which are never seen in leucomelas, but are always seen in our 

 species, and in the figures of the specimens from Saxony, where the 

 larva is said to feed on oak." On p. 89 we read further : " Alcliy- 

 mista. Schwarze-braunlichtgerandete Eule." In a way, this quotation 

 from the ( Sys. Verz.' etc., may be, perhaps, sufficient to define the 

 species as alchymista, but for completeness the description of Fabricius 

 is appended. He writes : " Noctua cristata alis deflexis dentatis 

 nigris atro undatis apice cinerascentibus, posticis basi maculisque 

 duabus marginalibus albis." " Affinis N. leucomelas at paullo major. 

 Corpus atrum dorso cristato. Alae nigras strigis quatuor undatis atris 

 apice striga cinerascente, quse versus angulum ani maculam format. 

 Posticse nigra3 macula magna baseos duabusque minor ibus marginali- 

 bus albis. Subtus omnes nigraa posticis basi albis puncto nigro " 

 (< Mantissa,' p. 171). 



Treitschke writes : " From leucomelas, alchymista is now generally 

 differentiated by the characters of the fore wings, which are 

 likewise blackish-brown, but have not the large semicircular 

 whitish or rust-coloured disc. Several black lines, which are 

 partly united by longitudinal lines, run transversely across the 

 fore wings. The orbicular is traceable as a darker area, but the 

 reniform is more distinct. The latter often appears like two rings 

 lying side by side. The elbowed line is zigzag in shape with a large 

 curve under the reniform. The pale outer area shades off into rust- 

 yellow before the fringes" ('Die Schmet.' etc., vol. v., pt. 3, p. 325); 

 whilst Guence, writing of the true Anophia leucomelas, says of this 

 matter : " Whatever Treitschke and Laspeyres may say of it, this 

 Noctuelle (the French Anophia leucomelas, which is not a British 

 species) is certainly the leucomelas of Linnseus, his description leaves 

 no doubt, and besides the actual specimen still exists in his collection 

 as I am informed by Mr. Doubleday. It is certainly surprising that 



