48 VARIETIES OF NOCTU^B 



was stated to me as possible several years ago by Mr. Smith, and has 

 more recently been attempted by Mr. Hulst. I must add that his ob- 

 servations need verifying, judging from his published opinions on the 

 value of the forms of Catocala, which I have shown to be in a number 

 of instances incorrect. The Ophiderince and Toxocampince of my ' Check 

 List ' are probably not to be separated from this tribe, in which the 

 anterior ventral feet of the larvae are more or less incomplete. The 

 genera become gradually broader winged and concolorous as we 

 approach the next tribe " (' Canadian Entomologist,' vol. xxii., p. 

 145). 



Catocala, Och. 



The characters of this genus are very marked, and the upper 

 wings, the colour and markings of which are such as to respond most 

 distinctly to their environment, are, as might be expected, subject to 

 considerable variation. One of the most remarkable points in the 

 markings of this genus, is the absence of the orbicular and the develop- 

 ment of another stigmal marking directly below the reniform, known 

 as the " sub-reniform." The space between the reniform and the 

 position which would be occupied by the orbicular if it were present, 

 is filled in by a pale blotch in contact with the reniform, giving it a 

 double appearance. There is no claviform, although the pale " subreni- 

 form " has a superficial appearance to a claviform, and is likely to be 

 mistaken for one on superficial examination, especially in C. sponsa, 

 where it sometimes reaches well back to the complete basal line, but its 

 complete isolation infraxini, nupta and promissa makes an error almost 

 impossible. Attention must be drawn to the black basal area in the hind 

 wings oifraxini. If a specimen of this species be looked at in the cabinet 

 it will appear that the hind wings consist of a black outer margin, a bluish 

 band, and a black basal area. If, however, a specimen be held up to the 

 light, the black basal area subdivides, the part nearest the blue band 

 absorbing the light and forming an intensely black band as in nnpta, 

 promissa, etc., the extreme basal part allowing the light to be freely trans- 

 mitted, so that the difference between the hind wings of fraxini and nupta 

 is apparent only, each having really 4 distinct areas. Guenee writes of 

 this genus : " The superior wings of the species in Catocala are 

 invariably grey, powdered with paler and darker scales, and clouded 

 here and there with black and white. A series of pale brown spots 

 edged with white, immediately precedes the outer edge in the smallest 

 species, but at a certain distance in the large, these are followed by the 

 subterminal line, rarely well marked, always indented and paler than 

 the ground colour. The two following lines, on the contrary, are 

 always distinct, and sufficiently separated from each other ; the com- 

 plete basal line being made up of lunules or irregular arcs ; the elbowed 

 line, of more or less pointed teeth, of which the upper ones are almost 

 always more prominent. Of the two stigmata, the reniform is the 

 only visible one. It is, however, often very dusky or inconspicuous, 

 but we here find a third placed directly underneath, generally paler 

 than the ground colour, surrounded with black, and to which I apply 

 the name subreniforme. The inferior wings are generally dentate, 

 with a border always black, but rather broken in continuity at about 

 three-quarters of its course, reappearing only at the anal angle, where 



