IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 57 



of which the first joint is short and much less distinct from the second 

 than in the preceding family (Ophiusidoe) " etc. (' Noctuelles/ vol. vii., 

 p. 280). Of the genus Euclidia the same author writes : " The 

 imagines inhabit northern countries by preference. They are very 

 lively and fly in the bright sunlight, out this flight is not of long 

 duration, and they soon settle on the neighbouring flowers to those 

 they have just left, until a new caprice or the steps of pedestrians 

 disturbing the grass at some distance, compel them to repeat such 

 manoeuvres. Nearly all the Euclididce have been known to authors, 

 but as those of Southern Russia are very rare they have sometimes 

 been twice described. The most common of all is glyphica which is 

 found here in great abundance " (I.e. p. 291). 



Euclidia, Och., wit, Clerck. 



The markings on the fore wings of this species almost defy 

 description, but, looked at sideways, the most striking of them bear a 

 rough resemblance to a Punch's face, the orbicular being the eye, the 

 linear reniform the mouth. The wings are usually fuscous with 

 ochreous markings which show up distinctly. Sometimes, however, 

 the markings are not distinctly paler, but blend with the ground 

 colour, the specimens then becoming decidedly more unicolorous. 

 Scotch specimens from Perth in my collection, have the pale parts of 

 the wing whitish-grey, and the dark parts greyer than is usual in our 

 South of England examples. They are also much smaller. In the 

 hind wings, the base sometimes contains three clearly distinct ochreous 

 or whitish spots, at other times there is only one spot. The central 

 transverse line sometimes forms a complete ochreous or whitish band, 

 at other times it is in the form of spots, the divisions of the spots 

 being formed by the dark nervures. 



Clerck's type of this species may be thus described : " Anterior 

 wings greyish-brown with two white transverse basal lines, followed 

 by another just below the orbicular. Through the reniform area 

 another white much curved line reaches the one before the orbicular, and 

 is followed by another bent one which joins the last about half-way down 

 its length. The subterminal is also white. The orbicular is white en- 

 closing a black dot. There is no reniform. Hind wings with a central 

 white band, also two white dots near the base and a row of marginal 

 dots " (' Icones,' pi. 9, fig. 5). This type figure has a very different 

 character in the markings to most of our specimens. Instead of the 

 bent line through the reniform area, we get a white mark resembling 

 the letter h- (placed sideways), and then the next (which equals the 

 elbowed line) is continued under the stigmatal areas to join the basal 

 line nearest the orbicular. In the hind wings, too, the centre of the 

 wing generally has a transverse row of dots and not a complete white 

 line. The markings on the fore wings, as may be gathered from the 

 above, are subject to a considerable amount of variation, and run into 

 each other almost indefinitely in a long series. Those on the hind 

 wings vary in the same way both in number and size. The ground 

 colour varies considerably from a blackish-grey to black and some- 

 times brownish. The pale markings of the wing are either white or 

 ochreous, the white form being Glerck's type, although Staudinger 

 appears to have considered the form with yellow markings the type, 



