64 VARIETIES OF 



hue, which is certainly sometimes slightly dusted with grey, the other 

 of a much brighter tint. Fabricius in the ' Mantissa,' p. 217, also de- 

 scribes the colour as " griseis," whilst Guenee says they are "of a grey, 

 more or less yellowish, finely marked with darker, with three trans- 

 verse lines well-marked in reddish-brown " etc. (' Histoire naturelle ' 

 etc. (Delto'ides), vol. viii., pp. 30-31). I am inclined to think the type 

 is a very extreme condition of our darker form and that the brighter 

 tinted specimens are confined rather to the more southern localities 

 for the species. Guenee evidently refers to our more ochreous form in 

 the extract quoted above, where he says, " more or less yellowish," and 

 hence appears to assume that our darker specimens are the grey type 

 which he also terms grey. This being so, the brighter form is described 

 as the variety. 



a. var. brmmca, mihi. As I have just explained, I have treated the 

 darker as the typical form, and would refer the brighter and more 

 ochreous-tinted specimens to this variety. Both the darker and brighter 

 specimens occur in both sexes, the dimorphism in our British speci- 

 mens being in no way sexual. 



Hypena, Tr., rostralis, Linn. 



This is the most variable and probably most common member of 

 the family. The ground colour varies from a bright ochreous to a 

 dingy blackish, and the markings, in some specimens very clear and 

 distinct, are in others almost obsolete. The Linnaean description of the 

 type is as follows : " Pyralis palpis porrectis thorace longioribus, alis 

 subgriseis punctis duobus muricatis striga interjecta nigra." " Alas 

 posteriores pallidiores ; in area anteriore linea nigra utraque extremitate 

 terminata puncto eminente. Palpi approximati " (' Sy sterna Natura?,' 

 xth., p. 533). Guenee writes : " This species varies very much. 1 

 consider as the type those specimens of a testaceous-grey colour with 

 clear markings, but with the band concolorous which follows the 

 median line " (' Histoire naturelle ' etc. (Deltoides), vol. viii., p. 32). 

 The characteristic markings consist of a distinct central transverse 

 line (agreeing almost with the ordinary elbowed line) situated just 

 outside the reniform ; a blackish line from the reniforrn to the orbi- 

 cular, both stigmata being indicated by raised tufts of scales; the 

 orbicular by a pale round tuft, the reniform (and claviform also) by a 

 dark round tuft. This is in the well-marked specimens. In those less 

 well marked the wings become unicolorous. The following is an 

 attempt to classify the various forms : 

 1. Ochreous or greyish-ochreous, with distinct markings (as described 



above) = var. ochrea-variegata. 



la. Ochreous or greyish-ochreous, unicolorous = var. ochrea. 

 2. Dark grey-brown, with distinct markings = var. variegata. 

 2a. Dark-grey or grey-brown, with ochreous costa = var. radiatalis, 



Hb. 



2b. Dark-grey or grey-brown, unicolorous = var. palpalis, Fab. 

 3. Pale greyish, with distinct markings =^ rostralis, Linn. 

 3a. Pale greyish, with pale costa = var. vittatas, Haw. 

 3b. Pale greyish, unicolorous = var. unicolor. 



a. var. ochrea-variegata, mihi. Anterior wings of a pale ochreous 

 or greyish-ochreous colour, with the normal dark markings iii the 



