110 VARIETIES OP NOCTILS 



and consisting sometimes only of a simple brown streak. Indepen- 

 dently of this, there is a basal ray, and most of the nervures form black 

 lines. In the whitish specimens, a brownish ashy tint occurs at the 

 base of the wing, which extends broadly on the costa to the anterior 

 edge, enveloping more or less the two ordinary stigmata. 



" In the specimens with dark superior wings, the undersides of the 

 upper and both sides of the lower wings are more or less bistre with 

 the nervures brown ; in those with whitish superior wings, the under- 

 sides of the upper and both sides of the under wings are of an almost 

 pure white with the nervures slightly reddish. In both varieties the 

 fringes of the inferior wings always remain white. 



" Xylina australis has been discovered in Provence, by Messieurs 

 Saporta and Solier. M. Bambur has found it in Corsica. It appears 

 in November " (* Histoire naturelle ' etc., vol. iii. (supplement), pp. 

 391-394). 



In ' The Entomologist,' vol. v., pp. 46-47, there is a translation 

 by Miiller, of Staudiuger's remarks in the ' Stettiner entomologische 

 Zeitung.' He writes : " Aporophyla ingenua, Fr., scriptura, Fr., 

 orientate. H.-S. = australis, Bdv. The type of ingenua,Tr. (Plate 508, 

 fig. 1) is in my collection through the purchase of Von Weissenborn's 

 collection. The originals (types) of orientalis, H.-S., 502-503, I saw 

 in Frivaldszky's collection, where there is also scriptura, Fr. (Plate 

 255, fig. 2). There is not the slightest doubt that all of them are only 

 varieties or aberrations of the australis of Boisduval, which is the 

 ingenua of Treitschke, and the orienlalis of Herrich-Schaffer (the almost 

 uniformly dark variety), and scriptura, the transition to it. The 

 originals (types) are all from Crete, or at all events from the East. 

 Such specimens occur near Montpellier, where I had formerly the 

 opportunity of selecting from hundreds of australis. The English 

 specimens of australis, which have very sharp markings (black and 

 white), are very peculiar, and the dark variety seems never to occur. 

 This form quite merits to be mentioned in our ' Catalogues ' as var. 

 britannica " (' Stettiner entomologische Zeitung,' 1869). This clearly 

 does away with the ? which I placed after orientalis, ante vol. i., p. 

 133, and establishes that form as a variety of australis. The idea of 

 naming our form britannica as suggested by Staudinger, was impossible, 

 as it had been previously named pascuea by Curtis. 



Luperina, Bdv., luteago, Hb. 



Vol. i., pp. 134-135. Luperina luteago. This species is now 

 generally considered to belong to the genus Dianthcecia. A large 

 number of entomologists, practically acquainted with the English form 

 of the species, var. barrettii, are of unanimous opinion that it should 

 be referred to the latter genus. A long discussion took place relative 

 to this subject, and the details of this discussion will be found in the 

 general notes on the genus Dianthoecia in vol. iii., pp. 24-26. 



Luperina, Bdv., dumerilii, Dup. 



Vol. i., p. 136. Luperina dumerilii. The original notes and de- 

 scription of this species by Duponchel are as follows : " This is a 

 species taken in the environs of Paris, which I believe to be unknown, 

 and which, by its facies, comes near N. hirta. I have dedicated it to 

 one of our first naturalists, Professor Dumeril, whose friendship I have 

 had the honour to possess for many years. 



