114 VARIETIES OF NOOTU^E 



testaceo-albidis fuscescenti pulveratis : stigmatibus medianis concolor- 

 ibus, interrupte fusco-cinctis ; lineis medianis crenulatis fuscis, 

 interruptis ; linea subterminali pallida ; posticis griseo albidis ; subtus 

 omnibus lutescenti-albidis ; anticis levissime nigricante pulveratis " 

 (' Bulletin de la Soc. des Nat. de Moscou,' 1856, pt. i., p. 222). To 

 this Eversmann adds : " This offers the greatest affinity with valesaica, 

 from which it differs in the following characters, the superior wings 

 more prolonged at the apex ; the ground colour of a clear testaceous, 

 finely powdered with brown, and having the outer margin no darker. The 

 inferior wings are whitish " (I.e.). Staudinger treats this as a probably 

 distinct species in his ' Catalog,' but he marks it as not being in his 

 collection. The British Museum specimens bearing this name are not 

 very different from some of the palest British examples of this insect. 



Agrotis, Och., tritici, Linn. 



Vol. ii., p. 43. Agrotis. tritici. The first volume of * The Ento- 

 mologist,' in which Mr. Bentley published his notes on the genera 

 Agrotis and Caradrina, is so rare, that I have quoted at length his 

 remarks on the various species he dealt with. By accident, I over- 

 looked those relating to this species. He writes : " Agrotis tritici, 

 vitta, pupillata, ocellina. These varieties were formerly rare, but have of 

 late been taken in plenty in Devonshire, Kent and Essex. Var. 1. 

 Anterior wings pale brown, with a broad streak at the base spreading 

 over the costa, rather paler than the wings, the ordinary stigmata pale 

 with a black spot between them, teliform stigma large and dark; 

 posterior wings white, extreme margin dusky. Var. 2. Tritici. 

 Anterior wings brown tinged with reddish, with a streak at the base 

 upon the costa, paler than the rest of the wing, also a faint transverse 

 striga before the anterior stigma, and a second behind the posterior, 

 behind which is a row of wedge-shaped spots, stigmata pale, except the 

 teliform, which is dusky, margined with black ; posterior wings white, 

 with margin dusky. I obtained this variety, as well as the preceding and 

 following one, from the cabinet of the late Mr. Haworth, as the type of 

 his albilinea now called tritici. Var. 3. Anterior wings similar to the 

 last, with the streak upon the costa, and the central nervure cream 

 colour; posterior wings entirely white. Var. 4. Anterior wings ashy, 

 with a milk-white streak upon the costa ; anterior stigma small and 

 round ; posterior very large, both milk-white, margined with black ; 

 the teliform stigma black ; on the hinder margin are four wedge-shaped 

 dusky spots, behind which is a waved striga, the extreme margin 

 spotted with black ; posterior wings ashy, with dusky margins. 

 Var. 5. Anterior wings ashy tinged with reddish, with a mere vestige 

 of the white streak upon the costa, which is maculated with white 

 spots and dusky streaks ; at the base is a black spot united to a white 

 transverse striga, which is margined with black ; stigmata pale ; to- 

 wards the posterior margin are two whitish patches, the extreme margin 

 deep fuscous ; posterior wings ashy-white, deeply margined with 

 fuscous. This beautiful link and the preceding variety, were taken in 

 Devonshire by the late Captain Blomer. Var. 6, vitta. Anterior wings 

 reddish-brown, with a white streak upon the costa, extending from the 

 base beyond the middle ; the centre nervure of the fore wings is white ; 

 between the stigmata is a quadrate black spot ; teliform stigma small and 

 black ; near it is a pale transverse striga ; on the posterior margin is a 

 row of wedge-shaped spots, and a white waved striga ; posterior wings 



