128 VARIETIES OF NOCTILflB 



ADDITIONS, etc., to Vol. IV. 

 Brephos, Och., notha, Hb. 



Vol. iv., p. 13. Brephos notha var. ? (an parthenias), Stdgr. Dr. 

 Staudinger records a form from Central Asia which he assumes may be 

 a variety of notha, but which is as mottled as parthenias. He is very 

 uncertain, however, as to its actual specific identity, and writes of it as 

 follows : " Brephos notha var. ? (an parthenias). Taken at the com- 

 mencement of April at Lepsa. The males I can only determine as 

 notha, which differs very little from parthenias, although they may be 

 two distinct species. These Central Asiatic specimens are as small as 

 notha, but the fore wings are as mottled as in parthenias. There is no 

 difference in the transverse bands " (' Stettiner entomologische Zeitung/ 

 vol. xliii., p. 57). 



Plusia, Och., chryson, Esp. (orichalcea, Fab. ?). 



Vol. iv., p. 25. Plusia orichalcea or chryson. One of the reasons 

 for dropping the name of orichalcea in favour of chryson, was due to 

 the fact that Staudinger suggested that the Fabrician reference to the 

 type coming from India was probably erroneous, but in the ' Etudes d' 

 Entomologie,' vol. v., p. 84, two specimens are recorded from the 

 Isle d' Askold, by Mons. Oberthiir. Fabricius' original description of 

 orichalcea is as follows : " Noctua cristata, alis deflexis fuscis ; macula 

 magna lunata, orichalcea. Habitat in India. Koenig (colln.). 

 Statura praBcedentis (chrysitis). Ala3 fusca3, anticis macula lunari 

 orichalcea, nitida, posticis immaculatis " (' Systematic^ entomologica,' 

 p. 607). Mr. Kirby refers this description to an Indian species allied 

 to chryson, although the description applies fairly well to chryson ; 

 but although Askold and Japan are recorded as localities for chryson, 

 specimens have not yet been recorded from India. 



Plusia jota and P. pulchrina. 



Vol. iv., p. 27. Plusia jota and P. pulchrina. The following 

 note written by a Continental lepidopterist (Dr. Speyer) is sure 

 to prove interesting to British lepidopterists. Dr. Speyer writes 

 as follows : " Plusia jota and P. pulchrina. In England, the larvae of 

 both species are said to feed on the same plants which Stainton in his 

 ' Manual ' names as nettles, honeysuckle &c., without mentioning 

 bilberry, on which I have here exclusively found pulchrina for many 

 years. That my pulchrina and jota are identical with those of Guenee 

 and those from England, the descriptions prove. In Germany, they 

 are both classed together as varieties under the Linnasan name, but I 

 have never seen an intermediate form. The larva of jota, here as 

 elsewhere, feeds on many plants, and has been found chiefly in gardens, 

 on nettles, Lamium &c., but is scarcer than pulchrina. I have also 

 reared one specimen from a larva found on bilberry, which, however, 

 may have got among the same accidentally. At any rate, I have 

 since found only pulchrina on bilberry, and jota on other plants, 

 but should not doubt a different experience on the part of others. 

 That pulchrina in captivity will eat other plants is certain. A 

 few larva taken on bilberry, in September, fed on Lamium album 

 after hibernation, and throve well, in fact, they turned out quite typi- 

 cal pulchrina. Guenee seems in his description of v. aureum, not to 



