NOCTUID^. — APAMEA. * 



Apamea consists of a group of extremely variable and sombre 

 insects, which are generally distinguished by having the posterior 

 stigma very conspicuous ; the palpi are short, very slender at the 

 base, and subclavate, with the terminal joint exposed and obtuse ; 

 the thorax is crested, the crest distinctly cleft anteriorly and pos- 

 teriorly ; the anterior wings are elongate-triangular, obscurely den- 

 ticulated, and in general obtuse on the hinder margin. Whether 

 all the species as hereunder described are really distinct, I will not 

 undertake to affirm, but they appear to possess sufficiently distinct 

 specific characters. Treitschke unites several under one name, but 

 evidently incorrectly. 



Sp. 1. fibrosa. Alis anticis ferrugineo-castaneis, stigmate reniformi albicanti, 

 fascid posticd pallidiore. (Exp. alar. 1 unc. 4—8 lin.) 



No. fibrosa. Hiibner.—A^. fibrosa. Steph. Catal. part ii. p. 85. No. 6230. 



Head, thorax, and anterior wings glossy rusty-chestnut, the latter with a broad 

 paler fascia towards the apex, which is irregularly clouded with fuscous, the 

 fuscous tip bounded on its anterior edge with a pale undulated striga; the an- 

 terior stigma subovate, its pale margins above conspicuous : posterior sublunate, 

 white, or griseous in the middle, with a white margin, the latter sometimes 

 united to a bifid white Hne, formed by the central nervure, and the two 

 branches which divide at the base of the stigma being of that colour : abdomen 

 and posterior wings fuscescent. 



This varies considerably in colour : in some examples the pale posterior fascia 

 is but Httle evident, wliile in others it becomes nearly ochraceous, and the 

 stigmata very pale: the insect decidedly appears to differ from the rest of the 

 genus, and Treitschke removes it to the genus Gortyna, with which however 

 it is difficult to conceive that it ought to be associated ; the form and texture 

 of its wings appearing so dissimilar : — whether the larva has the habit of those 

 of the Gortynae, I cannot comprehend from Treitschke's German description : 

 — it feeds on the Iris Pseudacorus, and is whitish and membranous, with the 

 back dirty brownish-red, with a brown head, and a few black or dusky spots. 



Taken at Whittlesea-mere, in Cambridgeshire, in profusion, 

 towards the middle of July, 1822. 



Sp. 2. nictitans. Alis anticis Jlavo- aut fusco-ferrugineis, strigis obscurioribus, 

 stigmate orbiculari luteo aut rufo, reniformi scepe aureo-alho. (Exp. alar. 1 unc. 

 2—4 Hn.) 



Ap. No. nictitans. itwree ?— No. auricula. Dora, xii.j?/. 397./. 3.— Ap. nictitans. 

 Steph. Catal. part ii. p. 85. No. 6231. 



Head, thorax, and anterior wings of a glossy yellowish or brownish-rust colour, 

 with about six or seven equidistant pale fuscous slightly undulated striga-, 

 which are more or less obliterated in different individuals; the anterior stigma 



