>'»'<'• '•'• t\\ 10. MELIANA. By II'. Warren. 101 



S. alboradiosa Ei\ (25 g). Forewing ochreous; veins white the median nervure and veins 3, 4 most alboradiosa. 



strongly; the veins outlined finely with brown; the interspaces with brown streaks; a diffuse dark streak from 

 base below cell and a slighter one from cell to termen along the upper fold; hind wing dark grey in $, paler in $; — ah. 

 pauper ab. nov. (25 g) has all the dark markings absent; the median vein hardly paler; but the hindwing remains pauper. 

 grey. An eastern species found only in the Ural Mts. in Russia, the Altai ^l's. j n \,y_ Siberia, and in Turkestan. 



S. straminea Tr. (25 g). Forewing pale ochreous with slight dark dusting and a faint reddish tinge; straminea.' 

 veins finely defined by brown streaks, which are also distinct in the intervals; a diffuse brown shade below 

 median vein; outer dots on veins 2 and 5 only; hindwing whitish ochreous, grey-tinged along middle from base, 

 with a postmedian line of dark grey dashes on veins. — A local species, found in Britain, France, Germany, 

 and Russia. — Larva ochreous with grey freckles; lines paler edged with dark gre}'; subspiracular line paler; 

 on Arundo phragmites. Three distinct aberrations are mentioned by Tutt, all apparently British; obsoleta obsoleta. 

 Tutt, a very rare pale form, with all the dots of forewing absent, the median nervure pure white, and the hind- 

 wing white without dots; in rufolinea Tutt the coloration is bright rufous, so that the forewing appears to consist rufolinea. 

 of alternate fine lines of red and white; lastly in nigrostriata Tutt the coloration is blackish, the wing appearing nigrostriata. 

 to be a succession of black and white lines; the shade beneath median vein is almost black, and the hindwing 

 is much darker; the majority of these darker forms are <$<$. 



S. pallens L. (25 g, h). Forewing yellowish ochreous, often with a rufous tinge; veins pale, defined pallens. 

 by grey brown streaks, and with similar streaks in the intervals; dark spots on veins 2 and 5 beyond middle; 

 hindwing white, grey at centre, the veins dark; — ab. ectypa Hbn. (= rufescens Haw.) (25 h) is the form in ectypa. 

 which the red tints are strongest; in arcuata Stph. the hindwing shows a complete row of dark dots on the veins. — arcuala. 

 The species is generally distributed throughout Europe and Central Asia to Amurland. Larva yellowish or reddish 

 with grey irroration; dorsal line white, with dark edges; spiracles black, lying in a yellowish white lateral stripe, 

 which is edged with blackish. 



S. melania Stgr. (= infumata Alph.) (25 h). Forewing pale ochreous sometimes tinged with yellow melania. 

 or rufous; costal edge white; veins, except median, hardly paler, not defined by darker streaks; a distinct 

 black dot at lower angle of cell; traces of a faint dark shade below median vein; hindwing whitish, suffused 

 except at costa with pale grey. Turkestan and Tibet. — A neater smoother insect than pallens L. ; the apex of 

 forewing more prominent; no sign of black outer dots on forewing. 



S. obsoleta Hbn. ("25 h, i). Forewing greyish ochreous, dusted with black; veins whitish defined by obsoleta. 

 blackish lines and with black streaks in the intervals; a distinct white point at lower angle of cell; an outer 

 series of dark dashes on veins, sometimes an inner one too; hindwing whitish with veins and terminal area fus- 

 cous : — the $ is much less grey than the $ ; in some cases the grey scales are much developed between the veins 

 and along the cell of forewing, and form the aberrations nigrostriata Tutt (25 i) and grisea Tutt, according as ™?Jea na "' 

 the ground colour is tinged w r ith reddish, or remains grey. The species occurs in Britain, France, Germany, 

 Italy, Scandinavia, Russia, the Balkans; Turkestan and Tibet. Larva yellowish grey with a flesh coloured 

 tinge; dorsal and subdorsal lines fine, whitish; the space between them freckled with dark; spiracular line 

 pale; spiracles white with black rings; on Arundo phragmites, eating the leaves, but hiding by day and finally 

 pupating in the hollow cut stems. 



S. pudorina Schiff. (25 i). Forewing flesh coloured ochreous densely dusted with grey atoms; the pudoriun. 

 veins slightly paler; the upper half of cell and of submedian interval often paler without dusting, the streak 

 in ceU continued to margin; sometimes a darker streak in lower half of cell also continued to termen; hind- 

 wing dark grey, with pale fringe; — impudens Hbn. (25 i) is a less marked grey form, without reddish tinge; impudens. 

 — rufescens Tutt is a rare British form, bright rosy red, with pale grey dusting; striata Tutt (= obscurata r „fJl^ ns ' 

 Stgr.) darker, with the grey intervals blackish. Widely spread in Europe and occurring in Armenia, Asia Minor, 

 E. Siberia. — Larva dirty yellowish white ; dorsal line white ; subdorsal also white, edged above with black ; 3 fine 

 whitish lateral lines and a narrow grey stripe containing the black spiracles ; feeding on reed and marsh grasses. 



S. languida Stgr. (25 i). Forewing pale brownish ochreous, the veins rather darker; an outer row languida. 

 of dark dots on veins: hindwing whitish tinged with grey; the veins blackish. — Syria. — The apex of fore- 

 wing is pointed, as in melania Stgr. 



42. Genus: Meliana Curt. 

 Tongue present; frons with a rounded prominence and corneous plate below it; antennae cf $ ciliated; 

 abdomen slender, smooth; forewing narrow and elongate; the costa curved; the termen oblique; scaling fine 

 and smooth. Type: Meliana flammea Curt. 



M. flammea Curt. (= dubiosa Tr., arundinicola Dbl.) (25 k). Forewing rufous grey speckled with flammea. 

 brown along inner margin; paler grey with the veins white in costal third; middle third occupied by an olive 

 brown streak widening and paling outwardly; the veins pale, the intervals brownish; an outer series of dark dots 

 on veins: hindwing pale grey, the fringe white. Britain, Holland, Denmark, France, Germany, Austria, 

 Hungary: Amurland: — the form occurring in this last locality, stenoptera Stgr. is smaller, with the fore- stenoptera. 



Ill 14 



