CATOCALA. By \Y. Warren. 305 



examples, though specimens from several localities in Europe are also dark: — ■ ab. coerulescens Cockerell,coerulescens. 



named from a single example taken in Essex, has the hindwing blue instead of red; — ab. brunnescens ab. brunnescens. 



nov. (55 b). represented by 3 rather small cfcT captured in the neighbourhood of London, has the hindwing 



dark olive brown; in the ab. languescens ab. nov. (55a) the hindwing is yellowish white with a faint Umguescens. 



pink flush; a line example of this, but without locality label, exists in the Felder Collection, and a similar 



one is recorded by Mr. Tutt in British Nocluae, Vol. IV, p. 50; like other species with red hindwings nupta 



has an aberration in which that colour is supplanted by yellow, ab. flava Schultz, to which intermediate forms flava. 



occur with the red only partially changed to yellow, or yellow only in one hindwing; ■ - in ab. nuitilala mutilata. 



Schultz the black central band of hindwing is abbreviated and becomes obsolete a little below costa; — ab. 



fida Schultz differs from typical examples in having between the subterminal line and the termen a conspicuous fida. 



dentated white line strongly edged with black; this example was from Silesia; — in the ab. dilutior Schultz dilutior. 



the ground colour is generally paler, either brownish yellow with the dark markings slightly darker, or whitish 



grey with a faint yellowish intermixture; — ab. alterata ab. nov. (=ab. 6 Hmps.) has the black bands of alterata. 



hindwing altered to grey. — ab. rubridens ab. nov. (55a) shows the red ground colour of the hindwing running rubridens. 



out along veins 2 and 1 in the shape of sharp wedge-shaped teeth, almost interrupting the black median band 



which is swollen between them into a large horseshoe-sbaped blotch; the single example in the Tring Museum 



is unfortunately without locality; — a slrange, probably accidental, aberration from Munich, figured as ab. 



confusa Oberth., has the whole forewing blurred dark grey, with the inner and outer lines and reniform stigma confusa. 



darker but diffuse on a slightly paler median area; the median band of hindwing strongly curved, its outer 



edge diffuse, and its lower extremity running up. narrowly to inner margin towards base; the black terminal 



border projecting basewards as long narrow teeth along the veins with the red ground colour running up 



between them. Larva pale or dark grey ; only distinguishable from that of elocata by the absence of the dark 



dorsal and lateral bands, which are represented by lines only; feeding on Salix alba and Populus. Occurs 



commonly throughout Europe, and through Northern and Central Asia to Amurland and Japan. 



C. elocata Esp. ( = nurus Hbn.) (55 b). Forewing ju*ey with a yellowish tinge, thickly irrorated with elocata. 

 dark grey or blackish; inner and outer lines blackish,' thick, conversely edged with pale grey and a second 

 dark, less marked, line; the inner oblique, waved; the outer dentate below 6; reniform stigma large, with thick 

 blackish lateral margins and paler centre, more or less obscured by a double median shade, which forms 

 often a diffuse fascia across wing; the pale spot beneath it, between veins 2 and 3, very variable in intensity, 

 sometimes pale and conspicuous, but generally obscured; a dark zigzag subterminal line and a row of blackish 

 submarginal spots; hindwing crimson with a broad black terminal border and narrower curved median band, 

 both quite narrow at inner margin; a slight reddish patch at apex on each side of vein 7; fringe whitish; — 

 in the ab. uxor Hbn. the forewing is strongly irrorated with blue-grey and yellow; the cross lines paler, olive uxor. 

 brownish: — the subsp. meridionalis Schultz, from Central Italy, differs from the ordinary European specimens m ^idi- 

 in having the forewing more strongly mixed with yellow, and the basal half greyish white; -- in ab. styx s ty X . 

 Roller (= lais Schultz, lugens Oberth.) the forewing is uniform black brown without markings, the fringe whitish 

 and two spots on the inner margin at the ends of the lines; thorax and dorsum also dark brown; the hindwing 

 normal; on the other hand variations in the hindwing give us ab. marita Hbn. (55b) with the groundcolour marita. 

 dull yellowish red; — and ab. flava Spul. (55b) (= flavicans Schultz) with the red changed entirely to yellow; — flava. 

 in ab. vaga Spul. the median band is very broad and sometimes united by dark rays along the veins with vaga. 

 the terminal border, whereas in tenuivittata Schultz (55 c) the same band is much attenuated. Larva ashy unuivittata. 

 grey or brownish grey, finely dotted with black, with two broad brown stripes on the sides of the back bearing 

 yellow tubercles; on the 9 th segment a narrow yellow transverse streak edged with black; the 12 th segment 

 somewhat humped, with two yellowish black-edged transverse curved marks; spiracular line broad, blackish 

 brown, sinuous; head with two blunt points; feeding on Salix and Populus, especially P. pyramidalis. A Central 

 and South European species, but not found in Belgium, Holland, or Britain; it occurs also in Asia Minor, 

 Syria, Transcaspia, and Kurdistan. 



C. locata Stgr. Differs from elocata in the colour of the hindwing being bright orange red, with the locata. 

 median band quite narrow and sinuous, not reaching the inner margin; the terminal black border either 

 interrupted on submedian fold or narrowly black with the fold across it red. Found only in the region of Hi 

 and Issyk-Kul, and the Sussamyr Mts. in Tibet. 



C. afghana Swinh. Intermediate between elocata and locata, agreeing with elocata in the ground colour afghana. 

 of hindwings, and with locata in the shortened, though thicker, median black band; the forewings are more 

 suffused with dark grey and fuscous, and herein resemble those of deducta Ev., which, however, have no 

 admixture of olive scales. Swixhoes type was from Gwal, S.Afghanistan; his other example from Beluchistan ; 

 the species also occurs along with locata in Transcaspia, Merv, the Tedschen oasis, and Ketmen Tjube in the 



