CATOCALA. By W. Warren. 813 



curved: — aJb. curvifasciata SchuUz also has the band of hindwing curved, but the forewing normal; curvifas- 



— ab. albinata ab. nor. (56 f) has the ground colour of forewing creamy whitish; the lower part of median ^ata. 



area, the space round the reniform stigma, and the extreme termen olive brownish; all the dark a maa " 



lines and markings distinct: the underside yellowish with the usual black markings dim and grey, the 



median band on both wings slightly blacker; -■ in the ab. nubilosa Schultz the whole hindwing is blackish; -- nubilosa. 



the ab. fasciata <>!>. nor. (57f) differs from anthracite Th.-Mg. in having the median area only blackish between fasciata. ' 



inner and outer lines or sometimes extending to sublerminal. the basal and terminal areas being grey; — 



in subsp. albimixta subsp. nov. (57 i) the forewing is whitish sprinkled with blackish; the ? brighter than the albimixta. 



d 1 , with black patch on inner margin between the lines; hindwing with the median band much attenuated; — 



subsp. grisea subsp. nor. (57 f) is like the last, but the forewing is uniform dull grey instead of white: — subsp. grisea. 



vallantini Oberth. (57 f). like the two last from Tunisia, lias the forewing pale grey with the markings partially vallantini. 



obsolete as in grisea, but in (he hindwing the median band is wholly wanting: — ab. fulvipennis ab. nov. (56 f), fulvipennis. 



from Tunisia, is uniform brownish grey in the forewing, but the ground colour of the hindwing is dull fulvous 



instead of yellow: -- lastly, the ab. contorta oh. nov. (561), also from Tunisia is dull blurred grey, with the conlorta. 



markings obscure, except the black inner line and upper half of outer line; the reniform stigma along with 



the area beyond it limited by the outer line is also black; the outer line itself, after describing the sinus 



under the reniform, not running outwards, as usual, but twisted round looplike to join the inner line ; the hindwing 



has a nearly straight median band, stopping short at the submedian fold. Larva yellowish, thickly dotted with 



redbrown spots, so that the colour appears brown; lines hardly perceptible; tubercles brown, pale ringed; 



hump on segment 9 yellowish surrounded with black dots; the 12 th segment bifid; feeding on oak trees. Occurs 



in South Europe: in Asia Minor, Armenia, Syria, and Kurdistan; and in Algeria; these latter forms, though 



agreeing in general with the European, seem more liable to develop on the one hand into the dark forms 



anihracita and fasciata, and on the other into the paler forms, with narrower and ultimately obsolete median 



band in the hindwing. represented by albimixta, grisea, and vallantini. 



C. conversa Esp. { = uxor H hi. part, pasythea Hbn.) (57 g). Forewing pale grey dusted with darker conversa. 

 grey and blackish, sometimes almost entirely suffused with dark grey; inner line oblique, black, very thick 

 and conspicuous from costa to middle of wing and again above inner margin; outer line black and fine, 

 forming two acute teeth above and below vein 5, a long inward sinus ending in a pale spot below the reniform, 

 and a strongly marked black angle basewards on vein 1 ; submarginal line pale grey, broad, edged on both 

 sides by dark zigzag shades; reniform stigma pale grey, with centre and outline blackish, placed on a diffuse 

 dark median shade, which is separated from the inner line by a broad oblique pale grey fascia; hindwing 

 yellow, the black median band squarely angled externally on veins 5 and 2, straight between, meeting a slight 

 dark fuscous streak from base along submedian fold; terminal border broad at apex, much narrower below 

 the sinus at middle; fringe yellow at apex beyond the yellow patch, whitish on submedian fold, chequered 

 white and black between; — the form agamos Hbn. (57 g) has the forewing often darker, especially in the agamos. 

 basal and lower median areas, the hindwing with the yellow ground colour deeper and more restricted owing 

 to the median band and terminal border being broader; the underside with the white bands quite narrow, 

 the suffusion on inner area more brownish than yellow; — in the ab. carbonaria Stgr. (57 g), the forewing to carbonaria. 

 the submarginal line, and in some cases the terminal area also, is suffused with black brown, the reniform 

 stigma and submarginal area remaining grey; — in ab. seminigra ab. nov. (57 h), the basal area and inner seminigra. 

 marginal half to outer line are black, the outer half being grey. Larva deep black, or greyish black, or brown, 

 with a fine pale dorsal line; the dorsal tubercles brownish yellow; sides with yellowish blotches on each 

 segment: the hump on segment 12 with two reddish points; the usual lateral fringe of hairs obsolete; head 

 brown with black marks or wholly black; feeding on oak bushes; the larva of the form agamos on Quercus 

 sessiliflora. A South European species, also occurring in Algeria, and in Asia Minor, Syria, and the Taurus 

 Mts.; the form agamos in S. E. Europe only and in Armenia. This form may be a good species. 



C. hymenaea Schiff. (57 g). Forewing dark iron grey, with more or less of a violet tinge ; the inner hymenaea. 

 line double, its inner arm forming an oblique black bar from costa to submedian fold, thence fine and sinuous ; 

 outer line finely black, angled first inwards on subcostal vein, along which it runs outwards, obliquely curved 

 and triangulate on vein 5, then vertically waved and subobsolete, becoming black again above inner margin; 

 it is followed by a narrow olive brown band, joined at vein 6 by a biangulate black streak from below apex; 

 submarginal line very obscure; a row of black dots before termen; median line black, irregularly angled, the 

 costal space before it rather lighter, that beyond it filled up with olive brown and fuscous: reniform with 

 brown lunule in centre, paler edged, and outlined with black, often followed by a diffuse dark cloud; hindwing 

 yellow: the black median band thickened and outbent at middle and bluntly curved inwards on submedian 

 fold; the black terminal border interrupted on submedian interval, and bearing a yellow patch at apex: — 

 the ab. posthuma Hbn. (57 gi, differs only in having the median band of hindwing acutely angled instead of posthuma. 



