358 



ABROSTOLA. By W. Warren. 



splendida. C. splendida Btlr. (= intractata Stgr.) (65 h). Forewing pale brown, variously suffused with darker 



brown and fuscous; inner and outer lines double, irregular, lustrous grey: the inner angled on subcostal, then 

 oblique inwards, its outer ami below median eoalescent with the silvery outline of the tongue-shaped mark 

 at base of vein 2; the orbicular stigma also with fine lustrous outline; the centres of both olive yellow; 

 reniform dark with pale edges; inner half of median area dark brown, outer half below median vein ferruginous; 

 outer and submarginal lines both irregularly waved, separated by a deep olive brown shade; veins dark 

 brown; marginal line dark brown with a bright lustrous line preceding it; fringe brown and lustrous; hind- 

 wing dark fuscous. Amurland. 



aurata. C. aurata Stgr. (65 i). Forewing pale bronzy brassy, shot with fuscous; veins and lines brown; the 



inner line thick, shortly angled below costa, then obliquely curved towards base of inner margin; outer line 

 running outwards below costa, angled on vein 7 and more bluntly on vein 4, then oblique to inner margin; 

 submarginal line dentate lunulate, indicated by the dark brown shade preceding it; median shade fine, waved, 

 bent at middle; orbicular stigma wanting; reniform a large curved lunule lying in a brown cloud; at base of 

 vein 2 a brown inwardly oblique short bar; hindwing pale shining luteous, fuscous towards termen, with 

 dark outer line and veins. Staudinger described the species originally from Amurland; it is recorded also 

 from Ta-tsien-lu, W. China. 



moneta. C. moni'la F. (= flavago Esp., napelli Vill., argyritis Esp.) (65 i). Forewing pale golden, diffusely 



tinged in median area with brown and sprinkled with black scales; the veins brown; the median shade 

 conspicuously dark brown, thick, angled in middle: lines brown, double; the inner acutely angled on subcostal, 

 below middle inwardly curved; outer line lunulate dentate; basal area flaked with golden scales; a pale golden 

 apical blotch, cut and edged below by the brown submarginal line, which is rarely plain below middle; 

 orbicular stigma large, oblique, horseshoe-shaped, with broad silvery outline and gold and brown centre, 

 coalescing with a similar but inverted mark on vein 2; reniform hardly traceable; hindwing shining fuscous; 

 esmeralda. the fringe pale; — in the form esmeralda Oberth. ( = trabea Smith) (65 i) the ground colour is shining whitish, 

 margarita. with the brown suffusion and markings much reduced; an extreme form. — ab. margarita ab. nov. (65 i) is 

 cream white with a silvery sheen, without any brown suffusion, the lines more or less obsolete, but traceable, 

 like the stigmata, in certain lights: hindwing whitish, with brown veins, and slightly discoloured towards 

 termen. The type of this form, now in the Tring Museum, came from Pokrofka. Larva dull dark green, 

 black spotted, living when young in the heart of the central shoots; later, with dark dorsal vessel, limited by 

 several whitish lines and a white lateral line; on Aconitum napellus and lycoctonum. Generally distributed 

 in Europe, and occurring in Armenia and the Ala Tau Mts, through Central and Eastern Asia to N. China 

 and Askold Island. It is only during the last generation that this insect has reached Britain, spreading ilself 

 gradually through northwestern Europe. 



ska. C. sica Graes. Nearest to moneta and aurata. Forewing more acute, termen projecting at vein 4, 



and faintly excised below apex; darker golden, the basal area and inner margin flecked with violet red; inner 

 line distinct only towards inner margin and there outcurved; outer line obscure, faintly outcurved from costa 

 to vein 5 and from 5 to 2, indented between 1 and 2, then oblique to inner margin; stigmata absent; a faint 

 oblique pale golden streak towards anal angle; a blackish subterminal shade from near apex to vein 2, from 

 2 to 5 close to outer line; some black scales towards apex, and above anal angle a rather large violet red 

 spot; hindwing brownish grey, paler basewards. From Amurland. 



7. Genus: Abrostola Ochs. 



Nearly allied to Phytometra, from which it is separated, first, by the transverse dark lines and outlines 

 of stigmata in the forewings consisting of raised scales; and, secondly, by the structural difference in the 

 larvae, which in this case have the normal number of abdominal prolegs. Type : A. triplasia L. 



triplasia. A. triplasia L. (65k). Forewing dark leaden fuscous; basal area pinkish or brownish ochreous, with 



slight grey patches; inner and outer lines double, the arms conversely black and brown; stigmata and the 

 mark on vein 2 leaden grey with concise black edges, the reniform large, followed by a paler tint; sub- 

 marginal line cloudy grey, waved, preceded and followed by dark grey shades; the veins black before termen; 

 terminal line black, crinkled; a patch of whitish scales on inner margin beyond outer line; hindwing blackish 



clarissa. fuscous, paler in basal half; the fringe white; — in the ab. Clarissa Stgr., from Syria, Bithynia, and Meso- 

 potamia the basal area is reddish yellow, the rest of the wing greyish yellow, in the median area slightly 

 paler. Larva with segments 5, 6, and 12 somewhat humped; green or flesh colour; dorsal line whitish, 



