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rarely in the hindwing; 6 and 7 of the hindwing are rarely 

 stalked; in some groups the anastomosis of 8 with the cell 

 may occur as far as its middle. 



Vein 5 of the hindwings is the second branch of the 

 median, and in the pupal wing is supplied from the median 

 trachea. During the maturation of the wing the median 

 trachea disappears, and as a consequence vein 5 either 

 atrophies in its original position, or is captured by a branch 

 of the cubital trachea, and in its origin becomes deflected 

 towards the lower angle of the cell. According to which 

 alternative occurs we may primarily divide the Noctuidae 

 into Trifinae and Quadrifinae, but the distinction is not 

 absolute. In some Acronyctinae vein 5 arises from much 

 below the middle, but is always weak, and in the 

 Erastrianae many intermediate positions occur, together 

 with a varying degree of development of the vein. 

 It is in fact impossible to separate the subfamilies adopted 

 by Hampson by absolute distinctions, or only by dis- 

 tinctions of relatively trivial importance, such as the 

 spining of the tibiae, the hairiness of the eyes, the rough 

 scaling of the forewings, etc. — characters which in other 

 families occur in nearly related genera. I have, however, 

 adopted Hampson' s subfamilies, as they appear on the whole 

 to represent natural groups, and no better classification pre- 

 sents itself ; but I think they should be regarded rather as 

 sections or tribes not sharply defined. Some of the generic 

 characters admitted by Hampson are not in my judgment 

 to be trusted, for instance the scaling of the thorax, and 

 some of the finer distinctions in the shape of the frons and 

 of the thoracic crests. I have endeavoured to apply all 

 generic characters with consistency; fine distinction may be 

 sometimes admissable, but they must be real, not imaginary. 

 I must confess that I find some of Hampson 's characters 

 inappreciable, and I would rather retain large genera than 

 break them up by characters which fail in practice. 



The secondary sexual characters of the male are seldom 

 of generic value in the Noctuidae, being often extraordinarily 

 different in closely related species. I have therefore not 

 considered it necessary to describe them, more especially as 

 they have been given by Hampson with much fulness and 

 accuracy. Species marked with a f I have not been able to 

 examine. 



Subfam. AGARISTINAE. 



These are usually regarded as a distinct family, the 

 Agaristidae. They are, however, simply day-flying Noctuidae, 

 separable from that family by no structural character. Sir 

 George Hampson indeed finds such a character in the 



