466 BRITISH LEPIDOPTEKA. 



" Fauna Boiea,"ii.,pt. 1, p. 280, no. 1467(1801); Ochs., "Die Schmett.,"iii.,p. 276 

 (1810) ; Germ., " Sys. Gloss. Prod.," i., p. 16 (1811) ; Godt., "Hist. Nat.," iv., p. 

 119, no, 26, pi. x., fig. 4 (1822) ; Stephs., " Illus. Haust.," ii., p. 44 (1828) ; " Cat. 

 Brit. Ins.," p. 47 (1829) ; " List Br. An. Br. Mus.," v., 1st ed., p. 47 (1850) ; 

 2nd ed., p. 43 (1856); Curt., "Guide," p. 142 (1829) ; Wood, " Ind. Ent.," 

 no. 46 (1839) ; Bdv., " Gen. et Ind.," p. 70 (1840) ; Dup., " Cat. Lep.," pp. 

 76-77 (1844) ; Frr., "Neu. Beit.," p. 159, pi. 477 (1845) ; H.-Sch., " Sys. Bearb.," 

 ii., p. 105, figs. 87, 151 (1847) ; Boh., "Vet. Ak. Handl.,"p. 133 (184S); Humph, and 

 Westd., "Brit. Moths," 2nd ed., p, 54, pi. x., figs. 7-8 (1851); Walk., " List Lep. Het.," 

 (6), p. 1474 (1855) ; Sta., "Man.," i., p. 154 (1857) ; Hein., " Sehmett. Deutsch.," 

 i., p. 207 (1859) ; Humph., " Gen. Brit. Moths," p. 24 (1860) ; Bbr., " Cat. Lep. 

 And.," p. 351 note (1866) ; Snell., " De Vlmders," p. 187 (1867) ; Guen., "Lep. 

 Eure-et-Loir," p. 80 (1875) ; Nolck., "Lep. Fn. Est.," i., p. 126 (1868); Wallgrn., 

 " Skand. Het.," ii., p. 71(1869); Staud., "Cat.," p. 68 (1871); Newm., "Brit. 

 Moths," p. 41 (1869); Bang-Haas, "Nat. Tids.," (3), ix., p. 411 (1874); Curo, 

 "Bull. Soc. Ent. Ital.,"viii., p. 148 (1876); Frey, "Lep. der Schweiz," p. 95 (1880); 

 Lampa, "Ent. Tids.," vi., p. 41 (1885) ; Buckl., " Larvae, &c," iiL, pp. 58, 78, pi. 

 xlviii., fig. 2, pi. xlix., fig. 1 (1888) ; Auriv., " Nord. Fjar.," p. 61 (1889) ; "Iris," 

 \ii., pp. 143, 144 (1894) ; Strom, " Damn. Somm.," p. 82 (1891) ; Biihl, " Soc. 

 Ent.," v., p. 170 (1891) ; Kirby, "Cat.," p. 834 (1892) ; Caradja, "Iris," viii., p. 90 

 (1895); Meyr., "Handbook," &e., p. 321 (1895); Barr., "Brit. Lep.," iii., p. 2 

 (1896); Tutt, "Brit. Moths," p. 59 (1896); "Proc. South Lond. Ent. Soc," pp. 1-11 

 (1898); Dyar, "Can. Ent.," xxx., pp. 4-5 (1898) ; Grote, "Illus. Zeits. fur Ent.," 

 p. 71 (1898) ; Beutti, " Lep. Bad.," 2nd ed„ p. 57 (1898). Desolata, Mull., " Faun. 

 Frid.," p. 47, no. 11 (1764). Populeus, Haw., "Lep. Brit.," i., p. 127, no. 85 (1803). 



Original description. — Phalaena (Bombyx) elinguis fusca antice 

 pallida, alis reversis immaculatis fuscescentibus ; striga sesquialtera 

 albida repanda (Linne, Sys. Nat., xth ed., p. 502). To this Linne after- 

 wards added :" Thorax antice exalbidus ; margo alarum ciliaris albo- 

 punctatus" (Sys. Nat., xiith ed., p. 818). 



Imago. — Anterior wings very deep greyish-black (" bluish-black," 

 Stainton), a reddish- or orange-brown basal patch edged with pale 

 yellowish ; costa and base of inner margin brown ; transverse elbowed 

 line yellowish, doubly angulated ; rather thinly scaled, fringes brown, 

 chequered with yellowish. Posterior wings greyish-black, with a 

 distinct, transverse, median shade, fringes as in forewings. 



Sexual dimorphism. — The males 31mm. -38mm. are considerably 

 smaller than the females 41mm. -46mm. (average difference about 

 8mm. -10mm.), they are also usually more densely scaled, and the 

 fringes more distinctly chequered with light and dark. The prothoracic 

 scaling is whitish or yellowish-white in the males, brownish in the 

 females. The wing-texture of the female appears to be more delicate, 

 and there is usually much more brown colouring along the inner 

 margin and costa. In one example in the Brit. Mus. coll. (from the 

 Frey coll.), this brown tint is especially noticeable, filling out the 

 basal area and extending broadly along the inner marginal area and 

 costa, whilst the general colour of the wing partakes slightly of the 

 same hue. The fringes of this ? , too, are especially distinctly chequered, 

 although in most examples of this sex the brown fringes are almost 

 uniform. 



Variation. — One would expect that a species with the wide geo- 

 graphical distribution of this, extending from Ireland to Amurland, from 

 Sicily to Scandinavia, and with a vertical distribution from the sea- 

 level in the Eiviera to some 7-8000ft. in the Swiss and Tyrolean Alps, 

 would show considerable variation, but this is scarcely the fact, and 

 the actual variation either in the development of local races or in the 

 production of aberrations is really very small. The central and south 

 European forms are usually distinctly reddish-black compared with 



