AGRIUS CONVOLVULI. 335 



(la) Forewings uniform suffused dark grey, with scarcely perceptible transverse 

 markings. Hindwings also suffused=ab. grisea, n. ab. 



(2) As in I, but with the transverse marking's darker, although without any 

 very definite tendency for the median area to be banded— ab. intermedia, n. ab. 



(3) As in 2, but with marked brown scaling in the median area of fore win gs= 

 ab. fuscosignata, n. ab. 



(4) As in 2, but with the median area very much darker than the rest of the 

 forewing. Hindwings usually clearly markedz=ab. vi/gala, n. ab. 



(5) Forewings with the outer and basal areas with much pale (or whitish) 

 scaling, the dark median and the outer marginal area of wing affording a marked 

 contrast. Hindwings usually clearly marked=ab. variegata, n. ab. 



(6) The dark tint much extended over the forewings, the pale grey marks 

 restricted to the neighbourhood of the basal and outer wavy lines. Hindwings 

 usually much suffused=ab. suffusa-, n. ab. 



(7) The dark tint covering the whole of the forewings, obscuring the usual 

 markings, and producing a distinct melanochroic result. Hindwings also much 

 suffused=ab. obscura, n. ab. 



The following are the named forms of this species : 



a. ab. alicea, Neuburger, " Illus. Zeits. fur Ent.," iv\, p. 297 (1899). — The mark- 

 ings of the upper surface as in the type, but very dark. Thorax and epaulettes as in very 

 dark specimens of the type, abdomen not grey but golden-brown sprinkled with 

 red -gold scales. The black line which intersects the abdomen is, in consequence of 

 this, almost invisible. On the sides, the ordinarily rose-red spots are red-gold and are 

 not white-margined as in the type. The sides of the abdomen are a mixture of 

 yellow-brown, grey and brown, its underside is brown-grey, on the anus green-grey, 

 the anus is sprinkled with red dots. Breast and legs grey-yellow. The underside 

 of abdomen shows the two black spots of the type, with which the specimen also 

 agrees in the rest of its characters. Size somewhat smaller than the type. Described 

 from a s caught at Fiirstenwalde-on-the-Spree, but other similar dark specimens have 

 also been seen (Neuburger). 



/3. var. batatae, Christ, "Mitt. Schwer. Ent. Ges.," vi., p. 346 (1882); 

 Alph., '-Rom. Mem.," v., p. 223(1889); Bartel, "Pal. Gross-Schmett.," ii., 

 p. 43 (1899). — Differs from the type in its smaller size, more slender build, and 

 more unicolorous tint. The markings, especially those on the hindwings, are 

 weaker than in the type. The insect might be, so far as its slender build is concerned, 

 a large Deilephila, the wing expanse of the ? being 98mm. of the s 93mm., whilst 

 a <? convolvuli from Lugano measures 115mm. A preserved larva (which I saw in 

 spirits of wine) did not differ from the typical grey form of the larva of convolvuli. 

 The larva lives on the cultivated Convolvulus batatas. Locality: Teneriffe (Christ). 



Alpheraky notes that the specimens from the Canary Isles are 

 smaller, as Christ has observed, but that he could not confirm his view 

 that the forewings of the g s are less sharply marked than the 

 ordinary continental examples ; he considers that there appears to be 

 more brown colouring on the forewings than in European individuals, 

 but that, on the whole, the Canary form seems hardly to require a 

 special name. [See also Poulton, Trans. Ent. Soc. Loud., 1888, p. 554.] 



y. var. orientalis, Butl., "Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond.," ix., p. 609 (1877); 

 Moore, "Lep. Cey.," p. 5, pi. Ixxv (1882); Kirby, " Cat.," p. 690 (1892) ; Bart., 

 "Pal. Gross-Schmett.," if, p. 43 (1899). Convolvuli, Leech, "Trans. Ent. 

 Soc. Lond.," p. 286 (1898). —This species is wonderfully like some African examples 

 of P. convolvuli, being altogether paler than the European form, it differs from the 

 African variety in always having the centre of the middle band of secondaries quite 

 pale, and paler rosy bands on the abdomen ; the larva differs considerably, being 

 more slenderly formed, and without the double dorsal series of black spots. It 

 feeds on the sweet potato. North India (James Hearsay), Scinde ? (Harwick), 

 North Bengal (Saunders), Moulmein (Clerck), Ceylon (Templeton), Hong Kong 

 (Bowring), Java (Horsfield), Hakodate (Whitely), Aden (Yerburyj [Butler]. 



Butler gave the name orientalis to the Asiatic specimens of 

 convolvuli, which are often, indeed, not to be distinguished from African 

 or European examples. Moore gives a detailed description of the 

 imago, which he says measures from 35-ins. — 3|ins., also some notes 

 on the larva in its various stages ; he gives Calonyction speciosum, 



