Insects. 



8397 



ciliatse. Fcemina valde differt, alis anticis ubique sericeis, satu- 

 rate griseis, vitta costali lutea, costa convexa ; alis posticis vix 

 pallidioribus vitta terminali deficiente. 



It is but lately that we recognized, as the sexes of one species, 

 Lithosia deplana (helveola) and L. depressa. They are indeed so dif- 

 ferent that it is difficult to suppose this to be the case. The male is 

 distinguished clearly from others of the genus by its upper wings, of 

 which three-fourths are clothed with elevated scales, which give them 

 a powdered or velvety appearance ; they have, moreover, under the 

 subcostal nervure, near the base, a little fascicle of scales still more 

 developed. Finally, the antennae are furnished with very long and 

 strongly curved pectinations. The female, on the contrary, does not 

 differ from other species of Lithosia in any of these respects. 



L. deplana inhabits Switzerland, Germany, England, and even 

 France ; but it is very local in all these countries. The neighbour- 

 hood of Norwich, in England,* and of La Touraine, in France, are, I 

 believe, the only localities where it has been found in these two 

 countries. 



It is needless to say that this species must not be confounded with 

 the L. deplana of Linneus and Fabricius, which is nothing more than 

 the male of L. quadra, and therefore ought to be struck out of the 

 entomological vocabulary. 



Var. A. unicolora. 

 This is a beautiful variety of the female, of which the fore wings 

 are entirely of a bright ochreous-yellow, exactly resembling L. unita 

 (aureola). The hind wings are likewise ochreous-yellow, but some- 

 what paler. This variety has been communicated to me by Mr. 

 Doubleday, together with other specimens connecting it with those of 

 the ordinary colour. It stands exactly in the same relationship to 

 L. deplana, as the variety stramineola to L. griseola, and furnishes 

 me with a new reason for uniting the two insects I have last named. 



Var. B. FCEMINEA. 

 This is a variety of the male absolute, of the same colour as the 

 female, and which resembles it on the upper side. The wings are uni- 

 formly gray, and without any appearance of a terminal band. This 



* [This is evidently a mistake of M. Guenee's, probably fiom misunderstanding 

 my letter.— H. D.] 



