126 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



[July 



name gonodactyla, Schiff., is, I think, now generally adopted." The 

 difficulty of the synonymy of this species was opened up long ago by 

 Dr. Jordan, 'Entomologist's Monthly Magazine,' Vol. VIII., pp. 

 I37-I38- 



Imago. — The anterior wings are divided into two lobes, the apex is 

 sharply angulated but not always particularly produced, the ground- 

 colour of the anterior wings is whitish-grey, the costal area is darker, 

 being sprinkled with dark scales, the inner margin is also darker at 

 the base but paler in the centre and towards the anal angle ; in this 

 pale part there are generally two dark marks on the inner margin, 

 variable in shape, one near the centre and the other nearer to the anal 

 angle ; the central area is comparatively clear ; a dark brown tri- 

 angular blotch on the costa (just within the cleft of the anterior wing) 

 is produced almost to the inner margin, and externally edged by a 

 pale line forming roughly a lunular mark, a dark shade hardly to be 

 called a band, crosses the two lobes parallel to the outer margin, 

 edged externally with another very pale line. (In some specimens, 

 principally of the first brood, the ground colour is slaty grey, the 

 markings are very rich and the costal and inner areas of the wings are 

 much speckled with ochreous and thus these specimens somewhat 

 resemble the more richly marked allied species zetterstedtii). The 

 posterior wings are divided into three plumules, of a greyish brown 

 colour, with paler fringes, the posterior plumule has a distinct tuft of 

 black scales towards the anal angle. The head, thorax and abdomen 

 are of the same colour as the wings. The species, however, is so 

 variable, that no description is sufficient to cover all the forms. The 

 specimens of the early brood are much redder and more strongly 

 marked than those of the later brood, a pale whitish grey example is 

 rare in this brood, while in the second brood a reddish or ochreous 

 specimen is of rare occurrence, almost all are conspicuously pale. The 

 type is described in the 'Sys. Verz.' as : — " about as large as P. tetra- 

 dactylus, brownish grey in colour, primaries split up longitudinally 

 through the first third of their length ; at the termination of the cleft 

 (on the costa) stands a triangulat brown spot : the inner margin of the 

 exterior part is like the inner margin of the forewing, itself fringed 

 with whitish. The secondaries are composed of three feathers, the 

 feathers fringed on the inner margin." Stainton's diagnosis of 

 the species is : — " 10"' — 1." 1.'" F. — w. greyish ochreous, with the 

 costa narrowly brownish, and a brown costal triangle before the fissure ; a 



