SOCIETIES. 
261 
specimen in which the area between the transverse line just beyond the 
reniform and the hind margin, was unusually dark. There was also a 
dark shade at the base, and the black dot under the orbicular had 
become expanded into a longitudinal dash. Mr. Hill, a living larva 
of Notodonta dict(zoides from Epping Forest. Mr. Front, various 
species from Sandown, Isle of Wight, including Satyrus hyperanthus 
var. areie^ A gratis lunigera^ Bryophila glandifera^ Aporophyla australis ^ 
Cidaria picata^ lodis vernaria^ Emmelesia alchemillata etc. Messrs, 
Tutt, Bayne, Milton and Battley also exhibited their series of the genus 
Noctua, and Mr. Horne of Aberdeen sent a very variable series of 
N. /estiva from his district. 
Coleoptera : — Mr. Cripps, Silpha leevigata, Quedius tristis, Q. 77iolo- 
chmus, Ilybius fuliginosus^ and Agabus guttatus. Mr. Heasler, Quedius 
U77ibrinus, taken among reed refuse on the sides of Barking Creek. 
Mr. Milton, Cryptocephalus aureolus^ PhiloTtthus fucicola^ ^pus 77iari7ius 
and A. robo7ii. 
Mr. Tutt then read a paper on “ The genus Noctua^ with special 
reference to N. /estiva and N. coTi/lua/ of which the following is a 
brief summary : — 
“ Our limited genus, which we call JVoctua, is only a part of the 
comprehensive genus Agrotis in its broader form as accepted on the 
Continents of Europe and America. Of our species in Noctua. — N. 
subrosea and N. /eTiTiica belong rather to our limited genus Agrotis, 
whilst augur should be placed apart (it has been suggested by Butler 
to restore Graphiphora for this purpose). This genus, closely allied 
to, but yet fairly separate from Agrotis, contains some very interesting 
species from the point of view of variation, but there is not the same 
polymorphic character exhibited by the species as in the latter genus, 
Noctua /estiva is the most variable species both in colour and markings. 
N. da/ilii D.nd N Tteglecta offer a wide range of colour variation, whilst 
N. glareosa varies from pale whitish-grey to intense blackish, and N. 
xaTithographa goes through an almost similar range. Bestiva var. coTi/iua 
of Treitschke has for a long time puzzled our British lepidopterists, 
more particularly it would appear, because writers in the entomological 
magazines have of late years referred to the Shetland form of this 
species, as well as to the small Scotch /estiva-XC^o. form, under the 
name of con/iua. These Scotch specimens are undoubtedly /estiva, 
the Shetland species being the true coTi/lua. There is one special 
point of variation in the genus worthy of notice ; I refer to the C-like 
mark passing round the orbicular in the three closely allied species 
tria7igulu77i, ditrapeziu77i and c-7iigru77i. It is formed of two quadrate 
spots — one, between the orbicular and reniform, the other, beyond the 
orbicular (nearer to the base). In c-7iigru77i, these two spots are always 
joined by a line passing under the orbicular ; in ditrapeziu77i, they are 
more often joined than not, — in my own series about three-quarters 
are thus joined ; in triangulu77i, there are much fewer specimens having 
them joined than distinct. The shape of the mark thus made varies 
greatly, from two solid blocks with a line joining them, to a solid- 
looking letter C, whilst frequently the normally quadrate spots become 
somewhat triangular in shape, and thus tend more or less to obsolescence. 
It is remarkable that the same superficial mark is developed in Tczfiio-. 
ca77ipa gothica and goes through the same gradations.” The history of 
