Publ. 20. IV. 1033 
AGROTIS. By Dr. A. Corti. 
49 
(©i-Gokmr-and markings, however, tephrina is definitely a race, which has hitherto only been found in England 
and the Shetland Islands. Reports of its occurrence in Austria, Switzerland, South Russia, etc. refer only 
to aberrations of the main type. For instance very clearly marked aberrations of cinerea occur in which the 
outer transverse line is merged in a very heavy shadow. I have numerous such specimens from Vienna, 
Italy, Bulgaria, the former Austria, the Riviera, etc, which, however, also vary among themselves. An illus¬ 
tration of such a specimen is being given on Plate 7 a $. The so-called — v. eximia Obth. i. 1. (Culot) is cximia. 
only a sharply marked aberration of tephrina. fusca B. has created much confusion. Stattdinger con- fusca. 
sidered it doubtful and it has often been mistaken for patula Wkr. = septentrionalis Mschlr. It is simply a 
dark $ of cinerea Schiff. — cinerea occurs in North, central and West Europe, excepting the polar regions, 
further in Spain, Italy, the former Turkey, Bulgaria, Bukowina, Albania, Bosnia, Herzegowina, etc., Urals 
South Russia, Caucasus, Pontus, Armenia, central Asia, Aksu. In Switzerland the species occurs up to 
1900 m altitude. Early stages: ova yellowish white, irregular, grooved. Larvae subterranean, very similar 
to that of exclamationis, darker with fewer markings. Pupae brown with 2 cremaster spines. Imago flies 
from April to August. 
A. turatii Stdfs. (Vol. 3, p. 26) (51). Hampson considers this species synonymical with cinerea Schiff. turatii. 
Up to a few years ago I also doubted whether its claim to be a species was justified and held turatii to be 
a subspecies of cinerea . Today, however, having now a richer material at my disposal, I incline to think that 
turatii is actually a separate species. It varies extraordinarily; colour of forewings from an impure unicoloured 
white, similarly the thorax, to a dark rusty brown. The transverse lines are sometimes obsolete, sometimes 
most pronoucedly marked. Usually the orbicular stigma is absent, reniform stigma sometimes very distinct, 
sometimes as a ringlet with dark brown centre, sometimes as a large dark brown spot. Often both stigmata 
are entirely absent. The pectinations of the <$ antennae of turatii are much further apart from one another 
and longer than in cinerea. It occurs in South France, Digne and Spain, Albarracin, Sierra Nevada ? April- 
May. Early stages unknown. 
III. Section, <$ antennae more or less heavily dentate ciliate. 
A. exclamationis L. (Vol. 3, p. 34, pi. 7 d). Varies very considerably in markings and colour. There¬ 
fore (vide Main Volume) a large number of aberrations have been named. For curiosity’s sake I am giving 
an illustration (7 a) of —ab. plaga Stph., which shows a specially fine aberration of markings. The pale 
— serena Alph. (7 d), which is the commonest form from Ferghana, Bokhara, Saraw, Amdo, and Yarkend, 
occurs in similar colouration as — ab. pallida Tutt in Spain, England, Esthland, and elsewhere. — ab. euspi- 
data Culot should in my opinion be placed with plaga Stph. In same the brown mark is dissolved into streaks 
or darts and stigmata are prominent. — ab. posteli Culot, is a dark form of a $, in which mainly the outer 
area of forewings is particularly dusky. — ab. dufranei Lamb, is yellow-grey, with obscure transverse lines, 
reniform stigma half obliterated, orbicular stigma invisible and claviform stigma almost obsolete. — ab. 
conjuncta Hirschke has a black longitudinal streak from lower edge of reniform stigma almost to the lower 
edge of the orbicular stigma. - quadriniacula Wehrli has an isolated dark brown spot between the stigmata, 
below the orbicular stigma. — ab. wehrlii Vorbr. is a $ form of - picea Tutt with widely ochreous lustrous 
base and transverse bands to forewings. Early stages: Ova impure white, micropyle brownish, grooved, a 
brownish ring in the upper third. Larvae not entirely typically subterranean. Pupae brown with 2 cremaster 
spines, exclam.ationis occurs according to the locality in one or two generations, from March to September, 
in mountainous districts from June-July throughout the palaearctic territory, excepting Mauretania and the 
Canary Islands. In mountainous regions it occurs up to 2000 m altitude. 
exclama¬ 
tionis. 
plaga. 
serena. 
pallida. 
cuspidata. 
posteli. 
dufranei. 
conjuncta. 
quadri- 
macula. 
wehrlit 
picea. 
We deeply regret to record the death on the 18th October 1932 of Dr. A. Corti, who had done so 
much in regard to the compilation and elaboration of the data of this most difficult Noctuidae group. Not 
only will his premature death be a great loss to our scientific world, but we have lost a trusted friend and 
collaborator. His manuscript ended at the above paragraph, but thanks to the generous attitude of his 
family, his wonderfully rich collection and records, the evidence of his vast experience, have been placed at 
our disposal and they will enable the undersigned to attempt to deal with the remaining groups of this family. 
It may not be entirely possible to group the species together in precisely the v r ay intended by the late 
Dr. Corti, as unfortunately some of his notes are missing and it would entail a great deal of time to make 
all the necessary investigations. Besides this it is desirable to hurry forward the completion of our work and 
we therefore ask for forbearance, if some of the details and descriptions are not so perfect, as has been the case 
hitherto. In order to facilitate comparisons I propose to give at the end of the family a key-table to enable 
reference to the Main Volume. This has become necessary owing to the alterations in the secpience of the 
species as compared with Volume 3. By means of this key the species already described there, can be 
easily and immediately referred to and such a table will be a useful help in making comparisons. 
Darmstadt, December 1932. Prof. M. Draudt. 
Supplementary Volume 3 7 
