43 
and aberrations, as its name appears first in my title. The original 
description by Hufnagel is as follows;— 
Phalaena truncata, “DerFluchtling.” The ground colour at the base 
of the wings red-brown, in the middle grey dusted with white (or 
perhaps, “ dusted with grey-white the words are “ grey white dusted ” 
with neither comma nor hyphen), at the end rust-colour and grey, 
white dusted. Hufuagel found it on the trunks of oak trees in June 
and July, and considered it “very rare”—as he did also most other 
things except such obtrusive species as grossulariata, fib nlata (— fiuctuata) 
and the like. He adds a note on the difficulty of describing it on 
account of the confused and inconsistent nature of its colouring, and 
on the trouble of capturing it, “ because it is extremely shy, and more¬ 
over it is difficult to detect it on a tree trunk.” I need hardly point 
out that there is nothing in this description to fix its identity as russata 
rather than immanata, and we are dependent mainly on traditional 
interpretation; the months (June to July) and the trunk-resting habit 
(as far as my experience goes) might even favour the idea of immanata, 
but on the contrary Bartel and Herz ( Grossschmett. Bed. Geb., p. 53) 
record only the double-brooded species (russata) for Berlin, which was 
Hufnagel’s district, and the name truncata seems safe. 
Making allowance for the slight ambiguity in the description of the 
central area, I have no hesitation in considering the type form to be the 
not uncommon one with this part of the wing white, copiously freckled 
with fine grey dusting ; that is to say, intermediate between the 
whitest banded form and the aberration generally known as perfuscata. 
Probably Barrett’s pi. 355, fig. lr represents it roughly, though some¬ 
what too dull and tinged a little too brown ; his typical figure (fig. 1) 
is also very near it, but not sufficiently freckled in the centre of the 
band. I treiat saturata, Steph (Wood, Ind. Ent., fig. 579), as nearly 
synonymous with truncata, though probably it was meant to refer to a 
slightly different form, the inner and outer areas rather dusky ; it should 
have “indistinct unsolid broad central fascia” (paler tban the rest of 
the wing), but was described as very variable, and as not uncommon 
throughout the metropolitan district in July. The date given, and the 
somewhat cifrata-shaped wings and bands in Wood’s figure, might 
suggest a doubt as to the placing of the form had not the experts, who 
were contemporary with Stephens, determined it for truncata. I have 
a tiuncata from Folkestone, which is fairly near Wood’s figure. 
The whiter-banded form, which seems even commoner on the 
continent—if I may judge from figures and references”, as well as my 
own limited series—should be called ab. centumnotata, Schulze, and is 
also figured under that name by Wood (fig. 578) and Newman (Brit. 
Moths, p. 185, var. 1), and as russatal by Hiibner (fig. 305), Duponchel 
(pi. cxciii., 4), Sepp (Ned. Ins., iv., pi. viii., fig. 9), Barrett (pi. 355, 
fig. la, etc.), and others, while Freyer’s figure ( Beitr., i., pi. xviii., 
1) connects the type with this aberration. A dozen sub-aberrations 
could easily be made out of it; thus Schulze’s example was peculiar 
in having the white markings, which he liked to the figures 100 (placed 
vertically), expressed with unusual clearness on a dark basal area; 
* E.g., EUclis ( JB. Nitss. Ver. Nat., lii., p. 156) speaks of the dark form as a 
rarity at Oberursel, and not occurring at all at St. Goarshausen. 
xviii. 
