Note 15 — Chapter I

The statements made above are for the most part taken from Barrett, C. G., Lepidoptera of the British Islands, and from Tutt, J. W., The British Noctuae and their Varieties. The reader who is unfamiliar with the amazing polymorphism exhibited by some of these moths should if possible take an opportunity of looking over a long series in a collection, or, if that be impossible, refer to the admirable coloured plates published by Barrett. It may not be superfluous to observe that plenty of similar examples are known in other countries. For instance Plotheia frontalis, a Noctuid which often abounds in Ceylon, shows an equally bewildering wealth of forms. If a dozen specimens of such a species were to be brought home from some little known country, each individual would almost certainly be described as the type of a distinct species. (See the coloured plate published by Sir G. Hampson, Cat. Brit. Mus., Heterocera, Vol. IX.)