About Apamea maillardi (Geyer)
This technical description covers variation within the group that was originally treated as Apamea maillardi under the older name C. zeta Tr. Forewings are dull grey green, overlaid with hoary grey scales; the inner and outer lines are black, conversely edged with hoary grey, and lunulate-dentate; the outer line is sinuate, not indented below the middle; stigmata are grey with black edges, and the two upper stigmata are separated by a clearly defined blackish median shade; the submarginal line is pale, often broken, indented on the folds, and preceded by black wedge-shaped marks; hindwings are fuscous, paler toward the base; the entire forewing has a mealy appearance, and markings are often heavily obscured in paler specimens.
ab. pernix Hbn.-C. (= clandestina Bsd.) is the darkest form, with the clearest, most visible markings. curoi Calb., collected from Italy, is chalk grey and glossy, more similar to very pale examples of platinea. The lines and stigma outlines are fine blackish grey; the median shade and submarginal line are only faintly marked in grey; the orbicular stigma is absent, and the reniform stigma is smaller. The head, thorax, and abdomen match the pale color of the forewings, and all lack grey dusting. The hindwing is pale dirty grey with a dark cell spot, dark veins, and black marginal lunules.
ab. zetina Stgr., now recognized as the full species Haderonia zetina (Staudinger, 1900) from the Tian Shan Mountains, is described as smaller than the typical form. Its forewings are greenish grey with distinct markings. A uniform grey form from Silvaplana, Engadine, Switzerland, which lacks markings except for the pale reniform stigma up to the subterminal line, the conspicuously pale subterminal line preceded by a dark shade, and a pale terminal area beyond the subterminal line, is described as the new aberration ab. marginata ab. nov. In the new aberration transversata ab.nov., the median shade forms a distinct strong blackish band across the forewing. In rivalis Guen. (? Friv.), the forewing has extensive mixing of yellow scales; the given locality is mountains near the Sea of Marmora. The total wingspan of this group ranges from 43 to 50 mm.
