.

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& n

EDWflRD NEWMAN, EL.S.,KZ.S.,^.

BIOLOGY
flA
6

Class

BRITISH
BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS.

AN

ILLUSTRATED NATURAL HISTORY OF

BRITISH

BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS.

BY

EDWARD NEWMAN, F.L.S. F.Z.S.

\\

THE FIGURES
DRAWN BY GEORGE WILLIS,

AND

ENGRAVED BY JOHN KIRCH NER.

HEATH FRITILLARY (Melitaa Athalia}.

ILontoon:
WILLIAM GLAISHER, 265, HIGH HOLBORN, W.C.

(All rights reserved.)

V

BIOLOGY

LIBRARY

G

PREFACE.

MY WORK is completed. I am bound to commend it to the "benevolent reader'* in
the good old-fashioned, time-honoured style. Fettered by usage, equally old-
fashioned, equally time-honoured, I am induced to place this commendation in front,
although I entirely agree with the sentiment that has induced some writers truth-
fully to place their preface as written, at the end, when all the rest was complete.
This act of authorship is generally regarded as facetious — a very mild joke certainly,
but a joke nevertheless. I cannot understand this : I cannot perceive why an
author should be ashamed or afraid to make the public confession that his valedictory
address was given forth after his long companionship with the reader had ceased.
I cannot conceive why such an obvious truism should be thought droll. Be this
as it may, one thing is certain : an author is held to be something less than
courteous who does not commend his labours to the public in some way or other,
even though he may have nothing to say by way of commendation: so I bow
to custom and commence my task. Would that I could adopt the stereo-form of
prefaces, and plead the pressing solicitations of a large circle of admiring friends
as the lever that enforced publication; but I feel that such a plea would be
untruthful. I have been submitted to no such pressure : I have been lifted out
of my normal obscurity by no such lever. Friends such as these have held aloof
in the coolest and most unconcerned maimer. I am left without excuse.

First, then, I would invite attention to the fact, again noticed farther on, that I
had a very, very early predilection for Butterflies — I may say even from my nurse's
arms — and this taste having continued to old age, and having been indulged when-
ever opportunity offered, I have seen more of the little world of English Butterflies
than most of my compatriots. I have become familiar with Silvery Queens and
High Browns; have chased Dark Greens on the treacherous slopes of Cwm Elan ;
have revelled and rioted amongst thousands of Glanvilles on the Undercliff, where
that admirable and determined squatter not only established itself in prehistoric times,
but maintains its ground, and multiplies exceedingly ; I have made the White C
my especial game; I have taken Jo from her favourite thistles and teasels, have
watched the Purple Emperor soaring above the oaks at Darent, and have wondered
why he should seek realms unknown to his lady-love, his empress-queen ; and I have
wondered still more why a creature so gloriously refulgent with purple, should
condescend to feed on filth and putrefaction, instead of feasting on ambrosial pollen
and quaffing nectar, with Flora for his cup-bearer; I have oha&e&Acia with unusual
success, and have mourned over his depa^ve from the ancient dwelling-place whsre

221594

VI

Galathcca, his deserted love, still lingers, clothed in her widow's weeds; but of all
the tribe of flying flowers —

" It flies, and seems a flower that floats on air,"

as saith Philip de Commine — Dian's nymph, Hyale,has led me the merriest dance
among the blooming lucerne : ifc #as where the Croydon rail now intersects those
Surrey hills which constitute the first glimpse of country as we emerge from the
fuliginous sea of London habitations : it was here, in market-gardens forbidden to
the public, that I made her acquaintance. Here were employed a multitude of female
Hibernians in the healthful pursuit of horticulture. On one occasion my quarry
led me into their midst, when lo ! they abandoned their occupation, and pursued
me with the very same energy that I was wasting on the yellow-robed nymph ; the
scene must have been an exciting one, and would have reminded a classical spectator
of Meleager, or Orestes, or CEdipus pursued by the Furies: alas ! the resemblance
to (Edipus is greater now 1

It may be reasonably required that one so practised in these " pursuits " should
impart to others some of the knowledge which he must himself have acquired in
this branch of the gentle art of venerie, especially as regards the acquisition of
extreme rarities : I can only regret that I have so little to impart. There are
three modes in which rarities may be obtained : — First, by accident ; the most
careless and unobservant of beginners may receive an unexpected visit from Antiopa
or Lathonia ; the stranger may settle in his father's garden, and gladden his eyes
without any reason, without any plausible excuse, and may fall a victim to the
most bungling manipulation of that clumsy implement, the ordinary chimney-pot
covering to which Englishmen cling as a respectable and becoming head-gear.
Secondly, by diligently studying the localities ; Oinxia is to be found with certainty on
the UnderclifF, Epiphron on the mountain wilds of Cumberland, Typliou on the
mosses of Lancashire, Avion on the sedgy slopes of Devon and the Cotswolds,
Artaxerxes on Arthur's Seat, and so with many others. Thirdly, by purchase ;
Lathonia, Niobe, Antiopa, Daplidice are to be purchased in abundance at Id., 2d.,
or 3d. each, neither species being uncommon on the Continent : supposing the
purchaser to be fastidious as to his collection being purely British, he may obtain
a warranty with any individual specimen he is selecting, by paying twenty or
thirty shillings additional : the specimen then becomes " British," just as a wealthy
tradesman becomes an esquire by paying for armorial bearings which some ingenious
manufacturer professes to " find" in the Heralds' College. I prefer dispensing with
warranty as too expensive a luxury ; and although I admit the truth of Butler's
familiar couplet t showing that

" Some say the pleasure is as great
In being cheated as to cheat,"

still the pursuit of pleasure, however keen, must stop somewhere, and with me

it has always stopped short of purchasing a British Lathoiiia ; and I emphatically
recommend all beginners either to procure European specimens for pence, and
mark them carefully as foreign, or wait patiently for the chance advent of a British
specimen. All scholars will recollect the interdict laid by Juno on Latona — an
interdict that seems to be still rigidly enforced on British soil : she has no resting-
place here. As applicable to this branch of my subject, I may perhaps be allowed to
introduce the profound and truthful observation that " angels* visits are few and
far between " ; this observation may or may not be original : I am not altogether
free from an impression that I have seen it in print. But this is exactly the case
with Lathonia's visits, and also with those of Antiopa. The Queen of Amazons
will favour us now and then, but always without rule and without notice : nothing
can be more capricious than her conduct. She will sometimes vouchsafe an
appearance on a heaven-kissing hill, sometimes on a desert plain ; sometimes she
will settle in one of those roadways which intersect the thickest forestry; sometimes
she may be seen basking on the cossus- eaten trunk of a pollard willow overhanging
a river's brim ; sometimes even in a walled garden, imbibing the luscious juices of
a fallen plum ; but always regardless of degrees of latitude or longitude, or the laws
of altitude, or the conditions of atmosphere and soil: to these she has never
acknowledged fealty or declared herself amenable.

Need I give any instruction how to catch the common Butterflies? In France,
in Switzerland, almost every educated boy or girl is far more accomplished in this
art than I : their instrument is simply a bag of green muslin or gau/e thirty inches
deep, twelve inches wide on the top, and tapering almost to a point at the bottom;
round the top there must be a hem of brown holland, and a cane or wire in the
form of a ring must be run through the hem and form a hoop, the lighter the
better : the hoop must then be fastened by means of a ferule, or a screw, or any
other simple contrivance, to the top of a walking-stick, and then the implement
is complete. Such a net can be bought at any shop in London where insects are
sold; for instance, at Ashmead's in Bishopsgate Street, Gardener's in Holborn,
Cooke's in New Oxford Street, and a great many others ; the same tradesmen
•will also supply you with suitable pins to pin your Butterflies, and with pocket
boxes in which to place them when pinned. I cannot strongly recommend articles
that are made rather for sale than for use; but it is necessary to buy in the first
instance, and very soon you will get into the way of making the apparatus for
yourself, and making it to your own taste and of durable materials. It is very
difficult to lay down any rule on the subject of making nets, so I give this advice
to purchase in the first instance, that you may gain a preliminary idea of what
to use ; practice and experience will teach you everything in the course of a few
months, and there are no lessons so good or so perfectly remembered as those
which practice and experience f.^-^li.

viii PREFACE.

But there is another and a better way to obtain Butterflies. I have fully
explained, in the Introduction which follows, that a Butterfly was not always a
Butterfly, but was

" Once a worm, a thing that crept
On the bare earth, then wrought a tomb and slept."

In this state of worm or caterpillar, Butterflies of many kinds are most easy to
obtain: to my notion, an umbrella and a walking-stick are the best implements.
Spread the umbrella; turn it upside down; hold it under a shrub, a bunch of
nettles, or the bough of a tree: thrash the foliage with your walking-stick, and
caterpillars without number will fall into the umbrella: pick them up, put them
in tin boxes, and take them home. They will not all produce Butterflies; many
of them moths ; but whether caterpillars of moths or Butterflies, they are all worth
keeping. "Caterpillars being mostly eaters of vegetable matter, there is no difficulty
in providing and renewing the plants upon which they feed. A garden pot, half
filled with loose, sandy earth, with a few pieces of cane bent over, and the ends
inserted in the pot ; this frame covered with gauze, and a string passed over it
below the mouth of the pot, forms a very good cage for caterpillars. A slip of
the food-plant should be first placed in a phial of water and put in the centre
of the cage, which should be kept in a shady place. According to the size of
the caterpillars, and the heat of the weather, the food will require to be renewed
from time to time." These instructions are copied from the " World of Insects, by
J. W. Douglas/' and others, more minute, elaborate, and complete, will be found
in that excellent little book, "The Insect-Hunter's Companion," by the Rev. Joseph
Greene. I would most willingly quote pages from this last-named work, which
is published by Mr. Van Voorst at Is. 6d. ; but I imagine that every collector
of insects must of necessity purchase the book itself, and it would be useless to
possess the same information in two forms.

Treated in accordance with Mr. Greene's instructions, and carefully watched
from time to time, the caterpillar will soon grow to its full size, will fix itself
to the pot, the muslin, the leaves, or the twigs, and then turn to a chrysalis,
and subsequently to a Butterfly, in the manner which I have fully described at
page 14.

There is another very curious circumstance which attends the birth of a
Butterfly — a circumstance that has been noticed by all naturalists and in all ages.
This is so well described in that inimitable work, Kirby and Spence's "Intro-
duction to Entomology," that I shall quote their description as being better than
anything I can write myself: —

"Many species of Butterflies, when they emerge from the chrysalis state, discharge
a reddish fluid, which in some instances, where their numbers have been considerable,
has produced the appearance of a shower of blood ; and by this natural fact, all
those bloody showers recorded by historians as preternatural, and regarded where

ix

they happened as fearful prognostics of impending evils, are stripped of their terrors,
and reduced to the class of events that happen in the common course of nature.
That insects are the cause of these showers is no recent discovery, for Sleidan relates
that in the year 1553 a vast multitude of Butterflies swarmed through a great part of
Germany, and sprinkled plants, leaves, buildings, clothes, and men, with bloody
drops, as if it had rained blood. But the most interesting account of an event
of this kind is given by Reaumur, from whom we learn that in the beginning of
July, 1 608, the suburbs of Aix, and a considerable extent of country round it,
were covered with what appeared to be a shower of blooJ. We may conceive the
amazement and stupor of the populace upon such a discovery, the alarm of the
citizens, the grave reasonings of the learned. All agreed, however, in attributing
this appearance to the powers of darkness, and in regarding it as the prognostic
and precursor of some direful misfortune about to befall them. Fear and prejudice
would have taken deep root upon this occasion, and might have produced fatal effects
upon some weak minds, had not Mr. Peiresc, a celebrated philosopher of that place,
paid attention to insects. A chrysalis which he preserved in his cabinet let him into
the secret of this mysterious shower. Hearing a fluttering, which informed him
his insect was arrived at its perfect state, he opened the box in which he kept it.
The animal flew out, and left behind it a red spot. He compared this with the
spots of the bloody shower, and found they were alike. At the same time he
observed there was a prodigious quantity of Butterflies flying about, and that
the drops of the miraculous rain were not to be found upon the tiles, nor even
upon the upper surface of the stones, but chiefly iu cavities and places whore
rain could not easily come. Thus did this judicious observer dispel the ignorant
fears and terror which a natural phenomenon had caused."

To return to my more immediate subject. Having now obtained your Butter-
fly* you. must proceed to kill it for preservation, unless indeed you find it is
one you already possess, and then, by all manner of means, allow it to escape.
It will indeed be a pleasure to see your captive essay the powers of his newly-
acquired wings, and launch himself for the first time on " the realms of air."
But suppose you wish to preserve it, then, alas 1 it must die. Butterflies require
to be pinned : the pin is passed through the very centre of the thorax, or
that part to which the wings are attached, the finger and thumb of the left
hand at the same time pinching the insect under the wings. A slight pinch
numbs a Butterfly ; and immediately it is pinned it must be put in the collecting
box, in which a little bag of camphor or of chopped laurel leaves must always
be kept. The object of this is to prevent the return of life, for, curious as it
may seem, a Butterfly, after appearing to be dead; will frequently be seen to
move, and this for hours. Now, it is not only cruel to keep any living thing
iu such a semi-animate condition, but it is very unwise, for it will be sure to

injure itself by knocking off the delicate scales with which its wings are adorned.
In the second volume of the " Entomological Magazine " the late Mr. Stephens
gives some excellent instruction as to the manner of using the laurel leaves. It
is as follows : — " Take three or four juicy leaves, the younger the better, with,
if a more powerful effect is required, a small portion of the tip of the stalk
of the common laurel, break or cut them into small pieces, and crush them
quickly between two stones, in a thin piece of paper, screw up the produce in
the latter, with as little exposure to the air as can be managed, and fix the
mass by a pin in the corner of the collecting box, in which the living insects
are to be previously placed; keep the box closely shut, and in about five
minutes every specimen will have expired. It is necessary that the external
air should be excluded, otherwise the fumes of prussic acid which are evolved from
the crushed leaves will become too much attenuated to affect the respiratory
organs of the insects, and the latter will partially revive if too speedily exposed to
the vivifying influence of a purer atmosphere."

Now, then, your Butterflies being caught and killed, the next process is to
" set " them, by which I mean to place them in the position in which they
are to remain. For the purpose of " setting " insects, corked boards are prepared
and sold by hundreds, and may be obtained of the dealers already mentioned.
These boards have grooves in them of a variety of sizes adapted to admit the
body of any Butterfly or moth ; the body being placed in this groove, the
wings have to be strapped down with card. You must cut a common card —
any visitor's or tradesman's card will answer the purpose — in little strips ; lay
one of the strips on the two wings on one side of the Butterfly, and another
strip on the two wings on the other side, and pinning down the ends of both
strips, the wings will remain exactly in the position in which you place them.
A word as to that position: let the wings be so arranged that the markings
on all four wings shall be distinctly visible. You can have no better rule on
this subject than to imitate exactly the position in which Mr. Willis has placed
them in the beautiful figures he has drawn to illustrate this history. If you
only continue to follow carefully the positions he has drawn, you will succeed to
admiration. Arrange your setting-boards in what is called a drying cage — that is,
a box with grooves along the si 3 is in which the setting-boards can slide easily.
There must be a window of perforated zinc or gauze wire at both ends of this
drying cage, so that the air may pass freely through, whilst the mice, cockroaches,
and wasps are kept out. Woe to the Butterfly that is attacked by either of if iese
enemies ! It is curious that three animals, that are not very likely to eat Butterflies
and moths in a state of nature, should prefer them, when the entomologist has
prepared them for his cabinet, to every other kind of food, however delicious.
I call it a depraved taste ; depraved, indeed, it certainly is, tor how can these

PREFACE. XI

creatures reconcile this conduct with the laws of morality and honesty? But
even for that most detested of all creatures, the cockroach, I can add a word of
praise. There is nothing new under the sun, so says the proverb. I believed,
until a few years back, that I possessed the knowledge of a fact in the dietetic
economy of the cockroach of which entomologists were not cognizant, but I find
myself forestalled ; the fact is as old as the lulls ; it is that the cockroach seeks
with diligence, and devours with great gusto, the common bed-bug. I will not
mention names, but I am so confident of the veracity of the narrator that I
willingly take the entire responsibility. " Poverty makes one acquainted with
strange bedfellows," and my informer bears willing testimony to the trath of
the adage : he had not been prosperous, and had sought shelter in a London
boarding-house: every night he saw cockroaches ascending his bed-curtains; every
morning he complained to his very respectable landlady, and invariably received
the comforting assurance that there was not a "black beetle" or a bug in the
house, and if he had seen such a thing, he must have brought it to the house in his
clothes : still he pursued his nocturnal investigations, and he not only saw cockroaches
running along the tester of the bed, but, to his great astonishment, he positively
observed one of them seize a bug, and he therefore concluded, and not without
some show of reason, that the cockroaches ascended the curtains with this especial
object, and that the minor and more odoriferous insect is a favourite food of the
major one. The following extract from Webster's " Narrative of Foster's Voyage "
corroborates this recent observation, and illustrates the proverb which I have taken
as my text. " Cockroaches, those nuisances to ships, are plentiful at St. Helena ;
and yet, bad as they are, they are more endurable than bugs. Previous to our
arrival here in the ' Chanticleer ' we had suffered great inconvenience from the
latter, but the cockroaches no sooner made their appearance than the bugs entirely
disappeared ; the fact is, that the cockroach preys on them, and leaves no sign
or vestige of where they have been : so far it is a most valuable insect/' Whether
this " word for the cockroach " will reconcile housekeepers to its presence is doubtful ;
no one likes to acknowledge the existence in his house of " the minor and more
odoriferous insect," and the axiom that " the greater includes the less " might,
here also prove true.

However, let us suppose that the Butterflies on the setting-boards nave fairly
escaped the mice, the wasps, and the cockroaches, and have thoroughly dried,
and are quite fit to remove — I recommend that they be left at least ten days —
then comes Che question, the very important question, of what to do with them.
Of course, they must be removed to a cabinet, abont which I have a good deal to
say. A well-made cabinet is of the greatest importance, and is not to be obtained
without some difficulty and expense. Every cabinet-maker will at once take
your order; but an habitual tradesman - like acumen will prevent his doing

Xll

you justice. Many parts of the cabinet are not visible from the exterior, and it
is almost impossible to persuade a tradesman to use good and seasoned wood for
those parts which are not exposed to sight. It is therefore absolutely necessary
to inspect the work while in progress, to examine the wood, and ascertain that
it is thoroughly seasoned; if thft wood retains any sap it is of no use, as it
invariably warps, and thus prevents the drawers from moving, and the cabinet
becomes useless. Nothing but the best mahogany must be used : a great variety
of wood has been tried, particularly a kind of resinous cedar, which has a colour
and a grain much resembling mahogany, but which is far worse for cabinets
than the most resinous dealj after the cabinet has been a short time built, it
will become saturated with resin, and all the insects it contains will be speedily
spoiled. Other cheap woods are also much in use, and are veneered in front
with mahogany, and the parts which are exposed on taking out a drawer, are
smeared over with a brownish composition, to keep up the deception. A cabinet
should consist of two tiers of drawers, fifteen or twenty in each tier: if the
number be fifteen only, there is abundance of room for a book-case to stand above
them, which is not only convenient, but has an agreeable effect. The drawers should
be enclosed in front by folding doors, all the edges of which must be carefully
covered with velvet; by this precaution dust is effectually excluded. Each drawer
should be from fifteen to eighteen inches square and two inches deep, and should
be covered with thin slices of very soft cork ; these slices are glued together at
the edges, and fastened to the bottom of the drawer by small tacks and glue,
the tacks, or rather brads, being without heads. When the cork is secured, its
surface must be made perfectly smooth, by rubbing it with pumice-stone, and
the whole is then neatly covered with white paper, the paper being pasted on
the cork. It will be found that the cork permits the pin on which an insect is
placed to pass into it with the greatest facility, and yet is sufficiently elastic
to retain it steadily in its place. Each drawer must be covered by a pane of
the best flatted glass, carefully fixed with putty in a square frame, and the frame
nicely fitted to the drawer, thus insuring the exclusion of any dust that may have
passed the folding doors.

A cabinet made on this plan is, of course, very expensive : it is out of the
question to get a cheap one; the materials are dear, and the cost of putting
them together is very great, and there are few, very few, cabinet-makers who
understand it. I have seen the cabinets made by three only. The price of a cabinet
thoroughly well made is a guinea a drawer : it is worth no man's while to maka
one for less. It seems, and indeed it is, a great deal of money, but the real
test of the raatter is, " Will anyone make it for less ? " and it is a fact worthy
of consideration that really well-made cabinets, when sold second-hand by
Mr. J. C. Stovers, of King Street, 'ealise the original cost, or very nearly
so, and sometimes even more; so that a really good insect cabinet is something

PREFACE. Xlll

like a safe investment of money, the interest being paid in the pleasure and
profit the owner receives from studying the contents.

As soon as the cabinet is quite ready to receive the Butterflies, you must
cnt up a copy of Doubleday's " List of British Butterflies and Moths " very neatly
with a pair of scissors, thus making a quantity of little labels. You will observe
that every insect has two names, as Argynnis Paphia: the first name must be
pinned above the insect, the second below, thus : —

ARGYNNIS.

(The Butterfly comes in this space.)
PAPHIA.

Then follows the next Butterfly, with its scientific name above and below, then
the next, and so on until the row is complete. One drawer will accommodate
six or seven rows of Butterflies. It is a very common plan with entomologists
to rule on the paper straight lines, either • in pencil or ink, between the rows ;
the idea is that they serve as guides to the eye in keeping the rows perfectly
parallel ; but a collection, as the number of insects increases, has to be re-arranged
every few years, and then these lines have to be rubbed out, or obliterated in
some way — perhaps by papering the drawers anew. This, I found, caused a great
deal of unnecessary trouble, and therefore I have entirely abandoned the plan,
and now manage to dispense with lines altogether.

Even after all your insects are arranged in the neatest manner, and you fancy
that everything is going on well, you will often find that you have included in your
carefully-glazed drawers insects that you had no desire whatever to preserve. Their
presence will be indicated by coarse dust beneath your choicest specimens, and
you will often see holes made in the wings, and all manner of disfigurement
and damage. The enemies are of three kinds — the caterpillar of a beetle called
Atfagenus Pellio; the caterpillar of the clothes-moth, Tinea pseudo-spretella ; and a
nimble little fellow, called Atropos pulsatorius. Their united depredations would
very speedily reduce your collection to a mass of dust and fragments ; but never let
the mischief come to such a pass as that. Directly you observe any dust, however
little, underneath an insect, take off the glass, and take out the infected individual ;
as soon as he is removed from the drawer, drop benzole on his back, drop after drop,
until he is thoroughly saturated, and all his wings are rendered perfectly transparent.
In this state remove him to the drying cage, and there let him remain until all the
benzole has evaporated, and his colours have returned, bright and beautiful as ever.
You may be sure the creatures that were devouring him are all dead, and you have
nothing further to fear from them. My own drawers are looked at so frequently,
and the benzole is applied so continually, that marauders of this kind never

PEEFAOB.

venture to show even their noses amongst my treasures ; and I should be almost
as much astonished to find a living destroyer as a living Emperor Butterfly in one
of my drawers.

And now it only remains for me to mention my obligation to those gentlemen
who have given me such cordial and constant assistance during the progress of
my little work through the press : to all of them I offer my most sincere thanks.
I cannot mention each individual by name, for the list would include everyone
known as a collector of our British Butterflies, but I will select them to whom I
am more especially indebted : and first, my valued friend and constant adviser,
Mr. DotJBLEDAy. Every page has passed under his eye, and now incorporates his
invaluable corrections. The incalculable importance of this supervision everyone
will admit. Next, Mr. BOND. This generous and well-known naturalist placed his
entire collection at my disposal : he considered nothing too good or too valuable
to entrust to my care ; and thus I have been enabled to figure varieties wliich
exist only in his magnificent collection. Mr. DALE has been indefatigable in
supplying dates and localities: there is not a species of any variety but has
received some addition to its history from the stores of his unequalled information.
Mr. BIRCHALL, with his accustomed kindness, has done all in his power to promote
my undertaking.

These, our leading Lepidoptirists, men of European reputation, claim individual
thanks. But it must not be supposed that I undervalue in the slightest degree
those less distinguished, but no less kind and energetic workers, who have supplied
me with caterpillars for description, and with county lists of localities where
Butterflies are to be found. Without such assistance this work would not have
been what it is; nor would it have attained, while in progress, a sale which I
believe is without equal in any branch of science.

Erebia Ligea.

INDEX.

*„• The primary divisions are printed in CAPITALS, the secondary divisions In SMALL
CAPITALS, the names of the Butterflies, whether English or Latin, in Small Roman Inters, anJ
the Titles of Chapters in Small Italic Letters.

Acis, Lycaena, 133
Acheon, Hesperia, 173
Adippe, Argyn nis, 31
Admiral, Red, 62
Admiral, White, 67
Adonis, Lycaena, 129
JEigon, Lycrena, 119
Agestis=Medou, 123
Aglaia, Argynnis, 26
Alexis=Icarus, 128
Alsus, Lycaena. 134
Alveolus=Malvae, 170
ANGLE-WINGS, 48
ANTIIOCHARIS, 156
Antiopa, Vanessa, 58

„ Caterpillar, 19
APATURA, 71
Apollo, Doritis, 175
APORIA, 167
Argiolus, Lycsena, 135
ARGUS BUTTERFLIES, 105
Argus=^Egon, 119
Argus, Brown, 123
Argus, Castle Eden, 126
Argus, Pea-pod, 117
Argus, Scotch Brown, 127
ARGYNNIS, 22
Arion, Lycaena, 136
Artaxerxes, var., 127
Artemis, Melitsea, 39
Atalanta, Pyrameis, 5, 62
„ Caterpillar, 19
„ Chrysalis, 19
Athalia, Melitaea, 46

Betulse, Thecla, 112

„ Caterpillar, 20
Blandina=Medea, 82
Blue, Azure, 135
Blue, Chalk-hill, 131
Blue, Clifden, 129
Blue, Common, 128
Blue, Large, 136
Blue, Mazarine, 133
Blue. Silver-stii. led, 119
Small, 134

Boetica, Lampides, 117
Brassicae, Pieris, 165

„ Chrysalis, 20
Brimstone, 147
Butterfly state, 14
Brown, Northern, 82
Brown, Meadow, 91

C-album, Grapta, 4, 48
Camberwell Beauty, 58
Cardamines, Anthocharis, 156

,. Chrysalis, 20

Cardui, Pyrameis, 62
Cassiope=Epiphron, 80
Caterpillar state, 9
CELANTES, 21, 169
Ch;irlutta. var. 26
Chrysalis state, 12
Cinxia Melitse;), 43
Classification, 17
Cleodoxa, var., 32

CCENONYMPHA, 97
CoLIAS, 141

Comma, Hesperia, 172
Comma Butterfly, 4, 49
CONCEALERS, 21, 169
Copper, Common, 115
Copper, Large, 114
Cory don, Lycaena, 131

„ Caterpillar, 20
Crataegi, Aporia, 167
„ Chrysalis, 20
„ Caterpillar, 21
CYLINDRACEI, 21, 141
CYLINDRICAL, 21, 141

Daplidice, Pieris, 158
„ Chrysalis, 20
„ Caterpillar, 21
Dark Green Fritillary, 26
Davus, Ccenonympha, 97
DETEGENTES, 18
Diniensis, var., 154
Dispar=Hippothoe, 114
DORITIS, 175

DRYADS, 102

Duke of Burgundy, 103

Edusa, Colias, 143
Kgeria, Pyrarga, 86
Ei/g state, 7
Emperor, Purple, 71
EPINEPHELE, 91
Epiphron, Erebia, 80
EREBIA, 80
Eris, var., 30
Euphrosyne, Argynnis, 35
EXPOSERS, 18
Explanation of Terms, 15

Fritillary, Dark Green, 26
Fritillary, Glanville, 43
Fritillary, Greasy, 39
Fritillary, Heath, 46
Fritillary, High Brown, 31
Fritillary, Pearl-bordered, 35
Fritillary, Queen of Spain, 33
Fritillary, Silver-washed, 22
Fritillary, Small Pearl-bordered,

37

FRITILLARIES, GREGARIOUS, 39
FRITILLARIES, SILVER-SPOTTED

21

Galathaea, Melanagria, 77
„ Chrysalis, 19
„ Caterpillar, 20

GIRTED, 20, 102

Grayling, 89

GRAPTA, 48

Hairstreak, Black, 108
Hairstreak, Brown, 112
Hairstreak, Dark, 110
Hairstreak, Green, 105
Hairstreak, Purple, 106
Heath, Large, 93
Heath, Small, 101

XVI

INDEX.

Helice, var., 144
HESPERIA, 170

Hippothoe, Polyomrnatus, 114
Hyale, Coliim, 141

„ Caterpillar, 21

„ Chrysalis, 20
Hybernation, 16
flyperanthus, Epinephele, 95

Icarus, riycama, 128
Idas=Medon, 119
Introductory, 5
lo, Vanessa, 60
„ Caterpillar, 19
,, Chrysalis, 19
Iris, Apatura, 71
„ Caterpillar, 20
„ Chrysalis, 19

Janira, Epinephele, 91
„ Caterpillar, 20

LAMPIDES, 117
Lathonia, Argynnis, 33
Lavaterae, var., 170
LEUCOPHASIA, 154
LIMACIFORMES, 19

LlMENITIS, 67

Linea, Hesperia, 174
Lucina, Nemeobius, 103
Lycsena, 119

Machaon, Papilio, 150
„ Caterpillar, 21
„ Chrysalis, 20
Malvae, Hesperia, 170
Meadow Brown, 91
Medea, Erebia, 82
Medon, Lycsena, 123
Megsera Pyrarga, 87

Chrysalis, 19
MELANAGRTA, 77
Melarnpus=Epiphron, 80
MELIT^A, 39
Mnemon— Epiphron, 80
Mottles, Prelude of, 3

Napi, Pieris. 160

NEMEOBIUS, 103
Niobe, Argynnis, 29

ONISCIFORMES, 20, 102
Orange-tip, 156

Painted Lady, 6*2
Pamphilus, Coenonympha, 101
Paniscus, Hesperia, 171
Paphia, Argynnis, 22
„ Chrysalis, 19
PAPILIO, 3, 150
Pea-pod, Argus, 117
Peacock, 60

Phlaeas, Polyoramatus, 115
PIERIS, 158
Podalirius, Papilio, 3
Papilio, 3
Polychloros, Vanessa, 55

POLYOMMATUS, 114

Pruni, Thecla, 110

„ Caterpillar, 20
PYRAMEIS, 5, 62
PYRARQA, 86

Quercus, Thecla, 106
Queen of Spain, 33

Rapoe, Pieris, 161

REDHORNS, 140

Rhamni, Rhodocera, 147

RIIODOCERA, 147

Ringlet, 95

Ringlet, Marsh, 97

Ringlet, Rothlieb's Marsh, 98

Ringlet, Small, 80

Rothliebii, var., 98

Rubi, Thecla, 105

Salmacis, var., 126
SATYRUS, 89
Selene, Argynnis, 37
Seinele, Satyrus, 89
Sibylla, Limenitis, 67
Sinapis, Leucophasia, ]54
Skipper, Chequered, 171
Skipper, Dingy, 170
Skipper, Grizzled, 170

Skipper, Large, 172
Skipper, Lulworth, 173
Skipper, Silver-spotted, 172
Skipper, Small, 174
SKIPPERS, 169
SLUG-SHAPED, 19
SPINE-BEARERS, 19, 21
SPINIGERI, 19, 21
SUCCINCT!, 20, 102
SUSPENDED, 19
SUSPKNSI, 19
SWALLOW-TAIL, 149, 150
SWALLOW-TAILS, 149
Sylvauus, Hesperia, 172

Tages, Hesperia, 170
Terms, Explanation of, 15
Thecla, 105

Tithonus, Epinephele, 93
Tortoiseshell, Large, 55
Tortoiseshell, Small, 52
Typhon=Davus, 97

Urticae. Vanessa, 52

Valezina, var., 23
VANESSA, 52
VERMIFORMES, 140

W-album, Thecla, 108
Wall, 87
WHITES, 153
White, Black-veined, 167
White, Green-chequered, 158
White, Green-veined, 160
White, Large, 165
White, Marbled, 77
White, Small, 161
White, Wood, 153
White-bordered, 58
VV OODLOUSE-SHAPED CA-
TERPILLARS, 20, 102
WORM-SHAPED, 140
Wood, Speckled, 86

Yellow, Clouded, 143
Yellow, Pale Clouded, 141

TJiecla Pruni, with the wioga closed.

ILLUSTRATED NATURAL HISTORY

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

EDWARD NEWMAN, F.L.S., F.Z.S., to.

Papil'O Podalirius recorded as British by Haworth, but no Britisll specimen is known.

PRELUDE OF MOTTOES.

CHILD OP THE SUIT, pursue thy rapturous flight,
Mingling with her thou lov'at, in fields of light ;
And where the flowers of Paradise unfold.
Quaff fragrant nectar from their cups of gold.
There shall thy wings, rich as an evening sky,
Expand and shut with silent ecstasy.
Yet wert thou once a worm, a thing that crept
On the base earth, then wrought a tomb and slept.
And snch is man ; soon from his cell of clay
To liurat a seraph in the blaze of day.

ROQEBS.

Who lores not the gay butterfly, which flita

Uefore him in the ardent noon array' d

In crimson, azure, emerald, and gold;

Wi li iiuiiv magnificence upon his wing —

Ills little wing— than ever graced the robe

Gorgeous of royalty; is like the kine

That wanders 'mid the flowers that gem the mead,

Unconscious of their beauty.

CiEEINQTOlf.

Behold again, with saffron wing superb,
The giddy butterfly. Released at length
From Ms warm winter cell, he mounts on high,
No longer reptile, but endowed with plumes,
And thro'igh the blue air wanders; pert, alights,
And seems to sleep, but from the treacherous hand
Snatches his beauiies suddenly away
And zigzag dances o'er the flowery dell.

HUBDIS.

Late, as I wandered o'er a verdant meadow,
Loathsome and hairy creatures were devouring
Every leaf tint t.-mpted with its greenness,

Or by its fragrance.

Great was their toiling, earnest their contention,
Piercing their hunger, savage the dissension,
Selfish their striving, hideous their bearing,

Ugly their figure.

Next day I wandered to the verdant meadow ;
Each worm was spinning for himself a mantle ;
It was his grave-shroud ; and I watched him closely

Wrap it around him.

Once more I wandered by the verdant meadow j
Each worm was bursting from his long confinement ;
Each one was spreading to the sun's bright beaming,

Quivering pinions.

Hued like a rainbow, sparkling as a dewdrop,
Glittering as gold, and lively as a swallow,
Each left his grave-shroud, and in rapture winged him

Up to the heavens.

Oh ! then, shall man, on earth condemned to trouble,
Toilsome existence, warfare with his kindred,
Build lor himself his last cold habitation,

Doomed to remain there ?

No ; like these creatures, trouble, toil. ?cd prison
Chequer his pathway to a bright hereattor
When he shall mount him to the happy regions

Made to receive him.

ANON-

Frail feeble sprites ! — the children of a dream !

» » * » »

Like motes dependent in the sunny beam,
Living but in the sun's indulgent ken,
And when that light withdraws, withdrawing then ; —
So do we flutter in the glance of youth
And fervid fancy, — and HO perish when
ed.

The eye of faith grows agec

HOOD.

These be the pretty genii of the flowers,
Daintly fed with honey and pure dew.

HOOD.

Their wings with azure, green, and purp'e gloss'd,
Studded with colour'd eyes, with gems embossed,
Inlaid with pearl, and marked with various stains
Of lively crimson through their dusky veins.—

MBS. BABBACLD.

Lo, the bright train their radiant wings unfold
With silver fringed, and freckled o'er with gold.

Tneir lite ail pleasure, ana tneir taste MI piay,
All spring their age, and sunshine all their day.

MBS. LJABDiULD.

As, rising on its purple wing,
The insect queen of Eastern spring
O'er emerald meadows of Kashmero
Invites the young pursuer near,
And leads him on from flower to flower
A weary chasn and wasted hour ;
Then leaves him, as it soars on high,
With panting heart and tearful eye.
V » • •

The lovely toy so fiercely sought
Has lost its charm by being caught,
For every touch that wooed its stay
Has brushed its brightest hues away,

Voyez ce papillon e'ehappe' du tombeau,

Sa mort Cut un sommeil, et sa tombe nn berceau 5

II brise le fourreau qui 1'enchainait dans 1'ombre ;

Deuxyeux paraiontson front, et ses jeux sont sans nombre;

II Be tranait a peine, il part comme I'e'clair;

11 rampait sur la terre, il voltige dans 1'air.

Tl-o T.TT.T-W

OB LILLE.

Round about doth flie,
From bed to bed, from one to t'other border;

And take survey with curious busy eye,

Of every flower and herbe there set in order.

Now this, now that, he tasteth tenderly,
Yet none of them he rudely doth disc-raw.

No with his feete their silken leaves deface

But pastures on the pk«isures of each place.

And evermore, with most varietie

And change of sweetness (for all change is sweet),
He casts his glutton sense to satisfie,

Now sucking of the sap of berbe most meet
Or of the dew, which yet on them doth lie

Now in the same bathing his tender feet :
And then he percheth on some branch thereby,
To oeatteu him, and his moist wings to dry.

And whatso else of virtue good or ill

Grew in the garden, fetched from far away

Of every one he takes and tastes at will ;
And on their pleasures greedily doth prey

That when he hath both pUied and fed at fill
In the warme suime he doth himself embay,

And then him rests in riotous suffisaunoe

Of all bis gladfulness and kingly joyance.

What more felicitie can fall to creature

Than to enjoy delight with libertie
And to be lord of all the works of Nature ?

To reign in the aire from the earth to highest skie,
To feed on flowers, and weedes of glorious feature ?

To tike whatever thing doth please the eye ?
Who rests not pleased with such happiness
Well worthy he to taste of wretchedness. «

SPENSEB.

The helpless crawling caterpillar trace,
From the first period of his reptile race.
Cloth' d in dishonour, on the leafy spray
Unseen he wears his silent hours away ;
Till satiate grown of all that life supplies,
Self-taught, the voluntary martyr dies.
Deep under earth his darkening course he bends.
And to the tomb, a willing guest, descends.
T^ere, long secluded, in his lonely cell,
Forgets the sun, and bids the world farewell.
O'er the wide wastes the wintry tempests reign,
And driving snows usurp the frozen plain :
In rain the tempest bents, the whirlwind blows;
No storms can violate his grtY-e's repose.
But when revol/ing months have won their way,
When smiie the woods, and when the zephyrs play,
Wlien laughs the vivid world in summer's bloom,
He bursts ; and flies triumphant from the tomb ;
And while his new-born beauties he displays,
With conscious joy his altered form surveys.
Mark, while he moves amid the sunny beam,
O'er his soft wings the varying lustres gleam.
Launched into air, on purple plumes he soars,
Gav nature's face with wanton glance explores ;
Proud of his varying beauties wings his way,
And spoils the fairest flowers, himself more fair than they.

(From) HAWOBTII.

Dipt in the richest tincture of the skies,
Where light disports in ever mingling dyes,
While every beam new transient colour flings,
Colours that change whene'er they wave their wings.

THE BUTTERFLY'S BIRTHDAY.

When bursting forth to life and light,
The offspring of enraptured May,
The Butterfly on pinions tright,
Launched in full splendour on the day,

Unconscious of a mother's care,
No infant wretchedness she knew ;
But as she felt the vernal air,
At once to full perfection grew.

Her slender form, ethereal light.
Her velvet- textured wings infold ;
With all the rainbow's colours bright,
And dropt with spots of burnish'd gold.

Trembling with joy awhile she stood,
And felt the sun s enlivening ray ;
Drank from the skies the vital flood,
And wondered at her plumage gay !

And balanced oft her broidered wings,
Through fields of air prepared to sail :
Then on her vent'rous journey springs.
And floats along the rising gale

Go, child of pleasure, range the fields,
Taste all the joya that spring can give.
Partal e what bounteous summer yields,
And live whilst yet 'tis thine to live.

Go sip the rose's fragrant dew,
The hlly's honey'd cup explore,
From flower to flower the search renew»
And rifle all the woodbine's store :

And let me trace thy vagrant flight,
Thy mom-nts, too, of short repose.
And mark thee then with fresh delight
Thy golden pinions ope and close.

But hark ! while thus I musing stand,
Pours on the gale an airy note.
And breathing from a viewless hanu
Soft silvery tones ai ound me float !

They cease — but still a voice I hear,
A whispered voice of hope and joy,
" Thy hour of rest approaches near
Prepare thee, mortal— thou must die I

" Yet start not ! on thy closing eyes
Another day shall still unfold,
A sun of milder radiance rise,
A happier age of joys untold.

" Shall the poor worm that shocks thy sight.
The humblest form in nature's train,
Thus rise in new-born lustre bright,
And yet the emblem teach in vain ?

" Ah ! where were once her golden eyei
Her glitering wings of purple pride ?
Concealed beneath a rude disguise,
A shapeless mass to earth allied.

" Like thee the hapless reptile lived,
Like thee he toiled, like thee he spun,
Like thine his closing hour arrived
His labour ceased, his web was done.

" And shalt thou, numbered with the dead,
No happier state of being know ?
And shail no future morrow shed
On thee a beam of brighter glow ?

" Is this ihe bound of power divine,
To animate an insect frame ?
Or shall not He who moulded thine
Wake at his will the vital flame ?

" Go mortal ! in thy reptile state,

Enough to know to thee is given ;

Go, and the joyful truth relate ;

Frail child of earth ! high heir of heaven ! "

(From) KIBBY and SriircB.

Vanessa C-album with its wings closed.

Pyrameis Atalanta, or Admiral; a, Caterpillar, b, Chrysalis, and c, perfect Butterfly.

INTEODUCTOEY.

WHEN! was a very little boy indeed — I will
not say how long ago — I loved butterflies
much better than books, and the teachings of
Nature much better than the teachings of
governesses, and I recollect, as well as if it
were yesterday, the first butterfly I ever saw :
it was sitting on a leaf, and I called out, "Oh,
look what a beautiful flower!" and T tried to
pick it, but away it flew ; and T recollect that
I cried out, " The beautiful flower has flown
away." How lasting are early impressions !
I have never forgotten that butterfly, and to
this hour I cannot disconnect the idea of a
butterfly and a flying flower. It was not,
however, until I was about twelve years of
age that I began seriously to think of writing
a " History of Butterflies," which project was
carried out some year or so afterwards, and the
manuscript still exists. When, after the lapse
of nearly half a century, I was requested to
do the same thing for publication, all the
names on which I had once doated, Uquites,
Achivi, Parncusii, Danai, Nymphales, and

Plebeii, were either absolutely forgotten, or
were curiously examined as though they were
the fossil remains of some unknown world —
more wonderful than this, the Greeks had be-
come the wives of the Trojans, and, instead of
contending with spears and swords, had settled
their differences, and were ranged side by side
in the drawers of every museum. A new ar-
rangement and new views had superseded the
old ones, and all my puerile labours had been
rendered valueless ; but T well recollect that
Robert Southey, having been reproached with
early writings, at variance with those of his
more advanced years, bravely said, "I am no
more ashamed of those writings than I am of
having been a boy," and I fully enter into his
feeling, and am no more ashamed of my first
"History of Butterflies," than I am of having
once been but twelve years of age. Neither
can I imagine that we are even now approach-
ing perfection, but quite anticipate that another
generation will look down on my "Detegentes,"
"Celantes," " Suspensi," and "

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

the same smile of placid superiority that I am
now regarding the heroes of Troy and Greece.
Et is perfectly right that it should be so. "What
were the use of study if improvement were
forbidden !

Every one now knows that a butterfly was
not always a butterfly ; probably every one
then knew it, but there is little trace of that
knowledge in the standard works of Linnseus
and Fabricius, or in that of our own venerated
Haworth. Every butterfly comes from an
egg ; from that egg emerges a caterpillar (a) ;
that caterpillar sheds its skin some four, five,
or half-a-dozen times, and then changes to
a chrysalis (b) ; and in course of time that
chrysalis bursts open and forthwith issues a
butterfly (c). (See figure on preceding page.)

This seems a great mystery : and the learned
in all ages — I mean, in all entomological ages —
have availed themselves of the mystery as a
plea for exhibiting their erudition, their pro-
found knowledge : some of them demonstrate
to their own entire satisfaction that the outer
covering, or skin, has the power of evolving,
from its inner surface, a second skin, destined
to take the place of the first, as soon as that is
done with, and cast off ; that this second skin
evolves a third ; this third a fourth, and so on
until the last skin evolves a chrysalis, and the
chrysalis a butterfly, with which event the
power of evolution ceases, and the life of the
individual is consummated and completed on
its acquiring the new power of continuing its
kind. Another set ot philosophers contend
that, from the very first, the egg contains all
the parts and all the coverings of the future
caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly; which last
only awaits the escape from these in order to
exhibit and enjoy its final and matured con-
dition.

This view of the case is in accordance with
ay own theory : theory, you will please to
remember, is an inference based on facts ; it is
perfectly distinct from hypothesis, an inference
founded on conjecture. When I was very
much younger I recollect being struck with an
exhibition which may be a common one, but
it is one I have only witnessed once : it was at
A travelling circus, and at this strange r»We I

saw an apt illustration of my theory of butter-
fly development. A horse was led into the
circle carrying on its back what looked to me
like a tar-barrel : at first the pace was very
slow, but gradually increased. As the perfor-
mance proceeded, the head of the barrel was
forced out by some internal agency ; then a
head appeared, and then arms, and then the
b irrel fell to pieces, and a rough looking coun-
tryman abundantly muffled up in coats stood
on the horse's back ; the whip was ci'acked,
the pace quickened, and the rider threw off
his upper coat; faster still, he threw off a
second coat, a third, a fourth ; faster and faster,
more and more coats. He seemed to wear
enough coats to stock an old clothes shop, and
to be very regai-dless of their value, as he
threw them into the middle of the circle. The
audience screamed with delight as the fun
grew " fast and furious," until the rider ap-
peared as an elegant female in short, pink,
spangled skirt, a striking lack of clothing
about the legs, and wearing a pair of glitter-
ing wings, possibly intended to resemble those
of a butterfly. The pace slackened, the horse
panted with the exertion, the audience ap-
plauded, and the lady bowed her thanks for
the applause.

Now, just in the same manner as that ele-
gant horsewoman must have been contained in
the barrel and in the coats, so I suppose the
butterfly to be confined in the egg, and the
various skins or envelopes to have covered it
from the very first, although perfectly con-
cealed from human observation ; the chief
difference between the two being the gradual
enlargement of the insect and the diminution
of the rider : for as she cast off one garment
after another, she seemed to "grow small by
degrees and beautifully less"; whereas the
butterfly after throwing off each of its gar-
ments seems to increase in size as though by
natural expansion : with this exception the
simile is perfect.

Such is the life-history of every butterfly ;
and if not a mystery or a miracle, it is still a
history worthy the study of every rational
being. How wonderful is the change of the
same creature from a crawling caterpillar to a

INTRODUCTORY.

Bearing butterfly ! I wish my readers to
regard it as many of our poets and philo-
sophers have done. The caterpillar, greedy,
crawling, toiling for its very life, much re-
sembles a man in his daily occupations ; the
chrysalis has no power to move, eat, or act in
any way, and many actually bury themselves
in the ground and there await the i«L"^ge to
a butterfly, resembling man when dead and in
his grave. Lastly conies the butterfly, burst-
ing from its prison-house, and borne from
place to place on beautiful wings. So is it
appointed for the man who has walked up-
rightly on the earth, to rise from the tomb
and ascend, a happy spirit, to regions of bliss.
(See the prelude of mottoes with which I
have prefaced these observations.)

Butterflies and moths together constitute a
great and principal class of insects, which is
called Scale Wings, or Lepidoptera; each in-
dividual possesses four wings, all of which are
covered with scales.

I will now explain, as well as I am able,
how to know a butterfly from a moth. In
the first place, a butterfly always flies in the
daytime. In the second place, it always rests
by night, and almost always in rainy or cloudy
weather. In the third place, when it is rest-
ing, it raises its wings, in some instances
pressing them together back to back, so that
the four wings look only like two wings, as
shown at page 2 at the end of the mottoes : but
a moth turns its wings downwai'ds instead of
upwards, folding them round its body. Again,
the hind wings of a butterfly are stiff, and you
cannot fold thorn up ; but the hind wings of a
moth are almost invariably neatly folded up
lengthwise, and quite hidden beneath the fore
wings. Then, again, both butterflies and
moths have two feelers attached to the head,
just in frontof the eyes; we call them antenna?,
and you will see them in every figure in the
following pages. These in different insects
are of different shapes ; but in butterflies they
generally have a little knob at the end. Then
there is something else about the antennae
that is a still better guide to you than the
knob at the end ; and that is, that the owner
cannot stow them away or hide them ; whether

the butterfly is asleep or awake, its antenna)
are always stretched out in front, or held
quite upright. Now a moth, when going to
sleep, turns its antenna under its wing, or
conceals them in some similar manner, both
from observation and from injury. Again,
the eyes of a butterfly are very much larger
than those of a moth, because the butterfly
flies by day. The waist of a butterfly b
nipped in, making the division into thorax
and body very distinct; but there isnosuch dis-
tinct division in a moth : and hence the butter-
flies are called Pedunculated Lepidoptera (in
science Lepidoptera Pedunculata), and the
moths, Sessile-bodied Lepidoptera (in science
Lepidoptera Sessiliventres). If you attend to
all these differences, you will soon learn to
distinguish at first sight an English butterfly
from an English moth. No sooner, how-
ever, does the entomologist become acquainted
with exotic butterflies and moths, than he
finds exceptions and difficulties arise which
scientific writers have rendered almost in-
superable by the diversity of their opinions
and the extreme skill with which they have
been urged. On this subject it will be un-
availing to enter here. It will be sufficient
for me to say that the scientific are equally
divided in opinion whether the insects belong-
ing to the most magnificent orderof sun-loving
Lepidoptera — I mean the Uranite* — should be
regarded as butterflies or moths. My own
opinion is decidedly in favour of considering
them butterflies; but then it is an opinion
only, so I will not urge it, but proceed to
introduce a few general observations on butter-
fly life in its four different stage*.

THE EGG STATE.

It is a most interesting occupation to watcb
the female depositing her eggs, and to obser\ e
the extraordinary sagacity she displays in
selecting the leaf proper for the food of the
future caterpillar. In a hedge or coppice,
densely crowded with every kind of native
shrub, the Emperor selects the sallow, the
White Admiral the honey suckle, and the

8

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

Brimstone the buckthorn. Hardly ever, by
any chance, is the egg of one species l;ua on
the food-plant of another. There are, how-
ever, occasional exceptions ; and these very
exceptions display an amount of botanical
knowledge which, of course, we must consider
as instinctive or intuitive knowledge, pos-
sessed by these females, that cannot fail to
excite our admiration ; it is that when the
usual food-plant is not at hand, and the egg
must be extruded, the most nearly allied
species is selected and made to serve as a sub-
stitute : for instance, when the common specie?
of buckthorn (lihamnus catharticus) cannot
be found, the rarer $i)ecies(Rhamnu8franguhi)
is made to supply its place. When a female
butterfly is about to lay her eggs, her conduct
is totally different from that ordinarily to be
observed : she assumes a grave, important, and
business-like demeanour, with which the prac-
tical observer soon becomes familiar; she
exhibits none of that volatility and careless-
ness which characterises a butterfly when
engaged in the lighter labours of life, such as
making love or sipping honey. Her eggs are
generally covered with liquid glue at the
moment they are laid, and this glue fastens
them to whatever substances the parent but-
terfly pleases, generally the surface of a leaf,
but sometimes to a twig or the bark of a tree.
This latter plan is always adopted by the
English species of Hair-streaks.

There is, however, one striking exception to
this rule, and others of course may be ex
pected. The Marbled White, as Mr. Moii
creaff informs me, drops her eggs at random
among the herbage, being perfectly well
assured that th? young caterpillar when
hatched will find out, and will crawl up, some
blade of grass suitable for him to feed on.

The eggs of butterflies differ very remark-
ably both in size and shape : in somethe surface
is most beautifully ornamented as with carved
work, but a thousand times more delicate and
finer than any carving that human hands
could execute; some are exquisitely fluted ;
others are ribbed, the ribs being from ten to
thirty in number, and these are connected by
ft great number of excessively minute trans-

verse raised lines ; some ai'e entirely covered
with a net-work of rais >d Hues ; others have
rows of minute warts, forty or fifty in num-
ber, all of which converge to a point at the
top of the egg; others are perfectly smooth
and without markings of any kind ; some few
of them have a lid at the top, which the
young caterpillar gently lifts off when he
makes his first appearance in the world. In-
deed, the variety of surface in eggs is almost
infinite, and so is the shape ; some being
round, others oblong, and others like cham-
pagne bottles, standing upright.

One of the most curious and striking facts is
the extreme difference in the eggs of species,
which, in the perfect state, closely resemble
each other ; thus the egg of the Large Tor-
toiseshell is pear-shaped and smooth, while
that of the Small Tortoiseshell is oblong, with
eight very conspicuous ribs. The characters
of each egg are, however, so constant in each
species of butterfly, that any one who has paid
attention to the subject can immediately say
to what butterfly any particular egg belongs.
Nevertheless, a naturalist must not delude
himself into a belief that he can classify
butterflies by the shape or structure of their

This remarkable diversity in the eggs of
butterflies, being so opposed to the samene.-s of
shape and surface in the eggs of birds, has not
only excited the admiration, but induced the
speculation, of philosophers in all ages. Thus
Dr. Paley had suggested, that it " may in
many instances be referred to that will to
alter forms, and so to glorify His wisdom and
power, which seem so often to have guided
the Great Author of Nat lire" — a position that
peems to me untenable, because it savours of
seeking that glory which His wonderful
works spontaneously afford ; and thus to attri-
bute to a Creator feelings that would scarcely
dignify a creature. "We cannot be too cautious
in assigning human motives to the Most High.
Man may, perhaps, build marvellous struc-
tures, carve exquisite figures, perform feats
of intellectual or manual dexterity for his own
honour and glory, and without any ulterior
beneficial object, but he must not a

INTRODUCTORY.

such a course to his Maker. These reflections
have been forced on me by the leaders in our
science, or I would not have ventured to
express them. Kirby and Spence seem en-
tirely to accept Dr. Paley's explanation.

The substance of the egg-shell is peculiar,
but alike in all. It seems to me entirely
different from that of a bird, which abounds
with calcareous matter, and, in consequence,
is very brittle ; whereas the egg-shell of a
butterfly is more like thin horn — very elastic,
very tough, and very pliable — bending in any
direction as soon as the caterpillar has escaped.
It contains no carbonate of lime, and chemists
tell us that it is not acted on by diluted sul-
phuric acid. Kirby compared the egg-shell
of a butterfly to the membrane that lines the
egg-shell of a bird; but it appears to me
much less pliable and even less flaccid, and
much more elastic, than that integument.
The interior of the egg consists of a trans-
parent colourless fluid, much resembling the
white of a bird's egg; but I have never been
able to find anything at all analogous to the
yolk.

With the act of egg-laying the care of the
mother butterfly ceases altogether. Although
we have a great number of pleasing accounts
of plant-bugs and earwigs sitting on their
eggs, and hatching them by the warmth, or,
more properly speaking, by the coldness of
their bodies, and afterwards of collecting
them under their bodies as a hen does her
chickens, and still after that of the little ones
following their mother in a family group, just
as chickens run after a hen ; still nothing of
the kind has ever been noticed in butterflies,
and the parent seems invariably to have com-
pleted her task when she has placed her yet
unconscious progeny in a situation where it
will eventually be able to obtain its own live-
lihood. Few butterflies long survive the act
of oviposition : it seems the end for which
they have lived ; and when it is accomplished
the termination of their own life is approfch-
ing, and the fragile parent resigns its place
in the world to its equally fragile descendants.
Of the seasons for egg-laying and caterpillar
feeding I shall have more to say hereafter.

It is not a matter that is governed by any law
of general application.

The colour of butterflies' eggs is generally
pale green or pale yellow, or, in some in-
stances, pure ivory white ; but before the
shell is burst, and the caterpillar emerges, a
very great change takes place; the colour
becomes deeper and darker, and the tints —
especially the darker ones of the future cater-
pillar— become visible through the shell, the
transparency of which is thus most clearly
demonstrated.

THE CATERPILLAR STATE.

Dr. Virey, as well as Kirby and Spence,
have followed the old authors in stating that
the caterpillars of Lepidoptera appear simul-
taneously with the leafing of trees, and
butterflies with the blooming of flowers :
however this may be in those lands where
this supposed law was laid down, it is quite
certain that the great seasons for caterpillars
are the end of May and end of August, the
first simultaneous with the blooming of
flowers, the last with the fine autumnal tints
of the falling leaf ; so that we must not re-
gard Virey's theory as perfectly satisfactory :
it is truthful and tenable only in part. The
eggs of all butterflies do not hatch at the
same time ; the caterpillars do no feed at the
same time ; they do not turn to chrysalids at
the same time. Miss Jermyn, in her " Vade
Mecum" — a book that I used to study with
intense interest — follows out the theory by
telling us tint "nature keeps her butterflies,
moths, and caterpillars locked up during the
winter in their egg state ;" evidently intend-
ing them to hatch in the spring, feed in
summer, and fly in autumn. I believe that
Nature obeys her own laws, totally regardless
of those we lay down for her guidance. The
caterpillar emerges at all seasons ; and as the
young lawyer is facetiously said to eat his way
to the bar, so does the young caterpillar pre-
pare himself for public life, by gnawing away
a sufficient portion of the egg-shell in which
he had been confined to allow of his escape,

10

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

and by swallowing the chips he had made
duiing the operation. Indeed, this gastro-
nomic feat is often followed by a more exten-
S've performance of the same kind; for I have
often watched him devour the whole of bis
cradle, except a small shining circular patch
where it had been glued to the object on
which it was laid. No sooner, however, is
the cradle disposed of than he begins to feed
011 what we .should consider a more natural
and appropriate food, namely, the leaves of
trees and herbs — a diet to which he confines
himself during the remainder of his caterpillar
existence. His exertions in the way of leaf
eating are truly wonderful, and many ento-
mologists have amused themselves and their
readers by calculating how many times its
own weight a caterpillar can consume in the
course of twenty-four hours — a calculation
which tends greatly to the credit of the cal-
culator, but not much to advance the science
of natural history.

A caterpillar's life is not, however, one of
continual feasting : he is subject to periodical
attacks of illness, three, four, five, or six in
number ; these arise from his body growing
too large for his skin, which, as a natural
coneequenee, grows too small and oppresses
him so much that it must be got rid of. The
caterpillar is perfectly aware of this, and
prepares in the most skilful and methodical
manner for the important event. He first
spins or weaves a little carpet on the surface
of the leaf or twig where he has been feeding,
and then fixes himself to this by means of a
circle of very small delicate hooks which sur-
round each of his claspers. The term claspers
T will presently explain. By means of these
hooks the caterpillar is able to cling so tightly
to the carpet he has prepared, that I believe
*'.t is quite impossible to remove him without
damaging both the carpet and the hooks ; in
lact, in the attempt to remove a caterpillar
when thus fixed, the life of the caterpillar is
often sacrificed. The process of moulting is
a very severe one ; and unless the caterpillar
be in a state of perfect health at the time it is
ol'rm fatal, and the poor creature is found
dead and still hanging by its claspers from its

silken carpet. When the process of moulting
goes on favourably it may thus be described :
the fore part of the body is turned vigorously
from side to side, the skin of the second,
third, and fourth segments opens down the
back, and the head and anterior part of the
caterpillar protrude through the opening :
then immediately beneath the head may be
seen the shell-like covering of the old head,
split down the middle and often into three
pieces ; the caterpillar next, with a series of
convulsive struggles, creeps out of his old
skin, which is left attached to the carpet, and
is frequently so perfect and apparently so
plump that I have been completely deceived
into supposing that .he was still wearing his
old clothes.

The head, antennae, jaws, and legs of the
caterpillar are persistent, and their horny
covering only is shed at the period of mo It ;
and Swammerdam tells us that not only the
horny covering of these parts and the skin of
the body comes away at each moult, but also
that "the throat and a part of the stomach,
and even the inward surface of the great gut,
change their skin at the same time. But this
is nob the whole of these wonders, for at the
same time some hundreds of pulmonary pipes
within the body cast also each its delicate and
tender skin. These several skins are after-
wards collected into eighteen thicker, and, as
it were, compounded ropes — nine on each side
of the body — which, when the skin is cast,
slip gently and by degrees from within the
body through eighteen apertures or orifices of
the pulmonary tubes, nine on each side. Two
other branches of the pulmonary pipes, that
are smaller and have no points of respiration,
cast a skin likewise. If any one separates the
cast little ropes or congeries of the pulmonary
pipes with a fine needle he will very distinctly
see the branches find ramifications of these
several pipes and also their annular compo-
sition."

This really marvellous description of th<;
moulting of the skins of the viscera is copied
from Kirby and Spence, and not from Swam-
merdam, because I do not possess the original;
and much as I dislike to quote secondhand, I

INTRODUCTORY.

11

have no hesitation about accepting the facts
recorded. There is" another feature in this
periodical moulting equally interesting, and
that is that the spines, hairs, warts, and other
appendages of the skin, so conspicuous in
many of the caterpillars, are shed with the
skin, and, we learn from the same high autho-
rity, are replaced by similar ones which existed
and have been perfected beneath the skin that
has been cast, although of necessity bent down
and flattened between the new and old cuticles.
The observations of Swammerdana are con-
firmed by precisely similar ones recorded by
B»nnet, but have been called in question in
some of their details by Herold ; still these
objections have only been raised in respect of
the moulting of some of the minor air-vessels.
No doubt has been expressed as regards the
larger air-vessels commonly known as tracheae.

After this formidable operation of moulting
is accomplished, the body is excessively soft
and tender; the head, afterwards so hard, and
the legs afterwards so horny and so sharp-
pointed, are as pliable and yielding as the
most delicate skin, and are covered with a
transparent gummy fluid, which was pre-
viously confined between the new skin and
the old : as the creature now lies exhausted
by the exertion, the fluid gradually evaporates,
and the new skin gradually acquii'es the hard-
ness and dryness of the old one : and when
the caterpillar has thoroughly recovered its
former state, its appetite seems to return, and
its voracity to be redoubled, as if to make
amends for its lengthened abstinence. Its
colours, which on first emergence were dull
and faint, become vivid and distinct, and its
whole appearance is altered and improved by
the ordeal through which it has passed.

The caterpillars of butterflies are extremely
fastidious about their food, in this respect
differing very essentially from other leaf-eating
creatures. We know that horses, cows, sheep,
and pigs will eat with apparent relish almost
any foliage that is offered them, and birds in
a cnge seem glad of every green leaf. With
caterpillars it is otherwise ; they uniformly
nTu.se almost everything except the leaves of
that particular species of tree, shrub. ~r herb

on which the parent had laid its egg. It is
very interesting to observe the wonderfully
perfect power of discrimination which they
exhibit, a power that seems vested in twelve
minute microscopic eyes, seated six on each
cheek, almost close to the mouth : these eyes
are highly convex lenses : strikingly reminding
one of a Coddington lens : such is the extreme
convexity of these eyes, that it is impossible
for them to convey an idea of any object to
the insect using them unless they are brought
into contact, or nearly so; consequently, the
caterpillar seems to examine with his mouth
the surface of each leaf before he ventures to
nibble. If you take a caterpillar from oak
and put it on hawthorn, it will maunder about
in hopeless helplessness ; and if you change
one from hazel to birch, the same effect will
be produced : the position of these microscopic
eyes is admirably adapted for the purpose they
serve : they are only capable of discerning an
object immediately below them. How differ-
ent is this from the conduct of the parent
butterfly, which selects even from a distance
the leaf designed by Nature to serve as food
for her offspring.

The caterpillars of butterflies are composed
of thirteen rings or joints, which entomolo-
gists call segments.

The first segment is the head, and is fur-
nished with two short antennae, two feelers,
two jaws, and the twelve minute microscopic
eyes to which I have already alluded.

The second has two spiracles or breathing
holes, one on each side, and two jointed legs.

The third has two jointed legs only.

The fourth has two jointed legs only.

The fifth has two spiracles only.

The sixth has two spiracles only.

The seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth, have
each two claspers and two spiracles.

The eleventh and twelfth have each twf
spiracles only.

The thirteenth has two claspers only.

It is almost useless to say anything about
the use or objects of the ANTENNA, after all
that has been written ; but it is the general
fault of all scientific men who have written
on the subject to assume that they must be

12

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

the seat of one of those senses the use of which,
we seem to understand so well in ourselves.
Now, it is most illogical to assume that the
antennae serve for purposes of sight, taste,
smell, hearing, or touch, because we possess
these senses seated in certain organs in our
own bodies. We cannot refer the wings of
insects to any organs we ourselves possess,
and we only learn their use by seeing tliem
employed. Why may not the antennae be the
site of some other function not performed by
any of our own organs ? Why seek to invest
them with the powers of our own eyes, or
ears? The subject may be safely left as one
above our comprehension.

The SPIRACLES are a series of nine oval holes
on each side, through which the caterpillar
breathes : they communicate with the trach' re
or breathing- tubes I have already described
as moulting in so marvellous a manner simul-
taneously with the exterior skin.

The CLASPERS are fleshy, retractile, or par-
tially retractile, organs, ten in number, dis-
tributed as above indicated ; their use is to
grasp firmly the food-jilant on which they are
standing, and thus allow the legs perfect
freedom of motion. They are possessed only
by caterpillars, never occurring in the perfect
insect, and are very rarely found in any cater-
pillars excepting those of butterflies, moths,
and sawflies. Each clasper terminates in a
flat circular disk, the margin of which is
fringed with recurved prehensile hooks.

THE CHRYSALIS.

The next change is one of the most im-
portant steps in the life of a butterfly : it
ceases to eat; and not only this, the cater-
pillar seems to take the utmost pains to eject
every particle of food from the alimentary
canal, and, we are told, evacuates also, together
with the excnment, the very lining of its
intestines. The colours of the skin change,
fade, and entirely disappear; and the creature
wanders restlessly and, as we should pay,
unmeaningly from place to place. Whatever
the object of this restlessness — and I do not

doubt it has some object in that great scheme
of life, so complete in all the parts we can
understand — still, I say, whatever the object
of this restlessness, its termination is invari-
ably the same; it ends in the creature finding
some place of real or fancied security in which
to undergo its change to a chrysalis. This
being found, the next process is to spin a little
pad of silken • threads crossing each other in
every direction — and it would seemthatalmost
every caterpillar has the power of elaborating
silk, and of emitting it through the mouth in
the form of thread ; when the silken pad is
complete, the caterpillar grasps it with his
last pair of claspers, and then allowing his
body to hang down, waits awhile for the
change that is progressing within. After the
lapse of a day, or sometimes two days, we
observe something like a renewal of those
twistings and contortions which precede or
accompany each moulting, and then the cater-
pillar frkin is seen to open behind the head,
and by the alternate contractions and dilations,
the elm sal is, now perfectly formed, is seen to
force itself through the opening, the upper
part of the back coming first, and acting as a
wedge to open the slit wider and wider, until
all the chrysalis has passed through the open-
ing, and the skin of the caterpillar, wrinkled
and shrivelled, is pushed down to the lower
end of the chrysalis, and there remains, just
like a stocking rolled down to the ankle before
withdrawing it from the foot. " The chrysalis
being much shorter than the caterpillar is as
yet at some distance from the silken pad on
which it is to be fastened; it is supported merely
by the unsplit terminal portion of the latter's
skin. How shall it disengage itself from the
remnant of its case, and be suspended in the air
while it climbs up to take its place? Without
arms and legs to support itself, the anxious
spectator expects it to fall to the earth. His
fears, however, are vain ; the supple segments
of the body of the chrysalis serve in the place
of arms. Between two of them, as with a pair
of pincers, it seizes on a portion of the skin,
and bending its body once more, entirely ex-
tricates its tail from it. It is now wholly out
of the skin, against one side of which it ia

INTRODUCTORY.

13

supported, but yet at some distance from the
leaf. The next step it must take is to climb
up to the required height. For this purpose
it repeats the same ingenious manoeuvre ;
making its cast-off skin serve as a sort of
ladder, it successively with different segments
seizes a higher and a higher portion, until in
the end it reaches the summit ; with its tail it
feels for the silken threads that are to support
it. But how can the tail be fastened to them 1
you ask. This difficulty has been provided
against by Creative Wisdom. The tail of the
chrysalis is furnished with numerous little
hooks pointing in different directions, as well
adapted to the end in view as the crochets on
the caterpillar's claspers, and some of these
hooks are sure to fasten themselves upon the
silk the moment the tail is thrust amongst
it. Our chrysalis has now nearly performed
its labours ; it has withdrawn its tail from the
slough, climbed up it, and suspended itself
from the silken pad, manoeuvres so delicate
and perilous that we cannot but admire that
an insect which executes them but once in its
life should execute them so well ; nor could it,
as Reaumur has well and piously observed,
'had it not been instructed by a Great Master.'
One more exertion remains : it seems to have
as great an antipathy to its cast-off skin as one
of us should, when newly clothed after a long
imprisonment, to the filthy prison garments we
had put off. It will not suffer the memento of
its former state to remain near it, and is no
sooner suspended insecurity than it endeavours
to make it fall. For this end it seizes, as it were,
with its tail, the threads to which the skin is
fastened, and then very rapidly whirls itself
round, often not fewer than twenty times.
By this means it generally succeeds in break-
ing them and the skin falls down. Sometimes,
however, the first attempt fails : in that case,
after a moment's rest, it makes a second,
twirling itself in an opposite direction, and
this is rarely unsuccessful. Yet now and
then it is forced to repeat its whirling not less
than four or five times, and Reaumur has seen
instances where the feet of the skin were so
firmly hooked that, after many fruitless
ellbrte, the chrysalis, as if in despair, gave up

the task and suffered it to remain. Aftei
these exertions it hangs the remainder of it.*
existence in this state until the butterfly i.-
disclosed."

This beautiful and graphic account of the
conduct of the chrysalis on what may be
called its birthday, is extracted from that
inexhaustible mine of insect-lore, " Introduc
tion to Entomology," by Kirby and Spence.
I have, however, verified the facts from
actual observation, and only copy the details
instead of writing them anew, because the
phraseology of their admirable writings is
so much better than my own. Still,
although I can confirm the statements and
attest the accuracy of the description, I
am unwilling to accept the reason assigned for
some of these extraordinary proceedings. I
do not imagine that the whirling movement
is performed for the purpose of getting rid of
the cast skin : in the first place, because I find
that many species elect to retain the skin until
the final assumption of the butterfly state,
and to preserve it like the rolled-up stocking
to which our authors have compared it — this
is certainly the case in that family which I
shall call Satyridce, and probably in many
others ; and, in the second place, this whirling
is not peculiar to this period of chrysalid
existence, and can be induced by irritation
whenever an entomologist inclines to make
the experiment.

I must here explain that the chrysalids of
insects are of three kinds, called Amorphous
(in science Amorpha), when they have no re-
semblance to the perfect insect; Necromorph-
ous (in science Necromorpha), when they have
a striking resemblance to the perfect insect,
and exhibit all its limbs swathed as it were
in swaddling-clothes ; and Isomorphous (in
science Isomorpha), when they resemble the
perfect insect in everything but the possession
of wings. The amorphous and necromorphous
chrysalids can neither eat, fly, nor run ; the
isomorphous chrysalids, on the contrary,
eat voraciously, leap and run with vigoui',
but cannot fly. I/epidoptera, and conse-
quently butterflies, belong to the amorphous
division.

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

THE BUTTERFLY.

When the time for the final change has ar-
rived, the colours and markings of the perfect
insect begin to make their appearance through
the horny shell which envelopes the chrysalis,
and in a short time this horny shell splits in
various places, cracks open between pieces of
the shell, and the perfect insect emerges. I
say perfect, but, alas, how apparently imper-
fect 1 The wings, instead of being those rigid
and powerful organs which are soon to become
so characteristic of a butterfly, and are so well
adapted to bear him on the most distant aerial
excursions, are diminutive, shapeless abor-
tions, folded over his chest, limp, pliable bags,
filled with colourless blood which has hereafter
to be diffused throughout the body. " To ob-
serve how gradual and yet how rapid was the
development of the joints and organs, and
particularly of the wings, and the perfect
coming forth of the colours and spots as the
sun gave vigour to it, was a more interesting
spectacle." I will continue to quote Kirby and
Spence, for, although I can readily imagine no
one has so long or so intently studied these
proceedings of Nature as I have done, yet I
feel painfully conscious of my inability to
describe them with the force and truthfulness
that so distinguish the writings of those
illustrious entomologists. They are describing
the emergence of the Swallow-tail : — " At
first it was unable to elevate or even move its
wings, but in proportion as the aerial or other
fluid was forced by the motion of its trunk
into the nervures, their numerous corrugations
and folds gradually yielded to the action, till
they had gained their greatest extent, and the
film between all the nervures became tense.
The ocelli and spots and bars, which appeared
at first as but germs or rudiments of what
they were to be, grew with the growing wing,
and shone forth upon its complete expansion
in full magnitude and beauty. To understand
more clearly the cause of this rapid expansion
and development of the wings, I have before
explained that these organs, though often ex-
ceedingly thin, are always composed of two

membranes, having most commonly a number

of hollow vessels, miscalled nerves, running
between them. These tubes — which, after the
French entomologists, I would name nervures
— contribute as well to the development of the
wings as to their subsequent tension. In the
chrysalis, and commonly after wai'ds, the two
membranes composing the organs in question
do not touch each other's inner surface as they
afterwards do : there is consequently a space
between them j andbeingmoist and corrugated
into a vast number of folds, like those of a fan,
but transverse as well as longitudinal, and so
minute as to be imperceptible to the naked
eye, the wing appears much thicker than
in the end. Now, as soon as the insect is
disclosed a fluid enters the tubes, and being
impelled into their minutest ramifications, ne-
cessarily expands their folds ; for the nervures
themselves are folded, and as they gradually
extend in length with them, the moist mem-
branes attached to them are also unfolded and
extended. In proportion as this takes place
the expanding membranes approach each
other, and at last, being dried by the action
of the atmosphere, become one. To promote
this motion of the fluid seems tho object ot
the agitations which the animal gives from
time to time to its unexpanded wings."

That a fluid precisely analogous to our
blood, but having no red colour, circulates in
every part of an insect's body, has been proved
beyond question. Dr. Bowerbank was the
first entomologist in this country who by
means of a powerful microscope established
the fact; and although prior to this important
discovery there was a disposition to doubt the
existence of circulation in the insect world,
every man of science at once accepted Dr.
Bowerbank's views as conclusive ; and no
hesitation is now expressed on a subject where
an exception to the ordinary law of Nature
had been for a series of years supposed not
only possible but unquestionable — so ready
are we to accept any conclusions that super-
sede the trouble of investigation.

We have seen that the membranous portior.
of the wing is spread between certain supports,
which Messrs. Kirby and Spence, adopting the
nomenclature of French ent. .moiogists, have

INTRODUCTORY.

15

been pleased to term " nervures." It results
from a careful examination of the writings
of entomologists, that exactly one third have
described these supports as "veins," exactly
one third as " nerves," and exactly one third as
" nervures," or " nervules "; the advocates for
each term having shown to their own entire
satisfaction its peculiar and exclusive propriety.
The argument always runs thus : " We know
very well that these organs are not veins (or
' nerves', or ' nervures,' as the case may be),
but it is a matter of convenience so to deno-
minate them ; and no sensible man will deny
the advantages of a uniformity in anatomical
nomenclature." This reasoning appears to
me somewhat illogical: if we "know very
well " that the wing of a bird is not a leg, it.
can be no convenience to any one to call it a
leg ; if we " know very well " that the head
of a horse is not its tail, it really can be no
convenience to call it a tail. We know
exactly the use and object of these supports :
it is precisely the same as that of the fin-rays
of a fish, which are invariably called " rays,"
and therefore, wherever I have had occasion
to mention these rays, either in the present
" history," or in that previously published of

the " British Moths," I have invariably called
them " rays " — a term which I venture to
hope all my readers will accept, since they
cannot fail to understand.

EXPLANATION OF TERMS.

With the single exception of wing- rays,
which my readers will please to understand
as precisely equivalent to the fin-rays of
fishes, I shall use no terms except those of
universal acceptation when speaking or writing
of insects ; and I could wish that I had no
occasion to use a single word that could not
be found in Johnson's Dictionary ; but this is
very difficult, and I find, after every endeavour
to avoid the use of new words, or of applying
new meanings to old words, I am absolutely
compelled to do that which I have the most
anxious desire to avoid. It is no common
achievement to have removed so many of those
stumbling-blocks to the acquisition of scientific
knowledge — italics, abbreviations, and signs ;
this is happily accomplished, and we must
content ourselvas therewith, and not quarrel
over a few unusual words, but endeavour to
make them both familiar and intelligible.

Explanatory Figure of a Butterfly.

In order that the terms used in describing
may be rendered as intelligible as possible, I

have drawn the outline figure of a butterfly,
and indicated by letters the different parts J

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

nave had occasion to explain. The figure is
perfectly imaginary; no such butterfly having
ever existed ; it is comprised of parts of
butterflies which really do exist ; one wing is
abstracted from a Swallow-tailed, another
from an Angle-winged, and so on.

a, b, c, d are the four wings.

«, the head.

f, the thorax.

g, the body.

h, the antennae, or feelers.

These are the only parts of a butterfly
mentioned in descriptions, except the legs,
which are generally hidden from sight, and
hever used to distinguish species, but only
families from each other.

We will now proceed to consider the margin
of the wing ; there is very little occasion to
describe the word " margin " ; it is familiar to
every one : the outline or boundary line of
the wing is the margin. But there are several
sides to the margin : that part of the margin
which touches the thorax (f) is the base.

i is the costal margin, and extends from
the thorax (/) to the tip (I).

k is the hind margin, it is that part of the
margin farthest from the thorax (f) and ex-
tends from the tip (I) to the anal angle (o).

I is the tip of the wing.

m is the inner margin, so called because
innermost or nearest the body ; the butterfly
can almost bring this margin close to its body
so as to touch it : this inner margin (m) ex-
tends from the anal angle (o) to the thorax (f).

n is the tail ; this occurs rarely, and only
on the hind wings. Of course this is not a
real tail, but only a projecting portion of the
wing, and made of membrane exactly similar
to the rest.

o is the anal angle of the wing.

Lastly, as regards the shape of the wing, or
perhaps, more properly and precisely speak-
ing, the outline of the hind margin : you will
see at the most cursory glance, that this out-
line differs in the fore wings I have repre-
sented.

» id a rounded wing, or a wing with the
ixmd margin rounded.

b is an angled or angulated wing, or a
wing with the hind margin angled.

c is a tailed wing, or a wing with the hind
margin tailed, n being the tail.

d is a scalloped wing, or a wing with the
hind margin scalloped or cut out into semi-
circular notches.

HIBERNATION.

This word has puzzled many, and its mean-
ing, as applied to butterflies, still more. The
life of a butterfly extends over twelve months,
subject to certain exceptions which will be
duly explained in the proper place. The
round of existence thus occupying a year, and
comprising the four states of egg, caterpillar,
chrysalis, and perfect insect, it follows that
one of these states must occur in the winter,
because the year must include the winter
months ; but it is ordered by an all- wise and
overruling Providence that the winter season
shall not occur to all butterflies when they
are in the same state : winter must come, that
is inevitable ; but it comes to some when they
are eggs, to some when they are caterpillars,
to some when they are chrysalids, and to
others when they are perfect butterflies. So
that the word " hybernation " being simply
equivalent to " passing the winter," it is said,
and very properly so, that one butterfly — or, as
we entomologists more correctly express it,
" one species of butterfly " — hybernates in the
egg state, another species in the caterpillar
state, and so on, as the case may be. Now, it
is a most interesting fact, and one that cannot
be too strongly impressed on the memory, that
all the individuals composing one kind, or
more properly one "species," of butterfly
always hybernate in the same state : each
adheres strictly to the practice of its species ;
that is to say that if one Peacock butterfly
passes the winter season in the butterfly state,
so will its children pass the next winter in
the same state, and its children's children the
next following winter in the same state, and
so on for countless generations. And if one
Hairstreak butterfly passes the winter inontns
iu the egg state, in like manner will its

INTRODUCTORY.

17

children pass the next winter in the egg
state, and its children's children the next
following winter in the same state, and so on
for countless generations. Some doubt ap-
pears still to attach to the state in wliich some
of our English butterflies pass the winter
months; while others, on the contrary, are
ascertained beyond all possibility of doubt.

EIGHT hybernate in the egg state — Quercus,
W-album, Pruni, Betulce, B&tica, jEyon,
Agestis, Alexis.

TWENTY-FIVE hybernate in the caterpillar
state : Paphia, A gluia, Niobe, A dippe, Lat/ionia,
Euphrosyne, Selene, Artemis, Cinxia, A tJialia,
Sibylla, Iris, Galathea, Epiphron, Medea,
jEgeria, Semele, Janira, Tithonus, Ilyper-
anthus, Davus, Pamphilus, Hippothoe, Pldceas,
and Cratcegi : the last named differs essentially
from the rest in being gregarious, and in pass-
ing the winter season under cover of a web.

TEN hybernate in the chrysalis state :
Machaon, Sinapis, Srassicce, Napi, jRapce,
Daplidice, Cardamines, Lucina, Argiolus, and
A Iveolus. In the winter the chrysalids of these
butterflies maybe found braced up to the stems
of reeds, vetches, hedge-mustard, lady's-smock,
and other herbaceous plants, or against park
palings, barns, fences, and out-houses of all
kinds. In this state they appear to be per-
fectly indifferent to cold, and may be con-
verted into solid lumps of ice and yet retain
life, as is abundantly proved by their emer-
gence as perfect butterflies in May. I have
never known a winter so severe as to make
any difference in this respect.

TEN hybernate in the perfect or butterfly
state : C-album, Antiopa, To, Polychloros,
UrticcByAtalanta, Cardui, Rhamni, Edusa, and
Hyale. Many of th ese retire to winter-quarters
almost immediately on leaving the chrysalis ;
some creep in to hollow trees; I once found more
than forty Peacock butterflies in a hollow oak;
some hide in barns, stables, churches, or out-
houses, always crawling up among the beams
and rafters : they especially delight in pig-
styes. It will be observed by anyone who is
familiar with the appearance of either of the
dark-coloured butterflies I have mentioned,
that its colour and appearance, when resting on

rough, unplaned wood, with its wings erect
and closely pr. ssed together, back to back,
resemble so exactly that of the wood that the
most practised eye is required to detect it.
To this similarity it is often indebted for its
safety. When a warmer day than usual
occurs during the winter months, these hyber-
nating butterflies crawl out of their hiding-
places, slowly flap their wings, as if courting
the sunshine, and sometimes venture on a
fruitless flight in quest of flowers from which
to suck the honey. Every year some country
gentleman possessed of observing faculties and
a ready pen espies one of these butterflies
when out on an ill-advised excursion of this
kind, and he forthwith writes to the nearest
local p;tper, and reports the unwonted fact
to its delighted readers under the head:
" Singular occurrence ; unusual mildness of
the season." If the discovery falls to the lot
of a writing entomologist, he improves the
occasion in a different way, thus : " Singular
occurrence; unexpe tf-d evidence that Vanessa,
lo, or Gonepteryx Luamni " — as the case may
be — " is double-brooded. I have just taken,
this 25th of February, a fine and very perfect
specimen of Gonepteryx Rhamni : now as it is
impossible that the specimens which occurred
so abundantly last autumn should have sur-
vived through the inclement season just past,
it is certain that this February specimen must
be the descendant of an autumnal specimen,
and not one of the same generation." A
little more reflection might have induced the
query, " On what could the caterpillar have
fed during the winter months, seeing that the
buckthorn was leafless during the whole time
that it ought to have been feeding 1 "

It is worthy of remark that these autumn-
disclosed butterflies, although the sexes occur
in equal numbers, rarely take the slightest
notice of each other until the return of spring.

CLASSIFICATION.

Having pointed out to the best of my
ability those stages in the life of a butterfly,
and those characters in the adult uutterfly,
the modifications and differences in which

2

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES,

will be described in the succeeding pages, it
becomes needful to show the application of
them to purposes of classiQcation. It will be
seen by those who consult theLinnean method,
as carried out by our own venerated Haworth,
that the perfect insect alone was regarded as
furnishing characters for the division and sub-
division of groups ; but almost simultaneously
with the early and invaluable investigations
of Linneus, two officers in the Austrian army
Lad discovered the absolute insufficiency
of differences in the form of an antenna or
the outline of a wing for the foundation of a
natural system of arrangement; still, although
these gentlemen insisted on the propriety,
nay even the necessity, of employing in
classification all the characters of caterpil-
lar, chrysalis, and butterfly, our publishing
entomologists for more than half a century
resolutely resisted the so-called objectionable
innovation, and declined to study, except as
an authority for the names of species, the
most profound and philosophical work that
Entomology has yet called into existence.

At last we are beginning to see the necessity
for extending the area over which to search
for distinctive character. We are now so gLvl
to receive every possible hint from Nature
herself, that instead of disregarding the cha-
racters of caterpillar and chrysalis, we very
frequently wait the discovery of these before
venturing an opinion as to the place which any
newly-discovered species ought to occupy in a
natural system. More than this, a disposition
is rapidly gaining ground to acknowledge that
the earliest and not the latest stages of an in-
sect's life are the most likely to furnish us with
permanent characteristics. It is, however, a

matter which I cannot mention without regret,
and which certainly may be useful in moderat-
ing any extravagant estimate we may form of
our own knowledge, that although we accept
the importance of the caterpillar and chrysalis
in all our arrangements, we have hitherto
failed in discovering any character in either
by which positively to distinguish a Butterfly
from a Moth. Thib lamentable truth, this
necessary admission of ignorance, may not
unreasonably suggest the query whether
Nature has really drawn any distinct line
between the two, and whether the differences
which, in common with others, I have pointed
out as distinguishing Butterflies from Moths
are indeed sufficient for the purpose.

It is doubtless a most noteworthy fact that
every character hitherto suggested seems to
break down before exceptions, and to destroy
the fond hope we may have entertained of
being able so to word our definitions that they
shall preclude the possibility of exceptions.
This, I think, forcibly demonstrates the folly
of trying to enforce our views on Nature, who
will be sure to have her own way, and go
directly to her own object, however incon-
sistent with our human schemes that object
may be. The reader will kindly receive these
remarks as somewhat apologetical, and as
penned under a deep sense of the imperfection
of the classification I am about to propose. 1
have already explained that the portion of the
Lepidoptera, or Scale-winged insects, which
I am intending to describe, are popularly
termed "Butterflies" in England and America,
" Papillons" in France, and "Schmetterlinge"
in Germany. I propose to classify them as
below.

BUTTERFLIES (IN SCIENCE LEPIDOPTERA PEDUNCULATE.)

1. EXPOSERS (in Science DETEGENTES). — Those which in the chrysalis state are exposed
to the full influence of weather and light, rarely attempting concealment, and still more rarely
protected from rain or snow, wind, heat, or cold. When thus exposed during the winter they
are not unfrequently frozen, as already stated, into solid and very brittle lumps of ice, and
consequently may be broken to pieces without exhibiting the slightest indication of vitality ;
yet if left unmolested in the situations they have selected they invariably recover, and revert
10 the condition in which the frost overtook them. These naked and exposed chrysalids are

INTRODUCTORY.

19

usually angular, having ridges and salient ] oiufcs on various parts of the body. Nearly all
our British butterflies belong to this group : tl>ey may be divided into —

L SUSPENDED (in science SUSPENSI), or tho.^e in which the chrysalids are attached by the
tail only, and hang with the bead downwards. The Butterflies which emerge from such
chrysabds possess a character quite as distinctive as that of the chrysalids themselves : they
have but four perfect legs, instead of six ; these are the middle and hind legs ; they have
claws at the extremities, while the fore legs are imperfect, have no claws, and cannot
possibly be used in walking. The circumstance that the Butterflies of this division possess
strongly -marked and corresponding characters in the chrysalis and butterfly state is regarded
as a sufficient proof that the association is a natural one.

Examples of Suspended Ckrysalids.

a c

a. Io b. Atalanta o. Paphia

d. Iris

f. Galathea

a. Spine-bearers (in science SPINIGERI), in which the caterpillars are armed with spines
more or less branched : these spines are shed with every moult, but are renewed with the
renewed skin, until the final one, when they entirely disappear.

Examples of Spine-bearing Caterpillars,

g. Antiopa h. Io

i; Atalanta

h Slug-shaped caterpillars (in science LIMACIFORMES), in which the caterpillar is sometimes
downy or covered with short pile, but is without spines, and is shaped like a slug : its body
in two pointed lails, which TR directed backwards.

20

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

Examples of Slug-shaped Caterpillars.

k. Iris

1. Janira

in. Galathea

ii GIRTED (in science SUCCINCTI), in which the chrysalids are not only attached by the
tail, but are also supported by a belt of silk, which passes round the middle of the body, and
is firmly fixed on each side. These chrysalids have the heads pointed upwards. The butter-
flies have six perfect legs.

Examples of Girted Chrysalids.

n. Machaon

o. Cratsegi

s. Hyale

a. Woodlo use-shaped caterpillars (in science ONISCIFORMES), in which the caterpillars are
shaped like a woodlonse, the head being small and retractile and the legs and elaapers
concealed.

Examples of Woodlouse-shaped Caterpillars.

t. Betulae

u. Pruni

v. Corydom

INTRODUCTORY.

b. Cylindrical caterpillars (in science CTLINDBACEI), in which the caterpillars are cylindrical,
••he head exserted, and the legs and claspers exposed.

Examples of Cylindrical Caterpillars.

x. Machaon

y. Daplidioe

z. Hyale

2. CONCEALERS (in science CELANTES), or those of which the caterpillars hide
themselves in a silken follicle or cocoon before changing into chrysalids. These cocoons are
generally hidden in clefts of the bark of trees, in rolled-up leaves, or at the roots of grass ;
some of them are even attached to stems of grass. While the Exposers are what might be
culled the true or typical butterflies, the Concealers are somewhat intermediata between
Butterflies and Moths. In this country the Concealers are few in number, small in size, and
insignificant in appearance ; but in tropical and sub-tropical countries they are numerous,
large, and very beautiful.

SUCH is an outline of the characters I pro-
pose to employ in the definitions which
follow. It will be perceived they embrace
every state of the living insect. In the year
1834 I made a first attempt to introduce into
entomology a formula of classification similar
to that sugijested by Jufsien, and adopted by
Deoandolle in the sister science of botany.
Up to that date it had been the uniform usage
of entomologists to make an " order " of
insects correspondent with a " class" of ver-
tebrate animals or of plants — a xisage which I
cannot but consider undesirable to maintain ;
and I therefore think it best to employ a
formula of nomenclature more in accordance
with that which obtains in other divisions of
organised beings, believing the less we en-
deavour to eliminate insects from a general
classification, or British insects from a general
•ystem of insects, the more likely are we to
attain that commanding knowledge of the

subject which is now considered so unneces-
sary, but which is certainly a rational object
of ambition.

Natural order I. — SPINE-BEARERS (in science
Spinigeri).

The distinguishing character, and that to
which I know no exception, is the spine-
bearing caterpillar. The chrysalis is more
angled than in any other group, and is always
suspended by the tail — a chai-acter, however,
common to this and the following order. The
perfect insect has the fore feet imperfect,
totally unfitted for walking, and always with-
out claws ; but then again this character is
not distinctive, since it applies equally to the
next order. The British spine-bearers are
divided into four families.

Family 1. — SILVER-SPOTTED FRITILLARIES (in science
Argywnidai).

The Caterpillars are almost uniformly cylin-
drical and almost uniformly spiny : thej

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

.generally feed separately on violets, or plants
of the natural order Violariese, the roots of
which have strongly | .urgative properties, and
they are almost invariably refused as food by
birds. They pass the winter at the roots of
the food-plant, or of some neighbouring her-
bage, either on the ground or near it. They
feed principally in the spring, and become
chrysalids on the approach of summer. These
are humped and angled, and are generally

decorated with brilliant metallic colours. The
perftct insects have knobbed antennae ; the
costal margin of the fore wings is arched, and
they have a bold and graceful flight. The
colour of the upper side is bright sienna-
brown, spotted with black ; the under sidn
of the hind wings is adorned with spots of
the most brilliant silver. We have six species
in this country, all of them included in the
genus Argynnis.

1. — Silver-washed Fritillary (Argynnis Papliia), Upper side of the Male.

1. SILVER-WASHED FRITILLA.RY. — Thecostal
margin of the fore wings is strongly arched,
the tip very slightly hooked, and the hind
margin very slightly incurved about the
middle. The hind margin of the hind wings

is scalloped, but not deeply : the colour of the
upper surface is a bright sienna-brown in the
male, and the fore wings have four longitu-
dinal raised black stripes on the wing-rays, all
of them parallel to each other, and also parallel

(Jpper side of a Variety of the Male, in the cabinet of Mr. Bond.

to the inner margin ; they are united by short
black bars ; there are four similar short black
bars near the base of the wing, and two series
of roundish black spots parallel with the hind
margin : the hind wings have several short

transverse black bars near the base, and two
series of almost circular black spots parallel
with the hind margin. A pair of these black
spots intervenes between each two of the.
wing-rays always without touching them ;

but on each of the wing-rays, near its ex-
tremity, in a lozenge-shaped black spot. The
female differs in being duller in colour, and in

wanting the longitudinal black stripes on the
fore wings. The fringe is varied. The under
side of the fore wings is fulvous, spotted with

Upper side of the Female.

black ; of the hind wings greenish brown, but
having the appearance of being transversely,
and rather obliquely, striped with dull silver.

This dull silvery wash forms a spot near the
base ; a bar before the middle reaching half
across the wing, and an oblique bar extending

Upper side of a variety of the Female called Valezina.

entirely across the wiug from the middle of
costal margin to the anal angle ; there is also
a silvery space parallel with the hind margin.

Var. 1.— There is a remarkable variety of
the female of this insect of a dark olive-green
colour, to which Esper has given the name

Under side of the Female.

24

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

Valezina: in this variety all the usual black
spots are visible, and towards the tip are some
pale blotches. Nearly the whole of the upper
side is shaded with smoky-green, but through
tliis shade all the usual markings are distinctly
visible.

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGG is laid towards
the end of July, and sometimes as late as the
beginning of August, on dead leaves or moss,
or on the living leaves of dog violet ( Viola
canina) and sweet violet (Viola odorata) : the
female, when engaged in the duty of oviposi-
tion, seeks out shaded places under the
brush-wood, while the male may be seen
sunning himself and displaying his brilliant
sienna-brown wings as he rests on the blos-
soms of the bramble, from which he extracts
his favourite food : the young CATERPILLAR,
which is hatched in about fourteen days, ap-
pears quite black at first,but very soon exhibits
the markings which are its characteristics
when full-grown; indeed, the fulvous stripe-
like markings on both back and sides are per-
haps more strongly pronounced at this early
period than subsequently when arrived at its
full size. In September it descends towards the
roots of the herbage, and there, as near as
possible to the surface of the ground, spins a
loose covering, apparently more for the sake
of affording a sure hold for the claspers than
for protection ; and in this situation it passes
the winter months, emerging and crawling up
the petioles of its lowly food-plants as soon as
the new leaves have made their appearance in
the spring. It appears to be full-fed during
the third and fourth weeks in May ; at that
period, if disturbed, it falls immediately from
its food-plant, bending its head and leg-bear-
ing segments under its body until they come
in contact with its ventral claspers ; but the
terminal segments remain straight, and are
not generally incurved. The head is some-
what scabrous, rather narrower than the
second segment, and most decidedly narrower
than those which follow ; the body is of nearly
uniform substance, but slightly attenuated
towards either extremity, having the incisions
of the segments deeply and clearly marked :
there are three spines on each side of each

segment ; each spine arises from a bulbous
base, and is narrowed to a point at the distal
extremity, emitting throughout its length a
number of ascending brihtles ; two of these
spines on the second segment are longer and
somewhat more slender than the rest ; they
are strictly dorsal, and are seated immediately
behind the head, over which they are por-
rected. The colour of the head is black,
delicately reticulated with brown, and having
the crown of a still paler brown: the body is
black, with two yellowish, approximate, dorsal
stripes, each about equal in width to a medio-
dorsal black stripe by which they are sepa-
rated ; the sides are bl.tckish, adorned with
rust-coloured anastomosing lines, extending
from spine to spine, in three longitudinal
series ; all the spines, except two, are rust.-
coloured, but originate in the black area of
the sides ; the two excepted are those which
project over the head : these are also rust-
coloured, with black tips ; they originate in
the yellowish dorsal stripes already described :
the legs and claspers are smoke-coloured.
Towards the end of May it attaches itself by
the anal claspers to a slight silken coating it
has previously spun on the stem of a bramble
or the twig of some low shrub, and, suspended
with its head downwards, it changes to an
obese, humped, and angulated CHRYSALIS,
having a divided or eared head, an elevated
ridged thorax, and two rows of lateral abdo-
minal tubercles, six in each row, and all
having much the appearance of aborted spines,
and being very evidently the representatives
of the spines so conspicuous in the caterpillar ;
the two porrected spines on the second seg-
ment are also represented by two tubercles
just behind the head : the colour is gray,
delicately reticulated with darker shades, and
often adorned with spots and washes of the
most brilliant and glittering metallic lustre.

Obs. — In making my description of this
caterpillar I have been greatly indebted to a
coloured drawing from the inimitable pencil
of Mr. Buckler, who has also most obligingly
furnished me with the subjoined more precise
information respecting the identical individual
he has 6gured : — " A single whitish egg was

FRITILLARIE8.

discovered, from a careful scrutiny of a small
bit of moss at the foot of an oak in a wood,
by the Rev. A. Fuller and a friend of his,
who had previously observed a worn female
settled 011 it. The egg was given to me early
in August, and by the 1st of September,
1861, it hatched a small black caterpillar,
which fed on the dog violet until November,
when I could no longer see it on the plant :
it had previously been about three lines in
length : a fine web seemed drawn about the
base of the stem of the plant, over the moss
which was potted with it, under a glass
cylinder, and placed in a sunny window : I
cannot affirm that the web was spun by the
caterpillar. In April, 1 8G2, it appeared again
on the plant, about four lines in length, and
continued to feed well ; and on May 5th it
had attained about an inch in length, when T
took it out to figure, and to change the plant
for another. On the 18th May it had arrived
at its full growth, when 1 took a second figure
of it, and two days later it had attached itself
to the side of the glass cylinder, and became a
chrysalis, brown, with burnished gold spots ;
and the butterfly, a male, appeared on the
30th of June, 1862."

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — The caterpillar lives
through the winter : I have always found the
chrysalis in June, and the butterfly is on the
wing at the end of that month, or in July.

LOCALITIES. — Although it may be seen skim-
ming over a green meadow now and then, or
even venturing into a cottage garden, the
Silver-washed Fritillary is decidedly a wood
insect, and I imagine occurs in almost every
extensive wood south of the Tweed ; prefer-
ring, indeed, the outskirts or the open spaces,
but it is truly a native of woods, and its
earlier states are spent in deep shade,
although when mature it delights to bask in
the sunshine, and to feast on the flowers of
the blackberry. It is found more or less
abundantly in all the English and Welsh
counties, from which, through the kindness
of correspondents, I have received lists, and
it« non-appearance as a native of the others
implies rather the absence of observers than
the absence of the butterfly. It is reported to

me from Ireland by the Hon. Emily Lawless,
Mrs. Battersby, Mr. Fetherstunliaugh, Mr-.
Birchall, and Mr. Marsden, as an inhabitant
of the counties Dublin, Wicklow,Cork, Kerry,
Mayo, and Westmeath : at Glenmore, Cross-
molina, and Killarney, it is abundant ; and
Miss Lawless informs me it is wonderfully
abundant in Recess Woods, Cunnemara,
settling in thousands on the brambles ; also
at Castle Hacket, and in several Gal way
localities. In Scotland it is apparently rare ;
but Mr. Birchall informs me he has taken it
at Arrocher ; and as it occurs not uncom-
monly in our northern English counties,
Northumberland, Cumberland, and Durham,
it may be inferred that its rarity in Scotland
is rather apparent than real.

LOCALITIES OP THE VARIETY VALEZINA : —

Devonshire. This grand variety was first
taken in England by Mr. Dale, who captured
it in the New Forest; it was added to the
list of Devonshire insects by Mr. Rogers, of
Plymouth, who took it in Bickleigh Vale. — -
Reading's Catalogue.

Dorsetshire. It occurs at the Caundle
Holt, about three miles from Glanville'a
Wootton. — J. G. Dale.

Hampshire. Of the black variety of the
female Paphia we captured twenty specimens
in the New Forest, besides missing several
others. — II. Ramsay Cox.

Kent. We met with a fine specimen in a
wood near Sturry, in Kent, several years ago ;
the net caught in a thistle, and consequently
the butterfly escaped — H. Ramsay Cox.

2. DARK GREEN FRITILLARY. — The costal
margin of the fore wings is regularly arched,
the tip obtuse, and the hind margin nearly
straight ; the hind margin of the hind wings
is scalloped, but not deeply so : the colour of
the upper surface is bright sienna-brown in
the male, duller and very frequently suffusec
with smoky black and metallic green in th.
female : all the wings are ornamented with
black spots in both sexes, and the position of
these spots will be best seen and understood
by examining the figures: the fringe is spotted.
The under side of the fore wings is fulvous,

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

2. Dark Green Fritillary (Argynnis Aglaia), U| per side of Female.

with black spots, occupying the same position
as those on the upper side, but smaller and
less conspicuous: there are several silvery

spots towards the tip of the wing : the hind
wings are metallic green at the base, olive-
green in the disk, and in the olive-green part

Under side of Ma'e.

are a number (usually fourteen) of silver spot?,
the exact position of which is shown in the
figures ; the green space is followed by a band

of plain fulvous, and this by a band of seven
semicircular silver spots, each surmounted by
a crescentic green spot : a narrow brown line

Under a:de of a variety of the Female called Charlotta.

adjoins these semicircular silver spots, and
beyond this is a narrow fulvous border on
the hind margin.

Var. 1. — The Queen of England Fritillary,
Argynnis Char/otta. My gifted predecessor,
who gave both the English and scientific name

FRITILLAMBJS.

to 7,h.i« variety, considering ib to be a distinct
species, says : This butterfly, which is very
like the preceding (Aglaia), but distinct and
much more beautiful, differs in the following
characters : the fore wings have but four
instead of five costal liturse on each side, of
which two are compound, and not one only,
as in Aglaia : the hind wings have nineteen
instead of twenty-one silver spots, and of these
the three anterior ones are thrice larger than
in the preceding ; the middle one has a black
spot towards the base.

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGO is laid in August
on the dog violet (Viola canina), and the
CATERPILLAR emerges in about a fortnight, and
begins to feed on the leaves, but does not
acquire any considerable size before the
autumn, when it retires towai'ds the root of
tiie plant, or conceals itself under dead leaves,
and there remains until the following spring,
when it again feeds on the leaves of the dog
?iolet. The following description is from the
pen of Mr. Buckler : —

" When nearly full fed it measures an inch
and five-eighths in length, and tapers a little
towards the head, and more towards the anal
extremity. It has six rows of black spines
branched with short black hairs — namely, on
each side, a sub-dorsal, a lateral, and a sub-
spiracular TOW, except as follows : the second,
third, and fourth segments have but sub-
dorsal and sub-spiracular rows, or four spines
on each segment, the sub-dorsal being rather
shorter than the others ; and on the second
segment they are simple spines, leaning over
the head and curved sUghtly backward. All
the other segments have six spines in the
order before mentioned, slanting a little back-
wards, and more so on the two last. The
head is black, shining, and hairy. The
colour of the body a dark, shining, violet-
gray, thickly marbled with velvety black ;
the gray not very conspicuous, except at the
segmental divisions and along the spiracular
re&iou, where it forms an undulating inter-
rupted line. The slender dorsal line is black,
and expands in width near the middle of its
course through each segment, and is bordered
on each side with a stripe of bright ochreous

yellow, which expands in width just in ad-
vance of the widest part of the black medio-
dorsal line ; the spiracles are black, delicately
margined with gray, and close below each
spiracle is a blotch of bright orange-red, con-
nected below with a thin line of orange
ochreous, that runs beneath the lowest row
of spines ; the belly and clampers are blackish
brown. When eating it keeps advancing with
every mouthful until it has got to the end of
the leaf, and then quickly walks backwards
to the point of commencement and proceeds
as before, always making a quick retrograde
movement before again eating its way for-
ward; and these operations are performed with
such rapidity that half a large leaf quickly
disappears. When its hunger is appeased it
usually retires below the leaves or rests on the
stalks of the plant. It continues to feed until
the first or second week in July, when it spina
together four or five of the rather large leaves
at the top of the plant, forming a kind of
square tent-like enclosure, within which it
retires. After the lapse of a week it turns to
a CHRYSALIS, suspended by the tail to the
underside of a sloping leaf, its surface covered
with a circular muss of silk, thickest in the
centre, to which the anal hooks of the chry-
salis are attached in a horizontal position; the
back being so much curved round towards the
leaf as to imitate the upper two-thirds of the
letter S. It has a deep depression on the
back below the thorax, and a square form
towards the head ; the wing-cases are thick,
with prominent edges below ; the segmental
divisions of the body are well defined, and
having on their upper surface two rows of
blunt conical projecting points. The colour of
wing-cases, head, and thorax is pitchy-black,
with some reticulations of brownish-ochreous,
visible chiefly at the margins of the wings ;
the body has the same ochreous tint mottled
with brown ; the prominent cones are blackish
with ochreous points; the spiracles are black.
Its whole surface is shining, as though highly
varnished." — Buckler.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — The caterpillar
lives through the winter ; the chrysalis is to
be foiir.J ia June and the butterfly in Julj,

BRITISH BUT'imFidJSS.

LOCALITIES. — My experience of this insect is
that it is of much less common occurrence than
the preceding, and also that it selects different
lituations. I have never observed it in woods ;
but this must not be supposed sufficient proof
that it never occurs in them : its favourite
localities are the sides of hills partially covered
with the common brakes (Pteris o?tti&na), and
having a scattered growth of the mountain
violet ( Viola luted] ; and it appears to delight
in sand-hills by the sea-side, especially where
the marram or sea reed (Ammopkila arenaria)
and sea lyme-grass (Elymusarenarius)&\>o\\\iA.
I have not ob.^erved any species of violet to
occur commonly in such situations. In Ire-
land, as I am informed by the Hon. Miss
Lawless, it was rather plentiful in the year
1866 in Lyons' Woods, and in one or two
places near; and by Mr. Birchall, that it is
common everywhere on the sea-coast. Ir-
Scotland it appears to be abundant, and has
been taken by Mr. Douglas on the shores of
Loch Katrine, by Mr. Campbell at Millport,
by Dr. Syme at Dollar, and Mr. Birchall in
Argyllshire and the Island of Arran. A
reference to Mr. Jenner-Fust's paper on the
Distribution of Lepidoptera will show that it
has a still wider and more northern range. I
give below a more detailed list of English and
Welsh localities, with the authority for each
in italics.

Anglesea. Sea-coast near BeaumarLs, on a
bank close to the Menai — E. Newman.

Berkshire. Burghfield, near Reading —
C. S. Bird.

Brecknockshire. Very common on the
ferny hills near Builth, especially on the
sloping sides of the river Elan, as Cwm
Elan. The counties of Radnor and Breck-
nock meet at this spot, and this butterfly is
equally common in both — E. Newman.

Buckinghamshire. Drayton- Beauchamp.,
Aston- Clinton, Biruhland — II. H. Crewe ;
Hal ton — /. Greene.

Cambridgeshire. Ely — Marshall fisher ;
common some seasons in Horningsea and Quy
Fens, near Cambridge — Thomas Brown.

Cheshire. Sandhills on the sea-coast — E.
Birchall.

Cumberland. Barren Wood, near
waite. Very common in the county and throuoh-
out the lake district — J. B. Hodglnnson,

Devonshire. Near Newton Abbott — J.
Hellins ; Whitsand Cliffs, Staddon Heights,
Bolt Head, Berry Head, Babbington, Ro-
borough Down, Hingston Down, Dewerstone,
Exeter, Torquay, Sidmouth, Launceston —
Readings Catalogue.

Dorsetshire. Two specimens at Glanville's
Wootton very many years since ; Lulworth
Downs; downs near AbbotsUiry. — J.G. Dale.

Durham. Woodlands, near Shotley Bridge
— William Backhouse ; Gibside — William
Moling.

Essex. Southend — W. II. Harwood.

Glamorganshire. Common at Llantrissant
— Evan John ; on sand-hills on the coast —
J. T. D. Llewelyn.

Gloucestershire. Dursley, Painswick, and
in most of the hill districts — J. Merrin;
abundant at Dane way Common andSappertou
— M. G. Musgrave ; Leigh, Brockley, ai.d
other places near Bristol — Alfred E. liudd :
not uncommon in the woods above Wootton-
under-Edge — V. R. Perkins.

Hampshire. Lyndhurst and BrouKfc^iicum
— W. Buckler. New Forest and other woods
— J. B. Corbin.

Herefordshire. Hunter's Gate, Oakley
Park, common — F. E. Harman ; Croft and
Berrington — Mrs. Ilutchinson.

Huntingdonshire. Monk's Wood — J. F.
Stephens, F. Bond.

Kent. East Cliff, at Folkestone. Very
plentiful on the slopes behind Dover Castle —
G. H. Raynor ; on the open downs every-
where between Canterbury and the North
Foreland — W. 0. Hammond.

Lancashire. Sand-hills on thfe sea-coast —
E. Birchall; common on the sandhills near
Blackpool — J. B. Hodgkinson ; Silverdale —
James Murton.

Lincolnshire. Common in the county —
T. H. A His.

Man, Isle oi Taken at Douglas — E.
Birchall.

Monmouthshire. Rather scarce, lleulli.
Wood — George Lock.

FRITILLARIES.

29

Nottinghamshire. Very common at Mans-
field—^. E. Brameld.

Radnorshire. On the ferny hills near
Rhayadr — E. Newman.

Rutland, — Common in the county — T. H,
A His.

Shropshire. On the Wrekin — C. J. Barrett.

Somersetshire. Clevedon — F. D. Wheeler ;
Brockley— W. H. Qrigg ; Portishead— A. E.
Hudd.

Staffordshire. Dovedale and Charnwood —
Edwin Brown.

Suffolk. Bentley, Stowmarket— H. H.
Crewe ; Sudbury — John Grubb.

Surrey. Occurs, but not commonly, at
Witley, near Godalming — C. G. Barrett ;
Mickleham — J. Walton.

Sussex. Vjooclwood racecourse — W. Buck-
ler • Shancktonbury Ring, near Steyning,
•bundant ; also near Beeching Chalkpit — J.
H. White ; Abbot's Wood, near Hailsham —
Cu V. C. Levett; about Lewes, abundant on the
dewns between Firle and Seaford — E. Jenner.

VV'sstmoreland. In the woods about Win-
•eJermere, from Bowness to Newby Bridge, in
juiv ai^i August — J. B. Hodgkinson.

Wight, Isle of. Bonchurch Downs — F.
Bond; Ventnor and Parkhurst — Alfred Owen.

Wiltshire. Savernake Forest and West
Woods ; Creat Bedwyn— T. A. Preston.

Worcestershire. Monkswood — where it
must be scarce, as I have ouly met with one
specimen — J. E. Fletcher.

Yorkshire. Near York — Robert Coik ;
abundant on moors and open ground abo e
Cloughton — J. H. Rowntree ; Scarborough,
Wakefield, Sheffield, Leeds— E. BircJiall ;
common in oak woods about York, Scar-
borough, and all the southern parts of the
county— T7. H. Allis.

LOCALITIES OF THE VARIETY CHARLOTTA. —
This variety is either very rare or is not gene-
rally distinguished from Aglaia : I have only
two localities : —

Bedfordshire. Lately detected in Bedford-
shire, and sent me by my friend, Dr. Abbott
— Haworth.

Cumberland. As common as Aglaia in some
districts of Cumberland — J. B. Hodgkinson.

Obs. — I have seen but one specimen,
the property of Mr. Bond, kindly lent me to
figure.

B.— ffiobe {Argynnis Niobe). Upper and Under side of the I'emata

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

S. NIOBE. — The costal margin of the fore
wings is arched, the tip obtuse, and the hind
margin rather convex and slightly scalloped ;
the hind margin of the hind wings is more
decidedly scalloped, but still not deeply so ;
the colour of the upper surface is bright sienna-
brown, with the customary black markings;
in the male the brown colour extends nearly
to the base, as in Adippe ; in the female the
base is dark brown or black, and adorned with
metallic-green reflections, as in Aglaia : be-
neath, the silver spots of the hind wings are
arranged as in Adippe, the supplementary
series of minute silver spots being present,
but somewhat indistinct ; all the silver spots
have distinct black borders.

Var. Eris. — All the discoidal silver spots
on the under side of the hind wings are re-
placed by pale ochreous spots, without metallic
tints, their black borders being even more
distinct than in the type; the submarginal
series of minute spots still retain their silvery
hue, and the silver also appears in the sub-
marginal lunules.

LIFE HISTORY. — The CATERPILLAR is cover-
ed with long branched white spines ; its back
is dark brown, nearly black, with a rather nar-
row medio-dorsal white stripe, which is inter-
sected by a thread-like black line ; there is a
sub-dorsal series of eight oblique or acutely
triangular white markings, all of which point
forwards : the sides are brown, intersected by
two very slender white stripes ; the head is
dwik brown, the leg's dark brown, and the
claspers reddish. It feeds on the wild heart's-
ease (Viola tricolor). Hiibner 's figure.

LOCALITIES. — This species is abundant on
the Continent. A single specimen was taken
in the New Forest last summer by Mr. Ger-
rard, of Lyndhurst, and was purchased by the
Rev. Windsor Hambrough, as recorded in the
" Entomologist," p. 351.

Obs. — Mr. Bond (Entom. v. 17) and Mr.
A. G. Butler (Entom. v. 28) express an
opinion that this species is only a variety of
Adippe, but neither of these gentlemen assigns
a reason for taking this view of the case. At
a recent meeting of the Entomological Society
BIr. Albert Miiller mentioned th»t Mover-Din-

had pointed out certain differences between
the caterpillar of Argynnis Adippe and Niobe :
in his " Verzeichniss der Schmetterlinge der
Schweiz," published in 1852, that author
states that Argynnis Niobe in Switzerland in-
habits only the alpine and sub-alpine regions
from 3000 — 5600 feet above the sea, and that
its caterpillar has in the full-grown state a
white dorsal stripe and flesh -coloured spines,
whilst A. Adippe is not found at a greater
elevation than 3300 feet, and its caterpillar
has no white dorsal stripe, but a pale-reddish
lateral stripe instead. Mr. Miiller argued,
that though the food-plants of both were
various species of violet, until this evidence
was rebutted, or unle&s two different cater-
pillars produced the same form of butterfly —
unless there were dimorphic caterpillars —
Adippe and Niobe must be considered distinct
species, even though (which he did not admit)
the perfect butterflies were uudistiuguishable.
Mr. Butler replied that he was not acquainted
with the caterpill trs of Argynnis Adippe and
Niobe, and his suggestion that the two forms
were one species was made from observation
of the perfect insects only ; he had found the
two flying together, and the sexes pursuing
one another : he thought the differences
between the butterflies, without amounting to
specific distinction, might be accounted for by
differences in the external conditions to which
they were subject. An instance of lUlris kind
had lately come under his notice; in India,
Captain Lang had been in the habit of taking
what at the time of capture he thought were
two distinct butterflies, one in marshy land,
the other in dry situations, the marsh insect
being thickly covered with down, the highland
insect not; but Captain Lang was now satisfied
that the two were but one species, Callerebia
Scanda, which was liable to modification by
surrounding circumstances. Entomologists
seem scarcely aware how extensive a subject
is opened for discussion if they once maintain
th*t two entirely different caterpillars can
possibly produce the same species of butterfly.

4. THE HIGH-BROWN FRITILLARY. — Tin
costal margin is arched, tru> tip roundel, and

FRITILLAHIES

31

4. — High-brown Fritillary (Argynnis Adippe). Upper side of the Male.

the hind margin nearly straight: the hind
margin of the hind wings is scalloped, but not
deeply so : the colour of the upper side is

bright sienna-brown in both sexes, and is
without that blackish patch at the base of
the wings which distinguishes both gexes of

Upper side of the Female.

Aglaia, and the females of Niobe, but is
adorned with numerous black spots, as shown
in the figure. The under side is fulvous, the
fore wings having numerous black spots, as

shown in the figure, and generally some square
reddish spots towards the tip, and also from
three to five silvery spots: the hind wings are
nearly of the same ground colour as the fore

Under side of the Male.

wings, the basal portion of the wing having
usually fourteen silver spots of various size
and fhape, as represented in the figure, and

outside of these is an irregular series of silver
dots, each surrounded by red-brown, and again
beyond these is a row of faint silvery i-emi-

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

Under side of the Variety Cleodoxa, in the cabinet of Mr. Bond.

circular markings, each surmounted by a red-
brown mark of very similar shape : the hind
margin is fulvous.

Var. 1. A very rare variety is entirely
without the silver spots on the under side,
their space being occupied by fulvous spots
of similar size. It has received the name of
Argynnis Cleodoxa.

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGG is laid in August/
on the dog violet ( Viola canina), and the young
CATERPILLAR emerges in about a fortnight and
feeds on the leaves : it ceases to eat early in
the autumn, and retires towards the roots of
the food-plant, or conceals itself under leaves,
remaining entirely out of sight until the
following spring, when it finishes its feed-
ing life and prepares to turn to a CHRYSALIS.
When full fed it is about an inch Pad a half
in length and stout in proportion ; Khe head
is smooth, and about the same "Vvidon as the
second segment ; the second segment has two
spines pointing forwards over the head and
slightly turned upwards at the tip; the third
segment has four spines , the fourth segment
also four, and the remaining segments, as far
at the eleventh, six each ; the eleventh has
four, and the twelfth four : all these spines are
covered with bristly hairs. The colour of the
head is almost black ; that of the body pale
brown tinged with flesh-colour, and having a
medio-dorsal white stripe extending from the
fifth to the eleventh segment, both inclusive :
this stripe passes through a series of nine
semicircular black marks, the convex margin
of which is directed backwards, and is nar-
rowly bordered with white; the spines are

white at the base, and flesh-coloured at the
tip.— Hiibners Figure.

Obs. — I have no knowledge of the cater-
pillar or chrysalis except from books.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — The caterpillar
lives through the winter. The chrysalis is
found in June, and the butterfly in July.

LOCALITIES. — It seems to occur both in
woods and on uncultivated hill- sides, thus
combining the tastes of Paphia and Aglaia.
In England it is less frequently met with than
either. I have no report of its occurrence
either in Ireland or Scotland, but give below
some English localities.

Buckinghamshire. Drayton - Beauchamp,
Aston-Clinton, and Birchland — H. H. Crewe;
Halton— Joseph Greene.

Cumberland. A single specimen taken in
Newbiggin Wood, near Carlisle — J. B. Hodg
kinson.

Derbyshire. Breadsall, Dovedale, Matlock
Cromford — H. H. Crewe.

Devonshire. Near Newton Abbott — «*
Hellins ; Bickleigh Vale, Hobo rough Dowi
Shaugh, Morwell Rocks, Exeter, Torquay,
Bovey Tracey, Launceston — Reading's Cata-
logue.

Dorsetshire. Elsington Wood and Oaundle
Holt, but rare — J. C. Dale.

Essex. Hare at Epping — E. Doubleday ;
Colchester, St. Osyth, has been more scarce
during the last two or three years than for-
merly— W. H. Harwood.

Glamorganshire. Scarce at Llantrissaut —
titan John; it occurs in woods at Ynisygerwn
— J. 2. D. Llewelyn.

FPJT1LLARIES.

Gloucestershire. Forest of Dean — J. Mer-
rin ; on and near Daneway Common and at
Sapperton abundant — M. G. Mitsgrave; Leigh,
Coombe Glen, near Bristol — F. D. Wheeler;
near Bristol — Alfred E. Hudd ; Guiting —
Joseph Greene.

Hampshire. — Common in the New Forest
and other Hampshire woods — G. B. Corbin;
Lyndhurst and Brockeuhurst — F. Bond.

Herefordshire. Hunter's Gate, Oakley
Park—/". E. Harman ; Croft and Bircher
Common — Mrs. Hutehinson.

Kent. Fork Common, near Seven Oaks,
somewhat abundant — G. H. Raynor ; Kings-
wood, Penny pot Woods, Blean Woods — Hugh
A. Stowell.

Lancashire. Grange in Carttnel — J. fl.
Hodgkinson ; Silverdale — James Murton.

Lincolnshire. Common in the county — T.
H. A His.

Monmouthshire. Rather scarce, Heullis'
Wood — George Lock.

Norfolk. Stratton Strawless — Charles G.
Barrett.

North am ptonshire. Near To wcester — II a ni~
let Clark.

Nottinghamshire. Very common at Mans-
field— R. E. Bramdd.

Rutland. Common — T. H. Allis.

Shropshire. On the Wi ekin — G. G. Barrett.

Somersetshire. Brockley — T. D. Wheeler;
Portishead — A. E. Hudd.

Suffolk. Bentley— H. H. Crewe; Sudbury
— W. D. King.

Surrey. Haslemere : not common — C. G.
Barrett.

Sussex. Shancktonbury Ring, near Steyn-
ing, but not common — J. H. White; at the
Plasket and elsewhere, in the Weald — E.
Jenner ; Abbot's Wood, near Hailsham — C.
V. G. Levett.

Warwickshire. Rugby — G. B. Longstaff.

Westmoreland. Common in the Lake dis-
trict, especially at Windermere at the end
of July and during August — James B.
HodgJdnson.

Wight, Isle of. Freshwater and near
Vtntnor — F. Bond ; Parkhurst, Apse Heath,
N'e'.vport — Alfred Owen.

Wiltshire. Savernake Forest and west-
wards— T. A. Preston.

Worcestershire. Monks' and Shrawley
Woods, not common — J. E. Fletcher ; Great
Malvern, scarce — W. Edwards.

Yorkshire. Near York — Robert Cook;
Yedmondale, and on moors near Cloughton
— J. H. Rowntree ; Scarborough and Sheffield
— Edwin Birchatt.

5. Queen of Spain Fritillary (Argynnis Lathonia)
Up^er side of Female.

Under side of Female.

5. QUEEN OF SPAIN FRITILLARY. — The cos-
tal margin of the fore wings is arched, the tip
blunt, and the hind margin slightly incurved
below the tip ; the hind margin of the hind
wings is scalloped, but very slightly : the
colour of the upper surface is fulvous brown,
not very bright : the base of all the wings is
darker, and is clothed with long hair-like
scales which have greenish reflections. The
whole upper surface of the wings is spotted
with black, as shown in the figure : the under
side is paler than the upper, the fore wings
being adorned with afew silvery spots towards
the tip, and having black spots on the disk :
the hind wings are adorned with twenty-four
brilliant silver spots, of which seven large
ones of nearly equal size are arranged round

.8

34

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

the 'iiargin. Each of these last has a silver
<*>,( just above it, and each of these dots is
mr/ounded first by a dark brown ring, and
then by a red brown space ; between this
series of silvery dots and the base of the wing
are about ten brilliant silver spots, which are
very various in size and shape, but two of
them are conspicuously larger than the rest.

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGG is laid in the
autumn (August or September) on the wild
heartsease ( Viola tricolor^) and other species of
violet, and the CATERPILLAR is hatched in
r.bout a fortnight : it hybernates when very
tfmall at the roots of herbage, and does not re-
ippear until quite late in the spring ; it then
feeds again on the leaves of the heartsease,
and is full fed about Midsummer : it is then
about an inch in length ; the head is slightly
hairy, and the body has several longitudinal
series of short conical spines ; there are two
of these spines on the second segment, four
on the third, and six on the following seg-
ments ; the thirteenth segment has but two,
and these are directed backwards : the colour
of the head is brown, of the body brown, with
a mediodorsal stripe of a dirty white and a
side stripe of nearly the same tint, but more
inclining to yellow. The spines are yellowish
white. — Sepp's Figure.

Obs. — I know nothing of this caterpillar
except from books.

TIME OP APPEARANCE. — September.

LOCALITIES. — This common continental
species has always been considered, and still
remains, a great rarity in this country : the
English localities are rather numerous, but
the number of specimens captured is very
small : the maritime position of most of the
localities suggests the idea of the specimens
having migrated from the Continent : Dover,
Eamsgate, Folkstone, Ventnor, &c., seem to
support this conclusion ; while others, such,
for instance, as the celebrated locality at Birch
Wood, are so truly inland that we cannot hesi-
tate to believe that the specimens have been
bred on the spot where they were captured. I
think we may fairly conclude that, like many
of our resident birds, such as the goldfinch and
skylark, of which thousands of dozens are

annually captured on their arrival on our
southern coasts, that accessions to the number
of Lathonias take place every year. Mr.
BIrchall informs me that "a single specimen
was taken at Killarney, in Ireland, on the
10th of August, 1864, in the lane leading from
Muckross to Mangerton, near a limestone
quarry on the left of the road;" a very im-
portant and interesting fact, since no doubt
can now be entertained of the species existing
in the Killarney district in a perfectly natural
state, although the constant humidity of the
atmosphere may interfere with its appearance
on the wing. From Scotland I have no
report of its occurrence. I record a few of
the instances in which the species has been
taken in England : they are chiefly extracted
from the "Entomologist."

Cambridgeshire. One specimen was taken
in 1844 by the side of the road near New-
market, and one near Fulbourn, the same
year, in September — Thomas Brown.

Devonshire. One specimen in Roseberry
Wood, near Exeter — Tkomas Lighten.

Essex. I have taken four in different years
in the neighbourhood of Colchester, and have
seen three others taken, two of them by one
of my brothers ; Mr. W. Harrington and Mr.
Robert Halls have each taken single speci-
mens; others have been taken at Berechurch
by the late Dr. Maclean and Mr. Lawrence
Black — W. II. Harwood ; one at Brain tr«e
on the 19th September, 1865 — B. -Holland ;
one at Bury-St.-Edmunds — A. H. Wratislaw ;
three at Southend — J. Eussell.

Dorsetshire. Two specimens at Swanage
in the summer of 1852 — Henry Reeks.

Hampshire. Ashford, near Petersfield —
H. II. Crewe.

Kent. One specimen at Easting, and an-
other on Breeze Hill, near Canterbury — W. 0.
Hammond ; eight specimens on the flowers of
the broad-leaved hawkweed (Hieracium sabau-
dum) near Birch Wood — B. Standish; three
of these were taken in one year — the others
only one during each year ; I have often looked
for the insect in the same spot when the hawk-
weed was in bloom, but without success — Jf.
Newman ; twelve specimens on the blossoms

FRITILL ARIES.

35

of thistles in open parts of a wood near
Shoreham — Thomas Price. Mr. Price pre-
sented three of these to the late Thomas
[ngall, in whose cabinet I have often seen
them — E. Newman; three near Dover in
the autumn of 1846 — J. J. Weir; one in
a chalk-pit at Cliff's End, about two miles
from Ramsgate, on the 17th of September,
1864— 17. J. Weir; one in a meadow at
Darenth Wood, on the 16th August, 1868 —
E. Harper; one at Gravesend on clover
blossom, on the 2nd of September, 1868 — D.
T. Button ; one at Eamsgate on the 2nd
of August, 1868 — IF. G. Armstrong ; two
the second week in September, 1868, near
Margate — E. Neirman; thirteen near Canter-
bury the first week in September, 1868 —
George Parry ; one at Walmer — F. 0. Stan-
dish; three between Doverand Deal, October,
1868 — //. E. Leslie; one at Folkstone, 7th
September — Mr. Purdey ; one at Milton, near
Gravesend, the latter part of September, 1868
—II. J. M. Todd.

Norfolk. Onespecimen at Great Yarmoutl
— (7. J. Paget; one at Ormsby — C. G. Barrett,
one near Norwich — C. G. Barrett ; two good
specimensin October, 1846,atHarleston, near
Norwich — Charles Muskett ; one specimen at
Plumstead, near Norwich, on the 2nd of
October, 1865— T, E. Gunn.

Suffolk. One specimen on the 3rd Sept.,
it Lavenham, on a small and almost barren
bit of pasture land ; it was sitting on the
blosDom of a dandelion ; the soil was heavy
clay — W. Gaze; A. Lathonia was taken by
Captain Russell on two occasions, in August,
1859; in the first instance five specimens, in
the second two, in a meadow-field on the
south-west side of a wood belonging to Mr.
T. P. Hitchcock, at Lavenham ; the speci-
mens were shown to the late Professor Henslo w,
whose living of Hitcham is in an adjoining
parish ; the professor told him they were cer-
tainly Lathonia, but ad^ed he did not consider
them indigenous, but thought they must have
been blown over from the Continent. — R<port
of Entomological Society, Feb. 3, 1862 ; one in
a clover-field, near Ipswich, August, 1868 —
(Barrett Garrett; one at Stowmarlut, in

August, 1868 — W. Baker ; one in a clover-
field, at Hazlewood, near Aldeburgh, on the
3rd September, 1868—^. Fenwick Hele.

Surrey. Mickleham — William Bennett;
one at Croydon the second week in August,
1868— E. Newman.

Sussex. Two taken near Brighton three or
four years ago — Edwin Hellard.

Wight, Isle of. I tooka very fresh specimen
on the 20th of October, 1865, in my garden
at Sandown, and have heard that four others
have been taken at Ventnor since that date —
W. M. Frost ; one at Ventnor on the 21st of
October, and another at the same place on the
24th ; on the 4th of November, two in the
same line of cliff as those last mentioned —
Alfred Owen.

Yorkshire. One specimen on the west side
of Oliver's Mount, Scarborough, in September,
1868 — J. H Rowntree ; one near York —
Edwin Bircliall.

6. Pearl-bordered Fritillary (Argynnis Eup
Upper side.

Under side.

6. PEARL-BORDERED FKITILLARY. — The
costal margin of the fore wings is slightly
arched, the tip blunt, and the hind margin very
slightly convex ; the colour of the upper sur-
face is bright sienna-brown spotted with black:
the under side of the fore wings is tawny,
approaching to yellow towards the tips, and

36

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

adorned with black spots ; the underside of
the hind wings is tesselated with red-brown,
yellow, and silver spots ; the silver spots are
nine in number, the largest and longest of
which is central ; there is one close to the
body, near the base of the wing, and there
are seven semicircular ones forming a con-
tinuous series round the hind margin.

LIFE HISTORY. — The females may be ob-
served during the months of May and June
busily employed in examining the leaves of tlie
dog-violet ( Viola canina), for the purpose of
selecting one exactly adapted to their taste for
the deposition of their eggs. The EGG has been
observed by many entomologists ; but I have
never had the good fortune to possess one, and
therefore adopt the description lately pub-
lished by Mr. Buckler, who, in describing the
egg, says it is " of a blunt conical shape, with
its lower surface, which adheres to the leaf,
flattened ; its sides are ribbed : at first it is of
a dull greenish yellow colour, becoming after-
wards brownish. Towards the end of June
the CATERPILLAR is hatched, then being of a
pale greenish tint ; after its first moult it
becomes browner green, and about the middle
of July attaches itself to the stem of the plant,
and ceases to feed." Mr. Buckler failed in
keeping the caterpillar through the winter,
but delayed the hybernation of one individual
until the end of July by keeping it in a hot
sunny window : " it was then half an inch
long, black and spiny, with a faint indication
of a dull whitish stripe along the sides above
the feet." At this stage the caterpillar was
killed by mould, and Mr. Buckler's observa-
tions unhappily terminated. On the 9th of
April, 1 868, through the kindness of Mr. G. F.
Mathew, of H.M.S. "Britannia," I received
a supply of full-grown caterpillars feeding on
the leaves of the dog-violet ( Viola canina),
and have thus enjoyed the opportunity of
making a careful description. Mr. Mathew
informs me they are by no means easy to find ;
they are seldom to be seen on their food-plant,
but generally on a dead leaf in its immediate
neighbourhood or a twig above it. They are
lively and tWd freely when the sun is on them ;
hut they *r . t € Ejowiy and feed sparingly

when the weather is dull, and at night they
are motionless and abstain from food alto-
gether. The full-fed caterpillar rolls in a ring
when annoyed, but very soon unrolls, and
crawls with considerable rapidity to a place of
supposed safety : the head is almost exactly
of the same width as the second segment,
rough and bristly ; the face is flattish and the
crown TH itched : the body is obese, and the seg-
mental divisions are marked with considerable
distinctness ; the second segment has two
dorsal spines directed forwards ; between the
second and third segments there is a lateral
spine directed outwards ; on the third segment
are two dorsal spines nearly erect; between
the third and fourth segments is a lateral
spine directed outwards ; on the fourth seg-
ment are two dorsal spines nearly erect ; the
fifth and following segments, as far as the
twelfth inclusive, have six spines each — two
dorsal, and two on each side lateral ; the thir-
teenth segment has four spines directed back-
wards ; all the spines are rough and uneven,
especially towards the tip, and are beset with
strong bristles ; there is no medio-dorsal series
of spines, but the dorsal spines constit\ite two
series of eleven each. The colour of the head
is black, the two dorsal series of spines are
gamboge-yellow at the base and black at the
tip ; the body is black, very slightly sprinkled
on the back with white dots, and having a
vague but broad pale stripe on each side, com-
posed of irregular bluish white markings, more
or less closely crowded, and each generally
having a median black dot : this stripe is
often intersected by a slender sinuous black
line : the legs are black, the belly and claspers
pitchy red. On the 17th of April my speci-
mens spun little silken pads on the grass, and
from these suspended themselves in the usual
manner and became chrysalids. The CHRYSA-
LIS is obese, the head obtusely eared, the
thorax broadly keeled, the wing-cases ample,
the anal extremity rather abruptly incurved,
almost reaching the end of the wing-cases,
bluut, and terminating in two nearly circular
disks, which are fringed with very numerous
minute hooks; the dorsal surface has two warts
on every segment as far as the eleventh inclu-

FRITILLAR1ES.

87

sive; these seem to be tlie dorsal spines simply
dwarfed, and denuded of their dermal envelope
and bristles, which are shed with the rest of
the larval covering. The segmental divisions
of the chrysalis are clearly defined ; the pro-
thorax or collar is narrow, the tippets have
each a separate case, terminating in a rather
sharp transverse ridge or keel at the base of
the fore wing ; the mesothorax is very broad,
and occupies the same conspicuous position as
in the butterfly ; the metathorax is rather
narrow, and its anterior margin is broadly
excavated, the excavation being semicircular ;
the fourth and fifth segments are narrow, and
the remainder have the dorsal area well de-
veloped, but the ventral area almost entirely
concealed by the wing-cases. The peculiar
coloration and situation of spines which I have
described in the caterpillar are continued in
the chrysalis, so that the larval and pupal
segmental divisions in the two can be identified
with the utmost precision ; the general colour
of the chrysalis is gray-brown, the wing-cases
having two series of paler dots. — Newman.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — The caterpillar lives
through the winter at the roots of herbage in
woods, or under dried and fallen leaves : the
chrysalis is to be found on the dog violet in
April and May, and the perfect insect flies in
May and the beginning of June.

LOCALITIES. — One of the very commonest
<»f wood butterflies in England : it is included
in every county list I have received thiough
the kindness of correspondents, except Derby-
shire, and in a very ingenious table compiled
by Mr. Jenner Fust, and published in the
" Transactions of the Entomological Society,"
it appears in all the numerous sub-provinces
into which he has divided Great Britain, with
the single exception of Cornwall, in which
county, however, the species abounds in some
localities, such, for instance, as St. Martin's
Wood, near Looe, where it is taken by my
valued correspondent, Mr. Clogg. It swarms
in the London district, as in Darenth and
Birch Woods, and is equally abundant in
Northumberland and Durham. I am not
aware of its ^.aving been found in Ireland, but
I have fine examples from Scotland, where it

has been taken by Dr. Syme, Mr. Birchall,
Mr. Eccles, Mr. Chapman, Dr. Buchanan
White, and others. The last name 1 gentle-
man says : — " It does not appear to be a
common species in Perthshire ; it has been
found in Scone Woods, near the locality for
Moneses grandijlura, and at the Bridge of
Allan. It seems to be more common in the
northern than in the southern parts of Scot-
land, occurring in the same kind of places as
Argynnis Selene, but generally making its
appearance earlier in the season, in fact, about
*•!. middle of June; when Selene is most
abundant, the flight of Euphrosjne is nearly
over.— 1868, June 5 ; 1869, June 4."

fcsmall Pearl-bordered Fritillary (Argynnis Selene),
Upper side.

Under aide.

Under side of a Variety in the cabinet of Mr. Bond.

7. SMALL PEARL-BORDERED FRITILLARY. —
The costal margin of the wing is slightly
arched, the tip rounded, and the hind margin
convex. The colour of the upper surface is
bright sienna-brown, spotted with black : the
underside of the fore wings is tawny, approach-

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

ing to yellow towards the tip, and having a
large red-brown blotch in this yellow part;
the wing is adorned with black spots ; the
underside of the hind wings is tesselate'l with
red-brown, yellow, black, and silver spots —
the silver spots are seventeen in number, the
largest of which is central ; seven nearly
triangular ones form a regular series round
the hind margin ; there are five between the
central one and the costal margin, and five more
between the central one and the hind margin :
the various spots, whatever their colour, are
very distinctly margined with black.

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGG is laid on the dog
violet (Viola canina) in the summer. I ha.'e
seen the females busily employed in this
occupation in the month of June ; the young
CATERPILLARS emerge in July and August, and
h} bernate at the roots of herbage. In spring
they are found feeding on the leaves of the
violet, and are full grown in May : they are
then scarcely an inch in. length, the head is
about the same width as the second segment,
and the body almost uniformly cylindrical,
and furnished witli six longitudinal series of
rather short spines, each of which emits some
short bristles, especially from about the tip.
The colour of the head and body are dark
brown approaching to black, the spines being
pale on the basal portion, but. black towards
the tip. The CHRYSALIS is attached to the stem
of tiie violet leaf, is of a brown colour, and
has thort conical spines on the segments of the
body evidently representing those of the eater-
pi) lar. — Buhner's figure, <kc.

Obs. — I have never possessed this cater-
pillar, and have, therefore, been compelled to
rely on books for my description.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — In the Kentish
woods I have always found that this butterfly
makes its appearance from ten to twenty days
later than Euphrosyne. I have taken it on
the 1st of June, but it is more abundant about
the 8th or 10th.

LOCALITIES. — This species ia neither so
abundant nor so universally distributed in
England as Euphrosyne. I have seen no
Irish specimens, and none from the Isle of
Muu ; but in Scotland it is mote common and

more widely distributed than Euphrosyne.
Dr. Buchanan White observes it is a com-
mon species throughout Perthshire in marshy
places, in woods, and on hill-sides : it is
probably found in every county in Scotland,
where it holds the same place as Argynnit
Euphrosyne in England. — 1858, June G
1859, June 7; 18GO, July 12; 1867, Jum
19; 18G8, May 16; 1SG9, June 23. Tht
undermentioned English localities may bt
noticed : —

Berkshire. Burghfield, near Reading — C.
S. Bird.

Buckinghamshire. Dray ton- Beauchamp,
Aston Clinton, Buckland, Claydon — //. //.
Crewe ; Halton — Joseph Greene.

Cambridgeshire. Near Cambridge — F.
Bond.

Cornwall. Abundant in St. Martin's Wood,
near Looe — Stephen Clogg,

Cumberland. Abundant in Barren Wood
and in many other localities — /. B. Ilodykin-
son.

Devonshire. Newton Abbot — J. Ildlins.

Dorsetshire. Glanville's Wootton (but
rare of late years), Parley, &c. — J. C. Dale.

Durham. Appears abundantly about June,
and frequents most of our woods, Gibs:de,
Meldon Park, &c. — George Wailes ; Common
at Shull — William Backhouse.

Essex. Epping — E, Doubleday; Colchester,
but not so common now as formerly — IF. ll.
Harwood.

Glamorganshire. Common at Llantrissant
— Evan John ; Common at Ynisygerwn —
J. T. D. Llewelyn.

Gloucestershire. Forest of Dean — J. Mer
rin ; Park Wood, near Stroud — M. G. Mus-
grave ; Guiting — Joseph Greene, ; Bristol —
Alfred E. Hadd.

Hampshire. Lyndhurst and Brockenhurst
— F. Bond; Grange, Butsee Hill, &c. — II.
Moncreaff ; Bramshott — C. G. Barrett ; in
the county, but not so common as Euphrosyne
— G. B. Corbin.

Herefordshire. Occurs frequently on the
outskirts of our woods at Leominster — Mrs.
IJutchmson.

Herefordshire. Near Shirley — F. Bond.

JTvRitingdonshire. Monkswood, 8tl), June,
common — J. II. White.

Kent. Very common in all the Kentish
woods at the beginning of June ; as West
Wood, Shooter's Hill, Birch Wood, Joynson's
Wood, Dyrenth Wood, &c. — E. Newman;
Fork Common, near Sevenoaks — G. II.
Raynor ; on the large woodlands between
Barhatn Downs and tlie hills extending from
Folkstone to Wye — W. 0. Hammond; in
every wood about Faversham and Canterbury
— H. A . S to well.

Lancashire. Abundant — J. B. Hodgkinson.
Lincolnshire. Common — T. II. Allis,
Middlesex. Scratch Wood, near Edgware
-F. Bond.

Monmouthshire. Common — George Lock.
Norfolk. Near Norwich — 0. G. Barrett.
Northamptonshire. Near Wadenham — F.
Bond ; near Towcester — Hamlet Clark.

Northumberland. Near Hexham — William
Moling.

Nottinghamshire. Very common at Mans-
6eld— E. E. Brameld.

Somersetshire. Brockley, Clevedon, and
many other places — A. E. Hudd.

Staffordshire. Burnt Wood— Rev. T. W.
Daltry, Charnwood Forest — Edwin Brown.

Suffolk. Coomb, Bentley, &c. — H. II.
Crewe ; Brand eston and Play ford — Joseph
Greene; Sudbury — W. D. King.

Surrey. Haslemere — 0. G. Barrett.
Sussex. Very abundant in woody parts
of the Weald, Plashet, Abbot's Wood, &c. —
E. Jenner ; Harting Coombe — W. Buckler;
Frenchlands — J. H. White.

Warwickshire. Rugby — G. B. Longstaff.
Westmoreland. Witherslack, abundant —
./. B. Hodgkinson.

Wight, Isle of. Hyde, Sandown, Park-
hurst, Quarr Copse, &c. — Alfred Owen, James
Pristo.

Wiltshire. Savernake Forest — T. A.
Preston.

Worcestershire. Monk's Wood, common
— J. E. Fletcher.

Yorkshire. Near York, plentiful on moors
and in fir plantations near Cloughton — J. H.
Jiowntree; Scarborough — Edwin Birchall.

Family 2. — GREGARIOUS FIUTILLAKIES (in scl-ence
(Melitvtidce).

The caterpillars are almost uniformly cylin-
drical and almost uniformly spiny, but the
spines are short and blunt ; they are grega-
rious through the autumn, winter, and early
spring, feeding in company, under a web of
their own construction, on the leaves oi
various species of germander (Teucrium),
speedwell (Veronica), cow-wheat (Mehn.ipy-
rum), plantain (Plantago), scabious (Scabiosa),
and other low-growing plants : most of them
are confined to one food-plant, but others are
equally common on three or four different
species. The chrysalids are suspended among
the leaves or on the stems of the food-plants,
often in little companies of eight or ten
together ; they are almost without angles,
stout, blunt-headed, and remarkable for their
beautiful ornamentation of black and orange
spots on a whitish ground. The perfect insects
have knobbed antennae ; the costal margin of
the fore wings is straight, or nearly so, and
the flight languid. The colour of the upper
surface of the wings is brown, generally of one
shade, but sometimes of two, and invariably
spotted with black ; the underside of the
hind wings is tesselated with browns and
yellows. They are remarkable for their ad-
herence to very limited localities, most of them
spending their lives within a few yards of the
spot where the eggs from which they were
produced were deposited by their parents.
Like domesticated pigeons, they take their
little trips about their homestead, but have no
propensity to forsake its immediate neigh-
bourhood. We have but three species in this
country, all of them at present included in the
genus Melitcea, but the first species will pro-
bably be separated on account of certain
peculiarities in the structure of its scales.

8. Greasy Fritillary (Afe!it<Ea.4rfemfc). Upper siae.

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

Under side.

8. GREASY FRITILLARY. — The costal mar-
gin of the fore wings is almost straight, the
tip rounded, and the hind margin rather
convex. This species has three colours on the
upper surface; burnt sienna brown, dull
) ellow, and black : the hind margin is black,
surmounted in the hind wings by a series of
six pale yellow crescents, each bordered with
black ; above, and adjoining these, is a broad
brown band, divided into compartments by
the black wing-rays, and in each of these
compartments there is an obscure yellow spot
in the fore wings, and a black spot in the hind
wings. The underside has a greasy appear-
ance, as though oily, or as if the scales had
been rubbed off; the underside of the fore
wings is dingy brown tesselated with dull
black, of the hind wings reddish brown tessela-
ted with dull yellow, each yellow spot being
bordered by a black line; parallel with the hind
margin is a series of six black dots, each of
which is obscurely surrounded with yellow.

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGGS, which are some-
what flattened on the crown, are laid on the
underside of the leaf of devil's-bit scabious
(Scabiosa succisa), those leaves nearest the
ground being selected for this purpose ; the
usual period of oviposition is from the be-
ginning to the middle of June. In about a
fortnight — that is, from the middle to the end
of June — the young CATERPILLARS emerge ;
they have then black heads and ochre-coloured
"bodies : almost immediately after emergence
thoy begin drawing together two or three
leaves of the scabious or of the neighbouring
herbage, and spin a slight gauzy web over the
interstices ; enclosed in this domicile, they de-
vour, in company, the underside of a scabious
leaf, leaving only the epidermis which very

soon becomes brown in blotches : as soon as
the little community has extracted all the
nutriment from the leaf or leaves included
within the first enclosure, it moves to other
leaves, and by united labours the caterpillars
construct a much larger dwelling, sometimes
even extending over the leading stem and en-
closing the flowering stem of the scabious
with its apical flower- bud. Towards the end
of summer the caterpillars, then scarcely half-
grown, become sluggish, and, ceasing to eat,
descend low down among the herbage, where
they again spin a silken domicile, beneath the
shelter of which they pass the winter : as
soon as the plant begins to grow in the spring
these caterpillars break up their winter esta-
blishment, and each seeks its own provisions
independently of the others, and without the
protection of a web ; indeed, they seem quite
fearless of exposure, often indulging in a noon-
day siesta in bright sunshine on a dried leaf,
or in any other exposed situation ; this con-
tinues until the end of April, when, being
full fed, the caterpillar existence terminates :
at this period the creature rests in a straight
position, but falls off its food-plant when
touched or disturbed, and forms a loose ring,
the head tucked in and the anal extremity
protruding. The head is scarcely narrowei
than the second segment, semiporrect, and
garnished with stiff bristles : the body is
obese, and the incisions of the segments are
well marked; the second segment has two
short bristly obtuse spines on each side below
the spiracles ; the third and fourth segments
have each eight spines ; the fifth and succeed-
ing segments have each nine spines, the addi-
tional spine being mediodorsal, and the aggre-
gate of these mediodorsal spines forming a
mediodorsal series ; all the spines are short,
obtuse, scabrous, and furnished with bristles
The colour of the head is black ; of the body
velvety black, sprinkled with circular whitt
dots, which are irregularly ranged in three
principal but ill-defined series; one medio-
dorsal, the others spiracular ; each white dot
emits a black bristle from its centre ; the legs
are black ; the claspers pale smoke-coloured.
It is worthy of remark that in a large number

FBITILLARIES.

of these caterpillars under my notice nine out
of every ten were infested byichneumonideous
parasites; these emerged from the lepidop-
terous caterpillars in the caterpillar state,
and spinning little silken cocoons outside the
lepidopterous caterpillar, fastened down the
wretchedly atrophied but still living victim,
and, fixing it immovably, left it to perish miser-
ably : the number of these parasites in each
caterpillar varied from ten to twenty-six ; the
cocoons which they spun were of a pale sulphur
colour, and were elongate-oval in shape : the
majority of them emerged between the 18th
and 25th of May, and proved to be a species
of Microg aster. It would appear that but a
small proportion of the caterpillars of Melitcea
Artemis escape this formidable pai'asite. The
full-fed caterpillar of. Artemis generally selects
some curled leaf or mass of tangled herbage,
and thus concealed, spins a slight silken coat-
ing over the surface of the object selected,
and suspending itself by the anal claspers,
changes to a chrysalis, which hangs in the
same way. The CHRYSALIS is short and obese,
the head being transversely produced in front
and broadly truncate ; the base of each wing-
case is slightly produced : the back is very
convex, its anal extremity bent under towards
the extremity of the wing-cases, and the
dorsal outline being almost semicircular; the
caudal extremity is attached by its little hooks
to a slight web spun about the margin of the
scabious leaf : the colour of the chrysalis is
creamy white, changing, as the time of meta-
morphosis approaches, to a deep orange, varie-
gated with black and orange markings ; the
cases of the legs have black markings only, but
those of the antennae are black and orange
alternately, the latter colour in very small dots;
the back of the thorax has two conspicuous
black lunate marks, each having a yellow dot
behind it : the eight abdominal segments have
each a transverse series of lunate black mark-
ings, and behind each of these, and partially
enclosed by it, is a bright yellow spot with a
nipple-shaped excrescence in the middle ; the
wing-cases are adorned with black markings.
Prior to the final change the chrysalis assumes
richer hue, approaching to dull

orange, and exhibiting beneath the wing-cases
the colours of the butterfly. I am indebted
to Mr. Merrin, of Gloucester, for a liberal
supply of this very imperfectly-known cater-
pillar : the same gentleman has most kindly
furnished me with materials for compiling its
history. — Newman.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — The butterfly makes
its appearance in about fourteen days after the
change to a chrysalis ; this period, however,
depends in some measure on the temperature,
a cold April delaying their final change for a
few days : if the spring is warm and vegeta-
tion forward, the caterpillars have a better
chance of feeding up early, and the male but-
terflies begin to appear the second week in
May, most of the females emerging some days
later : this butterfly has a slow and gentle
flight, and is very easily captured ; it delights
in damp meadows, and is fond of resting in
the sunshine on leaves and flowers with ex-
panded wings, and apparently enjoying the
warmth : in cloudy weather it will allow itself
to be taken by the hand from a flower on
which it is resting, and at no time does it fly
to any considerable distance from its birth-
place : in the damp meadows near Leominster
it occurs year after year in the same spot, and
may be met with from the middle to the end
of May with the greatest certainty.

LOCALITIES. — Frequents damp meadows in
which the devil's-bit scabious grows, and is
very widely distributed, but at the same time
very local : it may exist in all the English
and "Welsh counties, but from this peculiarity
have escaped notice. I have enumerated a
few of the localities below. In Ireland, as I
am informed by Mrs. Battersby and Mr.
Birchall, it is common, occurring in the county
Wick low, also in Gal way and at Killarney ;
and is abundant at Glen Lough and Cromlyn
Bog, in Westmeath, where it is very highly
coloured and very various in size ; in Scotland
it seems rare and local, but has been taken
at Dunoon and Oban by Mr. Chapman. Dr.
Buchanan White says it has hitherto been
found in very few localities in Perthshire, but
thinks it probable that it has often been over-
looked owing to its very local habits. It haa

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

been taken near Dnnsinane, Metlmen, and
the Bridge of Allan. In the first of these
localities the caterpillars have been collected
rather commonly. In Scotland it occurs as
far north as Forres. Dr. White thinks that
Scottish specimens are slightly smaller and
darker than English ones. The following
are English localities : —

Berkshire. Burghfield, near Reading — S.
C. Bird.

Buckinghamshire. Dray ton- Beauchamp,
H. II. Crewe ; Hal ton — Joseph Greene.

Cambridgeshire. Ely — Man-hall Fisher;
Whittlesford and in the Fens — F. Bond; (it
was formerly common near Cambridge, but
has not been seen for some years) — Thomas
Brown.

Cheshire. Near Eastham, but rare — Edwin
Sire/tall.

Cumberland. Common in the county ;
Worton Moss, Newby Cross, and abundant
also at Brick House, Sabergham. The cater-
pillar from this bleak place produces very
small dark specimens, and also some beautiful
varieties with large canary-coloured spots on
the fore wings — J. B. Hodgkinson.

Derbyshire. Cromford — //. //. Crewe.

Devonshire. Near Exeter — J. Hellins ;
woods at Ivybridge, and near the viaduct at
the extreme end of the wood — G. C. Biynell.

Dorsetshire. Glanville's Wootton, Middle-
marsh Woods, Parley, and other places —
J. C. Dale.

Durham. Near Castle Eden Dene — W.
Moling ; in the Floss locality, I am informed
by Mr. Proctor, Jun., of the Durham Museum,
that it is most abundant, the food-plant, the
devil's-bit scabious, growing tl :-e in great
quantity — George Wailes.

Essex. Near Epping — E. Doubleday ;
about Colchester, but not nearly so common as
:ormerly — W. l.Harwood; Saffron Walden,
W. R. Jeffrey.

Glamorganshire. Common nearLlanti issant
— Evan John ; sparingly in short hay mea-
dows about Ynisygerwn — J. T. D. Lleicelyn.

Gloucestershire. Near Gloucester, but very
local — J. Merrin ; Guiting — Joseph Greene;
Clifton — Alfred L'udd.

Hampshire. Wm-blington — W. BwMer;
Brock enhurst — F. Bond ; Woolmer Forest —
C. G. Barrett ; common near Fordingbridge
—G. B. Corbin.

Herefordshire. Not common near Leo-
minster — Mrs. Ilutchinxon ; 1 have met with
it occasionally in all the damp meadows near
Leominster, but not abundantly. I have
observed it more particularly in the Caswell
fields — E. Newman.

Huntingdonshire. Yaxley — F. Bond.

Lancashire. Rare — J. B. Ilodykinson.

Lincoln-hire. Common in the county —
T. H. Allis.

Middlesex. Kingsbury — F. Bond.

Monmouthshire. Very common near
Heullis' and St. Julian's Woods — George Lock.

Norfolk. Near Aldeby, but confined to a
few marshes — W. M. Crowfoot.

Northamptonshire. Aldwinkle, near Wad-
ingham — F. Bond ; near Towcester — Hamlet
Clark.

Oxfordshire. Stow Wood and Baylny
Wood— W. H. Draper.

Somersetshire. Clevedon — A. E. lludd.

Stafford-hire. Craddock Moss — 7'. W.
Dailry ; Cbarnwood Forest— Edwin Brown.

Suffolk. Near Stowmarket — //. 11. Crewe;
Brandeston and Pla) ford — Joseph Greene ;
Haverhill— W. Gaze.

Surrey. Hasleuiere, irregularly — C. G.
Barrett.

Sussex. Foxborough March — W. Bu elder ;
abundant in the forest near Wych Cross —

E. Jenner.

Westmoreland. Rare at Witherslack —
J. B. Hodgkinson.

Wight, Isle of. Very local, but abundant
where it occurs, damp meadows — James
Pristo ; Ventnor — Alfred Owen ; Sandown —

F. Bond.

Wiltshire. Clatfbrd, and near Great Bed-
wyn — T. A. Preston.

Worcestershire. Meadows at Hambleton
and Oddiugley — J. E. Fletcher; formerly
abundant at Great Malvern, but seems to
have disappeared since the drainage- — W.
Edwards.

Yorkshire. Near York — Robert Cook,

FRITILLARIES.

9. Glanville Fritillary (Militcea Cinxia). Upper side
of Variety in the cabinet of Mr. 0»ven.

Under side.

Under side of a Variety in the cabinet of Mr. Bund.

Under side of a Variety in the cabinet of Mr.
Wellman.

9. GLANVILLE FRITILLARY. — The costal mar-
gin of the fore wings is very nearly straight,
the tip rounded, and the hind margin very
slightly convex ; the hind margin of the hind
wings is waved ; the colour of the upper sur-
face of all the wings is rich fulvous brown ;
the fore wings have several short bands at the
four transverse irregular zigzag bars

parallel with the hind margin, and all the
rays black ; the intersection of the transverse
bars and longitudinal rays dividing the brown
colour into several series of compartments of
different figures : the hind wings have much
the same character, except that each of the
brown spots in the second row, counting from
the hind margin, has a black dot in the middle ;
the fringe is alternately black and yellow, the
yellow colour being excessively delicate, often
approaching to white, even in recent speci-
mens, but in faded specimens it appears white :
the underside of the fore wings is fulvous, the
tip yellow, with a few black markings : the
underside of the hind wings is yellow, with
two very irregular transverse fulvous bands ;
in the yellow base of the wing are six black
dots ; then follows the first fulvous band very
much contorted, and its margin bounded by a
black line ; next comes a yellow band, in
which are six or eight black dots ; then the
second fulvous band, margined like the first
with black, and containing seven black dots ;
lastly, the marginal band is yellow, and con-
tains six or seven crescent-shaped black marks.

The variety of the under side is so excessive,
and, indeed, so bizarre, that any description
must fail to give a correct idea of any indi-
vidual specimen ; but when the entomologist
has an ample row of the insect before him, I
trust he will find the description applicable.
I am indebted to Mr. Bond, Mr. Owen, and
Mi\ Wellman for the loan of the beautiful
varieties figured.

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGGS are laid during
May and June in batches on the narrow-leaved
plantain (Piantago lanceolata), on which plant
alone have I seen the CATERPILLAR feeding.
At this time of year I found this butterfly in
profusion on the side of and beneath the cliff
at Saudown, in the Isle of Wight. Many
males were settling on the flowers then abun-
dantly scattered along the undercliff, but the
females seemed to be almost invariably occu-
pied in the duties of oviposition. Mr. Dawson
has added some interesting particulars, which
I shall presently give iu his own words. The
caterpillars are extruded from the egg in
August, and after feeding for a mouth or two,

44

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

the time being longer or shorter according to
the weather, they spin a tent, under shelter
of which they pass the winter. This tent is
very compact and almost of a globular figure,
the caterpillars in each mass varying consider-
ably in number. I have found between fifty
and sixty in a single mass, but in other masses
not more than a dozen. The web is very
ingeniously constructed, as Mr. Dawson has
described ; the blades jt grass, as well as the
leaves and flowering stems of the plantain
being inwoven, and thus rendering the mass
firm and compact. The caterpillars when
examined in the winter are about a third of an
inch in length, and directly they are disturbed
roll up into little balls. In the spring they
leave their winter quarters, and then may be
seen migrating towards the higher part of the
cliff, where they feed on the same species of
plantain, but not so much in company, nor
have they any longer the protection of a web.
When full fed they fall off the food-plant
and roll into a tight compact ring if disturbed.
The head is distinctly exserted and distinctly
notched on the crown. It is hairy, and
obviously narrower than all the other seg-
ments, except the second and thirteenth. The
body is obese and slightly decreasing in size at
the extremities, the incisions of the segments
being distinctly marked. On each segment are
eight warts in a transverse series, and each is
prolonged into a pointed conical process with
rugose surface, and seated in the midst of
a fascicle of short stiff radiating bristles. The
head is red and shining, its hairs black : the
body is intense velvety black, with belts of
pure white dots in the incisions between the
segments ; its hairs are intensely black , the
legs are pitchy black ; and the claspers dull
red. At the end of April it attaches itself
by the tail to the stem of the plantain,
almost close to the ground, and there changes
to a short stout chrysalis, which is of a very
dark colour and almost smooth. I have
found dozens of the chrysalids in company.
The insects remain but a short time in the
chrysalis state, rarely more than a fortnight,
sometimes less. — Newman.

TIAIE OF APPEARANCE. — The caterpillar

lives through the winter; the chrysalis is
found at the end of April and beginning of
May, and the butterfly continues to emerge
and appear on the wing during the whole of
May and June ; but it is undesirable to define
too closely the duration of either state, for
when I had the pleasure in 1824, in company
wi li my friends, George Waring, of Bristol,
and Waring Kidd, of Godalming, of dis-
covering the now celebrated locality at the
Undei cliff, Isle of Wight, we found the
caterpillars, chrysalids, and butterflies equally
abundant at the same time. With a feeling
of triu in ph that I well recollect I recorded
the discovery of this beautiful butterfly in the
pages of " London's Magazine of Natural
History," then.in the zenith of its glory, now
a mere memory of the past. Twenty years
later, the Rev. J. F. Dawson sent me a most
interesting account of the same butterfly and
the same locality, and I will copy his letter
here, even at the risk of some little repetition.
"As this fritillary is rare in almost every
part of the kingdom, some account of its
favourite haunts and habits may not prove
uninteresting. It cannot be accounted by any
means common here, being confined to a few
localities only, though where it does occur, it
is in general to be found in some abundance.
It is not to be expected in cultivated districts,
but breeds on steep and broken declivities
near the coast, which the scythe or the plough
never as yet have invaded, and in such spots
it may be met with, earlier or later in May,
according to the season. Near Sandown, on
the side of the cliff, there is one of these
broken declivities, occasioned by some former
land-slip, covered with herbage, which slopes
down to the beach. A pathway leads to the
base. On the 9th of May, 1844, a hot, sunny
day, each side of this pathway was completely
carpeted with a profusion of the yellow flowers
of the common kidney vetch or ladies' fingers
(Aidhyllisvulneraria, var. maritima), when I
visited the spot ; and these flowers were the
resort of an abundance of these fritillaries,
which fluttered about them, or rested on their
corollas, expanding and sunning their wings,
and presenting a most charming picture of

FRITILLARIES.

entomological loveliness. The great abundance
of the narrow-leaved plantain, which also
grows there, affords food for their caterpillars.
The spring of last year (1845), on the other
hand, was so very backward, that on visiting
that locality at a date some fortnight later
than the above, so far from either flowers or
butterflies being visible, the caterpillars were
still feeding, and I could discover but few
chrysalids. These latter are found adhering,
just above the surface of the ground, to the
knotted stems of the plantain, which here
consists of aged plants, each with but a few
stunted leaves ; and occasionally on the under-
side of large stones which have fallen from
the cliff ; and they are suspended and partly
surrounded in the latter case with a fine web.
They are also generally to be found in pairs.
The caterpillars evidently prefer these stunted
plants, for at the base of the declivity, where
the plantain grows luxuriantly, not one is to
be seen. They are black and spiny, with red
heads and legs; being hatched iu August tliey
pass the winter in societies, under a kind of
tent, formed by a compact web, brought
round and over the stems of grasses. I have
found several of these societies on the 27th of
August, the individuals which composed them
being about a quarter of an inch long, rolled
up like little balls. All these societies occurred
at the base of the declivity, where the herbage
grows most luxuriantly ; and when the cater-
pillars have attained sufficient strength in the
spring, they are invariably seen ascending
towards the higher parts of the slope. And
herein I imagine that I recognize a beautiful
instance of natural instinct, both in the but-
terfly and caterpillar. The former deposits
its eggs low down in the declivity, where the
young brood may rest most securely, sheltered
and least exposed to the wintry storms ; but
when the caterpillars are sufficiently advanced
in growth, they ascend to the higher parts of
the steep, and feed and undergo their trans
formation. Were the chrysalis formed below,
they would probably have too much moisture
and too little sun ; whereas, by being formed
higher up, they have a sufficiency of both to
bring them to maturity. This butterfly is

single brooded ; but there is a succession of
them, varying in duration according to the
season. The earliest date on which I have
met with it is May 1st — the litest in July;
but in the latter case the specimens were bred
in captivity. I never remember to have wen
it so late in the state of liberty ; not later,
indeed, than the middle of June here. They
are very difficult to rear from the caterpillars,
and those I have bred are not only disclosed
much later than in the state of freedom, but
are not nearly so tine and perfect. They in
general fly slowly and gracefully, except when
alarmed, gliding gently from flower to flower.
I have taken as many as two dozen without
moving from the spot where I stood, as they
successively visited the stems of the grasses
round me. This fritillary was much less
plentiful last season than heretofore ; and in
some of its former haunts has quite disap-
peared. It has many foes ; for besides the
march of improvement in cultivation which
gradually invades its haunts, the same natural
causes which promote its abundance also
multiply its enemies. Two necrophagous
beetles, S'dpha obscura and «S'. tristin, destroy
the caterpillar ; and a large "round spider,
very numerous in the spots which it frequents,
feeds on the perfect insect; it lies in wait till
the butterfly alights on the low plants, or on
the ground, then rushing forward, seizes it by
the neck, and holds it captive with such
tenacity, that both insects may almost be
pulled in pieces ere it will relax its grasp."

TIME OP APPEARANCE. — The caterpillar
lives through the winter ; the chrysalids are
to be found in May and June, and the butter-
flies are on the wing in the same months.

LOCALITIES. — Few species of butterfly are
more restricted in their range than this. I
know of but three counties where it has been
found, as under : —

Hampshire. Near Brockenhurst, in the
New Forest — J. C. Dale.

Kent. Cliffs near St. Margaret's Bay—
W. 0. Hammond.

Wight, Isle of. Undercliff, near Sandown,
discovered by B. Newman in 1824 ; Sandown
— J. F. Dawson in 1844; plentiful in the

BRITISH BUT L'ERFLIES.

chalk, also occurs on the tertiaries — James
Pristo ; Brook Chine — F. Bond; "Ventnor
and Newport — A I/red Owen ; Carisbrook
Castle, Blackgang Chine, and Fresh water —
/. C. Dale.

Wiltshire. Near Great Bedwyri, very rare,
Rev. J. W. Lukis— T. A. Preston.

10. Heath Fritillary (Melitwa Athalia). Upper
side.

Upper side of a Variety in the cab'net of Mr. Bond.

Two Upper sides and one Under side of Varieties in
the cabinet of Mr. Bond.

Under bide.

10. THE HEATH FRITILLAUY. — The costal
margin of the fore wings is very slightly
archrd, the tip rounded, and the hind margin
rather convex ; the hind margin of the hind
wing is waved ; the colour of the upper side
is deep fulvous brown, the longitudinal rays
and a number of transverse bands being
black, but there is no row of black dots
parallel with the hind margin of the hind
wing. The underside has the central part of
the fore wings bright fulvous ; the costal
margin, the hind margin, and the tip yellow;
the whole beautifully adorned with black
markings, more particularly a double series
of black arches along the hind margin ; the
hind wings are beautifully tesselated with"
bright fulvous and yellow of two shades,
arranged in bands, and divided into variously-
shaped spots, every spot being surrounded by
a distinct black line ; first, there is a double
and very slender scalloped marginal black line,
then a row of yellow crescents, then another
single scalloped black line, then a row of half-
moon-shaped yellow spots, then a third scal-
loped black line bordering the yellow spots,
then a row of red-brown crescents, often hav-
ing the yellow and brown colours mixed and
confused, but bordered with a fourth scalloped
black line ; then follows a. band of eight large
yellow-white black-bordered spots across the
middle of the wing • above this is a very
irregular band ; and at the base of the wing
are five large, yellow-white, black-bordered
spots of very iiTegular form, and mixed with
other dark brown markings equally irregular.

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGGS are laid in July
on the narrow-leaved plantain (Plantago Ian-
ceolata), the broad-leaved plantain (Plantago
major), the wood sage or wood germander

FB1TILLARIES.

(Teucrium scorodonia), and the germander
speedwell (Veronica chamcedrys) ; and the
CATERPILTUUS, emerging in about fourteen
days, feed on these herbs for a few days, or, if
the weather is congenial, a few weeks, and
then hybernate at the roots of these plants :
at the end of April they reascend the plants,
feeding more copiously than in the autumn,
and crawling up any elevated object, they
may be found resting in the full blaze of the
meridian sun, which they appear particularly
to enjoy. I kept my specimens on a plant of
the narrow-leaved plantain, and covered with
a bell-glass ; in the middle of the day I always
found they crawled up the flowering-stems of
the plantain, and I was particularly struck
with the resemblance of the caterpillars to the
flowers of this plant, a resemblance which
perhaps serves as a protection againrt the
birds, which at this period of the year are
constantly on the look-out for caterpillars
wherewith to feed their young. The head of
the full-grown caterpillar is semiporrect and
fully as wide as the second segment ; it is
scabrous and bristly ; the second segment is
dorsally scabrous and bristly, and having two
conical spines on each side, the spines being
armed with bristles ; the third and fourth
segments have each eight conical spines, two
email and slender ones on each side close to
the leg, and the others stouter and nearer the
back ; the following segments, from the fifth
to the eleventh, both inclusive, have each nine
conical spines, one of them being medio-
dorsal] the twelfth has two meclio-dorsal spines
placed longitudinally, and three others on
each side j the thirteenth has four spines,
forming an irregular quadrangle, and all
pointing backwards : all of these conical spines
are closely beset with short stiff" bristles.
The colour of the head is black, the scabrous
points being white : the dorsal surface of the
body is velvety black, sprinkled with snow-
white dots; the spines in the medio dorsal
series are pale orange at the base and white
at the tip ; those of the next series on each
side are deeper orange at the base and white
at the tip ; all the others are pure white, but
the bristles of the spines are black : the legs

are pitchy black : the belly and claspers are
smoke-coloured, indistinctly tinged with pink.
My specimens changed on the 22nd May to
very short and obese CHRYSALIDS, the head
being transversely produced in front and
broadly truncate, the base of each wing-case
is also slightly produced ; the body is very
convex, its anal extremity bent under towards-
the extremity of the wing-cases, and the dorsal
outline being almost semi-circular, the anal
extremity attached by minute hooks to a
slight -web spun by the caterpillar on the
edge of the plantain- leaf ; the colour is
creamy white, variegated with black and
orange ; the cases of the legs are adorned with
black markings only ; the back of the thorax
has two conspicuous black markings, margined
with orange ; the eight abdominal segments
have each a basal dorsal band, alternately
orange and black, and very ornamental ; the
last segment is orange. I am indebted to
Mr. Bignell for a most liberal supply of
these caterpillars. — Newman.

TIME OF APPEARANCE — The caterpillar
lives through the winter. The chrysalis is to
be found at the end of May and first fort-
night in June. The chrysalis state lasts
about twenty days.

LOCALITIES. — This species is extremely
local, but abundant where found : it frequents
open places in woods, particularly where the
herbage is stunted and where heath occurs.
Mr. Tress Beale observes that it is fond of
basking on thistles, and that when taken it
feigns death, falling into the collector's net in
an apparently inanimate state, closing its
wings and contracting its legs. Mr. Birchall
found this species abundant at Killarney, in
Ireland, but I am not aware of its having
been detected in Scotland, The following
are the only English localities with which I
am acquainted : —

Buckinghamshire. Near Halton — Joseph
Greene.

Cornwall, St. Martin's Wood, near Looe,
sometimes very abundant — Stephen Clogg.

Devonshire. At Fordlands, an estate about
three miles from Exeter—^. Parfitt ; near
Exeter — J. ffellins; abundant near PJymoutl

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

• — Geo. BigneU. Common, but local, fre-
quenting healthy spots in woods ; irregular in
appearing; occurs some seasons, though rarely,
at the end of May, at others beginning of
July. In 1855 the writer bred 120 specimens
from caterpillars found feeding on Plantago
lanceolatum and Teucrium scorodonia. The
first passed into the chrysalis condition on
June 5th, and the butterfly fame forth on
June 28th, making the chrysalis state to
occupy three weeks. A good time to capture
this species is from the middle to the end of
June. Dartmoor Tramway, Leighmoor, north
and west, above and below Plymbridge,
Shaughbridge, Ivy bridge, Kingsbridge,Totnes,
Tavistock, Exeter, Torquay — J. J. Reading.

Essex. Colchester — Edward Doubleday ;
now restricted to one wood — W. H. Harwood.

Gloucestershire. Guiting — Joseph Greene

Kent. Blean Woods, near Canterbury,
ibundant — W. 0. Hammond.

Staffordshire. Burnt Wood — J. If. Ho^lg
kinson ; abundant in one locality ir South
Staffordshire — J. Hardy.

Suffolk — Brandeston and Play-ford — Joseph
Greene.

Sussex. Very abundant in Abbot's Wood,
near Hailsham — E. Jenner I have found
Athalia so abundant in Abbot's Wood, that
I have had ten in the net at one time. The
earliest date is the end of May. They are
very fond of resting on low herbage and
rushes. There is one spot in the wood where
they are unusually numerous — C. V. 0.
Levett.

Wiltshire. Near Great Bedwyn, Rev. J.
W. Lukis— T. A. Preston.

Family 3. — ANGLE-WINGS (in science (Vanessidai).

The caterpillars are spiny, and of uniform
thickness throughout ; they are often gre-
garious, feeding in large companies, and
generally on plants of the natural order
Urticacece as formerly constituted. I am
aware that some of these plants, as the elm-
worts, now form a separate order, under the
name of Ulmacece, and others, as the hemp-
worts, another separate order, under the name
ol (Jannab-tnacew, to which the hop belongs ;

but our insects disregard these technical
alterations, and retain their partiality for
thi,<= tribe of plants, whatever name they may
assume in our systems : some of the species
are, however, less restricted in their tastes,
and eat a variety of plants. The chrysalids
are always angulated, the head always eared,
the points sharp and salient ; they are always
suspended by the tail. The perfect insect has
but four perfect legs, the anterior pair want-
ing the claws and being unfitted for walking :
the wings are angled, in some species remark-
ably so. We have three genera inhabiting
Britain — Grapta, Vanessa, and Pyrameis.

11. The Comma (Qrapta, C-album).

11. THE COMMA. — The hind margin of all
the wings is angled and deeply indented, more
remarkably so than in any other English
butterfly : the colour of the upper side is
sienna-brown with a broad band of redder
brown along the hind margin of all the wings :
the fore wings have seven darker brown spots,
the three largest on the costal margin, and
the two smallest on the very centre of the
wings : the hind wines have three brown
spots near the base, and a band of red-brown
spots parallel with the marginal band. The
underside is clouded brown, and in the very
centre of each hindt»ving is a pure white and
very distinct mark, which some say resembles
a comma, others compare it to the letter C ;
it is somewhat like both of these, and hence
the names of White C butterfly, and Comma
butterfly.

Obs. — There are three very constant varie-
ties observable in the colouring of the under-
side of the species, the characteristics of
which may be described as repletion, variety,
and depletion : in the first the brown is dark,
dull, and uniform ; in the second it is richly
varied with different shades of brown and
metallic green ; and in the third the colour
seems partially bleached, and assumes a tinge
of fulvous yellow. Mr. Dale, one of our best
lepidopterists, regards the first and third of
these varieties as a first and second brood.
It would be an interesting and noteworthy
fact if it could be shown that the generation*

FRITILLARIES.

11; Common Butterfly. Upper side.

Under side.

alternate in this manner ; but it would be no
anomaly should this prove to be the case.

Mrs. Hutchinson, of Leominster, who is
perhaps better acquainted with this butterfly
than any other entomologist in the kingdom,
considers the uniformly dark-brown specimens
to be females, and the richly varied specimens
to be males. Accepting these views as
correct, there still remains a little difficulty in
the extreme uniformity of colouring in all the
fulvous or vernal specimens : these are cer-
tainly not all of one sex.

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGG is laid in May by
hybernated females on the hop (Humulus
lupulus) and red-currant (Ribes rubrum),
both in a state of cultivation, and on the
elm in the semi-domestic position of a hedge-
row. The CATERPILLAR, when full grown,
is obese in its form and slow in its move-
ments. The head is slightly porrected,
scabrous, and furnished with two con-
spicuous compound spine-like horns, one of
which originates in the upper middle of each
lateral plate of the head : these horns are

quinquefi.l at the extremity, one division
pointing directly forwards, the others ranged
round the base of the first and pointing iu
four different directions; the ocelli are crowded
together at the mouth, and each stands at the
extremity of a short pedicel. The body is
very stout ; the second segment is no wider
than the head ; the third and following seg-
ments are twice that width, and very robusts
and the interstices bet ween them are very deep
and clearly defined ; the second segment is
without prominent spines, but has several
minute bristle-bearing warts ; it is black, with
pale red-brown lines; these are somewhat
transversely disposed on the back, but longi-
tudinally on the sides ; there are seven rows
of strong branched spines on the body ; four
of these rows begin on the third segment, the
other three, namely, the medio-dorsal and the
lowest, on each side, begin on the fifth : the
medio-dorsal series consists of eight spines,
and each medio-dorsal spine is slightly in
advance of that next to it on each side ; the
other series consist of eleven spines each ;
the twelfth and thirteenth segments have each
but two spines. The colour of the face is
velvety black, but adorned with many paler
markings, two of which, originating on the
crown, pass obliquely down the face to each
side the clypeus : the general colour of the
body is gray, interspersed with red-brown ;
there is a broad medio-dorsal stripe of pure
white, commencing on the seventh and ending
on the twelfth segment in an obtuse point ;
the last segment has also a large white spot on
each side : the spiracles are exactly inter-
mediate in situation between the second and
third lateral series of the spines; they are black
and surrounded with white, and the white
again with black, and finally the black with
red-brown : the space below the spiracles is
delicately reticulated with gray; the spines
which emanate from the white stripe are also
white ; those of the third or lowest lateral
series, also those of each series as far as the
sixth segment inclusive, are pale brown ;
those of the other lateral series from the
seventh to the extremity are white at the
tips and pale brown at the base : the ventral

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

surface is black, irrorated and reticulated with
gray and red-brown : the legs are black and
red-brown : the claspers red and gray. When
full-fed it spins a little hillock of white silk
on one of the ribs or on the petiole of the
hop-leaf, or on the stem of the hop-plant, or
on the hop-pole, or on the leaf-stalk of the
currant ; and, attaching itself thereto by its
posterior claspers, it hangs head downwards,
and is transformed to an angulated CHRYSALIS j
the head is deeply notched, and the two horns
or ears, containing the palpi, are distant,
pointed, and curved towards each other at the
tips ; the back of the thorax has a central
elevation laterally compressed and very thin ;
the sides of the thorax have two blunt pro-
tuberances ; there is a deep dorsal excavation
between the thorax and abdomen ; the back
has three series of raised points, and on each
side are two such series ; the points on the
medio-dorsal series ai-e small and inconspicuous,
those of the next series on each side are large
and prominent ; the first of the lateral series
is above, the second below, the spiracles ; both
are inconspicuous ; the sides of the body, at
its junction with the thorax, are much bulged,
making this the broadest part of the chrysalis ;
the anal segment is long and slender, and
terminates in a cluster of minute hooks, by
which it is suspended from the web ; the
colour is umber-brown, delicately reticulated
with black lines ; on the back, in the depres-
sion between the thorax and body, are three
or more blotches of beautifully burnished
silver. — Newman.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — The CATERPILLAR is
found on the hop and red currant in July and
August, arid the chrysalis in September ; trhe
butterfly occurs most abundantly in September
and October; it feeds on the fruit of the
bramble and on plums, and is very fond of
settling on the blossoms of the thistle; but
although this season is the most prolific one
for this butterfly, I have repeatedly seen it in
the spring, after hybernation, and also in
June, July, and August. An idea seems pre-
valent that there are two broods in the year,
the first emerging from the chrysalis in June
and July, the second in August and September.

I think this is a mistake ; I have been ablfj to
obtain no satisfactory evidence of any ca'er-
pillars prior to those so abundant in the
autumn mouths about the season of hoj>-
picking.

LOCALITIES. — A species of very capricious
habits in regard to geographical range in
this country, in some localities beinga constant
resident, in others appcai ing and disappearing
at intervals. Mr. Birchall has record' •< I its
occurrence at Powerscourt in Ireland, but I
have no knowledge of a Scotch specimen. In
England and Wales it may be called local
rather than rare. A noticeable feature in its
distribution is its absence from what may be
called maritime lists, as those from Norfolk,
Suffolk, Kent, Sussex, Isle of Wight, Dorset-
shire, Devonshire, and Cornwall : this absence
from the lists is not sufficient evidence of the
butterfly's not occurring there, but certainly
of its great rarity, or it could not have escaped
the notice of entomologists: in the midland
counties, on the contrary, it is of frequent
occurrence, and in some of them absolutely
abundant; then, again, the cultivation <>f its
food-plant, the hop, does not seem to exercise
that influence on its choice of localities that
might be expected ; it abounds in the district
where the Worcester hops aregrown — namelv,
Worcestershire and Herefordshire, but it vi
rarely observed in the Farriham district —
namely Surrey — or in the Kent district.

The subjoined list of counties will exemplify
this :— -

Buckinghamshire. Drayton Beauchamp —
H. H. Crewe.

Cambridgeshire. One specimen at Ely,
many years ago — Marshall Fisher.

Cheshire. Occasionally in gardens — E.
Birchall.

Cumberland. Barron Wood : the caterpillar
and chrysalis are sometimes found on the large
scabious in abundance — J. B. IL.dykinson.
[Is not this a mistake 1 — E.N.~\

Derbyshire. Breadsall — //. //. Crewe ;
Calke Abbey — H. A. Stowell.

(Dorsetshire. Formerly in plenty at Glan-
ville's Wootton, but none have been met with
for fifty-four years. The first brood have the

FR1TILLABIES.

5!

underside yellowish, the second brood dark —
J. C. Dale.)

(Durham. Formerly atGibside — John Han-
cock; formerly at Castle Eden Dene and Shull
— William Backhouse; formerly at Darling-
ton, but now almost, if not quite, extinct — J.
Sang.)

(Essex. Many years since it used to occur
in profusion at Epping ; I cannot give any
date, but it was when I was a mere child — I
should judge about 1817 or 1818. Two or
three of the specimens taken then were in
existence not many years back — Edward
Doubleday) ; two or three have been taken at
Colchester, but it is a great rarity — W. H.
Harwood; Saffron Walden — W. R. Jeffrey.

Glamorganshire. Scarce at Llantrissant —
Evan John; oocurs regularly, but sparingly, at
Ynisygerwn — J. D. T. Llewelyn.

Gloucestershire. Several places near Glou-
cester— Joseph Merrin; gardens at Pitchcombe
near Painswick, and about Stroud — M. G.
Musgrave; Guiting — Joseph Greene; Coombe
Glen, near Bristol — F. D. Wheeler; Leigh
Woods and Stapleton — Alfred E. Hudd.

Hampshire. Farlington — W. Buckler ;
occasionally seen, but far from common — G.
B. Corbin.

Herefordshire. Oakley Park — F. E. liar-
man; Amestrey,Monkland, Westhope, Brierly,
Dinmore, Boddenham, and all round Leomin-
ster — E. Newman; very common in hopyards
someyears, in others scarce — Mrs. HutcJdnson;
near Bromyard — W. H. Draper.

Huntingdonshire. Near Peterborough — F.
Bond; Monkswood on the 5th and 6th of
July, 1832 — James Francis St<-pJiens.

(Kent. From many sources I learn that
this butterfly was said to be common in the
Maidstone hop di>trict half a century ago, but
1 have no more precise or reliable information
— E. Newman.)

Lancashire. In gardens occasionally —
Edwin Birdiall; Grange — J. B. Hodykinson.

Lincolnshire — T. H. Allis.

Middlesex. One taken near Edgware — F.
Bond.

Monmouthshire. Rather scarce in Huellis'
and St Julian's Woods — George Lock.

Northamptonshire. Common near Waden-
ham — F. Bond; near Tovvcoster — Hamlet
Clark.

Northumberland. I saw a specimen in

1868 which had been taken near Newcastle —
W. Maling.

Nottinghamshire. It used to be taken
near Mansfield, and also at Ollerton and
Warsop, but not of late years — R. E. Brameld;
Newark and the neighbourhood — George
Guscoyne.

Oxfordshire. Bagley Wood — W. 11
Draper.

Radnorshire. Frequent about New Radnor,
Hindwell, Llandegley, Pen-y-bont, and Llan-
driridod, settling on the common thistles of
the wayside. — E. Newman.

Shropshire. Coalbrookdale and Wenlock —
G. G. Barrett.

Somersetshire. Clevedon — A. E. Hudd.

Staffordshire. Swinnerton Old Park — T.
W. Daltry ; Repton Scrubs and Seal Wood,
near Burton-on-Trent — Edwin Brown. In
some years it is far from uncommon at Wolver-
hampton ; ten specimens were taken here in
1867, five of them feeding on ripe damsons —

F. E. Morris.

Warwickshire. Occasionally at Stratford-
on- Avon — W. G. Colborne; Rugby — A. H.
Wratislaw.

(Wight, Isle of. It is reported to have oc-
curred in former years in the island, more
especially at Freshwater, but the three excel-
lent entomologists who have heard the tradi-
tion— namely, James Pristo, Alfred Owen,
and Henry Rogers, possess no further know-
ledge of the subject.)

Wiltshire. Has occnrred once near Marl
borough — T. A. Preston.

Worcestershire. It occurs occasionally in
all parts of the county— .7. E. Fletcher; for-
merly abundant at Great Malvern, but now
scarce — W. Edwards.

Yorkshire. Common at York — T. H. Allis
(formerly taken at Raincliff Wood, near Scar-
borough, but not of late years — J. H.
Rowntree) ; Huddersfield, rarely and singly—

G. T. Porritt; Halifax, Sheffield, Wakefield,
Leeds — Edwin Birchall.

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

12. Small Tortoiseshell (Fu/tu-Mi Ui

12. SMALL TORTOISE-SHELL. — Thehind mar-
gin of all the wings is angled ; the prevailing
colour is bright red-brown ; on the costal
margin are three large black spots : the colour
between the body and the first black spot is
red-brown ; between the first and second spots,
yellow; between the second and third spots,
' yellow ; between the third spot and the mar-
ginal band, white ; in the very middle of the
wing are two small round spots, and on the
middle of the hind margin is a large square
black spot joining to a yellow spot beyond it ;
the hind wings have the basal half black, fol-
lowed by a broad band of red-brown, shaded
to yellowish towards the costal margin ; all
the wings have a brown variegated band round
the hind margin ; this consists of a scalloped
black line, in the indentation of which, are
semicircular blue spots ; outside these spots
is a dingy brown space, and a distinct darker
line running all the way round, dividing it
into two narrow portions.

The butterfly is subject to some very beau-
tiful and striking varieties, all of which have
repeatedly occurred. The specimens figured
have been kindly lent purposely for this work.

Var. 1. — Is quite without the two spots
on the disk of the wing so conspicuous in the
ordinary specimens. The .specimen figured is
in Mr. Owen's collection.

Obs. — This variety was taken at Hawkshead,
in North Lancashire, and is alluded to at page
129 of the third volume of the "Entomolo-
gist," by Mr. C. S. Gregson, " as the variety
Ichnusa of Bonelli ; the same form being com-
mon in Sardinia ;" but Mr. Muller, at page
164 of the same journal, says that this form,
whether we call it a species or variety, is en-
tirely confined to Mediterranean latitudes.

Small Tortoise-shell. Var. 2.

Var. 2. — Has a black band crossing the
middle of the wing. The specimen figured is
in Mr. Bond's collection.

S.nall Toi toise-shell. Var. 1,

Small Tortoise-shell. Var. 3.

Var. 3. — Is altogether abnormal, the form
and colouring being entirely altered. This
variety has repeatedly occurred both in Eng-
land and on the Continent. The specimen
figured is in Mr. Owen's collection.

Obs. — Mr. Birchall, who has so assiduously
collected in the Isle of Man, observed that
in that island this species was uniformly
much smaller than in England. He h^s
kindly presented me with an interesting series
of these dwarfs,

FRIT1LLARIES.

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGGS are laid in the
months of May and June, on the leaves of
stinging - nettles (Urtica urens and Urtica
dioica), in batches of sixty or eighty, and some-
times a much larger number ; the females
which perform this duty having survived the
winter. The eggs are so much the colour of
the nettle-leaves that it is difficult to detect
them ; they are laid all in a lump, like a
bunch of grapes or a handful of gooseberries,
and as the late Dr. Maclean, of Colchester,
justly observed, have a very singular appear-
ance. Each egg is oblong, and depressed at
both extremities ; at the upper extremity is a
circular operculum, which is pushed off and
disappears at the time of hatching ; there are
generally eight longitudinal keels or ridges ex-
tending from the operculum to the base, but this
number is not constant, varying to seven and
nine. In an average period of fourteen days,
but varying according to the temperature, the
young CATERPILLARS emerge, and remaining in
company, spin together the leaves of the food-
plant : as they consume the leaves the limits
of their dwelling are extended, and they con-
tinue to live in company until fully half-grown;
they then separate, and each feeds alone.
When full-fed they rest in nearly a straight
position, but on being disturbed fall off the
food-plant, and lie in a curved posture, the
head and tail approaching. The head is wider
than the second segment, tut narrower than
those which follow; it is somewhat notched
on the crown, and is covered with spinose
points, which vary in size, and each of which
terminates in a bristle; the second segment is
narrow, and has a transverse series of small
spines, each of which terminates in a bristle ;
the third and fourth segments have each a
transverse series of eight spines — two on each
side of the belly near the insertion of the leg,
very small and inconspicuous ; and two others
on each side of the back, conspicuous and
branched, each of the branches, as well as the
central spine, terminating in a bristle ; the
following segments, from the fifth to the
twelth inclusive, have each seven branched
spines, one medio-dorsal, the other at regular
intervals, the medio-dorsal spine always placed

slightly in advance of the rest: the thirteenth
segment has four branched spines : the head
is black, its warts white : the body has the
dorsal surface black and irrorated with yellow
dots, each of which emits a slender bristle ;
these dots are frequently so numerous as to
form a broad yellow medio-dorsal stripe, which,
however, is always interrupted by a narrow
median black stripe : on each side are two
yellowish stripes, one above, the other below,
the spiracles ; the subspiracular stripe is the
brighter and more distinct of the two ; the
spiracles are black and surrounded by a pale
ring; the belly is pale, excepting between
each pair of claspers, where it is dark, but
still irrorated with minute white dots ; the
spines are generally smoky green, but not un-
frequently black ; the claspers are smoky
green. When full-fed the caterpillar fre-
quently crawls away from its food-plant, and
selects a twig or leaf of some neighbouring
plant, or the coping-stone of a wall, or a
wooden rail or palings, on which to undergo
its change to a chrysalis, but it more often
prefers the under side of a nettle-leaf; in
either case it spins a slight web over the
object selected, and, suspending itself there-
from by the anal claspers head downwards, it
becomes a rather elongate and sharply angu-
lated CHRYSALIS, which has the head deeply
notched on the crown, the points distant and
acute; the thorax is dorsally humped; the
hump having a median elevated point ; on
each side of the thorax, near the insertion of
the wing-cases, are two rather obtuse eleva-
tions ; the back has three series of raised
points, the median series consisting of six, aii
of them small and insignificant ; each taw>;-w*
series consists of nine points, three or them
thoracic, small and insignificant, the remain-
ing six conspicuous and abdominal ; the ter-
minal segment of the body is slightly spoon-
shaped, and terminates in a complete fringe
of minute hooks, by which the chrysalis is
attached to the web : the prevailing colour of
the chrysalis is brown, mottled or reticulated
with black, and adorned with golden spots
and reflexions ; the spots generally comprise
the lateral spinous processes; about the juno

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

tion of thorax and body the reflexions or tints
of gold are more extended, sometimes em-
bracing the wing-cases. — Newman.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — I have found the
caterpillars abundantly on nettles in May and
July, and I have succeeded in rearing butter-
flies from both these broods ; the chrysalids
are found at the end of May and beginning
of June, and the butterflies in almost every
month in the year, beginning, of course, with
hybernated specimens. An interesting note
ou the commencement and termination of this
insect's hybernation, by that most accurate
observer, the Rev. 0. Pickard-dmhridge, is
published at page 299 of the third volume of
the "Entomologist." Mr. Pickard Cambridge
says: — "On one of the first Sundays in
Augus-t last, during divine service, a specimen
of Vanessa Urticce flew into the parish church
of Winterbourne-Tomson, in which I was
officiating. After fluttering in the windows
and flying about the church for a short time,
the insect settled upon a projecting rafter in
a conspicuous place, and remained, with its
wings in the usual state of repose, during the
remainder of the service. On the Sunday
following it was still in statu quo ; and so,
Sunday after Sunday throughout the autumn
and winter, evidently never having once
moved from its first position. There it was
until, on Sunday, the 5th of May, it came oft'
its perch, and was flying briskly about the
church when I came away after the conclu-
sion of the service. Its period of motionless
icpose had thus just been nine months, and it
was apparently as fresh in colour and con-
dition as if just out of the chrysalis." Pro-
fe.-sor Westwood has expressed his surprise
that a speci men captured in the spring proved
on examination to be a male. I may inform
him that both sexes invariably hybernate in
the perfect state and reappear in early spring.
From the time of the first vernal appearance
of these hybernated specimens there is usually
a succe-sion of individuals, liable to an occa-
sional interruption about Midsummer. Mr.
Tuely records (" Entomologist," ii., 294) that
he took a recently hatched specimen on the
6th June, and Mr. Doubleday informs us

("Entomologist," il, 294) "that in 1865 hun-
dreds of caterpillars were hatched on nettles
in a field adjoining his garden towards the
end of April; these were full-grown in May,
and the butterflies were on the wing in tlie
middle of June: there was not a single cater-
pillar on the nettles from the third week in
May until the first week in July, when
swarms of young ones again appeared ; these
were full-fed early in August, and the butter-
flies were again on the wing early in Septem-
ber." Thus there are evidently two broods in
the year, and June and September may be
given as the dates for their appearance. Some
of the second brood remain until October in
the chrysalis state, and Mr. Clogg has ob-
served the emergence of specimens on the
23rd and 25th of December. The Small Tor-
toise-shell seems attiched to the residences of
man, and, like many animals, has its economy
modified in accordance with this association.
Obs. — The caterpillars of Vanessa Urticce,
and, as I surmise, of the genus Vanessa ia
general, are remarkably exempt from the
attacks of ichneumons. Thus I collected last
July about forty nearly full-grown caterpillars
of this species, and every one of them bt came
achrysalis andemerged in duetime. lobserved
also in rearing this butterfly, that if from in-
sufficient or inappropriate food the caterpillars
have not attained their full size when they
enter the chrysalis state, the perfect injects
make their appearance with perfect wings, but
of a diminutive stature; in this respect differ-
ing from moths, which, under similar circum-
stances, appear with shrivelled and imperfect
wing>. — J. R. S. Clifford, in " Entomologist,"
vol. ii., p. 132.

LOCALITIES. — Distributed with considerable
equality over every part of the British Islands.
Mr. Birchall simply records that it is " com-
mon " in Ireland. Dr. Buchanan White says,
"It is as abundant in Perthshire as it is else-
where, and is found from the sea-level up to
the summit of Ben Lawers. It is one of the
few butterflies noticed by outsiders, who call
it the Emperor Butterfly, the Devil Butterfly,
or Witch Butterfly. Scottish examples are
larger than English ones."

FRITILLARIES.

13. Large Tortoise-shell (Vanessa Polychloros),

13. LARGE TORTOISE-SHELL. — The costal
margin of the fore wings is very slightly
rounded in the middle, and rather suddenly
bent towards the body at the base ; the hind
margin of all the wings is scalloped and
angled, some of the angles being more promi-
nent than the rest, as shown in the figure.
The prevailing colour is dull fulvous brown;
the fore wings have three large squarish black
spots on the costal margin ; the spaces between
them being lighter than the rest of the wing ;
there are two small round spots near the
middle of the wing, and two larger round
spots below these, and at equal distances
from the hind margin : the hind wings have
a large black spot on the costal margin, and a
paler space nearer the marginal band : this
marginal band goes round the hind margin of
all the wings ; it is composed^ first, of a black
line, which, in the fore wings, is plain, but in
the hind wings contains a row of semicircular
blue spots ; and, secondly, of a dingy brown
marginal space, through the middle of which
runs a narrow dark-brown line.

Obs. — The pattern of this species is ex-
tremely like that of the preceding, but the
colours are duller, and it may generally be
distinguished by its larger size : there are
also two constant differences in the markings :
in Urticce, the space between the second and
third black costal spot is white, while in Poly-
chloros it is dull yellow j in Polychloros there
is a black spot in the anal angle of the fore

wing, which is absent in Urticce. It is little
subject to variation.

LIFE HISTORY. — In the spring of the year
both sexes of this butterfly may be seen toying
with each other in our lanes, and occasionally,
but less commonly, on the outskirts of woods:
impregnation takes place at this season, gene-
rally in the month of May, but sometimes as
early as April. The ovary of the female is
now distended, and the eggs are prepared to
receive the fecundating element; in these and
other insects the eggs attain their full size
and character prior to fecundation. In the
autumn, on the contrary, in the very few
females I have been able to obtain, there is
no distinct appearance of eggs in the ovary ;
and neither males nor females exhibit indica-
tions of the sexual impulse. The EGGS are
laid in May, on the leaves of various trees.
The wild and cultivated cherry (Prwnus
cerasus, the Cerisier and Griothier of the
French) seems the tree chiefly selected in
France, and whole rows of these trees may
occasionally be seen in July entirely stripped
of their leaves by the caterpillars of this
species. In England the trees selected are
the aspen (Popuhis tremula), white beam-tree,
whip crop, or white rice (Pyrus arrui), sallow
(Salix, caprea}, osiers (Salix viminalia and 8.
vilellina), and more commonly the different
species or varieties of elm (Ulmua) : in
gardens it is also found on cherry and pear
trees. The eggs arc very numerous, souuw-

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

times as many as four hundred in number ;
they are crowded together on small twigs or
branches of the elm, sometimes completely
surrounding the twig and forming what, in
the instance of the Lackey Moth, has been
called a necklace; the eggs, however, although
closely approximate, are not embedded in glue,
as is the case in the Lackey Moth, but each
egg seems quite unconnected with the rest,
although touching it ; each has a distinct
operculum, which is forced out of its place
and is probably eaten by the young caterpillar
on its natal day, and also eight longitudinal
ridges or keels, which commence near the
crown or operculum and terminate at the base,
just where the egg adheres to the twig : the
number of these ridges is not perfectly con-
stant to eight, as in a few instances I have
found only seven, and also in a few instances
as many as nine. I am greatly indebted to
Mr. Pristo for a specimen beautifully illus-
trating this curious chapter in the life history
of the species. The CATERPILLAKS are hatched
in a fortnight, and are full grown about Mid-
summer ; at this period they rest in a straight
position on the food-plant, and are readily
shaken off, and fall to the ground ; they have
rather a limp and flaccid character,and exhibit
scarcely any disposition to assume the ring
form. Being laid and hatched in such large com-
panies, the caterpillars remain in close proxim-
ity during life, single specimens being very
rarely met with. The head is exserted, being
manifestly wider than the second segment; its
position is prone, its crown slightly notched,
and the divisions slightly elevated : the entire
surface of the head is scabrous ; this character
arising from the presence of numerous small
warts and elongated papillae, the length of
which is about equal to three times their
breadth; the warts and papillae are intermixed,
but the latter predominate on the crown, the
former on the cheeks; from the summit of each
wart or papilla emerges a slender and slightly
bent hair; the body is almost uniformly cylin-
drical, and is armed with sharp spines on every
segment except the second ; these spines con-
stitute seven longitudinal series, the first of
which is medio-dorsal, and consists of eight

spines, namely, one on each segment from tho
fifth to the twelfth, both inclusive ; each spine
in this medio-dorsal series, at about half its
length, emits a single branch, which is directed
forwards in a slanting direction ; the first
lateral series consists of ten spines : these
commence with the third, and end with the
twelfth segment; each spine in this series
has at least three lateral branches, all of which
spring from a point nearly equidistant between
the base and tip of the main spine; the
second lateral series is composed of rather
smaller spines, and each of these is branched
much in the same way as those of the pre-
ceding series; and again still below this is
a third lateral series of eight smaller spines,
which begin on the fifth and end on the
twelfth segment; these are also branched like
those already described ; each spine in the
second lateral series .stands a little in advance
of the corresponding spine in the first lateral
series, and rather more so in advance of that
in the third; the thirteenth segment has four
branched spines, forming a quadrangle, and
all of these lean slightly backwards ; the
ventral surface is without spines, and is
deeply wrinkled at the interstices of the seg-
ments, but not between each pair of legs or
claspers ; above each leg, or clasper, are a
number of longish deflected hairs, and these
form a lateral fringe, not particularly distinct.
The head is black, its shorter hairs being also
black, but the longer ones white ; the surface
of the body is thickly sprinkled with minute
warts, each emitting a hair from the summit ;
these are gathered into dense groups down
the middle of the back, and are there of a
pale brown colour, forming a continuous but
irregular stripe, which expands to the base of
each spine in the first lateral series; this pale
stripe is interrupted throughout by a narrow
medio-dorsal stripe of velvety blackness; the
pale warts also form groups round the base of
each spine in the second lateral series, and again
a narrow stripe in the region of the spiracles,
which are scarcely perceptible ; this lateral
stripe includes in its course the third or lowest
lateral series of spines; on the other parts of
the body these minute warts are almost white,

FRITILLARIES.

giving the surface a gray appearance ; they
form transverse series on the sections of the
segments ; the spines are ochreous as well as
•their branches, excepting the extreme tips,
which are black : the yellowish spines give
the caterpillar the appearance of having
much more decided yellow stripes than is
the case ; the legs are black ; the claspers
pale dingy brown. It changes to a CHRYSALIS
suspended by the tail very soon after attain-
ing its full size, and is often found under the
coping-stones of walls, on the trunks of trees,
and on park palings. The chrysalis has a
divided or eared head, the two points being
.widely separated and acute; the thorax has a
short, elevated dorsal keel, and two spines on
each side ; the body has two series of dorsal
spines, each series consisting of six spines. I
am indebted to Mr. V. Lewes for full-grown
specimens of the caterpillar, sent expressly for
this work. — Newman.

TIME OP APPEARANCE. — The caterpillar is
found in June, about the middle or latter end
of which month it assumes the chrysalis state,
and the butterflies appear about the middle of
July, and remain on the wing about a month,
when they retire for the winter.

LOCALITIES. — This butterfly seems to be ab-
sent from Scotland and Ireland, but to be
generally, although sparingly, diffused through-
out the midland and eastern counties of Eng-
land ; I am aware that Mr. Birchall mentions
a specimen said to have been seen near Gal way
in 1861, but it was not taken, and he evi-
dently discredits the on dit. In England its
rarity in tlie north and extreme south-west is
very noticeable : from Northumberland and
Westmoreland I have no record of its oc-
currence ; from Cumberland, Durham, and
Lancashire, one from each county ; six York-
shire localities are reported ; from Derbyshire,
Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire, Northampton-
shire, and Norfolk, it is reported as rare ; and
in Herefordshire, as "not common " ; in Cam-
bridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, Warwickshire,
Worcestershire, Suffolk, Essex, Hertfordshire,
Bedfordshire, Middlesex, Buckinghamshire, it
is "not uncommon"; in Kent, Surrey, Sussex,
Hampshire, and Dorsetshire it is "common":

in Devonshire a dozen localities are mentioned
where single specimens have been taken. It
is rather a feature in the history of this insect
that it occurs singly : in the very numerous
records I have received more than half speak
of single specimens.

Berkshire. Burghfield, near Keading —
C. S. Bird.

Buckinghamshire. Drayton-Beauchamp —
H. H. Crewe.

Cambridgeshire. Generally.

Cheshire. Eastham — E. Birchall.

Cornwall. Near the gasworks at Looe, but
very rare ; I recollect them much more plen-
tiful— Stephen Glogg; Whitsand Cliffs— J. J.
Heading.

Cumberland. A single specimen taken on
the bank of the Solway — J. B. Hodgkinson.

Derbyshire. Breadsall — H. H. Crewe;
Calke Abbey — H. A. Stowell.

Devonshire. Scarce near Plymouth — J. J.
Reading, who mentions a great number of
localities within the county where single
specimens have been taken ; I have seen a
single specimen every spring for the last five
years on the road from Plymouth station to
Plymbridge — G. C. Bignall.

Dorsetshire. Glanville's Wootton, rare in
the autumn, but more plentiful in the spring
— J. C. Dale.

Durham. A single specimen at Whitburn,
on the 23rd July, 1858 — John Hancock; a
single specimen at Darlington — J. Sang.

Essex. The caterpillars were formerly
most abundant, feeding on elm at Bnckhurst
Hill, on the borders of Epping Forest, but I
have not seen them for many years — E. New
man; very common round Colchester in I860,
the caterpillars feeding on elm, sallow, and
osier, now rare — W. H. Harwood ; Chingford
— W. J. Argent.

Glamorganshire. Scarce — Evan John.

Gloucestershire. Scarce — «7. Merrin ; once
nearStroml — M. G. Mu*grav<t ; a great num-
ber of localities in this county have reached
me through the kindness of correspon
dents.

Hampshire. Some years not uncommon in
the spring after hibernation — G. B. C orb in.

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES,

Many Hampshire localities are mentioned by
my correspondents.

Herefordshire. Occurred at Leominster in
1858 and 1859 — Mrs. Hutchinson ; Oakley
Park, near Hereford — F. E. Herman.

Hertfordshire. Many localities — F. Bond.

Huntingdonshire. Many localities — F.
Bond.

Kent. The caterpillars were plentiful on
elms by the Fox and Hounds at DarentWood,
in 1830, and the butterflies of very frequent
occurrence iu Burnt Ash lane, Lewisham,
in the spring of 1856, after hybernation — E.
Newman; the caterpillars were plentiful on
an eltn tree in Tonbridge school ground in
1869 — C. L. Raynor ; abundant at Faver-
sham, Boughton, and other places, the cater-
pillars feeding on the white beam (Pyrusarria),
elm (U limits), and goat willow (Salix caprea)
-±-H. A. Stowell.

Lancashire. I have seen one specimen
taken at Red Scar, near Preston — /. E.
llodgkinson.

Lincolnshire. Common — T. //. Allis.

Middlesex. In many localities — F.
Bond.

Norfolk. Norwich— C. G. Barrett.

North* mptontihire. Barnewell Wold — F.
Bund ; near Towcester — Hamlet Clark.

Nottinghamshire. Was formerly taken at
Maus6eld, Ollerton, and Worsop, but not

met with of late years — R. E. Brameld ; at
Newark, but not common — George Gascoyne.

Shropshire. Wenlouk — G. G. Barrett.

Somersetshire. Clevedon — A. E. Hudd. •

Staffordshire. Scarce at Burton-on-Trent
— E. Brown ; one at Wolverhampton — F. E.
Morris.

Suffolk. Generally distributed.

Surrey. In all parts of Surrey — S. T. Klein.

Sussex. I once found the caterpillars in
abundance feeding on aspen (Populus tremula) ;
they were nearly full-fed, and I succeeded in
rearing more than a hundred of the perfect
insect — C. V. G. Levett.

Warwickshire. Not uncommon ; some
specimens were taken at Stratford-on-Avon,
attracted by the sweets of empty sugar-casks
in a grocer's yard — W. G. Golborne ; .Rugby
— A. H. Wratislaw.

Wight, Isle of. Moderately common it
woods — James Pristo ; a dozen different
localities are mentioned by different corre-
spondents.

Wiltshire. At Marlborough, but very un-
common— T. A. Preston.

Worcestershire. Taken on three occasions
at Worcester — J. E. Fletc/ter ; one specimen
at Malvern— W. Edwards.

Yorkshire. Near Scarborough, Hudders-
field, York, Sheffield, WakefielJ, and Halifax,
— Edtcin Birchall and others.

11. The White-bordered, called also the Camberwell Beauty (Vanessa Atdiopa).

14. THE WHITE-BORDERED. — The hind mar-
gm of all the wings is angled ; the colour a

rich puce-brown ; 11 the wings have a broad
band ot dingy wh te on the hind margin, and

FRITH, LARIES.

59

a row of blue spots just within this hand ; the
fore wings have two whitish spots on the
costal margin rather beyond the middle.

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGGS are laid in the
spring, after the female has hybernated, on
the nettle (Urtica dioica), the birch (Betula
alba), and far more commonly on the white
willow (Salix alba). The CATERPILLARS are
covered with long branched spines: the head
is black ; the body also black, with a medio-
dorsal blotch on each segment from the fifth
to the eleventh, both inclusive, of a brick-dust
red colour. The CHRYSALIDS are angulated,
eared, and suspended by the tail. — Hubners
and other figures.

Obs. — I have no knowledge of the earlier
states of this butterfly except from books ; it
is a most abundant continental species.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — Early spring and
late autumn. I believe that hybernated speci-
mens are much more common thai* is gene-
rally supposed. The caterpillar and chrysalis
states must of necessity occur betwe-'ii the
spring and autumn flights, but I have no
practical knowledge of this.

LOCALITIES.- — I have very great difficulty in
defining localities f >r this insect: on the con-
tinents of Europe and North America it is
abundant, but its appearance in the British
Islands is in the highest degree uncertain,
and apparently capricious.

'• There is something very extraordinary in
the periodical, but irregular, appearances of
this species. . . . It is plentiful some years,
after which it will not be seen by anyone for
eight, or ten, or more years, and then appear
again as plentiful as before. To suppose they
come from the Continent is an idle conjecture ;
because the English specimens are easily dis-
tinguished from all others by the superior
whiteness of their borders. Perhaps their
eggs in this climate, like the seeds of some
vegetables, may occasionally lie dormant for
several seasons, and not hatch until some ex-
traordinary but undiscovered coincidences
awake them into active life." This sentence
lias often been quoted with apparent appro-
bation, but I feel considerable difficulty in
the solut on, because the eggs of

the Vanessidae pass so few days in that state,
and would, of necessity, fall with the falling
leaves of the willow, and the young caterpillar
on emergence would be irretrievably separated
from its food-plant.

From Ireland I have a report of one taken
at Killarney in July, 1865, by W. G. Bat-
tersby. In Scotland a' so one was taken by
the late Charles Turner, in the Ramoch dis-
trict. I saw this specimen, and have no doubt
of its genuineness. Indeed, Turner com-
bined with many eccentricities, and I may
say errors, a love of truthfulness in entomo-
logical matters that I could always depend
on. Mr. Thomas Chapman has information of
others at Paisley and Edinburgh. In England
its appearances are numerous, almost every
county boasting its single individual. For-
merly tbS^ was not the case. From the wav
in which Moses Harris writes of this butter-
fly in England, we are led to suppose that in
his time it was regarded as no great rarity.
In his " Aurelian " lie merely says that it
goes through its changes and appears on the
wing a* the same time as the Peacock. Lewin
is» nv»rn explicit : —

•' J hree of these beautiful and rare insects
were taken in the year 1748, near Camber-
we'u, in Surrey, from which time until the
year 1789 we have no account of any being
seen in England. The middle of August,
1789, I was surprised with the sight of two
of the^e elegant flies ne ir Faversham, in Kent,
one of which I thought it great good fortune
to take ; but in the course of the week I was
more agreeably surprised with seeing and
taking numbers of them in the most perfect
condition. One of my sons found an old
decoy pond of large extent, surrounded with
willow and sallow trees, and a great number
of these butterflies flying about and at rest 01
the trees; many of them appearing to be just
out of the chrysalis, left no room to doubt
that this was the place where they bred. In
March, 1790, a number of these insects were
flying and soaring about for the space ol
twelve or fourteen days; and then, as if wiih
one consent, they migrated from us, and wore
no more se^n."

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

And, again, Mr. Wailes, in his "Catalogue
of the Lepidoptera of Northumberland and
Durham." has this interesting observation :—
"Our fellow member, Mr. William Back-
house, informed me that about the year 1820
he saw vast numbers of this species strewing
the sea-shore at Seaton-Carew, both in a dead
and living state. Now," continues Mr.
Wailes, " it is surely more reasonable to sup-
pose that these specimens had been blown
from tha land than that they had crossed a
sea at least three hundred miles : and a speci-
meu in Mr. Backhouse's collection confirms

this opinion, as it has the pale whitish margin
to the upper side of the wings so charac-
teristic of our British specimens, which is re-
placed by yellow in nearly all the continental
and American specimens." Mr. Stephens
adds, on the authority of the same excellent
entomologist, " Mr. Backhouse informs me
that it has been found repeatedly near Seaton,
Durham, and often floating on the river Tees."
These quotations prove, as I consider, incon-
testably that in former years this butterfly
has been abundant some years both in the
north and south of England.

15. Peacock (Vanessa lo).

15. PEACOCK. — The hind margins of all the
•wings are angled; the fore wings with thelower
half of that deep red-brown colour which is
called dragon's blood; the costal margin at the
base is hlack, delicately barred with yallow ; be-
neath this are two black blotches, and between
them a yellowish spot; beyond the second and
largest black blotch is a large and beautiful
eye-like mark, composed of a variety of colours,
and below this eye are two small blue-white
spots : the hind margin is broadly bordered
with smoky-brown : the hind wings are smoky- .
brown towards the costal and hind margins,
red-brown towards the inner margin, and
having a beautiful eye-like mark towards the
apical angle. The underside is jet-black.

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGGS are laid in April
and May, oo the common stinging-nettle
(Urtica dioica), and the young CATERPILLARS
emerging in about ten or fifteen days, accord-
ing to the temperature, feed, and to the best

of my knowledge exclusively, on the leaves of
that familiar but unpopular plant : they
generally attain their full growth during the
first week in July, but sometimes arrive at
maturity a week earlier, and also not uncom-
monly a week or a fortnight later : wlien full-
fed the caterpillar rests in any position it may
have accidentally assumed while feeding or
seeking food ; it has rather a limp and flaccid
habit, and falls to the ground helplessly on the
nettle's being shaken, but almost immediately
re ascends and recommences feeding : it seems
difficult to imagine how it can escape the
sharp spines of the nettle, or what antidote it
possesses against the injury, supposing it to
receive one ; certain it is that the creature
traverses most fearlessly both the stem and
leaves of the nettle, and appears to remain
unscathed among the phalanx of poison-laden
spears with which it is threatened on all sides :
have the spines any protective function 1 The

FRITILLARIBS,

head is wider and larger than the second seg-
ment, shining, but beset with nipple-shaped
warts, each of which emits a bristle from the
summit ; the body is almost uniformly cylin-
drical but spiny, the incisions between the
segments are marked with considerable dis-
tinctness, the sections of the segments being
also defined by transverse lines, each section
having a series of minute warts, and each
wart emitting a slender hair from its summit :
with the exception of these spines ind warts
the surface of the body is velvety : the an-
terior half of the dorsal surface of the second
segment is shining, but scabrous, warty, and
bristly, the posterior half is velvety; this
segment is without spines, but its pectoral
surface has an oblong median aperture exactly
between the fore legs, and somewhat resem-
bling an enlarged spiracle, the margins of which
have been produced and elevated ; the third
and fourth segments have each two dorsal
spines placed transversely, distant and rather
spreading ; the fifth has four spines, two dorsal
and one on each side lateral ; the remaining
segments, the sixth to the twelfth, both in-
clusive, have each six spines, two of them
dorsal and two on each side lateral ; and the
thirteenth has four spines arranged in a
trapezoid, and all of them directed back-
wards ; in those instances in which six spines
are present — three on each side — the middle
one of each three is placed a little in advance
of the other two ; it must be borne in mind
that there is no medio-dorsal series : the fifty-
two spines the situation of which I have at-
tempted to describe are very similar to each
other; all of them possess a polished and
acutely-pointed shaft, and all emit a number
of lateral bristles : the head and body are
black, the spines also black, and the warts
white, while the hairs emitted from the sur-
face are gray ; the legs are black and shining ;
the claspers are pitchy brown, with paler
extremities ; along the top of each clasper is a
fringe of gray hairs curving downwards. The
CHRYSALIS state is assumed during the first or
second week in July, and the transformation
takes place, in confinement, on the cover
pf the vessel, whatever it may be, iu which

the caterpillars have been fed. They spin
little humps or hillocks of silk on the glass
cover, and from this suspend themselves by
the anal claspers ; on the third day the back
of the chrysalis may be seen projecting
through a slit in the skin behind the head of
the caterpillar, and the contrast in colour be-
tween the green and newly-formed chrysalis
and jet-black skin of the caterpillar from
which it is now disengaging itself is very
striking. In a state of nature the chrysalis
may sometimes be found suspended among the
leaves of the nettle, but generally on other
plants or objects at some distance from its
food. The head of the chrysalis has two
pointed ears, or rather cases, containing the
future palpi ; these are very distant, and their
tips are rather curved outwards ; the back has
a thin keel, which rises to a point in the
middle ; the shoulders of the wing-cases are
also pointed, and there are two series of sharp
points on the dorsal surface of the body, each
series consisting of six points, of which the
anterior pair, those nearest the thorax, are
considerably the smallest. The colour of the
chrysalis is green, the cases of the head and
wings being bright apple-green, and the body
ochreous green ; all the points are darker : as
the chrysalis hardens, its colour deepens, but
the green tint is never entirely lost. Dr.
Lucas, Mr. Merrin, Mr. Biggs, and Mr. West,
have most kindly and liberall) suppled me with
caterpillars expressly for this work. — Newman.
TIME OF APPEARANCE. — The caterpillar is
to be found on nettles in June and July ; the
chrysalis in July and August; and the butter-
fly in August, continuing on the wing more
or less abundantly until it hybernates : speci-
mens occurring in the spring have certainly
hybernated.

LOCALITIES.: — A butterfly of almost univer-
sal distribution : as regards Ireland, Mr.
Birchall says "it is common in Leinster,
Munster, and Connaught, but apparently rare
in Ulster ; " and as regards Scotland, Dr.
Buchanan White observes, "it is by no means
common in Perthshire, its sole claim as a
native resting on a few specimens taken near
the Bridge of Allan : it occurs as far north as

62

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

Forres, but except iu tue very south is a rare
butterfly in Scotland." It is present in
every English list i have received, and scarcely
a correspondent has thought it worth his while
to make any observation on its abundance or

rarity. It has no predilection for particular
situations, except as attracted by flowers, and
in the country those of teasels and thistles,
and in gardens those of Michaelmas daisies
seeui especial favourites.

16. Red Admiral (Pyrameis Atalanta). Upper side.

Under side.

16. RED ADMIRAL — The hind margin of
the fore wings only is angled, and these very
obtusely ; all the wings are scalloped ; the
colour is intense velvety black ; the fore wings
have a transverse oblique scarlet band from
the middle of the costal margin to the anal
angle ; the females have a small round white
spot in this band ; beyond this band and
nearer the tip of the wing are six snowy-
white spots of different size and shape; the
hind wings have a scarlet bnnd on the hind
margin, and in this band are four black spots
and one long blue spot at the anal angle. The
under side presents such a beautiful combina-

tion and blendings of grays, pinks, and
browns as Nature only can produce and words
cannot describe. My artist and engraver
have exerted themselves to the utmost to pro-
duce a faithful representation of this wonder-
ful object, and have succeeded as well as
human hands can succeed.

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGG is solitary, laid in
May and June, here and there, on the leaves
of the stinging-nettle ( Urtica dioica) : almost
immediately after emerging from the egg the
little CATERPILLAR draws together the leaves of
the nettle, and feeds in concealment; as it
increases in size it requires more space, and

FRITILL ARIES.

continues +o increase the size of its domicile
up to the period of pupation ; I have never
met with it feeding exposed : when removed
irom its retreat it feigns death, bending its
extremities together ; all its movements are
slow and lethargic, and its only object, when
exposed, appears to be again to conceal itself.
When full-fed the head is broader than the
second segment, but narrower than the suc-
ceeding segments ; it is covered with project-
ing warts, which vary considerably in size ;
the body is obese, tapering slightly towards
the extremities; the second segment is narrow,
having a transverse series of small spines, one
of which on each side is some what larger and
more horny than the rest ; the third and
fourth segments have each a transverse series
of eight spines ; one pair on each side is small
and inconspicuous ; the remaining four are
longer, conspicuous and branched, or emitting
minor spines, each of which terminates in a
bristle ; the other segments, from the fifth to
the twelfth inclusive, have each ^even branched
spines, one medio-dorsal spine being placed in
advance of the rest; the thirteenth segment
has four spines. The head is black and
rather shining, the smaller points being white,
and the larger ones black : the ground colour
of the body is generally gray-green, sprinkled
with black, and having a rather broad waved
etripe on each side just below the spiracles :
the belly is smoky flesh-colour ; the legs are
shining black ; and the claspers smoky flesh-
colour : such is a description of the usual
colouring, but this is extremely variable ; the
ground colour in some specimens is dingy
white, and the lateral stripe scarcely distin-
guishable ; in others it is mottled gray-green,
the lateral strip<riuclining to yellow : again,
in others, the ground colour is intense black,
thickly sprinkled with white dots, and the
lateral stripe brilliantly white or yellow :
again the spines on the third segment are
sometimes intensely black, while all the others
are smoky flesh-coloured, but in other speci-
mens all the spines are alike dingy and semi-
transparent, with black tips. When full-fed
it constructs a somewhat more elaborate re-
; it gnaws through the petiole of a leaf,

i

or eats the main stalk of the nettle within a
few inches of the top, not quite separating it ;
the part thus almost separated falls over and
completely withers, and this withered portion
is formed into a compact retreat, secured from
casualties of weather and from the inspection
of birds ; from the roof of this the cater-
pillar suspends itself by the anal claspers, and
in two days becomes an obese, humped, and
angulated CHRYSALIS, the head of which is
notched on the crown, the divisions containing
the palpi being distant and very obtuse ; the
thorax has a large dorsal elevation terminating
in a median point : on each side near the edge
of the wing-cases are two obtuse angles ; on
the back of the body are three longitudinal
series of elevated points ; the median series
consists of six rather insignificant and incon-
spicuous points ; eacli lateral series consists of
nine points, two of which are thoracic and
seven abdominal, the lateral points being
much larger and more conspicuous than those
of the median series; the anal segment is
slender and beak-like, and is terminated by a
dense fringe of minute and very acute hooks,
by which the chrysalis is suspended from the
silk of which the roof of its retreat is con-
structed : the colour of the chrysalis is reddish
gray, delicately reticulated and marbled with
black : it appears covered with bloom, like
that on a ripe plum, and is adorned with very
beautiful golden spots, more especially on the
lateral thoracic points. — Netcman.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — The caterpillar is
found on nettles in June, July, and August ;
the chrysalis in July and August ; the butter-
fly in August, September, and October. It
seems to delight in settling on autumnal
flowers and sunning itself on leaves, or in
pathways ; but the ovary of the female con-
tains no eggs, and she seems to possess no
atti action for the male ; both sexes hybernate
early ; they reappear in the spring, but later
than our other Vauessidae : the usual inter-
course then takes place, and oviposition
follows.

OJS. — This species occasionally departs so
far from the ordinary habits of butterflies as
to have been detected wandering about tyr

64

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

night. I have repeatedly taken it in October
at the sugar prepared for Noctuse in the
gardeu at Leominster, and Dr. Jordan has
recorded, ia the 42nd number of the " Ento-
mologist's Monthly Magazine," an instance of
its coming to light.

LOCALITIES. — It occurs everywhere in Eng-
land more or less commonly. Mr. Birchall

says it is common everywhere in Ireland. It.
occurs in every list I have received from Scot-
land, generally without comment on its abun-
dance or rarity. Dr. Buchanan White says it
is sometimes not uncommon in Perthshire, but
it is variable in the periods of its appe trance,
one year being abundant and another year
very rare.

17. Painted Lady (Pyrameis Cardui).

17. PAINTED LADY. — The hind margin of
the fore wings is scarcely if at all angled, but,
as well as those of the hind wings, decidedly
scalloped ; the fore wings are variegated with
black and pale red ; the tip is black, with five
snowy-white spots of various size and shape :
the middle of the wing is red with black
blotches ; and the base of the wing is beauti-
fully powdered with scales of an orangecolour,
which glitter like mother-of-pearl ; the hind
wings are much the same colour as the fore
wings, but without the white spots at the tip,
p.nd having three rows of black spots parallel

VM. I.

with the hind margin ; the spots in the inner
row are round ; in the middle row long and
narrow, andin themarginal row rather lozenge-
shaped ; the under side is very beautifully
varied, but does not equal that of its congener
the Red Admiral.

Var. 1. In this variety all the usual mark-
ings are absent or completely altered in form.
The specimen figured is in Mr. Ingall's col-
lection.

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGG is laid singly on
the field thistle (Carduus arvensis], generally
towai'ds the end of June, and generally also.

ANGLE-WINGS.

low clown on the plant, and the young CATER-
PILLAR emerges therefrom in eight or nine
days: it soon draws together the points of the
thistle-loaves with a very slight web, more
like that of a spider than the usual webs con-
cealing Lepidoptera,&nd thus, very imperfectly
concealed, it feeds with great voracity, and
grows so rapidly as frequently to be full fed
in fourteen days, when it rests in a straight
position, but falls from its food-plant, forming
a compact ring, if annoyed. As the cat erpillar
increases in size it ascends towards the flowev-
head, leaving its prior domicile, so that half a
dozen of these dwellings may sometimes be
found on one plant, but two caterpillars rarely,
if ever : the needles or spines of the thistle-
leaves always rejected as food, are suspended
in the web ; the excrement of the caterpillar
is also found abundantly in the web, showing
that, in a sanitary point of view, the Painted
Lady stands rather low. The head is fully as
wide as the second segment, and scabrous ; the
crown is bilobed, each lobe emitting several
warts and numerous bristles. The body has
the segmental divisions clearly marked, and
a lateral skinfold not very strongly pro-
nounced ; the second segment has numerous
short dorsal spines, each of which emits a
terminal bristle ; both the third and fourth
segments have two longer lateral spines
emitting lateral branches ; the remaining seg-
ments from the fifth to the twelfth, both
inclusive, have seven branched spines, one of
them mediodovsal and slightly in advance of
the rest, the third on each side is on the
skinfold : below the skinfold and above each
clasper is a conspicuous sesquialterous wart,
emitting curved bristles : the thirteenth seg-
ment has four spines placed in a quadrangle,
the posterior pair larger and more conspicuous
than the anterior pair : all parts of the body
emit scattered hairs. The colour of the head is
dull black ; the dorsal surface of the body is
black, the spines paler, with black tips and
branches ; the hairs are white ; the skinfold
separating the dorsal and ventral surface is
yellow ; the ventral surface, legs, and claspers
are pitchy red; the spiracles above the skinfold
are pale in the middle j then surrounded with

Mack, then again with paler. In many in-
dividuals the dorsal surface is irrorated with
yellowish white dots, which are more con-
spicuously collected ina double series along the
back, interrupted by a narrow mediodorsal
stripe intensely black; in these examples the
bulbous base of each spine is pitchy red. When
full fed the caterpillar spins a small but dense
patch of silk on the surface of any object within
reach, and, suspending itself therefrom by
means of its anal claspers, changes to a CHRY-
SALIS, wuich has the head broadly truncate, but
not eared ; the back of the thorax is produced
into a median point, and has a point on each
side in advance of the median point, and two
more prominent pointson each side on the mar-
gin of the wing-cases; the body has three series
of obtuse points, the mediodorsal series con-
sisting of six points, the lateral series of eight
points, the anal extremity produced into a
slightly curved beak-Uke process, which is
terminated with a frirge of minute hooks, by
which it is suspended. The colour is ochreous-
gray, striped with dingy-brown, and adorned
with gold reflections ; the dorsal points are
golden metallic yellow ; there is a spear-shaped
black mark between the tips of the wing-cases,
apparently covering the extremity of the
maxillae ; the cases of the antennae have a
double series of black dots ; the anal beak has
on each side a conspicuous black stripe, and
various parts of the wing-cases and abdomen
have distinct black dots. — Newman.

TIME OP APPEARANCE. — The caterpillar is
to be found in June, the chrysalis in July,
and the butterfly in August — but the sexes
appear to take little notice of each other, and
may be seen frequenting gardens, or settling in
roads, or on the blossoms of thistles and teazles
by the road-side, until the end of October,
when they retire to their winter-quarters
again to appear in April, May, and June :
copulation then takes place, and oviposition
follows during eight or ten succeeding days.

Obs. — There is something very exceptional
in the conduct of this species; something
that renders it impossible to lay down \vith
precision any rules for the appearance of either
caterpillar or chrysalis ; with regard to uio

66

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

butterfly, appear when it will, it never seems
to be out of season. Although the preceding
paragraph is offered as a summary of very
numerous observations, still it can scarcely be
considered as sufficient or satisfactory, since
the insect itself seems to consider no laws
binding, and the simple question whether,
as a rule, one, two, or three generations are
disclosed during the year still remains with-
out solution. The " Entomologist," which
has done so much to cherish the science of en-
tomology, and to extend the researches and
investigations of the true lover of Nature 1 e-
yond the drawers of a cabinet or the techni-
calities of the pedant, has, during its useful
career, given us abundant evidence of this.
Thus we find, at p. 305 of the second volume,
even that excellent observer, Mr. Pristo, con-
fessing himself at fault on this important
point of its life-history : — " I am in a fix at
present about the economy of this species ;
there are small arid nearly full-grown cater-
pillars feeding together now ; in fact, only
yesterday, September 19, one spun up, and
another — a very small one — changed its skin.
Whether these late caterpillars are produced
by the early butterflies of this year or the
late ones of last year I am unable to deter-
mine. I believe all will produce the perfect
insect this autumn." Mr. West, another of
our very best observers, has, at p. 363 of the
third volume, a very similar record : — " The
caterpillars of Pyrameis Cardui have appeared
in this neighbourhood for the second time this
season. I have enclosed a few in a box,
thinking you may be interested in the appear-
ance of a second brood. Between the 26th of
July and the 16th of September I could not
find a single caterpillar. On the 1 6th of Sep-
tember I took four dozen very small cater-
pillars, and on the 24th about three dozen
some of them full fed." During the same
year I received, through the kindness of Mr.
Pristo, early caterpillars, and these accom-
plished their metamorphosis early in the
autumn, but no appproach towards a second
brood was made by the butterflies.

LOCALITIES. — Truly cosmopolitan, but in-
termittent and irregular. I have sometimes

passed years without seeing a specimen ; at
other times it may be said to swarm ou the
blossoms of clover (Trifolium), sainfoin (He-
dysarum Onobri/chis),&ud lucerna Mr. Birch-
all says it is common everywhere in Ireland,
and is often found on the summits of moun-
tains ; and Dr. Buchanan White informs us
that in Scotland it occurs from the sea-level
up to the base of Ben Lawers. In Wales I
have observed it at the Menai Straits, and up
to the stone cairn on Snowdon. In England I
know of no locality where it does not occa-
sionally appear, but mostly in small numbers.
A few exceptions occur, and I will cite one
of them.

Mr. R Smith, ot the British Museum, the
illustrious historian of British Bees and
British Fossorial Hymenoptera, has published,
in the 19th number of the " Entomologist's
Monthly Magazine," the following vivid pic-
ture of an entomological treat he enjoyed at
Ilfracombe in October, 1865 : — At the western
extremity of Ilfracombe stands a parish
church, passing behind which you enter
a narrow lane — "a Devonshire lane"j its
beauty will be appreciated by every one who
has visited Devon, and he will thoroughly
understand the meaning of the above apeila-
tion — he will know how it winds, and turns,
an I winds again — just so does the lane at the
back of the church, until you arrive at a gate
at its extremity that opens to the breezy
downs. The last fifty yards of the hedge, on
the right hand of the lane, is covered by a
mantle of ivy, which, on the 9th of October,
was in full blossom, but the flowers were
almost hidden from sight by a countless mul-
titude of butterflies and moths : it was one of
the most beautiful sights I ever beheld. The
multitudinous host only comprised two species
of butteifly, Pyrameis Atalanta and P. Cardui
— scores of the former, but hundreds of the
latter. The majority of them appeared to be
so ovei-powered by imbibing the nectar of the
ivy-blossoms, that I had no difficulty in taking
specimens of Cardui between my fingers.

Many unsuccessful attempts have been made
to discover some law by which to account
for the irregular appearance of this insect

WHITE ADMIRAL.

67

Family 4. — WHITE ADMIRALS (in science Neptidce).
The heads of the carerpillars are exserted
and shield-like j the face is generally flattened
and beset round the margin with strong spines,
particularly observable on the crown ; the
body is of nearly uniform size and beset with
branched and often clubbed spines ; they feed
on a variety of plants. The chrysalids are
always angled, and sometimes humped in a
very extraordinary manner. The head is
always eared. The perfect insect has but four
legs, the anterior pairs having no claws, and
being unfitted for walking. The wings are
not angled, but scalloped. We have but one
genus inhabiting this country — Limenitis ;
but in the East the genera and species are
most abundant.

18. White Admiral (Limenitis Sibylla). Upper side.

Under side.

1 8. THE WHITE ADMIRAL. — The wings are
scalloped but not angled, their colour is rusty
black ; the fore wing has about a dozen white
spots, very various in size and shape; the hind
wings have an oblique transverse median white
band. The markings on the under side are
exceedingly beautiful and complicated, almost
vying with those on the under side of the
Red Admiral.

Variety of White Admiral. Upper and Under sldea.

Varieties. — An extraordinary variety of
this species occasionally occurs in which not
a trace of the usual markings is to be found
on the upper side, a uniform sooty black
being diffused over the whole surface. The
under side is equally abnormal. The beau-
tiful specimens figured are in the rich cabinet
of Mr. Bond, and are kindly lent expressly
for this work.

LIFE HISTORY. — In July the pregnant
female is seen hovering over the thickest parts
of our taller copses, wherever the stems of the
honeysuckle are imbedded, like petrified
snakes, in the upright stems of the hazels, and
the foliage of that sweet climber has surmount-
ed the hazel spray, and its blossoms are gaping
wide in the sunshine, and diffusing their deli-
cate fragrance on the summer air. The actions
and movements of a female butterfly when
engaged in the maternal duty of oviposition
are very different from her ordinary gait
when sailing over the opening blossoms of the
bramble in company with friends, lovers, and
kinsfolk. It is evident to the eye of the
naturalist that she is now on weighty affairs
of business ; there is no time lost, none of

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

those flirtations and love cliases so much
admired and HO glowingly described by our
predecessors in the study of entomology. Her
flight is slow, flagging, flapping, and only
from leaf to leaf. She selects with unerring
discrimination the leaves of the honeysuckle,
even when surrounded, and apparently half
smothered, with the foliage of the hazel, arid
lays a single EGG on the upper surface of a
leaf; she then flutters off to another, then to
another, never tiring, never hesitating which
leaf to choose, but always directed by an un-
failing instinct to the honeysuckle, and always
avoiding those leaves on which an EGG has
already been deposited. The egg is something
the shape of an orange> only flatter at the
poles, and has been compared to those sea-
urchins or sea-hedgehogs which are found on
the sea- beach, and are to be seen in the win-
dow of every shell-shop. In fourteen days
the little CATERPILLAR comes out of the egg-
shell, and toddles to the very tip of the leaf
before it begins eating, and then it nibbles
away day after day, eating the green part, and
leaving only the midrib sticking out like a
bristle, and always after a good meal of leaf
it goes to the very point of this bristle, and
there rests while its meal digests and while it
acquires strength for future attacks on the
same leaf. Day after day the alternate pro-
cesses of eating the leaf and resting on the
tip of the bristle-like midrib continue, until
three-quarters' or rather more of the leaf has
been eaten, and then it knows that its devour-
ing duties for the year are over. We all know
that the leaves of the honeysuckle are de-
ciduous, and, in the course of Nature, would
fell off before winter ; this, however, would
not suit the requirings of the juvenile cater-
pillar, which, having once fallen to the ground
with the fallen leaf, would inevitably perish.
To prevent this falling is absolutely necessary
to the existence of the caterpillar, and there-
fore to the preservation of the species ; how
then is this to be accomplished ? The cater-
pillar, by spinning a number of silken threads
wound round and roiind the twig, and round
and round the leaf-stalk, fasters the leaf-stalk
to the twig to which it is still attached. 1 he

next process is to make a winter habitation of
that portion of leaf that still remains uneaten ;
the corners of this uneaten portion are fastened
tightly together, and then the edges are united,
these operations being effected by means of
silk spun from the mouth ; the work is then
finished, and the little caterpillar is thus laid
up for winter quarters inside his hammock,
the bristle-like midrib of the leaf curling over

O

it like a tail. Now the process of fastening
the leaf to the twig by silken cables has done
nothing to prevent the natural dehiscence of
the leaf-stalk at its base, so that this inevit-
able process takes place at the appointed time,
and then the little cot, instead of standing
erect, falls as far as the cables will permit,
always less than half an inch, and rocks to and
fro all the winter,lulling the infant caterpillar
to sleep, and keeping him asleep for six con-
secutive months ; rain, snow, ice,wind, and all
the vicissitudes of our winter, have no power
to injure or even to awaken him ; hung aloft
in his little cradle he rocks in comfort and
security, and ridi s out the roughest storm
without a thought of harm. In April he
wakes up. The same increase of temperature
which poets tell us rouses " the torpid sap
detruded to the roots " — a very apocryphal
doctrine, by the way, as the change of tem-
perature is more likely to be felt in the air
than in the earth : however, the same change
of temperature which compels the leaf-buds
to burst also resuscitates the little caterpillar ;
he wakes up, crawls out of his hammock,
and commences operations on the expanding
leaves. He now no longer "confines himself
to the tip of the leaf, but feeds away, with all
the voracity which a winter's fast may be
supposed to have engendered, during nearly
the whole of April and May ; and by the 1st
of June is full fed.

The head is about the same width as the
second segment, but decidedly narrower than
those which follow ; it is held in a prone
position, looking downwards ; the crown is
slightly notched, and from each division arises a
spine almost erectbut slightly bent backwards;
the face is flattish and rough, with small warts
and short simple spines : the body is almost

WHITE ADMIRAL.

uniformly cylindrical, but the segments are
slightly swollen, and the incisions between
them marked with decision; the dorsal surface
is shagreened,the lateral surface more strongly
so, the inequalities almost amounting to spines
on the slightly dilated skinfold ; there are also
circles of similar small spines round each of
the clampers, and a transverse series on the
ventral surface of each segment, but the most
striking armature of the caterpillar is on the
back ; the third, fourth, sixth, eleventh, and
twelfth segments have each two conspicuous
erect spines placed side by side ; the fifth,
seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth segmentshave
each two shorter spines, and the thirteenth
segment has four still shorter and smaller :
all these spines are branched or rather bristle-
bearing. The colour of the head is pinkish
brown, with a darker longitudinal line down
each side of the face : the body is dark green
on the back, paler on the sides, and the little
warts causing the appearance of shagreen are
yellow ; under a lens they have the appear-
ance of yellow grains of sand ; the spiracles
are white, and there is a narrow but very
decided white side-stripe below the spiracles;
on each side of each segment is a yellowish
blotch; the spines are pink at the tip, reddish
brown below, and paler at the base ; their
bristles are black ; the ventral -surface is apple-
green approaching to glaucous at the incisions
of the segments : the legs are obscure brown-
ish green; the claspers are rather paler and
their disks pink. When full fed it spins a
silkon web over the tinder surface of a leaf
of the honey.-uckle thickened into the form of
a pad on the midrib ; and attaching itself to
this by the anal claspers, it suspends itself in
a curved position waiting for the change to
a CHRYSALIS. Mr. Buckler graphically de-
scribes the change as follows, in the 38th
number of the " Entomologist's Monthly
Magazine": — "In the course of the third day
the creature seems to wake up, unbends its
head, swings itself to and fro a few times,
then stretches itself downwards in a long
attenuated line, which causes a rupture of the
skin close to the head, which is seen slowly to
asvuna, exposing the bare and soft shining

parts below, from which a flat and forked pair
of horns grow out perceptibly as one beholds
this wonderful process; the skin continues to
glide slowly upwards ; and as the soft parts
become exposed they are seen to swell out
laterally, and assume the very singular
projections of the chrysalis ; the skin of the
old head gliding up the belly marks the pro-
gress of the disclosure, as the colours of the
old and new surfaces are at this time alike,
but the new rather more shining and ; emi-
transparent ; occasionally, during the bulging
out of the soft parts, a kind of convulsive
heave or two occurs, but otherwise it remains
still until the creature is uncovered as far as
the ninth or tenth segment; it then curves its
anal extremity by a sudden twist laterally,
and in a moment dexterously withdraws the
tip of the anal segment from the claspers by
an opening on the back of the skin at that
part; at this critical moment one has time to
see that the naked, shining point is furnished
with black hooks, and to expect its fall, but
in another moment it has forcibly pressed the
curved tip with its hooks against the stem,
close to its previous attachment of the anal
claspers, which has proved strong enough for
the occasion. The creature now seems en-
dowed with wonderful power and vigour ; it
swings boldly to and fro, and undulates itself
as if to gain longer swings, when presently
the old skin that remains is seen to burst
away and fall off, the chrysalis gradually be-
coming quiescent; the entire metamorphosis,
from the first waking to the last movement,
occupying nearly seven minutes. The chrysalis
is very angular, and its wing-cases very pro-
jecting; the dorsal surface of the thorax rises
to a prominent ridge, and a little beyond it is
a flat, round, and very projecting process; on
the bank and from thence to the anal tip,
the abilomen is slightly sinuous, and there-
fore hangs a little on one side; two flat forked
processes project from the head. Its colour at
first is a greenish white, but it gradually
darkens, and in a few days the thorax and
wing cases are deep olive-green, the centre of
the back of the abdomen bright apple-green,
its tip and underside being dark brown, wnich

70

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

forms on the back abroad band, including the
flat circular prominence at its termination.
The hare's-ear-like pi-ojections at the head are
also dark brown ; the wing-rays can be seen
distinctly, the portions that at first appeared
quite white have now been transmuted into
metallic adornments, a brilliant golden streak
divides the brown colour from the green of
the wings, commencing on each side the back
of the thorax, and a spot on each side the tip
of the tail; three silvery spots decorate the
under side of the body, and the head and its
prominences are embellished, both above and
beneath, with similar spots and streaks."

Obs. — I must here observe that we are
indebted to Mr. Hunter for the first descrip-
tion of the caterpillar and chrysalis of the
White Admiral from English specimens: it was
published at page 3185 of the "Zoologist'"'
for 1851. The descriptions by Curtis and
other British authors, copied from Hubner,
refer to other species (Limenitis Camilla)
not yet found in Britain : the error originated
in the fact that Haworth applied the name
Camilla by mistake to our English insect. A
second and much more del ailed description of
this caterpillar, by Mr. H. L. de la Chau-
rnette, is published at page 3237 of the same
volume, and a description of the caterpillar
of Camilla is given to show the difference be-
tween the two species ; but both descriptions
are from Swiss specimens ; mine are from
English specimens.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — The caterpillar is
to be found hibernating in the winter, and
full fed at the end of May and beginning of
June, the chrysalis at the end of June, and
the butterfly in July. It is fond of settling
on brambles, but distinguishes itself by a most
graceful flight up and down the roads in
woods.

Obs. — " The graceful elegance displayed by
this charming species when sailing on the
wing is greater perhaps than can be found
in any other we have in Britain. There was
nil old Aurelian of London so highly delighted
H-t the inimitable flight of Camilla [Sibylla],
T,,,at long after he was unable to pursue her,
he used to go to the woods, and sit down on t

stile, tor UH~ sole purpose of feasting his eyes
wit!" IIHI ta~m i. ati ng evolutions." — Haworth.

LocALiiiE0 - This butterfly is absent from
the Irish, Manx, and Scotch lists, and from
most of the English ones. The following
localities have been received : —

Buckinghamshire. Black Park: a very fa-
vourite locality fifteen years ago, but now
closed against entomologists — S. Stevens and
many others.

Dorsetshire. Parley Heath and Bere Wood
— -Rev. O.Pickard-Cambridge. Mr. Dale gives
this information with a query.

Essex. Parkall Woods, near Epping,
sparingly ; near Colchester in profusion —
Edward Doubfeday ; St. Osyth — W. H. liar-
wood ; Saffron Wai den — W. R. Jeffrey.

Gloucestershire. /* single specimen at
Clifton, near Bristol.

Hampshire. One near Winchester, 22nd
June — J. S. Wesley; near Andover, 23rd
June — J. T. Moore ; Woods near Horndean,
abundant — H. H. Crewe; near Lyndhurst and
Brockenhurst — F.Bond; occasionally taken in
the New Forest, but never common — G. B.
Corbi/n ; in oak woods near Portsdown —
Henry M oner eaff; Ems worth — W. H. Draper;
Woolmer Forest — C. G. Barrett.

Kent. Tenterden — Staintoris " Manual."

Lincolnshire. Common in the south of the
county iu fine seasons — T. H. Allis.

Northamptonshire. The Lynches, near
Wodenham — F. Bond.

Suffolk. Bentley, Coomb, &c.— //. H.
Cretve.

Surrey. Haslemei'e — C. G. Barrett.

Sussex. Near Steyning — J. H. White ; at
Iden, near Rye, the only place I have ever
seen it — E. Jenner; Ashling — W. //. Draper.

Wight, Isle of. Generally distributed in
our woods — James Pristo ; Park hurst, Apse
Wood, and Whitefield Wood — Alfred Owen;
Hyde — W. H. Draper; Brading, 24th July
— J. D. Pinnock.

Worcestershire. Worcester — Stainton's
" Manual." My entomological correspondent
at Worcester, who has taken the utmost pains
to supply me with information, does not
confirm this report.

EML'KROR.

71

Natural Or lor II.— SLUG-SHAPED CATERPILLARS (in
science Limucifurmes).

The distinguishing character, and that to
which we have no exception among the
British species of the Order, is the slug-like
form of the caterpillar : it is generally covered
with minute warts, giving the surface the
appearance of very fine shagreen ; it is with-
out spines, and the body terminates in two
points, which are directed backsvards. The
chrysalis is angled, but not sharply so ; its
head is broad, often as though cut off abruptly :
in some spei-ies it is rounded or very blunt ;
in others it has two rather distant short
points, generally described as ears ; it is always
or almost always, suspended by the tail, and
hangs head downwards. The perfect insect
has the fore feet totally unfitted for walking,
and without claws. The British species are
divided into two families.

Family 5.— EMPERORS (in science Apaturidai).

The caterpillar is very stout in the middle,

but more slender towards the head, the crown
of which is produced into two horns (which
are usually directed forwards when the crea-
ture is crawling), and very much, although
gradually, tapered towards the tail. The
chrysalis is always suspended by the tail; it is
stout but rather compressed on the tides ; its
head is divided into two blunt points or ears.
The perfect insect has only four perfect legs,
and has very gradually thickened antennae,
ample wings, and a most powerful flight. We
have but one British genus or species, com-
monly known as the Emperor (in science
Apntura Iris).

Obs. — The word Apatura is probably mis-
printed for Apodura, signifying that the
caterpillar has no feet at the tail or caudal
extremity — a very striking character, but not
confined to this particular genus, as will be
seen in my descriptions of the Satyis: the
spelling cannot now bo v" red, having been
so generally adoptee..

19. Purple Emperor (Ajjatitra Iris). Upper side of Male.

19. PURPLE EMPEROR.— The antennae are
rather long, and the club very gradually
thickened : the fore wings are slightly arched
on the costal margin, rounded at the tip, and
without angles on the hind margin : the hind
margin of the hind wings is scalloped, and the
anal angle produced : the ground colour is
rusty-black, the male being decorated with a
purple lustre, which, in certain positions, is
very beautiful ; the female is without the
purple gloss ; on the fore wings are seven
white spots, the position of which will be

seen in the figure ; it has also a portion of a
transverse white band, which commences near
the middle of the wing, proceeds to the inner
margin, and is continued obliquely across the
middle of the hind wings ; in the male these
markings are pure white, in the female they
are tinged with yellow : there is a faint and
undefined bar parallel to the hind margin of
all the wings ; the anal angle is tinged with
rust-colour ; and near the anal angle is an
ocellated black spot, with a blue pupil and a
rust coloured circumscription. The under

72

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

side is very different from the upper, as
will be seen from the very perfect repre-
sentation given below : the general tint is
dull rust-colour, shaded to gray along the
hind margin of all the wings : on the costal
margin of the fore wings are two white
blotches, one near the middle, the other

smaller, and halfway between the middle
and the tip : between the larger white costal
blotch and the base is a vague whitish space,
containing two transverse black markings ;
towards the anal angle is an eye-like spot,
black with a blue pupil and a broad rust-
coloured circumscription, which is interrupted

Under side of Female.

by two white spots; between this eye-like spot
and the base is a short transverse white bar,
extending from near the middle of the wing
to the hind margin : the hind wings have an
oblique wedge-shaped median white band, the

base of the wedge resting on the costal margin ;
there is a small blue-pupilled spot below this
band, and equidistant between the hind and

inner margins.

Varieties. — This insect is liable to variation,

Upper side of a variety in the cabinet of Mr. Bond,
which shows itself particularly in the absence I in these words : — "On the 13th of July, 1857,

or partial absence of the white spots and
band.

At page 5923 of the "Zoologist " for 1858,
the Kev. William Bree describes such a variety

I had the good fortune to capture, in Ashton
Wood, near Oundle, Northamptonshire, a very
singular and interesting variety of Apatura
Iris. There is an entire absence of the beau-

PURPLE EMPEROR.

73

tiful white band which in ordinary specimens,
crossing the middle of the hind wing, extends
into the middle of the fore wing : of the five
white spots extending in a curve from the
costa to the anal angle, one spot only, namely
the fourth, is visible ; the two spots near the
tip are smaller than usual, the second of the
two being lir.tle more than a speck ; the costal
margin and the tip are strongly powdered
with fulvous, and the usual fulvous ring of
the hind wing being broken on its lower side
extends in a strong fulvous marking over the
anal angle : the rich purple shade is spread
over the wings as in the ordinary specimens,
blended, however, in parts with fulvous. The
under side is equally remarkable, though diffi-
cult to describe ; the colouring and markings
are much confused."

A very beautiful example of this variety is
figured on the opposite page. It is in the
cabinet of Mr. Bond, and has been most kindly
lent purposely to illustrate this work.

LIFE HISTORY. — Dr. Maclean, to whom I
am indebted for the early history of this but-
terfly, watched a female deposit two eggs on
the upper side of two leaves of the sallow, or
great goat-willow (Salix caprea), on the 16th
of July: the EGG somewhat resembles a fossil
Echinus which has lost its spines. One of
these eggs the doctor took home, and it
hatched on the 25th of July, just nine days
after it was laid : the egg loft on the leaf
where its parent had deposited it, hatched on
the 28th of the same month, having been in
the egg state twelve days. The little cater-
pillars are of a dark brown colour : on the
eighth day after being hatched they change
their skin, and then are furnished with two
horns or processes, attached to and forming
part of the head ; and it is curious that now,
on the first appearance of these horns, they
are proportionally larger and longer than at
any other period of the creature's caterpillar
life, and are evidently, although not deeply,
ck-ft at the tip. With the first change of
bkin the caterpillar loses every tinge of its
original brown colour, and becomes exactly of
the same hue as the sallow-leaf on which it
feeds: a portion of the leaf is consumed every

day, but the midrib is left intact; and the
little creature, when resting from its alimen-
tary labours, climbs to the denuded bristle-
like tip of this midrib, and there remains per-
fectly motionless, with the anterior extremity
raised as we see it in the caterpillars of the
privet hawk-moth and the puss moth. Dr.
Maclean's caterpillar continued this mode of
life until the 15th of November, when it
descended from the leaf, and, covering with
silk the rind of the twig immediately below
the attachment of the leaf, grasped this web
firmly with its claspers, stretched itself out at
full length, with its horns porrected before it,
and thus settled itself down to endure the
winter's cold and the winter's storms. This
is always the case ; its modus operandi is the
same whether in a state of nature or in the
vivarium of an entomologist. Instinct, that
infallible and inscrutable guide, tells the un-
reasoning caterpillar that dehiscence of the
leaf-stalk will take place alter the first frost,
and that the leaf will fall to the ground : the
leaf does fall, but not until its falling is a
matter of indifference to the caterpillar; not
until the caterpillar has attached itself so
firmly to the twig that neither wind nor rain
can remove it. In the ensuing spring, the
same influences which compel the sallow to
throw out new twigs and new leaves also
resuscitate the torpid or 'dormant caterpillar;
its eating propensities are aroused, and it
feeds greedily \intil the period of its first
metamorphosis has arrived.

The full-fed CATERPILLAR rests on the sallow
leaf in a nearly straight position, holding on
by its claspers to a little silken coating which
it spins on the under side of the leaf; but
when feeding it bends its somewhat obese
body with the facility, and I would almost
say elegance, of a slug, but I fear many of
my readers will scarcely appreciate the com-
parison. When annoyed, it contracts and
incrassates its body, assuming a very lumpy
appearance : the head is so exactly the same
width as the second segment that it appears
continuous therewith ; the face is rather flat-
tened, and the crown slightly notched, wnd
produced into two slug-like horns, which are

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

of nearly equal size throughout, but are very
slightly in crassated towards the tip; they are
rough, with raised points, more particularly
on the under side ; these strange appendageg
move with the head, but possess no capacity
for motion independently of the head ; when
the month is stretched out, as in feeding, the
horns point backwards, but when the mouth
is brought up to the chest their position is
exactly reversed, and they point forwards ;
the width of the face is nearly the same at
the mouth as at the foi-ehead : the body is
slug-shaped, tapering to both extremities,
more particularly to the caudal extremity,
which terminates in two short, parallel,
closely approximate points, directed back-
wards ; the surface of the body is rough, like
shagreen, a character due to transverse series
of warts, one of which series is on each section
of a segment, and a fifth on a rather con-
spicuous skinfold which intervenes between
the segments.

The colour requires a rather minute de-
scription ; the horns may be called glaucous
green, inclining to blue in front, to white
behind, and to black at the tips ; the space
between them is of a pale yellow colour,
approaching to white, but there is a pointed
triangular green plate above the mouth, which
enters into and almost divides the yellow
part : I have said that each horn may be
called white behind, thus presenting a white
stripe from near the tip to the base; this
white stripe is continued on the second, third,
fourth, and partly on the fifth segment, where
it fades into the general green colour of the
back ; on each side of the body is a very
narrow yellow stripe traversing the region of
the spiracles, extending the entire length of
the caterpillar, and terminating in the anal
point ; there are, moreover, seven oblique
lines on each side, all of them commencing
near the lateral stripe which I have just
described, and running upwards and back-
wards, but not meeting on the back ; the third
of these oblique lines is the longest, reaching
nearly, but not quite, to the middle of the
nack ; this line is also rather stouter than the
others ; they are all of a yellow- white tint>

the third being rather conspicuously bordered
at the upper anterior extremity with purple ;
the ventral surface is glaucous green, and the
legs and claspers are nearly concolorous.
When full fed the caterpillar fastens itself by
the anal claspers to a s'lken carpet it has
previously spun on the under side of a ?allow^
leaf, and, thus suspended, changes to a CHKY-
SALIS, which is obese, dumpy, awkward-look-
ing, somewhat compressed laterally, and
somewhat keeled dorsally ; the head ter-
minates in two approximate short points or
ears : the colour is apple-green, the wing-
cases being rather darker, and the body rather
yellower, and the seven oblique lateral stripes
which I described in the caterpillar are still
to be observed on the sides of the chrysalis.

TIME OP APPEARANCE. — The full-fed cater-
pillar in May and June, the chrysalis in June,
and the butterfly in July.

Obs. — The Purple Emperor has achieved a
great reputation among English entomologists
for his lofty flight, and the extreme difficulty
of securing him with the hand-nef. Haworth
says, "The Emperor invariably fixes his throne
upon the summit of a lofty oak, from the
utmost sprigs of which on sunny days he per-
forms his aerial excursions, and in these he
ascends to a much greater elevation than any
other insect : I have even seen him sometimes
mounting higher than the eye can follow;
especially if he happens to quarrel with
another Emperor, the monarch of some neigh-
bouring oak : they never meet without a battle,
flying upwards all the while, and combating
with each other as much as possible : after
which they will frequently return again to
the identical sprigs from which they ascended.
The wings of this fine species are of a stronger
texture than those of any other in Great
Britain, and more calculated for that gay and
powerful flight which is so much admired by
entomologists. The Purple Emperor com-
mences his aerial movements from ten to
twelve o'clock in the morning, but does not
perform his loftiest flights till noon, decreasing
them after this hour until he quite ceases to
fly about four in the afternoon : thus emulat-
ing the motions of that source of all hia

PURPLE EMPEROR.

strength, the sun." Let us next consider
another phase of imperial life presented to us
by Mr. Hewitson, at, page 315 of the first
volnmeof the "Etitomo'ogist" : — " At the end
of a long and very rapid (light at the outskirts
of the wood they (the Era perors) would enter
its more shaded recesses, and settling wherever
moisture was to be met with, would protrude
into it their thin long trunks, and were soon
heedless of my approach. T found a flat, bagless
net by far the best when their wings were
thus expanded, allowing them no room for
motion. Instead of employing their sunny
hours in sipping sweets, and

' Gathering honey all the day
From every opening flower,'

their delight was to extract the juices of each
swamp hole, and the filthier the puddle the
more it seemed adapted to their taste. Herds
of swine are brought to pasture on the borders
of the forest, and it was their droppings that
seemed to supply the Purple Emperors with
their choicest feast. Sea ting myself near one
of these, I selected the finest specimens as
they settled down, and watched them till they
closed their wings ; and so intent were they
on their occupation that they would usually
permit me to take them between my finger
and thumb. They were so numerous that I
have had no less than seven under a small net
at one time, and even then they showed but
little anxiety to get away." Again, Mr.
Sturgess writes thus, at page 59 of the second
volume of the " Intelligencer " : — " You
may judge how agreeably surprised I was to
learn, one scorching day in July, that the
Purple Emperor had been caught regalinghim-
self upon the imperial delicacies of dead stoats,
weasels, «fec., hanging upon some low bushes
as a terror to evil-doers. I need not say that
I did not neglect the first opportunity of
visiting the spot, and had the satisfaction of
seeing within the space of an hour three Em-
perors descend from their thrones to breakfast
upon the delicious viands." And again, Mr.
Russell, writing from Ashford, in Kent, in-
forms us, at page 139 of the same volume,

" that on the 1 8th he captured two males o.
this insect in fine condition, one of them from
the head of a dead cat nailed to a lodge in the
wood." A few pages further on iu the same
instructive, journal (page 155) Mr. Sturgess
again reports progress thus : — " Some of your
readers may be glad to learn the result of the
captures indicated above ; I believe the fol-
lowing is a correct list : — On the llth of July
three specimens; on the 13th, six; on the
14th, seventeen ; on the 15th, twenty ; on
the 16th, eight; on the 17th, six; on the
18th, fourteen; on the 23rd, three; and
on the 24th, thi-ee ; making a total of
eighty specimens in nine days. The ex-
periment was not tried in the same place
as last year, but in a wood of some thirteen
hundred acres, where the Emperor appeared
to be more plentiful : the keeper kindly con-
sented to nail a portion of rabbit-skin and
the wing of a bird to the end of a house ; a
similar bait was also placed on a lime-heap
about a dozen yards distant." Here is suf
ficient evidence of the kind of delicacies best
adapted to the imperial palate : an adaptation
which, however I may regret, I am unable to
dispute. I would gladly have depicted the
Emperor of our insect world as banqueting on
ambrosia, an esculent of which, by the way,
I have no clearly defined idea, or quaffing the
nectar of flowers, but this would not be truth-
ful : in this and other cases of depraved
appetite, we can only lament a fact as incon-
trovertible as it is unsatisfactory, repeating
the somewhat trite, but ever sapient axiom,
de gustibus non est disputandum. I am able,
however, to assign his imperial majesty one
instance of more refined taste — Dr. Knaggs
records, at page 165 of the fourth volume of
the " Entomologist's Weekly Intelligencer,"
that he succeeded in decoying an Emperor by
painting the trunk of a tree with sugar, and
thus secured him.

LOCALITIES. — This beautiful insect is un-
known in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of
Man, and its range in England is restricted to
the oak woods of the midland, eastern, and
southern counties. I give a list of the localities
it is known to visit : —

76

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

Bedfordshire. Clapham Park Woods —
Staintorts "Manual."

Berkshire. Burghn'eld, near Reading — C.
S. Bird.

Buckinghamshire. At Claydon I observed
several specimens flying about the tops of the
oaks in the woods here last month (August),
but although I procured a pole about twenty
feet long for my net I was unable to take any
— //. H. Crewe.

Cambridgeshire. Woods near Cambridge —
Thomas Brown.

Devonshire. Occurs occasionally near
Barnstaple, North Devon — G. F. Mathew.

Dorsetshire. Woodland Wood, near Han-
ford, the seat of the late H. Seytner, F.L.S.,
and near Cranborne — J. C. Dale.

Essex. Very rare at Epping. but common
at Colchester — Edward Doubleday, in 1833 ;
formerly common in the High Woods, Col-
chester, but I have not seen a specimen since
1860, and it has disappeared from all the
other woods where it formerly occurred in the
vicinity of Colchester. The last specimen
taken here was flying round a moderator
lamp in the evening, in the town itself. It
still occurs at Coggeshall. and in Slorr Wood,
near Ramsay — W. H. JIarwood ; Saffron
Walden— W. R. Jeffrey.

Gloucestershire. Forest of Dean — W.
Langley.

Hampshire. Near Lyndhurst and Brocken-
hurst — F. Bond; occasionally in the New
Forest, but uncommon — J. B, Corbyn ;
Burton, near Christchurch — J. C. Dale ;
Southwick — Henry Moncreaff; Emsworth
— W. H. Draper; Ring wood — W. G.
Wilkinson.

Huntingdonshire. Monkswood andBramp-
ton Wood, not uncommon, but very difficult
to capture — J. H. While; Woods near
Peterborough — F. Bond.

Kent. Tenterden — S. C. Tress Beale ;
Daventh Wrod — William Machin ; Perry
Wood, Selling — H. A. Stowell ; it is stated
to occur in the woods round Pluckley, but I
cannot report this from personal knowledge —
W. 0. Hammond ; Knowle Park, near Seven-
oaks — Slainton's " Manual" ; in the town of

Ashford, settling on the front of a house — A.
Russell.

Leicestershire. Leicester — Staintons
" Manual."

Lincolnshire. About Lincoln, Bardney
Wood, and in South Lincolnshire — T. II. Allis.

Middlesex. Caen Wood, near Hampstead
— J. F. Stephens.

Monmouthshire. In the Forest of Dean
— W. Langley.

Northamptonshire. "Early in the morning,
and on damp, gloomy days, I have several times
seen to the greatest advantage as I conceive,
the most splendid of all our butterflies (Apa-
tura Iris] at Barnwell and Aston Wolds,
sailing along the ridings, and settling upon the
ruts and other moist and muddy spots, often
assailed by the impudent attack of Epineplide
Janira and Melanagria Galathea, which
appear to be the foremost in attacking him
when he thus condescends to leave for a while
his lofty oak to visit the regions inhab'ted by
his less honourable kindred. The partiality
which this insect exhibits for individual sprigs
of particular trees has often been remarked
upon by entomologists, and is certainly con-
firmed by the Emperors of this neighbour-
hood. And it should almost seem as if this
partiality were, if I may use the expression,
hereditary ; for upon a certain sprig of a small
ash-tree, by the side of one of the ridings in
Barnwell Wold, I have each year since 1847
succeeded in capturing the Purple Emperor ;
and in all instances, upon the capture of one,
the identical sprig has in the course of a few
days, if not within a few hours, been in-
variably occupied by another Emperor" —
William Bree ; the Lynches — F. Bond ; Ket-
tering — William Sturgess.

Nottinghamshire. — Occurs occasionally at
Ollerton; in 1859 I had a fine female given
me alive. It was taken inside a pigsty near
the edge of Willow Wood, three miles from
Ollerton — R. E. Brarndd ; occasionally near
Newark — George Gascoyne.

Somersetshire. A friend informs me he has
taken 7m at Clive Coombe, about two miles
from Bristol — F. D. Wlieelcr ; a specimen
reported from Brockle;— W. H. Grigg,

SATYRS.

Suffolk. Bentley, Coombs, &c. H. H.
Crewe ; Redisham and Wolsingham Parks —
W. M. Crowfoot ; in Old-hall Wood very
rare, Haverhill — William Gaze; Assingham
Wood, near Sudbuiy — John Grubb ; so com-
mon near Ij)swich in 1868 that many of our
collectors have taken eight or ten dozen each
— Garrett Garrett.

Surrey. Haselmere — C. G. Barrett ; for-
merly abundant near Godalming. The late
Mr. Howard, of Elstead, used to take the
females in his garden resting on the trunks of
trees. I have seen at least a dozen so taken :
the males were seen flying about the oaks,
but I did not hear of one being taken — E.
Newman.

Sussex. Poyning's Wood — W. Buckler;
Plashet, between Balcombe and Newick, and
elsewhere in the woody district of the Weald
— E. Jenner ; Chichester — ir. H.. Draper ;
Brighton, Bourne, and Ticehurst — Stainton's
" Manual"

Wight, Isle of. Has been taken at Fresh-
water and Brading — J. Pristo ; near Yar-
mouth— F. Bond.

Wiltshire. Said to have been taken in
Savernake Forest, but this is very doubtful —
T. A. Preston.

Obs. — A great deal which I thought it un-
necessary to ti-anscribe has been written as to
the mode of capturing the Emperor with a net
on the end of an enormously long pole : I
know of no record of success with this strange
instrument, and cannot imagine myself pos-
sessed of the power to use it. The unsavoury
baits already described seem to offer a more
likely chance of capture.

Family 6. — SATYRS (in science Satyridce).

The caterpillar is without spines, but is
covered with minute warts, which impart
to the surface a velvety appearance ; it is
nearly cylindrical, but tapers towards both
extremities, more particulai-ly the caudal
extremity, which terminates in two points
directed backwards : the chrysalis is scarcely
at all angled ; the head is broad and obtuse ;
it is generally suspended by the tail, but
sometimes lies without any attachment on

the surface of the ground : the butterfly has
only four legs adapted for walking ; it has
abruptly knobbed antennae, rounded wings,
and a feeble flight. Thei-e are six British
genera — Melanagria, Erebia, Pyrarga, Saty-
rus, Epinepliele, and CcenonympJia.

20. Marbled White (Melanagria Galathea).

20. MARBLED WHITE. — The hind margin
of all the wings is scalloped but not angled :
the colours are black and white in about equal
proportions, and distributed in spots as shown
in the figure ; the co-tal margin of the fure
wings is densely sprinkled with fulvous gold
in the female. The under side is white,
slightly suffused with ochreous gray , especially
on the hind wings; the fore wings have
various blotches of smoky black, as shown in
the figure, and a white-pupilled black spot
about equidistant from the tip, the costal
margin, and the hind margin : the hind wings
have various markings of smoky green-gray,
with six eye-like spots forming a band parallel
with the hiud margin; this band is inter-
rupted after the second spot counting from
the costal margin ; this interruption causes
the wing to look as though there bad originally
been seven spots and the third had dropped
out,

78

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

Varieties. — The species is not subject to
variation, but some remarkable varieties have
occurred. Mr. Thomas Marshall, one of our
oldest and most assiduous entomologists, men-
tions one such at page 471 of the second
volume of the "Zoologist." He says : — " At
the latter end of last July I captured a very
remarkable specimen of Melanagria Galathea
in a fiVld on the heights between Dover and
Walmer. The specimen is a male of a clear
milky-white colour, and h:is not either on the
upper or under side of the wings the smallest
speck of black. Its thorax, body, and palpi
are also entirely clothed with white. This
specimen is in perfect condition."

LIFE HISTORY. — The parent female does
not select any particular species of grass or
herbage on which to deposit her EGG, but
settles indiscriminately on any leaf or stalk
that may be nearest at hand, and drops her
eggs at random, careless what species of grass
may happen to receive it : only one egg is
extruded at a time, and when this is disposed
of, the female flies a few inches or a few feet
and repea's the operation. Mr. Bignell, to
whom I am indebted for this information,
watched a number of females thus employed
on the 26th of July, 1869. The eggs, extruded
one by one, find their way by the simple power
of gravitation to the roots of the grass,
there to take their chance of hatching and
future well-doing. The ejjg, which is perfectly
hard and dry, and free from any glutinous
covering, is white and almost spherical, but is
slightly flattened at both its poles : the young
CATERPILLAR emerges in about three weeks,
and, after feeding for a short time, hybernates
very early in the autumn, and while yet
extremely small : it conceals itself towards
the roots of the herbage, and very near the
surface of the ground : it feeds again towards
the end of April or t»eginning of May, and
attains its full size by the end of the latter
month. When full fed it rests on a blade of
grass in a nearly straight position, the back
slightly raised, and the head slightly bent
under ; if annoyed it falls to the ground in a
curved posture, which can scarcely be called a
ring, but lies motionless, feigning death, until

the prospect of immediate danger is past,
when it slowly resumes its ordinary position,
and reascemls its food-plant. The head is of
nearly the same width as the second segment,
and is beset with scabrous points which emit
hairs : the body is obese and somewhat fusi-
form, increasing in size to the fifth segment,
thence it gradually diminishes to the anal
extremity, which terminates in two parallel
points above the anal flap, and directed back-
wards; the segmental divisionsarenotstrongly
mai-ked, and each is divided transveisely into
sections, which are also obscurely indicated ;
the sides in the region of the spiracles are
slightly, almost imperceptibly, dilated; every
part of the body is beset, like the head, with
scabrous points and short hairs : those of the
head and second segment are slightly arcuate
and bending forwards, those of the third seg-
ment nearly straight and erect, and those of
the remaining segments arcuate and bending
backwards. The colour of the head is pale
dingy green or pale reddish brown; of the
body paler dingy green or wainscot-brown,
with a pretty clearly defined narrow medio-
dorsal darker stripe ; the dorsal area on each
side of this dark stripe is very pale, and its
exterior margin almost white ; a narrow
sinuous reddish stripe intersects each division
of this pale area ; the lateral area is pale fer-
ruginous, intersected by a narrow whitish
stripe below the spiracles, which are intensely
black ; in addition to this principal broad
lateral stripe or area, there are two other very
inconspicuous stripes, the one above, the other
below it ; all the stripes unite, and terminate
in the anal points, which are slightly tinged
with pink ; the ventral surface, legs, and
claspers are pale fen uginous. On the 14th
of June my caterpillars left their food, and
lying at the bottom of the gallipot, underwent
pupation two days subsequently, without
attaching themselves in any way to the grass
or other object ; in fact they seemed to make
no preparation whatever for the change : the
CHRYSALIS is short and obese ; the head is
rounded and without any appearance of cars;
the thorax convex, but neither keeled nor
angulated ; the ventral ? irface is very gibbose,

SATYRS.

79

more so than the dorsal ; there is a prominent
scale at the base of each wing-case, apparently
covering the spiracle, and the thirteenth seg-
ment is attenuated, depressed, scale-like, and
fringed with straight bristles, which appear
to indicate the inability to suspend itself.
The colour of the chrysalis in pale wainscot-
brown, partially transparent; the scale at the
1-ase of the wing-cases and the caudal scale
being dark brown, almost black ; the wing-
cases are delicately barred with transverse
brown lines, very faint indeed, but slightly
Murker than the ground colour; the dorsal
suface of the body is indistinctly striped with
a darker shade. — Newman.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — The caterpillar
through the winter and spring, the chrysalis
in June, the butterfly in July.

LOCALITIES. — I believe this butterfly to be
entirely absent from Ireland, Scotland, and
the Isle of Man. From many of the northern
counties of England it also appears absent.
It is not mentioned in Mr. Wailes' admirable
catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Northumber-
land and Durham, and I have no record of iU
occurrence in Cumberland, "Westmoreland,
Lancashire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Shropshire,
Staffordshire, or Lincoln shire; but from York-
shire I have several records. In the other
midland, and in all the southern cotmties, it
occurs not uncommonly, but always in re-
stricted spaces, generally confining itself to a
single field or rough pasture. It is very
partial to rough ground, and seerns to avoid
the shelter of woods.

Berkshire. At Burghfield, near Reading —
~£ S. Bird.

Buckinghamshire. Drayton Beauchamp
and Claydon — //. H. Crewe ; at Halton once
only — J '. Greene.

Cambridgeshire. Near Duxford — F. Bond;
common throughout the county — Thomas
Brown.

Cornwall Werrington Park, Launceston,
Penheale, Egleskerry — Geo. G. Bignell.

Devonshire. Various localities in the
county — J. Hellins; along the Devon coast
from Dartmouth to Babbington — Geo. G.
Bignell; Ply in bridge — E. James, juv. ; in a

limestone quarry at Berry Pomeroy, Buck-
fastleigh, Exeter, Axminster, Sidmouth —
J. J. Reading.

Dorsetshire. A single specimen was taken
at Glanville's Wootton in 1G89 by C. W. Dale:
it formerly occurred there in plenty; common
at Lulworth, Charmouth, Blandford, and
Dorchester — J. G. Dale.

Essex. Epping — Edward Doubleday ; I
have taken three or four specimens on the
railway banks near Lexden ; it has disap-
peared from Hartley Wood, St. Osyth's, where
it was formerly common — W. H. Harwooa ;
common at Herne Bay — H. D. Greville.

Glamorganshire. Common in the county —
Evan John ; I have occasionally seen it near
Ynisygerwn — J. T. D. Llewelyn.

Gloucestershire. Common on all the hills
about Wootton-uuder-Edge — V. R. Perkins;
abundant in many localities — Joseph Merrin;
Bussage and the neighbourhood, Bacon Tump,
Dane way Common, Folley Lane, Sapperton —
M. G.Musgrave; Common at Guiting — Joseph
Greene ; near Stroud — Alfred E. Hudd.

Hampshire. Leigh Wood and Durrance
Common — W. Buckler; Lyndhurst,NewForest
— F. Bond; Woolmer Forest — G. G. Barrett;
there is a locality for this insect near Fording-
bridge, in the same meadow in which Artemis
occurs — H. Ramsay Cox; Parley Heath,
Bishopstoke, near Winchester — J. G. Dale ;
Southwick, Witham Hill, near Petersfield —
Henry Moncreoff; Ems worth — W. H. Draper.

Herefordshire. Oakley Park, abundant —
F. E. Harman.

Hertfordshire. Woodcock Hill, near
Elstree — F. Bond.

Huntingdonshire. Monk's Wood, in profu-
sion— J. H. Wldte ; near Sawtry — F. Bond.

Kent. Folkestone, East Cliff, fields round
Dover Castle, plentiful — G. H. Raynor ; Da-
renth Wood, in profusion twenty years ago
in one particular spot, nearly destitute of
tiees, in which C/ielonia Plantaginis also
Abounded; also in a little chalk-pit at Green-
hithe — E. Newman; Lees Court Park, Chil-
ham Park, and above Dane Court, Chilham
— H. A. Stowell; Gravesend — W. Machm;
very abundant at Herne, also at Marguteaud

bO

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

Folkestone — H. Ramsay Cox; abundant
everywhere on the chalk downs near Folke-
stone— W. Oxenden Hammond.

Middlesex. Kingsbmy, and near Edge-
ware — F. Bond.

Monmouthshire. Common near Heullis'
Wood — George Lock.

Norfolk. Kirby Lane, near Beccles, but j
confined to a single marsh — W. M. Crowfoot.

Northamptonshire. Near Barnwell Wold
— F. Bond ; plentiful in Barnwell and Ash-
ton Wolds in July — William Bree.

Nottinghamshire. Common at Kirton,
near Tuxford, also at Worsop and Mansfield
— R. E. Brameld ; in one field at Egmanton,
near Tuxford, in profusion — George Gascoyne.

Somersetshire. Clevedon, Portishead —
F. D. Wheeler; Bedminster — A. E. Hudd.

Suffolk. Beccles— C. G. Barrett.

Surrey. Between Bushridge and High-
down's Ball, near Godalming, Hindhead,
Mickleham, Headly Lane, in one field only
— E. Newman; Haslemere — C. G. Barrett.

Sussex. Very abundant at the Holmbush,
and here and there in other places, but very
local — E. Jenner ; very numerous in Abbot's
Wood — C. V. G. Levett ; near Horsham and
near Brighton, in both instances confined to a
very small space — E. Newman; Lewis- —
Stainton's "Manual."

Warwickshire. In woods near Knowle,
but it has not been taken for many years —
Frederick Enock.

Wight (Isle of). Near Yarmouth — F.
Bond ; Ventnor, Parkliurst, Whitoford Wood,
Bembridge — Alfred Owen; abundant in rough
pastures, but remarkably local — James Pristo.

Wiltshire. Great Bedwyn, Savernake
Forest, seen near Westlands — T. A. Preston.

Worcestershire. Meadows at Himbledon,
and near Monk's Wood, but uncommon of late
years — J. E. Fletcher ; a single specimen has
been taken at Great Malvern ; it occui-s plen-
tifully a few miles from Malvern — W. Ed-
wards.

Yorkshire. Near York — Robert Cook ;
Scarborough and Sheffield — Edwin Bircliall ;
common in Yorkshire — T. II. Allis ; it used
to be found in Melton Wood, near Doncaster,

but has been extinct since a field that bor-
dered the wood was ploughed ; I do not think
it is ever now found near Dcncastei1 — Alfred
Ecroyd.

21. THE SMALL RINGLET (Erebia Fpiphron).
Upper side.

Under side.

21. THE SMALL RINGLET. — The wings are
rounded and of a deep sepia-brown colour,
with a broad but indistinct ferruginous trans-
verse band parallel with the hind margin of
all the wings ; this band is divided into com-
partments by the wing-rays, which are of the
sepia-brown ground-colour ; in each of the
compartments there is usually a circular black
spot, and the compartments themselves in the
hind wings frequently assume a cii'cular
form. The under side is very similar to th.3
upper, but the colours are more suffused, and
their boundaries less distinct : in some speci-
mens the rust-colour is suffused over the
central disk of the fore wings : in the hind-
wings the ferruginous spots are very small,
and the black pupil in each is reduced to a
mere dot.

Varieties. — When Mr. Weaver discovered
this insect in Scotland as presently related, I
could not satisfy myself that it was identical
with the butterfly of the Lake District, but
supposed it to be the Papilio Melampus of
Esper. Under this mistaken impression I
published a detailed description at page 732
of the second volume of the " Zoologist,"

SATYRS

ei

Tiiere is another form not uncommon on tho
Continent which had been raised to the rank
of a species, but now is universally considered
a mere variety ; it is distinguished by the
presence of white pupils to the black spots
on the wing : this variety was described as
a species by Knoch, in 1783, under the name
of Epiphron ; and ten years subsequently the
form without the white pupils was described
by Fabricius under the name of Cassiope ;
again, still later, our own Ha worth described
the same insect under ihe name of Mnemon.
In accordance with the usage of science the
earliest name only is retained.

LIFE HISTORY. — Of this very little is
known ; the only record in my possession is
from the pen of Mr. Wailes, at page 200 of
the second volume of the " Transactions of
the Tyneside Naturalists' Field Club," and is
in the following words: "Having this sum-
mer (1857) captured Erebia Epiploon on the
mountains near Sprinkling Tarn, Cumberland,
and obtained a few caterpillars from eggs
deposited by one of the specimens, which,
however, I regret to say, have since all died,
both those in my possession and those given
to my friends, I may as well place on record
8 description of them, as the caterpillar was
previously entirely unknown : pale green,
with numerous darker green longitudinal lines
shading into the ground-colour, and with a
well-defined white line along each side in the
region of the spiracles. The caterpillars fed
upon the annual meadow grass (Poa annua),
and the sheep's fescue grass (Festuca ovina),
though I suspect that in a state of nature they
live on the young leaves of the small mat
grass (Nardus stricta), or some of the smaller
rushes (Juncus) which constitute the principal
herbage on the mountain sides where the in-
sect is met with." — Wailes.

TIME OP APPEARANCE. — Caterpillar in
autumn, and again in spring, doubtless hyber-
nating at the roots of the mountain herbage ;
butterfly in June and July.

LOCALITIES. — A very local species in the
British Islands. Mr. Birchall gives a single
Irish locality — " Croagh Patrick, near West-
port : the locality is about half-way up the

mountain on the Wcstport side, in a grassy
hollow, where a little hut is erected for the
shelter of the pilgrims. I captured a fine
series here in June, 1854." It has not been
taken in the Isle of Man.

The first notice of the occurrence of this
butterfly in Scotland is from my own pen, and
is published at p. 682 of the " Zoologist" for
1844. Eight specimens are recorded as
having been taken, but subsequently, at p. 729
of the same volume, I have recorded that a
considerable number, a great majority of
which were males, were taken in the district
of Rannoch, in Perthshire, by Mr. Weaver,
who wrote thus respecting them : " I took
these butterflies when the sun shone, morning
and evening, the first on the 27th of June,
and the last on the 27th July. They appeared
confined to a spot of level and rather marshy
ground about 150 yards in length and 50 yards
in breadth ; it was grassy, but without heath ;
and although there was plenty of heath all
round the neighbourhood I did not see a
single specimen settle on it. The locality is
among rocky mountains, some of which attain
an altitude of 4,000 feet above the sea level ;
and I think that one locality where I found
the butterfly is at least 3,000 feet above the
sea level. I spent ten days in hunting them,
and although I wandered over most of the
country for ten or fifteen miles round, I found
them nowhere else. The nearest village is
Kinloch Rannoch, consisting of a few scattered
houses, one of which is a shop for sundries,
two are pothouses, and the remainder are
principally the residences of shepherds. It
has no road to any other place." At p. 166
of the first volume of the " Entomologists'
Weekly Intelligencer," Mr. Young, of Paisley,
says that in the first week in August, 1856,
he took a good number of this species on Ben
Lomond. At p. 132 of the seventh volume
of the "Entomologists' Weekly Intelligencer,"
Mr. Bibbs, of Worcester, gives us another
Scotch locality :— " The spot where I cap-
tured them was on the road-side skirting Loch
Vennachar, leading from Callander to the
Trossachs, about two miles before I reached
that romantic pass. Near the spot I observed

6

82

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

a patch of cotton-grass (JZriophorum) about
half an acre in extent." Dr. Buchanan
White observes of this insect that " it is the
only truly alpine species indigenous to Britain.
In Scotland it occurs at a considerable
elevation on the mountains on both sides of
LochRannoch, and on the North of Loch Tay."
Mr. Birchall has also taken it on Ben Nevis.
In England the range of this butterfly is
almost, if not entirely, confined to the Lake
District, which term I would apply to the
county of Westmoreland, the south of Cum
berland, and that isolated portion of Lanca-
shire which is north of Morecambe Bay. At
page 409 of the third volume of the " Ento-
mological Magazine," Mr. Heysham, of Car-
lisle, writes thus : — " On the 4th of July last
I found this species in considerable abundance
in the vicinity of Sprinkling and Styeh»-ad
Tarns, at the head of Borrow dale ; the female
appears to be rare, and the few that I cap-
tured were much wasted, although many of
the males were still in fine order." — T. C.
Heysham. Mr. Curtis, however, at p. 205 of
his exquisitely beautiful "British Entomo-
logy," expresses an opinion the very reverse of
Mr. Heysham's ; and as he was in company
with Mr. Dale, one of the very best and most
accurate of all entomological observers, I in-
cline to adopt his view of the matter in
preference to Mr. Heysham's. " The males,"
says Mr. Curtis, " in forward seasons have
appeared as early as the llth of June; but
last year, when Mr. Dale and I visited Amhle-
side, they were later, the first being taken on
the 18th of June, and they did not become
plentiful until the 25th. They are found
among the coarse grass that covers considerable
spaces, abounding with springs, on the sides of
the mountains ; they fly only when the sun
shines, and their flight is neither swift nor
continued, for they frequently alight amongst
the grass, and, falling down to the roots, their
sombre colour perfectly conceals them. The
females are later, and have been seen even in
August. We found the males on Red Skrees,
a mountain near Ambleside ; and Mr. Marshall
took them at Gable Hill and Styehead, be-
tween Wastwater and Borrowdale." Mr. R.

Bowman Labrey, at p. 171 of the first volume
of the " Entomologist," informs us he "took
a few specimens on the 23rd June, near the
edge of Styehead Tarn, between Borrowdale
and Wastdale, in Cumberland. The day
being generally cloudy, I only saw them on
the wing during a temporary gleam of sun-
shine." At p. 198 of the sixth volume of
the " Entomologists' Weekly Intelligencer,"
Mr. Crewe says : " On the 30th June, while
ascending Helvellyn, I observed this species
flying about in plenty, about three parts up
the mountain, over some boggy patches of
ground. To these spots it appeared confined,
for higher or lower not a single specimen was
to be seen : they were getting rather worn."
Mr. J. B. Hodgkinson informs me he took
Ejnphron at Langdale Pikes, rather to the
west side, at the end of Juna

22. Northern Brown (Erebia Medea). Upper side.

Under side.

22. NORTHERN BROWN. — The hind margin
of the wings is rounded and scarcely at all
scalloped ; the colour is a rich velvety sepia-
brown, each wing having a broad but not very
clearly defined rust-coloured band parallel with
the hind margin ; in this band there are usually
four circular black spots in the fore wings
and three in the hind wings ; the first and
second of those in the fore wings are always
united, and each has a pupil of snowy white-
ness ; the third spot is smaller and less con-
stant ; its white pupil is very small if present,

SATYRS.

83

but is sometimes entirely absent; tho fourth
is larger and almost invariably distinct : the
rust coloured band of the hind wings is divided
into compartments by the wing-rays, which
are of the dark-ground colour; each of the
three principal compartments contains a cir-
cular, small, and ill-defined round black spot,
with a white pupil. The under side of the
fore wings is dark brown, with a broad fulvous
band parallel with the hind margin ; in this
band are the same ocellated black spots as on
the upper side : the hind wings are blue gray
or fulvous gray, with two broad transverse
bands of a darker tint ; the first of these is
median, the second marginal ; in the area
between these bands are two, three, or four
minute white spots, each with a dark circum-
scription.

Obs. — It would, perhaps, be more precise to
describe the under side of the hind wings as
divided transversely into four compartments,
of which all except the basal compartment
are in the form of bands ; the third compart-
ment is always lighter than the second and
fourth, but is not always of the same colour;
it is sometimes fulvous brown, and sometimes
blueish ash coloured ; the first or basal com-
partment of the wing generally corresponds in
colour exactly with the third ; but this is not
always the case, for in several specimens in my
collection the first compartment is perfectly
concolorous with the second. The different
tinting of these compartments has induced
entomologists to establish numerous varieties,
but the propriety of this course seems to me
rather questionable. On this subject Mr.
Wailes has remarked, at page 41 of the first
volume of the " Entomological Magazine,"
" that the mules never have the broad brown
band underneath the hind wings instead of
the blueish ash one, whilst the females may be
considei'ed as divided into two great varieties
equally common, distinguishable not only by
the colour of that band, but by the greater
distinctness of the ocelli5' Accepting this
view, it would appear that the normal colour
of the third compartment in the male is
blueish ash, but that a variety of the female
frequently occurs in which it is fulvous brown.

Obs. 2.— It seems desirable to notice the
change of a familiar name : the Blaudina of
Fabiicius, published in 1794, is the same as
the Medea of the Vienna Catalogue, published
in 1776 : Mr. Doubleday has | ointed out this
fact, and we have no choice but to revert to
the older name.

LIFE HISTORY. — At page 199 of the third
volume of the " Transactions of the Tyneside
Naturalists' Field Club," Mr. Wailes first
announced the discovery of the eggs and cater-
pillars of this species. The eggs he does not
describe, but Mr. Buckler has supplied this
omission at page G5 of No. 75 of the " Ento-
mologists' Monthly Magazine " : Mr. Buckler
says, " The egg may be called large for the
size of the fly, and is nearly globular, though
somewhat ovate in shape, and placed on end ;
the shell is glistening and ribbed, but not
deeply, with about thirty longitudinal ribs,
and with vei-y shallow transverse reticulations,
in colour pale greenish -yellow, afterwards
pale pinkish-gray, speckled with claret-
brown." To proceed with Mr. Wailes's dis-
covery, that gentleman says, "I have succeeded
in obtaining a few EGGS, which hatched about
fourteen days after they were laid, and the
young caterpillars fed freely on several species
of meadow grass (Poa) in October, when they
ceased feeding preparatory to hybernation ;
they had undergone their second moult, and
were then pa'e green, with a dark green or
brownish stripe down the back, and two
white ones narrowly bordered by the same
dark colour on each side. In the lower white
stripe on each side are the spiracles : the pos-
terior extremity is attenuated and slightly
furcate, as in other caterpillars of the family."
I am able to add the description of a CATER-
PILLAR when full fed, which was on the 1st of
July, 1870 : it rested in a nearly straight
position on the stilks or leaves of the brown
bent grass (Agrostis canina), and it fed in
confinement exclusively on the latter, but I
cannot say whether this is the case in a state
of nature : these leaves appear to possess a
revolute margin, and hence to assume a some-
what tubular character : when annoyed the
caterpillar seemed to grasp more tightly with

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

its anal claspers, and when compelled to relin-
quish its hold, it fell among the grass and
assumed a somewhat crescentic form, the two
extremities approaching, and in this position
it remained a while perfectly motionless ;
after sufficient time had elapsed for the dis-
appearance of the supposed enemy, it began
to crawl, but all its movements were remark-
ably sedate, or even lethargic. The head is
rather narrower than the second segment, into
which it is partially received ; it is scarcely at
all divided on the crown, has a slightly convex
face, and a rough surface resembling shagreen,
and composed of approximate warts, each of
which emits u hair from its summit ; the body
is obese, decidedly thickest in the middle, and
diminishing towards both extremities ; the
division into segments is not very manifest, and
is rather concealed by a division of each seg-
ment into four sections, each of which seems
composed of a transverse series of warts ; thus
the eye is attracted by the minor divisions, and
the major divisions, or segments, properly so
called, may readily escape notice ; the body
terminates in two short and blunt processes
directed backwards; the legs andclaspers form
two approximate series under the belly, and
are not perceptible from above, whether the
caterpillar is at rest or in motion. The general
colour of both the head and body is wainscot-
brown ; the ocelli are black, and one on each
side is unusually prominent, appearing almost
pedunculate ; the body has a narrow medio-
dorsal stripe almost black, and the colour on
each side of this is paler than the general
ground colour, thus rendering the medio-dorsal
stripe more conspicuous ; the spiracles are in-
tensely black ; half way between the spiracles
and the medio-dorsal stripe is a side stripe,
paler than the general ground colour, but bor-
dered, especially below, by a darker margin,
which is broken up into elongate spots, but
these are rather vague, and not very notice-
able ; the legs, claspers, and under surface are
nearly of the same tint as the dorsal surface ;
the warts are of a very pale hue, almost white,
each having in the centre a small black hair.
It was full fed at midsummer. — Newman.
I am indebted to Mrs. Hutchinson, of

Gran tsfield, near Leominster, for the oppor-
tunity of describing this interesting caterpillar,
which, however, I only saw in that lady's
possession. Mr. Buckler has been fortunate in
obtaining an interview with the chrysalis also.
His caterpillar assumed this state on the 22nd
of June. It was not attached by the tail in
the usual fashion of the Sati/ridce, but was
placed in an upright position amongst the
grass, near the ground. " The CHRVSALIS,"
says Mr. Buckler, "is nearly five-eighths of
an inch in length, the wing-cases long, the
body plump, thickest in the middle, tapering
to the tail, and ending in a blunt flat spike; the
back of the thorax is rounded, the head and
eye-pieces prominent. At first the head, tho-
rax, and wing-covers were semi-transparent
and of a pinkish-gray tint, the body ochreous,
with dark dorsal stripe, and other lines and
spiracles also as in the caterpillar ; but by the
10th of July the eyes became black ; the
thorax, antenna-cases, and wing-covers, after
passing through an opaque cream-coloured
stage, finally changed to a dingy dark pinkish
brown. The butterfly, a very fine male, came
forth on the fifteenth July." — Buckler.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — The young cater-
pillaris to be found in September and October,
the full-grown caterpillar at the end of June,
when it changes to a chrysalis, and the but-
terfly is on the wing in July and August.

LOCALITIES. — I am not aware of this species
having been found in Ireland or the Isle of
Man. In Scotland it is common. Mr. Doug-
las took it in the pass of Killikrankie in 1832.
At page 167 of the second volume of the " En-
tomologists' Weekly Intelligencer," Mr. T.
Chapman, of Glasgow, informs us that this
species was in plenty in rushy flats during the
second week in August, 1857, extending for
twelve miles along the east side of Loch
Long. And at page 171 of the same volume,
Mr. Jazdowski writes : — " I have been spend-
ing the last few days at Braemar, and on one
of the hills near the village I found Erebia
Medea in great numbers. The hill was almost
entirely covered with birch and pine trees,
and the insect occurred in an open space near
the top of the hill. The ground here was

SATYRS.

covered with coarse grass, heather, and ferns:
the insect was flitting about chit-fly among
the ferns, and was so numerous that in two
excursions I caught upwards of three dozen."
And, again, Mr. Somerville,at page 181 of the
fourth volume of the same journal, writes, on
the 25th of August, 1858 :— " During the
past few weeks I have taken a number of fine
specimens of this insect on the borders of
Dumfriesshire." Mr. Birchall informs me he
finds it in the Highlands generally. Dr.
Buchanan White says it " occurs abundantly
in some of the Highland valleys of Perthshire,
as at Pitlochrie, Rannoch, &c. , but is rather
local. This species does not range so far up
the mountains as Ccenonympha Davits, for,
from some observations made last summer in
Inverness-shire, it appears that Erebia Medea
was scarcely seen above eight hundred feet,
while Ccenonympha Davus attained an eleva-
tion of upwards of two thousand feet ; the two
species being found together from two hun-
dred feet up to eight hundred feet above the
sea level. Both species are, I believe, found
at the sea level." Dr. White took Medea on
the 30th July in 1867, and on the 21st July
in 18G9. Writing of Strathglass, in Inver-
ness-shire, Dr. White adds : — " The most
universally distributed butterfly was Erebia
Medea, which absolutely swarmed in all the
open marshy places in the woods, sometimes
even coming into the gavdens."-Entomoloy fats'
Monthly Magazine, No. 74, p. 47.

In England I have but few localities to
record.

Durham. "This, the most interesting of our
local butterflies, was first met with in Eng-
land by the late Mr. William Backhouse, in
Castle Eden Dene, about thirty-five years ago.
In 1 829 I find he had the pleasure of capturing
it in the above locality, where it abounds in
the early part of August in the more open
grassy places of the Dene. I may here
mention that Castle Eden Dene is the largest
and most beautiful of a series of romantic
dells, or denes, which consist, as it were, of
immense clefts or chasms in that part of the
secondary series of rocks termed the magnesian
limestone. These denes are, for the most

part, narrow and confined, and so densely
covered with wood as to render them too close
for the active pursuit of the entomologist :
but as the chasms approach the sea-coast,
where they all terminate, the banks lose their
very precipitous appearance and expand into
valleys. Small brooks, locally termed burns,
run through them, but from the porous
nature of the limestone the waters seldom
reach the sea; and in Castle Eden Dene,
where the stream is larger, and fed by two or
three small rivulets, at the distance of, perhaps,
a mile apart, the supply poured down by one
disappears, and in one place very suddenly,
ere it reaches that part of the main water-
course where the next empties itself. In
winter, however, the melting of the snow and
heavy rains apparently convert the dry bed
into a torrent ; and, judging from the width
of the channel, a large body of water must
rush down the valley. Castle Eden Dene is
about four miles long, and averaging nearly a
quarter of a mile in width, though in some
places the rocks, often a hundred feet per-
pendicular, reduce its breadth to half that
distance. Vegetation is most luxuriant, and
its botanical treasures have long rendered it
famous in the works on that part of natural
history. Suffice it to say, the rare Lady's
Slipper (Cyprepidium calceolus) is here, and
almost here only, to be met with. Towards
the sea the banks have a more barren appear-
ance, and assume the peculiar marks of the
tract of rocks to which the district belongs,
producing a great variety of the grasses and
other plants delighting in an arid and poor
soil. Here the juniper and privet are, by the
force of the winds, thrown into those curious
flat growths which must have struck every
one who has seen the trees and bushes grow-
ing on an exposed sea-coast. The banks of
the Dene are generally moist, consequent on
the density of the foliage and numerous
springs in the limestone : but here and there
dry, exposed grassy spots occur; and on the
principal of these, nearly opposite the mansion
of the proprietor — Mr. Rowland Burdon — the
beautiful Erebia Medea is to be found in
abundance. I have been thus diffuse in

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

describing the place, because I arn persuaded
that the connexion between entomology,
geology, and botany — especially the two
former — has not been sufficiently attended to ;
and, from my own short experience, I think a
pretty good idea may be formed of the insects
likely to be found in any district if its geo-
logical features are taken into careful consi-
deration " — Georye Wailes, in " Entomological
Magazine," vol. i., p. 61. When at Castle
Eden Dene, in 1841, this insect was very
abundant. I found them settling on the blos-
soms of the marjoram (Origanum vulga/re).
There is no heath in the neighbourhood, and
I think this may account for the Castle Eden
Dene specimens differing from the Scotch
ones — J. G. Dale in " Entomologist," vol. i.,
p. 191. Still plentiful at Castle Eden Dene
in 1869 — William Mallng.

Cumberland. I have only seen one speci-
men taken at Coldbeck, Seberghum — J. B.
Hodgkinson.

Lancashire. Abundmt in the county at
Grange, Arnside, and Silverdale — J. B. Hody-
kinson.

Westmoreland. Abundant at Witherslack
— J. B. Hodgkinson.

Yorkshire. Colne — Edwin Birch/nil. Com-
mon at Grassington, above Settle — T. H.Allis.

23. — Speckled Wood (Pyrarga Egeria).

23. SPECKLED WOOD. — The wings are
rounded, but the hind margin of all the
wings, more particularly of the hind wings, is
scalloped : the colour is smoky brown, the
fore wings having eight or nine differently-
shaped pale brown spots, the position of
which will be more clearly understood by a
reference to the figure than from any de-
finition of mine ; tht largest of these spots is

situated near the tip, and is divided into three
compartments by the wing-rays, which are
dark ; the middle compartment encloses a
nearly circular black spot wliich has a snow-
wliite pupil : the hind wings have six or
seven pale spots, the four largest of which
constitute a band parallel with the hind
margin ; three of these generally contain a
black spot with a white pupil ; the middle
spot of these three is the large&t and most dis-
tinct ; and the fourth, that nearest the apical
angle, is almost invariably without the wliite-
pupilled spot. The under side of the fore
wings very much resembles the upper side,
but that of the hind wings is suffused,
clouded, and marbled with different shades of
fulvous brown, the ocellated spots of the
upper side being discernible, but very in-
distinct. The eyes of this species are hairy.

Obs. — The character of hairy eyes is com-
mon to this and the following species : they
are very properly associated as the genus
Pyrarga on account of this peculiarity.

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGGS are laid singly
on the stalks or leaves of several species of
grass, and are almost spherical in figure,
the entire surface being reticulated with
minute rMges, which divide it into hex-
ag nal cells, and give it the appearance of
being honeycombed : the young CATERPILLARS
emerge in eight or ten days, and feed on the
leaves of grasses : at first they are of a dingy
brown colour, except the head, which is
black, and exhibit but little indication of
stripes ; after the first moult they lose their
black heads and assume green ones; they hyber-
nate early, and are full fed by the end of the
following March, when they rest in a perfectly
straight position on a blade of grass. The
head is subglobose, wider than the second
segment, and scabrous, the raised points
which cause the scabrosity emitting small but
rigid bristles : the body is slightly shuttle-
shaped, the attenuation being more manifest
towards the anal extremity ; the incisions of
the segments are deeply and conspicuously
marked ; the segments are again transversely
wrinkled or divided into narrow sections ;
the entire surface is slightly scabrous, and

SATYRS.

87

covered with very minute but stiff bristles ;
the anal extremity is produced into two
parallel points directed backwards. The
colour of the head and body is either dull
olive green or dull pale umber brown ; in
either case the body has three compound or
triple stripes; one of these is dorsal, and
is composed of a medio-dorsal dark smoke-
coloured stripe, and two yellowish or whitish
marginal stripes, the dark medio-dorsal stripe
being in some specimens again divided by
a very narrow and indistinct white stripe ;
this median compound -vtripe terminates with
the twelfth segment; the other compound
stripes are lateral, composed of the same
colours, and terminating in the anal points.
Early in April the caterpillar spins a slight
silken covering on a stalk, stem, or blade of
grass, and, suspending itself therefrom by the
anal claspers, is changed to an obese CHRY-
SALIS, with the head broadly notched ; the
thorax, wiug-cases, and body are gibbose, and
suspended in an oblique position by numerous
small hooks at the anal extremity : the skin
of the caterpillar always remains attached to
the anal extremity, even after the butterfly
has escaped : the colour of the chrysalis is
dingy green or brown, the antenna-cases are
barred, and the wing-cases streaked with dark
brown or black ; the back is also freckled
with black, and has four or six white dots. —
Newman.

Obs. — Sepp observed the young cater-
pillars to moult five times before hybernating,
namely, on the llth of August, when eight
days old ; on the 18th and 27th of the same
month ; and on the 4th and 15th of Septem-
ber ; and that they ate their own skins.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — The caterpillar
may be found hybernating throughout the
winter, and full fed at the end of March ;
the chrysalis at the beginning of April ; and
the butterfly from the 10th to the 20th of
the same month.

Obs. — The opinion appears universally to
prevail that this species is double-brooded,
and in this (reasoning from analogy) I feel
inclined to concur, although I have never
an sestival brood of caterpillars, nor is

such mentioned by Sepp ; but Lewin savs this
species "goes through its different changes
exceedingly quick, so that there are not less
than three distinct broods in the year ; " and
Mr. Doubleday informs me that this is in
exact accordance with his own observations.
LOCALITIES. — I believe the Speckled Wood
to be distributed more or less abundantly in
every part of the United Kingdom, with the
exception of the Isle of Man and the north
of Scotland. Mr. Birchall says it is generally
abundant throughout Ireland ; Dr. Buchanan
White informs us it is " a very local species
in Perthshire, and never appears to be abun-
dant. It occurs on Kinnoull Hill and near
Muirhall, and is double-brooded. In Scotland
it has not been recorded beyond the north of
Argyleshire." Dr. White gives the following
dates of its occurrence: — "1858, May 6;
1859, July 8 ; 1860, May 1 ; 1869, April 26
and August 8." I believe it occurs in every
English and Welsh county. Mr. Jenner-Fust
omits it from his seventeenth and eighteenth
provinces, comprising Wales : in both these
so-called provinces I know it to be very
plentiful.

24.— The Wall (Pyrarga Megcera). Upper sld» nf
Male and Female.

24. THE WALL. — The wings are rounded,
and the hind margin of the hind wings is
slightly scalloped ; the colour of all the wings

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

is tawny fulvous, transversely haired with
smoky brown, the distribution of whicb colour
differs greatly in the sexes ; in both sexes
there is a large and conspicuous circular black
spot near the apical angle of the fore wings ;
this has invariably a snow-white pupil ; the
hind wings have a series of three nearly

Un ler side of Female.

circular black spots parallel with the hind
margin, and two of these — those nearest the
anal angle — are always white-pupilled. The
underside is beautifully mottled and marbled
with different shades of fulvous brown; nearly
parallel with the hind margin is a series of
six small circular white -pupilled black spots,
each of which is surrounded with four rings,
the first and third of which are fulvous, the
second and fourth dark brown. The male
differs from the female in being smaller, and
in having a broad, oblique, dark brown band
extending from the middle of the fore wing
to the middle of its inner margin. The eyes
are hairy.

LIFE HISTORF. — This species is double-
brooded : the EGGS which produce the first
brood of CATERPILLARS are laid on the cock's
foot grass (Dactylis glomerata) and several
other species of grass at the end of May ;
the caterpillar is full fed about the middle of
July, when it rests by day in a nearly straight
position on a blade of grass, feeding chiefly by
night. The head is subglobose, exserted, and
wider than the second segment, which is
restricted in front. The body is somewhat
fusiform, gradually decreasing to each ex-
tremity ; it is decidedly convex above, and
somewhat flattened beneath; the dorsal surface
is transversely wrinkled, the wrinkles dividing
each segment into six sections, of which the
anterior is the largest j the body terminates in

two parallel points directed backwards ; une
entire surface, both of head and body, is
covered with minute warts, which impart a
scabrous appearance to the caterpillar ; each
wart emits a short bri^tl*, ; on each side below
the spiracles is a decided but inconspicuous
sk infold. The colour is apple-green, the head
arid an indistinct narrow medio-dorsal stripe
bring rather darker ; the latter appears to be
little more than the food in the alimentary
canal showing through the cuticle ; it is some-
times entirely absent ; there is a lateral stripe
of a rather paler colour, and also a narrow
and very indistinct stripe exactly intermediate
between the medio-dorsal and lateral stripes ;
the minute warts are generally, but not in-
variably, white ; the bristles either black or
white ; the legs are semitransparent and
almost colourless; the claspers are concolorous
with the body, and the anal points are tipped
with pink. My specimens changed to chry-
salids, suspended by the tail, on the 14th of
July; the CHRYSALIS is rather obese; the head
is broad and rather square, but slightly
notched or excavated in the middle, the angles
being almost right angles ; the thorax dorsally
humped and keeled, laterally angled at the
base of the wing-cases ; the dorsal surface of
the body has a lateral series of six points
on each side. The colour is apple-green ; the
angles of the head, the lateral and dorsal angles
of the thorax, and five equidistant raised dots
on each side of the dorsal surface of the body,
are white, tinged with yellow. — Newman.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. —The caterpillar
may be found hybernating throughout the
winter, the chrysalis in April, and the butter-
fly in May : the second brood of caterpillars
occur in June, the chrysalids in July, and
the butterflies in August.

LOCALITIES. — Mr. Birchall informs us that
this butterfly is generally abundant through-
out Ireland ; it also appears in the Manx list,
which he has kindly sent me. Dr. Buchanan
White says "it was formerly common near
Perth ; he has heard of no specimen being
taken since 18GO,in which yearit was common.
The series of cold summers following that year
seem to have destroyed the species ; though

SATYRS.

possibly, like Pyrameis Cardui, it may again
put in an appearance. It is found in Scotland
as tar north as Argyle." It is a common
butterfly in all parts of England and Wales.

25. — The Grayling (Satyrus Seme
of Male.

). Upper side

Upper side of Female.

Under side of Male.
V

Under side of Female.

25. THE GKAYLIVO. — The fore wings are
blunt at the tip, the hind wings have the hind

margin scalloped ; their colour is dull brown,
with an irregular wainscot-brown band occu-
pying nearly the outer half of the whig;
in the fore wings this band is almost inter-
rupted in the middle, and each of the divisions
has a large and almost circular white-pupilled
black spot ; the hind wings have but one
smaller white-pupilled black spot. The under
side has the disk of the fore wings fulvous,
inclining to ferruginous a^ the base, the outer
or fulvous portion having two very distinct
circular white-pupilled black spots ; the hind
wings are mottled and marbled with various
tints of gray and brown, the basal portion
being darker, and the darker portion bearing
a very obvious similarity to the familiar pro-
file of the late Lord Brougham. Such is a
description of the female ; the male, more
especially on the upper side, is suffused with
brown, and the markings 1 have described are
very indistinct.

Varieties. — This insect is not subject to
much variation, properly so called ; but
Mr. Bond possesses some extraordinary ab-
normities, the peculiarity of which consists
in the presence of the colouring of both
sexes in a single individual. Perhaps a
little amplification may render this kind of
abnormity somewhat more intelligible. Let
us call four specimens of Semele Nos. 1, 2,
3, and 4, and the four wings of each A, B, c,
and D ; then in No. 1 the wings A and C will
be male wings, and the wings B and D will be
female wings ; in No. 2, B will be a male
wing, and A, C, and D female wings. Mr. Bond
has some very extraordinary examples of this
phenomenon, and exhibited them at a late
meeting of the Entomological Society, as re-
ported at p. 2070 of the second series of the
" Zoologist." With his customary kindness
and zeal for the advancement of science,
Mr. Bond has offered me all these specimens
to illustrate this work; but I could not accept
them, having already declined innumerable
offers of hem igy nous, or, as they are incor-
rectly termed, " hermaphrodite " specimens
of butterflies, more especially among the
Lyccenidae.

LIFE HISTORY. — Three valuable account*

90

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

of the preparatory states of this insect have
been written by as many excellent entomo-
logists. Sepp, the inimitable Dutch artist,
was the first ; Mr. Logan, of Edinburgh, the
second ; and Mr. Buckler, of Emsworth, the
third. Mr. Buckler's description is published
in the "Entomologists' Monthly Magazine"
for January, ISO'6, and is reprinted in the
"Zoologist" for August of the same year.
It seems, however, that Mr. Buckler was
indebted to the Rev. John Hellins, of Exeter,
for the details. Mr. Hellins received the
EGGS on the 2Gth of July and 3rd of August,
1864. Some of them hatched on the 8th of
August, and the young CATERPILLARS conti-
nued coming out for three or four days. At
first they were fed on that most objectionable
of all grasses known as creeping wheat grass,
couch grass, squitch or spear grass (Triticum
repens). They were of an ochreous colour,
with a black interrupted medio-dorsal stripe ;
they were very sluggish, often hiding low
down, and hybernating when about four lines
in length. One caterpillar only survived the
winter, and this was presented to Mr. Butler
on the 13th of May. " The caterpillar," says
Mr. Buckler, " had shown a partiality for the
turfy hair grass (Air a ccespitosa] previous to
my receiving it, and on this it was therefore
placed, being then about eight lines in length.
On the 20th of May I chanced to dig up a
rather larger caterpillar of this species from a
waste piece of sandy ground near the sea,
amongst early hair grass (A ira prcecox) and
other small grasses, which rendered the task
of rearing doubly interesting, in observing the
habits of each, kept separate and on different
food. The captured caterpillar, on being
placed under a glass in a pot with its native
growing food, immediately burrowed in the
sandy earth, and the few times it was seen on
the grass was always at night, and each morn-
ing brought evidence of its doing well by the
diminished grass. About the 14th of June
these indications ceased, and on the 23rd I
searched for the CHRYSALIS, and found it in a
hollow jspace a quarter of an inch below the
surface, the particles of sand and earth very
slightly cohering together, and close to the

roots of grass, yet free flora them. The chry-
salis was obtuse, rounded, tumid, and smooth.,
the abdominal rings scarcely visible, and
wholly of a deep red mahogany colour. The
perfect insect, a male, appeared July 24th.
The caterpillar, reared wholly in captivity
from the egg, always remained on its rigid
food, with its head uppermost, when feeding,
which at first it did day and night till it was
an inch long, from which time it fed only at
night, remaining all day at rest on the grass,
with its head downwards, in comparative
darkness, amongst the lower parts of the
stems. It never showed any disposition to
burrow, though the soil was supplied for the
purpose, until it was full fed, about the
middle of June. The butterfly, a male,
appeared on the 5th of August. No material
difference existed between the two caterpillars,
excepting that the captured one was rather
less bright and distinct in colour and markings
than the other. The full-grown caterpillar is
an inch and a half in length, tapering much to
the anal forked extremity and a little towards
the head, which is globular. The ground
colour of the back is a delicately mottled drab,
with longitudinal stripes, broadest along the
middle segments, viz., a dorsal stripe of olive-
brown, very dark at the beginning of each
segment, with a thin edging of brownish
white. Three stripes along the subdorsal
region, of which the first is composed of
a double narrow line of yellowish brown, the
second wider, of the mottled ground colour,
edged above with paler and below with white,
and the third of a similar width of dark gray-
brown, edged above with black; the spiracular
stripe is broader and of nearly equal width, of
pale ochreous-brown, edged both above and
below with brownish white. The spiracles
are black, the belly and legs drab colour.
The head is brown, on which the principal
stripes of the body are delicately marked with
darker brown." — Buckler.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — Caterpillar in au-
tumn, winter, and spring (after hybernation) ;
chrysalis in June ; and the butterfly in June
and July.

LOCALITIES.— Common in stony, rocky,

SATYRS.

91

heathy, uncultivated places, and on elevated
poor pastures ; often concealing itself on the
ground, and flying only when disturbed,
and then for a short distance. I never saw
it fettling on flowers or basking in sun-
shine : Mr. Doubleday, however, says he saw
scores on the wing together in the Island
of Sark on the side of a rock upon
which the sun shone early in the morning.
Mr. Birchall says it is generally abundant
throughout Ireland, and that he took it at
Douglas in the Ible of Man. Dr. Buchanan
White says that " although rather local in
Perthshire, it is an abundant species where it
does occur. Its favourite haunts are warm
rocks, such as Kinnoull and MoucriefiV; hills,
and in such situations it is very common. In
Scotland it occurs as far north as Sutherland,
but does not seem to be found in the alpine
parts of the country. Scottish specimens are
slightly larger and darker than English ones."
Dr. White gives the following dates of cap-
ture :— " 1858, June 21; 1860, July 16;
1864, June 25 ; 1865, July 1." In England
it occurs in nearly all our counties, and often
abundantly.

26. — Meadow Brown (Epinephele Janira).
side of Male.

Upper

Upper side of Female.

16. MEADOW BUOWN. — The tips of the
.vings are blunt, and the hind margin of the
hind wings is decidedly scalloped, that of

the fore wings indistinctly so ; the colour of
the fore wings is smoky brown, with a large
transverse blotch, almost amounting to the
central area, inclining to rusty brown, or in
some specimens to wainscot brown ; within
this paler blotch is a large circular white-
pupilled black spot ; the land wings are almost
uniform smoky brown, with a slightly paler

Uuder side of Female,

transverse median mark. Such is a description
of the upper side of the female ; the male is
very much darker, and nearly uniform umber-
brown ; the pale blotch and black spot are to
be traced, but are very indistinct. The under
side is paler ; the basal half of the fore wings
is deep fulvous, followed by a pale fulvous
band, in which is a large circular white-
pupilled black spot; the hind margin is
umber-brown; the hind wings are brown-
the basal and hind-marginal area are darker •
a transverse band across the middle is paler :
the outer margin of this pale band is not
clearly defined.

Variety of Male in Mr. Bond's collection.

Varieties. — This species is exceedingly sub-
ject to variation in one particular manner,
namely, in the presence of large blotches
or sometimes of an entire wing, having the

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

appearance of being bleached, the usual browu
colour being absent in such blotches, and a
kind of dingy white appearing iu its place ;

Variety of Female iu Mr. Clark's collection.

two of these curious aberrations are figured.
The female also occasionally appears with all
the coloration of the male. Mr. Dale first
called my attention to this peculiarity, and
forwarded me a specimen ; since which I have
captured several.

Obs. — The male is the Papilio Janira of
Linnaeus ; the female is that author's Papilio
Jurtina.

LIFE HISTORY. — The females deposit their
EGGS on various species of grasses, and, from
the willingness exhibited by the CATERPILLARS
in confinement to eat any grasses provided for
them, I conclude that little choice is displayed
in the selection of species : the period of ovi-
position extends over seven or eight weeks,
commencing about the third week in June,
and ending about the middle of August,
during the whole of which period I have
observed the females bxisily engaged in this
occupation. The young caterpillar emerges
in twelve days, and feeds sparingly, after the
manner of infant caterpillars, until the first
moult ; as soon as this is accomplished it
retires towards the surface of the ground, and
hybernates at the roots of the herbage. In
May it reappears, and may then be found by
examining the mowing grass near the surface
of the ground. It is usually full fed by the
beginning of June, and then rests in a tolerably
straight position, generally towards the base
of a blade of grass, but when disturbed falls
from its food-plant, and rolls itself in a tight,

but not very compact, ring, the anal ex-
tremity protruding in rather a marked manner
over the head : in this attitude it will remain
for hours perfectly motionless. The head is
rather broader than the second segment, arid
its position prone : the body is obese, some-
what spindle-shaped, tapering from the sixth
to the thirteenth segment, which terminates
in t'.vo parallel points above the anal aperture
and directed backwards ; the surface of the
skin is rough, almost like shagreen, the rough-
ness being caused by minute warts ; the seg-
mental divisions are not well marked, except
when the caterpillar is rolled up ; each seg-
ment is transversely divided into sections,
which are also obscurely indicated ; the sides
are slightly dilated; the surface throughout
is pretty thickly covered with arched hairs
directed backwards. The colour of the head
and body is opaque apple-green, with a medio-
dorsal darker stripe, indicating the position of
the alimentary canal, and probably partially
due to the presence of food therein : the
lateral dilatation is surmounted with a narrow
pale stripe, almost white ; the anal points are
dirty white, tinged with brown ; the hairs are
white. Three of my specimens changed to
chrysalids on the 18th, 24th and 29th of May
respectively : the head of the CHRYSALIS is
obtusely eared, the ears very distant and
short ; the thorax is dorsally keeled, the keel
being slender and entire ; the shoulders of
the wing-cases are produced into an obtuse
tooth : in two instances the skin of the cater-
pillar remained, enveloping the anal extremity,
so that the chrysalis could not. be suspended ;
in the third it hung for a time from a blade
of grass, the skin still enveloping the anal
extremity, but attached by its anal hooks to
silken threads on the grass. The colour of the
chrysalis is pale apple-green, freckled with
whitish or yellowish green, and adorned with
purple-black marking,", of which the more
conspicuous arc — first, two dorsal series, com-
mencing behind the head, passing on each
side of the thoracic keel, broken into spots on
the fourth, seventh, eighth and ninth seg-
ments, and continuous on the remainder j
secondly, a series passing over the ears, and

SATYRS.

93

occupying the dorsal margin of the wing-
cases ; thirdly, an. angnlated longitudinal
stripe on the wing-cases, dividing them into
two 1 1 early equal parts ; fourthly, a shorter
stripe nearer the tip of the wing-cases ; and
fifthly, the cases of the fore and middle legs.
Newman.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — The caterpillar
lives throughout the autumn, winter, and
spring ; the butterfly is on the wing during
the hay harvest.

LOCALITIES. — This is perhaps the most
generally abundtnt of all our butterflies,
frequenting every meadow when the grass is
ready for cutting. Mr. Birchall says it is
generally abundant throughout Ireland, and
that it occurs in the Isle of Man. Dr.
Buchanan White says it is a common species
in Scotland, although it was rare in the
Rannoch district in 18G7. Its range does not
extend high up the mountains. It swarms
in most parts of Wales, and I have seen no
English district in which it does not abound.

27. — The Large Heath (EpinepTiele Tithonus). Upper
side of Male.

Upper side of Female aud Under side of Male.

27. THE LARGE HEATH. — The hind mar-
gin of the hind wings is scalloped, that of the
fore wings is simple ; the colour of the fore
wings on the upper side is bright rust-colour,
approaching to fulvous, with a broad hind-
marginal band of umber-brown ; the costal
margin is also suffused with brown ; near the
apical angle of the median rust-coloured area
is a conspicuous circular black spot with two
white pupils ; the hind wings are umber-
brown, with a restricted rust-coloured patch
in the centre. The under side of the fore
wings is reddish fulvous, with a broad brown
hind-marginal border ; the hind wings are
marbled with gray-brown, the basal area and
a portion of the hind- marginal area being
darker ; the intervening space is paler or gray-
ish brown, and tinged with ochreous ; it con-
tains four darker spots, each of which has a
white pupil. Suchis adescriptionof the female;
the male differs on the upper side in having
a transverse brown band originating rather
above the middle of the wing, and descending
obliquely to the middle of the hind margin.

Varieties— Some few specimens have on
the upper side one or two additional smaller
black spots near the hind margin of the fore
wings ; these are very rarely white-pupilled.

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGGS are laid during
July on the blades of grass, and may be
described as truncated cones ; they stand
erect, the base being broader than the apex ;
they have sixteen, seventeen, or eighteen
perpendicular ribs, and a great number
of extremely delicate transverse striae, only
visible under a lens of high power; their
colour at first is canary -yellow, but in a few
days they acquire a browner hue, and before
the emergence of the CATERPILLAR they exhibit
a darker median band. The young caterpillars
emerge during August, generally between the
5th and 25th of the month, and at first eat
very little and grow very slowly ; they moult
twice before the winter, and hybernate at the
roots of grasses while still very small; in May
they reascend the grass and feed voraciously,
and are full-grown by midsummer. The
caterpillar, when full-grown, rests in a per-
fectly straight position on a blade or stalk of

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

the food-plant, which is the common conch
grass (Triticum re-pens), a favourite food of
the genus ; but when annoyed it falls to the
ground, assuming a crescentic posture ; the
head is subglobose, exserted, manifestly wider
than the second segment, thickly covered with
scabrous points, each of which emits a minute
bristle ; the body is somewhat shuttle-shaped,
the diminution towards the head being rather
less than towards the anal extremity; the
divisions of the segments are clearly defined,
and each segment is transversely wrinkled or
divided into sections, which are usually, but
not invariably, six in number ; each of these
sections is beset with scabrous points, and each
point emits a short and slender, but stiff
bristle; the thirteenth segment terminates in
two scabrous conical points parallel to each
other, and directed backwards ; the colour of
the head is pale pinkish brown ; of the body
either glaucous green or olive green, or, in
some specimens, pale dingy brown ; in either
case it has five nearly equidistant longitudinal
stripes; a narrow and dark medio-dorsal stripe
extends from behind the head to the sinus
between the caudal points ; on each side,
half-way between this and the spiracles, is a
pale stripe, bordered above with a dark gr« nmd
colour, which makes it appear more con-
spicuous; and below this, on a line with the
spiracles, is a more distinct and whiter stripe ;
this also is bordered above with a dark ground
colour ; the feet arid clasptjrs are concolorous
with the body. When about to change, the
caterpillar attaches itself by the anal claspers
to a blade of grass, and in two days is trans-
formed into a CHRYSALIS, suspended by minwfe
anal hooks from a delicate silken carpeting,
with which the caterpillar had previously and
designedly covered a small space on the grass.
The chrysalis is short and obese ; its head is
dilated, and flattened in front, the flattened
portion being produced on the sides into obtuse
ears, with a slightly-hollowed space between
them ; the thorax has a sharp modio-dorsal
keel; the body is dorsally somewhat verrucose,
having four longitudinal dorsal series of ex-
tremely depressed and scarcely perceptible
\\ urts; the colour is almost white, sometimes

slightly tinged with green, and ornamented
with numerous black markings, of which the
undermentioned are the most conspicuous :
a narrow dorsal line on the thorax, divided
just behind the head, and again united ; two
dorsal stripes commencing very near the back
of the head, passing on each side of the
thoracic dorsal line, then dilating and broken
up into subquadrate and rather paler blotches ;
on each side exterior to these is another some-
what similar marking, commencing on the
thorax as a stripe, but interrupted and vague
towards the anal extremity ; and again,
exterior to this is a broad bl ick linear patch
adjoining the wing-cases ; the wing-cases are
dashed with black longitudinally; the cases
of the antennae are most delicately marked
with black, each joint having two round black
dots ; the cases of the middle and hind legs
are almost entirely black. The last skin of
the caterpillar is not shed, but, being gradually
pushed downwards by a wriggling movement
of the chrysalis during its metamorphosis,
encompasses the anal segment only, and re-
mains in this position even after the butterfly
has made its escape. — Newman.

TIME OP APPEARANCE. — The caterpillar
may be found by sweeping the grass on hedge
banks in June, and the CHRYSALIS at the end
of the s tme month ; the butterfly is on the
wing during the whole of July. I have never
seen the slightest indication of a second brood.

LOCALITIES. — Mr. Birchall says it occurs in
the Irish county of Wicklow and near Cork,
thus implying that its distribution is not
general in Ireland. It has not been observed
in the Isle of Man. Dr. Buchanan White
does not mention it as occurring in Scotland ;
but at p. 17 of the fourth volume of the
" Entomologist," Mr. W. D. Robinson informs
us that he has met with it commonly in.
Kircudbright shire.

In the following English counties it is
reported to be common : — Bedford, Berks,
Bucks, Catnbiidge, Cornwall, Devon, Glou-
cester, Durham, Essex, Hants, Hereford,
Hertford, Huntingdon, Kent, Middlesex,
Monmouth, Somerset, Stafford, Suffolk, Sur-
rey, Sussex, Wilts, and Worcester.

SATYRS.

95

la the following English counties its occur-
rence is recorded without note of abundance
or rarity ; — Cheshire, Lancashire, Norfolk,
Northampton, Northumberland, Warwick,
and York.

From Derby shire,Lincolnshire,Nottingham-
shire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, and Westmore-
land I have no records of its occurrence,
although the lists from some of these counties
are remarkably complete.

28. — The Ringlet (Epinephele Hyperanthus). Uppei
side.

Under side.

28. THE RINGLET. — The hind margin of the
fore wings is rounded, that of the hind wings
slightly scalloped ; the colour of all the wings
is dark sepia-brown or smoky black, with an
indication, and nothing more, of the ocellated
spots I am about to describe as present on the
under side. The under side is uniform umber-
brown, sprinkled with fulvous scales suffi-
ciently numerous to tinge the whole under
surface slightly with fulvous. There is a
series of eight circular spots parallel with the
hind margin ; three of these are on the fore
wings and five on the hind wings ; the two
spots on the hind wings which most nearly
approach the fore wings stand rather farther
from the hind margin than the other three,
and are generally united ; all these spots are
black, with a white pupil and a very pale
circumscriptioii.

Six Varieties of the Under side in Mr. Bon-f r
collection.

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

Varieties. — The white- pupilled spots on
the under side are liable to great variation in
intensity and magnitude ; in some specimens
they are dwindled to mere points, and from
others they are entirely absent. The beautiful
series of six under sides figured on the pre-
ceding page is in the cabinet of Mr. Bond, and
has been most kindly lent purposely for this
work. It is extremely interesting, as showing
how a character, supposed to be of specific
value, can be modified, and indeed entirely
lost, without inducing the slightest doubt as
to the propriety of uniting all these dissimilar
individuals under one specific name.

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGG is laid singly, in
July and August, on several species of grass,
of which the common millet grass (Milium
effusum), the turfy hair grass (Aira ccespitosa),
and the annual meadow grass (Poa annua),
have been more particularly observed, but the
common couch grass (Triticum repens) is the
species which the CATERPILLAR described below
selected, by preference, for food in confine-
ment. The CATERPILLAR attains but a small
size during the autumn, and hybernates at the
roots of the various grasses on which it feeds,
but crawls out and begins feeding again very
early in the year, and by the end of March is
often half-grown ; it feeds during the night,
and cannot readily be found, unless diligent
search be made with a lanthorn among the
long grasses so commonly gi-owing along our
hedgerows and ditches, more especially in the
neighbourhood of woods. The individual
specimen which I have described was full fed
on the 4th of July : it then rested in a straight
position, was very quiescent, and indeed ex-
hibited a great reluctance to motion of any
kind : when disturbed it fell off" its food-plant,
feigning death, and assuming a crescentic
form, but the two extremities never touched ;
in this form it secretes itself at the roots of
grasses, and does nut reascend until the ap-
prehended danger has passed. The head is
exserted, and is wider than the second seg-
ment, and covered with minute bristle bearing
warts, which make it rough and scabrous;
fcbe body is fusiform, the sides dilated, and
the dilatation fringed with strong bristles ;

the anal extremity terminates in two points,
directed backwards ; the dorsal surface is
wrinkled transversely, each segment being
thus distinctly divided into sections. The
colour of the head is pale wainscot-brown,
each cheek having three slightly darker but
faint broad stripes ; the ocelli are crowded
together on each side of the mouth, and in-
tensely black ; the body is very pale wainscot-
brown, with a medio-dorsal darker stripe, in
which are still darker and obscurely quadrate
spots at the interstices of the segments j from
the tenth segment to the thirteenth, both
inclusive, the medio-dorsal stripe is con-
tinuously of the darker brown ; the lateral
dilated skinfold is almost white ; the spiracles
are intensely black ; the rest of the dorsal
surface is marked with very irregular brown
lines. Towards the end of June it attaches
itself by the anal claspers, and, hanging with
its head downwards, is transformed into a
short and very obese CHRYSALIS, the head of
which is rounded and undivided ; the anal
extremity, that is, the thirteenth segment
only, is very attenuated and flattened, the
extreme tip still narrower, slightly incurved,
and terminating in a row of minute hooks, by
means of which it adheres to a slight web
which the caterpillar had previously spun,
and from which it had suspended itself. The
colour of the chrysalis is pale wainscot-brown,
with a semitransparent appearance in the
wing-cases, which, as well as the antennae,
are delicately clouded and reticulated with
darker brown ; the dorsal surface is also
delicately dotted with brown, as well as
having larger spots methodically arranged ; a
pair of these, transversely elongate, but
arranged longitudinally, form an almost
medio-dorsal series on each side of each seg-
ment.— Newman.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — The caterpillar is
full fed about the beginning of June ; the
chrysalis is usually found towards the end of
the month ; and the butterfly continues on the
wing throughout July. There is only one
brood.

LOCALITIES. — Widely distributed. Mr. Bir-
chall says that in Ireland it is rather local :

SATYRS.

Jie observed it in profusion near Gal way and in
JVlaiaaide Park. It has not yet been observed
in the Isle of Man. In Scotland it also
occurs. Dr. Buchanan White says it is a
local species in Perthshire, and he believes it
is only found in the lowland part of the
county. It occurs on Kinnoul Hill in Glen-
farg. Skye is the most northern locality in
Scotland at present known for the species.
In England it is common, but local. Mr.
Naish found it flying in incredible numbers
in the woods adjoining Wes ton-super- Mare,
and I have seen it in like profusion in many
places.

Obs. — I have thought it desirable to write
two descriptions of the butterfly which follows
next in succession ; thus not only differentiat-
ing the two forms, but leaving the reader at
liberty to consider them "races," "varieties,"
or " species," according to his own judgment.

-Marsh Ringlet (Ccenonympha Darus). Two
Upper sides and two Under sides.

29. THE MARSH RINGLET. — The wings are
rounded, and their hind margin is simple: the
colour of the upper side is pale dingy fulvous
in the females, darker in the males ; a straight
transverse pale mark crosses the middle of the
fore wings in the females, and between this
and the hind margin are two circular pale
spots distant from each other and nearly
equidistant from the hind margin; these spots
have a black centre, but they are always
indistinct, and sometimes altogether absent :
the hind wings are rather darker than the fore
wings, especially about the base and hind
margin, but there is a pale blotch of uncertain
shape extending from the centre of the wing
to the costal margin, and there are traces of a
series of circular spots parallel with the hind
margin. The under side of the fore wings is
partially divided by a straight pale bar, or a
portion thereof, crossing the middle of the
wing, but sometimes the upper portion of the
bar alone is perceptible ; the basal area within
this bar is fulvous brown tinged with rust-
colour, which coluur also extends along the
inner margin to the anal angle; the apical
angle is brownish gray, and generally contains
a pale circular spot with a black centre ; the
hind wings are brown and clothed with ful-
vous hairs ; an irregular pale bar crosses the
middle of the wing, and this is invariably
broken or interrupted in the middle; inter-
mediate between this bar and the hind margin
is frequently a series of six circular spots,
which are black with white pupils and a pale
circumscription ; these are always indistinct,
often reduced to mere points, and sometimes
entirely absent ; and the hind wings, being
covered with rather long glossy hairs or
hair-like scales, have a somewhat shaggy
appearance.

Obs. — This insect is certainly the Typhon of
Haworth, but as certainly the Davus of Fabri-
cius, whose earlier name must be adopted.

LIFE HISTORY. — The life history of this
insect is unknown, unless, indeed, it may be
supposed identical with that of the following.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — From the second
week in June to the end of July.

LOCALITIES. — Generally spoken ol as n

98

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

northern insect, but the term is scarcely pre-
cise. It occurs abundantly in the extreme
south of Ireland ; Mr. Birchall informs me
that this iusect is especially common in the
counties Galway, Mayo, and Kerry. The
Honourable Miss Lawless says it is ex-
tremely abundant in the bogs of Connemara.
Mrs. Battersby has taken very fine specimens
in the Cromlyn bogs about Rathowen; and I
have myself had the pleasure of taking it
in the county Donegal. It has not been
observed in the Isle of Man. In Scotland
it is far from uncommon. Mr. Young, of
Paisley, writing in the " Entomologists'
Weekly Intelligencer," on the 29th June,
1857, says that Davus has made its appear-
ance on the heaths and mosses in the vicinity
of Paisley, and is unusually abundant. Dr.
Buchanan White says that "it is not so
widely distributed in Perthshire as might
have been expected. There are many suit-
able localities near Perth where it ought to
occur, but as yet it has not been detected in
them : it is common at Rannoch and in other
Highland districts, and is found at a consider-
able elevation : it appears to be abundant
throughout Scotland." Dr. White adds that
it occurs on the Scotch mountains at an ele-
vation of upwards of two thousand feet.

Orkney. I have a pair of Davus from
Orkney almost white — Henry Doubleday.

Shetland. Several specimens have been
taken in Shetland; and one of these, obligingly
lent me by Mr. Birchall, is figured. It is the
third in the series.

ROTHLIEB'S MAKSH RINGLET. — The wings
are rounded, and their hind margins simple :
the colour of the upper side is dull fawn-colour,
darker towards the margins ; and the hind
wings, especially towards the base, are darker
than the fore wings ; on the fore wings are
two, and on the hind wings four, obscure
circular smoky brown spots, each having a
pale circumscription ; in many specimens
an additional spot is visible on the costal
margin ; these spots form an irregular series
parallel with the hind margin, and have a
semitransparent appearance; in fact, their

presence may be due, in a good degree, to the
thin and semitranspai ent character of the
wing, which admits of the corresponding spot;*

Rothlieb's Marsh Ringlet (Ccsnonympha Davus, var
Rothliebii). One Upper side, five Under sides.

on the under side being seen through. The
under side of the fore wings is divided bv a
straight pale bar which crosses the wing a little
beyond the middle into two distinct areas; the
basal area is fulvous-brown, tinged with rust-

SATYRS.

99

colour ; the hind-marginal area is dullei1, and
contains a series of circular black spots half
way between the transverse bar and the hind
margin ; these spots are generally four in
number, three near the apical angle being
closely approximate, almost contiguous ; and
the other, which is less distinct, being nearer
the anal angle : the second of these spots,
counting from the costa, has generally a white
pupil, the others are generally without : the
hind wings are dark brown at the base, thickly
sprinkled with fulvous scales ; beyond the
brown basal area is a pale oblique band cross-
ing the middle of the wing in a very irregular
manner, and always interrupted near the
middle ; the hind-marginal area beyond this
band is divided by the wing-rays into seven
compartments, each of which contains a cir-
cular black spot with a white pupil and pale
circumscription; these seven spots form a
semicircular series parallel with the hind
margin ; the seventh, situated at the anal
angle, is often absent, and the sixth is often
double ; the others vary in intensity and mag-
nitude, as shown in the figures, and are often
very beautiful.

Obs. 1. — The underside has not that gray and
shaggy appearance which I have described as
characteristic of the typical Davus.

Obs. 2. — This insect is undoubtedly the
Davus of Haworth, but not of Fabricius, who
certainly applied that name to the preceding
insect.

Obs. 3. — The ten very accurate figures
engraved to illustrate this species have been
kindly lent by Mr. Bond and Mr. Birchall.

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGG is barrel-shaped,
the sides convex and delicately ribbed ; it is
attached by the lower extremity to the linear
setiform leaves of beak-rush (Rhynchospora,
alba), on which it is laid at the end of June,
always singly, and generally only one on a leaf,
but sometimes two, and very rarely three. The
young CATERPILLARS emerge in fifteen days,
and crawling to the extremity begin feeding ;
they feed during the day, and grow very
slowly ; they rest on the leaves in a perfectly
straight position, but on being annoyed fall
from their food on the Sphagnum or other

mosses among which the Rhynchospora usually
grows, and there lie in a bent posture, as if
dead, until all appearance of danger has
passed, when they reascend the leaves : when
among the moss it is almost impossible to
detect them. At the end of August those
under my care ceased to eat, and on the 1st
of September I made the following descrip-
tion : — The head is semiglobose, wider than
the body, slightly notched on the crown, and
beset with minute hairs ; the body is linear,
its sides almost parallel, but slightly and
gradually attenuated towards the anal ex-
tremity, which terminates in two points
directed backwards ; the dorsal surface is
transversely and regularly wrinkled, and is
covered with minute warts, which under a
pocket lens give the surface the appearance of
extremely fine shagreen; the dorsal wrinkles
divide each segment into four sections, in
addition to which there is a transverse skin-
fold between the sections, and this has often
the appearance of being double, so that each
segment has the appearance of having five and
sometimes six sections. The colour of the
head is dingy semitransparent green ; the
ocelli are very prominent and intensely black ;
the colour of the body is dingy green, with
five narrow, equidistant, distinct, purple-
brown stripes ; the interspace between the
second and third stripe on each side is inter-
sected by a very narrow and indistinct stripe,
almost similar in colour to the other five, and
the exterior purple stripe on each side is
bordered below by a pale glaucous, almost
white stripe, extending throughout its entire
length. Immediately after this description
was written the little caterpillars disappeared,
probably secreting themselves at the roots of
their food-plant. In the spring of 1865 I
saw nothing more of these hybernating cater-
pillars, but received a fresh supply on tLe
26th of May, when they appeared full fed.
The caterpillar then rests in a perfectly
straight position on the blades of the beak-
rush, falls off its food-plant when annoyed,
and remains quiescent for some time, as if
dead, in a somewhat bent position. At this
date I made a second description : — The head

100

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

is rather wider than the second segment, dis-
tinctly exserted, prone and rough with minute
warts ; the body is cylindrical, and very
gradually attenuated towards the anal ex-
tremity, which terminates in two parallel
points above the anal flap, and directed back-
wards ; the surface of the body is almost
smooth ; warts, indeed, are observable, but so
minute as not to communicate a scabrous
appearance, nor are there any noticeable hairs
or bristles. The colour of the head and body
is apple-green, inclining to olive-green ; the
head is dull, opaque, and uniformly coloured ;
the body is striped ; there is a narrow medio-
dorsal stripe dark purple green, bordered on
each side by a still narrower yellow stripe ;
these three stripes terminate before the anal
points ; on each side are two pale yellow
stripes, one above, the other below, the pale
brown spiracles ; the upper of these is bor-
dered above and below with dark blueish
green, and terminates in the anal flap, which
is tinged with pink ; the lower terminates
before the anal flap ; the ventral surface, legs,
and claspers are bottle-green. Two days sub-
sequently— namely, on the 28th of May —
they underwent pupation. The CHRYSALIS has
the head truncate and slightly produced at
the angles and also in the middle ; the wing-
cases are very slightly produced at the
shoulders ; the thorax is dorsally convex, with
a very slight median keel ; the chrysalis is
suspended by minute caudal hooks from a
white silken web spun on the edge of a leaf of
its food-plant ; the colour of the wing-cases is
pale brown, with a darker arcuate median
linear mark extending from the base to the
margin, and a much shorter mark of the same
colour in front of this, originating in the disk,
but also extending to the margin ; the head,
thorax, and abdomen are apple-green, sprinkled
with dingy whitish green. The butterflies
produced from the individuals described ap-
peared on the wing on the 4th and 5th of
June. I am indebted to Mr. Hudson, of
Bawtry, for specimens of the egg, caterpillar,
and chrysalis ; for a supply of the food-plant ;
and for information respecting the economy of
this species. — Newman.

Obs. — At page 35 of the first volume of the
" Entomologists' Weekly Intelligencer," Mr.
Joseph Chappell states that the caterpillar
also feeds on the cotton grass, near the roots,
in May.

TIME OP APPEARANCE. — End of June, July,
and sometimes in August and September.

LOCALITIES. — It has never be. n found in
Ireland, the Isle of Man, or Scotland. T lie
English localities are as follow : —

Cheshire. In Delamere forest — Noah
Greening.

Cumberland. On all the mosses in Cum-
berland,.and I obtained a specimen last season,
taken along with Epiphron, that almost looked
like a new species, the black spots being as
clear and bright as in Tithonw, and the spots
were differently placed. Icall it thePolydama
variety — J. B. Hodgkinson.

Durham. This insect frequents our wet
mossy bogs in July, and I have taken it also
late in June and early in August. Needless
Hall Moor, moors about Cambo, Prestwich
Carr, Muckle Moor, near Hayden Bridge ;
moss near Craigclough, moors near Shull —
William Backhouse in " Wailes' Catalogue."

Lancashire. Sim inon's Wood Moss — Edwin
Birchall ; Chat Moss, near Manchester, 6th
September, 1868 — Joseph Leigh in "Entomo-
logist," iv. 147.

Northumberland. Plentiful in Prestwich
Carr before it was drained ; I have not heard
of any captures lately — William Maling.

Staffordshire. Chartley Park, near Uttoxe-
ter — Stainton's " Manual."

Westmoreland. Abundant in the mosses at
Witherslack in June and July — J. B. Hody-
kinson.

Yorkshire. Thorne Moor, near Doncaster
—Alfred Ecroyd ; Hadfield Fens— E. Bir-
chall. I took it at Thorne Moor, but wasted,
and had specimens given me from Cottingham,
near Hull. In visiting this latter locality, 1
find it differs from Thorne Moor, which is
mossy or spongy ; but the Cottingham locality
is rather like those spots where I have taki-n
Davus in Scotland — J. C. Dale, ';ik»o),>
gist," 191.

SATYRS.

30. — The Small Heath (Ccenonympha Pamphilus).
Upper eide.

Under side.

30. THE SMALL HEATH. — The wings are
rounded ; the hind margin of the fore wings
is simple, of the hind wings waved; the colour
of the upper side is pale delicate fulvous, the
hind wings being slightly darker than the fore
wings, and the hind margin of all the wings
being also darker ; near the apical angle of
the fore wings is a circular brown spot. On
the under side the fore wings have the disk
fulvous, the tip ochreous, and the hind margin
gray; the ochreous area at the tip contains a
circular black spot with a white pupil and a
pale ochreous circumscription, and again en-
closing this is a second ring, rather darker,
yet very indistinct ; the hind wings have the
basal area dark brown, their marginal area
gray ; the division between these areas is
irregular, but very decidedly marked ; the
gray or marginal area has a median transverse
darker cloud, in which the position of a series
of ocellated spots is indistinctly indicated by
mere dots.

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGGS, which are ob-
long, with a truncated base by which they are
attached, are laid on the leaves of the small
mat-grass (Nardus stricta) and several other
species of grass, in May and June ; the CATER-
PILLAR emerges in fourteen or fifteen days, and
is full fed in about thirty days, or at the end
01 July; it then rests in a perfectly straight
jxwuion, reposing on the stalk of the grass.

The head is subglobose, and slightly broader
than the second segment ; the body is some-
what fusiform, gradually attenuated towards
the anal extremity, where it terminates in two
short points directed backwards : the dorsal
surface of each segment is divided transversely
into uaiTOW sections, and these sections, being
covered with minute scabrous points, give it
the appearance of being finely shagreen ed ;
the colour of the head is opaque green, the
mouth and ocelli almost black ; the body is
delicate apple-green, with a clearly defined
and moderately wide medio-dorsal darker
stripe, bordered on both sides by a narrow
paler stripe ; on each side, and including the
spiracles, is a broader and less clearly defined
dark green stripe, bordered towards the ventral
surface by a narrow but very distinct bright
yellow-green stripe; the spiracles are wains-
cot-brown, and each emits towards the head a
faint nebulous paler line, reminding one of the
tail of a comet ; about equidistant from the
dark medio-dorsal stripe and the yellow-green
subspiracular stripe is a third stripe of two
tints, its dorsal margin dark green, its ventral
margin yellow-green; the anal pointsarepink;
the legs are tinged with pink ; the claspers
are concolorous with the ventral surface. When
full grown my specimen spun a little band of
white silk round a stalk of the common knot-
grass (Polygonum aviculare), and, suspending
itself therefrom by the anal claspers, changed
to an obese CHRYSALIS, suspended by anal
hooks ; the head of the chrysalis is broadly
truncate, the thorax dorsally rounded, the
colour vivid apple-green, and delicately irrora-
ted with white dots; the costa of the wing-
cases is decorated with a double stripe, the
outer portion of which is purple-brown, the
inner white. — Newman.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — The caterpillar of
this insect, as already described, is to be found
full fed at the end of July, and the chrysalis
immediately afterwards. I have taken the
butterfly in every month from May to October,
both inclusive, but have found it especially
abundant in June.

LOCALITIES. — This common butterfly occura
on all our heaths and rough pastures. Mr.

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

Birchail says it is common everywhere in
Ireland, and lie also records it as an inhabi-
tant of the Isle of Man. Dr. Buchanan White
says it is a very common species in Scotland

in open places, in woods, and on the moors.
Its range extends far up the hill sides. Scotch
specimens are larger and darker than English
ones.

BUTTEEFLIES WHICH HAVE GIRTED CHRYSALIDS (IN SCIENCE SVCCINCTI)

I HAVE now arrived at the second division
of those butterflies which I have called
"Exposers," from the fact of their chry-
salids being exposed to the full influence of
weather and light, as explained at page 18.
The first subdivision of the Exposers is called
SUSPENDED, because the chrysalis is suspended
with the head downwards ; this second sub-
division is called GIRTED, because the body is
supported by a silken girth or belt. This belt
is sometimes, but not always, perfectly free,
so that it could be moved backwards and
forwards on the surface of the back. In
several species it is fixed firmly in its place
by the overlapping of the fifth dorsal segment
or plate at the moment when the caterpillar
casts its final skin. Prior to this event the
br>H may be seen to pass over the back, but
after the change to a chrysalis has taken place
it is no longer perceptible beyond the inner
margin of the wing-case, where it appears as
though entering the body by a minute apei--
ture,and as passing throxtgh the body and again
re-appearing at a corresponding aperture on the
opposite side ; in fact, the appearance is ex-
actly the same as if the belt had been passed,
by means of a needle, completely through the
body, going in at one side and out at the other.
The fabrication of the belt is a most interesting
process : the caterpillar, clinging to a coverlet
or network of silk spread over the surface of
some perpendicular object, turns his head in
one direction until it nearly touches the middle
of his side ; he then spins from his mouth a
silken thread, attaching the end thereof to the
silk already spread to receive it. Having
made the thread fast at this spot, he may be
said to carry it in his mouth over his back to
a similar spot on the other side of his body,
where he again makes it fast ; and thus a first
stop is taken in the fabrication of the belt :

the operation is repeated twenty, thirty, or
even forty times, and an equal number of
threads pass over his back. These silken
threads, like those in each strand of a cable,
unite in forming a single strand, and seem
not only to be parallel, but to adhere to each
other. I can detect no movement by which
they are twisted together, but, nevertheless,
they are united, and it is only when forcibly
broken that the number of single threads
becomes manifest. The required number of
threads being produced, the caterpillar rests
from his labour and waits the hour of trans-
formation. The subdivision contains two
Natural Orders.

Natural Order III. — WOODLOUSE-SHAPED (in science
Onisciformes).

The distinguishing character of which is
that the caterpillar is shaped like a woodlouse ;
its head is very small, and completely retractile
within the second segment ; the legs and
claspers are also concealed by the dilated sides
of the caterpillar. The chrysalis is obese and
generally rounded ; it is attached by the tail
as well as supported by the silken band or
belt already described. The British butterflies
contained in this order are generally divided
into two families, distinguished by the per-
fection or imperfection of the fore legs in the
male.

Family 7. — DRYADS (in science Erycinidce).

The only notable distinction between this
and the following family is in the perfect
insect, the males of which, in the Erycinidce
have only four perfect legs, while the females
have six

31. DUKE OF BURGUNDY. — The fore wings
have the costal mai'gin very nearly straight,
the tip blunt, but not rounded, and the hind

DUKE OF BURGUNDY.

103

margin simple ; the hiud wings have the hind
margin scalloped and the nnal angle slightly
produced. The colour of the fore wings is
dark brown, with three irregular transverse
bands of bright fulvous spots ; the first band,
nearest the base, is composed of four such
spots \ the second, crossing the middle of the

31. Duke of Burgundy (Nemeobius Lucina). Upper
side.

Under side.

wing, has six such spots, that nearest the
costal margin being much smaller than the
rest, and being accompanied by a linear
ochreous spot still nearer the margin ; the
fourth spot in this band, counting from the
costal margin, is out of the regular series, and
more distant from the base of the wing ; the
third band is almost marginal, and is composed
of six spots, of which that nearest the costal
margin is smaller than the rest, and is accom-
panied by a linear ochreous spot still nearer
the costal margin ; the other spots composing
this third band have a median black spot :
the hind wings are umber-brown, with five
or six longish fulvous spots about the middle,
and a hind-marginal series of five or six fulvous
spots, each of which has a median black spot.
The fringe of all the wings is spotted, pure
white and dark brown alternating regularly.
The under side of the fore wings is beautifully
tesselated with black and different shades of
brown ; the under side of the hind wings is
bright rust-colour, witli two transverse bands
of very pale yellow or pure white spots. These
are cleai-ly defined and very beautiful ; the
first, near the base, is composed of five spots ;

the second, near the middle of the wing, is
composed of nine spots. There is also a mar-
ginal series of six wedge-shaped black spots,
each of which stands on a yellow j^pot, and
points towards the base of the wing.

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGGS are laid about
the 1st of June (I give this as a medium date,
having no doubt that the period of oviposition
may extend over twenty days), on the under
side of the leaves of the cowslip (Primula veris)
or primrose (Primula acaulis), either singly
or in clusters of four or five ; their shape
is spheroid, depressed at the south pole or
base, and produced at the north pole or apex ;
their colour is pale glaucous. The CATER-
PILLAR emerges about the fourteenth day,
and remains on the under side of the leaf, in
which it makes small round holes, thereby
indicating its presence ; it continues to feed
for several weeks, the duration of the cater-
pillar state being dependent on temperature.
When full-fed, it rests with its under surface
closely appressed to the leaf; but if touched
or annoyed it falls from its food-plant, lying
motionless on its side, and bending its body
in a crescentic form, the two extremities
approaching, but not meeting. The head is
narrower and every way smaller than the
second segment, into which it is received and
sometimes completely withdrawn; the body is
somewhat woodlouse-shaped, the dorsal sur-
face being convex, and the ventral surface
flat ; the legs and claspers are concealed j the
divisions of the segments are deeply incised
and well-defined ; each segment emits about
forty hairs or bristles, of which those on the
back are slightly arched, those on the sides
straight. The colour of the head is pale
wainscot-brpwn ; it is shining and hairy, the
hairs and ocelli are black ; the colour of the
body is dingy white, with an indistinct medio-
dorsal stripe of a smoky olive tint, apparently
in great measure due to the presence of food
in the alimentary canal, an inference that
receives support from the fact of the stripe
being partially interrupted at the segments ;
on each side is a waved olive stripe, also inter-
rupted at the segments, and thus divided into
a number of short oblique lines, each of which

J04

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

terminates in a yellowish dot ; on each seg-
ment, between the medio-dorsal and lateral
stripes, is an orange-coloured, wart-like and
hairy spot; there is a second indistinct lateral
stripe near the spiracles, which is olive-green
at its anterior extremity, but fades into yellow
towards the anal extremity ; the spiracles are
black ; the ventral surface is pale olive-green.
The CHRYSALIS is obese, and its head rounded ;
it is attached by the tail, and also by a belt
round the waist, to the leaf or petiole of the
food-plant ; all parts of the body emit longish
hairs, in the same manner as the caterpillar :
the colour is the most delicate pale wainscot-
brown, with a number of black spots ; the
principal of these are — a narrow band passing
over the neck immediately behind the base of
the antenna-case; a shorter band behind this,
but in front of the thorax ; a short 4ripe on
the cnsta of each wing case, and numerous
subquadrate spots spread over the entire
dorsal surface ; these are disposed in two
dorsal series of eleven each, and two lateral
series on each side ; these spots are irregular
and minute on the thorax, but regular and
conspicuous on the abdomen, where is also a
third intervening series of minute dots ; all
the hairs are sienna-brown. It remains in the
chrysalis state throughout the winter. — New-
man.

TIME OP APPEARANCE. — Caterpillar on the
under side of cowslip and primrose leaves in
June, July, and August; the chrysalis during
the winter, and the butterfly in June.

Obs. — At page 44 of the third volume of
the " Entomologist," Mr. Wright announces
that he bred two specimens on the 8th Feb-
ruary ; and at page 204 of the same volume
the Rev. H. Harpur Crewe records that he
reared a second brood of Lucina in 1865. He
says the larvae grew up and assumed the
chrysalis state very rapidly, and he left them,
supposing they would remain in that state
until the following summer ; but on looking
itito the cage in October, he found the perfect
insects had emerged, and were dead and dry.

LOCALITIES. — Always in woods, flying along
the roads and pathways with a giddy zig-zag
flight, and occasionally settling on twigs six

or eight feet from the ground ; apparently
fonder of leaves than flowers, on which it
seems rarely to feed. I doubt its occurrence
in Ireland, notwithstanding the following
note from the pen of Mr. Birchall : —

"In Mr. Tardy's collection, now incor-
porated with that of Trinity College, Dublin,
there are specimens of this insect, but I am
unable to say where captured, most probably
in the county Wicklow, a county he searched
assiduously for many years. I have not met
with the insect." — Edwin Birchall.

With such diligent and energetic resident
entomologists as Mrs. Batters by, the Hon.
Miss Lawless, and Mr. Fetherstonhaugh, it
cannot long remain unknown if it be really a
native of the Emerald Isle. It has not been
found in Scotland or the Isle of Man. In
England it has a wide, but what may be called
a capricious range, as the subjoined localities
will show.

Bedfordshire. Clapham Park Woods —
Staintoris " Manual."

Berkshire. Burghtield, near Reading —
C. S. Bird.

Buckinghamshire. Drayton Beauchamp,
Aston Clinton, Bucklaud, Claydon — H. II.
Crewe ; Halton — Joseph Greene.

Cumberland. Not rare — J. B. Hodgkinson.

Derbyshire. Via Gallia, near Cromford —
H. H. Crewe.

Devonshire. Rare ; not in the Plymouth
district, and not known to occur farther west
than Dartmouth ; Dunsford Wood, near Dart-
mouth— J. J. Reading.

Dorsetshire. Glanville's Wootton, Middle-
march Woods, Cranbourne Chace, rare of late
years — J. C. Dale.

Essex. St. Osyth— W. H. Harwood.

Gloucestershire. Wootton-under-Edge ; in
the open parts of our woods very local, but
generally abundant where found — V. R. Per-
kins ; Painswick, Daneway Common, Sapper-
ton — M. G. Musgrave ; Guiting — Joseph
Greene ; common at Dursley — Evan John.

Hampshire. NearBrockenhurst — F. Bond;
in the New Forest, but not common — G. B.
Corbyn; Crabbe Wood, near Winchester,
tolerably abundant — G. H. Raynor.

11AIRSTKEAKS.

105

Herefordshire. At Hunters' Gate, Oakley
Park — F. E. llarman ; Briarly Wood, near
Leorainster — E. Newman.

Hertfordshire. Berkhampstead, common —
G. H. Raynor.

Huntingdonshire. Monk's Wood — F.
Bond.

Kent. Birch Wood, Joy nson's Wood, Da-
renth Wood, wood at Chislehurst, West
Wcod on Shooter's Hill towards Welling —

O

E. Newman; common on the borders of woods,
abundant at Faversham — H. A. Stowell ;
Colly er's Wood — W. Machin ; woods gene-
rally north and south of Barham Downs— W.
Oxenden Hammond.

Lancashire. Not rare in North Lancashire,
Grange, &c. — /. B. Hodykinson; Silverdale —
James Murton.

Lincolnshire — T. H. Allis.

Northamptonshire. Barnwell Wold, the
L) nches, near Peterborough — Frederick
Bond ; near Towcester — Hamlet Clark.

Oxfordshire. Stowe and Bagley Woods
and Wychwood Forest — IF. II . Draper.

Somersetshire. Weston-super-Mare — A. E.
Hudd.

Suffolk. Near Stowmarket — //. H. Crew ;
Brandeston and Playford — Joseph Greene.

Surrey. Haslemere : This species occurs
here in an extensive copse intersected with
deep valleys : it frequents the bottoms of
these valleys, where it flits about over the
underwood, almost always returning to one
particular spray ; indeed, certain bushes, and
even twigs, seem to be especially to their
taste, since if one be taken another soon
occupies its place. In this way one alder
bush afforded me two or three specimens ; and
a little oak bush, in a particular warm and
pleasant corner, was always sure to have a
fresh tenant in a few hours, or, at any rate, in
a day or two after the previous occupant had
been captured. Occasionally, though rarely,
a specimen would settle on a spurge bloom,
the only flower they appeared to affect. —
C. G. Barrett, in " Entomologists1 Monthly
Magazine" No. 29.

Sussex. Watergate Hanger — William
Bmkler ; Frenchlands Wood— J. H. White.

Westmoreland. Witherslack, not rare — J.
B. Hodykinson.

Wight, Isle of, Near Ryde — F. Bond ;
Parkhurst, Quarr Copse, Whiteford Wood —
Alfred Owen ; in woods, but not common —
James Pristo.

Wiltshire. Manton and Rabley coppices,
West Woods— T. A. Preston.

Worcestershire. Taken sparingly about
two miles from Great Malvern — W. Edwards.

Yorkshire. Abundant near Pickering in
1868 — J. H. Rowntree ; Scarborough, Shef-
field, York, Leeds — Edwin BircJiall ; Don-
caster — A '/red Ecroyd.

Family 8. — AKGUS BUTTEEFLIES (in science
Lyc<enidai).

In the general characters of their cater-
pillars and chrysalids they closely resemble
the Erycinidce, but in the perfect state they
differ in having all the six legs perfectly
formed for walking in both sexes. They are
further divided, both by English entomologists
and by technical authors, into Hairstreaks (in
science Thecla), Coppers (in science Polyom-
rnatus), and Blues (in science Lampides and
Lyccena).

32. — Green Hairatreak (TJiccla Eubi). Upper side.

Under side.

32. GREEN HAIRSTREAK. — The costal mar-
gin of the fore wings is nearly straight, the
tip blunt, and the hind margin simple ; the
hind margin of the hind wings is scalloped,
the point nearest the apical anglebeingsl;ghtly
produced. The colour of the upper side is
dark brown, exhibiting metallic reflections in
a strong light ; near the base of the wings are

106

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

numerous .scattered scales of a metallic blue
lustre; the costal margin is narrowly edged
with bright rust-colour : the hind wings have a
still more slender line of the same colour,
fo'lowed by a black line, and this again by a
white fringe. The under side is green, the
costal and hind margin of the fore wings being
narrowly edged wi'h rust-colour, and the
inner margin broadly streaked with brown ;
the hind margin of the hind wings is narrowly
edged with rust-colour just within the fringe,
which is alternately dark brown and snowy
white. A transver e series of differently
shaped white spots crosses all the wings about
the middle, but their presence, as well as their
size and shape, seems very uncertain ; in some
specimens the series is tolerably consecutive
across all the wings, and every gradation may
be found between such a consecutive series
and a solitary white spot on the costal margin
of the hind wings.

LIFE HISTORY. — In Hubuer's figures of
European caterpillars there are three repre-
sentations of the CATERPILLAR of the Green
Hairstreak : one of them is represented on the
s\in cistus, and the other two on what appears
to be a species of heath, or, perhaps, the crow
berry ; in all these figures the head is repre-
sented as very small and black, the body as
woodlouse-shaped and green, with a medio-
dorsal and two lateral yellow stripes ; it also
has a lateral series of eight or nine oblique
yellow lines. The CHRYSALIS is very obese,
dark brown, and hairy, with a distinct belt
round the waist, and apparently an attach-
ment at the anal e-x.i,remity.--Hubner'sj!,gures.

Obs. — Lewin says : — " The caterpillars of
this small fly feed on the buds and blossoms
of the bramble, and when young artfully con-
ceal themselves in the bud. They are at their
full growth the beginning of July. They then
retire to a convenient place for the security of
the chrysalis, and fasten themselves with a
slender thread round the middle and by the
tail : thus secured, they change to chrysalids.
The butterfly comes forth the first week in
the following May." Lewin has figured the
caterpillar of a pale green, with a brown dorsal
stripe, and oblique white stripes on the sides.

Obs. 1. — Mr. Doubleday observes: "There
is something curious about the caterpillar of
the Green Hairstreak. I think Guenee says,
in his volume on the " European Butterflies,"
that he has found this caterpillar, on Broom
and Genista, and I believe it has been found
here at Eppicg on these plants."

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — The butterfly is on
the wing in May and June.

LOCALITIES. — Mr. Birchallsaysit is common
in Ireland, in the counties Dublin, Wicklow,
and Kerry, and the Honourable Miss Lawless
informs me that it is very abundant in the
same localities as the Marsh Kinglet : that is,
on the bogs and hills of Connemara and Mayo
but not extending so high on the hills; it
oecm-s in May and the beginning of June.
Mrs. Battersby says it is frequent on moors,
and Mr. Maixden says he has taken it in
Galway. It has not been taken in the Isle of
Man ; but in Scotland it is not uncommon.
Dr. Buchanan White says " that although apt
to be overlooked, it is widely distributed in
Perthshire, occurring in several places near
Perth, as well a* at Rannock. I have taken
it in Inverness-sliire,jiorth of which it does not
seem to have bei n observed : it appears to be
single -brooded in Scotland." Dr. White gives
the following dates:—" 1858, May 20 ; 1863,
May 30; 1867, June 28; 1868, May 9;
1869, May 1." In England it occurs in nearly-
all the county lists I have nceived, and when
absent its absence may be supposed to arise
from the want of observation.

33. Purple Hairstreak ( Thecla, Quercus). Upper side
of Female.

33. PURPLE HAIRSTREAK. The costal mar-
gin of the fore wings is almost straight, and
the tip rather pointed, especially in the males ;
the hind margin is slightly waved : the hind
wings are slightly scalloped, and the last

HAIRSTKEAKS.

107

point before the anal angle is slightly pro-
duced. On the upper side all the wings are
brownish black ; every part in the males,
except the margins, has a purple reflection ;
in the females this purple reflection is confined
to a patch occupying a portion only of the
fore wings, all the margins and the apical
area of the wing being destitute of the purple

Under side.

colour. The underside is delicate gray, in-
clining to drab, with a transver.-e white line
on all the wings ; that on the fore wings is
very straight, but imperfect, not reaching the
inner margin ; in the hind wings the first
costal half only is straight, the inner-marginal
half is twice bent, and assumes somewhat the
form of the letter W ; there is a bright orange
spot at the anal angle of the hind wings, and
a circular black-pupilled orange spot near the
anal angle and also near the hind margin :
the space between the white line and the
hind margin contains a double series of pale
smoke-coloured markings.

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGG is laid on the
twigs of the oak (Quercus robvr) in July, and
remains in that state during the winter,
hatching in the spring, and the young cater-
pillar feeding on the oak-leaves ; the CATER-
PILLAR is full grown in June, and then closely
resembles that familiar shell, the Chiton, and
rests appressed to the surface of the leaf, just
as the Chiton to the surface of rock ; the head
is small and retractile : the incisions between
the segments of the body are very distinctly
marked, the posterior edge of one segment
slightly overlapping the anterior margin of
the next following segment ; the back is very
convex, and is intersected by a medio-dorsal
groove, which is narrow and distinct on the
middle segments, but becomes vague and

wide towards both extremities; the lateral
margin of all the segments is thin and dilated,
and every part of the body is clothed with
fine scattered hairs, which become conspicuous
when the caterpillar is viewed in profile : the
colour is dull brownish green, sometimes
tinged with pink, and there is a medio-
dorsal series of pinkish arrow-heads, the two
moieties of which are separated near the head.
In captivity this caterpillar spins no cocoon,
nor does it fasten itself by any belt or anal
hooks as is the manner of its tribe, but retires
just below the surface of the earth, and then
turns to an obese uuangled brown CHRYSALIS,
which emits minute hairs from the entire
surface of its body — Newman.

Obs. — At p. 312 of the second volume of
the " Entomologist," Mr. S. A. Davis writes
thus : " Whilst collecting in July at West
Wickham, I shook a small sapling ash, and
observed several specimens of Thecla Quercus
fly from it, and almost immediately return
and settle again on the leaves, in most in-
stances upon the same identical leaf from
which they had been disturbed. Further
observations proved this to be the case with
most of the young ash-trees in the wood, and
I could have captured dozens had I been so
disposed. The same day I observed about
twenty specimens gambolling and settling
upon an ash tree near Beckenham, no oak
being near." This seems to suggest the idea
that the food of the caterpillar is not confined
to oak, but I have no proof that this is the
case.

TIME OF APPEARANCE — The egg through-
out the winter, the caterpillar in June, the
chrysalis in June, and the butterfly in July
and August.

LOCALITIES. — In Ireland Mr. Birchall found
it common in the counties Wicklow, Dublin,
and Kerry : it has not been observed in the
Isle of Man. Dr. Buchanan White remarks
that " it is a rarer species in Scotland and
Perthshire than the Green Hairstreak; it
occurs in several places in the lowland part
of the county of Perth as far north as Dun-
keld : although found in Argyleshire, it does
not seem to occur everywhere in the south of

108

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

Scotland, as might be expected, being common
in England." Dr. White took it on the 9th
of August in 1859, and on the 28tli June in
1860. In a " List of Lepidoptera Observed
in the Vicinity of Dumfries," Mr. Lennon,
the author thereof, states that the Blue Hair-
streak is found in Comlorgan Wood, and at
Dalscairth : the former an ancestral possession
of Lord Mansfield's, about ten miles south of
Dumfries, and near the coast ; the latter on
the slope of the wooded hills that bound to
the west the valley in which the town is
situated. It is reported from all the English
counties wherever lists have been received,
and my own experience is that it flies in some
abundance about the oak-trees in all our
woods in the south.

34. Black Hairstreak (Tkeda W-Album).
side.

Upper

Under side.

Under side of a Variety in the cabinet of Mr.
Bidwoll.

34. BLACK HAIRSTREAK. — The costal margin
of the fore wings is nearly straight, the tip
scarcely pointed, and the hind margin simple.
The hind margin of the hind wings is slightly
°nailoped, and the wing is produced, and

has a very decided tail near the anal angle.
The colour is black-brown, except a spot
on each fore wing near the costal margin,
and rather nearer the base than the tip of
the wing. This spot looks as though it
were semitransparent, and is of a dull smoky
tint. At the anal angle of the hind wings
there is an orange speck ; the fringe is snowy
white on the inside, black on the outside; on
the tail it is quite white. The under side is
grayish-brown ; tlie fore wings have a narrow
transverse waved, snowy white line rather
beyond the middle ; before it reaches the
costal margin this line turns abruptly towards
the tip of the wings : the hind wings have a
snowy white transverse line, commencing at
the costal margin, and at first almost straight,
bvit afterwards forming a letter W, and then,
turning upwards, it approaches the end of the
butterfly's body ; between this and the hind
margin is a bright orange-red band, bordered
above by a scalloped black line, and below by
a series of semicircular black spots ; both above
and below this orange band is a very slender
whitish streak.

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGGS are laid on the
twigs of the elm and wych elm ( Ulmus cam-
pestris and U. montana) in July and August,
and are shaped something like an orange, but
are more depressed on the crown ; they are of
a whitish or putty colour, and remain firmly
glued to the rind of the twigs throughout the
winter. The full-fed CATERPILLAR rests on the
surface of the leaves ; its head is very small
and shining, and is retractile within the second
segment ; the body is shaped like a woodlouse,
the incisions between the segments being dis-
tinctly marked, and each segment having its
posterior mai-gin slightly produced and over-
lapping the anterior margin of the next fol-
lowing segment ; there is a shallow rnedio-
dorsal furrow, which bisects the ridges already
described ; the lateral margins of the segments
are dilated, and the legs and claspers com-
pletely hidden. Every part of tho body emits
delicate hairs, which are very visible when
the caterpillar is viewed in profile. The head
is black and shining ; the body delicate pea-
green, the ridges bordering the dorsal

HAIRSTREAKS.

being tinged with yellow, and the furrow
itself tinged with brown. On each side of
each segment are two slender oblique lines of
a yellowish-white colour. When the cater-
pillar is at rest, the upper of these lines on
each segment meets the lower line on the next
segment, thus forming a series of eight oblique
lateral lines. The CHRYSALIS is short arid
stout, attached to a twig, or sometimes to a
leaf, by a belt, and also by the anal ex-
trem ity — Newman.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — The egg has been
found in the winter glued to the rind of elm
twigs ; the caterpillar has been beaten in June,
and the butterfly taken on the wing in July.

LOCALITIES. — Mr. Birchall has not met with
this butterfly in Ireland or the Isle of Man,
iior does Dr. Buchanan White mention having
•observed it in Scotland. In England it is
very widely distributed, and sometimes occurs
abundantly ; still it cannot be considered a
common butterfly.

Berkshire. At Burgh field, near Reading,
this insect appeared in the greatest profusion
in my own garden in 1829 or 1830 — C. /S.
Bird.

Buckinghamshire. In gardens — William
Walker.

Cambridgeshire. Generally distributed in
the county — Thomas Brown.

Derbyshire. Darley, Calke Abbey — H. II .
Crewe; Cubley, one specimen — Joseph Greene.

Dorsetshire. Buck land Newton very many
years ago. I possess the specimen — «/". C.
Dale.

Essex. Epping — Edward DoubleJay ; in
Bergholt Woods, near Colchester— W. H.
Harwood.

Gloucestershire. Near Gloucester, but rare
— Joseph Merrin; Clifton — Alfred E. Hudd.

Hampshire. One specimen has been taken
in the New Forest — G. B. Corbyn; one
specimen at Southsea — Henry Moncreaff.

Herefordshire. One caterpillar taken at the
Bache — Mrs. Hutchinson; rare at Oakley
Park — F. E. Harman.

H?iatingdonshire. Near Stilton — J. C.

Dal*.

.K.ent. Neighbourhood of Bridge, near

Canterbury occasionally — W. 0. Hammond ;
caterpillar on elms near the Fox and Hounds
public-house at Darenth Wood — E. Newman.

Lincolnshire. In Lincolnshire — T. H
Allis.

Northamptonshire. Barnwell Wold in July
— William Bree.

Nottinghamshire. One specimen at Newark
— George Gascoyne ; Will in Wood, near Oiler-
ton, rare — E. E. Brameld.

Shropshire. Benthall Edge ~C. G. Barrett.

Somersetshire. Brock ley — A. E. Hudd.

Staffordshire. Burton-on-Trent and Brin-
lincote — Edwin Brown.

Suffolk. Generally distributed over the
county — H. H. Crewe; Brandeston and
Playford — Joseph Greene; one specimen at
Wolsingham Park — W.M. Crowfoot; Dodnash
Wood— IT. //. Harwood; Haverhill— W.
Gaze; Sudbury — W. D. King.

Surrey. Guildford, Godalming, Witley,
Cobham — E. Newman. This species is usually
esteemed a rare insect in the neighbourhood
of London, and previously to the last season
I never saw it alive ; but the boundless pro-
fusion with which the hedges for miles, in the
vicinity of Ripley, were enlivened by the
myriads that hovered over every flower and
bramble-blossom last July exceeded anything
of the kind I have ever witnessed. Some
notion of their numbers may be formed when
I mention that I captured, without moving
from the spot, nearly two hundred specimens
in less than half an hour, as they approached
the bramble-bush near which I had taken up
my position. I am perfectly unable to account
for their prodigious numbers, as the same fields
and hedges had been carefully explored by me
at the same and at different periods of the year
for several preceding seasons without the oc-
currence of a single specimen in either of its
stages ; and it is worthy of remark that the
hedges to the north and north-east of Ripley
were perfectly free, although the brambles,
&c., were in plenty. — /. F. Stephens. My
lamented friend has often told me of this
"miraculous draught" of the Black Hair-
streak, but although then living near the
spot, and always on the alert for captures,

110

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

I have never seen, much less taken, at least
so far as I can now recollect, two specimens
of this butterfly on the same day.

Sussex. Frenchlands Woods abundant — J.
H. White; Abbot's Wood— C. V. C. Levett ;
in Sussex generally — W. H. Draper.

Worcestershire. One specimen was captured
near Worcester on the authority of Dr. Hearder;
it once occurred at Great Malvern, but I have
heard of none lately — W. Edwards.

Yorkshire. The caterpillar is common on
wych elms near Doncaster — Geo. T. Porritt ;
near York and Sheffield — Edwin Birchall;
Edlington Wood, near Barnsley — J. Harrison;
very numerous near Doncaster in 1860 — Al-
fred Ecroyd ; Sheffield, at Warncliffe Wood
— Edwin Birchall.

85: Dark Hairstreak (Theda Pruni). Upper side.

Under side.

35. DARKHAIESTREAK. — The fore wings are
nearly straight on the costa, blunt at the tip,
and simple on the hind margin ; the hind
margin of the hind wings is slightly scalloped ;
it is produced at the anal angle, and has a
small but very decided tail : the upper side is
dark brown, with a series of red- brown spots
parallel with the hind margin of the hind
wings ; these spots are generally four in
number, the two nearest the anal angle being
larger and brighter than the other two ; at
the anal angle is a vague but perceptible spot
composed of metallic blue scales ; the margin
itself is black, but its fringe pale. The under
side is brown, inclining to fulvous; on the

fore wings is a broken transverse snow-white
line, about a third of the distance between
the tip and the base ; outside of this — that is,
nearer the hind margin — is an indistinct row
of red-brown spots ; those nearest the tip of
the wing are least distinct ; those nearest the
anal angle most so ; and the two largest are
accompanied by a small jet-black spot, with a
snow-white margin : the hind wings have an
oblique transverse snow-white line extending
from the costal margin towards the anal angle,
but not reaching it ; parallel with the hind
margin is a broad band of orange-brown, and
on each edge of this band is a series of pure
black spots, bordered on the outside with
snowy white ; the black spots in the inner
series are nearly round, and the blueish white
border of each is of a crescentic form ; the
black spots in the outer or hind-marginal
series are semicircular, and ornamented, espe-
cially at the anal angle, with metallic blue ;
the white border below these markings is
straight.

Obs. — In September, 1828, a member of
the Entomological Club purchased a number
of these butterflies of a Mr. Seaman, then
a well-known dealer in objects of natural
history, and resident at Ipswich. The pur-
chase was made under the impression that the
butterflies were the Black Hairstreak, then
a desirable insect to obtain. The purchaser
most kindly distributed among the members
of the club, then in its infancy, some of the
specimens, and I became a recipient. The
specimens are still in my possession. On
examining them, and comparing them with
such specimens of W-album as I then pos-
sessed, it immediately became manifest to me
that the newly-captured species was essen-
tially different, not only on the upper,
but also on the under side. Of course,
I made it my business to work out the
name of the supposed novelty, and soon found,
on comparing it with a continental figure,
that the new insect was Thecla Pruni, and
the old one Thecla W-album. Like all begin-
ners, I was proud of my discovery, and eager
to communicate the intelligence. The late
Mr. J. F. Stephens then received entomologists

HAIRSTREAKS.

111

every Wednesday evening, and in the most
kind and generous manner opened his rich
cabinets, and imparted his great entomological
knowledge to every one who applied for infor-
mation. The first Wednesday evening sub-
sequent to my making the discovery found me
at the residence of this patriotic entomologist :
that night I was his earliest and most enthu-
siastic visitor. He gave the subject an imme-
diate investigation, and promptly acquiesced
in the necessity for a change of name, but
at the same time threw a damper over my
enthusiasm at the supposed discovery of a
new British butterfly, by expressing a doubt
whether it was British at all; and represented
the intense and praiseworthy desire to do
business which was prevalent among dealers
in insects as occasionally overcoming the love
of truth. Seaman, unconscious of the value
of his capture, had given the real and now
familiar locality of Monk's Wood as its
habitat, and it was so announced when he
first disposed of them ; but no sooner was it
made known that the butterflies were not the
Black Hairstreak at all, but a species new to
Britain, than the locality became a mine of
gold ; and Mr. Seaman very judiciously con-
cluded to remove the mine toagreater distance,
even to ultima thule of his geographical know-
ledge, Yorkshire ; and Mr. Curtis who
published the insect under its correct name
shortly afterwards, gave Yorkshire as the
locality where it has been found. Benjamin
JStandish, of happy memory, was at that time
in full possession of his insect-hunting powers,
and also of an imaginary estate and baronetcy
in the north of England : how often were he
and I companions to Darenth and to Birch ;
he was fired with ardour at the "turning up"
of a new butterfly, and we consulted long and
often on the expediency of a trip to Yorkshire
in quest of the old baronetcy and the new
Hairstreak. Alas ! all the actors in this little
comedy, except myself, have been removed
from works to rewards ; the estate and
baronetcy have gone by another and per-
haps a more direct line ; and the once " new "
Hairstreak is in the butterfly market at a very
moderate price.

LIFE HISTORY.— The EGG is laid on the
twigs of the blackthorn (Prunus spinosa},
and remains attached to it all the winter ; the
young CATERPILLAR feeds on the leaves. When
full fed the caterpillar is woodlouse-shaped,
the head being small and retractile within the
second segment : the body is very convex on
the back, with a shallow medio-dorsal furrow,
and the edges of the segments adjoining this
appeal from the figures to form two parallel
series of projecting points; the colour is pale
green, the crests of the ridges and a narrow
lateral stripe being yellow ; the CHRYSALIS is
attached by a belt, and by the anal extremity;
it is obese, blunt-headed, and humpbacked,
and has a medio-dorsal series of five rather
conspicuous warts or tubercles. — Jasper's and
Hubner's figures.

Obs. — T have never seen either the cater-
pillar or chrysalis of this species, and have
reded solely on published figures, which Mr.
Doubleday assures me are correct.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — June and July.

LOCALITIES. — Thecla Pruni is unknown in
Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man ; its
range in England seems confined tc five
counties.

Derbyshire. In a box of insects captured
within a few miles of Chesterfield 1 find this
very local species — J.R. Hind,11 Intelligencer,"
vol. ix., p. 27.

Huntingdonshire. Monk's Wood, on the
4th and 6th of July, but in shattered con-
ditiou —J. F. Stephens ; Monk's Wood, just
appearing on the 18th June — II. Doubleday ;
near Peterborough — Frederick Bond ; common
in Overton Woods and about St. Ives, and
elsewhere in Huntingdonshire — T. H. Allis

Monmouthshire. I have taken a single
specimen in St. Julian's Wood — George Lock.

Northamptonshire. Very plentiful some
years, rare in others, at Barnwell and Ashton
Wolds in July — William Bree ; near Tow-
cester — Hamlet Clark; Barnwell Wold —
Frederick Bond ; on the 19th June I captured
three dozen Pruni, flying round the flowers
of the wayfaring tree ( Viburnum lantana} at
Kettering — W. Sturgess, in " Intelligencer,'
vol. iv., p. 111.

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

Suffolk. Brandeston and Playford — Joseph
reene.

36. Brown Hairstreak (Thecla Betultn).
Female, and Under side.

Male,

36. BROWN HAIRSTREAK. — The costal mai
gin of the wings is nearly straight, the tip
obtuse, and the hind margin simple ; the hind
wingshave the hind margin slightly scalloped,
and it is produced at the anal angle into a
square lobe, and near this, supported by the
next wing ray, is a very decided tail. The
colour is rich glossy umber-brown, with a
large oblique and somewhat kidney-shaped
orange-red blotch beyond the middle of the
wing; this blotch contains on the edge nearest
the base of the wing a crescentic dark brown
discoidal spot : the hind wings have the lobe
at the anal angle, and the tail orange red, the
fringe is white. The under side is glowing
fulvous gray, approaching to orange colour ;
the fore wings have two transverse white
lines descending from the costa and towards
the inner margin, and meeting before they
reach it, thus enclosing an acutt ly triangular
space, between which and the base is a short

transverse space similarly enclosed by white
lines : the hind wings have two oblique trans-
verse white lines, both of which descend from
the costal margin ; that nearest the base ter-
minates at the middle of the wing, the other
is slightly waved, and terminates on the inner
margin near the angle ; the hind margin is
bright rust oioured. Such is a description
of the femaie ; the male is smaller, and differs
in wanting t •". orange blotcn on the nppei
side, and in having the under surface fulvous

8ray-

LIFE HISTORY. -The ESG is a depressed
sphere an<- white; it is attached to the
wigs of blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) in the
autumn, often as latt as the end of September
or beginning of October; it is not hatched
until the spring, and the young CATERPILLAR
feeds on the blackthorn, genera' ly concealing
itself beneath the leases: when full fed I
rests in a flat position on the leaf of the black-
thorn, with its head, legs, and claspers con-
cealed, and it does not abandon this position
readily : when compelled to do so, it falls
about three inches and hangs by a thread.
The head is almost globular, but slightly pro-
duced towards the mouth : it is scarcely half
so wide as the second segment ; indeed, the
head may be said to be retractile within that
segment : the body is shaped somewhat like
a little boat turned keel upwards : the sides
are dilated all round, even includingtlie second
segment, the anterior margin of which projects
beyond the head : the segments are deeply and
distinctly divided, so much as to give the back,
when viewed side ways, a serrated appearauce;
the dilated sides and dorsal keel are each gar-
nished with a fringe o( stiff hairs ; this fringe
is double on the dorsal keel, which is bisected
by a shallow and inconspicuous medio-dorsal
farrow, but single on the lateral dilation \ on
the former each hair is curved into the segment
of a circle, and its end is directed backwards ;
on the margin each hair is also curved, but
more slightly, and its end is directed down-
wards. The colour of the head is brown, and
its surface very glabrous ; that of the body
apple-green, with four narrow longicurvnal
v hitish ^tripes, and two oblique lines cu thf

HAIRSTREAKS.

113

same hue on each side of each segment ; two
of the longitudinal stripes are dorsal, they are
distant on the second and third segments,
gradually approach on the fourth and fifth
segments, and thence run parallel to the
thirteenth ; the other stripes are lateral, and,
running completely rouud the margin of all
the segments of the body, unite on the second
and thirteenth segments; on the second seg-
ment are two short pale longitudinal lines,
side by side : the ventral surface, including
the legs and claspers, is pale semi-transparent
glaucous green, with a vague medio-ventral
smoke-coloured stripe, probably due to the
pi-esence of food in the alimentary canal.
Those caterpillars in my possession were full
fed early in June, and changed to CHRYSALIS
before the end of the month ; these were
smooth and without projections, and were of a
pale semi-transparent brown colour; they were
unattached either by a belt or by anal hooks,
and remained at the bottom of the receptacle
in which the caterpillars had been fed until
they emerged in the winged state during my
absence from home in July. — Newman.

TIME OP APPEARANCE. — The egg is to be
found during the winter firmly glued to the
twigs of blackthorn, the caterpillar on the
leaves of the same in May and June, and the
butterfly is on the wing in July, August,
September, and October.

LOCALITIES. — Mr. Birehall says this species
is very common in the lanes and on roadside
iiedges in the south and west of Ireland in
August, frequenting the flowers of the bramble,
and settling the moment the sun is obscured,
•when it may readily be taken with the fingers;
it has not been observed in Ulster or Leinster.
Mr. G. F. Mathew observed it at Blarney,
near Cork. It has not yet been noticed in
the Isle of Man, or in Scotland. In England
it is very widely distributed, but still sutfi-
ciently uncommon to warrant the enumera-
tion of a few localities : —

Berkshire. Burghfield, near Reading —
C. 3. Bird.

Buckinghamshire. Claydon — H. H.
Crewe.

Cambridgeshire. Generally distributed

throughout the Cambridge district — i'homas
Broion.

Cumberland. I have seen one specimen in
Barron Wood, near Carlisle — J. B. Hodgkin-
son.

Devonshire. Abundant, both as regards
number of localities ud number of specimens;
near Exeter — /. Hellins ; Bickleigh Vale,
near the Cider House ; Bickleigh Bridge ;
Shaugh Bridge ; Horrabridge ; Dewerstone

— Geo. 0. Bignell ; Whistman's Wood, near
Princetown, Dartmoor; Moreton Hampstead;
Tavy Vale, near Virtuous Lady Mine ; Cann
Wood Meadows; Plym Bridge; Torquay;
Buckfastleigh ; Axminster ; Sidmouth — J. J.
Reading.

Dorsetshire. Glanville's Wootton, Middle-
marsh Wood, but not very lately — J. C. Dale.

Essex. Very abundant in Epping Forest
in the caterpillar state, especially about
Loughton and High Beech — W. J. Argent.

Glamorganshire. Scarce — Evan John.

Gloucestershire. Near Gloucester, but
scarce — Joseph Merrin.

Hampshire. Near Brockenhurst, but not
common in the New Forest — G. B. Corbin ;
Kimpton, near Andover — J. C. Dale.

Huntingdonshire. Monk's Wood — F.Bond.

Kent. Woods and lanes about Sheldwick
— H. A. Slowell ; caterpillar once only in the
neighbourhood of Eastry — W. 0. Hammond ;
Darenth Wood and skirts of Birch Wood,
always at rest on flowers — E. Newman.

Lancwhire. Not uncommon at Grange —
J. B. Hotylcinson; Silverdale — James Murton.

Lin cobv hire. T. H. A His.

Northa " ptonshire. Bare in Barn well Wold

— William Bree ; near Towcester— Hamlet
Clark.

Suffolk. Dodnash Wood, not common —
W. H. Harwood ; Haverhill — William Gaze.

Sussex. Poyning's Wood — William Buck-
ler ; woods near Henfield — W. H. Draper.

Westmoreland. Witherslack in August
and September — J. B. HodgJdnson.

Wight, Isle of. Rare near Ryde — Frederick
Bond ; I saw this insect at Whippingham
several years ago, but not lately ; I believe it
is rare in the island — James Fristo.

8

114

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

Wiltshire. Reported as having been taken
near Great Bed wyn and in West Woods; scores
have been taken by the pupils at Maryborough
College— 2'. A. Preston.

Worcestershire. Trench Wood, not com-
mon— J. E. Fletcher.

37. Largo Copper (PcZi/owwafats Hippokli'e). M..li-.

Female.

37. LARGE COPPER. — The four wings are
nearly straighten the costa, and almost pointed
at the tip ; the hind margin is simple and
entire ; the hind margin of the hind wings is
slightly waved : the colour of the upper side
is brilliant fiery copper in the male ; the fore
wings have a narrow black hind margin, and a
small transversely oblong black spot halfway
between the base and tip, and between this
and the base of the wing is an indistinct black
dot : the hind wings have a black notched
hind margin, and a short, slender, median
streak ; the inner margin is also tinged with
black. In the female the fore wings have a
black hind-marginal band, broader than in the
male, a transverse series of seven oblong black
spots parallel with the hind margin, and three
other black spots in a straight series between
this and the base of the wing: the hind wings
are suioky black-bro-wn, with a broad copper-
coloured band parallel with the hind margin.
Although so different on the upper side, the
sexes are alike on the under side ; the fore
wings are orange-red with gray hind margin,

and seventeen velvety black spots, eleven of
which are encircled with pearly gray ; the
others are less distinct, and form a series
parallel with the hind margin : the hind wings
are pearly gray, with an orange band parallel
to the hind margin, and fifteen black spots on
the disk, all of which have a pale gray circum-
scription ; on each side of the hind-marginal
orange band, and close adjoining it, is a series
of rather indistinct black spots.

VARIETIES of this species are not common ;
in those that have passed through my hands
there has been a remarkable uniformity of
colouring, but Mr. Dale informs me he pos-
sesses a female almost entirely black.

LIFE HISTORY.— TheEGG is laid on the leaves

during the month of August, and the young
caterpillars (never, to the best of my belief, ob-
served) probably emerge during the following
mouth, and hybernate very early at the base
of the petioles, a situation in which they
would be particularly liable to injury, and
indeed destruction, from the long-continued
floods of such frequent occurrence in the
aqueous districts, which constitute the sole
English habitats of this brilliant butterfly.
The CATERPILLAR is full fed in June, and then
lies flat on the dock -leaf, rarely moving from
place to place, and, when it does so, gliding
with a slug-like motion, the legs and claspers
being entirely concealed. The head is ex-
tremely small, and can be completely with-
drawn into the second segment ; the body has
the dorsal surface convex, the ventral surface
Hat; the divisions of the segments are dis-
tmctly marked, the posterior margin of each
slightly overlapping the anterior margin of the
next, and the entire caterpillar having very
much the appearance of a Chiton; the sides
are slightly dilated ; the legs and claspers are
seated in closely approximate pairs, nearly on
a medio-ventral line. The colour is green,
scarcely distinguishable from that of the dock-
leaf ; there is an obscure medio-dorsal stripe,
slightly darker than the disk, and in all pro-
bability due to the presence of food in the
alimentary canal. The CHRYSALIS is obese,
blunt at both extremities, attached by minute

COPPERS.

hooics at the cauaal extremities, and also by a
belt round the waist — Newman.

Obs. — My acquaintance with the caterpillar
and chrysalis was made very many years ago,
in Mr. Doubleday's garden at Epping, where
the very plant of Rumex hydrolapathum on
which the caterpillars fed is still in existence.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — Caterpillars, begin-
ning of June, 1841 ; 24th July, 1827 ; chry-
salids, 25th July, 1 827 ; butterflies, 25th June,
1826; 3rd and 5th July, 1833; 19th July,
1827; August, 1819; August 4th, 1821— J.
C. Dale.

LOCALITIES. — This beautiful butterfly has
never been known as an inhabitant of Ireland,
the Isle of Man, or Scotland. In England it
formerly occurred in abundance in two locali-
ties mentioned below, but it is now believed
to be extinct.

(Cambridgeshire. In plenty at Whittlesea
Mere — J. F. Stephens ; not taken in Cam-
bridgeshire since 1845 — Thomas Brown.}

(Huntingdonshire. Yaxley and Holm Fens.
The latest capture, consisting of five specimens,
was made by Stretton, in either 1847 or 1848 :
they were all purchased by Me. Harrington.
I was at Yaxley for several successive years
after this, but never saw another specimen, or
heard of another being taken — F. Bond.}

38. Common Copper (Polyommatus Phlceas).

38. COMMON COPPER. — The costal margin of
the fore wings is nearly straight, the tip
almost pointed, and the hind margin simple ;
the hind wings are notched near the anal
angle, and on each side of the notch is a small
angular projection. The colour of the fore
wings is coppery red, with a dark brown hind
margin and nine black spots on the disk ;
seven of these form a zigzag series parallel
with the hind margin ; and two are situated
between this series and the base of the wing :
the hind wings are black-brown, with an in-

dented hind-marginal copper-coloured band.
The under side of the fore wings is fulvous,
with nine black spots on the di.sk,andafulvous-
g-ay hind margin : the hind wings are fulvous-
gray, with ten black dots on the disk, and a
series of five reddish crescents parallel with
the hind margin.

Varieties. — There is a variety of this
species in which the parts which are usually
copper- coloured are of a pure and brilliant
white. This is of frequent occurrence on the
continent of Europe, but appears to be of un-
common occurrence in this country. At page
93 of the fourth volume of the " Entomo-
logist," Mr. Clark, of Doncaster, writes : " On
May 19th a friend of mine took a most curious
variety of Phlceas, the part which is usually
of a bright copper colour being of a splendid
silvery white." Several other English speci-
mens have been recorded, and kindly offered
me to figure, and I have declined them simply
from the difficulty of exhibiting the differences
in a woodcut. There is also a great discre-
pancy in the colour of the costal margin of
the fore wings ; in many specimens, generally
supposed to be females, this is dull dark
brown ; while in others the copper colour
comes up to the costa : again the black spots
forming the transverse series are various in
size, in some specimens being much larger
than in others, and being more or less con-
nected, three near the costa and two pairs
between the costa and the inner margin : and
again, the wing-rays are brown in some speci-
mens, but concolorous with the disk in
others ; lastly, many specimens have a series
of four blue spots just above the copper-
coloured band on the hind wings : these cha-
racters— that is, the larger black spots, the
darker costal margin, and the blue spots — I
formerly described as characteristic of the
female, and I still think this is generally, but
not exclusively, the case. Mr. Dale mentions
a specimen without the copper-coloured band
on the hind wings, but only having a few
copper-coloured spots in its place. At page
211 of the third volume of the "Entomologist,"
Mr. C. S. Gregson describes the varieties of
Phlceas in his own cabinet as under : — " This

11'

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

species has Lad my especial attention for many
years, and the result is a long row of aberra-
tions ; one with small red spots on the fore
wings, and a broad red band on the hind
wings ; one dull brownish ; six without
markings on the hind wings ; one very large,
with red pencil-like streaks on the rays of the
hind wings ; one with one silver fore wing,
all else proper; one with both fore wings
silvery, the hind wings proper ; six with all
the copper-colour turned to silver — one of
these is truly magnificent." Mr. J. A. Clark,
of Hackney, has most obligingly placed in my
hands some beautiful specimens, varying in
the same way.

LIFE HISTORY. — Withoutthat attentive and
unremitting obst rvation which I believe has
not hitherto been bestowed on the subject, I
am unable to say with anything approaching
to certainty whether we have one, two, or
three broods of this brilliant little butterfly in
the course of the year; its greater abundance
a* the beginning of June, the beginning of
August, and beginning of October, favour the
idea that there are three broods ; and it is
quite certain that many of those caterpillars
which we find during the entire month of
August, and which become chrysalids in
September, appear as butterflies at the end of
that month or beginning of October ; are we
to suppose that some of the chrysalids remain
in that state throughout the winter, and do
not effect their final change until the following
summer, so that the October and June flights
are really portions of the same brood 1 The
EGG is laid on the leaves of several specie* of
dock (Rumex), as R. obtusifolius, R. pulcker,
R. acetosa, R. acetosella ; and the CATERPILLAR
emerges in a few days, not less than ten, and
seldom more than fifteen ; it is full-grown in
about twenty days, and then rests on the
under side of the dock leaf in a flat position,
closely appressed to the surface ; if disturbed
or annoyed it falls from its food-plant, and
assumes acrescentic form, the two extremities
approximating, but not meeting ; after a time
it resumes its wonted appearance, and glides
over the surface of any object on which it
mav happen to rest, exactly in the manner of

a slug, no separate motion of che body or legs
being perceptible. The head is very small,
and entirely concealed within the second seg-
ment ; the body is formed like that of the
familiar multivalve shell known as a Chiton,
the divisions of the segments being clearly
defined, and the posterior margin of each
being curvilinear, and overlapping the anterior
margin of the next succeeding segment; the
dorsal surface is convex, and sprinkled with
numerous extremely minute warts and slender
bristles ; the ventral surface is flat, the legs
and claspers forming a medio- ventral double
series, and each pair being closely approximate
and far removed from the margin. The colour
of the head is dingy green, with a few dark
brown markings ; of the body, opaque apple-
green, the warts being white and the bristles
sienna-brown. : in some specimens the green
is interrupted by three stripes of a delicate
purplish pink, one of them medio-dorsal, the
others marginal. When full fed it attaches
itself to the under side of the leaf or to a
petiole, and undergoes its change to a CHUY-
SALIS, which is obese and short ; the body
is particularly stout ; the head rounded and
without angles or ears ; the anal extremity is
also rounded and without points, the extreme
tip incurved and furnished with minute hooks,
by which it is attached to the web previously
spun by the caterpillar ; it is also fastened by
a belt round the waist : the entire dorsal
surface, and the abdominal portion of the ven-
tral surface, are beset with short and stiff
bristles, each of which is dilated at the ex-
tremity, and has the appearance of a stalked
gland, similar to those which occur so com-
monly on plants : I do not find any of these
processes on the cases of the antennae, legs or
wings, but they occur freely on every other
part of the chrysalis. The colour is dull pale
brown, approaching to putty-colour, and
sprinkled or variegated with dark brown,
approaching to black : these dark markings
are grouped into a medio-dorsal series, almost
forming a continuous stripe from the head to
the anal extremity ; they also form three
lateral series of spots on each side ; of these
that series nearest the medio-dorsal stripe is

BLUES.

17

composed of very small spots, and is often
indistinct, while the others are invariably
distinct and strongly pronounced ; similar
spots occur on the ventral surface ; the dark
dots form oblique series on the wing-cases,
and also on the cases of antennae and legs —
Newman.

Obs. — At p. 41 of the third volume of the
" Entomologist," Mr. Moncreaff says : " On
the 17th December last, I found a number of
the caterpillars of Phlceas feeding on dock
and ragwort ; they are now hybernating, and
are very small. This proves that this species
passes the winter in the caterpillar state."

TIME OF APPEARANCE.— Throughout the
summer and autumn. Mr. Wailes, in his
" Catalogue," so often quoted, says — " Of this
gay little butterfly there are broods in April,
June, and September ; " and Mr. Dale took it
at Wimborne as late as the 5th of November.
It is very common at the end of September ;
I never recollect seeing so many together as
on the 30th of September last at Elm Hall,
Wanstead. A bed of verbenas seemed a great
attraction to them.

LOCALITIES. — Mr. Birchall informs us that
this pretty little butterfly is common in Ire-
land ; Mrs. Battersby says it is very common
at Cromlyn, and Mr. Fetherstonehaugh says
it is abundant at Glenmore, Crossmolina. Mr.
Birchall has taken it in the Isle of Man. Dr.
Buchanan White says that in Scotland it has
not been seen farther north than Inverness-
shire ; it is found both in the lowland and
highland districts of Perthshire, but more
commonly in the former ; he has also taken
it in Kirkcudbrightshire and Fifeshire. Mr.
Campbell found it abundant at Millpovt. In
England it is abundant, and generally dif-
fused ; but in the very complete lists from
Cumberland and Westmoreland, kindly for-
warded me by Mr. Hodgkiuson, the name
does not occur; it is, however, present in
every other county list, and generally accom-
panied by such observations as " common,"
" very common," " abundant."

39. PEA-POP ARGUS. — The costal margin of
the fore wings is slightly but resmlarly arched ;

39. Pea-pod Argus (Lampides Icetica). Upper side
of Male and Female.

Under side.

the hind margin is also slightly arched. The

hind wings are rounded, and have a long,

slender, and somewhat twisted tail near the

anal angle. This tail is continuous with the

last of the longitudinal wing-rays, that nearest

the inner margin of the wing. The colour of

the upper side is dull pale smoke-colour,

glossed with purple, lilac, or blue reflections.

In the male these are spi'ead very sparingly

over the entire surface of the wings, but in

the female they are concentrated, and form a

large blotch on the fore wings, and cover the

base of the hind wings : the blue blotch on

the fore wings extends from the base to the

middle of the wing, and occupies also the

basal half of the inner margin, bxat does not

reach either the costal or the him! margin ;

the blue surface seems to be clue to the

presence of numerous long hair-like scales of

that Colour. On the hind wings is a scries of

compound spots parallel with the hind margin.

These spots are of different degrees of intensity

—that nearest the anal angle is always distinct,

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

and the next following is still more so ; the
rest gradually decrease in distinctness, until
almost obliterated towards the apex ; they
consist of a dark centre and pale circumscrip-
tion. Above, and parallel with this series,
twere is frequently a very fnint series of pale
Hoots, some times of a crescentic form; but in
nanny specimens these are scarcely discernible.
Tbe under side is dark brownish gray, with
numerous transverse ashy gray markings, a
series of which, in the form of crescents, runs
parallel with the hind margin of all the wings;
and on the hind wings this pale colour often
assumes the form of a transverse bar between
the hind margin and the middle of the wing.
At the anal angle of the hind wing are two
compound spots, which are black in the centre,
and orange above, and their lower border is
decorated with brilliant metallic gr>'en. Con-
tinuous with a wing-ray which passes between
those two spots is the long slender tail already
described.

LIFE HISTORY. — The last-disclosed females
of this species lay their EGGS on the twigs
of the bladder senna (Golutea arboresc.ens), but
like those of several, and perhaps all, the
British species of this family, they do not
hatch until the following summer, at which
season the young pods of the senna are
sufficiently advanced to serve as the food
of the young CATERPILLAR, which at first is
almost black, and then feeds on the scarcely-
formed pods ; subsequently, it enters the pods
through a nearly circular aperture, and de-
vours the seeds ; before attaining its full size
it migrates frequently from pod to pod, only
devouring the seed in the interior : it rests on
the pods or on the twigs in a straight position,
its shape scarcely allowing of any other. The
Lead is very small, scarcely half so wide as
tbe second segment, into which it is sus-
ceptible of being with drawn, and thus entirely
concealed : the body is shaped like a wo. id-
louse, the dorsal area convex, the ventral area
Hat, and the incisions of the segments are very
clearly marked. The colour of the head is
black : the dorsal area of the body olive-
green, reddish brown, or bright green ; there
j*. a dark, moderately wide, and periediy

continuous medio-dorsal stripe, extending
from immediately behind the head to the anal
extremity, and also a white lateral stripe below
the spiracles, which are yellow ; immediately
above each spiracle, with the exception of the
first and last, there originates a rather short
line, which passes obliquely forwards and
upwards towards the medio-dorsal stripe, but
never unites with it ; these oblique lines are
longitudinally double throughout, the upper
part being darker, and the lower paler than
the groundcolour; the claspers are concolor-
ous with the ventral area ; the legs are brown.
When full fed this caterpillar never remains
within the bladder on the seeds of which it
has fed, but (generally in the month of Sep-
tember) it escapes from the pod which had
last served as its dwelling-place, and either
descends among the dried leaves or attaches
itself to a branch of the shrub, and in five or
six days assumes the chrysalis state. The
CHRYSALIS is attached by a belt round the
middle to the stem of the food-plant ; it is
obese, and rounded at both extremities ; its
colour is testaceous yellow or dull red, adorned
with brown dots, which are particularly
numerous about the crown of the head; there
is also a continuous dark line in front, extend-
ing from the thorax to the anal segment; the
spiracles are black, and plainly discernible
with the naked eye. The caterpillar is in-
fested by a minute ichneumon (Microgaster
glomeratus), fourteen or fifteen of which fre-
quently feed on a single caterpillar, and these,
escaping through the skin of the butterfly-
caterpillar, spin a cluster of little yellow
cocoons, attaching them to the stalks or leaves
of the food-plant — Milliere.

Obs. — I have extracted the foregoing par-
ticulars from M. Milliere's beautiful work,
kindly lc:u me by Mr. Doubleday, from whom
I obtain the additional information that the
caterpillar is also found feeding in the pods of
the field pea.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — In France this but-
terfly emerges from the chrysalis in Septem-
ber, and continues to fly throughout October.
In this country it may occur in our pea helds
now and then, but its existence must oe very

BLUES.

119

precarious, because the egg would, in all
probability, perish with the pea-haulm, which
is rarely kept through the spring and early
summer.

LOCALITIES. — From an examination of the
long series in the British Museum, I find this
insect, like Pyrameis Cardui, to be distributed
over all parts of the habitable globe where
agriculture lias been introduced. In Britain
it is evidently only a straggler : it has never
been observed in Ireland, Scotland, or the
Isle of Man, and I know of but three records
of its occurrence in England.

Hampshire. One specimen was taken by
Mr. Latour, near Christclmrch,not many miles
from Dorset, on the 4th of August, 1859 — •
J. C. Dale.

Sussex. Two specimens have been taken
at Brighton, on chalk downs facing the sea, by
Mr. M 'Arthur — the first on the 4th of August,
1859, the other on the 5th of the same month ;
I have seen both the specimens, and have no
doubt whatever as to the species or the vera
city of the captor. During the year 1859, in
which these captures were made, the insect
was very abundant in the Channel Islands and
on the coast of France. I am indebted to
Mr. Thorncrott for my first information of
these captures.

40. Silver-studded Blue (Lyccena JEgon). Male
and Female. Upper side.

40. SILVER-STUDDED BLUE. — On the upper
side the colour of the male is purple-blue,
shaded to black towards the hind margin ; of
the female smoky black, sometimes tinged
with blue, and generally having a transverse

series of orange-coloured spots, diversified in
form, parallel with the hind margin. Thn
under side is bluish gray, with seven black
spots on the fore wings and eleven on tho
hind wings; all these spots have a pale cir-
cumscription; parallel with the hind margin
of th« hind wings is a series of seven orange-

Uuder side.

coloured spots, each of which is bordered
above by a black crescent, and below by a
silver-blue spot; immediately above this series
the disk of the wing is of a pale gray ; the
fringe is white and unspotted.

LIFE HISTORY. — At page 241 of No. 5 8 of the
" Entomologists' Monthly Magazine," dated
March, 1869, Mr. Bucklerhas given a very com-
plete " natural history" of this little butterfly.
Trustingimplicitly to his well-known accuracy,

I have copied it entire. The eggs were pro-
cured by Mr. C. G. Barrett, who had induced
a female L,o lay them on twigs of heather.
" Considering the small size of this butterfly,
the EGG is rather large in proportion : it is
white in colour, of a circular form, flattened
and depressed in the centre both above and
below, ribbed and beaded boldly at the sides,
and from thence more finely by degrees to the
centre. The egg does not change colour, but
retains its pure dead-white appearance even
after the exit of the caterpillar; a small hole,
showing like a black spot on the side of the
shell, alone betraying the escape of the little
creature." In accordance with a suggestion
of Mr. Doubleday, who had observed the
female butterfly alighting on the common
bird's-foot trefoil (Ornithopits perpusillus),
Mr. Buckler offered the young caterpillars
that plant fur food, and found it so acceptable

I 1 them, that he considers there is little doubt
of its being the natural food of the species.
"When first hatched, the CATERPILLAR is about
three-fourths of a line long, thick in proper-

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

tion of equal bulk, and rounded at either end,
hairy, and of a duii bluish-green colour, its
powers of locomotion of the very feeblest
description. By the third of May they had
become rather more than a line in length and
of a drab colour, and hairy like the leaflets
on which they were feeding. By the 29th of
May they had grown to about a quarter to
three-eighths of an inch in length, eating, not
through the leaflets, but only the green cuticle.
At this time they were of a deep yellowish
gray, and the dorsal stripe blackish olive,
edged with whitish, and a whitish stripe along
the lateral ridge above the legs; the sub-dorsal
stripe being triple, i.e., two lines of blackish-
olive with a whitish-gray one between them ;
the surface generally studded with minute
blackish points, each bearing a fine short hair-.
From the llth to the 15th of June they had
all assumed their last coats. The full-grown
caterpillar is about seven lines long, thick in
proportion, and of the usual onisciform or
Lyccena shape. The head is small, and re-
tracted when at rest or alarmed, the second
segment the longest, rounded, and very slightly
flattened above; the others, as far as the tenth,
have raised prominences on each side of the
back, and a dorsal hollow between them, the
sides sloping to the lateral ridge ; the ventral
surface is rather flattened ; the legs all placed
well underneath. The last three segments
are without dorsal ridges, and slope gradually
to the sides and anal extremity ; their sides
are rather concave, and there is a very promi-
nent wart on each side of the twelfth ; the
segmental divisions are not observable on these
last, but are well cut on all the others. In
colour the caterpillar is now a bright yellow-
green, with the dorsal stripe blackish-brown,
edged with whitish from the beginning of the
third to end of the tenth segment; it is widest
on the third and fourth, being on them of a
rather rounded lozenge form, with a whitish
dot near tho edge on each side; there is a dull
dark brown small plate in front of the second
segment, and a broad semi-lunar-shaped blotch
of the same colour a little behind, and divided
in the middle by a fine line of the green
ground colour. The dorsal stripe on the

eleventh segment becomes broad and squarish,
but resumes its linear shape on the twelfth
and thirteenth. The sub-dorsal stripe is visible
from the beginning of the third to the end of
the eleventh segment as a greenish-yellow line
running between two green ones darker than
the ground-colour. At the bottom of the
sides along the lateral ridge, commencing on
the third segment, and continued round the
anal extremity, is a whitish line. Between
the dorsal and sub-dorsal stripes, on all the
segments from the third to the tenth both in-
clusive, are faintly paler oblique lines of
yellow -green, viz., one on each segment sloping
downwards and backwards ; the warts on the
twelfth segment are very often suddenly pro-
jected considerably, and then a circle of fine
short hairs is visible on their extremities
The surface of the body is also clothed with
similar hairs ; the head is black, having the
base of papillae and a streak across over the
mouth of buff colour. They had all turned to
chrysalids by the 24th of June, one of them
slightly attached to a stem of the plant by the
anal extremity, and lying like the others,
amongst a few loose threads at the very bottom
of the stems, and partly in the earth. The
CHRYSALIS is about five lines long, smooth but
without polish, the top of the head slightly
projecting, the thorax rounded, the body
plump, curving on the back outwards and
backwards towards the tip, which is hidden
in the caterpillar skin ; the wing-cases are
prominent and long in proportion ; it is of a
dull green tint, with a dark brown dorsal line
of arrow-head marks." — Buckler.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — From the beginning
to the third week in July.

LOCALITIES. — It seems to be one of those
species which, from their inconspicuous cha-
racter, are very likely to be overlooked ; and
hence its range is very imperfectly ascertained.
I have repeatedly taken it in Herefordshire
when eager to net every blue, in the hope of
seciiring Acis, and have thus obtained a know-
ledge of its presence. In Ireland it is reported
by Mr. Birchall from the Murrough of Wick-
low, and from near Ross Trevor. My cor-
respondents resident in Ireland have not

BLUES.

mentioned it. It has not been reported from
the Isle of Man, but has boen taken in Scot-
land. Dr. Buchanan White says it has been
taken once, by Mr. D. P. Morison, near Pit-
lochrie in Perthshire. In England its range
is extensive, but, apparently from the cause
above stated, capricious.

Carubridgeshi re. It occurs in several places
—F. Bond.

Cheshire. Delamere Forest — Noah Green-
ing.

Devonshire. Torquay, Teignmouth, Bovey
Tracy, Axminster — J. J. Reading.

Dorsetshire. Parley Heath in plenty,
Blandford racecourse, Portland amongst
rocks — there is no heath near — J. G. Dak.

Durham. Very common at Darlington —
J. Sang.

Essex. Very common on a piece of dry
ground along the side of the road near High
Beech — W. J. Argent; the late Edward
Doubleday, R. Mendola, and many others
have taken ^Egon at this place.

Glamorganshire. Scarce at Llantrissant —
Evan John.

Gloucestershire. Rare at Clifton — A. E.
Hudd.

Hampshire. Portsdown — W. Buckler;
New Forest — F. Bond; Woolmer Forest —
G. G. Barrett ; common but local about
Ringwood — G. B. Corbin; Sheep Wash, near
Petersfield — Henry Moncreaff.

Herefordshire. Ascent of the Black Moun-
tain and elsewhere — E. Newman.

Huntingdon. Monk's Wood and other
woods — F. Bond.

Kent. Tunbridge Wells Common, tolerably
plentiful — G. H. Raynor ; swarming near
Frant Forest, Tunbridge Wells — //. Ramsay
Cox; Darent and Birch Woods — IF, Machin;
abundant on all the chalk downs of the coast
district — W. 0. Hammond.

Lancashire. Near Manchester — R. S.
Eddleston ; common on Chat Moss, South
Lancashire. It used formerly to occur on Sol-
wick Moss, near Preston — «7. B. Ilodgkinson.

Lincolnshire. Occurs in the county — T.
II. AUis.

Middlesex. Scratch Wood— F. Bond.

Monmouthshire. Common atCastle-v-Bwcli
— George Lock.

Norfolk. Stratton Strawless — G. G. Bar-
rett.

Northamptonshire. Barnwell Wold — F.
Bond ; near Towcester — Hamlet Clark.

Somersetshire. Brockley, &c. — A. E. Hudd.

Staffordshire. Very rareatWolverhampton
— F. E. Morris.

Suffolk. Hemingfleet Heath — W. M.
Cromfoot ; Sudbury — W. D. King.

Surrey. Hindhead, Witley, Milford — C.
G. Barrett.

Sussex. Rogate Common — W. Buckler.

Warwickshire. Coleshill Park and neigh-
bourhood ; also Sutton Park — F. Enoch ;
Rugby — G. B. Longstaff.

Westmoreland. Witherslack,FarawayMoss
— J. B. Hodgkinson.

Wight, Isle of. Hampstead, near Yar-
mouth— F. Bond; Newport— Alfred Owen;
taken in marshy places in the island ; per-
haps common, but local — James Pristo.

Obs. — As in the instance of the Marsh
Ringlet, at page 97, a preliminary note seems
desirable in introducing the butterfly which
stands next on my list. To this butterfly the
names of Medon, Agestis, Idas, Artaxerxes,
and Salmacis, have been successively applied :
the first, second, and third of these names
appear to be strictly synonymous ; the fourth
and fifth were given under the apprehension
that the phases or races so named were speci-
fically distinct, not only from that which was
originally named Medon, but also from each
other. At the risk of being considered tedious
I will enter a little more into detail. First,
the butterfly figured by Esper as Mcdon, in
1777, appears identical with that figured by
Lewin as Idas, in 1795; and I believe that
the figure of Agestis in Hubner represents the
same insect. This, which I take as the type, is
almost ubiquitous in Gi eat Britain. Secondly,
the Hesperia Artaxerxes of Fabricius is identi-
cal with the Papilio Artaxerxes of Lewin and
Haworth, and is a Scotch insect very different
in appearance from Medon. And. thirdly, the
PohfommalnsSalmacis of Stephens, a butterfly

122

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

which seemed to combine the characters of the
other two, and its geographical position, the
county of Durham, was intermediate between
them. Until the publication of this third
species, or supposed species, no doubt appears
to have been expressed of the distinctness of
the other two. But when a new species of
insect is discovered, which in its general
characters is intermediate between two old
ones in colouration, ornamentation, and geo-
graphical position, an opinion — perhaps I
should say, a suspicion - will ar se that the in-
termediate species connects the other two, and
that the three constitute but a single species.
I scarcely know whether such an opinion was
immediately made public, but still the ques-
tion appears to have been discussed, since
Mr. Wailes, a gentleman of profound obser-
vation and research, believed it incumbent on
him to defend the newly-propostd species,
which he did at page 42 of the first volume
of the " Entomological Magazine," in these
words : — Polyommatus Salmacis — I entirely
coincide with Mr. Stephens in considering
this a distinct species." This opinion, or
rather decision, was received with great
deference, and was justly regarded as one of
importance, since it must be evident that the
existence of a distinct species intermediate
between two other species was an a priori
argument in favour of the perfect distinctness
of those other species. Mr. Dale was, I
believe, the first entomologist who expressed
a decided opinion adverse to the claims of
Salmacis as a distinct species. At page 357 of
the first volume of the " Entomological Maga-
zine," Mr. Dale writes thus : — " P. Salmacis,
or Titus, is intermediate between Agestis and
Artaxerxes ; in Scotland none of the Agestis
are to be found, they are all Artaxerxes ; in
the south none of the Artaxerxes are to be
found, they are all Agestis. At Newcastle
they appear to be mules, or hybrids between
the two species, partaking in some degree of
the characters of both ; some of the varieties
have a black spot inside the white one on the
upper surface of the first wings." This was
published in 1832 ; and in the January of
1834, after having devoted much time and

attention to Mr. Dale's opinion, as expressed
above, I publi-hed an opinion of my own,
which went perhaps rather further than Mr.
Dale's in the same direction. I stated, that
'•having examined specimens of Polyommatus
Agestis from different localities, I have arrived
at a conclusion which will not, I fear, be
coincided in by many of our lepidopterists.
On the south downs of Sussex andKent-d^es^w
assumes what may be called its typical form.
I have taken it at Ramsgate, Dover, Hythe,
Hastings, Rye, Brighton, Worthing, Little-
hampton, Chichester, and Portsmouth; in the
Isle of Wight, in Dorsetshire, and in Somer-
setshire ; and throughout this range it is very
similar: then, going northwards, I have met
with itat Worcester, Leominster,Birmingham,
and Shrewsbury — and here an evident change
has taken place: theband of rust coloured spots
has become less bright : at Manchester these
spots have left the upper wing almost entirely :
at Castle Eden Dene they are scarcely to be
traced, and a black spot in the centre of the
upper wing becomes fringed with white; in
some specimens it is quite white, as shown at
page 126 : it then changes its name to Salmacis.
We proceed farther northwards, and the black
pupil leaves the eyes on the under side, until
at Edinburgh they are quite gone , then it is
called Artaxerxes. The conclusion I arrive at
is this : that Medon, Salmacis, and Artaxerxes
are nothing more than geographical races of
one species." Mr. Wailes, in his admirable
" Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Northumber-
land and Durham," seems to think this con-
clusion erroneous, for he says "Mr. Newman,
in the second volume of the ' Entomological
Magazine,' advanced an opinion that all three
were one, though 1 certainly think on insuffi-
cient grounds."— P. 217. Mr. Wailes then
goes very carefully over the ground, and after
five pages of lucid and elaborate reasoning, he
arrives at the following conclusion : — "From
all these facts and circumstances I think I am
justified in uniting the three forms under the
single name of Medmt." — P. 223. Thus Mr.
Wailes seems to retract his original opinion,
and to arrive at the same terminus as myself,
by a line of his own construction — an issue

BLUES.

of the inquiry peculiarly agreeable to me,
because it evinces perfect independence of
thought At page 57 of the "Annual Report
and Transactions of the Plymouth Institu-
tion," Mr. Reading, the eminent Plymouth
naturalist, after considering the question in all
its bearings, disposes of it thus : " A careful
comparison of the forms of the imago long
since convinced me that Lyccena Medon, Sal-
macis, and Artaxerxis were forms of one
species." My own opinion as originally ex-
pressed remains unaltered, but I conceive that
such an opinion by no means dispenses with
the necessity of distinguishing the three
phases as clearly as I am able. I shall, there-
fore, describe each phase, race, or variety
separately, as I have done in the case of
Davus and Rothlicbii, being satisfied that I
have done my duty in expressing without
urging my opinion, that the three phases
constitute but a single species.

The upper figure represents Medon, the second
Salmacis (male), and the lower Artaxerxes

41. BROWN ARGUS. — All the wings are dark
sepia-brown on the upper side, the foi-e wings
having a median, linear, transverse, obscure,
discoidal black spot, and all the wings having
a series of orange-brown spots parallel with
the hind margin ; the fringe is spotted. The
under side is slatey-gray in the males, fulvous-

brown in the females, with seven black spots
in the fore wings and eleven in the hind wings,
all of them having a white circumscription ;
there is also a series of orange-red spots
parallel with the hind margin of all the wings.
Each of these is connected with a crescentic
black spot above and an amorphous black spot
below ; it is also enclosed in an imperfectly-
defined white circumscription ; below the
middle of the wing, and extending towards
the hind marginal series of compound spots,
is a vague and indistinctly-defined sub-median
white blotch.

Obs. — The specific name of Medon for the
Brown Argus was given by Hufnagel in 1774,
and has been adopted by Esper and Conti-
nental entomologists generally, but not by our
countryman Lewin, who believed it identical
with the Papilio Idas of Linnaeus, nor by
Ha worth, who calls it Idas, although perfectly
aware that the Idas of Linnaeus was the female
of the Common Blue. Mr. Stephens changed
the n^me to Agestis, evidently on the supposed
ground of priority ; but I think this also a
mistake, and revert to the earliest name.

LIFE HISTORY. — At page 6211 of the "Zoo-
logist" for 1858, Mr. H. J. Harding says :— "I
discovered the caterpillarof Medon abouteight
years ago, and have taken it every year when
on the Deal coast. . . . It is found on
and under the hemlock storksbill (Erodium
cicutarium), which grows here in large patches
or beds in many places apart from other
herbage ; and it is from this cause that the
caterpillars are so easily found : having no
legs, like many other caterpillars, they cannot
feed on the tops, but on pulling aside the
branches of the storksbill, the caterpillars are
found on the sand beneath them." Having
received some of the caterpillars in question,
and others having been sent to Mn Logan, I
believe we both immediately arrived at the
conclusion that they were the caterpillars of
a beetle. Such was certainly the case in
some instances, as fully established by rearing
the perfect beetle from them, both in Edin-
burgh and in London ; and such an inference
might fairly be drawn from Mr. Harding's
description, "having no legs." The truth of

124

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

the theory was abundantly proved by the
sequel, for the caterpillars produced a beauti-
ful weevil (Hyperafasdculata) ; nevertheless,
I am quite prepared to admit that the cater-
pillars of Medon were probably present in
company with those of the weevil, and that
Mr. Harding piloted the way to the discovery
of the life history of tins species. The reader
who feels an interest in this question, and has
leisure to do so, is recommended to read the
controversy on this subject in the volume of
the " Zoologist," from which I have already
quoted, pp. 6211, 6246, 6248, 6270, 6277,
6278, and 6310. In quoting Professor Zeller's
account of this insect, from page 73 of No. 40
of the " Entomologists' Monthly Magazine,"
I would invite attention to the fact that this
truly eminent entomologist was on the very
eve of repeating Mr. Harding's mistake as to
the caterpillar of a beetle. " After several
attempts, which I made in the beginning of
the summer of last year, to observe the female
whilst ovipositing, and which, from the state
of the weather, were always fruitless, I at
last succeeded on the 22nd of August. A
female settled on a fallow field on the bare
ground. Having observed in her vicinity
some seedling plants of the storksbill, I did
not disturb her ; consequently, I saw how she
approached towards one of these plants, and,
after a short rest, curved her abdomen, and
deposited an egg on the under side of a leaf ;
having done this, she flew away. This EGG
had the ordinary form of those of the gonus
Lyccena ; it was greenish- white, and retained
this colour till the 31st August, when it
became pure white, and had on its upper side
a large kidney-shaped hole, through which
the caterpillar had escaped. The plant with
the egg I had fastened with a pin to a larger
plant in a flower-pot, so that it should not
dry up. Suspecting that more eggs had pro-
bably been deposited in the same locality, I
revisited the place on the 5th September, and
cut off about a hundred plants (which were
now rather larger) close above the roots,
without shaking them, and placed them in a
pocket-handkerchief. On the following day,
»hen they were becoming rather withered, I

shook them out, and, in addition to suim.y
green aphides, and some caterpillars and chry-
salids of Syrphus, I obtained eighteen onisci-
form caterpillars. These were from one to
two lines long, dull pale greenish, with rather
long white hairs, the lateral margins rather
paler, the head black. They remained half
an hour or longer before they crawled away
from the spot where I had placed them ; they
repaired to the under side of the leaves, and
ate during the sunshine the tips of the primate
leaves, leaving only the upper skin remaining,
which soon curled up and withered. On the
llth September, I tried the same plan of
operations on a sunny slope, where the but-
terfly had not been scarce in the spring.
Here T found what I took for the full-grown
caterpillar, only I was struck by its shape
being so slightly onisciform, since the body
was narrow and gradually attenuated behind.
The largest were pale green, with the head
honey-yellow, spotted with black ; a pale
roso-coloured dorsal stripe on each segment,
an elongate black spot on each side ; beneath
the black spiracles ran a wavy pale red longi-
tudinal stripe ; the prothorax was yellowish.
Yet I supposed this to be the Medon caterpillar
I was seeking, till I observed the following
day that it had no anterior legs : I believe it
was the caterpillar of one of the Curculionldce.
As they were eating up my food unnecessarily,
and I did not feel certain that they might not
be disposed to make a meal of one of my true
Medon caterpillars, I turned them away alto-
gether. I had, however, amongst them truly
obtained some caterpillars of Medon. By a
third expedition I increased my stock to more
than fifty, so that now there seemed good
hopes of bringing some safely through the
perils of winter. I distributed them into three
flower-pots ; but I had great difficulty with
the food-plants, since the young plants died
quite as soon as the old ones planted with in-
jured roots. At the same time, the caterpillars
grew very slowly ; however, by degrees, they
as iimed the colouring and markings of the
adult caterpillar. Early in December, when
frost set in, I arranged the three flower-pots
for the winter : two, covered with gauze, were

BLUES.

125

placed outside a window facing north, and
the other, quite uncovered, stood in a cold
room. From time to time I watered the
plants to keep them alive. On the 14th
February I searched for the caterpillars which
had survived the winter, in order to put them
again in the sunshine. In the flower-pots
which had been exposed to the open air I
found both the plants and caterpillars dead ;
in the third flower-pot I found fifteen cater-
pillars of rather different sizes : they had
remained motionless the whole time, either
on the stems of grass, or on or under living
leaves of storksbill. As I had not spared
anything necessary for their rearing I come
to the conclusion that the reason the females
are so fruitful in autumn is that many cater-
pillars may be destroyed during the winter
without injury to the species ; and that this
is truly the case seems to be hown from the
fact, that the multitude of caterpillars which
are to be found in autumn does not at all
correspond to the number of butterflies of
Medon which appear in spring. Supplied
with fresh food, which would probably suit
their taste, in the sunny window, my cater-
pillars cast their skins several times. Although
I could not make any precise observations, yet
it is certain that the number of moultings does
not differ from what occurs in other species of
Lyccena. Of the fifteen caterpillars, seven
died by degrees. One, just dead, which I
described on the 14th March, was already
nearly five lines long. Its shining black head
had a gray face ; the body was pale green,
with a deep, rather narrow, posteriorly
attenuated, dark red medio- dorsal stripe. The
warts near it on each segment, with about
twelve unequally long, pointed, pale bristles,
which, on the anterior segments, stand almost
perpendicularly, on the middle and hinder
segments are directed more backwards. I
could not perceive that these caterpillars had
a cone capable of being protruded (like that
which we find in Lyccena Corydon, and which
the ants are so fond of licking). The legs
are black ; the elaspers of the same colour as
the pale belly, which, on each segment from
the fourth, has on each side a black streak

reaching to the lateral wart; these streaks,
however, are not perceptible iu the living
caterpillar. The red lateral stripe is as usual
Having planted three vigorous plants, the
remaining caterpillars prospered so well that,
by the 8th April, I could look upon them as
full grown, or nearly. They devoured the
primate leaves, gnawed the stem of the leaf,
hence causing the upper part to wither, and
did not spare the young shoots, when the
plants assumed at last a very injured appear-
ance, and were abundantly sprinkled with
grains of brown-green excrement. The cater-
pillars crawl very slowly, whilst they spin a
white thread, which they fasten to the right
and left, and on which they fix their legs.
They are not easily seen on the food-plant,
since they are the same shade of green, and
even their bristles have the same colour as
the hairs on the leaf-stalk.

" The full-grown CATERPILLAR is six lines
and a half in length. Its body is much arched,
and so contractile that the creature can appear
a line and a half shorter, whereby it naturally
becomes more deeply arched. The retractile
black head has a whitish transverse streak
above the mouth ; the dark palpi are whitish
at the base. The ground colour of the body
is an agreeable pale green; the deeply-seated,
brownish-purple coloured medio-dorsal stripe
reaches from the beginning of the mesothorax
to the beginning of the penultimate segment;
the rather flat anal plate is semi-oval, and in
the middle of each side slightly concave. On
each side of the body from above, obliquely
downwards and backwards, are faint pale
stripes, only just perceptible, and in many
points of view quite invisible. The incisions
of the segments are deep above, whereby on
each segment near the dorsal line an eminence
arises, which bears a multitude of white
bristles of unequal length, almost radiating.
Below this wart-like eminence is a second,
less conspicuous, with similar bristles. Both
eminences have hollows in the middle, which
the caterpillar can raise or depress at will.
The lateral wart, clothed with longer project-
ing bristles, in which the spiracle is not per-
ceptible, is purple-red, and forms the rath. r

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

broad lateral stripe, which, however, does
not reach the head, since the prothorax is
either altogether green at the sides, or is only
pale reddish posteriorly. The anal plate is
purple-coloured only for a narrow space ante-
riorly at the sides. The belly is pale green,
with many whitish bristles. The claspers are
short, pale yellowish, rather transparent, with
short cylindrical feet, with a darker yellowish
circlet of hooks ; the legs are spotted with
black anteriorly. When the time of pupation
approaches, the caterpillar becomes of a paler
green, and crawls about restlessly to seek a
place for spinning. As I once lost the cater-
pillars of Lyccena Amyntas at this period of
their lives, because they could find no place
suitable for their change, I laid crumpled
paper, gauze, dry elm and poplar leaves, and
old stalks of wormwood, amongst the plants
of storksbill. As, however, with the cater-
pillar which first becau.e restless all this
appeared of no avail, I shut up the two most
bleached and shrunk in a small wooden box,
in which both gauze and paper lay. Here,
after five or six days, they became quiet, and
changed to chrysalids without spinning. The
others in the flower-pot changed on the earth,
nearly free. I had almost come to the con-
clusion that spinning in Medon is altogether
omitted j however, two spun up quite in the
usual Lyccena style, on a white silken web,
and with a thread round the body ; one of
these was in the cavity of an old elm leaf,
the other on a willow leaf, ,between stems of
Artemisia, which it had drawn together with
some transverse threads, forming as it were
the rudiments of a cocoon. By the 28th of
April all the eight had assumed the chrysalis
state. Out-of-doors the caterpillars, owing
to the hitherto inclement weather, were cer-
tainly not so far advanced. The CHRYSALIS has
the usual Lyccena form, is from four to five
lines long, the males smaller and more slender
than the females, naked, only at the head and
on the upper part of the back with isolated,
very short whitish bristles, only perceptible
with the aid of a lens ; the colour is rather
transparent pale amber, more or less greenish,
with slight lustre : the opaque body is more

of a pale yellow. Over the eye is a short
curved, shining black line. The convex thorax
is separated from the equally convex back of
the body by a saddle-like depression. The
body has a dorsal stripe of reddish -purple,
more or less brilliant, and a similar lateral
stripe of different breadth, which also shows
through the upper margin of the wing-cover.
The anal extremity, which is concealed in the
em pty sk in of the caterpillar, is obtuse, rounded,
and without spines or bristles. It is immov-
able, and is held fast by a fine white thread,
which is drawn round the base of the body,
and by the exuvia, on its silken couch. The
exclusion of the butterfly takes place accord-
ing to the temperature, in from two to three
weeks. " — Zeller.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — The butterfly ap-
pears twice in the year, in May and August.

LOCALITIES. — Mr. Birchall informs us that
this species is taken atDundrum, nearDublin;
there is no record of its occurrence in the Isle
of Man or in Scotland. In England it is
widely, and, I may say, generally distributed,
but does not occur in the lists tratismitted me
from Berkshire, Cumberland, Cheshire, Mid-
dlesex, or Shropshire.

Castle Eden Argus (Lycxna Salmacis). Female.

CASTLE EDEN ARGUS. — " Wings brown-
black ; beneath brownish, with subocellated
spots : fore wings above with a discoidal
black spot in the male, a white spot in the
female : hind wings with a red sub-marginal
band on both sides." — Stephens.

Obs — Having already expressed my opinion
as to the insect not having a claim to be
ranked as a species, and feeling quite incom-
petent to differentiate this supposed species
from those which immediately precede and
follow it, I hold myself excused from writing
a description from nature, and adopt without
alteration that published by my late lamented

BLUES.

127

frier.d. The original specimens, six in num-
ber, from which the descriptions were made,
are ia the British Museum ; five of them have
no discoidal white spot ; one has the white
spot decided and distinct ; four have an in-
distinct discoidal linear black spot ; all have
an indication of a series of orange spots parallel
with the hind margin ; in one specimen this
series is complete on all the wings ; the only
specimen showing the under side has a black
pupil in all the white spots.

LIFE HISTORY. — Unknown.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — Ouebrood only; the
butterfly on the wing from the latter end of
June to the latter end of July.

LOCALITY. — Castle Eden Dene, in the county
of Durham. This species appears confined to
the sea-banks, and I have never seen it above
half a mile from the coast, and only stragglers
at that distance — George Wailes.

Scotch Brown Argus (Lyccena Artaxerxes).

SCOTCH BROWN ARGUS. — All the wings dark
sepia-brown on the upper side, with a white
discoidal spot on the upper wings, and an
indication of a series of rust-coloured spots
parallel with the hind margin of the hind
wings ; the fringe is spotted. The under side
is slatey-gray in the males, fulvous-gray in the
females : in both sexes there are seven white
spots on the fore wings, and eleven on the
hind wings : there is also a series of reddish
spois parallel with the hind margin of all the
wings, each of which is connected with a
crescentic black spot above and an amorphous
black spot below : between the middle of the
wing and the hind-marginal series of com-
pound spots is a sub-median white blotch,
often amalgamated with other white spots.

Variety. — With a white discoidal spot on
upper side of each hind wing.

LIFE HISTORY. — Mr. Young, of Edinburgh,
describes the EGGS of Artaxerxes as circular,
flattened, covered with small granulations,
except at the apex, and of a greenish-white
colour : they hatched in fourteen days, and
tho young caterpillars were very delicate, of a
semi-transparent white colour, with a black
Lead, and numerous long white hairs : they

preferred the leaves of the scarlet geranium to
those of the sun cistus. Mr. Logan, Mr.
Buckler, and Professor Zeller, have given
lengthened descriptions of the caterpillar
in a more advanced state. I select Mr.
Buckler's, which is written from specimens
sent him by Mr. Doubleday, and is publisher1
at page 176 of N"o. 55 of the " Entomolo
gists' Monthly Magazine." "The CATER
PILLAR," says Mr. Buckler, " is of the usua
Lyccuna shape, somewhat onisciform, short and
thick, being arched on the back and sloping
on the sides ; the spiracular region is swollen,
and projecting laterally much beyond the
claspers ; the segments appear deeply divided,
especially on the back, down which are two
rows of rather peaked cone-like eminences,
with a dorsal hollow between them. ; the
second segment is simply rounded above, and
rather longer than the others, and tapering a
little near the head, which is very small and
retractile ; the anal segment tapers very little,
is rounded behind, and hollowed above on the
sides ; the twelfth segment has a small and
prominent wart on each side. The half-grown
caterpillar is from three to four lines in length-
pale green in colour, and clothed with very
fine and short whitish bristles ; the medio-
dorsal stripe, beginning on the fourth and
ending on the twelfth segment, is of' a faint
brown colour, though wider and more strongly
marked just at the beginning of each segment,
and widest at its termination on the penulti-
mate. On the sides of the segments, from the
fifth to the tenth, are double oblique lines,
slanting backwards and downwards, of paler,
green in front and darker green behind than
that of the ground colour. At this stage of
growth the natural projecting ridge of swell-
ings is broadly pink, with scarcely an indication
of a central paler stripe ; the belly and ventral
claspers are pale yellowish green ; the legs
flesh colour. The head is black, the base of
the papillae flesh-colour, and there is a streak
of the same before the mouth. On approach-
ing full growth its length is about half an
inch ; the oblique lines gradually disappear,
and the green colour becomes rather darker ;
a pinkish white stripe runs along the natural

128

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

prominences, broadly bordered above by a stripe
of rose-pink, and beneath by a broader stripe
of still darker pink ; the spiracles are flesh-
colour, situated in the upper pink stripe, very
minute and inconspicuoua The claspers are
green, and the legs pinkish , spotted with brown.
These caterpillars were fed on the common
sun-cistus (Ilelianthemum vulgare), and two of
them changed to the chrysalis state on the 21st
of May, and a third a week later, all in nearly
perpendicular positions, amongst and slightly
attached to the stems of the food-plant by a
few silk threads near the ground. The CHRY-
SALIS is about four lines in length, smooth,
and without polish, rather thick in propor-
tion ; the head rounded and prominent ; the
thorax rounded above, the body plump, and
curved a little backwards; its extremity being
hidden in the shrivelled skin of the caterpillar,
which adheres to it : the colour of the head
and wing-cases is blue-green, with a black
curved streak obliquely placed on each side of
the head ; the body is yellowish flesh-colour,
with a deep pink stripe at the sides enclosing
a central white one, which can also be seen
showing through part of the wing covers." —
Buckler.

TIME OF APPEARANCE — In 1858, on the
19th of June ; in 1859, on the 27th of June ;
in 1860, on the 30th of June ; in 1864, on the
13th of June; in 1865, on the 1st of July ; in
1867, on the 27th of June. — F. Buchanan
White.

LOCALITIES. — Unknown in Ireland,
England, or the Isle of Man : in Scotland it is
generally distributed. Dr. Buchanan White
says it occurs everywhere in Perthshire where
the sun-cistus grows. Even in Rannoch,
where the plant is scarce, he saw specimens
of the butterfly. It has been recorded from
as far north as Aberdeen shire. Dr. Syme
says it is local but abundant on Orrock Hill,
>md has occurred in other places near Balmuto.
I have seen it in some abundance on Arthur's
Seat, near Edinburgh, which is the original
locality. Mr. Birchall finds it in Ayrshire.

42. COMMON BLUE — The upper side of all
tiie wings is delicate lilac blue in the males ;

dingy brown, more or less glossed with lilac
blue reflections, in the females, and having a

42. Common Blue (Lyciwa Icarus).
under sides.

Upper and

moime or less indistinct series of orange spots
parallel with the hind margin ; in this sex
there is also a transversely linear, but indis-
tinct, black discoidal spot on the fore wings ;
the fringe is white. The under side of all
the wings is ashy-gray in the males, fulvous-
brown in the females : in both sexes there is
a hind-marginal series of compound spots,
which are rather indistinct in the males, but
very distinct in the females ; the marginal
portion of each spot is white, and contains a
transverse black mark ; then follows an orange
blotch, then a black crescent, and then a
white crescent : the disk of each fore wing

Two varieties of the under side in the cabinet of
Mr. Bond.

has nine, and that of each hind wing thirteen,
black spots, each spot having a white circuui-

BLUES.

129

scripti-m ; below the middle of the wing, and
extending towards the hind-marginal series of
compound spots, is a vague and indistinct
submedian white blotch.

Varieties. — The varieties of the upper side
are rather puzzling, owing to the greater or
less preponderance of the blue tint in the
females ; the males, on the contrary, are
almost uniformly blue. The under side is
subject to occasional variation, owing to the
combination and enlargement of the spots.
Two beautiful specimens, illustrating this
peculiarity, have been kindly lent me by
Mr. Bond purposely for this work, and are
figured on the preceding page.

Obs. — The specific name of Icarus for the
Common Blue dates 1774, and has been
adopted by Esper, and by our countrymen
Lewin and Haworth. Modern English no-
menclature has changed the name to Alexis,
but I think without sufficient reason, although
this also is an early name, having been pro-
posed in 1776.

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGGS are laid on
rest-harrow (Ononis spinosa), and the young
CATERPILLARS, when they emerge, feed on the
leaves of this plant, on which they may be
found resting much after the manner of a
Chiton, a shell which in form they somewhat
resemble. The head is very small, glabrous,
oblong, porrected in crawling, but otherwise
withdrawn into the second segment and
totally concealed ; the body is convex above,
flattened below, rounded at both extremities,
and dilated and lobed.at the sides; the divisions
of the segments are conspicuously marked ;
the spiracles are situated considerably above
the lateral margin, so much so that they might
be called sub-dorsal ; the posterior pair are
decidedly dorsal ; the whole surface is covered
with extremely minute warts, each of which
emits a hair. The colour of the head is in-
tensely black, of the body green — sometimes
bright apple-green, at other times dull olive-
green ; there is a medio- dorsal stripe rather
darker, and a narrow lateral stripe below the
spiracles, but above the lateral lobes, much
paler, almost white ; between the dorsal and
lateral stripes there are, on each side of each

segment, three pale oblique lines, their in-
clination being from the anterior to the pos-
terior margin of the segment ; the minute
warts are black ; the legs, claspers, and ventral
surface are of the same green hue as the body.
Towards the end of Julyit undergoes thetrans-
formation to a CHRYSALIS, which is rounded at
both extremities, and is without angles ; the
anal extremity is without the usual minute
hooks for attachment ; the region about the
head is furnished with minute bristles ; the
colour is dull green ; the head, extremity of
wing-cases, and ventral surface of abdomen
are tinged with brown. — Newman.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — Throughout the
summer from May to October, perhaps more
particularly abundant in May and June.

LOCALITIES. — Mr. Birchall says it is com-
mon everywhere in Ireland ; he also reports
it from the Isle of Man. In Scotland it is
particularly large and brilliant. The speci-
mens brought from Rannoch by Mr. Thomas
Eedle are the largest I have ever seen ; so
intense is the blue of the males, that I could
not avoid thinking it was another species, but
Mr. Doubleday pronounces it identical with
our English species. Dr. Buchanan White
says that its range in Scotland extends from
the sea-level up to a considerable elevation in
the mountains. In England it is everywhere,
except in a few localities in Yorkshire : I
believe it has escaped the notice of the Halifax
entomologists.

43.— Clifden Blue (Lyccena Adonis). Tipper side
of Male.

43. CLIFDEN BLUE. — On the upper side all
the wings of the male are of the most beautiful
shining blue, with a slender white line on the
costal margin of the fore wings, and a slender
black line on the hind margin ; this black line
passes round the tip of the wing beneath the
white line, but vanishes at about half the

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

length of the costa. The wing-rays are black
towards the hind margin ; the fringe is snowy
white, with a black spot opposite the end of
every wing-ray — that is, five in the fore wings
and seven in the hind wings. The upper side
in the female is smoky brown, occasionally
with blue reflections, and having a series of
spots, more or less distinct, parallel with the
hind margin ; these spots have a somewhat
compound character, the upper border being
orange, the centre black, and the lower border
white ; on the fore wings is a transverse
linear discoidal spot, black with whitish mar-
gin, but always faiut and indistinct. The
under side is grayish brown in Loth sexes ; all
the wiugs have a transverse median discoidal
spot in the fore wings ; this is black with
white circumscription ; in the hind wings it is
white, with a very slender black median line ;
on the fore wings are nine other black spots,
and on the hind wings eleven, all of which
have a white circumscription ; there is also a
series of compound spots parallel with the
hixid margin; the centre of each is orange,
with a black mark above and below the
orange, and a white circumscription ; a sub-
median shapeless white blotch extends from
near the middle of the hind wing nearly to
its hind margin.

LIFE HISTORY. — Fabricius describes the
caterpillar as of a green colour, and as having
dorsal series of fulvous spots. Freyer some-
what improves this brief description, by fixing
the number of spots at twelve in each series,
of which there are two ; and adds that there
is a yellow stripe on each side. It feeds on
leguminous plants. I regret my inability to
give any more information respecting an
insect that is in every collection.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — I have never
found the caterpillar or chrysalis. The per-
fect insect is on the wing in May or June.

LOCALITIES. — Unknown in Ireland, Scot-
land, or the Isle of Man. In England it is
a southern species, and almost peculiar to the
chalk. I give a few localities.

Buckinghamshire. Drayton Beauchamp —
H. H. Crewe ; Hal ton — Joseph Greene.

Devonshire. On the chalk and limestone

formations, but not in the Plymouth district ;
Torquay; common at Chapel Hill and Anstey's
Cove ; Seaton ; Sid mouth — J. J. Reading.

Dorsetshire. Knowle Hill, Buckland New-
ton, Portland, Lulworth, Blandford Race-
course— J. C. Dale.

Gloucestershire. Scarce at Wootton-under-
Edge, but occurred there in 1861, 1865, and
1869 — V. R. Perkins ; taken in the gully at
Durdham Downs in 1868, but not reported
since — W. H. Grigg ; Clifton — Alfred E.
Hudd.

Hampshire. Near Winchester — J. 0. Dale.

Kent. In profusion about Dover Castle
and all the hollows at Folkestone — H. Ramsay
Cox ; not uncommon — G. H. Raynor ; Chil-
ham Park and Dane Court, near Chilham —
H. A. Slowell ; in chalky lanes and railway
cuttings, local but abundant — W. 0. Ham-
mond ; lane leading from Dartford to Darenth
— thousands have been taken in this and
some neighbouring localities for the unworthy
purpose of making butterfly pictures. — E.
Newman.

Surrey. Abundant at Mickleham, and on
the chalk downs about Guildford, and on the
south side of the Hog's Back — E. Newman.

Sussex. Mailing Hill, Bible Bottom, East
Dean, &c., abundant — E. Jenner ; Holling-
bury Coombe — W. Buckler ; Beeching Chalk-
pit at end of May, and again in August,
plentifully — J. H. White ; plentiful near
Lewes, on chalk — C. V. G. Levett ; downs
near Brighton — W. H. Draper.

Wight, Isle of. Ventnor, Apse Down,
Freshwater, generally distributed on the
downs — F. Bond ; common in places on the
chalk, as near Carisbrook Castle, <fec. — J.
Pristo ; St. Boniface Down — J. C. Dale.

44. CHALK-HILL BLUE. — In the male the
wings are of a pale silvery blue, gradually
shading off to smoky black towards the hind
margin, where the black forms a hind-mar-
giual band in the fore wings ; there is a
slender white Hue along the costal margin,
and within this is a black line not very
distinct or clearly defined ; the wing-cases
also are black towards the margin : in the

BLUES.

131

hind wings is a series of black spots parallel
with the hind margin ; these alternate with
the wing-rays : in the female the wings are
pale smoky brown, with a very indistinct,
median, transverse, linear, black spot, and
also a series of obscure spots parallel with the
hind margin : in the hind wings these spots

44. — CHALK-HILL BLUE (Lycirna Corydon).
Male and Female.

have a compound character — orange above,
black in the middle, and white below ; the
fringe is spotted. The under side is gray in
the males, gray-brown in the females; all the
wings have a transverse median discoidal
spot ; in the fore wings this is black with a
white circumscription ; in the hind wings it
is white with a very slender black median
line : on the fore wings are nine other black
spots, and on the hind wings eleven, all of
which have a white circumscription : there is
also a series of compound spots parallel with
the hind margin ; these are black, orange, and
white ; and a sub-median white blotch be-
tween the middle of the wing and the hind-
marginal series of compound spots.

Obs. — I regret the necessity of acknow-
ledging my inability to differentiate perspicu-
ously the females of Adonis and Corydon.

LIFE HISTORY. — The CATERPILLAR rests in
a flat position on its food-plant, with the
ventral surface appressed to the leaves, and
its head, legs, and claspers concealed : if

annoyed it will fall to the ground, with
both extremities slightly incurved; but the
anterior extremity most so; the head is
almost globular, but rather produced to-
wards the mouth; it is about one-third as
wide as the second segment, and entirely
retractile within that segment; the body
is woodlouse - shaped, and in crawling, as
in resting, both the head and legs are con-
cealed ; the divisions of the segments are
decidedly marked : on the back is a double
dorsal row of eight approximate humps, two
on each segment from the third to the tenth,
both inclusive; the margin of the body is
dilated all round, and this greatly contributes
to the woodlouse appearance of the cater-
pillar ; the surface of the body is finely
shagreened, and sprinkled over with black
dots, each of which emits a short but rigid
bristle ; the surface of the caterpillar in this
respect closely resembles the glandular sur-
face of the stems and leaves of some plant* :
these gland -like bristles are particularly
observable on the dilated lateral margin: the
legs and claspera form a double medio-rentral
aeries. The colour of the head is dark brown,
almost black, and highly glabrous ; the body
is dull opaque green, with six longitudinal
series of oblong gamboge-yellow spots; two of
these series are dorsal and approximate, and
each series consists of eight such spots ; the
direction of the spots is rather oblique, and
the anterior extremity of each is rather nar-
rowed; these dorsal spots occupy the summits
of the humpa already described ; another
series of very similar yellow spots is marginal,
occupying the lateral dilatation of each seg-
ment, and above this marginal series of yellow
spots are the circular and rather conspicuous
spiracles; in the two remaining series the
yellow markings are linear and ventral, and
equidistant between the claspers and dilated
margin. It feeds on various papilionaceous
plants, as bird's-foot trefoil (Lotus cornicu-
latus), kidney vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria), and
trefoil (Trifolium). On or about the 13th of
June these caterpillars changed to chrysalids,
at the bottom of the glass wherein they were
confined, without attaching themselves in the

132

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

slightest manner to the food-plant or any
other substance : the CHRYSALIS is rounded and
without projecting points or angles ; the ex-
tremities are obtuse : it is covered with short
hairs, which, however, are not apparent with-
out the use of a lens ; its colour is a pale,
dingy, greenish brown, and the cases which
envelope the thoracic segments and wings have
a semi-transparent appearance. — Newman.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — End of May, the
whole of June, and the beginning of July.

LOCALITIES. — It appears to be abundant
everywhere in England on chalk, but gene-
rally absent where there is no chalk. Mr.
Birchall did not meet with it in Ireland or
the Isle of Man, and I know of no record of
its occurrence in Scotland. In the south of
England it is comparatively common. I sub-
join a few localities.

Berkshire. Burghfield, near Reading: I
mention this, not on account of the rarity of
the insect, but because there is no chalk near
—C. S. Bird.

Buckinghamshire. Drayton - Beauchamp,
Buckland, Aston-Clinton — H. Harpur Crewe;
Halton — Joseph Greene.

Cambridgeshire. Cherry Hinton ; chalk-
pits near Cambridge — F, Bond.

Cornwall. Railway banks nrar Terras,
Pill, and other places, tolerably abundant : I
am rather surprised at its occurrence here,
as there is no chalk near — Stephen Clogg.

Cumberland. Grisedale, near Saddleback :
Mr. Hope, of Penrith, told me he had taken
it repeatedly — J. B. Hodgkinson.

Dorsetshire. In plenty on the downs near
Dorchester, Lulwortb, and Hoddhill ; a single
specimen at Glanville's Wootton — J. C. Dale.

Essex. While collecting with the Rev.
W. Bull, in the high woods near Colchester,
we were astonished to meet with about a
dozen specimens of this insect. I bad never
seen it there before, nor have I found a single
specimen since: there is no chalk anywhere
in the district, and no marl within three or
four miles of the high woods : a specimen or
two have occasionally turned up on the rail-
way banks, but it is a great rarity here —
W. II. Harwood ; in the year 1866, when

beating autumnal larvae in Epping Forest, I
observed Corydon here and there in till the
drives through the forest : I caught somo
half-dozen, and only notice the circumstance
on account of the absence of chalk — E.
Newman; Herne Bay, H. D. Greville; Saffron
Walclen— W. R. Jeffrey.

Glamorganshire. Common at St. Bride's,
near Bridgend — Evan John.

Gloucestershire. It occurs at Wootton-
under-Edge, but is not so common as it was
foraaerly ; it used to be very abundant —
V. R. Perkins ; common on some parts of the
Cotswolds, at Dursley, and near Cheltenham
— Joseph Merrin ; Rodborough Common —
M. G. Musgrave ; Durdham Downs, and
Coombe Glen, near Bristol — F. D. Wheeler ;
near Stroud — W. H. Grigg ; Clifton — Alfred

E. Hudd.

Hampshire. Portsdown — W. Buckler ;
taken once on heath in the New Forest —
G. B. Corbin; hill near Winchester — J C.
Dale.

Kent. Every Kent list speaks of its abun-
dance in the county : I have seen it by
hundreds in the chalky lane leading from
Dartford to Darent — E. Newman.

Lancashire. Grange — Alfred Owen; abun-
dant at Arnside in Silverdale, more especially
about Arnside Tower — J. B. Hodgkinson.

Lincolnshire. Common in Lincolnshire on
chalk— T. H. Allis.

Middlesex. Very rare near Whimbley —

F. Bond.

Somersetshire. Leigh Woods — A. E. Hudd.

Surrey. In all parts of Surrey — S. T.
Klein; Milford, near Godalming — C. G.
Barrett.

Sussex. Beeching Chalkpit, and near
Shanktonbury Ring : plentiful in July — J.
H. White; plentiful about Lewes — C. V. C
Levett ; everywhere on the South Downs —
E. Newman.

Westmoreland. Rough Fields, near Beeth am
and Milnthorpe, in August — J. B. Hodgkinson.

Wight, Isle of. Abundant on the chalk —
James Pristo.

Wiltshire. Glory Ann, Rainscomb Park,
near Great Bedwyn — J. A. Preston.

BLDES.

133

Warwickshire. Once atKnowIe — Frederick
£nock.

45. — Mazarine Bine (Lyccena Ada). Upper side.

Under side.

45. MAZARINE BLUE. — The colour ot the
upper side of the wings is purplish blue,
shaded to smoky black at the hind margin ,
che outer portion of the fringe is white and
unspotted. The under side is plain drab,
except at the base of the hind wings, and
there silvery blue ; on the fore wing is a
transverse oblong discoidal black spot, exactly
half-way between the base and tip of the
wing, and again half-way between this and
the tip of the wing is a row of five, and some-
times seven, black spots; the hind wings have
one black spot near the base, and also near the
costal margin ; a short black transverse linear
discoidal spot iu the very middle of the wing,
and beyond this a transverse series of black
spots, generally eight in number ; these spots
are nearly circular, and each has a white cir-
cumscription.

Obs. — This species has no series of orange
or compound spots parallel with the hind
margin of the hind wings, and no submedian
white blotch.

LIFE HISTORY. — Unknown.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — June and July.

LOCALITIES. — Unknown in Ireland, Scot-
land, and the Isle of Man ; it is very local in
England, occurring here and there in old
jwstures.

Cambridgeshire. I had the pleasure of
capturing here a very good specimen of Ads
-u the 20th of last July, 1858, and one not so

good early in August, 1 857 — C. A Ibert Beodon.
"Intelligencer" vol. iv., p. 141; Cherry
Hiuton and chalk-pits near Cambridge, and
Lawston many years ago — F. Bond; formerly
common in the county, but has not been taken
for the last ten years — Thomas Brown.

Dorsetshire. Glanville's Wootton, formerly
in plenty, but none have been taken since
1S41, Powerstock, Parley Copse, Hazlebury
— J. C. Dale.

Glamorganshire. In 1835, 1836, and 1837
I could take Ads in plenty, but have not seen
it since — T. Parry, Mertliyr " Intelligencer"
vol. vi., p. 28 ; Croesgid, near Llantrissant,
rare — Evan John; I have seen, but not
taken, Glamorganshire specimens — J. T. D.
Llewelyn.

Gloucestershire. Has been met with at
Stinchcombe and Break Heart Hills, near
Wootton-under-Edge; specimens from these
localities are in Mr. Cooper's collection — V.
R. Perkins ; two specimens at Lower Guiting,
on f»-v "lotswold, the beginning of July, 1849
— Joseph Greene; Dursley — Evan John, Alfred
E. Hudd.

Hampshire. Near Bingwood, and near
Brockenhurst — J. C. Dale.

Herefordshire. I took five specimens in
one of my father's meadows, called the
" Horse Leasow," at Olden Barn, four miles
from Leominster, on the 20th June, 1832 ;
four of them were females and one only a
male. I have repeatedly seen it since, and
my nephew has taken two specimens, but
many years ago — E. Newman.

Lincolnshire. One specimen was taken at
Epworth, in the Isle of Axholm — T. H. Allis.

Monmouthshire. I have taken one speci-
men at St. Julians — George Lock.

Somersetshire. I took two or three of these
butterflies flying in a pasture-field at the
bottom of a hill near Bath ; they were much
wasted in colour, and appeared to have been
long on the wing — Lewin.

Warwickshire. Ads was formerly taken in
plenty near Shirley, but it has not been seen
for the last ten years ; picture-makers and
dealers have exterminated the species —
Frederick Enoch,

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

16. — Small Blue (Lyccena, Alsus). Upper side.

Under side.

46. SMALL BLUE. — The colour of the upper
side is smoky brown, faintly tinged with sil-
very blue, an appearance communicated by the
presence of scattered metallic scales ; the costal
margin is white ; the fringe has the basal por-
tion brown, the outer portion white. The
under side is silvery gray ; half-way between
the base and tip of the fore wing is a short,
linear, transverse, discoidal spot, and again
half-way between this and the hind margin is
a transverse series of seven black spots ; on
the hind wings there is the usual median
transverse, linear, uisuoidal spot, and ten other
black spots, one of them near the costal mar-
gin at its base, another between this and the
inner margin, and another near the anal angle;
the remaining eight form an irregular trans-
verse median series ; all the spots have a dis-
tinct pale circumscription.

Obs. — There is no marginal series of orange
spots, and the white submedian blotch is also
absent.

LIFE HISTORY. — At page 205 of No. 33 of
the " Entomologists' Monthly Magazine," Mr.
J. Gedge, of Cambridge, gives us the following
interesting account of the oviposition of this
species : —

" On June 27th, the perfect insect was out
o great abundance, so I set to work to dis-
cover its food-plant. I soon observed that
they did not care much for the great masses of
kidney vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria), but rather
chose to settle upon the scattered flowers of
this and other plants. Presently, however, I
saw one settle on a flower-head of the kidney
vetch which showed no yellow blossoms. I

remained perfectly still. It walked down
between the flower-buds, and dragged its
body between the woolly calyces ; all round
the flower-head it went, and then turned up
its body, and flew off to another head. Here
there were two or three blossoms just open,
but it seemed to go through the same process
Upon gathering the flower-heads, I found, in
each case, a single egg laid between the downy
calyces. This I saw repeated many times.
The insect showed great discrimination in the
flower-heads she chose ; often she settled on
one, walked round it, then flew off to another,
and sometimes to a third, before she was satis-
fied. Never did she seem to be content unless
there were some buds on the head ; at any
rate, I particularly noticed that she avoided
those where the blossoms had faded, leaving
the calyx, the first food of the caterpillar,
dry. Twice I saw what I took to be a female
settle on the flower-head of the horse-shoe
vetch (Hippocrepis comosa) ; in one case the
insect remained some time, but in neither
case was there any egg. The eggs were of a
glaucous hue, and under the microscope were
found to be most perfectly reticulated , the
meshes which stood out in relief were not
hexagonal, as in Pyrarga Egeria,\>\\l perfectly
rhombical, and knotted at the junction of their
angles. They hatched on the sixth day (July
3rd). The caterpillars began by eating the
hairy calyx, then they passed into it, and fed
on the legume."

The CATERPILLAR is woodlouse-shaped, with
a small, shining, retractile head, distinctly
divided segments, dilated sides, and a shallow
medio-dorsal furrow. The head is black, the
body green, the medio-dorsal furrow orange-
red, with a paler ridge on each side ; on each
segment is an oblique yellowish line, bordered
below by orange-red, and the lateral dilatation
is also yellowish, forming a pale side-stripe ;
on each segment between this side-stripe and
the oblique line already noticed is a linear
yellowish spot. The CHRYSALIS is obese and
blunt-headed ; it is attached by a belt to a
stalk of (he food-plant ; its colour is yellow,
with three longitudinal series of black spots,
one of which is medio-dorsal.

BLUES.

135

Obs. — I have seen neither the caterpillar
nor chrysalis of this little butterfly, but the
concurrent testimony of Hubner, Duponchel,
and others, induces me to place confidence in
the foregoing description.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — The butterfly is
on the wing in June.

LOCALITIES. — Mr. Birchall reports Alsusio
be very common in Gal way, and also to occur
near Belfast and on the Portmarnock sand-
hills, and Mr. Fetherstonehaugh takes it at
B-ay, in the county Wicklow. In Scotland
it appears to be very local. Mr. Birchall re-
ports it from Arran, Ardiossan, and Oban.
Dr. Boswell Syme finds it by the railway at
Seafield, and also between Kirkaldy and
Kingshorn ; Dr. Buchanan White says it has
occurred abundantly near Perth at several
places, as at Broxy, but of late years it has
been very scarce ; it seems confined to the
lowland part of the country, although it
occurs in all parts of Scotland, both east and
west, and as far north as Forres ; the dates of
capture in Scotland are June 10 in 1858, May
31 in 1859, and June 15 in 1867. In England
it seems to be widely, but not generally,
distributed ; it does not appear in my lists for
Berkshire, Cornwall, Cheshire, Hertfordshire,
Middlesex, Norfolk, Northampton, Notting-
ham, Shropshire, Surrey, or Warwickshire,
but is present in all the other county lists.

47. — Azure Blue (Lycczna Argiolus). Male.

Female.

47. AZURE BLUE. — The colour of the wings
in the male is purplish blue with a narrow
black hind-marginal border. In the female

there is a broad hind-marginal black band on
the fore wings, and a narrow black hind-
marginal border in the hind wings, and just
within this is a series of six transversely
oblong black spots. The under side of all the
wings is silvery blue-gray ; in the fore wings
there is a transverse discoidal black streak
half-way between the base and tip, and half-
way between this streak and the tip are five,
and sometimes six, transversely oblong black
spots : the hind wings have a transverse
discoidal black streak in the centre, and nine,
ten, or eleven black spots scattered over the
disk: the fringe is white, slightly interrupted
in the fore wings, with smoky black spots.

Obs.— There is no series of orange spots
parallel with the hind margin of the hind
wings, and the white submedian blotch is also
absent.

LIFE HISTORY. — I regret to feel my inability
to give, with confidence, any particulars of
the life history of this species. I believe it
is pretty well established that there are two
broods in the year, and that the EGGS which
produce the first brood of caterpillars are laid
on the blossoms of the holly (Ilexaquifolium);
and the date of the flowering of that tree fixes
the date of ovipositiou Messrs. Humphreys
and Westwood describe the CATERPILLAR as
pubescent, and of a greenish yellow colour, with
a bright green line down the back, the head
and legs being black : the CHRYSALIS, they add,
is smooth, brown and green, with a dark dorsal
line. My own opinion (expressed very many
years ago) that this species migrates, in its
alternate generations, from the holly to the
ivy, and, vice versd, from the ivy to the holly,
was perhaps little more than one of those
crude guesses in which all young entomolo-
gists indulge ; still there are some facts ascer-
tained respecting this insect which favour the
idea. At page 98 of the fourth volume of the
" Entomologist," we find that in May of the
present year Mr. Hedworth observed the in-
sect both flying about and settling on the
hollies at Gibside, near Newcastle. At page
112 of the same volume, Mr. Perkins observed
it abundantly on laurustinus ; on the same
page Mr. Clifford says, " the flowers of the

136

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

holly, ivy, and buckthorn are the aliment of
the caterpillars. These three plan's flower
but once a year; and while the holly and
buckthorn bloom in May, the ivy flowers late
in autumn. Yet two broods occur in places
where only one of the food-plants named is
found ; and it would appear, from the Condi-
tion of the spring brood, as if they hao ot
hybernated, and that there must have beeik/
therefore, two broods of caterpillars. I
have seen a female in August depositing eggs
amongst ivy, so probably it hybernates in the
chrysalis state." Mr. Horley, of Hoddesdon,
informs me that in November of last year he
beat a caterpillar of Argiolus from the blossoms
of the ivy, on which it appeared to have been
feeding : it changed to a chrysalis the same
month, and to a butterfly during April of the
present year : this information, coupled wifch
the preceding from Mr. Clifford, seems to
point to ivy bloom as the food of the second
generation of caterpillars of Argiolus, and
also shows that in this instance at least the
insect passed the winter in the chrysalis state.
TIME OF APPEARANCE. — The flowering of
the holly (Ilex aquifolium) fixes with sufficient
accuracy the time when the first brood of
caterpillars is feeding, and the flowering of
the ivy (Hedera Helix) may be taken as a
guide to the second brood of caterpillars.
With regard to the butterfly being on the
wing, the following note, which appeared at
page 258 of the first volume of the " Zoolo-
gist," shows that there is a pretty constant
succession of individuals from May to August,
both months inclusive. It was contributed
by Mr. W. Gaze. " On referring to my
register I find that the first specimen of this
butterfly I ever possessed was captured at
Kedington on the 9th of May, 1833, and was
the only one obtained that year: in 1834 one
was taken on the 31st of July, and others on
the 1st, 8th, and 12th of August: in 1835
the dates of capture were May 8th, 16th, and
19th ; June 6th ; July 23rd, 27th, and 30th ;
August 1st and 6th ; on the 19th May and
6th of August it was very abundant : in 1836
I took a male at Lavenham on the 7th May,
which is the earliest date I ever saw it, and it

continued very abundant in the same locality
during the whole of that month." At page
334 of the same volume Mr. R. C. R. Jordan
extends the period of its appearance by an-
nouncing a capture on the 8th of April.

Obs. — At page 213 of the fifth volume of
the " Entomologist," Mr. Watkins, of Pains-
wick, gives the following curious instance of
depraved taste in this butterfly : — " During
Tnly of the present year a drain, which was
opeu^ on our premises, attracted several
fresh a|^cimens of L. Argiolus. It was very
interesting to watch them flying over the
drain, sometl nes alighting to sip the sewage,
which they seemed to prefer to the flowers in
the adjoining fields." My readers will recol-
lect a similar instance of depraved taste in the
Purple Emperor.

LOCALITIES. -Generally distributed through-
out Ireland, where the holly, on which the
caterpillar feeds, is a very common tree. I
have no record of its occurrence in Scotland
or the Isle of Man. In the south of England
it is a common insect, but seems very rapidly
to decrease in abundance as we travel north-
wards.

Warwickshire. Immense quantities were
taken in Sutton Park on the llth of May,
1856 — F. Meyer in "Intelligencer" vol. i.,
p. 59.

48. — Large Blue (Lyccena Arion), Upper side of
Male.

Under side of Femald.

BLUES.

137

Under side of Variety in Mr. Bo id's Collection.

48. LARGE BLUE. — The hind wings have
the hind margin very slightly scalloped. The
colour of all the wings is a dull heavy blue,
without any of that brilliancy that adorns
Icarus and Adonis ; the hind margin of all
the wings is black : in the fore wings, and
equally distant from the base and tip, is a
transversely oblong black discoidal spot, and
between this and the hind margin, though
still near the middle of the wing, is a trans-
verse series of seven longitudinally oblong
black spots : the hind wings have a mere
indication of three or four black spots near
the middle, and a series of five or six black
spots near the hind margin ; these have a
pale circumscription ; the scalloped margin of
the hind wings is black, and the fringe of all
the wings white. The under side is pearly
gray, the base of the hind wings being silvery
blue, with a metallic lustre ; round the hind
margin of all the wings is a double row of
obscure black spots ; in addition to these, and
nearer the middle of the fore wings, are eight
intensely black spots, and thirteen similar
spots on the hind wings : all these have a
white circumscription.

06s. — This butterfly is distinguished from
all other blues inhabiting this country by its
larger size, by its scalloped hind wings, by
the cluster of black spots in the middle of the
fore wings on the upper side, and by the
double series of black spots on the hind mar-
gin of all the wings, on the under side : these
are always unaccompanied by any tinge of
orange : the submedian white Hotch is also
absent.

LIVE HISTORY. — Zeller tells us that the egg
is laid on the wild thyme, and that the cater-
pillar feeds on that plant — a statement copied
by myself in the previous editions of this

history, and still, as yet, only partially con-
firmed.

I am indebted to Mr. Merrin for eggs of
this species • they were accompanied with the
following communication. : — " Having a',
length succeeded in obtaining eggs of Lyccenu
Arion, T am pleased to be able to send you six
of them — four on as many sprigs of thyme,
and two on another piece. I followed a female
specimen last Saturday to a fine patch of
thyme, where I watched her for a quarter of
an hour, and distinctly saw her lay several
eggs. Some of these I afterwards took away,
and others I left, marking the plant for future
observations. I gathered a large number of
likely-looking pieces of thyme on the ground,
and on examining them afterwards at home
with a glass, found about twenty eggs. They
seemed to be generally laid singly on the
largest heads of flowers, and those which are
most pubescent seem to be preferred. Some-
times, however, I found two eggs on a head,
and in one case no less than six." Being from
home when the box containing these treasures
was so kindly despatched from Gloucester by
Mr. Merrin, a delay of some days occurred
before it reached my hands, and five out of
the six eggs had hatched ; the sixth was still
perfect, and was forthwith submitted to ex-
amination : I found this EGG to be a spheroid,
much depressed at the north pole, and con-
cave at the south pole, where it was very
slightly attached to the hairs of the calyx of
a flower of the thyme, on which it had been
deposited by the female parent. The surface
o£ the egg is reticulated, the network pro-
jecting, and thus communicating a cellular or
honeycombed appearance to the egg ; the cells
are shallow, much more so than those of a
honeycomb, and the surface rather more
resembling that of a cow's stomach ; the
septa dividing the cells are extremely thin,
and at every junction of septa is an elevated
process almost spine-like ; the array of these
is very conspicuous when the egg is viewed
in profile : the cells are of nearly equal size,
except at the north pole and in its immediate
vicinity, where they suddenly decrease in
size, and are, in fact, exceedingly small.

The

138

BRITISH BUTTEKFLIES.

colour and texture of the egg much resemble
white porcelain, with the slightest possible
tint of green, excepting the circular space at
the pole occupied by the smaller cells, where
the green tint is very decided and the limits
of this darker colour are clearly defined. On
the 4th of July a CATERPILLAR escaped from
the egg-shell, and a considerable portion of
shell was also absent, as though eaten l>y the
late occupant; the remaining portion of the
egg-shell was perfectly colourless, and exhi-
bited a still greater resemblance to fine porce-
lain. The extruded caterpillar was colourless,
but the intestinal canal, tilled with an orange-
coloured substance like the yolk of a duck's
egg, was plainly perceptible. Each segment
of the body emits a few scattered hairs : these
seem particularly observable near the anal
extremity. Mr. Porritt, of Huddersfield,
advanced one step farther. He informs us,
at page 166 of the same journal, (hat on the
4th of May two young caterpillars emerged
from eggs in his possession ; one of these,
which had a black head and a pinkish body,
he placed on a fresh flower-head of thyme, to
which it soon attached itself so closely, and
was so similar in appearance, that it was with
difficulty he could distinguish it. It fed well
until the 14th, when he found it stretched out
at full length along the mid-rib on the upper
side of a thyme leaf ; and, being in the same
position the next day, he concluded that it
was about to undergo its final moult. A day
afterwards this change was effected, and Mr.
Porritt then made the following description :
Length, about one-sixth of an inch ; stout,
but tapering towards the head, which is much
smaller than the second segment ; the general
colour was dirty pink, the head brown and
shiny; behind the head is a large, almost
plate-like, dull black mark, from which ex-
tends the rather broad, conspicuous, rust-
coloured dorsal line ; the body is sparingly
clothed with light brown hairs.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — In 1835, June 8
and 15 ; in 1798, June 28 ; in 1836, June
29; in 1833, July 3 ; in 1799, July 5 and
0; and in 1819, July 14.— /. C. Dale.

LOCALITIES. — It has not been reportedfrom

Ireland, Scotland, or the Isle of Man. In
England it is decidedly local, its ascertained
range being restricted to the ten counties
mentioned below. Its " metropolis," if I
may borrow an expression from the revered
fathers of British entomology, is in South
Devon ; it has occurred in some abundance
in Somersetshire, and on the Cotswold Hills
in Gloucestershire; from Gloucestershire we
ascend to a Midland county, Northampton-
shire, in which county a considerable number
have been taken : the remaining seven counties
have produced but few specimens. All our
recent information respecting this species
is contained in the "Entomologist," from
which journal I have made the following
extracts : —

Bedfordshire. Taken in Bedfordshire and
sent to me by my friend, Dr. Abbott — A. II.
Ilaworth, in " Lepidoptera Britannica," page
45.

Buckinghamshire. Clifden — Lewin.

Devonshire. It occurs only on the mica
xlate formation from Bolt Head to Bolt Tail
during the latter part of June and beginning
of July — J. J. Reading. I was very suc-
cessful this year [1865] in capturing on the
17th of June thirty -six specimens of Lycasna
Arion near Plymouth, some of them much
wasted ; the weather was very boisterous, but
I fortunately got into a sheltered nook under
some high cliffs where apparently there had
been a land-slip some years before : the
ground was very rough, and it was with
great difficulty that I could travel over it, or

I should have taken more — G. C. Bignell,

II Entomologist," vol. ii., p. 295. From the
Bolt Head to the Bolt Tail. One year I took
it wasted on the 14th of June, but the follow-
ing year it did not make its appearance until
the 7th of July. Another year I found it very
sparingly on the 14th of July, and then only
just coming out. It is an insect, in my
opinion, which, if not taken within two days
of its emerging from the chrysalis, is worth
nothing for a cabinet specimen, for the white
fringe will then be gone, as well as most
of the blue scales on the upper side of the
wings. Anyone desiring to lake this insect

BLUES.

139

in our neighbourhood must regulate his visit
according to the weather during the past
spring ; he cannot do better than stop at the
"King's Arms," Salcombe, for the night.
Bolt Head is an out-of-the-way place to get at.
The nearest point by rail is Kingsbridge Road ;
you can take the coach from thence to Kings-
bridge, a distance of about ten miles. From
thence to Salcombe is about four miles by
steamer or boat, and then you have about two
miles' walk to Bolt Head ; the slopes here are
very steep, and in dry seasons it is absolutely
necessary you should have spikes or long hob-
nails in your boots, to make sure of your
footing, for it puts one in mind of walk'ng
on ice, it is so excessively slippery — G. C.
Bigncll. [This is written five years sub-
sequently to the preceding note.] — When I
last had the pleasure of seeing you I think
you told me that you were not aware that the
Bolt Head on the coast of Devon was a locality
for Lyccena Arion : two years since, when
with some friends, we caught several dozen
of that species, and about a fortnight since
many were again taken in that locality by a
friend of mine — John Gatcombe, " Entomolo-
gist," vol. iv., p. 301. It is very abundant on
a rough piece of ground near a village about
ten miles from Kingsbridge, in South Devon ;
I have the name of the village and unques-
tionable evidence of the correctness of this
statement, but have received exact particulars
of the locality from Mr. J. F. Hanbury on the
condition of not publishing it — E. Newman.

Dorsetshire. One specimen was taken by
D. Morris at Charmouth, but I have heard of
none since — J. G. Dale.

Gloucestershire. Rodborough Common,
Sapperton, Miserdine Park, Daneway Common
— M. G. Musgrave. Lyccena Arion has turned
up again here [near Gloucester]. I captured
three pairs on the 20th, 21st, and 22nd of
June, 1867, in beautiful condition, and a few
days later a fourth pair, rather worn. On the
29th I was out with a friend, when we took
seven npecimens, but in very bad condition,
and we let some fly again in consequence —
Herbert Marsden, " Entomologist" vol. iii.,
p. 314. Several years ago I found Arion

sparsely distributed on the Cotswold Hills,
and it was found by others on other portions
of the same range, but from some of the local-
ities in which it was once found it has since
disappeared. Last year [1865] several speci-
mens were taken by my friend, Mr. Marsden,
of Gloucester, in the same neighbourhood in
which I had taken it ; and this year I was
fortunate enough to capture eleven specimens,
and Mr. Marsden has taken still more. Owing
to the forwardness of the season generally for
insects, it became a nice point for calculation
when to look for this species with the prospect
of finding it. It is generally from the 14th
to the 20th of June, but this year I took the
first eleven specimens on the 6th of June.
Most of them were in good order, although
one or two had evidently been out some days.
There was a strong wind blowing, as there
generally is on the exposed places occupied
by Arion, and doubtless this tends quickly to
damage its delicate plumage ; the spot most
frequented by them was, however, partly
sheltered by a stone wall. The same locality
subsqnently yielded as many as were taken
on the first day, while all the district round
about, though much of it is of the same
character, was perfectly clear of them. This
tends to show that the species is very local.
On another spot, some miles distant, but of a
similar broken character, the species was also
found, the area, however, being still more
contracted. The ground in both cases consists
of deserted quarries, from which broken stone
has been taken, the sides of the quarries being
left sloping, and thick grass, with the usual
herbage of hills, growing near. This herbage
includes wild thyme,sun-cistus, wild geranium,
wild forget-me-not, milkwort, yellow trefoil,
and several species of coarse grass — Joseph
Merrin, " Entomologist" vol. iv., p. 105. On
June 1st [1868] I took one specimen of Arion
on the north-east side of Painswick Hill;
business prevented my visiting the place again
in the daytime, but having spent four even-
ings searching in the same place, I succeeded
in taking twelve specimens. The last I took
on the 23rd of June ; it was much worn in
appearance. I found them at rest on the

140

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

long steins of a species of coarse grass in
exposed situations. The ground is rough and
broken, consisting of small quarries not in
use. There is a wood a short distance off.
The extent of ground over which they were
found is about half an acre — 0. J. Watkins,
"Entomologist" vol. iv., p. 120.

Hampshire. Formerly taken on hills near
Winchester, by Mr. Griesbach, when a boy
at school there ; some of the specimens were
in Mr. Curtis's collection — J. G. Dale.

Herefordshire. Taken near the aqueduct
at Hereford, but rare — F. E. Harman.

Huntingdonshire. Monk's Wood, in July
— J. F. Stephens.

Northamptonshire. The great prize of all
the butterflies of the neighbourhood of Pole-
brook, I hold to be Lyccena Arion, which,
if I mistake not, was discovered here by my-
self thirteen or fourteen years since. It is
confined entirely, as far as my experience goes,
to Barnwell Wold and the adjoining rough
fields, with the exception of a single specimen
which I once met with in a rough field near
Polebrook. Its flight is somewhat peculiar,
being different from that of others of the same
genus, and more resembling that of Cceno-
nympha Pamphilus and Epinephele Titlionus.
Independently of its manner of flight and
size, it is in most instances easily distin-
guished on the wing from the other blues by
its dark and irony appearance. Many ento-
mologists have, of late years, visited Barnwell
Wold in search of Arion; in short, a summer
never passes without meeting in my rambles
brother entomologists from different parts of
the country; I rejoice, however, to be able
to state that its annual occurrence does not
appear to be diminished in consequence. Un-
less my memory fa' Is me, I think Mr. Wolley,
of Trinity College, Cambridge, informed me
that one year he captured, in a few days,
between fifty and sixty specimens in and
about Barnwell Wold, though, in point of
weather, the days were anything but favour-
able— William £ree, "Zoologist" for 1852,
page 3350. I have again this season taken
this beautiful insect in plenty at Barnwell
Wold, forty nine specimens; it is a very local

in.sect, for although I have searched the Wold
well, I have only found it in one spot, in the
corner of a rough pasture under a wood ; it is
an easy insect to take, flying very low, and is
very conspicuous, settling occasionally on wild
thyme (Thymus serpyllurti), the purple bugle
(A jug a reptans), and a dwarf thistle; but I
have never seen it on bramble blossoms,
although they are very abundant — Frederick
Bond ; I captured a single specimen of Arion
near the village of Wigsthorpe, Northampton-
shire, between the 3rd and 20th of June,
1841 : it is rather a singular variety, and not
larger than LyccenajEgon — Henry Doubleday,
" Entomologist" vol. i., p. 156.

Somersetshire. I took about forty specimens
on the 15th June, 1833, in a situation abound-
ing with long grass and brambles, at Langporfc,
near Taunton; and on the same day in 1834
I took about twenty specimens, and Mr. Dale
ten — John Quekett ; subsequently Mr.Quekett
visited the same locality on several occasions,
and always with the same success — E. New-
man; hills near Bath — Lewin.

Wiltshire. Marlborough Downs — Lewin;
Savernake Forest — T. A. Preston.

Natural Order IY. — WORM-SHAPED or CYLINDRICAL

CATERPILLARS (in scienoe, Vermiformes or

Cylindracei).

The distinguishing character is that the
caterpillars are worm-shaped or cylindrical;
in this country they are commonly spoken of
as grubs, and in France as vers ; generally
speaking, they are excessively destructive to
cultivated vegetables, and are a constant
source of loss and annoyance to the farmer
and gardener : they are without spines or
conspicuous bristles, and the skin has often
a velvety or downy appearance, which is
attributable in a gi'eat measure to the pre-
sence of very numerous minute warts, each
of which emits a hair. The British species
constitute three very natural families.

Family 9. — REDHOHNS (in science, Rhodoceridce).

The caterpillars are smooth, cylindrical,
arid velvety : they generally feed on legumi-
nous plants, more particularly trefoils and

REDHORNS.

141

clover ; but one species, which is by far the
most abundant, feeds on the common buck-
thorn (Rhamnus catharticus), a plant of a
very different Natural Order : they turn to
chrysalids in spring or summer, and to butter-
flies early in the autumn, and pass the win-
ter in that state. The chrysalis is belted and
attached also by the tail ; its head is pointed
and undivided, and seems to be held as far as
possible away from the food- plant to which it
is attached. The butterfly has six legs, per-
fectly formed for walking, and in all the
species with which I am acquainted the
antennae are short, and tinged with red :
there is also a marked prevalence of yellow
er orange colour in the wings ; in the Arctic
species, of which we know very little, a tinge
of dull blue is often observable. The continen-
tal species, Colias Nastes, Colias Phicomone,
and others partake decidedly of this character ;
and some species of the same genus, brought
home by our Arctic voyagers, still more nearly
resemble the larger Blues, such as Lyccena
Arion.

49.— Pale Clouded Yellow (Colias Eyale).

49. PALE CLOUDED YELLOW. — The antennae
are short, straight, and decidedly clubbed ;
they are of a reddish-brown colour, the club
being rather darker,and the extreme tip paler ;
the fore wings are slightly arched near the
base of the costal mai-gin, very straight in the
middle, and blunt at the tip : the colour is
sulphur-yellow, the fore wings having a black
band, which occupies the whole of the apical
area : this band is very broad at the costa,
and decreases gradually to the anal angle j it
is interrupted by a median series of conspicu-
ous, but not clearly defined, sulphur-coloui'ed
spots f a little above the middle of the wing
is an intensely black oval spot : the hind wings

have a slender and ill-defined black margin,
and a large median saffron-coloured spot,
which is almost double.

Varieties. — There are two distinct shades of
colour among the individuals of this butter-
fly ; the more common colour is canary-yellow
or sulphur, the other white, with the faintest
possible tinge of yellow. Lewin, in his
" Insects of Great Britain," page 70, treats
of them as species, calling the yellow ones
the " Clouded Yellow," and the white ones
the " Pale Clouded Yellow : " he gives excel-
lent figures of the upper and under side of
each : Ha worth rejects the white ones as a
species, but retains them as a variety (var. /3) :
Dr. Leach, a most careful observer, and one
whose opinion all entomologists receive with
profound respect, says "there is a pale
variety of each sex ; " and the same remark
is repeated in Samouelle's " Useful Com-
pendium." Notwithstanding this accumu-
lation of evidence, I incline to dissent from
the opinion expressed ; the white or whitish
individuals appear to me to be exclusively
female, while the yellow ones are both male
and female, but most commonly male. At
page 355 of the first volume of the " Entomo-
logist," Mr. Dale makes an observation ex-
actly in accordance with my own view ; he
says, " Colias Hyale has occasionally a white
female." Notwithstanding such a repeated
expression of opinion in favour of considering
the difference of colour as specific or varietal,
entomologists in this country have gradually
arrived at the conclusion that the difference
in colour was only sexual — a conclusion that,
I think, cannot be maintained.

LIFE HISTORY. — In the spring of the year
the EGGS are laid on various species of clover
and trefoil by females that have hybernated
in the perfect state ; they hatch in a very few
days, probably from five to fifteen : the young
CATERPILLAR is of a pale green colour, the head
being remarkably small in comparison with
the body : when in a state of repose it lies
along the middle of the leaf on the upper side,
80 that at night, when the clover shuts up its
leaves in sleep, the little caterpillar is quite
enclosed, and protected alike from wet and

143

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

cold, a beautiful exemplification of the bene-
ficence of an all-wise Creator in providing for
the safety, preservation, and welfare of all his
creatures, however apparently insignificant :
the edges of the leaf meet with such nicety
and exactness over the delicate little creature
that they seem adherent to each other as
though glued together. This interesting ob-
bervationwas made byMr."W. H. Tugwell, and
published in the " Entomologists1 Weekly In-
telligencer" for 1857. Hubner and others
have figured the full-grown caterpillar : it is
represented as having a moderate-sized head
and cylindrical body, the segments of which
are clearly marked and rather tumid ; the
colour of both the head and body is dull
olive-green sprinkled with black dots ; in the
region of the spiracles it has a narrow white
side-stripe interrupted with yellow ; it feeds
on several leguminous plants besides those
which are cultivated, and when full-fed at-
taches itself to one of the stems, and turns to
a green chrysalis with an ochieous border to
the wing-cases, and an ochreous stripe down
the side extending to both ends : it is attached
by a belt as well as by tlie caudal hooks.

TIME OP APPEARANCE. — The butterfly has
sometimes been seen on the wing in the
spring months, also occasionally during the
last few days in July, and often throughout
August, at the end of which month it retires
for the winter. Concerning the caterpillar
little can be said, few entomologists having
seen it in this country, and no one has made
observations as to the date of its appearance.

LOCALITIES. — This butterfly is particularly
fond of clover and lucerne when in blossom ;
it has also a decided partiality for chalky
districts, especially near the sea ; hence the
maritime counties of Kent and Sussex have
been the most productive of specimens. It
has never been observed in Ireland, Scotland,
or the Isle of Man. The recorded localities
in England are as follows : —

Cambridgeshire. Not uncommon in the
county — Thomas Brown.

Cumberlamd. Newbeggin Wood ; my
father missed one in the large field going into
tlie Wood — J. B. Hodykinson.

Derbyshire. One specimen taken at the
Via Gallia, near Cromford, by the late John
Wolley. I have seen the specimen — H. H.
Crewe.

Devonshire. Whitsand Cliffs, Totnes, Ply-
mouth racecourse — George 0. Biynell ; Tor-
quay, Sidmouth, Babington — J. J. Reading.

Dorsetshire. Seen by Mrs. Dale — J. 0.
Dale.

Essex. Colchester, but rare — W. H. Har-
wood ; Epping — W. J. Argent; common at
Herne Bay in 1868 — H. D. Greville; Saffron
Walden— W. R. Jeffrey.

Gloucestershire. Has occurred near Glou-
cester— Joseph Merrin.

Hampshire. Railway banks and roadside
banks near Farlington — W. Buckler; near
Brockenhurst occasionally — F. Bond ; Bram-
shott and Liphook — C. G. Barrett; Ports-
down — Henry Moncreajf.

Herefordshire. One taken by Mr. Walter
Hutchinson at Kimbolton, near Leominster,
in 1868 — Mrs. Hutchinson.

Kent. Plentiful in clover fields about
Dover Castle, and lucerne fields at Folke-
stone; in 1868, one at Tonbridge — G. H.
Raynor ; Selling, Chilham, Shotterden, Hor-
slip, Stockbury — H. A. Stowell; Tenterden —
John Scratton, Jun.; Darent and Birch woods
— W. Machin ; New Cross — E. Newman.
Several at Forest Hill in 1857, occasionally
at Margate in following years ; at the end of
July and beginning of August, 1868, this was
the commonest butterfly to be seen at Marsh
Bay, Margate, where the specimens were
flying by hundreds. It was a lovely sight to
see these handsome creatures settled on the
flowers, and swaying to and fro in the wind ;
the rich gold colour of their under side con-
tracting beautifully with the purple flowers
of the lucerne ; Hyale was abundant all over
the Isle of Thanet ; wherever a little patch ol
lucerne was to be seen, Hyale was sure to be
there, even close to the houses : its head-quar-
ters, however, were decidedly at Marsh Bay,
which lies between Birchington and Margate,
about a mile and a half to the west of Mar-
gate ; we captured about eight hundred
specimens : it would have been easy to have

REDHORNS.

taken thousands — H. Ramsay Cox, " Ento-
mologist," vol. iv., p. 179; it appears periodi-
cally in all the open country between Canter-
bury and the sea — W. Oxenden Hammond.

Norfolk. Norwich— C. G. Barrett; Alde-
by in 1868—^. Fenwick Hele.

Suffolk. Beccles, Ringsfield— W. M. Crow-
foot.

Surrey. In 1835 it was common at New
Cross by the " Five Bells," and on the spot
where some of the buildings of the railway
station now stand ; more than a hundred
specimens were taken in that immediate
neighbourhood by myself and others — E.
Newman; Hasleinere in 1868 — C. G. Barrett.

Sussex. Prinstead, railway bank — William
Buckler; near Chichester — W. H, Draper;
one at Bognor — Roland Trimen.

Warwickshire. A single specimen was
taken near Edgbaston Reservoir in 1868 —
Frederick Enock.

Wight, Isle of. Ventnor and Newport —
Alfred Owen; rare — J. Pristo.

Oba. — The fitful and most capricious appear-
ance of this lovely butterfly in England has led
to many predictions and hypotheses respecting
the periodicity of its visits ; but all attempts
to systematize these visits have proved futile.
At page 236 of his " Entomologists' Uuseful
Compendium," Mr. Samouelle says, " It occurs
in England once in three years, some seasons
only locally, at others in the greatest profusion
iu every part of the country. Mr. Desvignes
subsequently suggests, at page 388 of the first
volume of the " Entomologist," that it has a
periodicity of seven years. It certainly ap-
peared in profusion on the south-eastern corner
of our island in 1821 and 1828, but in neither
year do precise records appear to have been
kept ; and I obtained this information subse-
quently to its multitudinous appearance in
1835, and in consequence of Mr. T. Desvigues'
prediction that it would abound in a similar
manner in 1842. This excellent naturalist
wrote to the following effect : " You very
well know that, ever since I took Hyale near
Brighton in 1835,1 have foretold that it would
appear in 1842. I made this conclusion from
seeing a few specimens with a Brighton col-

lector when I was down there, and asking
him how he came to know they would be out
that year ; he told me he took them seven
years previously (namely, in 1828), and from
this I concluded they would be found again in
seven years from that time (namely, in 1842)."
This prediction, and the facts on which it was
based, induced me to look back wards "through
the dim vista of departed years," and I found
some support to this septennial hypothesis in
the facts ascertained. When, therefore, the
insect visited us in such abundance in 1842,
it really seemed as though we had acquired
the knowledge of a law of Nature previously
hidden from us. Alas ! however, for our
speculation, the theory broke down utterly in
1849, for only about twenty specimens were
that year recorded in the "Zoologist," a
journal which had then taken the place of the
" Eutomologist," which was discontinued for
a time. In 1856 there are a few records,
both in the " Zoologist " and the " Entomolo-
gists' Weekly Intelligencer," which had then
commenced its useful career. In 1863 scarcely
any notes of the appearance of Hyale were
preserved, and in 1870 it has scarcely con-
descended to make itself known as a British
insect; but, unfortunately for human calcula-
tions, it absolutely swarmed, as we have seen,
in 1868, when its advent was not predicted.

60.— Clouded Yellow (CoZias Edusa). Male.

50. CLOUDED YELLOW. — The antennae are
short, straight, and decidedly club-shaped ;
their colour is red, the club being rather
darker, and the tip paler. The fore wings
are rather arched near the base, very straight
in the middle of the costal margin, and blunt
at the tip. Their colour is brilliant saflruu-
jeliow, with * broad black hind-mar^i' •*)

144

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

band, which not only extends to the apical
angle, but is continued in a very narrow form
along the inner margin as far as the middle ;
in this band is a series of five or six yellow

Variety of the Male in Mr. Bond's collection.

Female.

Variety Helice.

spots; these are very conspicuous, but not
very distinctly outlined ; near the middle of
the wing, but rather above the middle, is an
oblong black spot : the hind wings have a
black hind-marginal band extending to the
middle of the costal margin, and interrupted
by a series of four or five yellow spots. In
the male these bands have a very well-defined
interim border, and the wing-rays towards the
Up are yellow, but the yellow spots in the

black band are wanting : the hind wings in
both sexes have a large and intensely orange
spot in the centre, but this is rendered less
conspicuous by the surrounding area being so
nearly of the same rich colour.

Varieties. — Mr. Bond possesses an extra-
ordinary variety of the male, which he haa
kindly lent me to figure in this work, and in
which the saffron-coloured part of the wings
is clouded and blotched with smoky brown.
There is also a beautiful variety of the fe-
male of this insect in which the usual rich
saffron-yellow colour is entirely absent, and
is replaced by pale ochreous, approaching to
white : the hind wings are darker than in
ordinary specimens, and the central orange
spot, owing to the contrast of colour, is more
conspicuous. This is the Papilio Helice, or
White Clouded Yellow of Haworth. (Lepi-
doptera Britannica, p. 12, No. 11.)

Obs. — Although this variety in its extremest
form is so different from the type, there occa-
sionally occur intermediate specimens.

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGGS are laid in May
and June by females that have hybernated, on
the leaves of Dutch clover (Trifolium repens),
common clover ( Trifolium pratense), and very
probably on other species of the same genus
of plants : they are placed in an erect position
on the upper side of the leaf, and are shaped
much like a ninepin, somewhat tapering to-
wards both ends, and decidedly pointed at
the tip ; their colour, when extruded, is pale
yellow, but they gradually assume a darker
hue, and finally become tinged with pink ;
some of these eggs I obtained through
the kindness of Mr. Alfred Owen, and it is
very noteworthy that three of them were
attached to the long hair-like scales which
clothe the body of the parent ; the young
CATERPILLARS emerged on Midsummer-day,
but they died almost immediately, and I made
no description of them in their babyhood.
Shortly after this untoward occurrence, Mr.
Buckler most kindly sent me a CATERPILLAR
about three-quarters grown, and I made the
following description. It rests in a nearly
straight position, but with the anterior seg-
ments slightly raised, and the head slightly

REDHORNS.

146

bent under, Spliinx-like ; when annoyed, it
falls from the food-plant and forms a complete
ring : the head and body are of nearly uniform
width, the body cylindrical, the thoracic seg-
ments somewhat incrassated, the terminal
segments somewhat attenuated ; the crown is
gibbous and without a notch ; the head is
covered with minute warts, and each wart
emits a short hair ; the segmental divisions
are indistinct and transversely wrinkled, the
wrinkles dividing each segment into narrow
sections, each section composed of a series of
minute warts, and every wart emitting a short
hair : in form and habit this caterpillar much
resembles that of the Small White Cab-
bage Butterfly. The colour of the head and
body is grass-green, the minute warts being
black, and each being surrounded by a whitish
ring : there is a very distinct but rather nar-
row whitish stripe along each side ; it com-
mences on the second and terminates on the
twelfth segment, including the spiracles, which
are 3ellowish. — Newman,

The individual described never became a
chrysalis; but Mr. Buckler was fortunate in
obtaining a number of chrysalids from the
same brood of eggs, and of these he published
the following description in the forty-first
number of the " Entomologists' Monthly
Magazine" : — "The CHRYSALIS was attached
by the tail, and with a belt of silk thread
round it close below the thorax : the head
was generally upwards, though in some cases
a horizontal position, or nearly so, was chosen :
the chrysalis is moderately stout; the thorax
round, and projecting on the back ; the head
terminating in a sharp point ; the wing-cases
are long and well developed, projecting below
the body. The colour of the back and body
is a very pale yellow-green, and a pale yel-
lowish stripe on each side below the wing-
cases, on the body ; on the under side beneath
them were three minute black clots, followed
by a stripe of dull dark red ; the wing-cases
were a rather deeper and yellower green,
which, a few hours before the perfect insect
emerged, became suffused with red. In the
centre of each wing was a minute black dot,
and a row of five similar dots near their lower

borders. The point on the top of the head
was dark olive green above, sharply contrasted
on the under side with pale primrose yellow,
and both gradually blending into the colours
below." — Buckler.

Mr. Buckler has also noticed a character
of the caterpillar which altogether escaped
me. He says the whitish side-stripe "was
embellished on each segment by a pink or red
blotch in the middle of it, and a black spot
immediately under it; while a little in advance
of the red was seen the oval whitish shining
spiracle."

TIME OP APPEARANCE. — August, Septem-
ber, October, and November : it hybernates,
but very frequently perishes before the spring ;
the survivors reappear in May and June.

Obs.— At p. 77 of No. 51 of the " Ento-
mologists' Monthly Magazine," there is an
interesting note by Mr. C. W. Dale, in which
he says : — " I found a caterpillar of Edusa
last October at Charmouth ; it changed to a
chrysalis on our journey home, and died in the
act of emerging at the end of March." This
is the only well-authenticated instance I have
met with of this species passing the winter in
the chrysalis state : it must be a very rare
occurrence.

LOCALITIES. — Clover and lucerne fields when
in blossom. We learn from Mr. Birchall that
in Ireland it is common in some seasons on
the south and east coast : it occurs more rarely
north of Dublin: appeared in profusion at
Killarney in 1835. The Hon. Emily Lawless
informs me it is occasionally abundant at
Lyons, in the county Kildare, both in the
garden and hill wood : it is also occasionally
taken in one or two localities near Dalkey,
county Dublin. Mr. Fetherstonhaugh has
taken it at Glenmore, Crossmolina, and has
found it, but not abundantly, in the county
Wick low ; and Mrs. Battersby records the cap-
ture of one specimen near the village of Stone.
It has been taken by Mr. Warrington near
Douglas, in the Isle of Man. Mr. Birchall
informs me of a single specimen — a female —
which he took at Largs on the 12th of Sep-
tember, 1852, but it is entirely omitted by
Dr. Buchanan White in hia " Butterflies of

10

146

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

Perthshire," although he reports it as having
occurred both in Dumfriesshire and Ayrshire.
In England it is very generally distributed,
but its appearance is capricious. We have
seen how its congener Hyale has occasionally
swarmed in the extreme south-east of the
island. Edusa is occasionally equally abun-
dant in the extreme south-west ; in the in-
tervening southern counties neither of the
species can be described as common ; and
farther north both are comparatively scarce.
In every list from Bedfordshire, Berkshire,
Buckinghamshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Dor*
setshire, Glamorganshire, Hampshire, Hert-
fordshire, Huntingdonshire, Kent, Middlesex,
Monmouthshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire,
Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, Somersetshire,
Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex, War-
wickshire, Wiltshire, and Worcestershire, it
is reported as occurring, but without any
particular notes of its abundance, rarity, or
periodicity.

Cambridgeshire. In many parts of the
county it is sometimes very common — F.
Bond; not uncommon in the county — Thomas
Brown.

Cornwall Common at New Quay — II. D.
Greville ; sometimes very abundant at Looe :
at page 338 of the second volume of the
" Entomologist," Mr. Clogg informs us that in
the autumn of 1865 it was abundant : during
the months of August, September, and up to
the 14th of October, a single collector, on
counting his captures, found he had taken
three hundred and forty-six specimens : he
then, at Mr. Clogg's request, kept a daily
record, with the following result : — October
14th, seventy-eight; 16th, eighty-two; 18th,
twenty-five; 20th,seventy; 25th, thirty-eight;
28th, seventy-five; November 1st, seventy-
seven; total, nine hundred and thirty-five. The
numerical disparity in the sexes was at first
most remarkable, there being taken, up to the
14th of October, but twenty-three females to
three hundred and twenty-three males : after
that day the females became more plentiful,
or at the rate of fourteen males to one female,
until, on the last day, they exceeded the
males, the numbers being twenty-three females

and twenty males : the total numberof females
captured was one hundred and ninety, reduc-
ing the average to four males to one female.
There were eight of the pile (or Helice) variety
taken. With very few exceptions, all these
captures, were made in two fields of wheat
stubble, together about twenty-six acres in
extent, situated close to the sea shore, very
hilly, and with a south-east aspect." At
page 1 of the third volume of the " Entomolo-
gist," Mr. Clogg makes some slight corrections
to his former report, and brings up the grand
total to nine hundred and seventy-two.

Cumberland. This insect is more common
in Cumberland than was formerly the case,
specimens occurring all up and down, but
most commonly on the coast about Working-
ton, Carlisle, and \Vhitehaveu— J. B. Ilodg-
kinson.

Devonshire. The typicai form is very
abundant along the coasts of Devonshire, and
common in many localities inland ; but it is
very inconstant in the periodof itsappearance :
sometimes, indeed, several consecutive years
have passed in which the insect has not been
observed. The variety Helice usually occurs
freely : Axminster, Exeter, Teignmoutb, Tor-
quay, Buckfastleigh, Whitsand Cliffs, Bovi-
sand, Plymbridge, Berry Head, Bolt Head—
J. J. Heading; Conipton, Millbrook — G. C.
Bignell ; on the railway banks at Tothill, near
Plymouth — E. James, Jun. Through the
kindness of correspondents these and many
other localities have reached me from several
sources in addition to those mentioned : in no
other instance does the writer allude to the
inconstancy of appearance mentioned by
Mr. Reading, so that 'the inference to be
drawn is that the insect is generally of fre-
quent occurrence in the county.

Durham. Scarce, and appearing at uncer-
tain intervals, in the autumn ; Fulvvell in
1826, Castle Eden Dene, Darlington, Sander-
land, Shull, Wolsingham, Ryhope — Wailes*
" Catalogue"

Essex. In all parts of the county, and
apparently occurring every year, although
some years more plentiful than oilier* - W.
H. Harwood.

REDHORNS.

Gloucestershire. Wootton - under - Edge ;
generally to be found every year in the clover
fields ; once or twice it has occurred in the
greatest profusion, probably introduced with
tiie turnip seed — V, R. Perkins; generally
distributed, and sometimes common — Joseph
Merrin. Mr. Greene, Mr. Wheeler, Mr.
Grigg, Mr. Musgrave, and Mr. Hudd write
to the same purport.

Herefordshire. Common in 1858 and 1859
— Mrs. Hutchinson.

Northumberland. One specimen was taken
at Whitley — J. Hancock.

Wight, Isle of. It occurs every year in the
island in clover fields, but not always in equal
abundance : generally common, sometimes
abundant — James Pristo.

51. Brimstone ' 'Rhf>/l.ncera Rhimni). The lower figure
represents tiie body of the butterfly viewed side-
ways, showing the curved antennae.

51. BRIMSTONE. — The antennae are short,
arched, and gradually thickened towards the
tip, which points downwards : the costal
margin of the fore wings is straight in the
middle, but sharply arched at the base and
1 ip ; eath of the wings has one sharp angle ; the
fore wings at the tip, the hind wings about the
middle of the hind margin. The colour of all
the wings is bright canary yellow in the male,
pale greenish yellow in the female ; near fhe
centre of each wing is a small saffron-coloured
spot.

Varieties. — This familiar species is subject
to variation of a particular kind : streaks or
dashes of vivid orango make their appearance

in different parts of the wing, and these fre-
quently do notcorrespond on the corresponding
wings : the colour thus irregularly occurring
exactly resembles that which obtains uni-
formly on the disk of the wings of the Con-
tinental species, Rhodocera Cleopatra.

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGGS are laid singly,
about the middle of April, on the twigs of thn
two buckthorns (Rhamnus frangula and ca-
tharticus), the only shrubs on which the cater-
pillar is known to feed. In the neat hedge-
rows so common in this country, composed of a
mixed growth of whitethorn, blackthorn, oak,
maple, hazel, dogwood, and an occasional
plant of buckthorn, it is very interesting to
watch the female Brimstone hovering about
the hedge, and selecting, with the most un-
erring instinct, the twigs of buckthorn, though
infinitely rarer than either of the other shrubs,
and depositing her eggs on these and these
only; the eggs are elongated and of a bright
yellow colour; they hatch in about fourteen
days; thus the 1st of May may be considered
the earliest day for disclosure, but the periods
both, of oviposition and of emergence fre-
quently extend over three weeks, or even a
month, so that during the month of June we
find CATERPILLARS varying greatly both in size
and age ; nevertheless, generally speaking, the
caterpillar is full-grown at the end of June,
and then rests in nearly a straight position on
the leaves or twigs of the buckthorn. Its
head is small, decidedly narrower than the
second, and still narrower as compared with
the third, fourth, and following segments ;
the body is widest at the fourth and fifth
segments, and thence gradually tapers to the
caudal extremity : it is very convex on the
back and transversely wrinkled, slightly
dilated at the sides below the spiracles, and
rather flattened on the ventral surface ; the
transverse wrinkles divide the back into sec-
tions, of which every sixth is just double the
width of either of the others ; each segment
has one wide and five narrow sections. The
colour of the dorsal surface of the head and
body is dull apple green, much resembling the
leaf of its food-plant, but densely covered with
extremely minute black warts, each of which

148

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

emits a small, short, and slender, white bristle ;
the lateral dilatation is glaucous-green, termi-
nating in a slender waved white stripe ; the
spiracles are very pale ; the ventral surface,
legs, and claspers are semi-transparent apple-
green; the minute points are present, but are
much fewer, and therefore do not communicate
the same dull colour to the ventral which is
observable on the dorsal surface. About the
18th of June the caterpillar lightly covers the
back of a leaf, or one of the twigs of its
food- plant with a carpet of extremely delicate
white silk, and to this it attaches itself by the
anal claspers, forming al-»o a belt or loop, the
two extremities of which are firmly fixed,
close together, to the silken carpet at the
distance of a third of an inch from the anal
claspers; this loop passes over the back of
the caterpillar, supporting it equally well
whether on an erect twig or the horizontal
under surface of a leaf: this arrangement
being completed, the lateral plates of the
head separate, and the skin of the back is
partially ruptured, a green pointed protube-
rance making its appearance through the
aperture ; this green protuberance performs
a slow but constant circular gyration, and at
every gyration the skin of the caterpillar
recedes towards the anal extremity, leaving
more and more of the enclosed CHRYSALIS
exposed : when the moult is complete, the
shrivelled skin remains at the anal extremity.
The chrysalis is pointed at both extremities,
but has a dorsal thoracic hump, and a large,
bulging, rounded mass in front, which com-
prises the wing-cases ; it has also three ridges
— one medio-dorsal, extend ing from the poin t ed
head to the anal extremity; the others lateral,
and bounding the dorsal area; these latter
are produced into an obtuse angle at the in-
sertion of the wing-cases, and at these angles
the diameter of the chrysalis is greatest, and
diminishes thence rapidly to the pointed head,
and gradually to the anal extremity ; the
lateral outline is, however, slightly incurved
behind the thorax ; the three ridges are very
inconspicuous. The colour of the chrysalis
is bright apple-green ; the head and thoracic
angles are tipped with purple-brown, this

colour extending from the head towards the
thoracic hump, and from the thoracic angle
towards the tail ; the bulging mass contain-
ing the wing-cases is so transparent that the
outline of the body may be seen beneath it; the
dorsal ridge is darker than the ground colour,
forming a narrow, indistinct, smoke-coloured,
medio-dorsal stripe; the lateral ridge is paler
than the ground-colour, and forms a narrow,
rather indistinct, whitish stripe on each side
of the chrysalis. The chrysalis state lasts for
twenty days ; the earliest examples, those
from eggs laid on the 15th of April, may be
expected to appear on the wing on the 15th
of July. The sexes always keep apart during
the remainder of the year, never taking the
slightest notice of each other ; and both sexes
enter on a state of semi-bybernation very
early, but are frequently tempted abroad by
mild as well as sunny weather: in March
they reappear, and the usual attention of the
sexes* takes place, followed by the deposition
of eggs as already described : the butterfly
life of this species sometimes lasts for an
entire year, the faded butterflies of one year
actually surviving until those of the ensuing
year are on the wing; those, however, which
appear in spring, although tolerably perfect,
never have the exquisite freshness and beauty
which they possessed when disclosed in the
autumn ; and although individuals of two
consecutive years may often be seen together,
the eye of the experienced entomologist will
not fail to detect the difference. — Newman.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — Caterpillar in May
and June; chrysalis in July; butterfly chiefly
in July and August, but to be seen every
month in the year.

Obs. — All the English students of ento-
mology commence their career by considering
the vernal hybernated individuals of the
Brimstone to be the descendants of the au-
tumnal ones : this very pardonable mistake
was discussed at great length in the " Zoolo-
gist" for 1855 and 1856.

LOCALITIES. — Woods, lanes, and gardens.
M r. Birchall says that it occurs at Killarney,
but is apparently confined to the south of
Ireland ; and the Hon. Emily Lawless

HKDHORNS.

informs me it is abundant at Kylemoi e Lake,
in Connemara, and that, she captun d a pair
at ClydachjOn the east shore of Lougli C<»rrib.
It has not been observed in the I hie of Man
or in Scotland In England it is very gene-
rally distributed, but is rather a southern than
a northern species. The following notes on
the subject are interesting : —

Cumberland, Northumberland, and West-
moreland. The reports from these counties
omit the species altogether; but Mr. Stainton
gives the letters L. D. thus in italic capitals,
which, at page 9 of the " Manual" he ex-
plains as meaning that the insect has occurred
in the Lake District of Cumberland and West-
moreland ; but it is not found there every year.

Dorsetshire. Glanville's Wootnn ; it has
nearly disappeared: buckthorn is very rare
with us — J. C. Dale.

Dtu ham. Single specimens have been taken
at Darling ton, but neither ipecies of buckthorn
grows in the northern parts of the county —
H'. Mating; once at Darlington; probably
its extreme northern locality, as the food-
plants of the caterpillar, Rhamnus catharticus
ami R. frangula, although not rare iu York-
shire, barely reach the southern parts of
Durham — George Wailes.

Cornwall. Everywhere in the county —
Stephen Clogg ; plentiful in woody vales in
the neighbourhood of Plymouth, and in simi-
lar places throughout Devon and Cornwall —
J. J. Heading; "South limit of Rhamnus
catharticus, in (Devon ?) Dorset, Wight, Kent"
— //. C. Watson, "Cybele Britannica" vol. i.,
p. 273 ; " South limit of Rhamnus frangula,
in Devon, Isle of Wight, Kent"— H. C.
Watson, at page 274 of the same work ; " the
south limit of Rhamnus frangula may perhaps
be extended to Cornwall, on the authority of
F. P. Pascoe"— H. C. Watson, at page 404
of vol. iv. of the same work. Probably no
English county has been better botanised than
Cornwall, and yet there is no record of the
common buckthorn having occurred there, and
only one of the rarer species. I introduce
this observation, because it is anomalous for a
butteifly to occur plentifully where its food-
plant is absent, or excessively rare.

Family 10. SWALLOW-TAILS (in science Papilionwrn).

The caterpillar is smooth and cylindrical
it has a bifid organ in the neck, which it can
protrude at pleasure. The chrysalis is girted
and attached by the tail ; its head is eared or
bifid. The butterfly has rather long, straight,
and clubbed antennae, and tailed hind wings.

Obs. — I have absolutely no knowledge of the
extent or contents of the family Papilionidas
or the genus Papilio, nor can I form any satis-
factory notion of what would be considered
the essential characters of either. My readers
will, therefore, kindly accept my brief
characters as applying only to the single
species with whose life-history I am familiar.
Dr. Horsfield, certainly the most learned
author on the Pedunculated Lepidoptera with
whose works I am acquainted, combines the
twenty-one genera differentiated by Hubner
into one genus — Papilio. He divides his
chilognathiform group, corresponding in a
measure with my vermiform Order, into two
sections, which he calls A and B. A com-
prises the English genera — RhoJocera, Colias,
Pieris, and Aporio ; and B combines the
doubtfully British Doritis, with Papilio Ma-
chaon.

52. SWALLOW-TAIL. — The costal margin of
the fore wings is decidedly arched, the tip
pointed, but not sharply so, and the hind
margin slightly waved ; the hind margin of
the hind wings is scalloped and tailed. The
ground colour of all the wings is yellow, but
a large portion is occupied by black markings,
which again are powdered with yellow scales ;
all the wings have a black blotch at the base
and a broad hind-marginal band of the same
colour : all the wing-rays are black, and on
the costal margin of the fore wings are three
squarish black blotches ; in the black hind-
marginal band of the fore wings is a series of
eight yellow oblong spots, and in the hind-
marginal band of the hind wings is a series of
six blue clouds and two series of yellow
crescents, six in each ; the outer part of these
occupies the extreme fore margin : at the anal
angle of the hind wings is a conspicuous round
red spot, the upper edge of which is adorned

150

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

52. Swallow-tail (Papilio Machann).

with purplish scales, and the red is almost
enclosed in a black circumscription.

Obs. — At page 340 of the first volume of
the "Entomologist," Mr. Gaze has given us
so graphic an account of the eaily life of this
beautiful butterfly that I prefer transferring
it entire, as a prelude to my own description
of the caterpillar and chrysalis from life.

LIFE HISTORY. — " Having in the spring of
1840 obtained a number of chrysalids from
F.urwell-sedge Fen, near Newmarket, Cam-
bridgeshire, a male and female emerged from
them on the morning of the 27th of May, and
were left, near each other on the window-
blind to expand and dry their wings ; on my
return from a short walk I was agreeably
surprised to find them in coitu, and, having a
fine plant of the marsh hog's fennel or milk
parsley (Peucedanum palustre), growing in a
garden-pot, I placed it in the window of the
room, and confined the female on it, as well
as I could, with the window-blind. On the
20th she had deposited fourteen EGGS, but
appearing nearly exhausted I supplied her
with a little moistened sugar in a teaspoon, at
the same time uncurling her trunk with a pin :
she seemed to enjoy her feast, and being left
with the sash raised about an inch for the
admission of air, made her escape. The plant
was returned to its place in the garden with
the eggs attached ; they were of an oval shape
and of a pale green colour, but changed in a

few days to steel-blue, and, before the ex-
clusion of the caterpillar, to black. The first
CATERPILLAR was hatched on the 10th of June,
and the others on the following day ; they
were at first black and spiny, with a light-
coloured patch in the middle of the back.
The shell of the egg was, in every instance,
the first meal of the caterpillars, and the cast-
off skin was always first eaten after every
change, which took place on the 18th and
26th of June, and the 3rd and 13th of July,
when they had completely stripped the plant.
At every change of skin the caterpillars ac-
quired more of their brilliant colours, and
when full-fed altogether looked very beautiful,
and if touched darted forth their retractile
horns, scenting the garden very powerfully to
some distance. Not being able to get a fresh
supply of the food-plant I placed some carrot-
leaves in a small jar of water, and introduced
them amongst the stalks of the Peucedanum.
Contrary to my expectations, the caterpillais
fed on the carrot-leaves without any apparent
reluctance, and by the end of the month were
full-fed. Up to this time, although left in the
garden day and night, they never quitted the
food, but now it was impossible to keep them
on it ; and after one had been finally lost, the
others were removed into the breeding cage,
where they passed into the chrysalis state on
the 30th and 31st of July and the 2nd of
August. The first butterfly was produced on

SWALLOW-TAIL.

151

the 14th of Juno, 1841, and ten more in the
course of a fortnight. One died in the chry-
salis state, and one continued in that state
until this day, the 10th of May, 1842, when
a very fine and perfect female made her
appearance. I tried very much to continue
the brood, but was unsuccessful."

The full-fed caterpillar ascends the reed
stems, generally so abundant in its natural
haunts, and often remains stationaiy in a per-
fectly straight position. The head is narrower
than the second segment, and very decidedly
narrower than the following segments : its
position is prone, and it is slightly notched on
the crown : the body is stout and cylindrical,
but has the divisions of the segments strongly
mai'ked; the second segment has a transverse
dorsal slit, from which the caterpillar can
protrude at pleasure, but more particularly
when annoyed — a yellowish divaricating pro-
cess with the use of which I am quite un-
acquainted, and will therefore copy a few
lines from that inexhaustible storehouse of
entomological information, the " Introduction
toEntomology," by Messrs. Kirby and Spence.
These learned authors introduce the subject in
this way : — " I shall next beg your attention
to those insects that emit their smell from
particular organs. Of these, some are fur-
nished with a kind of scent-vessel, which I
shall call osmateria, while in others it issues
from the intestines at the ordinary passage.
In the former instance the organ is usually
retractile within the body, being only exserted
when it is used : it is generally a bifid vessel,
something in the shape of the letter Y. . . . A
similar organ, hulf-an-inch in length and of the
?ame shape, issues from the neck of the cater-
pillar of the Swallow-tail butterfly. ' When
I pressed this caterpillar,' says Bonnet, ' near
its anterior part, it darted forth its horn as if
it meant to prick me with it, directing it
towards my fingers, but it withdrew it as soon
as I left off pressing it;' this horn smells
strongly of fennel, and probably is employed
by the insect, by means of its powerful scent,
to drive away the flies and ichneumons that
annoy it," vol. ii., p. 242. And again : — " In
a former letter I gave you a short account of

the remarkable Y-shaped, as it should seem,
scent organ of the beautiful caterpillar of the
Swallow-tail butterfly: I will now speak of
it more fully. It is situated at the anterior
margin at the back of the second segment,
close to the head, from which, at first view, it
seems to proceed. At the bottom it is simple,
but divides towards the middle, like the lefr-
ter Y, into two forks of a fleshy substance,
which it can lengthen, as a snail does its
horns, to five times their ordinary extent, or
retract them within the stalk so as wholly to
conceal them. Sometimes it protrudes one
fork, keeping the other retracted ; and often
withdraws the whole apparatus for hours
together under the skin, and its place is only
marked by two tawny-coloured dots, so that
an ordinary spectator would not suspect the
existence of such an instrument," vol. iii.,
p. 149. Dr. Horsfield, in his "Catalogue of
Lepidoptera in the Museum of the East India
Society," represents the caterpillar of Papilio
Xuthus with a similar appendage ; indeed, it
is extremely probable that many of the beau-
tiful insects which now constitute that strange
assemblage known as the genus Papilio may
be found to possess it.

The surface of the skin is velvety, but every
parts emits very short stiff bristles, which are
only rendered conspicuous by means of a lens,
and then will be found to abound on the head
and on the twelfth and thirteenth segments.
The colour of the head is yellowish green, with
a black spot above the mouth, two longitudinal
black stripes down each cheek, and an oblong
black spot between them, which includes the
ocelli; there is a similar oblong black spot
immediately above the mouth. The ground
colour of the body is a most delicate and
lovely green : the second segment has three
oblong black spots immediately behind the
head and in front of the scent organ already
described; the interstices between the seg-
ments are velvety black and unspotted, form-
ing twelve transverse bars, and alternating
with these are as many velvety transverse
black bars, each being interrupted by six
bright orange spots, except on the second
segment, which has the black band unspotted

152

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

and the thirteenth segment, which has the
place of the band supplied by a transverse
series of four roundish black spots, and no
orange spots : the spiracle, when present, is
situated immediately above the outer or lower
orange spot; on each side the caterpillar
there are three roundish black spots, forming
a triangle above each of the ventral claspers :
the ventral surface is pale, and more inclined to
glaucous green than the dorsal, and is adorned
with a medio-ventral series of oblong black
markings. In a state of nature the caterpillar
feeds not only on hog's fennel (Peucedanumpa-
lustre), but also on cow parsnep (Heraclium
sphondylium) : in gardens I have found it feed-
ing on rue; and in confinement it thrives on
the leaves of carrots, as observed by Mr. Gaze.
When full-fed it ascends the reeds in the
neighbourhood of its food-plant, and, assuming
a vertical or ascending position, fastens itself
to the reed-stalk by its anal claspers, and also
by a belt round its body, and then turns to a
CHRYSALIS of a uniform pale dull yellow-green
colour, the anterior extremity having four
lobes or protuberances ranged in a transverse
series, the exterior ones much larger than the
others ; the thorax has also three distinctly
pronounced prominences, one on each side,
the third dorsal and medium. — Newman.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — The caterpillar feeds
during a greater part of the summer, and turns
to a chrysalis in the autumn, and in this state
remains throughout the winter; the butterfly
appears in the following spring, and a succes-
sion of specimens occur during the summer.

LOCALITIES. — Machaon is unrecorded as an
inhabitant of Ireland, Scotland, or the Isle of
Man. In England it seems to have been
formerly widely and plentifully distributed,
for independently of the single captures men-
tioned below, all of which may be supposed to
have been insects purposely liberated, we
have the most reliable evidence that it was
"common "in several parts of Dorsetshire;
that it "used to be taken" in Glamorganshire;
that it was taken " plentifully " in Hamp-
shire ; that it was " repeatedly found " at
Tottenham in Middlesex, and at Battersea-
fields in Surrey. Haworth says, "I know

it breeds near Beverley in Yorkshire ;" and
the concurrent evidence of many entoumlogi-ts
proves that it was " formerly taken " in the
Isle of Wight. From all these counties it
seems to have disappeared, and it can now
only be sought for with any prospect of sue
cess in the counties of Cambridgeshire, Hunt-
ingdon, Norfolk, and perhaps Suffolk.

Cambridgeshire. At p. 527 of the first
volume of the " Entomological Magazine" we
are told by Mr. Stephens that the caterpillar
was found in various stages of growth on the
29th June at Sedge-fen, and on the 4th and
5th July at Whittlesea-mere — by Mr. W.
Christy ; Ely — Marshall Fisher ; it was for-
merly plentiful in Horning and Wieken-fens
— F. Bond; it is still common in Wick en-fen
— Thomas Brown.

Cumberland. One was taken at Gilsland,
about fifteen miles from Carlisle, but whether
it had been bred and escaped, or how it came
there, I cannot tell — J. B. Hodgkinson.

Derbyshire. Two specimens near Matlock
— Thomas Lighton. The late Mr. John Wolley
afterwards explained, at p. 944 of the third
volnme of the " Zoologist," that he turned
out many hundreds of this butterfly in the
springs of 1843 and 1844, most of thorn at
Matlock.

Dorsetshire. In plenty, formerly at Glan-
ville's Wootton, but none have been taken
since 1816; at Charminster by Mr. John
Garland ; at Hazlebury Common by the late
Mr. H. Seymour; and near Cranborne by the
late Rev. A. Storey — J. C. Dale.

Essex. Saffron Walden ; supposed to have
been brought to the neighbourhood in the
chrysalis state — W. R. Jeffrey.

Kent. At p. 159 of the fourth volume of
the " Entomologist," Mr. W. O. Hammond
writes thus in October, 1868: "A young
lady, a near neighbour of mine, this summer
took Machaon in a clover field. I believe the
chrysalis of Machaon was put down in some
numbers experimentally a few years back.
These marshes are some eight miles off. Is it
possible this was one 1 A single specimen
was taken at Norrington thirty years ago by
my brother."

WHITES.

153

Glamorganshire. Madman used to be taken
some years ago at Penclawdd and Lloughor —
J. T. D. Llewelyn.

Gloucestershire. Bristol — Samouelle's" Use-
ful Compendium."

Hampshire. A friend informed me that he
possessed two specimens taken in the New-
Forest — G. B. Corbin ; cowslip meadow near
Lyruington. It has been taken plentifully
near the New Forest — Samouelles " Useful
Compendium." I saw to-d.ty a specimen of
Machaon taken on the 8th July in the New
Forest — Walter J. Wilkinson.

Huntingdonshire. Yaxley-fen, Holme-fen,
&c., years ago — F. Bund.

Lancashire. A specimen of this insect was
found in this neighbourhood on the turnpike
road, and was brought to me alive and iu good
preservation this clay — R. J. Shields, 24th
July, 1856— "Entomologists' Weekly Intelli-
gencer" vol. i., p. 139.

Norfolk. Horning and other fens — C. G.
Barrett; once in AldcW Marshes — W. M.
Crowfoot; Norfolk Bn>a«l.s — W. 11. Draper.

Middlesex. I have repeatedly found the
caterpillar feeding on rue in a gai'den in the
occupation of some friends of the name of
Forster on Tottenham Green : this was pro-
bably fifty years ago — E. Newman.

Suffolk. The family of a clergyman re-
siding near Ipswich told me they had taken
Machaon on the banks of the Stour — //. H.
Crewe ; in 1841 t'iree specimens of Machaon
were taken by three different collectors at
Haverhill — W. Gaze ; on the 25th of August,
1870, Mr. Garrett of this town took a fine
specimen of Machaon in a clover-field about a
mile from Ipswich : it was perfect, with the
exception of a small piece out of one wing —
Edward F. Bisshopp, — " Entomologist" voL
v., p. 17.

Surrey. At p. 140 of the first volume of
the " Entomologists' Weekly Intelligencer,"
we read as follows : " In the osier beds behind
Beaufoy's distillery in Battersea Fields, year
after year I have been accustomed to find the
cater pillars of Machaon, and have always
raised the perfect insect from them, yet,
though constantly on the watch, I never once

there detected it in the winged state " — Georye
Austin.

Sussex. A specimen of this butterfly oc-
curred this week near Balcombe tunnel ; it
was taken in his cap by a man working in the
tunnel, and of course spoiled — Eli T. Silvester,
" Entomologists Weekly Intelligencer," vol. i.,
p. 197, but without date; Pulborough, Sussex
Common — Stainton'x " Manual."

Wight, Isle of. Taken in the Isle of Wight
by the late Captain Bray — J. C. Dale;
Ma<-.!iaon used to occur at Freshwater, but is
probably now extinct — A Ifred Owen ; I never
took Machaon myself, but am assured it was
taken in this parish years ago — James Pristo.

Yorkshire. At p. 27 of the Preface to
Ha worth's " Lepir/optera Britannica " we find
the following passage : " I know Machaon,
the common swallow-tailed Papilio, breeds
near Beverley yet, and my brother-in-law, R.
Scales, of Wai worth, near London, possesses a
specimen of it which was taken there
years since."

Family 11. — WHITES (in science

The caterpillar is cylindrical, transversely
wrinkled, and beset with very short haira
The chrysalis is girted and attached by the
tail ; its head is pointed. The butterfly has
distinctly clubbed antennae, and rounded hind
wings which are never tailed.

53. — WOOD WHITE. — Thebody isverylong
and slender ; the wings are rather long and
narrow, rounded at the tip, and plain round
all the margins : the colour of the upper side
is white, with a nearly square spot at the tip :
in the female this spot is indistinct or absent.
On the under side the basal half of the fore
wings and the whole of the hind wings are
clouded with faint greenish gray ; this colour
forms two indistinct and imperfect transverse
bands.

Varieties. — There is a pure white variety
with a round dusky spot at the tip of the
fore wings, which occurs very rarely, and
only in the south of England; it is more
common in the south of Europe : the ordinary
autumnal specimens are paler and smaller
than the vernal ones : the wing-rays also,

154

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

where they unite with the hind margin, are
tinged with smoky black in the type, but not
in the variety, which is apparently the
DinieKsis of Continental entomologists.

LIFE HISTORY. — At page 210 of the third
volume of the " Entomologists' Monthly
Magazine," Mr. Hellins has published the
following " Notes on the Transformations of
Leucophasia Sinapis " ; and although I cannot
do otherwise than feel regret that I have never

53. Wood White (Leucophasia Sinapis). Upper side.
The upper figure is the Male : the middle figure
the variety Diniensis : and the lower figure the
Female.

Under side of Male.

had the good fortune to possess materials for
a life-history of the species from nature, that
regret is more than compensated by the plea-
sure and advantage of obtaining the details
from so trustworthy an authority : — " The
EGGS seem to be deposited singly ; in shape
they are cylindrical, very long, standing erect
on one end, the upper end coming to a point,

which is curved a little on one side (reminding
one somewhat of the shape of a cucumber),
ribbed longitudinally, about four ribs appear-
ing in any one view : colour, a glistening
yellowish white. The CATERPILLAR, when full
grown, is about three-quarters of an inch in
length ; the head is globular, and rather
smaller than the second segment ; the body i-<
cylindrical, tolerably uniform in bulk, but
tapering very gradually towards the tail, the
anal flap terminating squarely, and beneath it
there are two very small blunt points ; the
skin is wrinkled, with six folds to each seg-
ment, covered uniformly, but not densely,
with very fine short whitish down. The
colour is a beautiful green, the anterior
segments being minutely dotted with black ;
the medio-dorsal stripe is dark green, edged
with yellowish green : the spiracular stripe
is distinct, and of a fine clear yellow, edged
above with darker green ; the spiracles are
undistinguishable, the ventral surface and
legs are translucent green. When the cater-
pillar is about to spin, it fastens itself, with
the head upwards, to a stem of its food-
plant by a little webbing at the head and the
tail, and a thread round the fore part of the
body, and at first it rests quite flat on the
stem : after some hours, it raises its back and
bends itself into a bow, the head and tail still
fastened to the stem, and the thread round the
body being much stretched ; in this position
it remains about two days, when it casts its
skin fov the last time (the threadswhich fasten
down the head apparently being attached ouly
to the caterpillar skin), and becomes a chry-
salis. The CHRYSALIS, when arrived at its
full c»lour, is very beautiful. In shape it is
slender, very acutely pointed at the head, not
so acutely at the tail, the wing-cases projecting
in a swelling-curve to nearly twice the width
of the body, and meeting in a blunt ridge ;
the head is thrown back, and the chrysalis
rests with the wing-cases touching the stem,
fastened by the tail and the thread round the
body. The skin is semi-transparent, the colour
a lovely delicate green, the abdomen lather
yellowish; just in the spiracular region there
runs all r-ound the body a stout pink rib,

WHITES.

enclosing the greenish spiracles ; from this a
strong pink line branches off, bordering the
outer edge of each wing-case ; and the wing-
rays themselves are delicately outlined in pink.
I received some eggs on August 2nd, and again
on September 1st. The caterpillars appeared
respectively on August 8th and September
Gth ; full fed on September 26th and November
8th ; in chrysalis September 29tli and Novem-
ber 8th. The food chosen was either the
tufted vetch (Vicia cracca), or the tuberous-
rooted bitter vetch (Orobus luberosua), but
not both. — Hell'ms.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — May and August

LOCALITIES. — It is to be seen languidly
flying along the roadways and pathways in
woods, rarely entering the umbrageous shelter
of a wood, and as rarely venturing into open
country. 1 have never seen it settled, and
one of our oldest entomological authorities
has made the same observation. At Darent
Wood, in Kent, I have often watched its
characteristic flight : one specimen will make
its appearance, approach as it were on wearied
wing, and if unmolested, pass by and go on
out of sight ; in a few minutes another will
appear at the same spot, will follow the exact
course of the first, and press onward in the
same direction, and so on during the whole
of a summer's morning, each seemingly bent
on the performance of some inexorable duty,
in which, however, dispatch or hurry was
totally out of the question. In Ireland it
seems very irregularly distributed. Mr. Bir-
chall says it is abundant near Galway and at
Killarney, but has not been noticed in Ulster
vr Leinster. The Hon. Emily Lawless says it
is not uncommon at Florens in the county
Galway, and that it has also been taken at
Dunsandle and other places in the neighbour-
hood of Athenry. It has not been recorded as
occurring in the Isle of Man or in Scotland.
In England and Wales it is of frequent, and
sometimes of abundant, occurrence.

Berkshire. At Burghfield, near Beading —
(7. & Bird.

Cornwall. Launceston- — W. H. Hay ward.

Cumberland. Very rare ; only occasional
«oecimens have been taken at Barren Wood

and Newbiggin "Wood. I have heard that it
is more frequent about Ullswater in the Lake
District — J. E. Hodgkinson.

Devonshire. Plym-bridge, Shaugh -bridge,
Berry Pomeroy, Torquay, Exeter, Axminster,
Clmdleigh, Buckfastleigh — J. J. Reading.
This elegant butterfly has been extremely
abundant during the latter part of last month
(May), and up to the present time (June 13),
in the neighbourhood of Ipplepen, South
Devon. It does not appear to be confined to
any particular locality, or to its usual resort
of woods, being generally distributed, and
occurring in almost every lane and hedge-row
in this neighbourhood — F. Wilkinson, in
"Entomologist" vol. v., p. 114.

Dorsetshire. Glanville's Wootton, Parley,
Lul worth — J. C. Dale.

Essex. Single specimens have been re-
corded from several localities.

Glamorganshire. One specimen at Llan-
trissant — Evan John.

Gloucestershire. Rather scarce in the
paths in woods, in lanes, &c., in Alderley
Down Woods — V. R. Perkins; Dursley and
Grange Court — Joseph Merrin.

Hampshire. New Forest, &c., &c.

Herefordshire. One specimen at Grants-
field near Leominster — Mrs. Hutchinson ,
Briaily Wood, Eton Wood — E. Newman.

Huntingdonshire. Monk's Wood — F.
Bond.

Kent. Blean Wood— H. A. Stowell; I
have occasionally taken it near Sturry and
near Tunbridge Wells — W. 0. Hammond;
formerly very common in Darent and Birch
Woods — E. Newman.

Lancashire. Abundant at Grange — J. B.
Hodgkinson ; common in the county on the
north side of Morecambe Bay — T. H. Allis ;
Silverdale — James Murton.

Monmouthshire. Scarce, and only taken
in St. Julian's Wood — George Lock.

Northamptonshire. Peterborough — F.
Bond; near Towcester — Hamlet Clark;
Barnwell Wold in May, but not common—
William Bree.

Nottinghamshire. A single specimen has
been taken at Newark — George Gascoyne.

156

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

Staffordshire. Swinnerton Old Park — T.
W. Daltry.

Suffolk. Brandeston and Playford — Joseph
Greene ; Stowmarket and Bentley — H. H.
Crewe.

Surrey. Common at Haslemere — G. G.
Barrett.

Sussex. Bolney Wood — W. Buckler ;
Frenchlands Woods, Ashington — J. H. White ;
Abbot's Wood, near Hailsham : the first
brood in May, the second in August — C. V.
C. Levitt.

Westmoreland. Abundant at Witherslack,
and not rare at Windermere — J. B. Hodgkin-
son.

Wight, Isle of. Near Brading, but rare in
the Isle of Wight — F. Rond ; Quarr Copse
and Appledurcombe Parks — Alfred Owen;
very local in the Isle of Wight : I only
know of one locality, at Whippingham —
James Pristo.

Wiltshire. Sinapis has been taken in
Savernake Forest and Eabley Copse ; also at
Great Bedwyn, but very rarely — T. A. Pres-
ton ; common at Wilton, near Salisbury —
W. H. Grigg.

Worcestershire. It occurs sparingly in all
the woods in which T have collected — J. E.
Fletcher ; formerly plentiful at Great Mal-
vern, but not so now ; the second brood is
less abundant than the first — W. Edwards ;
Bromsgrove — W. H. Draper.

From the careful county lists, kindly trans-
mitted me from Cheshire, Derbyshire, Hert-
fordshire, Lincolnshire, Middlesex, Norfolk,
Shropshire, Somersetshire, and Warwickshire,
the name of Sinapis is absent : a fact not
proving, perhaps, the absence of the insect,
but showing certainly that it is not common.

54. ORANGE - TIP. — All the wings are
rounded, and the costal margin of the fore
wings is slightly arched : the colour is white,
with a dart gray tip and a central black spot.
In the males there is a large patch on each
fore wing, extending from the gray margin to
the central spot, and occupying about half the
wing, of a most brilliant orange red : in the
female this is wanting, but the dark gray tip

54. Orange-tip (Anthocharis Cardamines). Upper
side of Male, Upper side of Female, Under side
of Male.

and central spot are larger and more conspi-
cuous in that sex than in the male ; the
central spot in the female is also decidedly
crescentic. The under side of the fore wings
in the male has the orange-coloured blotch
narrower than on the upper side, and the gray
colour assumes the form of a hind-marginal
band, and is sprinkled with minute yellow
scales, which impart a greenish hue to this
part : the under side of the hind wings in
both sexes is exquisitely tesselated with
smoky-gray spots on a white ground, the
gray portions of the wing being powdered
with yellow, which communicates to them a
greenish tint.

Varieties. — I have a specimen of this butter-
fly in which the whole of the ground colour is a
beautiful canary yellow, and I believe there
are several others. Abnormities, in which
the orange blotch occurs on only one of the
fore wings, or only on the upper side or
under side, sometimes occur ; they find great
favour in the eyes of collectors.

LIFE HISTORY. — The female lays her EGGE

WHITES.

157

oi» hedge garlic (Erysimum alliaria), dame's
cress (Hesperis matronalis), tower mustard
(Tumtis giabra), winter cress or yellow
rocket (Barbarea vulgaris), and occasionally
on lady's smock (CardandnK pratensls), as
stated by Mr. Doubleday, who observes, with
his usual care, that in this instance the
greater part of the caterpillars must perish
when the meadows are mowed, as the
plaut is cut down with the grass before they
are full-fed : it is very probable also that
other species of cruciferous plants are occa-
sionally selected in the absence of those
mentioned above, but I know of no others
which have been noticed in England. When
the young CATERPILLAR emerges from the egg
it makes its way up the flowering-stalk, and
as soon as the podd have formed begins de-
vouring them : at first it requires but little
food, and the pods, growing with great
rapidity, fully keep pace with its require-
ments, and furnish an abundant supply. It is
curious to observe with what pertinacity these
caterpillars, in confinement, select the pods
and neglect the leaves of these plants, and,
having watched their proceedings with great
attention, I have fancied they devoured the
seeds with peculiar relish : sometimes a
pod will be pierced exactly over each seed,
and the seeds themselves consumed, the pod
being neglected until the supply of the more
favourite viand had failed. When full-fed,
which is during the first week in July, the
caterpillar rests in a nearly straight position
on the stalk or seed-pod of its food- plant: the
head is then of exactly the same breadth as
the second segment, and the body of nearly
equal breadth throughout, but slightly atten-
uated towards the anal extremity, which is
rounded ; the dorsal surface is convex, trans-
versely and regularly wrinkled, the wrinkles
dividing each segment into sections; the sides
are slightly dilated below the spiracles, and
the ventral surface slightly flattened ; every
part of the head and body is beset with minute
warts, and each wart emits a short bristle.
The colour of the head and body is opaque
glaucous green, this colour on each side of
the body fading through pale glaucous green

into white, the extreme margin of the lateral
dilatation being pure white, and constituting
a lateral stripe which has its upper or dorsal
margin very indistinctly defined, but its lower
or ventral margin abrupt and well marked ;
this white stiipe encloses the very pale
spiracles, and extends the entire length of
the caterpillar, commencing at the ocelli close
to the mouth, and terminating at the rounded
extremity of the anal flap ; the ventral sur-
face, legs and claspers, are dark-apple-green ;
the warts on the dorsal surface are intensely
black, and also many of those on the sides and
ventral surface, but in these regions there
occur white warts also, more especially within
the white lateral stripe ; the bristles which
they emit are black on the dorsal, and generally
black also on the ventral surface, but on the
lateral stripe they are mostly white. In July
the caterpillar ascends the stem, of its food-
plant, and, fastening itself thereto by a belt
round the middle, changes to a crescent-shaped
CHRYSALIS of very eccentric appearance, both
extremities being elongated and pointed, and
the anterior elevated in the air, the posterior
firmly attached by a series of minute hooks to
a silken film, previously spun on the stalk of
the food-plant; the back is concave, the wing-
cases protruding and forming a semicircular
arch in the centre of the ventral surface; the
colour is pale dingy green, approaching to
wainscot-brown : in this state it remains
throughout the winter. — Newman.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — May.

LOCALITIES. — Meadows and lanes every-
where in the three kingdoms, as well as in
the Isle of Man. Mr. Birchall says it was
common in May, 1860, and that he observed
it in myriads at Sligo, reminding him of
the migrating clouds of tropical Callidryas ;
Mrs. Battersby says it is very common in
Ireland, and Mr. Fetherstonhaugh that it is
abundant in the counties of Dublin and
Mayo ; according to Dr. Buchanan White, it
is widely distributed in the lowland part of
country, and occasionally is rather common:
it has not been found north of Forres ; the
dates on which Dr. White has taken it in
Perthshire are as follows — In 1858, May 15;

158

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

1859, May 14; 1860, May 24 ; 1866, May 2 ;
and 1868, May 16. Dr. White has taken it
in Kirkcudbrightshire in June and July, also
in Fifeshire and Morayshire ; Mr. Wailes, in
his " Northumberland and Durham Cata-
logue," observes : — " This beautiful butterfly
is generally distributed over the two counties,
frequenting damp places in fields, lanes, and
woods, during May and June, where the prin-
cipal food-plant of the caterpillar — Cardamine
pratensis, of which it devours the seed-vessels
— occurs. This year, 1857, on the 4th June,
in the vicinity of Callaly, I observed its
simultaneous occurrence in great numbers
throughout that district, when not a single
specimen was to be seen the day before."
Mr. Wailes adds this curious observation : —
" The usual expansion of the wings is one inch
and eight lines to one inch and eleven lines,
but in the year 1832 none exceeded one inch
and three lines ; and so marked was the
difference all over the country, that many
were inclined to consider the specimens as
those of a distinct species. The following
season there was no departure from the nor-
mal size." In Gloucestershire this variation
in size has been noticed by Mr. Y. R. Perkins
both in male and female. The name does
not appear in a list from Lincolnshire, most
kindly sent me by the late Thomas Henry
Allis very shortly before his last illness : it
is the only county list from which it is totally
absent ; but if I understand Mr. Jenner Fust's
paper on the "Distribution of Lepidoptera in
Great Britain," he has an authority for the
occurrence of Cardamines in that county.

55. GREEN CHEQUERED WHITE. — The fore
wings are blunt, but scarcely rounded at the
tip ; the hind margin of all the wings is
simple. The colour is white, the fore wings
having a broad blotch of smoky- black at
the tip, and in this are four squarish white
spots ; there is a double transverse and rather
oblique smoky-black spot above the middle
of the costal margin, descending nearly to
the middle of the wing, and a smaller round
black spot near the anal angle : the hind
wings are somewhat clouded with sm<>ky-

black, more particularly a transverse band
parallel with the hind margin, anu there
are usually four or five arrow-heads still
nearer the hind margin, which, by their
stems, are united to this band. On the under

55. Gieen Cheque! ed White (Piens Daplidice\.
Upper side of Male and Female.

Under side of Female.

side all the markings of the upper side are
not qnly present on the fore wings, but dis-
tinctly defined, and are of a yellowish green
colour, minutely sprinkled with black : the
hind wing.s are beautifully tesselated with
greenish markings, as represented in the
lowest figure of the three.

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGG is laid on the two
species of wild mignonette (Reseda lutea and
/'. liiieola) in April or May, ana again in
August or September, there being two broods

WHITES.

150

in the year, the second of which passes the
whiter in the chrysalis state. The head of
the CATERPILLAR is rather narrower than the
second segment of the body, and when at resb
is partially withdrawn therein ; the body is
uniformly cylindrical, the segments being per-
ceptibly but not strongly marked. Its entire
surface is covered with scattered warts, each
of which emits a hair : the colour of the head
is bluish gray, with a longitudinal yellow
mark on each cheek ; the body is of the same
bluish gray colour, with four yellow stripes,
two of which, rather broader than the others,
are dorsal and commencing at the head, where
they unite with the twoyollow marks already
noticed, terminate on the thirteenth segment ;
the other two stripes are lateral in the region
of the spiracles ; the warts are black. The
CHRYSALIS is attached by a belt, and also by
anal hooks ; the head is pointed ; the thorax
is keeled, and the sides keeled and angti-
lated ; the colour is pale brown, with several
spots of darker brown or black on the body. —
Jfubner's fij ures.

TIME OP APPEARANCE. — May and August.
The August specimens only are taken in this
country.

LOCALITIES. — Unrecorded as an inhabitant
of Ireland, Scotland, or the Isle of Man. In
England it seems to be almost entirely con-
fined to the coasts of Kent and Sussex oppo-
site the northern coast of France. A theory
broached by myself very many years ago, and
severely ridiculed by many of our entomo-
logists, under the name of the " blown-over
theory," suggested that we may be indebted
to winds, or the migratory propensity of in-
sects, for the few specimens taken in this
country of such species as Chcerocampa Nerii,
Lampidcs bcet:ca, and Pier is Daplidice. This
theory may, I think, fairly challenge investi-
gation, notwithstanding the unquestionable
fact to be presently adduced of the species
having been raised from the egg in this
country. I believe it is generally safer to
investigate a theory based on long experience
thantodismissit as unworthy of consideration.
Da.plidice. has been reported from the under-
mentioned counties : —

Cambridgeshire. I took a fine specimen
near Whiitlesea Mere on the 22nd or 23rd
of August, 1852, while at rest on the flower
of the wild carrot — E. 0. Buxton.

Devonshire. At p. 398 of the second
volume of the " Zoologist," Mr. Ligliton says,
" My cabinet has lately been enriched by a
specimen of Dupli<l>ce captured in 1836 in
Roseberry Wood, near Exeter, by Mr. R.
Dawson."

Essex. One was taken by Mr. Norman
Halls, near Dilbridge Hall, Colchester, on the
12th August, 1857— IT. H. Harwood.

Hampshire. Portsdown Hill — H. H.
Crewe.

Kent. At p. 113 of the first volume of
the " Zoologist," the Rev. W. T. Bree, once a
great authority in entomological matters, writes
thus : — " Mr. Leplastrier, of Dover, cap-
tured last summer, near that place, two pairs
of the rare Pieris Daplidice. One of these,
fortunately, laid some eggs after it was cap-
tured, and from them Mr. Leplastrier reared
the caterpillars which he fed on the wild
mignonette (Reseda lutea), and at the present
time (Feb. 8, 1843) he has four of them in
the chrysalis state. The chrysalis, to my eye
at least, a good deal resembles some of the
Vanessidae, were it not that, unlike them, it is
fastened by a thread round the middle. Mr.
Leplastrier's specimens were taken, I think,
the end of July, or early in August, and if
so, it would seem there must be two broods
in the season." On the 18th of May of the
same year, Mr. Leplastrier writes thus to
Mr. Bree : — "I have the pleasure of fulfilling
my promise, by informing you of the safe
arrival of my four specimens of Daplidice last
week, and certainly they are a splendid-
looking insect, and, of course, in fine con-
dition : there are three females and one male."
Mr. Bree adds : — " The above notice may not,
perhaps, be wholly without interest to your
entomological readers, as it serves to point out
with precision the date when this rare insect
makes its first appearance on the wing."

Lymingp, six miles north of Uythe —
William Tylden.

Margate, 1858 and 1868— (Mrs.) Julia Cvx.

160

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

Captures near Margate, Eamsgate, Deal,
Dover, and Folkestone, have frequently been
made and recorded. Graveseud, one in 1870
— D. T. Buttvn.

56. Greenveined White (Pieris Napi). Upper side of
Male and Female.

Un ler side of Female.

56. GREENVEINED WHITE. — The tip of the
fore wings is blunt but scarcely rounded ; the
margins are simple : the colour is white with
smoky-gray tips to the fore wings, and a
slight blackness at the extremity of each
•wing-ray ; there is one spot on the disk of the
fore wings in the male and two in the female ;
these spots are nearer the hind margin than
the middle of the wing : in the female also
the hind wings are more or less suffused with
smoky-gray, more especially along the wing-
rays. On the under side the tips of the fore
wings and the whole of the hind wings are
yellow ; the disk of the fore wings is white ;
the wing-rays are of the ordinary ground
colour, but are bordered with black scales
Varieties. — Mr. Buckler remark <sth.it all the

cate) pillars of this insect which fed on water-
cress produced very pretty varieties of the
perfect insect, the usual dusky markings of
the wings being of a delicate dove-gray, the
bases of the wings being more than usually
suffused with this tint. Mr. Stephens divided
this species into three, distinguished by the
greater or smaller amount of smoky gray on
the wings ; he called them " Napi" " Napcce"
and ftSabefficte ; " but no entomologists with
whom I am acquainted adopt this division.

LIFE HISTORY. — This butterfly is double-
brooded : the EGGS which produce both broods
are laid on the hedge garlic (Erysimum
alliaria), on the water-cress (Nasturtium ojjici-
nafe), on the winter-ciess (Bai barea pr&cox),
and probably some oth> r species of cruciferous
plants : the EGGS which produce the first
brood of caterpillars are deposited in April
and May ; those which produce the second, in
July and August : their figure is that of a
sugar-loaf, but beautifully ribbed longitu-
dinally, and delicately striated transversely ;
they are attached by the base. The CATER-
PILLARS emerge about the twelfth day, and
are full-fed respectively at the end of June
and middle of September, when they rest in a
straight position, closely appressed to the
food-plant. The head is small, decidedly
narrower than the body ; the body is cylin-
drical, but tapers slightly to each extremity ;
the dorsal surface is transversely wrinkled, the
wrinkles dividing each segment into six sec-
tions ; both head and body are beset with
minute warts or points, each wart emitting a
hair. The colour of the head and dorsal sur-
face is dull and rather dark glaucous green ;
the ventral surface is lighter, the division
between the two being very distinct, and
taking place at the spiracles, which are black
and enclosed in a bright yellow ring : the
warts on the head are generally white, those
on the dorsal surface almost invariably black,
and those on the ventral surface almost in-
variably white ; the legs and claspers are of
the same tint as the body, but semi-trans-
parent. Mr. Greening kindly supplied me
with the eggs of this species, and Mr. Buckler
with the full-fed caterpillars : the latter spun

WHITES.

161

a delicate web over the surface of a leaf early
in July, attaching themselves thereto by the
anal extremity and also by a belt passing over
the body behind the thorax, and thus changed
into CHRYSALIDS, having the head rather ele-
vated and terminating in a slender point. The
thorax is produced into a slender, medio-
dorsal keel, angulated in the middle ; the
sides of the sixth and seventh segments are
kt eled and angulated, the seventh more pro-
minently so than the sixth ; the following
segments have a medio-dorsal keel very little
raised, the continuity of this with the thoracic
keel is interrupted on the sixth and seventh
segments. The colour is green, fading on the
approach of emergence to whitish, minutely
dotted with black ; the keel of the thorax and
the lateral keel of the sixth and seventh seg-
ments are yellow, crested with pinkish brown,
the posterior angle of the latter is tipped with
black. I believe that this species never feeds
on the various species of £rassica, Tropceo-
lum and Reseda, frequented by its congener,
Pieris Rap<e, and I also think that the
accounts of its destructive powers are entirely
fabulous. — Newman.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — May and August.

LOCALITIES. — Mr. Birchall reports that this
butterfly is generally distributed in Ireland,
and that it occurs in the Isle of Man ; it
seems to occur generally, but in some places
not plentifully, in Scotland and England.

57. Small White (Pieris Rapce). Upper side of Male.

57. SMALL WHITE. — The fore wings are
somewhat arche^ on the costal margin, the
tip being somewhat pointed, but not acutely
so, and the hind margin simple and entire ;
the hind margin of the hind wings also is
simple and entire. The colour of the wings

is white, but the fore wings of the male have
a smoky-gray tip, and a faint median spot of
the same colour ; the hind wings have an
inconspicuous black spot on the costal margin.
The females have a distinct dark smoky spot
at the tip, and two black spots on the disk,

Upper side of Female.

one nearly circular somewhere about the
centre of the wing, the other almost double,
and nearer the anal angle. The under side'
has the tip of the fore wings and entire area
of the hind wings dull ochreous yellow, the
darker markings of the upper side being ap-
parent, but indistinct.

Varieties. — A very variable species as re-
gards the amount of black marking on the
upper side of the fore wings. In some speci-
mens, in one particularly which was sent me
by Mr. Fetherstonhaugh, of Dublin, the
black markings are totally absent. Mr.
Stephens, grounding his characters on this
difference, divided the species into two,
calling the vernal specimens " Metra" the
later or autumnal specimens " Hapce." At
p. 258 of the fourth volume of the " Ento-
mologist," Mr. J. M. Bramwell describes a
specimen, taken while settled on some palinga
near Perth, as of a uniform dusky brown
colour on both sides of the wings. Lastly,
there is a variety of exquisite beauty occa-
sionally but very rareiy taken in this country,
of the most delicate but vivid yellow. It will
be seen farther on that this variety occurs
more commonly in Canada.

LIFE HISTORY. — This butterfly is double-
brooded : the eggs which produce both broods
are laid on all the cultivated varieties of
cabbage and garden plants, the cruciferce,
tropaeolums, and mignonette having the

11

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

preference. Those designed to produce the
iirst brood of caterpillars are deposited in
April and May, those for the second brood in
July and August : the shape of the EGGS is
that of a sugar-loaf, beautifully ribbed longi-
tudinally and delicately striated transversely,
the number of ribs in the specimens I counted
being ten, eleven, and twelve ; the number of
striae I believe inconstant ; it is scarcely ever
less than thirty, and these, being crowded into
so fcmall a space, are, of course, difficult to
count : the eggs are attached by the base
only, and always on the upper side of the
leaf. The young CATERPILLARS of the first
brood are hatched about the thirteenth day,
and those of the second brood about the tenth
day, but this depends very much on tem-
perature ; they are often observed eating the
eggshell even before quitting it. Until the
second change of skin the caterpillars are
exactly the colour of the leaf, and semi-
transparent ; the hairs are conspicuous, and
each has a spherical head like a pin ; indeed,
they much resemble so many minute pins
stuck into the skin, or still more exactly those
minute stalked glands which are commonly
observed in the stalks of ferns and other
plants. There are a number of white warts on
the body much more conspicuous at this early
stage than in after life ; these are three in
number on each side of each segment in the
middle of the body, but not at the ex-
tremities. The caterpillars are full-fed in
about twenty days, and this also depends on
the temperature, which in this climate is
proverbially uncertain during the summer
season : when full-fed they rest in a perfectly
straight position and with the ventral surface
closely appressed to the leaf; they crawl with
a gliding undulating motion, and, if removed,
roll themselves in a ring — a position they
rarely maintain longer than a few seconds :
the head is rather narrower than the second
segment, and decidedly narrower than the
following segments : the body is cylindrical,
but tapers gradually towards both extremities;
the incisions between the segments are very
indistinct, but each segment is transversely
wrinkled or divided into six sections ; both

the head and body are beset with minute
points or warts, each of which emits a short
and feeble hair. The colour of the head and
dorsal surface of the body is a rather dark
glaucous green ; the ventral surface is lighter
and more decidedly glaucous. The division
between the two tints occurs in the region of
the spiracles ; there is a nairow medio-dorsal
stripe of gamboge yellow, extending from the
head to the commencement of the anal flap ;
there is also a lateral scries of bright yellow
spots in pairs, the anterior .spot of each pair is
contiguous to a spiracle ; the warts are black,
with the exception of three dorsal pairs on
each segment, which are white. The CHRY-
SALIDS are attached by a belt and also by
minute hooks at the anal extremity ; they are
readily to be found thus attached to the wood-
work in greenhouses, to wooden frames, walls,
trunks of trees, and all manner of out-houses ;
the head is very convex beneath, and ter-
minates in front in a very sharp point directed
forwards; the thorax is produced into a
slender medio-dorsal keel, angulated in the
middle; the sides of the sixth and seventh
segments are keeled and angulated, the
seventh much more prominently so th;<') the
sixth. The following segments have a inedio-
dorsal keel very slightly raised on the thir-
teenth segment; this is divided, and the
divisions spread to the bifid anal extremity.
The colour of the chrysalis is very different in
different specimens; the majority are of that
pale whitey-browu which I have called putty
colour ; some are wainscot-brown ; others red-
brown; and others again are delicate green of
different shades. The entire surface of the
chrysalis is spotted, sprinkled, or striated with
black. An ingenious but, I think, futile
attempt, has been made to show that the
colour of the chrysalis varies with the colour
of the object to which it is attached.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — Summer, from April
to August, but especially abundant in May
and August : sometimes as abundant as snow-
flakes, sometimes scarce. In 1868 it was dini-
cult to procure a specimen, and this fact was
the subject of general observation and of many
remarks in the fourth volume of the " Ento-

WHITES.

16?,

mologist," pp. 300, 313, 314, &c. ; the scarcity
seemed to extend all over the kingdom. At
page 80 of the fourth volume of the " Ento-
mologist," the Rev. T. A. Preston records the
occurrence of a white btitterfly on the 24th of
February, and of a second on the 4th of
March : it would be useless to speculate on
the species, but Rapce is the most probable of
the three.

Obs. — At nine in the evening of the 16th
July, 1868, when returning from a visit to
my friend Mr. Kirchner, who has so ex-
quisitely engraved my moths and butterflies,
I saw a number of small white butterflies on
a railway bank, flying from one clump of
lucerne to another, and sipping the honey
of the blossoms : they were doubtless of this
species.

LOCALITIES. — Appears to be universally dis-
tributed throughout the United Kingdom. It
is very partial to settling on damp ground.
Curious instances are recorded of its following
water-carts in London in swarms, and settling
on the fresh watered streets.

Obs. — This butterfly is rather remarkable for
the manner in which it has been observed mi-
grating. At page 1443 of the fourth volume
of the "Zoologist," I have extracted the
foll»vring from the " Canterbury Journal :" —
"One of the largest flights of butterflies
ever seen in this country crossed the Channel
from France to England, on Sunday last (the
5th July, 1846). Such were the density and
extent of the cloud formed by the living mass,
that it completely obscured the sun from the
people on board our Continental steamers ;
the decks were strewed with the insects in
all directions. The flight reached England
about twelve at noon, and dispersed them-
selves inland and alongshore, darkening the
air as they went. During the sea-passage of
the butterflies the weather was calm and
sunny, with scarcely a puff of wind stirring ;
but an hour or so after they reached terra
firma it came on to blow great guns from the
south-west, the direction whence the insects
came." Another newspaper account says:
"On Sunday last (5th July, 1846), there was
a most extraordinary arrival of white butter-

flies at Dover; every vessel that came into
harbour had the rigging and decks completely
covered with them, and the pier was so thick
in butterflies that you could not walk with-
out treading on them." At the same page
of the " Zoologist," the Rev. J. Pemberton
Bartlett gives the following account : — " On
the 7th of July (1846), I was surprised by
the very unusual number of white butterflies
which appeared in our garden here, and in
order to protect the rising generation of cab-
bages and broccoli, I commenced an attack
upon them with my net. In about an hour
I killed upwards of a hundred, but this not
appearing materially to diminish their num-
ber, I desisted from the work of destruction.
The next day they were as numerous, and I
began to suspect that they had migrated, as
it was difficult to account for so simultaneous
an escape from the chrysalis state of so vast a
number in our own immediate neighbourhood.
I have since been informed that on Sunday,
the 5th of July, an extraordinary flight of
white butterflies arrived at Dover from the
French coast. It was described as being so
extensive as to pass like a cloud of snow.
The decks of several vessels were covered with
them ; they came in a south-west direction."
The distance between Mr. Bartlettfs resi-
dence and Dover is ten miles.

Another and totally different instance of
the colonizing or acclimating power of this
butterfly will be found at page 9371 of the
"Zoologist" for 1864 : this paper, which is
certainly one of the most valuable and in-
teresting contributions to the science of ento-
mology ever published, is from the pen of
Mr. G. J. Bowles, Secretary of the Entomo-
logical Society of Canada, Quebec Branch ;
and although it is too long to transfer entire
to these pages, the introductory paragraphs are
of such importance in an economic and com-
mercial point of view, that I cannot hesitate
to insert them here; omitting, however, the
author's valuable observations on the possible
mode of introduction. " During the summer
of 1863," says Mr. Bowles, "I captured, in
the vicinity of Quebec, numerous specimens
of a butterfly of which no description could

164

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

be found in any work on American entomo-
logy ; Mr. Couper, to whom I applied for
assistance, was equally at a loss to determine
the species, considering it, as I did, to be
indigenous to Canada. In order to solve the
problem, however, we forwarded some speci-
mens to Mr. William Saunders, of London,
C.W., who pronounced them to be identical
with Pieris Itapce, the small white butterfly
of England, one of the most common and in-
jurious lepidopterous insects of that country.
In the meantime I had enclosed a drawing of
the butterfly, together with the wings, to
Mr. S. H. Scudder, of Boston, from whom I
received a reply stating that, after comparing
the drawiug and wings with specimens of
P. Rupee in the Museum of Comparative
Geology at Cambridge, he saw no reason to
consider them distinct ; at the same time he
de.-ired further investigation to be made
respecting the caterpillar and chr) salis states
of the insect. This investigation has been
successfully carried out, and places beyond
doubt the identity of the butterfly with the
English P. RapcBt thus establishing another
instance of the transportation of a lepido-
pterous insect across a wide expanse of ocean,
and its naturalization in a new country —
an instance which, when the evidence is
considered, must be regarded as the most
conclusive on record. The identity of the
English and Canadian species is thus proved
by the exact similarity of the two insects in
all their stages. That the perfect insects are
alike in both sexes I have on the authority
of the gentleman above named, for in Quebec
I could have no opportunity of comparing
specimens taken in both countries. It is
singular, too, that a curious variety of the
male is common to both ; in Canada, how-
ever (perhaps from the effect of a different
climate), it is more frequently met with than
in England. Two males of a bright canary
colour, but with the usual markings of the
spocies, were captured here last summer, one
by Mr. Couper, the other by me ; and this
season I ha\e already seen several similar
individuals. On referring to a valuable work
in the library of Parliament (' Curtis's Farm

Insects,') I was gratified to find that the
author mentions having in his collection a
male P. Rap&, 'taken near Oldham, in Lan-
cashire, which had all the wings of a bright
yellow colour.' As to the chrysalis, in size,
colour, and markings, it exactly agrees with
engravings and descriptions of the English
chrysalis, and also in its usual place of depo-
sition, &c. The last link in the chain is
furnished by the similarity of the caterpillar,
which also agrees with the best English de-
scriptions. I took several of these caterpillars
from cabbage plants in hot-beds on the 8th of
June, and have reared four of them to ma-
turity. When about half-grown they began
to exhibit the characteristic markings of the
species, these markings becoming more de-
cided as they increased in size. That this
insect is not native to Canada is certain from
two interesting circumstances connected with
its history. A limit can be set to its existence
in Canada, and the place where it first ap-
peared can be specified. Until within a few
years the butterfly was unknown in this
country. No description of it is found in
Kirby's * Fauna Boreali-Americana,' nor in
the 'Canadian Naturalist' by Gosse, who
visited Quebec and collected here about 1839.
The 'Synopsis of the Smithsonian In^titu-
tion ' is also wanting in this respect; and I
have carefully examined the volumes of our
magazine of natural history (' The Canadian
Naturalist,' Montreal), without finding any
notice of the species. This periodical contains
two lists of Lepidoptera collected in Lower
Canada, one by Mr. R. Bell, jun., of butter-
flies taken on the Lower St. Lawrence ; the
other, by Mr. D'Urban, of those found in the
vicinity of Montreal in 1857, 1858, and 1859.
The only Pieris mentioned in these lists is P.
oleracea, a species which may be distinguished
at a glance from Rapce, the markings being
altogether different. Mr. Couper captured a
specimen of Rapte within the city limits of
Quebec, about five years ago, but did not
investigate the subject, though considering
the insect a rare one, his special study being
Coleoptera. This is the earliest notice of the
butterfly in Canada ; and it evidently points

WHITES.

165

out Quebec as the locality of introduction,
and fixes the period at about seven or eight
years ago." — " Zoologist" 1864.

These highly interesting facts may reason-

ably excite the inquiry whether Antiopa aiding the migration.

Atalanta, and many other insects, have not
migrated in the same way from continent to
continent, and whether man may not have
been instrumental, however unwittingly, in

58. Largft White (Pieris Brassicce). Male and Female.

58. LARGE WHITE. — The fore wings have
the co^ta arched, the tip pointed, but not
acutely so, and the hind margin simple and
entire ; the hind wings have the margin
simple and entire : the colour is white, but
the fore wings have a broad smoky black tip,
which diminishes almost to a point on the
costal as well as on the hind margin ; the
females have, in addition, three black spots,
one of them nearly circular and nearly central,
another also nearly circular between this and
the inner margin ; the third is club-shaped
and inner-marginal, the tip of the club almost
touching the second circular spot, and the
slender end of the club extending along the
inner margin more than halfway towards the
base of the wing : the hind wings have a black
spot about the middle of the costal margin.
The under side has the disk of the fore wings
white with a yellow-gray tip and two black

spots, corresponding with those on the upper
side of the female ; the hind wings are dull
yellowish-white sprinkled with black scales.

Varieties. — At p. 471 of the second volume
of the "Zoologist," Mr. J. Plant, of Leicester,
figures a variety of this butterfly with a
sharply-defined black patch at the base of all
the wings. At p. 258 of the fourth volume
of the " Entomologist," Mr. J. M. Bramwell,
of Perth, mentions that he has in his col-
lection a curious specimen of this butterfly
captured in 1868, about two miles from Perth.
It is a female, and of a uniform dusky black
colour, both on the upper and under sides ;
the black spots on the wings are quite dis-
tinct, being of a much more intense and
shining black than the ground colour. I
ought also to mention that Mr. Stephens, in
his " Illustrations of British Entomology,'
makes "species" of the two broods of this

166

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

butterfly, calling the early or vernal brood
" Chariclea" the later or autumnal brood
" Brassicce" The vernal brood has gray
tips to the fore wings, whereas iu the later
bro d tl ey are black.

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGOS are laid in May,
and again in July, sometimes singly and
sometimes in little clusters, varying in num-
ber from four or five to a dozen. In shape
they somewhat resemble a champagne bottle
which has had the upper part of its neck
knocked off; they are firmly attached by
means of a gummy secretion elaborated within
the body of the parent to the surface of the leaf
selected, which in this country seems to be
almost invariably one of the cultivated varie-
ties of cabbage. The attachment is by the base
only, and the egg stands erect like a niuepin ;
it has twenty or twenty-two longitudinal ribs,
and between thirty and forty most delicate
transverse lines, which pass over the ribs
themselves, as well as the interstices between
them. The CATERPILLARS of the first brood
usually hatch in fifteen days, those of the
second brood in ten days : they feed exactly
on the spot where the egg was laid ; if in a
cluster they remain in company until the
second change of skin, first, however, con-
suming the shell of the egg from, which they
have just escaped. The caterpillars are full-
fed in about a month, seldom less, the period
varying in accordance with the temperature ;
they rest on the surface of the cabbage leaf in
a nearly straight position, and if disturbed fall
to the ground, bending the two extremities
towards each other ; but they retain this
position for a short time only, and then
turning with unerring certainty to the food-
plant from which they have fallen, reascend
the stalk. The head is narrower than the
eecond segment, into which it is partially
withdrawn when the caterpillar is at rest ; it
is rough with numerous warts of various sizes,
each of which emits a hair. The body is
uniformly cylindrical, the divisions of the
segments not being strongly marked, but yet
distinctly discernible, and each segment is
transversely divided into four sections in
addition to a double skinfold between each

two, thus imparting the idea that the number
of sections in a segment is six. Each section
has a series of wart-like projections of various
sizes, which give a rough appearance to the
surface, and each of these projections emits a
hair from the summit. The colour of the
head is bluish-gray, the plate above the mouth
being ochreous, and the warts or projections
black. There is a large black mark down the
middle of the face which divides on each side
of the ochreous plate already described, and
also a black blotch in which are situated the
ocelli on each side of the mouth. The colour
of the body is bluish-green, with three yellow
stripes, the narrowest of which is medio dorsal,
the others lateral, and including the spiracles ;
these three stripes, although very obvious,
have no clearly-defined margins, and seem to
melt into the blue-gray ground-colour. The
warts or projections are entirely black, and,
in many instances, form the nucleus of a small
black blotch; these, occurring only or prin-
cipally on the blue-gray area, give a greater
distinctness to the stripes of the caterpillar.
The hairs are mostly white ; the ventral sur-
face, including the legs and claspers, is dull
yellow-green. The CHRYSALIS is attached by
a belt round the waist, as well as by the anal
extremity, which is forked or divided, the
notch between the divisions being fringed
with minute hooks. The head is pointed ; the
back is keeled, and rises into a sharp point in
the middle of the thorax ; the sides are also
irregularly keeled, the keel rising into two
points or lobes on each side of the body close
to the margin of the wing-cases. The colour
is bluish-white, abundantly sprinkled with
black spots ; the point of the head is yellow,
the median line of the dorsal keel also yellow,
but interrupted, especially at the junction of
the segments, by a black spot on the body ;
each of these black spots encloses a smaller
white spot. — Newman.

TIME OP APPEARANCE. — May to August;
particularly these two months.

LOCALITIES. — In all purts of the United
Kingdom more or less plentiful. This, like the
preceding species, has strong migrating pro-
pensities. At page 289 of the second volume

WHITES.

167

of the "Entomologist," Mr. Thorncrofc has
published the following interesting obser-
vations on the subject : — " It was a still, hot
day, with hardly a breath of air, and now and
then the common Brassier and Rapte would
lazily fly in. The flood- tide set in about 3
p.m. with a gentle breeze, and then came a
host of the above-named butterflies, with a
few ofNapi. There must have been hundreds
arrive within a very short space of time ; but
what surprised my friend and me was their
alighting or settling on the sea with expanded
wings, and the ease with which they rose
again. We saw the same butterfly settle and
rise again as many as four or five times,
within a distance of less than a hundred
yards, and with apparently as much ease as
on land. They all came direct in from the
sea from a south-westerly direction, and
seemed to aim for the entrance of the harbour
between the piers, though there were plenty
of them came on shore on each side of the
piers. The shore was covered with a coarse
sort or rye-grass, on which they were resting
when we returned home, and in walking
through the tall grass they rose in myriads."
If Napi, ftapce, and Brassicce cross the Chan-
nel with so much ease, why not Daplidice ?

59. Black- veined White (Aporia Cratcegi).

59. BLACK VEINED WHITE. — All the wings
are rounded, and the edge'* entire and without
fringe ; they are very sparingly clothed with
scales, those of the females being semi-trans-
parent ; the colour is white, all the wing- rays
in the male being black, but in the female the
three principal wing-rays of the fore wings

are pale brown ; every wing-ray is accom-
panied by a vague triangular smoky cloud
where it joins the hind marginal ray.

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGGS are laid in June,
in clusters, on the white thorn (Cratcegus oxy-
acantha) ; and the young CATERPILLARS, which
are hatched in ten, twelve, or fourteen days,
are of a very social disposition ; by their
united exertions they construct a silken tent,
under which they reside in quiet during the
sunshiny hours, but issue forth morning and
evening to feed on the leaves of the hawthorn.
On the approach of winter they quit this nur-
sery and build a more substantial one, which
is apparently waterproof, and under which
they pass the winter, huddled together in the
closest proximity, and abstain entirely from
food, like many of our hybernating cater-
pillars of moths; here they remain until
the expansion of the leaves in the spring,
when they emerge, wander about, and eat
voraciously, yet even then for some time they
return occasionally to the protection of their
silken domicile, but very soon separate for
ever, and pass the remainder of their caterpil-
lar existence in comparative solitude. Towards
the end of May they are full-grown, and then
fall from their food-plant on the least annoy-
ance, rolled in a tolerably compact ring, but
with the head slightly on one side. The head
is about equal in width to the second segment :
the body is almost uniformly cylindrical, the
second and thirteenth segments being slightly
narrower than the rest ; almost every part of
the head and body is clothed with hair. The
colour of the head and second segment is dull
smoky black ; the shorter hairs of the head
are black, the longer ones white : the dorsal
surface of the body is black, with two bright
rust-coloured stripes, composed of minute rust-
coloured spot?, each of which has a central
black dot which emits a rust-coloured hair ;
these stripes are interrupted at the incisions
of the segments when the caterpillar is crawl-
ing, but appear continuous when it is at rest :
the ventral surface is gray, this colour extend-
ing above the spiracles, which are black ; the
division of the dorsal :uid ventral surface is
abrupt and decided ; the gray area is f-pruikk'd

168

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

with innumerable minute black dots, and emits
a great number of feeble whitish hairs : the
legs are black and the claspers gray. About
the middle of May the caterpillar spins a
milk-white web over the surface of the haw-
thorn twigs, and, affixing itself to this, pre-
pares for changing to a chrysalis, a compound
silken cord being first attached to the sides.
The CHRYSALIS has the head obtusely pointed,
the back of the thorax is sharply keeled, and
the shoulders prominent ; the body has also a
dorsal keel, and on each side a lateral keel,
but neither of them is so prominent as that of
the thorax; and the body terminates in a
curved and flattened horn, which is furnished
at the extremity with the usual hooks. The
prevailing colour is yellowish white, varied
with pure yellow and spotted with black ; the
brighter yellow is principally observable in
the more salient points, as of the head and
shoulders, and the lateral and dorsal keels of
the abdomen ; but in these latter it is inter-
rupted and incontinuous; the black forms a
broad continuous stripe down the ventral sur-
face, including the cases of the head, legs,
and antennae ; the v ing-cases are yellow,
bordered and spotted with black ; the dorsal
keel of the thorax is black, and the abdomen
is abundantly spotted with black ; the anal
horn is yellow, with three longitudinal black
marks. — Newman.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — June and July : in
.perfection about midsummer.

.LOCALITIES. — I believe this butterfly is un-
known in Ireland, Scotland, or the Isle of
Man : the name appears in Mr. Greene's Irish
list, on the authority of a Mr. Hely, but
neither Mr. Greene nor Mr. Birchall appears
to have seen Irish specimens. In England we
have many recorded localities.

Berkshire. Burghfield, near Reading — (7.
S. Bird.

(Devonshire. Moreton — Stainton's " Ma-
nual ; " not known now.)

(Dorsetshire. Glanville's Wootton, but I
have not seen it for fifty-five years — J. C.
Dale.)

(Glamorganshire. Formerly abundant, but
I have not seen one for many years — Evan

John; formerly abundant at Ynisygerwn, but
not for many years — J. T. D. Llewelyn.)

Gloucestershire — Used to occur at Badge-
worth — Joseph Merri/n ; near Bristol — Alfred

E. Iludd.

Hampshire. Near Petersfield — H. Harpur
Crewe ; near Lyndhurst and Brockenhurst —

F. Bond; Liphook— G. G. Barrett; New
Forest— J. C. Dale, ; Southsea, Wahham —
Henry Moncrcaff; Emsworth — W. H. Draper.

Herefordshire. Formerly common at Eton
Wood, near Leominster ; 1 have seen it in
cloudy weather settled almost by hundreds on
theblossoms of the great moon-daisy (Chrysan-
themum leucanthemuni) — E. Newman; very
rarely met with at Kimbolton — Mrs. Hutchin-
on.

Huntingdonshire. Monk's Wood on the
3rd of June — H.DouUeday; Monk's Wood —
F. Bond.

Kent. Luddenham, Dimkirk, Shottenden^
Selling — H. A. Stowell ; most abundant at
Herne Bay in 1858 : we used, by way of
amusement, to see how many we could catch
at one stroke of the net ; we often took four
or five at a time : they appeared particularly
fond of fields of broad beans — H. Ranisay
Cox; local at Wingham ; near Nonington,
Starry, uncertain in appearance — W. 0.
Hammond; in profusion at Strood — Francis
Latch more ; Minster Lanes and Horne Park,
near Ramsgate — R. F. Turrtbull.

Monmouthshire. Common, its range ex-
tending from about a mile below Cardiff to a
place called Llanwern, a distance of about
fifteen miles — George Lock.

Northamptonshire. Barnwell Wold, and
near Peterborough — F. Bond; near Tow-
cester — Hamlet Clark.

Somersetshire. Clevedon, Worle — Alfred
E. Hudd.

Sussex. At the Holmbush, between Hen-
field and Hurst ; I have neither seen it nor
heard of its being taken elsewhere in the
county — Edward Jenner.

Wight, Isle of. Rare in the Isle of Wight
— F. Bond; Quarr Copse — Alfred Owen.

Worcestershire. Great Malvern, scarce—
W, Edwards.

SKIPPERS.

169

2. CONCEALERS (in science CELANTES),

Of which the caterpillars hide themselves in a silken follicle or cocoon before changing

into chrysalids.

Turning back to page 18, it will be
seen that I propose to divide all butterflies
into two primary groups, which I call Ex-
posers (Detengentes) and Concealers (Celantes);
the former undergo their transformation to
chrysalids in the most open and exposed
situations, and quite uncovered ; the latter
undergo the change concealed in a cocoon,
after the manner of moths. In Britain the
Concealers are lew in number, of small size,
and of very insignificant appearance; they are
universally known amongst us by the name
of " Skippers." In all our arrangements of
British insects these merry little creatures
seem out of place ; that is, there is no con-
tinuity in any series which combines the
Ex posers and the Concealers, and I am per-
fectly aware that this which I am proposing
does not remedy the defect ; but an attentive
study of exotic forms will show that the gulf
between the two groups is not so wide as it
appears to us who are acquainted only with
our Skippers. Between the Exposers and
the Skippers intervene three beautiful and
interesting families of butterflies, called in
scientific nomenclature Doritidce, Uranldce,
and Synemonidce ; they have all the general
superficial appearance of Exposers, combined
with all the natural and essential charac-
ters of Concealers. One of Doritidce, called
Doritis Stubbendorffii, so exactly resembles
Aporia Cratcegi, that it might easily be mis-
taken for that insect; an other, of which a repre-
sentation is given at p. 175, has frequently been
described and figured as British; and although
I am unable to refer to any British specimen,
and therefore cannot include it in a British
list, I think there is no improbability of its oc-
currence on the Scottish Alps, so similar in
character to the Swiss Alps--, where it abounds;
but at present the evidence, as given hereafter,
is insufficient for my own satisfaction.

Family 12. — SKIPPERS (in science Hesperidas).

The caterpillars are smooth, and have gene-
rally large heads and shuttle-shaped bodies ;
they feed on a variety of plants, b utmost
frequently on leguminous species and grasses ;
when full-fed the » spin silken cocoons among
the leaves or stalks of their food-plants, and
in these turn into chrysalids which are with-
out angles, more or less pointed at the head,
and slender and tapering at the other ex-
tremity : they are very active, wriggling
when annoyed with great vigour ; some have
a slight attachment by the tail, but none are
suspended or girted. The butterfly has six
perfect legs, all of them formed for walking :
the fore wings, when the butterfly is at rest, are
held in a semi-erect position; I havenever seen
them appressed back to back, as is usual in
the more normal butterflies ; the hind wings
are held horizontally, or nearly so. The flight
of Skippers is brisk and devoid of grace ; it
is rather more like the blundering flight
of a full-bodied moth than the business-like
progress made by a butterfly.

Obs. — Some entomologists prefer dividing
this little group of butterflies into several
genera or minor groups; but not being a ware
of the advantage of this subdivision, I have
followed Herrich-Schseflfer in keeping them
together and calling them all ffesperia. It
may, however, be observed that Paniscus, con-
stituting the genus Carterocephalus, as well as
Sylvamis and Comma — which, like so many
exotic species, possess uncinate or hooked
antennae — offer noteworthy characters. The
British species might, therefore, be divided
without impropriety.

60. GRIZZLED SKIPPER. — The antennae are
slender at the base and gradually thickened to
the tip, which is bent but not hooked ; they
are of a smoky black colour, annulated with

170

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

GO. Grizzled Skipper (Hesperia Malvae).

white : the outline of the wings is very simple :
they are of a smoky black colour ; the fore
wings are adorned with variously-shaped white
spots, the position of which will be seen in the
figure; the hind wings have a compound white
spot near the middle, and a transverse series
of small white spots parallel with the hind
margin : the fringe is spotted with black and
white.

Scarce Grizzled Skipper (H<speria Lavaterai).

Varieties. — There is a rather striking variety
in which many of the spots on the wings are
confluent, and are thus rendered much more
conspicuous. Haworth has described this as
the Scarce Grizzled Skipper (Itesperia Lava-
terce). Intermediate specimens between this
variety and the type are continually occur-
ring.

LIFE HISTORY.— The EGG is laid on the com-
mon bramble (fiubu8fruticosus),and£ccoYdii\g
to Hubneralsoonthe raspberry (Rubus idteus).
At page 149 of the second volume of the
" Entomologist," Mr. Pristo informs us that
in May, 1863, he found a pair in cop., and
put them in confinement ; the female after-
wards laid on the upper side of a bramble leaf,
and also on the stems of the bramble, a num-
ber of small round EGGS of a pale green colour,
each egg being deposited singly. The CATER-
PILLAR is represented by H ubner as drawing
together the edges of the bramble leaf from
the opposite sides, and thus forming a very
exposed dwelling-place : the head is almost
round, and wider than the second segment ;
it emits a number of short but very strong
bristles, which give it a scabrous or rough

appearance : the body is cylindrical, but tapers
slightly towards both extremities ; like the
head it is beset with hairs. The colour of
the head is black, of the body either brown
or green, having a rather narrow medio-dorsal
stripe darker than the ground colour; besides
this there is a triple side-stripe, the median
portion of which is of the same tint as the
medio-dorsal stripe, but the lateral portions
are white. The CHRYSALIS is rather long,
smooth, and without angles or projections,
but the last segment terminates in a straight
horn directed backwards, and furnished with
hooks at the top ; the colour of the chrysalis
is dull white spotted with black ; the spots
are arranged on the back in three longitudinal
series, of which the medio-dorsal contains the
largest and most conspicuous spots.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — May : it remains
only a short time on the wing.

LOCALITIES. — Unknown in Ireland and the
Isle of Man. It occurs in Scotland, but
according to Dr. White not in Perthshire.
In England I have found it in every locality
I have visited.

61. Dingy Skipper (Hesperia Tages).

61. DINGY SKIPPER. — Theantennjeareslen-
der at the base, and are gradually thickened
towards the tip, which is bent but not hooked;
they are of a smoky-brown colour, delicately
annulated with white : the outline of the
wings is simple ; their colour is dingy smoky-
brown ; the fore wings have an obliquely
transverse gray band across the middle, be-
tween two darker ones ; there is also a white
spot on the costal margin at the commence-
ment of the exterior dark band, and a series
of seven or eight white spots on the hind
margin, just within the fringe : the hind
wings have several pale but obscure spots on
the disk, and a series of small white spots on
the margin ; the fringe of all the wings is

SKIPPERS.

171

smoky-brown, with a pale interval opposite
each white spot in the hind margin.

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGGS are laid in May
on the bird's-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) ;
the CATERPILLAK Ls figured by Hubner as of a
pale green colour, and as having on the side
two yellow stripes, each of which is sur-
mounted with a series of black spots; the
lower series appear to represent spiracles.
The CHRYSALIS is smooth, without angles, the
thoracic segments being swollen and of a dark
green colour ; the body is tinged with rosy
red ; it is conical and pointed.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — May : it is particu-
larly plentiful in flowery chalk banks in
Kent, Surrey, and Sussex.

LOCALITIES. — Mr. Birchall mentions it as
having been noticed in Gal way, but it h*s
not been recorded from the Isle of Man.
Dr. Buchanan White reports it from Kirkcud-
brightshire, Inverness-shire, and Ross-shire,
but he does not mention it as inhabiting

O

Perthshire. In England it occurs in every
county list I have received.

62. Chequered Skipper (Hesperia Paniscus).

62. CHEQUERED SKIPPER. — The antennae
are very slender- at the base, and gradually
but decidedly clubbed at the tip, which is
not hooked ; they are bright fulvous yellow
beneath, and annulated with black and yellow
above ; the club is brilliantly yellow beneath :
the costal margin of the fore wings is very
straight and the Up pointed, but not acutely :
the colour of all the wings is dark brown; the
fore wings have about ten large and conspicu-
ous yellow spots on the di«k, besides a series
of eight roundish and indistinct yellow spots
parallel with the hind margin : the hind
wings have three conspicuous yellow spots
about the middle, forming something of a
triangle, as well as a series of seven yellow
spots parallel with the hind margin : the
fringe is brown.

LIFE HISTORY. — Duponchel describes the
CATERPILLAR as brown with two yellow stripes
down the back ; the head is black, and the
second segment bordered with yellow. It
feeds on the broad-leaved plantain (Plantago
major}.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — June.

LOCALITIES. — I find no record of this little
butterfly as an inhabitant of Ireland, Scot-
land, or the Isle of Man. In England it
seems confined to a very few midland coun-
ties and one southern county.

Hampshire. Mr. Baker mentions this in
Wise's " New Forest." I have not seen a
specimen — C. G. B. Corbin ; Southwick —
Henry Moncreaff ; I have this year taken
Hcuperia Paniscus at Netley Abbey, near
Southampton — Hubert Harvey, "Intelligencer."

Huntingdonshire. Monk's Wood and other
woods — F. Bond; Monk's Wood in profusion
— Henry Doubleday, " Entomolgist" Vol. i.,
p. 156.

Lincolnshire. Bourne — Stainton's" Manual.'
Northamptonshire. Castor Hanglands, near
Peterborough — F. Bond; near Towcester —
Hum-Jet Clarke ; in profusion in a wood near
Oundle — II. Doubleday ; not uncommon in the
county ; Barnwell and Ashton Wolds in May

— William Bree ; I have taken this insect
very freely in the neighbourhood of Kettering

— W. Sturgess, "Intelligencer."
Nottinghamshire. It occurs in a wood near

Newark ; also in Ropsley Wood, near Gran-
tham — R. E. Brameld ; Stapleford, and near
Newark, rare — George Gascoyne.

Oxfordshire. Wychwood Forest — W. H.
Draper.

Suffolk. Sto wmarket — Staintoris "Manual"

63. LARGE SKIPPER. — The antennae are
clubbed and hooked at the tip : the shaft
is brown ; the club brownish above and ful-
vous beneath : in the male, the basal half
of the fore wings is fulvous, the outer half
fulvous brown; but in the middle of the
fulvous part is a raised and incrassated black
line, which begins near the middle of the
wing and ends near the hind margin ; near
the tip of the wing are six fulvous spots,

172

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

three of them near the costal margin, touching
each other, or rather separated only by the
darker wing-rays ; all the wing-rays are dark
brown : the hind wings are fulvous brown,
with dark brown hind margins, dark brown
rays, and about six not very distinct squarish

63. Large Skipper (Hesperia Sylvanus). Male and
Female.

fulvous spots : all the wings have a fulvous
gray fringe. The female has all the wings
fulvous brown, with paler fulvous spots ; all
the hind margins are darker brown, and the
fringes fulvous gray.

LIFE HISTORY. — Mr. Stain ton, in his
" Manual," quoting Professor Zeller, whose
accuracy in observation is almost unequalled,
says that the CATERPILLAR has a brown head
and a dull green body, with a darker dorsal
line, dotted with black; Beneath, on th* tenth
and eleventh segments, are snow-white trans-
verse spots. It feeds on the meadow soft
grass (Holcus lanatus), and on other grasses, in
the beginning of May. I believe that I have
several times found this caterpillar, and that
it has a remarkably large brown head.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — May and August.

LOCALITIES. — Mr. Birchall gives the Mur-
rough of Kildare as a locality for this butterfly,
but no additional information as to its distri-
bution in Ireland; Mr. AlfredOwen has taken
it in the Isle of Man, and Dr. Buchanan
White says it is indigenous to Scotland. The
name occurs in every English county list I
have received, except that from Northumber-
land ; in those from southern counties the

name is generally accompanied by some ex-
pression indicative of its abundance.

64. Silver-spotted Skipper (Hesperia Comma).
Male and Female.

64. SILVER-SPOTTED SKIPPER. — The antennse
are clubbed and hooked at the tip. The
upper side of the shaft is brown, the under
side fulvous ; the upper side of the club is
black, the under side bright fulvous. In the
male, the basal portion of the fore wings,
extending two-thirds the length of the wing,
is bright fulvous, and the outer, or hind
marginal third, dark brown ; in the middle of
the fulvous portion is a raised and incrassated
slightly oblique black line, which commences
near the middle of the wing and trends
towards the base of the inner margin : in the
brown or hind-marginal portion of the wing
and above the middle, are six pale yellowish
spots ; three of these, near the costal margin,
are linear, crowded together, and only sepa-
rated by the darker wing-rays : the hind wings
are dark brown round the margin, paler in
the middle, and having the paler portion
spotted with fulvous. The female is more
dingy than the male, the spots are less dis-
tinct, and the black line is altogether wanting.
The under side of the fore wings is yellow
towards the body and greenish towards the
tip ; at the very base are three broad dashes
of black : the hind wings have a number of
squarish spots of a silvery whiteness, whence
the name of "Silver-spotted Skipper."

LIFE HISTORY. — The CATERPILLAR feeds on

SKIPPERS.

173

bird's-foot trefoil (Lotus comiculatus), and
other leguminous plants. It has a large black
head and a cylindrical olive-green body, with
a linear white spot on each side of the tenth
and eleventh segments, very near the ventral
surface. — Hubner's figure.

TIME OF APPEARANCE — July and August.

LOCALITIES. — Unknown in Ireland, the Isle
of Man, or Scotland. It is by no means gene-
rally distributed in England, but is common
in some localities, more particularly in chalk
districts of the south and east.

Berkshire. Burghfield, near Reading — C.
S. Bird.

Buckinghamshire. Aston Clinton — H. H.
Orewe ; Halton — Joseph Greene.

Cambridgeshire. Newmarket Heath — F.
Bon'l ; common in the chalk districts about
Fulbourn and Newmarket — Thomas Brow*.

Devonshire. Rare ; I took one specimen
in 1856 near Wimbury, along the embank-
ment road ; Plymouth, Exmouth — J. J.
Reading.

Dorsetshire. Blandford Racecourse and
Badbury Rings— J. 0. Dale.

Gloucestershire. Rodborough Common, one
specimen — J. M. Musgrave.

Hampshire. Portsdown — W. Buckler ;
Kimpton — Rev. J. T. Rudd ; Peterwfield —
Henry Moncreajf; Lyndhurst, in New Forest
— H. Ramsay Cox.

Hertfordshire. Berkhampstead Common,
one specimen — G. H. Raynor.

Kent. Boxley Hills, near Maidstone ; not
very common — //. W. Greensted ; on the
coast about Dover — W. 0. Hammond.

Northamptonshire. Rare ; in a rough field
adjoining Bullnose Coppice, in August— Wil-
liam Bree.

Surrey. Croydon and Boxhill — W. Machin;
on all the chalk downs in the Croydon district
— E. Newman.

Sussex. Common on MallingHill — Edward
Jenner ; Hollingbury Coombe — W. Buckler ;
very plentiful on the chalk, Bible Bottom ;
Cliff Hill is a favourite locality— C. V. C.
Levitt ; Brighton — W. H. Draper.

Wiltshire. One specimen near Martinsell,
in 1865— T7. A. Preston.

Yorkshire. Scarborough, York — Edwin
Birchall.

65 Lul worth Skipper (Hesperia Actwori). Male and
Female.

65. LULWORTH SKIPPER. — The antennae are
slender at the base, and gradually clubbed but
not hooked at the tip ; they are brown above
and gray beneath, slightly dotted or annulated
with brown, the extremity of the club beneath
being bright fulvous : the wings are dusky
fulvous, with a narrow brown margin and a
pale fringe : the male has an oblique and
slightly raised but slender intensely black
line, extending from the middle of the wing
nearly to the inner margin at its base ; and
the female has nine rather pale fulvous spots
near the middle of the fore wings, and ar-
ranged somewhat in the form of a crescent ;
this quaai-erescent opens towards the costal
margin.

LIFE HISTORY. — At page 164 of the tenth
volume of the " Intelligencer," Professor
Zeller gives the following interesting par-
ticulars of thia species : — " The CATERPILLAR
feeds in June on the wood small-reed (Calamo-
grestis epigejos), chiefly under the shade of fir-
trees ; it makes deep notches on the edges of
the leaves, which help to betray its proximity.
It feeds in the evening and at night, restiug
in the daytime extended on the flat surface
of a leaf. It is of the form usual in the
genus, and it has also two snowy spots, as in
the caterpillars of Lineola and Sylvanus. It
is pale green, with a darker dorsal line edged
with a yellowish line on each side ; and en-
closing a paler central line. Along the side
is a narrow yellow line above and a broad one
beneath ; the two yellow lines on the back

174

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

are prolonged as far as the middle of the
green head, and run to the end of the rounded
anal shield, which is narrowly edged with
yellow. Towards the end of June the cater-
pillar spins together two leaves with a few
white silk threads, and becomes a slender agile
CHRYSALIS, the peculiarities of which I had,
however, no opportunity of observing. In a
fortnight two males made their appearance."

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — July and August.

LOCALITIES. — Its range in the British Isles
is more restricted than that of any other of
our butterflies. It has never been observed
in Ireland, Scotland, or the Isle of Man. In
England it has only been recorded from three
coun ties. \V e are indebted to the indefatigable
Mr. Dale for the discovery of this insect at
Lul worth Cove in August, 1832, as announced
by Mr. Curtis in his " British Entomology,"
Fasc. 442. I believe it to be extremely local —
that is, frequenting particular spots, but still
abundant in those spots, scattered at intervals
all along the sea-coasts of Devon and Dorset.
In an extract given below Mr. Douglas treats
of Lulworth Cove and the Burning Cliff as
synonymous ; but all my correspondents write
of them as two localities. The Warwickshire
localities, although confidently spoken of, are
very unlocked for, and are, I think, fainy
open to doubt.

Devonshire. Extremely local , f req ue 1 1 ting
cliffs and coves on the coasts, more especially
cliffs east of Sidinouth and Torquay — J. J.
Reading ; Mr. Hellins has also taken it near
Sidmouth.

Dorsetshire. Lulworth and Burning Cliff
by Holworth — J. C. Dale. An hour's sail
across Weymouth Bay, during which we
amused ourselves with catching mackerel,
brought us to the desired spot, the Burniug
Cliff (or Lulworth Cove), where we had been
told we should find Hesperia Actceon, and
there, sure enough, we saw it in profusion.
The spot, close to the sea, is a kind of under-
cliff, not very level, of no great extent, and
covered with thistles and large tufts of a long
coarse grass or Carex, about which our prey
were skipping briskly. So abundant were
they that I often had five or six in my net at

one stroke, and in about two hours I caught a
hundred, filling my box and my hat, and Mr.
Fair had nearly as many. They were accom-
panied by a few of the common Hesperia
Linea, which in their flight they greatly
resembled. My ungeological eyes detected
nothing particular in the soil, and I confess
that two hours' hard work in the sun had not
disposed me to look if any particular plant
which might serve as food for the caterpillars
of this Skipper grew there ; so that I can
offer no supposition as to the cause of the
species being confined within such narrow
limits in this county — J. W. Douglas, Stain-
ton 's "Manual." Hesperia Actceon has been
taken this year (1870) in two new localities
in this neighbourhood, at Swanage and near
Tyneham — T. Parmiter, "Entomologist,"
v. 179.

Warwickshire. Stratford-on-Avon — W. G.
Colbowrne ; Mr. Humphreys states that he
met with it in great abundance in 1835
at Shenstone, near Lichfield — Stainton's
"Manual."

66. Small Skipper (Hesperia Linea). Male and
Female.

66. SMALL SKIPPER. — The antennae have a
gradually thickened club, which is not hooked
at the tip ; they are brown, annulated with
gray, and havinga distinct fulvous tip. In both
sexes all the wings are fulvous, with a black
hind margin and wing-rays and a pale fringe :
in the males there is a slender oblique black
line extending from near the middle towards
the base of the hind margin, which, however,
it does not reach.

SKIPPERS.

175

LIFE HISTORY. — The EGG is laid on various
grasses in July, and the young CATERPILLAR
probably hybernates when small; it has been
found full grown and feeding on grass in the
following June, when it is somewhat shuttle-
shaped, gradually tapering, especially towards
the posterior extremity ; the head is of the
same width as the second segment ; the head
and body are green, the latter having six
slender white stripes: it spins a silken cocoon
among the blades of grass, and therein turns
to a green CHRYSALIS, which has a pointed
head-case, and is very sharply tapered towards

the tail. It remains but a short time in the
chrysalis state.

TIME OF APPEARANCE. — July.

LOCALITIES. — Mr. Birchall took Hesperia
Linea in Ireland at Powerscourt and near
Cork, but did not observe it in the Isle of
Man ; and I have no record of its having been
taken in Scotland. In England it is generally
abundant, more particularly in the southern
and midland counties, but has mysteriously
disappeared from many places where it was
formerly common ; in Essex it occurs in open
swampy places that are covered with rushes.

ERRATA.

Page 138, line 22, for May read July.

„ „ „ 17, from the bottom, for final read first.

Pave 158. — By en inadvertence the figure of the female Daphdice id placed above the male, contra, y
to the arrangement of the sexes I have adopted in other instances.

Doritit Apollo, frequently mentioned as British, but of which I know of no British specimen I Set neat page'.

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

ADDENDUM.

THE following notes respecting Doritis Apollo
will be read with interest, but I cannot say
that I consider them to warrant my placing
this species in the British list

I have recently heard that the Papilio
Apollo o£ Linnaeus has been found in Scotland,
but I have not seen a British specimen —
Haworth, " Lepidoptera Britannic^," pre-
face xxix. See also Haworth in " Entomo-
logical Transactions," vol. i, p. 232, and
Donovan's " British Inaects" vol. xiil,
p. 433.

I was informed by the late Sir William
Hooker that in 1812, or about that dute,
Apollo is said to have occurred in the Island
of Lewis, and was taken by a tenant of Lord
Seaforth's, who had the specimen, but that
there being at that time some communication
between Norway and the Island of Lewis, the
•Deciraen might have come from Norway —
'J. O. Dais.

'Che late Mr. Haworth informed me that a
lady, whom Mr. Curtis believed was the
Marchioness of Bute, told him she had re-
ceived a specimen from some alpine place on
the West Coast in the North of Scotland —
/. C. Dale.

Mr. Curtis was convinced he saw a speci-
men of Apollo flying over the top of a house
at the foot of Ben Lawers ; and afterwards,
on seeing this species on the Continent, he
felt assured he was correct — J. C. Dale.

Mr. Wailes, of Newcastle, told me he had
a correspondent in Lewis or Harris, from
whom he had received many insects, especially
Carabus arvensis and C. clathratus, who
knew Apollo well, and said he had taken it ;
and he particularly described the red ocelli —
J. 0. Dale.

Mr. Floyer, M.P., told me he had seen a
specimen of Apollo in Sir C. Tre veil van's
cauuiee — J. C. Date.

Sir C. Lemon wrote to me that he had
taken a specimen of Apollo in Cornwall, but
suggested that it might have been imported
with plants in his hothouse — J. C. Dale.

Obs. — Mr. Dale, who has so repeatedly
assisted me during the progress of this work
through the press, kindly sends me the pre-
ceding information, in accordance with my
own request.

As you wish for more particulars about the
capture of Apollo, I have been to-day to see
the person who took it, and hear from his
own lips all about it. He was lying on the
cliffs at Dover, in the end of August or the
beginning of September, 1847 or 1848 (he
cannot remember which), when the butterfly
settled close to him, and not having his nets,
he captured it by putting his hat over it. He
then carried it to his lodgings, shut the win-
dow and door, and let it go in the room and
secured it He had not the slightest idea
what it was till he saw it figured in some
work afterwards. The insect has all the
appearance of having been taken as he de-
scribes ; and as he has no object to deceive,
and is a person in whom I can place implicit
con6dence, I have no doubt, in my own mind,
that the specimen is a British one. It will
probably be in my own collection before this
letter reaches you, when I shall be most happy
to show it to you at any time you are this way
— G. B. Wottaston, "Zoologist" for 1856,
p. 5001.

I beg to inform you that I yesterday met a
gentleman who assured me that he saw Apollo
at Hanwell about six years ago. He chased
it, but without success. This gentleman's
veracity may be relied on. At a time when
Apollo's claim to be a British insect is under
discussion, every scrap of information is of
value — Henry Austin, in the " Zooloyifit" ioe
1856, p. 5109.

AN

ILLUSTRATED NATURAL HISTORY

OF

BRITISH MOTHS

BY

EDWARD NEWMAN, F.L.S. F.Z.S.

THE FIGURES
DRAWN BY GEORGE WILLIS,

AND

ENGRAVED BY JOHN KIRCHNER.

THE DOG'S-TOOTH (Hadena suasa).

ILontoon:
WILLIAM GLAISHER, 265, HIGH HOLBORN, W.C.

(All rights reserved.)

PREFACE.

JT has for very many years been a favourite project of my own to publish a History of
British Butterflies and Moths, illustrated with woodcuts of each species, uniformly
with Van Voorst's series of Birds, Eeptiles, Fishes, Starfishes, Stalk-eyed Crustacea,
and Ferns. The success of these works in a mercantile point of view has been beyond
question ; and this fact involves another and more important conclusion, that an
extensive public has found them both serviceable and agreeable. Seeing this, and
believing I could furnish materials for a similar work on our native Lepidoptera, I
determined on such an undertaking as soon as those materials were complete.

When I commenced the work it was intended to include the Deltoids,
Pyrales, Veneers, and Plumes ; and thus, with my own " British Butterflies" Mr.
Wilkinson's " Tortriccs" and Mr. Stainton's " Tinece" to form a descriptive list of all
the British Lepidoptera : but it was found impossible to make effective representations
in wood, of insects so minute as the majority of those contained in the four families I
have mentioned ; and extremely difficult to fix any scale by which to represent them
of a uniformly increased size: the difficulty, indeed, seemed so great that the
project has been abandoned for the present.

It is, however, still under consideration to publish an illustrated Natural History
of the British Butterflies uniformly with this of the British Moths, representing each
species exactly life-size, and giving studiously accurate figures of a great number
of varieties : for this rather extensive work the text is already in a forward state ;
but many months will of necessity be occupied in drawing and engraving the
illustrations ; so that a year, at least, will elapse before this intended work can be
completed in such a manner as shall do credit to the artists as well as to the author :
as soon as any plan for this second undertaking is definitely settled, full particulars
will be advertised through the usual channels.

Both these projects — the Moths accomplished, and the Butterflies in preparation
— are, so far as my information extends, entirely original and unique ; and we are all
aware that the carrying out of any new project must of necessity be somewhat
imperfect. The originality and isolation of the undertaking appear in my determination
to write all my descriptions both of the perfect insect and of the caterpillar from the
objects themselves, and not to compile them from previously published sources. In
this I have in great measure, but not wholly, succeeded : a few caterpillars have still
eluded my most anxious search ; and I have therefore adopted, and always with the
fullest acknowledgment, previously published descriptions. This desire for originality
certainly influenced my great predecessor Haworth, and he succeeded to admiration
in carrying it out so far as tho perfect insects are concerned, although he clothed his
descriptions in a language that has greatly restricted their utility. But I think he
has not described a single caterpillar j even in the case of the Death's-Head Hawk-

IV

Moth, which he not only possessed but admired, he has preferred quoting the familiar
Latin description written by Fabricius. Even of such copied descriptions we find very few
throughout his great work : in the majority of instances he makes no more allusion to
the caterpillar and chrysalis than as if they had no existence. It may seem presumptuous
in me to pen anything approaching to a criticism on so great a master of the science
as Haworth unquestionably was ; but although the feeling of courtesy and deference
to so high an authority might suggest the propriety of suppressing all allusion to the
omission, still the omission itself would remain ; and it would be evident that, while
Sepp, Hiibner, and other continental entomologists were describing or figuring the
caterpillars of British Lepidoptera with the most painstaking accuracy, Haworth
contented himself with saying that while his " descriptions of every species and variety
of the perfect insect were entirely new wrought and from British specimens, his
descriptions of larva and pupae have been principally taken from the ' Entomologia
Systematica ' of Fabricius, because his own notes on those two points were not so full
as he could wish, and were chiefly made before he had conceived an idea of submitting
them to the inspection of the public eye." It thus appears that the idea of publishing
original descriptions of caterpillars and chrysalids had been entertained by Mr.
Haworth, but was advisedly abandoned : also that he had made notes of the
preparatory states of the Lepidoptera^ but never published them.

Subsequent British authors have adopted a very similar course, but have taken
some pains to import European figures and European descriptions into their
wor.ls. Curtis and Humphreys have given excellent copies of continental originals,
and Mr. Stainton has extracted brief notices of caterpillars from the works of Sepp,
Hiibner, Boisduval, Duponchel, Freyer, Gruenee, and others ; but the difficulty of
associating the perfect insects with the caterpillars which produced them, has been
found insuperable from the extraordinary discrepancy formerly existing between our
own insular, and the accepted continental specific names. A familiar illustration of
this occurs in the instance of Limenitis Sibylla. Every English entomologist has
accompanied the perfect butterfly with the caterpillar of another species, simply from
this discrepancy of names : I could point out hundreds of similar instances, but I am
treading on very tender ground , and will forbear.

Still, although I will give no recent examples of this extraordinary and apathetic
negligence, I may cite the opinion of an entomologist with whom I had never
exchanged a sentiment, but who by his own observations had arrived at conclusions
exactly similar to my own. He writes thus : —

" Now that entomologists are becoming more numerous in England each year,
and consequently the literature having the study of insects for its object is in propor-
tionate demand, it is, I think, a matter to be deplored that books intended for
instruction in, and introduction to, the study of Entomology should be most con-
spicuously open to the charge of carelessness, either in the writing or revision ; or,
where this fault cannot fairly be charged, a worse may be urged, namely, that the
descriptions of the caterpillars — I am speaking now more particularly of the Lepi*

PREFACE. t

doptcra — should not be original, but borrowed from foreign writers, many of whom (if
the caterpillars they describe are identical with those for which the several descriptions
are u/?ed by the English writers), I am afraid, allowed their vivid imaginations to
supply the place of sober fact." — A. B. Farn in the " Entomologist "for April, 1869.

Now this is the exact truth expressed in the mildest and most inoffensive form.
The writer goes on to adduce the necessary proofs of his assertions, but I will not
repeat them, because the assertions themselves cannot be called in question, and need
no corroboration. I have long since entertained the same views, and have long since
c«en the necessity for reform.

Ten years ago I commenced, in the monthly numbers of the Zoologist, the task
of describing our English caterpillars from nature ; and in the same year the Rev. H.
Ilarpur Crewe commenced his descriptions of those of the genus Eupithecia. In both
cases isolated descriptions appeared as we could find or procure the objects. This pro-
ceeding found little favour in the eyes of our brethren ; but I have persevered, and,
through the kind assistance of a few friends, have been enabled to produce minute
descriptions of most of our English caterpillars from the objects themselves, without
auy reference to prior definitions, most of which I found so vague, and named in so
different a manner from our own, that it was impossible to utilize them. All my own
descriptions, and, by his express permission, those by Mr. Crewe, are now transferred to
these pages, as well as a few others, written also from the objects themselves, by the
Rev. John Hellins, of Exeter, and Mr. Buckler, of Emsworth, gentlemen to whose
industry we are all greatly indebted for much valuable information in this depart-
ment of Natural History.

And here, at the risk of exposing myself to the charge of irrelevant digression, I
cannot forbear to notice Mr. Stainton's beautiful and most useful " Natural History of
the Tineina." This invaluable work, commenced in 1855 and continued almost up to
the present time, realty leaves nothing to be desired, and acts as a severe reproach on
the student of the larger species, the life history of which may be studied with so
much greater facility.

The classification of Lepidoptem has always been unsatisfactory : as in Hymcnoptera
and Diptera the most ready and obvious character for making a first division into two
groups, is the difference in which the union of the thoracical and abdominal segments
is accomplished. An insect is composed of thirteen segments, or rings, one of which
is the head, four constitute the chest (in science thorax), and nine the body (in science
abdomen}. In a very great number of insects the first segment or ring of the abdo-
men is slender, forming a petiole or peduncle, which gives the insect the appear-
ance of being almost cut in two ; a mere thread being left, which connects the two
halves together : a wasp exhibits this structure in perfection. In other insects the
thorax and body are continuous, as represented in all the figures in this work. In
Lepidoptera these two characters are very obvious. Butterflies (in science Lepidoptera
pedunculata) have the thorax and abdomen connected by a mere peduncle : Moths (in
science Lepidoptera sessttiventres) have no obvious division into thorax and abdomen,

VI PREFACE*

these parts forming a continuous trunk. The Hymenoptera sessiliventres are the saw-
flies, the Hymenoptera pedunculata are all the rest. The Diptera sessiliventres are tho
crane-flies and gnats ; the Diptera pedunculata are all the rest.

Those who have made entomology their study will know that these divisions are
unequal, in each instance one group being much more comprehensive than the other.
This is the case in British Lepidoptera, in which the Sessile-bodied Lepidoptera^ or
Moths, outnumber the Pedunculated Lepidoptera^ or Butterflies, as thirty to one:
indeed, the number of moths inhabiting Britain has been ascertained to be more than
eighteen hundred and fifty, and, when collectors have the assistance of popular works,
it may reasonably be expected to reach two thousand ; for it is most evident that
nothing promotes the discovery of new objects so effectually as a reliable and faithful
guide to a knowledge of those which have been already ascertained.

These two thousand moths were arranged by tho illustrious Linnoeus under two
heads, Sphinx and Phal&na; and the equally illustrious Latreille adopted these
divisions, merely altering the names, and calling the former Crepuscularia and the
latter Nocturna. Boisduval subsequently united these two groups under the name of
Hetcrocera, implying the diversity of form in their antennae, and at the same time gave
the name of Club-horned (in science Rhopalocera) to the Butterflies. There is, how-
ever, no real or natural distinction to be found between Sphinges and Phalcence, and
therefore entomologists are now agreed in entirely abandoning groups which they
cannot distinguish much less define, the only difference being in the name ; the
terms Nocturna) Heterocera, Sessiliventres, and Moths, being always applied to the
same group of insects, and all these terms including both the Linnean genera,
Sphinx and Phaleena.

The divison of the larger moths is still very incomplete, and must be considered as
requiring improvement. The great groups now stand as Nocturnes, Geometers,
Cuspidates, and Noctuas : three of these groups appear to be well defined and natural ;
the first, Nocturnes, is heterogeneous and far too comprehensive. So far back as the
year 1832 I ventured to propose a further subdivision of the Nocturnes, the merits of
which division, if merits there be, were entirely forestalled by Messrs. Denis and
Schiffermiiller, two Austrian officers who, in 1776, published an anonymous work on
the Lepidoptera found in the neighbourhood of Vienna, and who employed the
differences of the caterpillar in subdividing this difficult group, adopting as their motto,
" One eye to the caterpillar and another to the perfect insect." Their divisions are,
however, mainly dependant on the caterpillar and are strictly natural.

Notwithstanding these and other improvements made from time to time, as our
knowledge of the preparatory states has progressed, no entomologist competent to
form an opinion will venture to say that we have arrived at anything approaching
perfection in our arrangements. Although a century has been spent in our search
after truth in this matter, we are still nothing more than students, and when we
attempt to teach, as in the present instance, we are, alas ! too apt to say what must be
again unsaid, too apt to write what must be again unwritten, Let us work and hope.

PREFACE. yil

An imperative but most agreeable duty remains — that of thanking those kind
friends who have rendered me such important services during the progress of this
work. And first Mr. Doubleday, through whose hands every sheet and every column
has passed. Many omissions have thus been supplied and many errors expunged.
An almost perfect blank has hitherto existed as to the times of appearance of our
Lepidoptera in the perfect state, and my own experience was insufficient to supply this
blank. Although for many years I was an assiduous collector of insects, I never gave
that especial attention to Lepidoptera which they have received at the hands of my
friend. The collections of Diptera, Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, and Newoptera under my
care, attest the fact that my attention has been equally divided amongst all classes of
insects, and it is next to impossible to acquire anything approaching a perfect know-
ledge of the times of appearance of every species. Mr. Doubleday has abundantly
made up for my shortcomings in this respect, and has supplied me with information
which, in many instances, has never before appeared in print. Then again the
Eupithecicc, and the Leucanidce have undergone a complete revision at his hands ; he
has found it necessary to alter a few names, generic as well as specific, and to institute
a few new combinations.

The idea that at any given period we can assert that we have reached the
ultimatum of knowledge appears to me utterly untenable ; and I feel assured that the
assiduity of future labourers in this delightful field, will lead to the addition of many
facts I have omitted, and the emendation of many errors I have allowed to pass.
"Were it not so — were there no Excelsior — the study would lose one of its principal
charms. The slight inconvenience caused by altering a name, or amending a descrip-
tion, is abundantly compensated Dy tne advantage of substituting truth for error.
In expressing these opinions to a very candid friend, he at once enquired, " How do
we know that even these amendments are final ? What security have we that
amendments themselves will not require emendation ? " I answered, " There is
certainly no such security ; and I desire none : I have no more power to affix limits
to knowledge than to arrest the growth of an oak ; and I regard with no feelings of
Apprehension the advent of some future Doubloday who may detect errors in the
labours of him who is happily still amongst us,"

To Mr. Bond my especial thanks are also due : with a liberality equal to
Mr. Doubleday's he has placed the free use of his immense collection at my
disposal ; he has repeatedly invited me to select specimens, even when unique,
for the purpose of figuring ; and by this means I have been enabled to give
icourate representations which it would have been otherwise quite impossible to
obtain.

To Mr. Birchall I am indebted for the loan of some of his choicest specimens ;
and for the expression of his opinions on questions of great interest and importance ;
more particularly in the genus Dianthcecia, with which, in a state of Nature, he has a
more practical acquaintance than any other British entomologist : the distance of his
fine collection from London has been the only bar to my availing myself far more

Till PREFACE.

largely of its treasures, for Mr. Birchall has evinced throughout the work a desire to
afford the most cordial co-operation.

Mr. Wellman, Mr. Fenn, Mr. Yaughan, Mr. Machin, and others have most kindly
lent me specimens to figure when requested ; and I believe I have in no instance
omitted to acknowledge in its proper place the assistance I have thus received : should
any such omission be discovered, I trust that it will be forgiven, for it can have no
other cause than mere inadvertence.

To Mr. Thomas Huckett, formerly an assistant in my office, I was indebted for
an unceasing supply of those caterpillars which I described month after month in
the pages of the Zoologist. I cannot overstate the value of his zeal and energy; they
were only equalled by his intimate knowledge of the species he procured.

From Mr. Wright also I have often received the same kind of help in this
investigation of caterpillars ; and I may truly say I have never met with an
entomologist who managed them with greater skill or more unquestionable success.

To M. Ghienee's volumes on Geometers and Noctuas I am under the greatest
obligation ; without free access to these fountains of Moth lore, my labours would
have been very imperfect.

In conclusion, let me remind my younger friends and fellow-students in this
interesting science, that individual exertion will never suffice for the formation of even
a moderately good collection. Let them assiduously help one another: let them
offer their duplicates and make known their wants through the Entomologist^ which
is published by Messrs. Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. for this especial purpose ; but let
them avoid bargain-making. If an entomologist gives liberally he will be sure to
meet with a liberal return.

And now, after a most agreeable companionship of so many months, I must take
leave of my subscribers, trusting to meet them hereafter in the monthly issues of the
British Butterflies. Until then, I wish them every happiness and every success in a
pursuit which, unlike many of our human avocations, has no alloy.

EDWARD NEWMAN.
YORK Q-ROVB, PECKHAM.
I June, 1869

ILLUSTEATED NATUKAL HISTOKY

OP

BRITISH MOTHS

EDWARD NEWMAN, F.L.S., F.Z.S., &c

NOCT UENI,

THE SPHIKGID^!.

1. The Eyed Hawk-Moth (Smerinthus ooellatus).
, 2. The Poplar Hawk-Moth (Smerinthus Populi).
• 3. The Lime Hawk-Moth (Smerinthus Tiliee).
, 4. The Death's-Head Hawk-Moth (Acherontia Atro-
pos).

5- The Convolvulus Hawk-Moth (Sphinx Convolvuli).
v- 6. The Privet Hawk-Moth (Sphinx Ligustri}.
•^I. The Spurge Hawk-Moth (Deilephila Euphorbia).

8. The Bedstraw Hawk-Moth (Deilephila Galii).

9. Tlie Striped Hawk-moth (Deilephila livornica).
10. The Silver-striped Hawk-Moth (Chcerocampa Ce-

lerio).

11. The Small Elephant Hawk-Moth (Chcerocampa

Porcellus).

12. The Elephant Hawk- Moth (Chceroeampa Elpenor).

13. The Oleander Hawk-Moth (Choerocampa Nerii).

i 14. The Humming-Bird Hawk-Moth (Macroglossa

stellatarum).
!5. The Broad-Bordered Bee Hawk-Moth (Macro-

glossa fuciformis) .
16. The Narrow-Bordered Bee Hawk-Moth (Macro*

glossa bombyliformis').

THE Moths may be known from Butterflies by
four characters that are very simple and easy
to understand. In the first place, they fly
by night instead of by day ; in the second
place, their bodies are not nipped in at the
middle or waist, like those of butterflies ; in
the third place, their feelers, or antenna,
have no knobs at the end like those of butter-
flies ; and, in the fourth and last place, when a
moth is at rest, its wings are either laid on its
body or folded round its sides, whilst those of
a butterfly stand up straight, quite upright,
and back to back.

Having thus a method by which we can
distinguish a Moth from a Butterfly, we must
try to find how to make divisions among the
Moths ; for there are about nineteen hundred
Moths in Great Britain and Ireland, and un-
less we can divide this large assemblage into
sections, we shall have a great difficulty in
making our descriptions intelligible.

The first family are called Hawk- Moths, or
Humming-bird Moths (from their mode of
flight), and in Latin Sphingidce, derived from
a fancied resemblance of the caterpillars
which produce these Moths, to the celebrated
Egyptian Sphinx, a fictitious animal, of which
pretended images were carved out of granite
three thousand years ago. The Hawk-Moths
are all large insects, with thick bodies, rather
pointed at the tail, and with rather narrow,
but very strong wings ; they fly with great
velocity. Many of them have a very long
honey-sucking tube, which they stretch out
it, a straight lin« before their heads, and in- '

sorting it into the cups of flowers, they suck
out the honey while hovering in the air. Mr.
Douglas has written the following beautiful
description of the flight of a Sphinx : — " Did
you ever see a Sphinx fly ? While you are
looking at a flower, in the twilight, between
you and it glides a motion, a moving haziness,
which is before you, and yet conveys to your
eyes no definite image. Before you have half
thought what it can be, you see the flower
again distinctly, and rub your eyes, thinking
there must have been an illusion, or possibly
an unsteadiness of vision caused by the irri-
tation of that gnat which was buzzing about
your head, when, lo ! the flower just beyond
seems to shiver ; you move to see what is
there, but there is a move before you, and a
<iim shadow flits away like a thought. Car
it be anything real ? Stand still awhile : anC
now, in the increasing gloom, as you bend
over the petunias, holding your breath, you
see a darkness visible drop down before you :
but its presence is better made known by the
humming caused by the rapid vibration of
its wings. Stir not, or this aerial body will
float away. Now, you see it deigns not to
alight, or touch the margin of the chalice;
but poising itself in the air, stretches out
its long tubular tongue, and quaffs the nectar
at the bottom."

The caterpillars of all the Sphingidas are
large and smooth, they are quite without
hairs, and most of them have a hard curved
horn just above the tail. We nowpioceed
to d( scribe the Moths in systematic order,

BRITISH MOTHS.

1. — The Eyed Hawk-Moth (Smerinthus oeellatus).

1. THE ETED HAWK-MOTH, so called from
a large and beautiful spot in each of the hind
wings that somewhat resembles an eye. The
fore wings are brown, with a very beautiful
reddish bloom over them, and clouded with
olive-brown. The hind wings are of a deli-
cate rosy red at the base, and pale brown to-
wards the margin ; and each has a large and
beautiful eye-like spot, grey in the centre,
surrounded with blue, and the blue sur-

rounded by a black ring. The skin of the
caterpillar is rough, like shagreen ; it is pale
green, sprinkled with white, and has seven
oblique white stripes on each side. The horn
at the tail is blue. It is very common in the
autumn, feeding on apple trees in gardens,
and on willow busluui in hedges. The
chrysalis is red-brown, and glossy. The Moth
is found about Mid u miner. (Scientific name,
Smerinthus ocellatm. )

2. THE POPLAB HAWK-MOTH. — The wings
are notched at the margin ; the fore wings
gt by- brown marbled with darker brown, and
having a white dot in the middle : the hind
•wiDgB rod at the base, brown towards the
margin. The caterpillar is rough like sha-
green, green sprinkled with yellow; and it

2.— The Poplar Hawk-Moth (Smerinthus Populi)

has seven oblique yellowish stripes on each
side : there is also a row of red dots along each
side at the breathing holes. The horn at the
tail is yellow, inclining to red beneath. It
feeds principally on the common upright
Lombardy poplar, but also, in gardens, on the
common laurel and laurustinus. The chry-

. — The Lime Hawk-Moth (Smcrintritw

NOCTUKM.

saiis is rough, and always looks as though it
had been dipped in mud, and dried without
washing. The Moth is common on palings,
and on the trunks of poplar trees, about Mid-
summer. (Scientific name, Smerinthus Po-
puli.)

3. THE LIME HAWK-MOTH. — The fore
wings are olive-brown, with a central cross-
bar of dark olive-green, and a green border ;
the cross-bar is often divided in the middle
so as to form two spots hind wings brown,
with a darker band passing across them ; the
base of the hind wings is rather darker than

the rest ; not pink, as in the Eyed Hawk -Moth,
or red, as in the Poplar Hawk-Moth. The
caterpillar is rough like shagreen, greenish
sprinkled with yellow dots, and having seven
oblique yellowish stripes on each side ; these
stripes are sometimes margined with red :
the horn at the tail is blue above, and yellow
beneath ; and beneath the tail is a flat purple
plate or scale, with a yellow edge. It feeds
on elm trees and lime trees. The chrysalis
is of a dull red colour, and rough like the
caterpillar. (Scientific name, Smerinthus
TiKce.)

4. — The Death's-Head Hawk
4 TITE DEATn's-TIiCAD HAWK-MOTH. — Fore
wings rich brown, beautifully mottled and
banded, and having a pale dot in the middle.
Hind wings yellow, with two black bands.
On the thorax is a very conspicuous mark re-
sembling a skull, which has given rise to the
name, and also to many superstitions respect-
ing this curious insect. The body is yellow,
with six black bands and a row of six large
blue spots arranged in a line down the middle
of its back.

The caterpillar is smooth, and generally
yellow, sprinkled over with minute black
dots, and having seven oblique blue stripes
on each side, each pair of them meeting to-
gether on the back in a point ; towards the
belly of the caterpillar they become darker
and almost black, and are margined by a de-
licate white line ; the horn above the tail is

Moth (Acherontia Atropos).
very rough and bent down, but turned np
again at the tip. It feeds on the deadly night-
shade, the potato, and the tea-tree : the chry-
salis is enormously large, of a reddish-brown
colour, smooth and shining. The caterpillar
is found in August, the perfect insect in
October : it is very fond of honey, and creeps
into the hives in the South of Europe, and,
with its short thick trunk, sucks the honey
out of the cells.

This insect is as extraordinary in its habits
as in its appearance. In all the stages of ita
existence, whether as caterpillar, chrysalis, or
perfect insect, it has the power of uttering
a distinct cry, or sound. The noise made by
the caterpillar was first noticed by Fuessly :
when disturbed it draws back its head very
quickly, making at the same time a loud snap-
ping noise, which has been comn0~^ to n

e

BEITISH MOTHS.

series of electric sparks. Kirby and Spence,
the authors of the invaluable " Introduction
to Entomology," and all subsequent writers
on Entomology, notice this fact ; and we have
ourselves repeatedly confirmed it during the
past summer. We have also observed that
' the chrysalis squeaks when about to change
to a moth ; but the sound produced by the
perfect insect is the most remarkable. " "When
it walks, and more particularly when it is
confined or taken into the hand, it sends forth
a strong and sharp cry, resembling that of
a mouse, but more plaintive, and even lament-
able, which it continues as long as it is held.
This cry does not appear to be produced by
the wings, for when they, as well as the thorax
and abdomen, are held down, the cries of
the insect become still louder." There has
been a great diversity of opinion as to the
manner in which this squeaky sound is pro-
duced. Reaumur occupied himself very as-
siduously in endeavouring to arrive at a
satisfactory conclusion on the subject, and at
last decided that it proceeded from the mouth.
The insect, in common with all other Moths,
has two short feelers, or palpi, in front of its
head, and between these is situated the trunk,
tongue, or proboscis; and Reaumur thought
that it rubbed the trunk against the feelers.

and that the squeaking resulted from this
friction. He straightened out the curved pro-
boscis with a large pin, and as often as he
performed this operation the squeaking ceased,
and was renewed again directly he allowed
the proboscis to resume its usual position. He
then separated the feelers widely, so that they
could not touch the proboscis, and this also
stopped the sound ; he then cut off one of the
feelers, and the sound was scarcely audible.
Schroeter was also of opinion that the sound
was produced by rubbing the proboscis against
some part of the head, but he does not specify
what part of the head. Huber, Roesel, and
other entomologists totally dissent from this
view, and the latter made up kis mind that it
was caused by rubbing the thorax against the
abdomen, or that part of the body that im-
mediately joins the thorax or chest. It is not
> Uttle remarkable, that, now the insect has
become comparatively common, our excellent
living entomologists have not solved this
curious problem. However, let the cause of
the noise be what it may, the effect is to pro-
duce the most superstitious feelings among
the uneducated, by whom it is always re-
garded with feelings of awe and terror.
(Scientific name, Acker ontia Atropos,}

5. — The Convolvulus Hawk-Moth (Sphinx Convohutf).

5. THE COSTVOLVULTJS HAWK-MOTH. — Fore
wings grey, delicately marbled and mottled
with darker waved lines : hind wings paler
gvcy, with three dark, almost black bands, the

middle double, body with a grey stripe down
the middle, and alternate pink and black
spots on each side, a narrow white line be-
tween the two colours. The trunk, or tongue,

is remarkably long, quite as long as the body.
Caterpillar smooth, generally green, with seven
oblique black stripes on each side ; each black
stripe is bordered with a whitish stripe: the
head and the horn above the tail yellowish ;
sometimes the caterpillar is brown, with the
back and oblique stripes much darker : it is
said to feed on the bind- weed. The chrysalis
is smooth, and the long trunk is projected in

front like a great beak. Although the per-
fect insect is by no means uncommon, we
have never seen the caterpillar or chrysalis,
and have copied our description from a very
useful German work called the "Butterfly
Book," by F. Berge. The Moth flies in Sep-
tember. (The scientific name is Sphinx Con-
volvuli.)

6. — The Privet Hawk-Moth (Sphinx JAgu&tri).

6. THE PRTVET HAWK-MOTH. — Fore wings
brown, clouded lengthwise with darker shades:
hind wings pink, with three black bands ; body
with a broad brown stripe down the back and
a black line in the centre ; the sides beauti-
fully marked with pink and black alternately.
Caterpillar very smooth, delicate green, with
seven oblique stripes on each side ; that por-
tion of the stripes near to the head is of a

delicate purple, and that portion nearest the
tail of an equally delicate white ; the horn is
black at the tip and on the upper side, but
yellow at the base beneath : it feeds on lilac,
privet, and several other plants. The chrysalis
is smooth, and has a beak in front. The per-
fect insect appears about Midsummer; the
caterpillar in August and September. (The
scientific name is Sphinx Ligustri.)

7. — The Spurge Hawk-Moth fDeilephila Eitphorbi«).

7. THE SPUBGE HAWK-MOTH. — Fore wings
grey, with an almost square olive-brown
blotch; "\ the base another olive-brown

blotch near the middle, and a long oblique
band of the same colour, commencing in a
point at the extreme apex of the wing, and

8

BRITISH MOTHS.

gradually growing wider until it reaches the
margin, where it is very broad : hind wings
pink, with a black blotch at the base, and a
black band half-way between this black blotch
and the margin, and a snowy- white blotch at
the anal angle : thorax and body olive-brown,
with a white line on each side of the thorax
just at the base of the wings ; this line runs
on each side along the head just above the
eye, and the two meet at the nose ; the body
has on each side at the base two square black
spots and two square white spots, and beyond
them, nearer the apex, and also on each side,
are three white lines. The caterpillar is
smooth and black, with innumerable whitish
dots ; there arc also eleven large spots of the
same colour arrayed in a row on each side of
the back, and beneath these as many spots of
the same size and of a bright coral-red colour ;
the head is of the same coral-red colour, and a
line of the same colour runs all along the back,
from the head to the horn ; the horn is red

at the base and black at the tip. It feeds on
the sea-spurge at Appledore and Braunton
Burrows, near Barnstaple, where it was found
by the late Mr. Raddon in abundance many
years ago. The perfect insect has never been
found in this country. The chrysalis is pale
brown and delicately lined and dotted with
black in the manner of network; it buries
itself in the loose dry sand on the sea coast.
The eggs are covered with liquid gum, which
enables them to stick on the small leaves of
the spurge. In a fortnight these hatch and
produce little black caterpillars ; the white
and red spots appear as the caterpillar increases
in size, and in a few weeks it becomes a most
beautiful object, and so conspicuous as to at-
tract the sea-gulls and terns, which devour
them in numbers. We have never had the
pleasure of finding either the caterpillar or per-
fect moth. Our description of the caterpillar
is taken from the Entomological Magazine.
(The scientific name is Deilejphila Euphorbia.}

8. —The Bedstraw Hawk-Moth (Deilephila Oalii).

tf. THE BEDSTEAW HAWK-MOTH. — Fore
wings olive-brown, with a broad, irregular,
whitirh stripe along the middle ; hind wings
black at the base ; then a broad pinkish- white
band, quite white near the1 body, and bright
pink about the middle ; then a distinct black
band, and then a grey margin ; thorax and
body olive-brown, a white line on each side of
the thorax just at the base of the wings ; this
line runs on each side along the head just
above the eye ; sides of the body with black
and whitish spots. The caterpillar is smooth,
bluish-green above, inclining to pink beneath,
sometimes brown and sometimes black, but

uiv»ajs having a pale, almost yellow, line down
the middle of the back, and a row of ten con-
spicuous eye-like yellow spots, on each side ;
the head is green, brown, or black, according
to the colour of the caterpillar, but the horn
above the tail is invariably red. Feeds on
the Ladies' Bedstraw on sand-hills by the sea-
coast, especially near Deal, and is not uncom-
mon, but requires to be diligently sought after.
The chrysalis is brown, and is found in the
sand. The caterpillar feeds in Augus* and
September, and the Moth appears about Mid-
summer. (The scientific name is Deilephila
Gain.)

NOCTUEM.

9. — The Striped Hawk-Moth (Dcilephila livornica).

9. THE STiurr.D HA.WK-MCTU. — Fore wings
brown, with a pale margin, and a broad, irre-
gular, whitish stripe along the middle ; hind
wings black at the base ; then a broad, pink
band, white next the body ; then a broad dis-
tinct black band and a grey margin; the
veins in the wings have a grey appearance ;
thorax and body brown, a greyish line on each
side of the thorax, just at the base of the
wings — this line runs along the head on each
side just above the eye. The caterpillar is
yellowish ; with the head, the first segment of
the body, a broad line along the back, and the

whole of the belly intensely black; on each
side is a series of crescent-shaped black mark-
ings, and a double rcw of bright orange spots.
It is said to feed on the Ladies' Bedstraw and
on the vine, but it is a very rare visitor in this
country. Our description of the caterpillar is
from the German. The chrysalis is pale brown.
(The scientific name is Deilephila livornica.}

NOTE. — Most of the specimens in this coun-
try are Continental ones, sold by fraudulent
dealers to the ignorant as the preceding
species; but there are a few undoubtedly
British examples of this beautiful Moth.

10. — The Silver-Striped Ha\
10. THE SILVEE- STRIPED HAWK-MOTH. —
Fore wings brown, with a narrow silvery
oblique stripe along the middle, commencing
in a point at the extreme apex of the wing ;
this stripe is composed of four very delicate
lines, the upper one of which is silvery ; the
hind margin of the wing has several delicate
lines, and the veins of the wing are also
silvery ; hind wings pink at the base, the rest
pink-brown, with two black bands, which are
"nited by six black lines ; thorax and body

:-Aloth (Chcerocampa Celerio).
brown ; thorax with an ash-coloured line on
each side at the base of the wings, and two
silvery lines ; body with a row of white marks
down the middle, and two silvery spots on
each side of each segment. " Caterpillar green
or purplish brown ; on the fifth and sixth
segments are two round black spots, dotted
with yellow, and encircled with a yellow ring ;
those on the fifth segment larger. Horn
brown, very slender, and quite straight. Feeds
on the vine." "We have never seen the cater-

10

BRITISH MOTHS.

pillar of this Moth; our description is ex-
tracted from Mr. Stainton's " Manual of Bri-
tish Butterflies and Moths." The author has
copied it from Fryer. The perfect insect has
occurred now and then in England, but can
scarcely he regarded as a British insect. (The
scientific name is Chcerocampa Celerio.}

11. THE SMALL ELEPHANT HAWK-MOTH. —
Fore wings yellowish olive-brown, with pink
blotches along the upper or costal margin,
and a broad irregular pink outer margin ;
thorax and body rosy red, with the head,
shoulders, and some indistinct patches along

11. — The Small Elephant Hawk-Moth (Chcerocampa
Porcellus).

12. THE ELEPHANT HAWK-MOTH.— Fore
wings olive-green, obliquely shaded with pink ;
hind wings black at the base, the rest pink ;
thorax and body olive-brown, the thorax with
four longitudinal pink marks, the body with
a pink central line and pink sides. Caterpillar
green or brown, the males generally brown,
with conspicuous black eye-like spots on each

the middle of the body, olive-brown. The
caterpillar is slightly rough, and either of a
uniform brown or green colour, having a round
black spot on each side of the fourth, fifth,
and sixth segments ; the spots on the fifth and
sixth segments have a snow-white lunule in
them ; there is no horn above the tail. It
feeds on the Ladies' Bedstraw, and is particu-
larly fond of a chalky soil. The chrysalis is
brown, the coyering of the wing-cases darker
than that of the body. The Moth is found in
June, the caterpillar in August. (The scien-
tific name is Chcerocampa Porcellus}.

12.—'

side of the fourth and fifth segments. Feeds
on the large Willow Herb, which is so common
on the sides of ditches, and also on Ladies'
Bedstraw, and sometimes in gardens on
Fuchsias. Chrysalis yellow-brown, marbled
with black. The Moth occurs in June, the
caterpillar in August. (The scientific name
is Chcerocampa, JSlpenor.)

18. — The Oleander Hawk-Moth (Ch&roeampa Merit).

NOCTUKKI.

11

13. THE OLEANDER HAWK-MOTH. — Fore
wings exquisitely varied and waved with
green, and having numerous slender and
oblique indistinct whitish lines traversing
them in all directions; hind wings of the
same hcautiful colour, but browner at the
base, and having a whitish line passing along
the middle ; body also green and shaded as
beautifully as the wings. This noble and
beautiful insect is not an inhabitant of Great
Britain ; but two or three specimens have been
blown over from the coast of Prance, in which
country it is not uncommon : this circum-
stance has induced our dealers to import
these Moths in large quantities for the sake
of imposing on rich and silly young collectors,
who give almost any money for a rarity of
this kind, little suspecting that it has just
been imported from the Continent at a hun-
dredth part of the price they are paying. The
caterpillar is as beautiful as the Moth ; it is
green, orange, or brown, delicately marked
with white dots ; the second, third, and fourth
segments are, however, always yellow, and the
third has on each side a large round blue spot,
with a black margin, and from this spot to
the tail is a straight whitish band on each side ;
it has a short horn above the tail, bent back-
wards. It feeds on the Oleander. The Moth
occurs in June and sometimes in October,
the caterpillar in July, August, and Septem-
ber. (The scientific name is Chcerocampa
Nerii.)

1.4. — The Humming-Bird Hawk-Moth (Macroglossa
itellatarum),

14. THE HuiiMiNG-BiBD HAWK-MOTH. —
Fore wings smoke-coloured, with two slender
cross-bars and a black dot between them ;
Vind wings orange coloured, blackish at the

base and brownish at the margin : thorax and
body smoke-coloured, with black and white
spots at the sides of the latter, and close to
them black and white tufts of hair, which it
spreads out when flying ; the extreme end of
the body has also a fringe of stiff black
hairs. The flight of this insect is diurnal,
and very beautiful. What is this, at our
jasmine, with bird-like head, with brilliant
eye, with out-spread and parti-coloured tail,
humming loudly, and, though driven away,
returning again and again, day after day,
from the rising to the setting of the sun?
It is the Humming-bird Hawk-Moth: from
January to December we have some flower
welcome to her, and she is welcome, most
welcome to us and ours. The caterpillar is
greenish or pinkish-brown, the sides in both
cases inclining to blue, and sprinkled with
white ; and along each side is a straight
pinkish or dirty white line, which terminates
at the horn; below this is a second rather
narrower and less conspicuous line, of a
duller colour ; the horn is thin, sharp-
pointed, straight and upright ; it feeds on
the Ladies' Bedstraw. The chrysalis is brown,
and found just below the surface of the ground.
(The scientific name is Macroglossa stella-
tarum.)

16.— The Broad-Bordered Bee Hawk-Moth (Macro-
fflossa fuciformis) .

15. THE BEOAD-BOEDEEED BEE HAWK-
MOTH. — Fore wings transparent, with a brown
oblique spot in the centre, a black base tinged
with green, and a broad red-brown margin ;
hind wings transparent, with a red-brown
margin ; thorax and base of the body olive-
brown ; middle of the body red-brown, in the
form of a belt; the remainder, to the tail,

BRITISH MOTHS

olive-brown, with black tufts on the sides,
which it spreads out in flying. This Sphinx
is a true lover of the sun ; its flight is only
in his rays ; he who has not seen this fairy
creature pendulizing over a purple patch of
the common bugle — anon descending to sip,
without alighting, the sweets of each corolla ;
he who has not watched its porrected tube
dive into cup after cup, its body the while
motionless, its legs shivering, and its wings
invisible and undefined through rapidity of
motion j he who has not seen it again rise,
and again pendulize, and then dart off with
immeasurable speed — he who has not wit-
nessed these things, has a delight yet to
come : let him explore the woods of Kent

during the month of May, when the air is
calm and sunny, and he will truly be gra-
tified. The caterpillar is bluish-green or
brown, sprinkled over with minute raised
points, which are generally whitish ; having
also an obscure line down the back, and a
distinct white and pink line along each side,
terminating at the horn, which is rough and
slightly bent down. It feeds on the common
Lychnis, the "Wood Scabious, the Ladies'
Bedstraw, and other low herbs, and spins a
rather loose web on the surface of the
ground, changing to a brown chrysalis. The
Moth appears in May, the caterpillar through-
out the autumn. (The scientific name is
Macroglossa fuciformis )

16. — The Narrow-Bordered Bee Hawk-Moth (Macroglossa lomlyHformis).

16. THE NARROW-BORDERED BEE HAWK-
MOTH. — Fore wings transparent with a nar-
row brown margin ; hind wings transparent,
with a very narrow, almost thread-like, brown
margin ; thorax and base of the body yellow-
ish olive-brown; middle of the body, with
two narrow black bands followed by a broader
fulvous band ; remainder of the tail fulvous,
with tufts of black hairs on the sides, which
it spreads out in flying. The caterpillar we
have never seen. Mr. Stainton thus describes

it, after Duponchel : " Green dotted with yel-
lowish white ; two rows of dull reddish spots
on each side of the fifth to twelfth segments ;
the white spiracles are placed in the lower
row of reddish spots; horn slightly rough,
short, pointed, reddish ; legs reddish, except
the anal pair, which are green ; feeds on the
Field Scabious." Not uncommon, more par-
ticularly in the northern counties ; the Motk
appears in May. (The scientific name it
Macroglossa lomlyliformis.)

NOTE.

Among the British Sphingidce the species
of Smerinthm may be known by their body
being brown without ornamental spots on the
sides ; the proboscis is rather slender and short ;
the outline of the wings waved and irregular,
and the hind wings have no black bands.
The genus Acherontia has the body bril-
liantly variegated, the proboscis short and

very thick ; the outline of the wings regular,
without notches and indentations, and the
hind wings have black bands. The genus
Sphinx has the sides of the body beautifully
variegated — red, black, and white; the pro-
boscis enormously long; the outline of the
wings regular; and the hind wing* have
black bands.

NOCTURNI

13

THE SESID^E

17 The Red-Belted Clearwing (Sesi

18. The Large Red-Belted Clearwing (Sesia Culiei-
formis).

19. The Eed-Tipped Clearwing (Sesia Fortnicaf omits).

20. The Fiery Clearwing (Sesia Chrysidtformis).

21. The Six-Belted Clearwing (Sesia Ichneumoni-
/orata).

22. The Yellow-Legged Clearwing (Sesia Cynipi-
formis).

23. The Currant Clearwing (Sesia Tipuliformis}.

24. The Orange-Tailed Clearwing (Sesia Andreni-

formis).
25 The "Welsh Clearwing (Sesia Scoliaformis).

26. The White-Barred Clearwing (SesinSpheyiformis).

27. The Dusky Clearwing (Sesia Vespiformis).

28. The Hornet Clearwing of the Osier (Sesia Bembe-
ciformis}.

2i. The Hornot Clearwing of the Poplar (Sesia Api-
formis),

THE next group of Lepidoptera we shall
divide into three families. The caterpillars
throughout the group are very much alike in
shape and colour, and are exactly alike in
their food and habits ; but the perfect insects
are very unlike — so much so, indeed, that it
requires a good deal of confidence in our in-
structors to feel sure that they have done
right in placing them together. "We must,
however, never forget that Great Britain is a
very small part of the whole world, and of
course contains only a very few of the insects ;
so that although, when we look at a collection
of the insects of the whole world, we find that
each one is very like that which is placed
next to it, yet, when we turn to a collection
of only British insects, we find them so few in
number — many missing — that those insects
that stand side by side are often so different,
that we are apt to fancy that they have not
been classified correctly.

The group of Moths now to be described
have caterpillars that feed on the solid wood
of trees, making mines and galleries in the
timber, and at last so weakening the tree
that it dies of the injury. Some are very
large white maggots, and were formerly eaten
by the Komans, and considered a great deli-
cacy. They were called Cossus, and hence
Mr. Newman, who first united this group of
Moths into one tribe, called them Cossites.
Some of the largest of these caterpillars live
for four or five years, devouring wood all the
time ; and you can scarcely find the trunk of
an old willow tree that is not completely
riddled by these voracious creatures ; some,
however, eat only the roots, and others only

the pith, but they all follow their destructive
work quite out of sight, and are never to be
found eating leaves, like the beautiful cater-
pillars of the Hawk-Moths. Each caterpillar
changes to a chrysalis in the mine which it
has made, and is furnished at every segment
with a ring of little hooks, which enables
some of them to move up and down in their
galleries with almost as much ease as thf
caterpillars. It is a very curious sight to see
one of these chrysalises wriggle up and down
a reed, on the interior of which the caterpillar
fed. As we have already said, we shall
divide these Moths into three very different
families : the first of them we call Sesidce, or
Clearwings.

Of all our British Moths, the Sesides are
the most elegant, graceful, and fairy-like.
Unlike almost all other Moths, they fly in
sunshine ; and nothing can exceed the grace
and beauty of their motions, as they hover
over a flower, or walk over its petals or leaves,
gently waving their transparent and sylph-
like wings Almost every character by which
we distinguish large divisions of insects is
subject to exceptions ; and although we have
said that Moths are nocturnal, we have here
a family of Moths that are truo lovers of sun-
shine : they constitute the exception to the
rule. The most remarkable character, how-
ever, that belongs to these Moths is this —
they seem to have no similarity at all to other
Moths, but rather resemble gnats, and beos,
and wasps, and a variety of other insects.
Their antennas are rather long, and rather
thickest beyond the middle, and in the males
they are what is called slightly ciliated — t?iat

BRITISH MOTHS.

is, they have a row of very short bristles all
along one side — very short indeed — so short
as hardly to be seen without a magnifying
glass ; the wings are narrow and transparent ;
the body long, and banded with white, yellow,
orange, or bright red belts, and they generally
have a tuft of hairs at the tail, which is spread
out like a fan when the insect is hovering
over a flower ; the legs are long, and hang
down like those of a gnat when the insect is
flying. Our young readers are requested to
observe that in our description of these
Moths, we say nothing about the hind wings,
because they are all so much alike — quite
transparent, with black rays and black mar-
gin.

17. The Rod-belted Clearwing (Sesia Myopaformis).
17. THE BED-BELTED CLEAEWLNG. — Fore
wings transparent, with a broad black tip and
a black bar a little beyond the middle ; thorax
and body black, the latter having a bright-red
belt just about the middle. The caterpillar
feeds in the solid wood of pear trees, and in
the more slender branches of apple trees. We
have seen between sixty and seventy in a
piece of pear-tree wood about three inches
long. The caterpillar feeds all the year ; the
Moth is common in gardens in May, June,
and July. (The scientific name is Sesia
HyopcEjormis.)

18, — The Large Red-Belted Clearwing (Sesia Culici-
formis).

18. THE LAEGE RED-BELTED CLEAEWING. —
Pore wings transparent, with a broad black
tip and a black bar a little beyond the middle,
«nd some very delicate bright-red markings

at the base ; thorax and body black, the
latter with a bright-red belt about the middle.
The caterpillar feeds on the wood of birch-
trees, preferring the stumps of trees that have
been cut down; it feeds all the year: the
Moth is only to be found in May and June.
This and the preceding are very much alike,
but this may be immediately distinguished by
the minute red marks at the base of the fore
wings : it is also the larger of the two. (The
scientific name is Sesia Culiciformis.}

19. — The Red-Tipped Clearwing (Sesia Formica-

formis).

19. The RED-TIPPED CLEAEWING. — Foro
wings transparent, with a broad red tip and a
black bar a little beyond the middle : thorax
and body black, the latter with a deep-red
belt about the middle. The caterpillar feeds
inside the twigs of osiers, and sometimes does
a good deal of mischief in osier-beds where
the twigs are grown for basket-making ; it
feeds throughout the autumn and winter : the
Moth appears about Midsummer. This Moth
also resembles a good deal the two previous
ones, but the red tip of the wing is an unmis-
takable character. The scientific name is
Sesia Formicceformis.)

20. — The Fiery Clearwing (Sesia Chrysidiformvf).
20. THE FLEET CLEAEWING. — Fore wings
with the costal and apical margins black :
there is also a black bar a little beyond the
middle ; the space between this bar and black
apex is bright orange-red, and the inner mar-
gin of the wing is of the same beautiful colour :
thorax and body black, the latter with two
narrow yellow belts near the tail ; the tail-
fringe black at the sides, and bright orange-

NOCTUENI.

15

coloured in the middle. "We know nothing
of the caterpillar of this beautiful insect. (Its
•cieutific name is Sesia Chrysidiformis.}

21. — The Six-Belted Clearwing (Sesia Ichneumoni-
f or mis).

21. THE SIX-BELTED CLEARWING. — Fore
wings transparent, with brownish margins,
and a brown bar just beyond the middle ; the
space just within the tip is yellowish; the
thorax is black, with two indistinct yellow
lines ; the body black, with six narrow yellow
belts ; the tail-fringe is black and inconspicu-
ous. The caterpillar feeds in the stems of
the Stinking Hellebore, and lives through the
winter : the perfect insect occurs in June and
July, and is not uncommon at the top of the
cliff about Ramsgate and Margate; it used
to be abundant in the sand-pit at Charlton,
but the Hellebore has been destroyed. (The
scientific name is Sesia Ichneumoniformis.}

22.— The Yellow-Legged Clearwing (Saia Cynipi-
formis}.

22. THE YELLOW-LEGGED CLEARWING. —
Fore wings with a black margin, and a black
bar near the middle, the inner half of which
is black, the outer half orange; head black,
with a yellow ring round tho neck ; thorax
black, with two bright yellow lines; body
black, with four yellow belts — the male has
the tail-fringe black, the female golden yellow.
The caterpillar lives in the bark of elm and
oak trees ; it feeds through the winter. The
Moth appears at Midsummer, and is common
in Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. (The
scientific name is Sesia Cynipiformis.}

23. THE CURRANT CLEARWING. — Fore wings
margined with black, and having a black bar

23. — The Currant Clearwing (Stiia Tipuliformit).
just beyond the middle ; tip yellowish, with
black veins ; thorax black, with two narrow
yellow lines ; body black, with three narrow
yellow belts ; tail-fringe entirely black. The
caterpillar feeds on the pith of the twigs of
currant-bushes, and is too common, causing
the death of the shoots wherever it occurs : it
is to be found alive throughout the winter by
splitting open these twigs ; the Moth appears
in June. (The scientific name is Sesia Tipu-
liformis.)

24. —The Orange-Tailed Clearwing (Sesia Andreni-

formii),

24. THE ORANGE-TAILED CLEARWING. — Fore
wings with black margins and tip, and a black
bar just beyond the middle ; thorax and body
black; the latter with one distinct and one
indistinct white or pale-yellow belt. Tail-
fringe brilliant orange, and very large. The
caterpillar is quite unknown, and the Moth
extremely rare ; a single specimen was taken
last year, flying by night near Market Hsr-
borough, by the Eev. A. Matthews, and is
now in that gentleman's very valuable collec-
tion. (The scientific name is Sesia Andreni-
formis.)

25. — The Welsh Clearwing (Sesia Scolia/ormis).
25. THB WELSH CLEARWING. — Fore wings
transparent; with the margins, tip, and 9

16

BEITISH MOTHS.

large almost triangular blotch in the middle,
black ; antennae, of the female only, whitish
before the tip ; thorax black, with two pale
yellow lines ; body black, with two yellow
belts; tail-fringe black, with a few yellow
hairs. The caterpillar feeds on the wood of
birch trees ; the Moth appears in June, and
has only been found by the late Mr. Ash-
worth, near Llangollen, in North Wales.
(The scientific name is Sesia Scoliceformis.)

26. — The "White-Barreu (Jiearwing (Sesia
formii) .

26. THE \VniTE-B ABRED CLEAEWING. — Fore
wings transparent, with black margins, and a
black bar just beyond the middle; antennae
in both sexes with a white space just before
the tip; thorax and body black, the latter
with two white belts, the first a very narrow
one at the base, the second a broad one in the
middle : tail-fringe black. The caterpillar
feeds on the stems of the alder; the Moth
appears in May and June, and is exceedinglv
rare. (The scientific name is Sesia Spheg^
for mis.}

28. — The Hornet Clearwing of the Osier (Sesia llfmbe*
ciformis) .

28. THE HOEITET CLEAEWING OF THE OSIEE.
— Fore wings transparent, tinged with yellow ;
head brown, with a yellow neck ; body yellow,
with a brown belt at the base, and another
near the middle ; no tail-fringe ; legs orange.
The caterpillar feeds on the wood of osier,
spinning a tough cocoon in twigs so small
that they seem scarcely large enough for
the purpose: the Moth appears at Mid-
summer. (Th. scientific name is Sesia
Lenibeciformis.)

27. — The Dusky Clearwing (Sesia Vespifonnis).

27. THE DUSKY CLEAEWIHG. — Pore wings
opaque, blackish ; head black, with a yellow
neck, thorax and abdomen black, the latter
with three equi-distant, distinct yellow belts,
and between each two an extremely slender
narrow line ; tail-fringe black. The cater-
pillar feeds on the roots of ash and aspen
trees ; the Moth appears in June, and is ex-
ceedingly rura (The scientific name is Sesia

19. — The Hornet Clenrwing of the Poplar (Sesia Ajn-
for mis}.

29. THE HOENET CLEAEWING OP THE POP-
LAE. — Fore wings transparent, tinged with
yellow ; head yellow ; thorax brown, with a
square patch of bright yellow on each side in
front ; body yellow, with a brown belt near
the base, and another near the middle ; legs
deep-orange. The caterpillar feeds on the solid
wood of aspens and poplars, and lives often
concealed for two years ; when full-fed, it
spins a tough cocoon, made of silk and the
chips of the poplar, often near the ground ;
the Moth appears about Midsummer, and is
exactly like a hornet in size, colour, and shape ;
indeed, it would be difficult to distinguish it
from a hornet, were it not for its soft, downy
covering, so different from the hard case of a
hornet. (The scientific name is Sesia Api-
formis.)

WOOD-BORERS.

1,

FAMILY III.— THE ZEUZERUm

I 32. The Goat Moth (Cossus ligniperda).

30. The Reed Moth (Macrogaster Arwidinis).

31. The Leopard Moth (Zeuzera

THE THIRD FAMILY of British Moths is called
Zaizcridoe, from Zeazera, the most familiar
genus. We have already said how unlike each
other are the three families which constitute
the tribe Cossites ; scarcely less unlike are the
three Moths which, in this country, represent
the family Zeuzeridae ; they agree, however,
in some very essential characters ; all the
caterpillars feed inside trunks and stems, and
they are all unsightly and most destructive
maggots ; they have hard and horny heads,
and a horny plate on the segment next the
head. The chrysalises have a series of little
hooks on each segment. In the perfect or
Moth state, all the females have a long,
polished, hard, and piercing ovipositor, with
which they deposit their eggs deep in the
crevices of the bark of trees.

30. — The Reed Moth (Male) (Maerogaster Artmdinii).

30. THE REED MOTH. — Fore wings pale
brown, the rays being slightly paler, and
somewhat raised, and the spaces between
them sprinkled with extremely minute black
dots ; the hind wings pale brown ; thorax and
body of the same pale brown colour as the
wings ; the body very long in the female, very
much exceeding the wings in length ; the
antennae of the male are slender, and almost
like a hair at the tip, but fringed at the base
like a double comb ; those of the female are
slightly fringed throughout their length. The
caterpillar is dingy white, inclining to yellow,
and feeds in the interior of the common reed
(ArunJo Phragmites). This insect has only
been found in two localities — Holme Fen in

Huntingdonshire, and Whittlesea Mere, in
Cambridgeshire — but in these places it was
formerly abundant. The female, as we have
said, has a remarkably long body ; she flies
low, slowly, and steadily, with this extraordi-
nary body hanging down. -She settles on a
stem of a reed, running up and down, and
incessantly vibrating her wings, while she

The Reed Moth (Female).

seems to be feeling about with the curious
ovipositor we have mentioned as characteristic
of the tribe, as though seeking for a suitable
place in which to deposit her egg. The egg
is placed on end, as observed by Mr. Harding,
and is glued to the stem of the reed by a
strongly adhesive fluid secreted in the insect,
which dries the moment the egg is laid : in
this position the head of the little caterpillar
is placed nearest the stem of the reed, into
which it eats its way directly it leaves its egg-
shell : it enters almost close to the ground
and eats upwards ; the Moth lays but one
egg in one reed stem : the chrysalis is very
long, shaped much like that of a gnat, and
is very rough to the touch, owing to the cir-
cles of little hooks which surround each seg-
ment: by means of these hooks it wriggles
up and down the interior of the reed stem.
The Moth comes out in June, and Mr. Double-
day says that it leaves the chrysalis at ten
o'clock in the evening. This Moth is a
favourite food of the black-headed Bunting
(Emberiza schceniclm) ; but when it escapes
this bird, it only lives a fewdays. (The scien-
tific name is Macrogaster Arundims.)

18

BEITISH MOTHS.

Head of Male. 81.— The
31. THE LEOPARD MOTH. — So called from
its beautifully-spotted wings. The fore wings
are almost white, with very many blue-black
roundish spots ; the hind wings are similarly
coloured and marked, but the spots are less
distinct : all the wings have a semi-transpa-
rent appearance : thorax almost white, with
six large roundish black spots ranged in three
pairs, and another smaller spot between the
last pair ; body grey : antennae of the male
slender and hair-like at the tip, but fringed
at the base like a double comb. Caterpillar
whitish, with black glossy spots, and having
a blackish plate on the first segment behind

Leopard Moth (Female) (Zeuzera JEsculi).

the head ; it feeds on the solid wood of elm,
apple, pear, and plum trees, but never to such
excess as to destroy them. We have even
observed that fruit trees thus infected bear
more abundantly than those which are per-
fectly healthy. The caterpillar feeds through
the winter, turning to a chrysalis in May.
The Moth appears at Midsummer, and may
be found by searching diligently the stems of
infected trees early in the morning : the male
comes to light, and may be found in the
morning on the gas lamps. (The scientific
name is Zeuzera JEsculi.)

32.— The Goat Moth

32. THE GOAT MOTH. — So called from the
caterpillar having a very pungent disagreeable
smell, like that of a he-goat. . Fore wings rich
brown, beautifully varied and mottled, the
darker markings being dispersed in waved lines,
placed transversely to the rays ; hind wings
pale dingy brown, having markings something
like those on the fore wings, but less distinct ;
antennae, slightly fringed throughout in both
sexes, dark brown ; head also dark brown, with
a nearly white ring round the neck ; thorax
dark brown in front, shaded to whitish grey

(Cossus lig/upercki).

in the middle, and having a rather narrow
black band behind ; body brown and grey in
alternate rings. Caterpillar flesh-coloured,
with a black head and broad dull red stripe
down the back ; feeds on the solid wood of
willows, elms, oaks, lilacs, and other trees,
living for four years ; it has caused the death
of many valuable elms ; and a small beetle
(Scolyttu Destructor) breeding abundantly in
the bark of the dying trees, the injury has
been erroneously attributed to this beetle, and
not to the true cause, which, feeding and carry-

WOOD-BORERS.

19

ing on its work of devastation out of sight,
has escaped the notice of superficial observers ;
before changing to a chrysalis it spins a very
large tough cocoon, composed of silk mixed

with fragments of gnawed wood. This cater-
pillar is the Cossus of Pliny and the Roman
epicures. (The scientific name is Cossus lig-
niperda.)

FAMILY IV.— THE HEPIALIMJ.

33. The Gold Swift (Ilepialus hectus).

34. The Common Swift (Ilepialus lupulinus).

35. The Wood Swift (Ilepialus sylvinus).

36. The Norihern Swift (Ilepialus Valleda).

37. The Ghost Swift (Ilepialus liumuli).

THE FOURTH FAMILY of Moths (Hepialidce)
contains but five British species, most of them
distinguished by their rapid flight, and hence
called SWIFTS. They are all remarkable for
the very short and simple antennae, a charac-
ter that will be made very obvious from our
figures.

33. — The Gold Swift (Ilepialus hectus).

33. THE GOLD SWIFT. — Fore wings tawny,
with two oblique rows of silvery white spots,
the outer interrupted, angled, and irregular ;
hind wings smoke-coloured, with pale fringe ;
head, thorax, and body fulvous brown : the
female has the markings on the fore wings
very indistinct. Caterpillar dirty white ; feeds
on the roots of plants in hedges and woods.
The Moth flies directly after the sun is set,
and with a restless sportive kind of flight, as
though for pleasure, and not with that steady
business-like air which a moth assumes when
going to suck the honey of flowers or in search
of its mate. The caterpillar feeds in the
winter and spring, turns to a chrysalis in
May and the Moth flies at Midsummer. (The
scientific name is Ilepialus hectus.)

34. THE COMMON SWIFT. — This common
insect is so extremely variable in colour that
it is almost impossible to write such a descrip-
tion as shall agree with half-a-dozen specimens

taken consecutively. Fore wings brown, with
ft row of irregular whitish spots, which runs

from the tip to the middle of the inner mar-
gin, and then turns inwards towards the base ;
hind wings smoke-coloured, with pale fringes :

34. — The Common Swift (Ilepialus lupulinus').

such is the more general appearance of the
male. The female has scarcely any variety
of colour, the fore wings being dingy brown,
the hind wings smoke-coloured ; head, tho-
rax, and body, dingy brown. Caterpillar
dirty white, with dark plates on the seg-
ments nearest the head : it feeds on roots of
the dead nettles (Ballota foetida, Lamium
album, &c.) throughout the winter ; changes
to a chrysalis in May, and the Moth appears
in June, darting swiftly about every hedgerow.
(The scientific name is Ilepialus lupuhnus.)

35. — The Wood Swift (Ilepialus tylrinus).

35. THE WOOD SWIFT. — Fore wings tawny,
with arather obscure whitish line running from
near the tip to near the middle of the inner
margin, and then turning inwards towards the
base of the wing ; these white marks are bor-
dered with dark brown, and within the trian-
gle formed bv these marks is a very obvious

20

BEITISH MOTHS.

brown spot ; the fringes of the fore wings are
orange-coloured and unspotted ; hind wings
dusky brown, with orange-coloured fringe ;
thorax and body orange-brown. .The female
is larger than the male, the colour is duller,
and the markings much less conspicuous. No
one has discovered the caterpillar of this com-
mon Moth, which occurs in the perfect or
Moth state in July. (The scientific name is
Hepialus sylvimts.)

36. — The Northern Swift (Hepialus Velleda).

36. THE NORTHERN SWIFT. — Fore wings
mahogany-brown in the male, obscure brown

in the female ; in both sexes there is a pale
broad oblique band running from the tip to
the inner margin ; the upper or outer end of
this band is forked, one branch terminating
in the extreme tip, the other in the costal
margin ; there are other pale markings of
uncertain situation nearer the base of the
wing ; the fringes are paler and spotted
with dark brown ; thorax and body dull
brown. A dull, ugly-looking insect The
caterpillar feeds through the winter in the
subterraneous rhizome of the common Brake.
(Pteris aquilina.) The Moth appears in July,
and swarms in some parts of the North of
England, in Scotland, and in the Western
Isles; near Stromness in Orkney, a dozen
may be taken in the season with one sweep
of the collecting net. We have never taken
it in the South of England. (The scientific
name is Hepialus Vetteda.)

37. — The Ghost Swift (Male) (Hepialus humulf).

37. THE GHOST SWT,PT.— So called from the
white colour of the male. All the wings of
the male silvery white ; fore wings of the
female yellow, with orange markings ; hind

wings smoke-coloured at the base, but becom-
ing tawny towards the margin ; head, thorax,
and body tawny. Caterpillar dirty white, the
segment nearest the head with a brown plate ;

The Ghost Swift (Female).

feeds on the roots of Burdock (Arctium
Lappa), Stinging Nettle (Urtica divica),
and Dead Nettle (Ballotafoetida), and (Lamium

album), abundant in the South of England
about Midsummer. (The scientific name is
Hepialus humuli.}

SNAIL- FEET.

21

FAMILY V.— THE COCHLIOPODKLE.

38. The Triangle Moth (Limacodes Asettus). \ 39. The Festoon Moth (Limacodes Testudo).

THE FIFTH FAMILY of Moths is called Coch-
liopodidce, from two Greek words, signifying
" snail " and " foot," because the caterpillar
resembles a snail, crawling along the surface
of the leaf on which it feeds. The flat part
of a snail on which it crawls is called the
" foot :" the feet of these caterpillars are re-
tractile, so when one of them is turned on its
back, the legs appear to be withdrawn into
its stomach ; but when again placed in its
natural position, the feet are protruded, and
take firm hold of the leaf. The caterpillars
spin a silken cocoon among the oak trees,
and in this change to a chrysalis.

Female. Male.

38. — The Triangle Moth (Limacodes Asellus).

38. THE TRIANGLE MOTH. — Fore wings of
the male dark brown, with two oval black
spots, scarcely perceptible in some specimens ;
hind wings almost black, unspotted ; fore
wings of the female yellow-brown, unspotted ;
hind wings dark brown, unspotted ; the fe-
male is considerably larger than the male.
The caterpillar is something like a wood-louse,
and sits close on the surface of the leaves of
the oak on which it feeds ; it is of a yellow-
green colour, with a yellow stripe down the
middle of the back, and has a number of
shining pimples of a pinkish hue : it feeds in
August and September, and spins up in
October ; it remains in the chrysalis state all
the winter and spring, and the Moth comes
out at Midsummer. It is only found in the
New Forest in Hampshire, where a collector
of the name of Turner has taken it in immense
quantities. (The scientific name is Limacodes
Asellus.)

Male. Female.

39. — The Festoon Moth (Limacodes Testudo).

39. THE FESTOON MOTH. — Fore wings of
the male yellow-brown, with two narrow brown
stripes : the first is oblique, running from the
middle of the costal margin to near the base
of the inner margin ; the second is quite
straight, appearing to cut off the tip of the
wing : between these two, on the inner margin,
is a short oblique stripe of the same colour ;
hind wings dark brown, unspotted. Female
larger ; fore and hind wings both inclining to
clay-yellow. Antennae of both sexes yellow ;
head and thorax clay- yellow, body browner.
The caterpillar feeds on the oak from July to
September . its shape is something like that
of a wood-louse, but it still more resembles
those common little sea-shells which are called
Chitons : it is of a more dusky green colour,
with a broad stripe down the back of a paler
hue, and along each side of this is a row of
shining pimples, rather pink. In October it
spins on one of the oak-leaves a tough cocoon,
brown outside, but most delicately white and
silken inside ; in this the caterpillar remains
unchanged through the winter, but early in
spring it changes to a yellow-brown chrysalis,
which turns to a Moth in June ; the female
is very sluggish, sitting on the leaves of the
oak, and when shaken into a net it drops like
a little lump of yellow clay, and remains
quite motionless, feigning death. We have
repeatedly taken it in the woods of Kent,
but never saw it fly ; the male on the contrary
flies rapidly through the woods in hot sun-
shine, generally against the wind and always
in a zigzag direction. (The scientific name
is Limacodes Testudo.)

BBITISH MOTHS.

FAMILY VI.— THE PROCBUm

40. The Forester (Proem Statices).

41. The Scarce Forester (Proms Globular ix).

THE SIXTH FAMILY of Moths is called Pro-
cridce. The caterpillars are shaped a good
deal like those of Cochliopodidoe, but their
feet are more plainly to be seen, and the
caterpillars themselves are downy or hairy :
they spin cocoons on the leaves on which
they feed. They are small but beautiful
Moths, of a golden -green colour, very slug-
gish in dull weather, and commonly found
settled on flowers ; one plant in particular
seems attractive to them, and that is the
Mullein, on the yellow blossoms of which
they may often be found settled, their rich
golden-green wings forming a lovely contrast
to the bright yellow of the flowers : they fly
occasionally, but we have only seen them on
the wing in very bright sunshine.

40. — The Forester (Proem Statices).

4tO. THE FORESTER. — Fore wings shining
green, and semi-transparent ; hind wings
smoke-coloured ; antennae fringed in the

male, and rather blunt at the tip ; head,
thorax, and abdomen golden green. The
caterpillar short, stout, and downy, very dingy
green, with a stripe of black spots down the
middle of the back, and a pale stripe on each
side ; it feeds on the common Sorrel, and may
be found in May and June ; it spins a cocoon
on the leaves or flower-stalk of Sorrel, and
then turns to a chrysalis, in which state it
remains but a few days, the Moth appearing
at Midsummer. (The scientific name is
Procris Statices.)

41. — The Scarce Forester (Procris Globularix),

41. THE SCARCE FORESTER. — Fore wings
shining coppery green, and semi-transparent ;
hind wings smoke-coloured ; antennge fringed
in the male, and pointed at the tip ; head,
thorax, and abdomen golden green. We are
sorry to say we do not know the caterpillar
or its food. (The scientific name is Procris
Globularice.)

tJBSINES.

FAMILY VII.— THE

42. Tlie Transparent Burnct (Zyyxna Minos).

43. The Broad-bordered Five-spotted Burnet (Zyyxna

Trifolii).

44. The Narrow-bordered Five-spotted Burnet (Zygxnti

Lonicerse).

45. The Six-spotted Burnet (Zygxna Filipendulsf).

THE SEVENTH FAMILY of Moths, called
Zygcenidce, are remarkable for their beauti-
fully-spotted fore wings, and their bright red
hind wings. The caterpillars are stout and
hairy, and spin silken cocoons on the stems
of grasses, &c. These Moths, like the last,
are slow and lethargic in dull weather, but
are very beautiful objects when flying in the
sunshine, the bright red of their hind wings
being then fully displayed.

42. — The Transparent Burnet (Zygxna Minos).

42. THE TRANSPARENT BURNET. — Fore
wings dull red, semi-transparent, with all the
margins blackish dingy green ; hind wings
red, with a very narrow black border ; antennae
club-shaped, very blunt at the tip ; antennae,
thorax, body, and legs quite black. " The
caterpillar is pale yellow or greenish, with two
rows of twelve black spots on each side ; its
head and fore legs are blackish ; it feeds on Tri-
felium montanum, — bird's foot trefoil, Lotus
corniculatus, — and horse-shoe vetch, .Hippocre-
pis comosa" We have quoted the description of
the caterpillar as well as that of the following
species from Mr. Stainton, who has translated
them from Duponchel. The cocoon in which
the caterpillar turns to a chrysalis is oval and
blunt at both ends ; it is of an earthy brown
colour, and is glued on the stones which so
abound in the county of Gal way, where the
insect is principally taken, as to be called
the pavement formation, which consists of
platforms of solid rock with narrow interstices

of verdure between them : this is the character
of extensive districts, and is apparently caused
by the long-continued action of currents of
water, which has removed all earthy sub-
stances. The Moths fly actively in the sun-
shine during the early part of the day, but
after 4 o'clock P.M. they are to be captured
with the greatest ease, as they sleep on the
flowers ; in some favoured spots every daisy
will have its tenant, and as many as eight or
nine are sometimes seen clustered on a single
flower of the dandelion, giving it at a little
distance, the appearance of a gorgeous crimson
flower, enchanting alike to the naturalist and
the painter. We are indebted for these
observations to a gentleman who has paid
great attention to the habits of this insect.
The caterpillar is found in May, the chrysalis
and Moth in June. This insect has not yet
been found in England, but is most abundant
in the west of Ireland, and also occurs both
on the east and west coasts of Scotland. (The
scientific name isZy/cena Minos.}

43. — The Broad -bordered Five-spotted Burnet (Zygrnia
Trifolii).

43. THE BROAD-BORDERED FIVE-SPOTTED
BURNET. — Fore wings blackish green, with
five red spots ; two of them are close together
at the base and are of an oblong form : two
others, of a roundish form, are placed side by
side about the middle of the wing ; these two
often touch each other ; and beyond them,
towards the tip of the wing, is a fifth almost

24

BRITISH MOTHS.

rouud, quite by itself : hind wings crimson
red, with a broad black border; antennae,
thorax, and body black ; the antennae are
club-shaped, and blunt at the tip, but not
quite so blunt as in the Transparent Burnet.
" Caterpillar green or yellowish green, with
two dorsal rows of black spots on each side ;
it feeds on the horse-shoe vetch, Hippocrepis
comosa, bird's-foot trefoil, Lotus corniculatus,
and Trifolium procumbent." The caterpillar
is found in May and the Moth in June. (The
scientific name is Zygwna Trifolii.)

4. — The Narrow- bordered Five-spotted Burnet (Zyg*na
Lonicerx).

44. THE NARROW-BORDERED FIVE-SPOTTED
BURNET. — Fore wings blackish green, glitter-
ing in the sun, and having red spots ; two of
them, close to the base, are' of an oblong form,
two others, of a roundish form, are placed
side by side about the middle of the wing ;
these two are generally quite distinct and
separate, and beyond them, towards the tip
of the wing, is a fifth, almost round ; hind
wings crimson-red with a black border ;
antennae black and club shaped, but the club
is pointed ; thorax and body black. This
insect, as may be seen both by the figure and
description, is very much like the last, and
when you have only a single specimen it is
difficult to say to which it properly belongs ;
but when you have ten or twenty of each,
you will see that the antennae of this are
more pointed, the fore wings rather more

pointed also, and the border of the hind
wings distinctly narrower. The caterpillar
is hairy, yellowish green speckled with black,
yellow on the sides, paler as it becomes full-
grown ; it feeds on clover and grasses ; the
chrysalis is brownish ; it is contained in a
yellow silken cocoon, which is spun on the
stem of the clover or a blade of grass. The
caterpillar is found in May, and the Moth in
June. (The scientific name is Zygcena
Lonicerce.}

45. — The Six-spotted Burnet (Zyyxna Filipendulx).

45. THE SIX-SPOTTED BURNET. — Fore wings
glossy, metallic blackish green, with six
bright red spots placed exactly as you observe
them in the figure ; that is, two oblong ones
near the base, two roundish ones near the
middle, and two roundish ones nearer the tip
of the wing ; hind wings crimson red, with a
narrow black border ; antennas club-shaped
and rather sharp-pointed ; antennae, thorax,
and body black, beautifully tinged with green.
Caterpillar dingy yellow, stout and rather
hairy ; on each segment are two rows of black
spots : it feeds chiefly on the Crowfoot Trefoil,
and, when full fed, crawls up the flowering
stem of some grass, and on this it spins a
shuttle-shaped yellow silken cocoon, very sharp-
pointed at both ends ; within this it changes
to a black chrysalis : the Moth appears the
begining of June, and is a very beautiful
object when flying in the sunshine. (The
scientific name is Zygv&na Fitipend-ttiv,. \

NOTE.

The spots on the wings of the Burnet Moths frequently coalesce, and then the
In flint r,ns« four spots make one band.

TTRSINES.

FAMILY VIII.— THE NOLIDJE.

46. The Short-cloaked Moth (Nola cucullatella').

47. The Least Black Arches (Nola cristulalis).

48. The Small Black Arches (Nola Strigida).

49. ^he Scarce Black Arches (Nola centonalis).

THE EIGHTH FAMILY of Moths (Nolulce) con-
tains but four species that have yet been
found in Great Britain. They are of small
size and somewhat triangular in shape : they
sit on the trunks of trees in the day-time, and
fly only in the evening and during the night.
The caterpillars are hairy, and, as far as we
have yet observed, feed on the leaves of trees :
they spin a silken cocoon and do not bun7
themselves in the ground to undergo their
change to a chrysalis.

46. — The Short-cloaked Moth (Nola cucullatella).

46. THE SHORT-CLOAKED MOTH. — Fore
wings pearl-grey, with a dark blotch at the
base, a small triangular spot on the costal
margin, and several wavy indistinct streaks
parallel with the outer margin ; hind wings
grey, without markings. Caterpillar dingy
brown, with paler patches down the back, so
arranged as to form a kind of stripe ; it is
covered with numerous wart-like pro-tuber
ances, each of which emits a little tuft of
hair : it feeds on the blackthorn, and on
plum-trees in gardens. The Moth first appears
about Midsummer, and may be found through-
out July ; it is very common. (The scientific
name is Nola cucullatella.')

47. — The Least Black Arches (Nola cristulalis).

47. THE LEAST BLACK ARCHES. — Fore
wings grey, slightly darker towards the hind
margin ; there are several waved slender
angular black lines across the wing, from the
costal to the inner margin ; between the first
and second of these is a dark mark on the
margin. Caterpillar dull yellow and hairy,
with fine blackish lines running lengthwise
from end to end : it feeds on oak, and spins
up towards the end of May, the Moth appear-

ing in June. (The scientific name is Nola
cristulalis.^

48.— The Small Black Arches (Nola Strigula).

48. THE SMALL BLACK ARCHES. — Fore
wings grey, slightly darker towards the hind
margin, and marked with several slender
waved black lines, hind wings smoke-coloured :
this insect is rather larger than the last ; the
inner line on the fore wing is less angular, and
the hind wings are darker than in that spe-
cies ; the two are extremely alike, but, never-
theless, an entomologist does not fail at once
to see the difference. The caterpillar is very
hairy, and of a dingy yellow colour : Freitschke
says there is a black blotch on the eighth seg-
ment : it feeds on oak, and spins up in May ;
the Moth is found on the trunks of trees in
June. (The scientific name is Nola Strigula.)

49. — The Scarce Black Arches (Xola centonalis).

49. THE SCARCE BLACK ARCHES. — The
fore wings are pure white, with three trans-
verse waved lines passing completely across
them, from the costal to the iiu>*~ -^argin :
that nearest the base is sharply angled ia
the middle, the angle pointing towards the
tip of the wing ; the second and third are
near together, and are parallel with the hind
margin ; between the first and second is a
short double mark on the costal margin ;
hind wings pearly white, delicately tinted with
a rosy hue ; the head, antennae, thorax, and
body are perfectly white. We have no know-
ledge of the caterpillar or chrysalis. A single
specimen of this pretty little insect came to
light on the 1st July, 1858, at Bembridge, in
the Isle of Wight. Mr. F. 0. Standish is
reported to have taken a second specimen.
(The scientific name is Nola centonalis.)

BRITISH MOTHS.

FAMILY IX.— THE LITHOSHDJS.

50. The Round-winged Muslin (Nudaria Senex).

51. The Muslin (Nudaria mundana~).

52. The Dew Moth (Setina irrorelld).

53. The Rosy Footman, or Red Arches (Calligenia mi-

niata).

54. The Four-dotted Footman (Lithosia mesomella).

55. The Dotted Footman (Lithosia muscerda).

56. The Orange Footman (Lithosia aureola).

57. The Pigmy Footman (Lithosia pygmxola)

58. The Buff Footman (Lithosia helvola}.

59. The Common Footman (Lithosia complanula^.

60. The Scarce Footman (Lithosia complana").

61. The Ding}' Footman (Lithosia griseold).

62. The Pale Footman (Lithosia stramineola).

63. The Four-spotted Footman (Lithosia quadra).

64. The Red-Necked Footman (Lithosia rubricollis).

65. The Feathered Footman (Eulepia grammica).

66. The Speckled Footman (Eulepia Cribrum).

THE little family of Nolidce we should have
included with the larger family which here fol-
lows and is called Lithosiidce, but Mr. Double-
day, in the work mentioned below, has sepa-
rated them, and no one is so well acquainted
with the subject. At this point of our
History of British Moths we should like to
make an observation on the English names.
We consider these names are often very silly
and unmeaning, but still we use them, because
we do not wish our juvenile readers to be de-
terred from the study of Entomology, which
is a truly delightful study, by long Latin
words, very often without any meaning, and
sometimes also difficult to pronounce ; still, as
these names must be learned by-and-by, we
always add them at the end of each descrip-
tion. These names we obtain from aprinted
catalogue, called " A List of British Butter-
flies and Moths," by Henry Doubleday. This
js the most perfect and complete scientific
work ever published in this country ; and,
although it costs two shillings, we recommend
every one of our young entomological friends
to buy it, because it will enable them to ob-
tain a thorough knowledge of the mode of
arranging these beautiful objects. The list
can be bought of every bookseller and natu-
ralist in the kingdom, and one copy will
last a lifetime. Mr. Henry Doubleday, the
author, lives at Epping, and knows more of
British Butterflies and Moths than all the
other Entomologists in the kingdom ; -he
never sells nor deals in books or insects, but
has acquired all his knowledge solely to
gratify his ardent love of the science, and for
the purpose of instructing others— an example

we cannot too highly recommend to our ento-
mological friends.

There are seventeen British Moths belong-
ing to the NINTH FAMILY, Lithosiidce : they are
all small and rather insignificant in their
•appearance ; their form, when at rest, is long
and narrow, the fore wings folding over one
another, and all the wings wrapping closely
round the sides of the body. When collecting
insects in the bright summer time, we have
often seen these little Moths fall into the net
we have held beneath, while we tapped the
bough of an oak-tree ; they generally pretend
to be dead, and then so much resemble little
bits of stick that it requires a little practice
to detect them. Many insects have this
mode of simulating death, and thus escaping
observation ; for, if they move in the day-
light, they are almost sure to attract the
notice of some hungry bird who will snap
them up in a moment. This means of escape
is doubtless an instinct bestowed by a bene-
ficent Providence for the preservation of His
creatures ; thus, while some are protected by
weapons of defence, others by size, and more
still by their extreme activity, the safety of
many a minute insect depends solely on its
escaping notice by preserving a death-like
quiet. The caterpillars generally feed on the
lichen which we often see so beautifully
clothing the bark of trees ; they are generally
covered with a number of little lumps like
pimples, and from each of these spring a few
hairs : more than half the caterpillars are.
however, quite unknown to scientific ob-
servers.

50. THE ROUND-WINGED MUSLIN. — Fow

tmsnsrEs.

27

50. — The Round-winged Muslin (Nudariti Senex).
wings pale brown, with a few darker but not
very distinct marks along the costal margin,
and a brown dot in the centre of each ; hind
wings still paler than the fore wings, and
having a pale indistinct brown dot in the
centre of each. The Moth appears in August.
(The scientific name is Xniiari'i Senex.)

51. — The Muslin (Xudarin munduna).

51. THE MUSLIN. — Fore wings pale smoky
brown and semi-transparent, with two zig-
zag transverse lines, and a brown spot between
them ; hind wings of nearly the same hue as
the fore wings, but without markings. The
caterpillar is rather hairy, and of a smoky-
grey colour, with a paler stripe down the
back , it feeds on tree lichens. The Moth
appears in July, and is not uncommon. (The
scientific name is Nitdnrla mundana.)

52. — The Dew Moth (Sttina irrorella).
52. THE DEW MOTH. — Fore wings dingy
orange-coloured, slightly transparent, with
three oblique rows of black dots ; the first has
three dots, the second four or five, and the
third, an outer row, has no fixed number :
hind wings unspotted. We have never found
the caterpillar, and in those places where the
Moth is most common, such as the Freshwater
Cliff, in the Isle of Wight, there seems no
suitable place for treelichens to grow. The
Moth appeai-s about Midsummer, and con-
tinues in tolerable plenty until the middle of
August ; it flies in the early morning, and it
is this, in all probability, which has given rise

to the name of Dew Moth,
name is Setina irrorella.)

(The scientific

53. — The Rosy Footman, or Red Arches (Calligenia
miniata).

53. THE ROSY FOOTMAN, or RED ARCHES.
— Fore wings pale red, with an oblique zigzag
black line beyond the middle ; within this is
a single conspicuous black dot, and beyond it
an oblique row of black dots ; hind wings
pale-rosy, unspotted. The caterpillar is brown
and hairy ; it feeds in April and May on the
lichens which grow on the boughs of oak-
trees : the Moth comes out in July. (The
scientific name is Calligenia miniata.)

54. — The Four-dotted Footman (Lithosia mcsomella).

54. THE FOUR-DOTTED FOOTMAN. — Fore
wings pearly grey, the costal and hind margin
brightly tinged with orange ; each has two
black dots, one on the costal margin, the
other near the inner margin : hind wings
smoke-coloured, with a pale fringe. The
Moth appears in June and July. (The scien-
tific name is Lithoxid mesomella.)

55. — The Dotted Footman {Lithosia mu&cerda).

bo. THE DOTTED FOOTMAN. — Fore wings
smoky grey, with a row of three black dots ;
the first about the middle of the costal margin,
the second and third in a line between that
and the anal angle ; between these three and
the inner margin, but nearer the base of the
wing, are two other black dots ; hind wings
of the same hue as the fore wings, but slkhtly

BKITTSH MOTHS.

paler and unspotted. The Moth appears in
August ; and is only found in marshes ; the
chief locality, and the only one of which we
can speak with certainty, is called Horning
Fen, near Norwich. (The scientific name is
Lithosia muscerda.)

56. — The Orange Footman (Lithosia aureola).

56. THE ORANGE FOOTMAN. — Fore wings
deep orange-coloured : hind wings paler. The
caterpillar is hairy and dark smoke-coloured,
with two parallel yellow-red spotted stripes
down the back ; it feeds on the lichen which
grows on the larch-fir, and changes to a
chrysalis under cover of the lichen ; the
Moth comes out about Midsummer, and is a
beautiful and conspicuous object on the boles
of the larch-trees, when it has just emerged
from the chrysalis state. The scientific name
is Lithosia aureola.)

$7. — The Pigmy Footman (Lithosia pygmseola).

57. THE PIGMY FOOTMAN. — Fore wings
pearly grey, inclining, in the male, to sinoke-
colour, and have a yellow costal margin ; hind
wings smoke-coloured along the costal mar
inn ; the rest whitish. This very distinct little
Moth was made known by Mr. Doubleday ;
hitherto it has only been found on the sea
coast, near Deal. It appears in August. (The
scientific name is Lithosia pygmceola.)

58.— The Buff Footman (Lithosia helvola').

58. THE BUFF FOOTMAN. — Fore wings of the
male yellowish grey ; hind wings of the same

colour. Fore wings of the female yellow,
tinged with smoke-colour, except along the
costal margin, which is orange ; hind wings
tinged with smoke-colour. The caterpillar,
according to Freitschke, is black, with a black-
brown head ; it has a yellow stripe on each
side of the back, and in the last segment
these stripes become broader, approach each
other, and almost form a spot. It feeds on
the lichens of the oak, especially in the New
Forest, in Hampshh-e. This species is not
common ; the Moth appears in July. (The
scientific name is Lithosia helvola.)

59. — The Common Footman (Lithosia complanula).

59. THE COMMON FOOTMAN. — Fore wings
smoke-coloured, with a bright yellow stripe
on the costal margin, terminating in a point
before it reaches the tip of the wing ; hind
wings delicately pale yellow. The caterpillar
is hairy, almost black, and without spots ;
beneath, it has a reddish line on each eidej
just above the feet ; it feeds on the lichens
of oaks, blackthorns, and more rarely on those
of the larch-fir : authors also speak of its fre-
quenting poplars, and feeding on the lichens
on walls, but we have never found it in such
situations. This is the most common species,
and may be met with in all the woods and
lanes round London ; we have found it in
June, July, and August. (The scientific
name is Lithosia complanula.)

60. — The Scarce Footman (Lithosia complana).

60. THE SCARCE FOOTMAN. — Fore wings
smoke-coloured, with a bright yellow stripe
on the costal margin, of equal breadth to the
extreme tip of the wing ; hind wings delicately

UBSINES.

29

pale yellow. We are totally unacquainted
with the caterpillar of this species, and doubt
whether it has been seen in this country ; but
it has been described by Ochsenhiemer as
being black with short hairs, and as having
a stripe on each side of the back, composed
of yellow, white, and red spots, and a narrow
reddish line above the feet : it feeds on the
lichens of blackthorn and firs. The Moth
appears in July. (The scientific name is
Lithosia complana.)

61. — The Dingy Footman {Lithosia griseola).

61. THE DINGY FOOTMAN. — Fore wings
smoke-coloured with a pearly gloss, the costal
margin yellow hind wings pearly grey. The
Moth appears soon after Midsummer, and is
very common. (The scientific name is Lithosia
griseola.

62. — The Pale Footman {Lithosia stramineola).
62. THE PALE FOOTMAN. — Fore wings pale
dull yellow ; hind wings still paler, having a
bleached appearance. This is in al probability
a pale variety of the preceding ; it occurs at
the same time, in the same localities, and there
is not the slightest difference in shape or size ;
but the colour is very different, and this
has induced Mr. Doubleday to consider it a
new species. (The scientific name is Lithosia
stramineola.')

63. — The Four-spotted Footman (Male)(LzVAo«a<?w«<7r<().

63. THE FOUR SPOTTED FOOTMAN. — Fore

wings of the male delicate pearly grey in the
middle, bright yellow at the base, smoke-
coloured at the hind margin, and having a
short black stripe at the base of the costal
margin ; hind wings dingy yellow, smoke-
coloured towards the tip. Fore wings of the
female orange-coloured, with two conspicuous
black spots on each ; one on the costal margin,
the other between this and the inner margin ;
hind wings yellow, unspotted. The caterpillar
is nearly an inch and a half long, very hairy,

The Four-spotted Footman (Female),
of a grey colotir, with yellow and black stripes ;
the stripes being bordered with red warts,
from which spring the hairs. It is said by
Berge to feed on fir, beech, oak, pear, apple,
cherry, damson, roses, horse-chestnut, willow,
lime, and various hedgerow plants ; but may
we not rather imagine that it is the lichens
and not the foliage of the trees which it
devours ? It spins a thin white cocoon, either
in crevices of the bark or between two leaves,
and in this it changes to a shining black
brown chrysalis, in which state it remains for
eleven or twelve days only. The Moth
appears in July and August, and frequently
hybernates, laying its eggs in the spring.
(The scientific name is Lithosia quadra.}

64. — The Red-necked Footman (Litkosia rubricollii).

64. THE RED-NECKED FOOTMAN. — All the
wings black ; head black, witha red neck ;
body black, with a yellow tip. The caterpillar
is hairy and grey, with black stripes, in which
are red and white spots : it feeds on a variety
of lichens. The Moth, singular from its
black colour, appears in August. (The
scientific name is Litkosia rubricollis.)

BRITISH MOTHS.

65. — The Feathered Footman (Male) (Eulepia grammica).

65. THE FEATHERED FOOTMAN. — Fore
wings of the male yellow, with a central
black spot, and a number of parallel black
longitudinal stripes, hind wings orange-
coloured, with a central black lunule, a broad
black marginal band, a bright orange fringe,
and a few dusky streaks crossing the orange-
colour in the middle. Fore wings of the
female pale buff, with a black dot near the
costal margin, and four or five narrow black
streaks near the hind margin ; hind wings
orange-coloured with a few black streaks
near the base, a central black dot, and a row
of black dots just within the hind margin ;
antennae black, feathered in the male ;
thorax yellow, with black longitudinal stripes ;
body yellow, with black spots. On the Coi>

The Feathered Footman (Female).

tinent, especially in France and Germany j
the caterpillar of this species is found
throughout May, feeding on variotis grasses,
on mugwort, on heather, and sometimes on
oak-leaves ; it is black, with white markings :

on each segment are brown wart-like pro-
tuberances, from which spring short, reddish-
yellow hairs. It spins a whitish-grey cocoon
between leaves, in which it turns to a reddish-
brown chrysalis, in which state it remains
about twenty days, the Moth appearing at
the end of June. We have no knowledge
whatever of either caterpillar or Moth as
natives of Great Britain, and have described
them only out of respect to Mr. Doubleday,
who places this insect in the "List of
British Moths and Butterflies," to which we
have already referred. (The scientific name
is Eulepia grammica.)

66. — The Speckled Footman (Eulepia Cribrum).
66. THE SPECKLED FOOTMAN. — Fore wings
white, with four transverse zigzag black bands,
each of which is almost divided into spots ;
two smoke-coloured stripes run from the
base of the wing to the hind margin, passing
through all four of the black bands ; hind
wings smoke-coloured. The caterpillar is
black and hairy, with a whitish stripe down
the back, and a slender white line on each
side above the feet ; it feeds on the common
heather. The Moth appears in July, and
has only been found in Dorsetshire and
Hampshire : it was first discovered by Mr.
Dale. (The scientific name is Eulepia
Cribrum.)

FAMILY X.— THE ETJOHELITDJS.

67. The Crimson Speckled (DeZopeia pulchella).

68. The Cinnabar (Euchelia Jacobasx).

69. The Scarlet Tiger (Callimorpha Dominula).

THE TENTH FAMILY of Moths is called
EucheliidcK : it contains but three British
species, all of them extremely beautiful :
the caterpillars are hairy- and spin a web in

which their hairs are interspersed ; the
chrysalis is smooth ; the Moth has thread-
like antennas without any fringe.

G7. THE GRIMSON SPECKLED. — Fore wings

TTRSTNES.

81

67. — The Crimson Speckled (Delopeia pulchella).

white, with a number of nearly square crimson
and black spots, which are arranged in trans-
verse but very irregular rows — the scarlet
and black rows alternating with each other,
five of scarlet and six of black ; the hind
wings are white, clouded along the margin
with black ; the antennae are black, and also.
the eyes, but the crown of the head is red ;
there is a red collar round the neck, with two
black spots on it ; the thorax is whitish, with
a central black spot, and on each side of it
is a distinct tippet, which is red in the middle
and black at each end : body white. The
caterpillar, like the Moth, is very beautiful ;
the ground is lead-colour, with a covering of
black hairs ; there is a broad white stripe
down the back, and on each segment down
the side is a double scarlet spot. On the
Continent of Europe, this caterpillar is said
to feed on the' Forget-me-not (Myosotis
arvensu), but it has never been found in this
country. The Moth appears in July. Mr.
Doubleday has a single specimen, taken at
Epping, and we believe there are two or three
other British specimens in different cabinets.
(The scientific name is Deiopeia pulchella.')

68. — The Cinnabar {Euchelia Jacobsesf).

68. THE CINNABAR. — Fore wings olive-
brown, with a crimson stripe on each, very
near the costal margin and parallel with it ;
a similar crimson stripe on the inner margin,
and two round crimson spots on the hind mar

gin; hind wings crimson, with a black margin :
antennae, head, thorax, and body, black. The
caterpillar is deep orange ground-colour, with
black head and black wings ; it is hairy?
but not so hairy as the rest of the family ;
it feeds on the common ragwort (Senecio
Vulgaris) and is common everywhere. The
chrysalis is smooth, short, thick, red-brown>
and shining ; it changes on the surface of the
ground. The Moth appears in July ; the
males are much larger than the females.
(The scientific name is Euchelia Jacobcece.)

69. — The Scarlet Tiger (CallimorpJia DomirMd).

69. THE SCARLET TIGER. — Fore wings
olive-br6wn, with a very beautiful metallic
green gloss, and having about ten cream-
coloured spots, very various in size and shape :
those in the centre of the wing are rather
orange-coloured ; hind wings crimson with
several black blotches. The markings are so
different in shape and size in different indi-
viduals that it is difficult to write any descrip-
tion that would apply to every specimen. The
combination of colours is truly lovely, and
it is one of the most beautiful of known
insects, whether British or foreign. The
caterpillar is lead-coloured, in some specimens
smoky black, with numerous black hairs
springing from blueish warts ; it has three
yellow stripes, the broadest down the centre
of the back, the others on each side. It
feeds chiefly on Hound' &-tongue(Cynoglosmm
officinale), and may be found abundantly
wherever that plant occurs. An old gravel-
pit on the London side of Dartford, and
Tintern Abbey, may be mentioned as two
favourite and familiar localities for this
beautiful Moth. The Moth appears about
Midsummer. (The scientific name is Calli-
morpha Dominulct.)

BBITISH MOTHS.

FAMILY XI.— THE CHELONIHLE.

70. The Clouded Buff (Euthemonm rusmla}.
The Wood Tiger (Chelonia Plantaginis).

72. The Tiger (Chelonia caia).

73. The Cream-spot Tiger (Chelonia villlc(i).

74. The Ruby Tigfir (Arctia fuliginosa).

75. The Muslin Moth (Arctia mendicd).

76. The Buff Ermine (Arctia lubricipeda).

77. The White Ermine (Arctia Menthastri).

78. The Water Ermine (Arctia Urlicx).

THE ELEVENTH FAMILY of Moths, called
Cheloniidce, contains eleven species ; they are
the true Tiger Moths, so called from the
beauty of their variegated colouring. They
differ from the Eucheliidce, in the males always
having the antennae fringed. The caterpillars
are still more hairy than those of the
Eticheliidce, and roll themselves in a ring when
disturbed. They spin a luose silken web, in
which a great quantity of their hairs are
interspersed ; the chrysalis is smooth.

70. — The Clouded Buff (Male) (Euthemonia ntssula).

70. THE CLOUDED BUFF. — The male is very
much larger than the female, and so different,
that we must describe them separately ;
Linnaeus, indeed, believed them to be two
distinct insects ; he called the male Bombyx
Sannio, and the female Bombyx russula. The
fore wings of the male are buff, with a conspi-
cuous central spot, in which red-brown and
dull brown are mixed ; there ie a brown stripe
along the inner margin, and within this is a
red-brown stripe ; the hind margin is bright
red-brown, and a delicate stripe of the same
colour runs from the tip of the wing half way
along the costal margin ; hind wings whitish
yellow, with a broad smoke-coloured baud
near the hind margin, the margin itself being
bright red-brown ; there is also a large crescent-
shaped smoke-coloured mark in the middle,
and an indistinct smoke-coloured cloud at the
base : head and thorax yellow, and body pale.
Fore wings of the female reddish orange-
coloured, with the rays and a central spot

bright red-brown, and various black markings,
and a black cloud about the base : head and
thorax deep orange-coloured ; body black
with slender orange rings. Caterpillar brown,

The Clouded Buff (Female).

with red-brown hairs, and a yellow stripe
down the middle of the back ; it feedi on
Mouse-ear, Hawk-weed (Hicracium pilosclla),
Dandelion (Leontodon taraxacum), Heath
(Erica cinerea), and probably several other
plants growing on heaths. The male used to
be very abundant on Blackheath, among the
furze and fern, twenty years ago, but we
have not seen it there since ; it is common on
most heaths in June. (The scientific name
is Eiithemonia russida.)

71. — The Wood Tiger (Male) (Chelonia Flantagwii).

71. THE WOOD TIGER.— Fore wings of the
male intense velvety black with cream-coloured
markings, of which the most conspicuous are
—first, a long stripe, parallel with the inner
margin ; and secondly, an irregular and often
incomplete figure, somewhat like the letter X,
occupying the apex of the wing ; this X-like
mark and the stripe are often connected to-
gether ; there are two other cream-coloured
markings on the costal margin ; hind wings
bright orange, with velvety black markings ;

JN'OCTUBNl.

The Wood Tiger (Female).

the orange colour occupies the basal part of
the wing. Fore wings of the female much
like those of the male ; hind wings also very
similar, but the basal portion of the wing is
black. Antennae black, with a yellow spot at
the base in the male ; neck black in the middle,
bright-orange on the sides ; thorax black, with
four longitudinal pale markings — one at tht
base of each wing, the other intermediate be-
tween them, and often wanting in the female :
body of the male black in the middle and
orange at the sides ; of the female, black in

the middle and crimson on the sides. The
caterpillar is of a greyish-black colour ; it is
covered with warts or tubercles, from which
spring a number of long hairs ; these are
much longest at the hinder extremity of the
caterpillar ; at both snds of the caterpillars
the hairs ai*e black, but red-brown on the
middle segments ; the caterpillars come out
of the egg at the end of summer, and, after
feeding for fourteen days, retire for the winter
or hybernate until March, when they re-ap-
pear, and feed again fcr seven or eight weeks.
In May they spin a slight web between the
leaves of various herbs, especially violets, on
which, as well as on plantain, and a number of
other plants, the caterpillar feeds. The Moth
comes out in May or June, and is common iu
the woods of the south of England, especially
after they have been cut down. (The scien-
tific name is Ckelonia Plantaginis.)

72. THE TIGER. — Fore wings rich velvety-
brown, with cream-coloured markings, so
various in their size, shape, and position, that
it is impossible to describe them ; hind wings
red with blue-black spots, three of which are
ranged in a row parallel with the hind margin.
This grand insect is so variable in colour that
we have thought it best to give three figures
of it to show the curious manner in which the

72. The Tiger (Chelonia caja). (No. 1.)

colours are distributed. Sometimes the brown
occupies the whole, not only of the fore wings,
but also of the hind wings, as in No. 3 ; but
in other specimens the cream-colour greatly
predominates, as in No. 2 ; the upper figure,
No. 1, represents the most common variety.
Antennae white, with a brown fringe : head
brown ; thorax brown, with a crimson ring
round the neck ; body crimson with a row of

The Tiger. (No. 2.)

The Tiger. (No. 3.)

M

BEITISH MOTHS.

oblong black spots down the centre of the
back, and a row of black dots on each side
generally concealed by the wings. The ca-
terpillar of this beautiful Moth feeds on almost
every plant and in almost every garden : the
egg is laid in autumn, and the little caterpillar
soon makes its appearance, but after feeding
for twenty or twenty-two days, and attaining
a length of about three-quarters of an inch,
it hybernates or retires for the winter. In the
spring it re -appears, and begins eating with
great voracity : you cannot pass along a sunny
hedge-bank without observing it on the various
kinds of dead nettle, of which it seems par-
ticularly fond ; in gardens it is equally abun-
dant on the leaves of hollyhocks, and, indeed,
nothing comes amiss to it ; it is full-grown in
June, and is then a very familiar object to all
gardeners, lookiug like a little bear. The
ground-colour is black, and it is covered all
over with very long hairs ; those on the back
are grey, those of the sides and about the
head are brown ; the head itself and the legs
are black. It spins a loose hairy web in July,
and turns to a large black, smooth chrysalis.
The Moth appears in July. (The scientific
name is Chelonia cajt.)

73. The (Jrcmii-spot Tiger (Chdon(a villica).

73. THE CREAM-SPOT TIGER. — Fore wings
black, with eight cream-coloured spots ; the
first, large and somewhat triangular, is situate
at the base of the wing ; beyond this are two
rounded spots ; then two more, rather smaller
and more distant ; then come two more,
larger and nearer together ; and lastly, a single
one near the tip of the wing. The hind wings
are bright orange-yellow, with half-a-dozen
scattered small black spots, and an irregular
black blotch on the tip. Antennae and head
black ; thorax black, with a cream-coloured
spot on each side in front ; body orange -
colour shaded to rosy- red towards the ex-
tremity, and having a row of black spots
down the middle of the back, and another
row on each side, concealed by the wings.
The caterpillar is very hairy ; the ground-
colour black, and the hairs brown ; its head
and legs are red. We have always found
it feeding on chickweed j but continental

entomologists mention a number of other
herbs on which it feeds. The egg is laid in
the autumn, and the little caterpillar, after
feeding for a few weeks, lies up for the winter.
It begins eating again in April ; and on fine
days in May may be seen on sunny hedge-
banks by the road side wherever chickweed
abounds ; it spins a web at the end of May,
and changes to a blackish chrysalis. The
Moth comes out towards the end of June. It
is a quiet and lethargic insect, especially the
female, which we have never taken on the
wing ; and the male very rarely. (The
scientific name is Chdonia villica.)

74. The Ruby Tiger (Arctia fuliginosa).

74. THE RUBY TIGER. — Wings semi-
transparent ; fore wings brown, with two
black dots a little above the middle ; hind
wings with the inner half pink, the outer
half smoke-coloured, and having two black
dots in the middle ; a band of dark smoke-
colour runs all along the hind wing near the
margin, the margin itself being of a lovely
rose-colour ; head and thorax brown, with a
pink tinge > body pink with a black stripe
down the middle, and a row of black dots
on each side. Caterpillar somewhat smoke-
coloured, each segment having a series of
warts or tubercles, all of which emit brown
hairs. There are two broods ; the first feed
early in the spring, having hybernated or
passed the winter as caterpillars ; in May they
spin a loose boat-shaped cocoon, in which
they turn to a smooth blackish chrysalis, with
paler bands. They may be seen through the
silk of the cocoon. The perfect Moth appears
in June, and lays eggs before the end of the
month ; these are soon hatched and begin
feeding on dock, plantain, and several grasses,
and are full fed the first week in August, and
turn to perfect Moths about the end of the
month. They lay eggs which hatch in a few
days, eat for fourteen to twenty days, and then
hybernate in crevices of bark and other se-
cure places. (The scientific name is Arctia
fuliginosa).

75. The Muslin Moth (Male) (Arctia mendicd).

NOCTURNI.

35

75. THB MUSLIN MOTH. — Male smoke-
coloured all over : female white with the
wings semi-transparent ; both sexes have the
wings spotted with black ; the spots are small
and usually six or eight in number on each
wing ; in the female the antennae are black,
and there is a row of blaek down the middle
of the body as well as along each side. The
caterpillar has the head and legs very shining
and reddish brown ; body pale smoky-brown,

The Muslin Moth (Female).

with a still paler line down the very middle
of the back ; each segment has a series of
ten warts, and each wart emits a number of
strong bright rust-coloured bristles. The
caterpillar is common on chick weed, dock,
&c. ; it spins a blackish-looking cocoon on
the ground in August, and turns to a smooth
brown chrysalis, in which state it remains all
through the winter, the perfect Moth appear-
ing next June. (The scientific name i* Arctia
mendica.)

76. The Buff Ermine (Arctia kibricipvla).

76 THE BUFF ERMINE.— Uniform buff-
colour, the male darker than the female ; fore
wings with two small black spots on the costal
margin, and a row of small black spots, form-
ing an oblique line across the wings, from the
tip of the wing to the middle of the inner
margin; hind wings generally with two or
three black spots distant from each other.
The caterpillar is of a dingy -white colour,
covered with long pale-brown hairs : there is
a narrow white line down the middle of its
back, and below this on each side a broad
smoke coloured stripe. It feeds on docks and
may be readily found by turning up the
leaves of the dock on hedge banks. It spins
a loose cocoon on the ground, and changes to
a smooth dark-coloured chrysalis, in which
state it remains all througn the winter. The

Moth appears about Midsummer. (The
scientific name is Arctia lubricipeda.)

77. The White Ermine (Arctia Menthastri).

77. THE WHITE ERMINE. — Fore -wings
cream-coloured, with about thirty black spot*
scattered over them ; those near the tip of
the wing are longer and narrower than the
rest ; hind wings whiter than fore wings,
having a double black spot in the middle,
very much like the sign used by printers to
imply seconds ; there are generally three
other black spots arranged near the hind
margin : antennae black ; head and thorax
white ; body yellow, with a row of black spots
down the back, and another on each side.
The caterpillar is brown, with long hairs of
the same colour, and with a paler line down
the middle of the back. It feeds on almost
everything, and is common everywhere in
August and September. It spins a slight
cocoon, in which it changes to a dark-brown
chrysalis, in which state it remains during
the winter. The Moth appears in June.
(The scientific name is Arctia Menthastri.)

78. The Water Ermine (Arctia Urtioai).

78. THE WATER ERMINE. — Wings white ;
the fore wings with a black dot near the
costal margin, and half way between the base
and tip ; head and thorax white ; body yellow,
with the tip snowy white, and having a row
of black spots down the middle of the back,
and on each side. Caterpillar nearly black,
with an indistinct stripe down the back, and
very hairy. It feeds on mint, willow herb,
and on herbs of different kinds, by the sidee
of ditches and in wet places, almost invariably
concealing itself on the underside of the
leaves ; it spins a slight web amongst its food,
and turns to a smooth dark-coloured chrysalis,
in which state it remains throughout the
winter, the Moth appearing the following
June. (The scientific name is Arctic
Urticce.)

38

BRITISH MOTHS.

FAMILY XII.— THE LIPABULE.

79. The Brown-tail Moth (Liparis chrysorrhiea).

80. The Yellow-tail Moth (Liparis auriflud).

81. The Satin Moth (Liparis Salicis).

82. The Gipsy (Liparis dispar).

83. The Black Archts (Liparis monaca).

89. The Nut-Tree Tussock (Demos Coryli).

84. The Pale Tussock (Orgyia pudibunda).

85. The Dark Tussock (Orgyia fascelina).

86 The Reed Tussock (Orgyia cccnosa).

87 The Scarce Vapourer (Orgyia gonostigma).
88. The Common Vapourer (Orgyia antiqua).

THE TWELFTH FAMILY of Moths, called
Liparido-,, contains eleven species : they have
far less brilliancy of colour than the Cheloniidce
and in several species white greatly pre-
dominates. The caterpillars are very hairy,
and many have stiff tufts of hair like brushes ;
but what is the most singular and unmistak-
able character of the family is, that all the
chrysalides as well as the caterpillars are
hairy.

79. The Brown-tail Moth (Liparis chrysorrhita).

79. THB BROWN-TAIL MOTH. — All the
wings white ; head and thorax also white ;
body white at the base, but brown at the ex-
tremity ; in the female the brown part is a
large tuft, the down on which is most
abundant, and is scraped off by the insect as
a covering for her eggs. The caterpillar is
short, stout, and black, with four rows of wart-
like tubercles on each side, from which radiate
a number of long bristle-like hairs. These
tufts of hair on the second row from the back,
on the segments from the fifth to the twelfth
both inclusive, are snow-white and fanlike ;
the tenth and the eleventh segments have a
circular, wax-like, cup-shaped, scarlet spot on
the very middle of the back ; there are also
several other small scarlet markings on dif-
ferent parts of the caterpillar. It feeds on
whitethorn and blackthorn, and spins a thin
web among the leaves, in which it changes
into a chrysalis having a few tufts of thin
brown hairs. (The scientific name is Liparis
chrysorrhoea^

80. THB YELLOW-TAIL MOTH. — All the
wings are of a delicate satiny- white, the fore

80. The Yellow-tail Moth (Liparis auriflua).
wings havinga round and often indistinct black
spot near the anal angle ; the head and thorax
are pure unsullied white ; the body is white at
the base, but golden-yellow at the extremity.
The female Moth has the same habit as the last,
covering its eggs with the down from its own
body. The caterpillar is short and stout, the
ground-colour black ; it has rows of tubercles
on each side, from each of which radiates a
number of bristle-like hairs. The first row of
tubercles, that nearest the back, is black ;; each
of the second row is ornamented with a tuft
of whitish hairs ; the third row of tubercles
is coral-red. There are two interrupted ver-
million-coloured stripes extending along the
back ; the second segment has a coral-coloured
projection close behind the head ; the fifth
and sixth segments are humped on the back ;
the tenth and the eleventh have around, wax-
like, cup-shaped mark on the very middle of
the back. It is a beautiful and very common
caterpillar, feeding on the whitethorn in every
hedge ; it spins a web among its food, and
changes to a brown chrysalis, having a few
scattered tufts of brown hairs. The Moth
appears in July. (The scientific name is
Liparis auriflua.)

81. The Satin Moth (Liparis Sands').

81. TH« SATIN MOTH. — Wings white,

KOCTUKJNl.

37

spotted, delicately silky ; head white ; the
antennae white, with short black rays ; thorax
white ; body black, but covered with long
silky white hairs ; legs thick, tinged with
white. The caterpillar has a row of most
conspicuous white spots all down the middle
of the back ; on each side of this row is a broad
black stripe, in which are eleven red warts or

82. The Gipsy (Male) {Liparis dispar).

82. THE GIPSY. — The wings of the male
dark-brown or smoky-black, with several
waved zigzag darker markings, and a dark
central spot : hind wings of a pale and clearer
brown, but rather darker towards the margin ;
head, thorax, and body dark-brown. All the
wings of the female dingy-white, the ibre
wings having three transverse waved zigzag
darker lines ; between the first and second
there is a black dot, and also a black mark of
the shape of the letter V. There is a row of
black dots all along the hind margin of both
wings. A variety of the female sometimes
occurs in which the black V on the wings
only is visible — this was mistaken by the late
accomplished Mr. Haworth for the Black-V
Moth (Orgyia V-nigrum of science), a very
distinct species; unknown in this country.
When we recollect that Mr. Haworth studied
and wrote during the long war incident on
the first French Revolution, a period when
it was almost impossible to interchange books
and specimens with continental entomolo-
gists, we can only wonder at the great degree
of accuracy with which his laborious work
waa compiled, and must never complain of
a few unimportant and most excusable mis-
takes. The caterpillar of the Gipsy has the
ground-colour black, beautifully netted with
grey markings, and it has a conspicuous grey
Hue dow%th« very middle of the b««fc • each

tubercles ; the sides are grey, and are also
adorned with red tubercles. It feeds chiefly on
the Lombardy poplar, but sometimes on other
trees : spins a web on the trunks of the
poplar, or 011 the ground, and changes to a
very hairy chrysalis, and to a Moth in July
and August. This Moth is excessively abun-
dant. (The scientific name is Liparis /Salicis.)

The Gipsy (Female).

segment has six tubercles, two on the back,
of a deep blood-colour, and two on each side of
a greyish hue ; the blood-coloured tubercles
emit straight black bristles, the grey tuber-
cles emit brown hairs, which are gracefully
bent over towards the legs ; the head is
marbled with black and brown ; the legs are
red-brown. It feeds on whitethorn, blackthorn,
plum, and apple, and in some parts of France
so strips the trees of their foliage as to do
great injury to the fruit, for fruit will not
ripen without leaves. Duponchel has made a
very erroneous description of the caterpillar,
although so common. I am indebted to Mr.
Thomas Huckett, a most industrious collector,
for those which I have described. The cater-
pillar spins a slight web amongst its food, in
which it changes to a chrysalis, with a few
thin bunches of hair all over it ; the eggs
continue to hatch during several weeks in suc-
cession ; the Moth begins to appear about
Midsummer, and specimens continue to come
out during the whole of July. The female
lays her eggs on the branches of trees, and
covers them with down from her own body.
(The scientific name is Liparis dispar.)

83. THE BLACK ARCHES. — Fore wings
white, with five zigzag transverse black lines ;
the first is near the base, but still nearer the
base are six black spots ; beyond the first' line
is one black spot ; beyond this are three zigzag

BBITISH MOTHS.

83. The Black Arches (Male) (Liparis monacJia).
lines crowded together ; at a short distance
follows the fifth line, and on the hind margin
of the wing are nine black spots ; hind wings
of the female smoke-coloured, with a pale
marginal band, in which are six or seven dark
spots ; head white, palpi, antennae, and eyes
black ; the antenuss of the male have white
shafts ; thorax with a black mark in front,
close behind the head, and three or four black
spots in the middle ; body rosy-red with a row
of black dots down the middle, and a row on
each side ; legs black and .white in the male
— black in the female. The caterpillar is grey
and hairy, with a darker stripe down the back ;
the second segment has two bluish tubercles
on the back ; the ninth, tenth, and eleventh
segments have a reddish tubercle on the
back. It feeds on oak, birch, &c. ; spins a
slight cocoon in July, in the crevices of the
bark ; and changes to a blackish shining chry-
salis, which is ornamented with brushes of
dark hair on every segment. The Moth ap-
pears in July and August, and is not common.
(The scientific name is Liparis monacka.)

84. The Pale Tussock (Orgyln pudibvnda).

84. THB PALE TUSSOCK.. — Fore wings of
the male grey, with a broad central smoke-
coloured transverse bar, more or less distinct ;
this bar includes several darker waved lines ;

The Black Arches (F«male).

the fringe on the hind margin has seven or
eight dark spots ; the fore wings of the female
are pale-grey, without the central bar, but in-
stead of this they have two transverse, rather
waved, lines, one rather before the middle, and
the other rather beyond ; the fringe is spotted
as in the male ; hind wings in both male and
female nearly white, with a faint greyish cen-
tral transverse bar, which is most conspicuous
towards the anal angle : head, thorax, and
body grey ; fore legs of the male very hairy.
The caterpillar is of a delicate green colour,
with a band of the most intense velvety black
between the fifth and sixth segments, another
between the sixth and seventh, and a third
between the seventh and eighth ; all these
four segments have a thick tuft of yellow hair,
like a brush, on the back ; the twelfth segment
has a longer and more slender tuft, directed
backward ; it feeds on oak, lime, hazel, edible
chestnut, and many other trees. I have had a
number of these caterpillars this year, and
have observed that before they changed their
skins, they spin a little silken house, bending
a leaf over their backs. They feed through
June, July, and August, spin a slight web
among the leaves, and turn to a hairy chrysalis,
which turns to a Moth the following May. The
beautiful caterpillar is common everywhere : it
is called the " Hop-dog " ; the Moth not so
often seen. (The scientific name is Orgyia
pttdibunda.)

85. THB DARK TUSSOCK. — Fore wings
smoky-grey, with three transverse dark waved
markings ; the first of these is near the base,
the other two are near together, and beyond
the middle of the wing ; all are accompanied
by orange-coloured sprinkled dots ; and there
is a dark dotted line along the hind margin,

NOCTUBN1.

85. The Dark Tussock (Orgyia fascelina).

just within the fringe; hind wings paler smoky-
grey, and without markings, except a dark
and very narrow line along the hind margin,
just within the fringe; head, thorax, and body
smoky-grey. Caterpillar very dark smoke-
colour, with lemon-coloured hairs ; the fifth,
sixth, seventh, and eighth segments have dense
brushlike tufts of hair ofa dark colour, and
there is a longer, more slender tuft on the
twelfth segment pointing backwards. It feeds
on plum, hazel, and a number of other trees,
and sometimes on herbaceous plants. It spins
a slight web amongst its food, and turns to a
black chrysalis, with numerous little tufts of
hair. The Moth appears about Midsummer,
and is not common. (The scientific name is
Orgyia fascelina.)

86. The Reed Tussock (Orgyia cxnosa).

86. THE REED TUSSOCK. — Fore wings of
the male pale-brown, the hind wings still
paler ; wings of the female almost white — all
the wings in both sexes spotless ; head, thorax,
and body dingy-white, legs yellow. The
caterpillar has the ground-colour very dark,
almost black, but every segment has a series
of tubercles or warts, from which issue yellow
bristle like hairs ; the second segment bears
two long tufts of black hairs, which project
forwards over the head ; the fifth, sixth,
seventh, and eighth segments have each a
thick tuft of yellow hairs, which stick upright
like a stiff brush, on the centre of the back,

and the last segment has a long, slender tuft
of black hairs, which points directly back-
wards. It feeds on the common reed (Arundo
phragmitis), and, when full fed, spins an ob-
long cocoon, rather pointed at both ends, on
the leaves or stems of the reed ; in this it
changes to a hairy chrysalis ; the cocoon is
thickly interspersed with the hairs of the
caterpillar. The Moths begin to appear early
in June, and continue coming out through the
whole of July and August, during which
months the caterpillar also feeds, so that the
collectors have frequently taken caterpillars
and Moths on the same day. The circumstance
arises from the curious fact, that the eggs laid
by the female do not hatch simultaneously,
but the little caterpillars continue to make
their appearance in irregular succession during
a period of seven weeks. This Moth is very
local, being only found in the Fen country
called Whittlesea Mere. (The scientific name
is Orgyia ccenosa.)

Female. Mule.

87. The Scarce Vapourer (Orgyia gonosllgma).

87. THE SCARCE VAPOURER. — Fore wings
of the male of a beautiful mottled brown,
with several waved transverse darker mark-
ings, a curved row of three or four white
spots near the tip, a comma-shaped white
mark at the anal angle, and an orange-coloured
blotch on the costal margin, near the tip ;
hind wings plain dark -brown : head, thorax,
and body, dark-brown. The female has no
wings, but is covered all over with velvety-
brown down. The caterpillar is bright
orange-coloured, with four rows of black spots
which almost touch each other, so as to form
stripes ; the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth
segments have each a tuft or bunch of brown
hairs on the back, the second segment has two
long, slender tufts of black hairs, pointing
forwards over the head ; the twelfth segment

40

BRITISH MOTHS.

has a single tuft of long black hairs ; and the
thirteenth segment three such tufts, all point-
ing backwards. It feeds on nut and oak, spins
o. web on the stems of the trees, and tiirns to
a hairy chrysalis. The female never leaves the
web ; the male Moth appears on the wing in
July, and is not common. (The scientific
name is 0>r/yia gonostiyma.)

Male. Female.

88. The Common Vapourer (Orgyia antiqua).

88. THE COMMON VAPOURER. — All the
wings of the male bright chestnut-brown, the
fore wings having darker transverse markings,
and a white, rather crescent-shaped, mark in
the anal angle : head, thorax, and body brown.
The female is without wings, but is covered
with grey down. The caterpillar is parti-
coloured— brown, grey, and pink ; different
specimens are of different colours ; the fifth,
sixth, seventh, and eighth segments have each
a tuft or brush of yellowish hairs on the
back ; the second segment has two long
slender black tufts, pointing forwards over
the head, and the twelfth segment has one
slender tuft pointing backwards. It feeds on
every tree or shrub in the garden. It spins
a web on walls, trunks of trees, and other
exposed places, and, in this, changes to a
hairy chrysalis. When the female comee out,
she crawls on the web, and never leaves it,
laying her eggs all over It. It is a very
curious thing, and I believe hitherto unob-
served, and therefore unpublished, that these
eggs do not hatch all together like those of
Moths in general, but come out a few at a

time, over a period of ten weeks, so that the
caterpillar, chrysalis, and Moths are all found
together throughout the summer and autumn.
Quartermaster-sergeant M'Laren, of Warley
Barracks, a most excellent observer, first
called my attention to this interesting fact.
The caterpillar is to be seen in abundance in
all the squares of London, and the male Moth
may be observed also daily dashing about the
streets, even in the hottest sunshine. (The
scientific name is On/yia antiqua.)

89. The Nut-tree Tussock (Demas Coryli).

89. THE NUT-TREE TUSSOCK. — Fore wings
with the outer half grey, the inner half
darker grey, and marked with still darker
waved transverse lines ; at the very base, the
wings are slightly paler ; in very fine speci-
mens, there is a small dark ring near the
middle ; hind wings pale-brown, and without
markings ; thorax grey, with two longitudinal
dark lines down the middle, and three trans-
verse dark lines on each side ; body grey-
brown. The caterpillar is dingy- white, some-
times tinged with rosy-brown ; it has a broad
dark stripe down the middle of the back,
and a tuft or brush of brown hairs on the
fourth, fifth, and twelfth segments. I have
found it only 071 the nut and beech, but
continental authors describe it as feeding on
a number of different trees ; it spins a slight
web under moss at the roots of trees. The
chrysalis is hairy, and may be found under
the moss about the roots of beech trees.
The Moth appears in June, and is far from
common. (The scientific name is Dema.
Coryli.)

NOCTTONI.

41

FAMILY XIII. BOMBYCID.E.

90. The Pale Oak Eggar (Trichiura Cratxgi).

91. The December Moth (Pxcilocampa Populi).

92. The Small Eggar* (Erioy aster lanestris).

93. The Lackey (Bombyx neustria).

94. The Ground Lackey (Bombyx castrensis).

95. The Fox Moth (Bombyx Rubl}.

96. The Oak Eggar (Bombyx Querati).

97. The Grass Eggar (Bombyx Trifolit).

98. The Drinker (Odonesti-s potatoria).

99. The Lappet (Lasiocampa quercifolia).

100. The Small Lappet (Lasiocampa ilicifolia).

101. The Kentish Glory (Endromis versicolor).

102. Tho Emperor Moth (Saturnia carpini).

TUB THIRTEENTH FAMILY of Moths is called
Bombycidcf. All the Moths are of considerable
size and generally of a brown or grey hue ; the
caterpillars are mostly hairy, and the chrysalis
smooth, that is without hairs, a character that
will at once distinguish a chrysalis of this
family from one of the foregoing This family
contains thirteen Moths.

90. The P.ile O.ik Eggar (Trichiura Cratiegi).

90. THE PALE OAK EGGAR. — Fore wings of
the male grey, with an oblique central trans-
verse bar of a darker grey ; this central bar is
bordered on each side by a waved line still
darker and almost black ; the innermost of
these lines curves round to the base of the
wing. In some specimens I have seen, from
the North of England, the ground-colour is
almost white, and the bar almost black : hind
wings grey with a slight darker transverse bar
about the middle ; head, thorax, and body dark
grey, the body ending in two fanlike tufts of
hairs. Female dark brown-grey with few and
very indistinct markings : the end of the
body rounded and hairy. The caterpillar is
dark-grey, with two red bristly tubercles on
each segment, and a row of pale spots along
each side. It feeds on whitethorn and black-
thorn, and spins a small brown oblong cocoon.
The Moth appears in August and September.
(The scientific name is Trichiura Cratcegi.)

91. THE DECEMBER MOTH. — Fore wings
smoky-brown, shading to mahogany-colour at
the base, and having two conspicuous, waved,
oblique, transverse, pale bars ; the first of these
is very short, and near the base of the wing,

91. The December Moth (Pmalocampa Populi').

forming a boundary line to the mahogany-
colour ; the second is beyond the middle of
the wing, and between the two is a crescent-
shaped but rather indistinct spot : hind wings
smoke-coloured, with a straight pale bar across
the middle of the wing : the antennae have
the shaft brown, the fringe smoke-coloured ;
the head brown ; thorax smoky-brown, with
a pale collar in front, body smoky-brown,
with long hairs at the end. The caterpillar
is very beautiful, and most varied in colour ;
I have often seen it sunning itself on the
trunks of oak-trees, on the leaves of which it
feeds : it seems as though it came down out
of the tree to display its great beauty to the
passer-by, but the more probable cause of this
habit is, that its similarity to the diversified
colour of the lichens on the trunk may
perhaps deceive the sharp eyes of birds, which
are ever on the watch for such a dainty din-
ner ; the colours are black, grey, and white,
and there is a yellowish stripe along each side,
and two reddish tubercles on the second seg-
ment ; it spins a small, very compact, black,
oval cocoon, and in this it changes to a smooth
brown chrysalis, which sometimes comes out
in the next November or December, but if the
weather at this particular time proves unfa-
vourable, it remains in the cocoon one, two,
three, four, and even five years. The cocoons
may be looked for in various situations
and on various trees — ash, poplar, «fcc. Some-
times they will be found firmly glued to the

BEITISH MOTHS.

inside of a piece of loose bark or to the tree
itself; at others, spun up tightly among
decayed leaves, dead grass, &c., in August and
September. (The scientific name is Pcecilo-
campa Populi.)

92. The Small Eggar (Erioy aster lanestris).

92. THE SMALL EGGAR. — Fore wings
reddish-brown, paler towards the hind margin,
and having a white spot at the base, and
another in the centre of the wing ; and beyond
the central white spot, half way between it
and the hind margin of the wing, is a narrow,
waved, transverse, white line : hind wings
pale red-brown with a straight, pale, indistinct
bar across the middle of the wing ; antennae
with the shaft brown, the fringe pale-brown ;
head and thorax red-brown ; body red-brown
at the base, smoky-brown and very hairy at
the end; in the female, furnished with a
great quantity of silky hair, with which she
covers her eggs. The caterpillar is gregarious,
feeding in company, and when young, spinning
a web over the hawthorn, on which it com-
monly feeds, but sometimes also on elm. It
is slightly hairy, and almost black, with three
white spots and two red warts on the back
of each segment; there is also a pale-grey
stripe along each side. It spins a small,
oval, very compact cocoon at the end of June,
and the Moth appears the following February.
(The scientific name is Eriogaster lanestris.}

93. The Lackev (Bornbyx neustria).

93. THE LACKEY. — Fore wings bright red-
brown or yellow, with two pale, oblique, trans-

verse bars, the first rather before the middle,
the second rather beyond the middle ; in the
yellow specimens these bars are dark-brown •
the fringe at the hind margin is alternately
pale and dark ; hind wings red-brown,
generally slightly paler than the fore wings,
with a very indistinct straight bar across the
middle ; head, thorax, and body, bright red-
brown. A very variable insect, scarcely two
specimens being exactly alike. The cater-
pillar is long, slender, and flaccid ; it has no
power to roll itself in a ring ; in its early
life it is gregarious, spinning the web over the
leaves and twigs of the apple-trees, and giving
them a completely unhealthy and blighted, if
not disgusting appearance; on thisweb the half-
grown caterpillars may sometimes be observed
sunning themselves by dozens. The head is
blue-grey, with two spots looking like eyes ;
the second segment is blue-grey, with four
black spots ; all the other segments are
striped throughout ; there is a central white
stripe down the very middle of the back ; on
each side of this is a slender black line, then
an orange-red stripe, then a black stripe,
spotted with blue, then a narrow and inter-
rupted orange stripe, then a broad blue stripe,
then an orange stripe, dotted on each side
with black, and below this, near the legs, the
caterpillar is blue-grey, dotted with black ;
it spins an oblong sulphur-coloured cocoon,
in which a sulphur-coloured powder is abun-
dantly intermixed. In this it changes to a
smooth brown chrysalis, from whence the
Moth emerges in July. The female lays her
eggs in the neatest possible ring round the
twigs of the apple-trees. (The scientific name
is Bombyx neustria.}

94. The Ground Lackey (Male) (^cmbyx castrensis).

94. THE GROUND LACKEY. — Fore wings of
the male dull red-brown or yellow, with two
transverse bars ; the first, before the middle of
the wing, turns inwards towards its base be-

NOCTUKNI.

43

fore it reaches the inner margin ; the second,
situated beyond the middle of the wing, turns
outward towards its anal angle : hind wings
darker than the fore wings. The female is
dull red-brown, with two pale transverse bars
on the fore wings : head, thorax, and body,
dull red-brown. A very variable insect, and
therefore very difficult to describe. The
caterpillar is long, and slightly hairy, it can-
not roll itself in a ring when touched ; the
back is black, and the sides blue-grey; the
black on the back is a broad stripe of equal

The Ground Lackey (Female),
width from one end of the caterpillar to
the other, and is trausversed throughout its
length by four longitudinal interrupted orange
streaks; the blue-grey of the sides has an
orange stripe in the middle, and is also dotted
throughout with minute black points ; the hairs
of the caterpillar are orange brown. It feeds on
the sea-wormwood, the wild carrot, and some
other plants, and spins a sulphur-coloured
cocoon among the leaves, in which it turns to
a black chrysalis. The caterpillar is found in
May ; the Moth appears in August. Very
abundant in the Isle of Sheppey, but not met
with elsewhere ; I am indebted to Mr. Ingall
not only for caterpillars, chrysalises, and Moths,
but also for all I know of this interesting
Moth. I found that in confinement the
caterpillar would eat the leaves of apple,
pear, rose, poplar, and birch, if sprinkled with
salt and water. (The scientific name is
Bombyx castrensis.)

95. THE Fox MOTH. — Male reddish-brown,
female dingy-brown, the fore wings in both
sexes having two pale transverse bars, one
exactly in the middle, the other nearer the
base : the head, thorax, and body, are uniform
brown. The caterpillar is of a rich velvety,
golden, orange -brown colour on the back,
with a number of long silky-brown hairs

95. The Fox Moth (Bombyx Rubi).

along the middle ; the sides are entirely black «
it rolls in a ring when touched, and then
shows spaces between the segments of the
most intense velvety black. It feeds on
bramble and on heath, amongst which it spins
a very long and loose dark-brown cocoon, in
which the hairs of the caterpillar are
abundantly intermixed. I have one of these
cocoons four inches long ; in this cocoon it
changes to a large and smooth dark -brown
chrysalis. The caterpillar is abundant in
August and September, the Moth in June.
(The scientific name is Bombyx Rubi.)

96. The Oak Eggar (M;.1e) (Bombyx Quercus).

96. THE OAK EGGAR. — Male deep maho-
gany-brown, all four wings having beyond the
mi '.die a broad transverse bar of bright ful-
vous ; the margin of the bar nearest the body
is clear and well defined ; its outer margin
shades off gradually into the dark brown ;
between this bar and the base of the wing is a
pure white spot : head, thorax, and body ma-
hogany-brown above, fulvous beneath : the
female is larger than the male, and the colour
fulvous, the bar being indistinct and narrow.
The caterpillar feeds on a number of plants
and shrubs, particularly whitethorn ; when
young it is brown, with bright yellow mark-
ings along the middle of its back ; when full-

44

BEITISH MOTHS.

grown it is very large, and rolls in a ring when but densely covered with short down of an
touched : its ground colour is velvety black amber-brown colour, interspersed with longer

The Oak Eggar (Female).

hairs, so that th« black scarcely shows itself,
except when the caterpillar rolls itself up, and
then a black ring becomes visible between each
two segments ; two thin tufts of longer and
paler hairs spring from the sides of each seg-
ment, and point outwards : on each side of
the third and fourth segments is a crescent-
shaped white mark ; a row of dotted white
markings forms an interrupted white line
along each side ; the spiracles are also white,
and there is a row of white marks down the
very middle of the back, one on the hind

part of each of the velvety black bands,
which is shown when the animal is rolled up
or crawling. It spins a very compact brown
cocoon, and in this changes to a dark brown
chrysalis. The Moth appears in July. (Th«
scientific name is Bombyx Quercus.) In many
parts of England and Scotland the caterpillar
remains in that state throughout one winter,
and in the chrysalis state throughout a
second winter ; the Moth appealing in May or
June. (The scientific name of this variety is
Bombyx Ccdlunce.)

97. The Grass Eggar

97. THE GRASS EGGAR. — Dingy red-brown,
the male rather deeper colour than the fe-
male ; there is a narrow oblique pale bar
across the fore wing, rather beyond the
middle, and a second very obscure bar com-
mences on the costal margin very near the
base of the wing ; nearly midway between
the two bars is a distinct white spot : head,
thorax, and body red-brown above and below.
The caterpillar is black, and covered with
velvety pile, which is bright orange-colour
down the centre of the back and greyish on

(Bmnbyx Trlfolii).

the sides ; there is a pure black velvety
transverse stripe behind the head, and an
indistinct grey stripe on each side ; there is
also sometimes a small orange spot on each
side of the third and fourth segments ; tht
velvety pile is interspersed with longer hairs
of a givey colour ; the head is black with a
central longitudinal whitish line : this cater-
pillar feeds on trefoil and clover, and spins a
very small compact brown cocoon among its
food ; in this it changes to a smooth brown
chrysalis. The caterpillar is found in autumn

NOCTUENI.

45

and again in spring, living through the
winter. The Moth appears in August. (The
scientific name is Bombyx Trifolii.)

98. The Drinker (Odonestis potatoria).

98. THE DRINKER. — Male beautifully varie-
gated with brown and fulvous ; near the
centre of the fore wing is a small white spot,
and between this and the costal margin a still
smaller one ; the bar and middle of the wing
are fulvous, the costal margin and hind mar-
gin brown with a purple gloss ; there is a
single oblique line across the wing from the
very tip to the middle of the hind margin ;
the hind wings are brown and without mark-
ings. All the wings of the female are pale

fulvous-yellow ; the fore wings have two
white spots as in the male, and an oblique
narrow brown line from the tip to the middle
of the inner margin ; and sometimes, but not
always, there is a straight narrow brown line
across the base of the wing : the hind wings
have a broad indistinct brown band across
the middle. The caterpillar is hairy, and
rolls in a ring when touched ; it may often be
observed putting its mouth to a drop of devr
and sucking up the whole of it, whence the
name of " drinker" : in colour it is beautifully
and delicately variegated ; the back is blue-
grey, minutely mottled and dotted with black ;
on each side is a row of orange-coloured spots,
and below the row are oblique orange streaks
alternating with short tufts of white hairs.
It feeds on different grasses in spring and
autumn, and lays up without food during the
winter ; in May it spins a yellow shuttle-
shaped leathery cocoon, pointed at both ends
and fixed to the upright flowing stems of
grasses ; and the Moth comes out in July,
and is common everywhere. (The scientific
name is Odonestis potatoria.)

99. The Lappet (Lasiocampa quercifolia).

99. THE LAPPET. — Rich mahogany-brown,
with a purple lustre like the bloom on a
plum. This beautiful appearance only lasts
while the insect is recently out of the chry-
salis ; it soon fades after the insect has flown.
The fore wings have a black dot in the middle,
and three zig-zag black transverse lines. One
of them is nearer the base of the wing than
the central dot, and the other two are beyond
it ; the hind margin of all the wings is

regularly scalloped : the head, thorax, and
body, are rich red-brown : there is no dif-
ference in the markings of the male and
female. The caterpillar is very large, rather
hairy, and individual specimens are extremely
different from each other, sometimes almost
grey with a series of black V-shaped marks
all down the back, sometimes plain brown
with a paler stripe on each side ; there is a
row of fleshy tubercles along each side ; those

46

BEITISH MOTHS.

The La|.p,-t.

on the second, third, and fourth segments,
are larger and longer than the rest j and
there is a conspicuous hump on the twelfth
segment ; between the second and third seg-
ments, and also between the third and fourth,
there is a broad transverse stripe of ex-
quisitely-beautiful purple. It feeds on the
blackthorn and willow, and spins a long
coarse blackish cocoon among the lower twigs,
and often amongst grass close to the ground :
in this it changes to a black smooth chrysalis.
The Moth appears in June (The scientific
name is Lasiocampa quercifoha.)

100. The Small Lappet (Lasiocampa ilicifolia).

100. THE SMALL LAPPET. — Fore wings
reddish-brown at the base, grey towards the
hind margin ; in the middle of the wing is

also a grey space, and in this is a dark spot ;
on each side of this grey space is a transverse
dark dotted line ; hind wings smoky -grey
with a central broad transverse bar, and also
the base, of a delicate pale pearly-grey ; the
hind margin of all the wings is regularly
scalloped, and the hind wings, when the Moth
is at rest, project in front of the fore wings ;
tne head, thorax, and body, are grey-brown.
Although this insect appears to be common
in some parts of England, feeding on the
leaves of the whortleberry, I have never yet
had the opportunity of seeing it, and there-
fore copy Hubner's description, as translated
in Mr. Stainton's " Manual." I ought, how-
ever, to premise that this description closely
corresponds with that of Lasiocampa betuli-
folia, as described in Berge's " Butterfly Book."
"Caterpillar grey with reddish hairs; a
broad, black, dorsal line, interrupted on each
segment by a reddish spot and a white stripe
on each side of it ; a broad, bluish lateral
stripe." — " Manual/' vol. i.. p. 158. The Moth
appears in April and May. (The scientific
name is Lasiocampa ilicifolia.)

101 The Kentish Glory (Male) (Endromis versicolor).

NOCTUENI.

47

101. THE KENTISH GLORY. — Fore -wings of
the male brown ; hind wings orange-colour :
all the wings of the female alike, pale smoky-
brown and almost transparent : both male and
female are adorned with various marks ; the
first is a white spot at the base of the fore
wings ; then comes a narrow white bar across
the wing, and outside this is a narrow black
bar ; beyond this is a V-shaped mark near the
middle of the wing ; anl beyond this is an
angulated narrow black bar ; and this is bor-
dered by a narrow white bar of exactly the
same shape ; almost at the tip of the wing
are three semicircular white marks in a row ;
the hind wings have an angulated narrow
black bar across the middle ; the front of the
thorax is almost white, the remainder of the
thorax brown : the body of the male orange-
brown, of the female greyish. In April, the
female lays her eggs on the slender twigs of
the birch tree, and the caterpillars come out
about the first of May. At first they are grega-

rious, spinning a web over the twig and attach-
ing themselves by their claspers, and holding
their heads straight up in the air ; when just
hatched they are smoke-coloured, with a
darker line down the back, and a dark oblique
mark on each segment : there are pimples or
warts all over the body, each emitting five or
six black hairs ; the lip in front of the head
is yellow, and there are two yellow crescent-
shaped marks immediately behind the head .
the legs are reddish-yellow. After changing
its skin the first time, and eating it* cast-off
coat, an operation which it invariably per-
forms, the caterpillar becomes of a dull pale-
green colour, covered with minute black
points, and having a conspicuous narrow dark
line down the middle of its back ; on each
side is a series of paler green diagonal lines :
the head is yellowish, with two pairs of lon-
gitudinal blackish stripes and a black spot
between them ; the claspers are yellow. After
the second change the caterpillar becomes •»

The Kentish Glory (Female).

brigh't apple-green colour, still powdered with
innumerable minute black points on the sides
and claspers : the back is whiter green, with a
narrow dark line down the very middle ; there
is a pale oblique stripe on each segment, bor-
dered with darker green ; the second, third,
and fourth segments have a whitish line on
each side ; the head has two blackish longi-
tudinal lines on each side. The third change
produces little difference in colour. When full
grown, and after it has changed its skin four
timts, the caterpillar is an inch and a half
long, and very stout, its colour green, paler

and whiter on the back, darker and ricner on
the sides and belly, where it is also thickly
sprinkled with minute circular black dots :
the spiracles are white, with a black edge ; the
head pale green, with four white longitudinal
stripes, the outer ones broadest ; a narrow
dark-green line runs down the very centre of
the back : on each side of each segment is an
oblique white stripe, bordered on each side
with darker green ; all these white stripes com-
mence near the straight green line on the
back, and each is continued faintly on the seg-
ment next to that which it adorns ; on each

48

milTISH MOTHS.

side of each of the three segments nearest the
head, is another short, raised, white stripe :
the twelfth segment has a hump on the back
ending in a short, blunt, white horn, which
!;as a delicate white line behind ; from this
horn descends a short white stripe, and below
the spiracle on the same segment is another
white stripe, bordered above with black. This
caterpillar feeds only on the birch throughout
May and June ; it then descends the tree,

and spins a loose dark-brown cocoon among
fallen leaves on the surface of the earth, and
then changes to a dark-brown chrysalis, which
is covered with a delicate bloom. The Moth
appears the following March and April, the
males flying very swiftly in the middle of the
day, the females sitting quietly on the twigs
of the birch. (The scientific name is En-
dromis versicolor.)

102. The Emperor Moth

1.05?. THE EMPEROR MOTH. — Brown bloom.
Fore wings of the male beautifully variegated
with shades of brown, red, and grey ; hind
v/ings deep orange, also variegated with
browii ; all the wings of the female pearly-
grey, variegated as in the male. In both sexes
all tue wings are adorned with a large and
beauwfui eye-like mark in the centre. This
eye has an ample black centre, surrounded
with a narrow buff-coloured ring ; that por-
tion of this buff-coloured ring which is nearest
the base of the wing is bordered with crim-
son, and the crimson with a delicately violet-
coloured crescent, the whole eye being set in
a black frame or ring. This beautiful Moth

(Male) (Skuumia cwpini).

has many other ornamental markings : but
those now described are quite sufficient to
distinguish it from any other Moth found in
Great Britain. The caterpillar is of the most
delicate green colour the segments being very
distinct, and each being adorned with pink tu-
bercles, each surrounded by a black ring, and
emitting a few short black bristles. It feeds in
August and September, on willow, blackthorn,
heath, and a number of other plants, and
before winter spins a brown pearl shaped co-
coon, open at one end, amongst its food. The
Moth appears in April. (The scientific name
is Saturnia carpini.)

The Emperor Moth (Female).

GEOMETERS.

49

GEOMETERS,

FAMILY I.— URAPTERYD^}

ANOTHER GREAT DIVISION or TRIBE of
Moths are called Geometers (in science,
Geometrce), from the peculiar attitude which
the caterpillars assume in walking. As a
general rule the caterpillars of butterflies
and moths, like the insects when they have
arrived in the perfect or winged state, have
six legs ; but they also have, on the under-
side or belly, a number of circular disks
fringed all round with delicate hooks, by
which they adhere to the twigs or leaves of
the plants they feed upon. These adhering
disks have been called " prolegs," " abdo-
minal legs," or " false legs ;" but the proper
name is " claspers," because they clasp the
substance on which the caterpillar is feed-
ing, and this so tightly, sometimes, that the
caterpillar cannot be forced away without
injury. The caterpillars of butterflies, as
well as those of the Moths I have been
describing, have almost invariably ten of
these claspers, but the Geometers have only
four ; and these are quite at the tail-end, so
that the middle part of the body of the
caterpillar has no means of taking hold :
when, therefore, the caterpillar walks, it
first takes hold of the twig with its six
proper leg^ and holding tightly, lifts up its
claspers, and bringing the two ends of its
body almost together, again takes hold with
the claspers, the back of the creature
making an arch or loop ; this position, as
I proceed, will be made much more clear
by the accurate representations now being
prepared, than by any description that I can
write. Geometers thus being produced from
caterpillars which are smooth and not hairy,
and which have but four claspers instead of
ten, it is very easy to recognize them in that

state ; but as we usually meet with them
in the perfect or winged state, we very
naturally wish for characters by which to
recognize them in that state also; this,
however, is more difficult. Still, I will do
my best to explain the principal and general
distinctions, requesting my reader to bear
constantly in mind that the rules in Natural
History, like all other rules, are subject to
exceptions. Geometers, then, as a rule, have
slender bodies and ample wings ; the thorax
is covered with long scales or hairs, but is
never crested. All Moths have what may
be called a pattern on their wings : now this
pattern, in the Nocturni, is generally ex-
tremely different in the fore and hind wings.
The principal exception to this rule is the
family of Emperor Moths ; the Geometers,
on the contrary, have not unfrequently the
same pattern, or the same distribution of
colours, on both pairs of wings. And here
I ought to mention that the wing has a
bristle on its costal margin, which fits into
a sheath on the hind margin of the fore
wing ; and a fore wing and a hind wing are
thus linked together when the insect flies.
The bodies of the Nocturni are often striped
or spotted with red or yellow, more rarely
with blue ; the bodies of the Geometers are
never so adorned. The thorax in Geometers
is short and rather square ; the hind legs
are furnished with four spines.

Until the publication of Mr. Doubleday's
synonymic list, no attempt had been made
to arrange the Geometers of this country
in a natural manner. The collector of these
beautiful Moths was, therefore, without a
guide, and arranged them either by his own
fancy, or by their size, or their colour, or,

M 4

BRITISH MOTHS.

perhaps, placed them alphabetically accord-
ing to names, which in three instances out of
four were misplaced ; or, perhaps, still worse
than all, he followed some printed list, the
author of which possessed even less know-
ledge of the subject than the collector who
sought assistance from its pages. The era
of ignorance haa happily passed away : the

Geometers have been most careful studied by
Messrs. Gruenee and Doubleday, their natural
affinities made out, and their numerous species
divided into seventeen families, all of them
clearly defined and tolerably easy to dis-
tinguish. The first of these families is 'the
Uropterygidtf or Swallow-tails, and contains
only one British species.

103. The Swallow-Tailed Moth (Uropteryx sambucata).

103. THE SWALLOW-TAILED MOTH. — All
the wings of a pale delicate sulphur-yellow ;
the fore wings have two slender transverse
olive-coloured streaks, both of which com-
mence on the costal margin : the first at
one-third of the distance between the base
and the tip, the second at two-thirds ; besides
these there are numerous other very slender
short transverse streaks, all of them very
indistinct and inconspicuous : the hind wings
have a single obliquely-transverse streak,
extending from the costal margin to the anal
angle ; about the middle of the hind margin
is a short tail, having a distinct but rather
small dark spot on each side at the base ;
the fringe of the hind wings is ochreous, the
head is brown, the eyes black ; the thorax
and body are of the same sulphur-colour as
the wings. The caterpillar exactly resembles
a twig ; it has a hump on the fourth seg-
ment, and one on each side of the seventh,
ninth and twelfth segments, and two points
on the last segment ; it is extremely variable

in colour yellow-brown, red-brown, and olive-
brown being the prevailing tints : and what-
ever the colour, there are invariably pale
stripes along the sides : it feeds on honey-
suckle, elder, several fruit trees, and on many
herbaceous plants, particularly Forget-me-
not ; it is most commonly met with in October,
and hybernates, or lays up for the winter, in
crevices of the bark of trees ; it is found
feeding again in May, and in June constructs
a hammock of silk and fragments of leaves ;
this it suspends from the underside of a twig,
by a few silken cords, and within this ham-
mock it changes to a light brown chrysalis,
spotted with black. It remains four weeks
in the chrysalis state, and about the 10th of
July comes out a perfect Moth. It is very
common in the south of England, and may
be seen of an evening flying about our hedges
and gardens ; from its large size and pale
colour, it is very easily seen and captured.
(The scientific name is Uropteryx sanibw-
caia.)

GEOMETERS.

51

FAMILY II.— ENNOMIDJE.

104. The Dark-bordered Beauty (Epione vespertaria).

1 05. The Bordered Beauty (Epione apiciaria).

106. The Little Thorn (Epione advenaria).

] 07. The Brimstone Moth (Rumia cratcegata).

108. The Speckled Yellow (Venilia maculata).

109. The Orange Moth (Anyerona prunaria).

110. Light Emerald (Metrocampa maryaritaria).

111. The Barred Red (Ellopia fasciaria).

112. Tlie Scorched Wing (Eurymene dolobraria).

113. The Lilac Beauty (Pencallia syringaria).

114. The Early Thorn (Selenia iUunaria).

115. The Lunar Thorn (Selenia lunaria).

116. The Purple Thorn (Selenia illuslraria).

117. The Scalloped Hazel (Odontopera bidentata).

118. The Scalloped Oak (Crocallis elinyuaria) .

119. The Large Thorn (Ennomos alniaria).

120. The Canary-shouldered Thorn (Ennomos tiliana).

121. The Dusky Thorn (Ennomos fuscantaria).

122. The September Thorn (Ennomos erosaria).

123. The August Thorn (Ennomos angularia).

124. The Feathered Thorn (Himera pennaria).

THE SECOND FAMILY of Geometers, called
Ennomidae, or Thorns, contains twenty-one
British species.

Male.

Female.
104. The Dark-bordered Beauty (Epione vespcrtaria).

104. THE DARK-BORDERED BEAUTY. —
Wings of the male orange, with a very broad
hind border of purple-brown ; on the fore
wings is a curved transverse line half way
between the base of the wing and the mar-
ginal border ; and there is a central dot half
way between the curved line and the border.
Besides these markings the orange colour is
everywhere sprinkled with the same purple-
brown as the border. The wings of the female
are yellow, the border almost of the same
colour as the rest of the wing, but separated
from that by a dark transverse line; the head,
thorax and body are yellow-orange. Cater-
pillar brown, with a large pale spot on the
sixth segment, and a yellowish spot on each
of the five succeeding segments. There is a
slender white line on each side, commencing
at the end and extending to the sixth segment:
it feeds on hazel. The caterpillar is found in

August, and the moth in the following June
It occurs in Yorkshire and Hampshire, but
is not considered a common insect. (The
scientific name is JZpione vespertaria.*)

105. The Bordered Beauty (Epione apiciaria).

105. THE BORDERED BEAUTY. — All the
wings bright orange, with a broad purple-
brown hind border, which comes to a sharp
point at the apex of the fore wings. There is
also au angled dark transverse line very near
the base of the fore wings, and a central dot
half way between this and the outer border ;
head, thorax and body yellow-orange. Cater-
pillar whitey-brown, with a paler mark on the
sixth segment, and a slender white line on
each side. It feeds on willow, hazel and pop-
lar. The caterpillar is found in September,
and again in May, perhaps living through
the winter. The moth appears in July, and
is not uncommon in the south of England.
(The scientific name is Epione apiciaria.')

106. The Little Thorn (Epione advenaria.)

106. THE LITTLE THOEN. — All the wings
dingy-white, freckled with olive-brown ; t here

BRITISH MOTHS.

is a rather darker transverse band across the
middle of the fore wings, and this is bordered
on each side by a still darker line ; the hind
wings have a central transverse-angled darker
line, and within this a central dark dot : head,
thorax and body olive-brown. The caterpillar
is whitish-grey, with several still whiter mark-
ings on the back ; two of these are on the
sixth segment and one each on the seventh,
eighth, ninth and tenth. It feeds on the
bilberry. I have never found the caterpillar,
but the moth is very abundant every year in
Birchwood, Kent, at the beginning of July ;
it seems, however, to be a rare species. It is
a delicate insect and very difficult to obtain
in perfect condition. (The scientific name is
Mpione advenaria.)

107. The Brimstone Moth (Ramia cratcegata).

107. THE BRIMSTONE MOTH. — All the
wings bright canary-yellow ; the costal mar-
gin of the fore wings is adorned with several
conspicuous red-brown spots, one is situated
just about the middle, and has a whitish
centre, and the largest is at the tip of the
wing ; the head, thorax and body are canary-
yellow. The caterpillar has eight claspers
instead of four, but the first an second pairs
seem of little or no use when the creature is
walking; it has three humps on the back,
one on the seventh and two on the ninth seg-
ments. It feeds on white-thorn and black-
thorn, and spins a thick silken cocoon, gene-
rally near or on the ground. The caterpillar
and moth are found throughout the summer,
and are common everywhere ; it is asserted
that there are three broods in the year, but I
have never proved the assertion. (The scien-
tific name is Rumia cratcegata.}

108. THE SPECKLED YELLOW. — All the
wings deep orange-yellow, with a number
of purple-brown blotches, the position and

108. The Speckled Yellow — Two Varieties (Venilia
maculata).

size of which are very correctly shown in
the figure, but are very difficult to describe.
There is a beautiful and extremely rare variety,
which is pure yellow, with four dark spots on
the costal margin. (See the lower figure.) The
caterpillar is pale olive-green, with a darker
green line down the very middle of the back,
bordered on each side with white ; there is
also a whitish line along each side touching
the spiracles. It feeds on a variety of her-
baceous plants, almost invariably in woods.
The caterpillar is found in August and Sep-
tember, the moth in June. (The scientific
name is Venilia maculata.)

Male,

Female.
109. The Orange Moth (Anyerona prunarla).

109. THE ORANGE MOTH.— The wings of
the male generally rich orange, those of the
female yellow ; in both sexes there is a short
central transverse streak near the middle of

GEOMETEBS.

the wing, and innumerable minute transverse
streaks of brown over the entire surface of
all the wings. It is, however, a most variable
insect, the wings sometimes being of a uni-
form plain brown, the fore wings only having
a large central orange blotch : when the wings
are orange, the head, thorax and body are of
the same colour ; when the wings are brown,
the head, thorax and body are brown also.
The caterpillar is grey-brown oryellow-brown:
sometimes red-brown specimens occur, mar-
bled with darker markings. It has a double
lump on the fifth segment, and another with
much more acute points on the ninth. It
feeds on blackthorn, beech, and sometimes
on broom. At the beginning of May it spins
a slight web between two leaves of its food-
plant, and in it changes to a reddish-brown
chrysalis, from which the moth emerges in
about twenty-four days. (The scientific name
is Angerona prunaria.)

110. Light Emerald (Metrocampa margaritaria).

110. LIGHT EMERALD. — All the wings are
pale green, with an oblique transverse white
stripe crossing both wings from near the tip
of the fore wing to the anal angle of the hind
wing; the inside of this stripe is margined
with darker green ; on the fore wing there
is a less conspicuous transverse white stripe,
exactly intermediate between that already
described and the base of the wing. The
head, thorax and body are pale green, but the
eyes intensely black. The caterpillar has six
claspers instead of four, and it holds firmly
with all of them. It is of a dull olive-green
colour, with a darker line down the middle
of the back, margined on both sides with a
series of whitish marks. I have often found
the caterpillar feeding on broom, but the
Germans give elm, hornbeam, birch and oak
as its food-plants ; it is probably a general

feeder. The caterpillar is found in September
and again in May, living through the winter;
the moth appears in July, and is not uncom-
mon. (The scientific name is Metrocampa
margaritaria.)

111. The Barred Red (Ellopia fasciaria).

111. THE BAKRED EED. — Wings rounded,
pale brick-dust red; the fore wings have two
transverse oblique lines, both of them bent
before they reach the costal margin ; these
lines are of clearer, brighter red than the rest
of the wing, and are each accompanied by a
paler and almost white line; that accompany-
ing the inner red line is on its inner side;
that accompanying the outer red line is on
its outer side : hind wings with one central
transverse line bordered outside with white:
eyes black ; head, thorax and body of the
same pale red as the wings. Caterpillar red-
dish brown with a pale-grey line down the
back : it has six claspers : it feeds on the
Scotch fir in. September and October, and,
descending the trunk, changes to a chrysalis
amongst the fallen needles about the root of
the tree on which it has fed. The moth flies
about Midsummer. (The scientific name ia
Ellopia fasciaria.)

112. The Scorched Wing (Eurymene dolobraria).

112. THE SCORCHED WING. — Fore wings
slightly angled, pale delicate brown, trans-
versely barred with a number of very slen-
der lines, of a dark umber-brown ; near the
base of the wing are eight or ten perfectly
black dots ; the costal margin near the base
is dark umber ; and beyond the middle of
the wing is an oblique indistinct band of the

54

BEITISH MOTHS.

same colour, darker at the inner margin;
hind wings rather paler than the fore wings,
and having two short curved bands at the
anal angle: head and front of thorax dark
umber-brown ; hind part of thorax and body
paler. The caterpillar is pale brown with a
still paler line on each side; on the ninth seg-
ment is a large lump or wart ; the head is
notched in the middle. It feeds on beech and
oak: changes to a chrysalis in October, under
the moss on the trunks of the trees on which
it has fed, entering the moss at the most con-
venient place on the edge of the patch, which
should be peeled off carefully with the hand:
the moth appears on the wing in June. (The
scientific name is Eurymene dololraria.)

I now begin the Tliorn Moths as they are
commonly called : they are all beautiful and
interesting, and I strongly recommend them
to the notice of my young friends: all of you
I dare say know the song " Fly away, Pretty
Moth," it contains a recommendation to all
Moths to fly away from candles or lamps,
and to take care of their wings lest they
get burnt. Now this recommendation is
especially needed by the Thorn Moths, for
all through the summer and autumn they
delight to come to lights of all kinds, and
especially to gas-lamps: well for them the
flame of gas is protected by glass, so that it
is very difficult for them to get at it, or most
assuredly they would be perpetually scorch-
ing their wings, if not actually committing
suicide by burning themselves to death.
There is no better or easier mode of finding
these beautiful Thorn Moths than looking at
the panes of glass with which gas-lights are
almost invariably enclosed : the moths will
be found settled quietly on the glass as if
waiting to be captured.

113. The Lilac Beauty (Pericallia syringaria).
113. THE LILAC BTAUUY.— Fore wings

slightly angled, the extreme tip very sharp-
pointed ; ground colour of all the wings a
delicate pearly-grey, tinged and clouded here
and there with red and yellow ; the principal
yellow patch is on the fore wings just below
the tip, and extending to the hind margin ; on
each of the fore wings there is also a crescent-
shaped white mark just within the tip ; and
parallel with the hind margin there are two
indistinct white markings on the costa ; and
there is one very conspicuous oblique red-
brown line crossing both wings, but on the
fore wings suddenly bent before it reaches the
costa; parallel with this is a short but dis-
tinct line of the same colour about the middle
of each fore wing ; head, thorax and body
pale brown. It is difficult by words to give
anything like a correct idea of this beautiful
moth; and I am sorry to say that no un-
coloured figure will give any notion of the
exquisitely diversified tints of its colour. The
caterpillar is about an inch and a half long
and rather stout behind, but more slender
towards the head ; it has two warts on the
sixth and two others on the seventh segment;
and on the ninth segment are two long re-
curved processes, which Berge calls hooks;
they are of an orange-brown colour ; the rest
of the caterpillar being greyish-brown until
the last change of skin, when the hooked
lumps become yellower, and all the other
parts pearly-grey or rose-coloured ; on the
back is a paler line, nearly white towards the
head, but getting darker behind, and also a
number of small white warts or pustules. It
is found in June, feeding on elder, privet and
lilac ; it spins a slight web on the underside
of the leaves, and therein changes to a smooth
and singularly marked chrysalis, being striped
and spotted with brown. In three weeks the
uioth is on the wing ; she lays eggs in a few
days, and these are generally hatched the
same year, and hybernate or remain in the
caterpillar state throughout the winter. (The
scientific name is Pericallia syringaria.}

114. TUB EARTA- THORN. — All the wings
are aogulated, and pale brown, sprinkled with
very small darker dots : the fore wings have
three narrow transverse darker lines; there is

GEOMETEBS.

55

114. The Early Thorn (Selenia illunaria).

also a very obscure halfmoon-shaped darker
mark at the very tip ; the hind wings are of
the same colour as the fore wings, and are
sprinkled in the saire manner ; and across the
middle they have a very indistinct paler band:
the head, thorax and body are of exactly the
same colour as the wings. The caterpillar
is brown, variously mottled and clouded, the
eighth and ninth segments are rather swollen ;
on the back there are two rather paio streaks
along each side, the upper one almost on the
back ; it feeds on willow principally, but when
in gardens where it is common, on twenty
different plants. It is double-brooded, the
first brood appearing on the wing about the
1st of April, the second about the 1st of July ;
and these two broods are so exceedingly dif-
ferent in appearance that almost all authors
have regarded them as two distinct species ;
calling the spring brood by the name of the
Early Thorn, and in science Selenia illunaria;
and the July brood by the name of the July
Thorn, and in science Selenia Juliaria. Mr.
Haworth, the author of that excellent work
" Lepidoptera Britannica," unfortunately
written in Latin, considered them distinct ;
but Mr. Doubleday has proved the contrary,
and all entomologists accept his decision.
(The scientific name is Selenia illunaria.)

115. The Lunar Thorn (Selenia lunaria).

115. THE LUNAR THORN. — All the wings
with sharp angles; pale wainscoat colour:
ibre wings witha dark brown half-moon-shaped

mark at the very tip ; across the middle of
the wings is a straight line, and the portion of
the wing between this line and the hind mar-
gin is paler than the portion between the
line and the base ; just within this line near
the middle of the wing is a white crescent-
shaped mark ; and nearer to the base of the
wing is a very distinct narrow transverse
waved line ; hind wings coloured very much
like the fore wings, and having a rather
obscure dark band across the middle ; in
the middle of this band is a crescent-shaped
whitish mark surrounded by a dark-brown
line: head, thorax and body pale brown.
The caterpillar is pale bi own, but by no means
constant in colour, and has humps on the
third, sixth and ninth segments : it feeds on
blackthorn, and is to be found in August, the
moth in May and beginning of June. (The
scientific name is Selenia lunaria.)

116. The Purple Thorn (Selet'ia illustraria).

116. THE PURPLE THORN. — Wings angled ;
all wings with the basal half rich purple-
brown ; the marginal a half pearly grey with
a delicate rosy tinge : the fore wings have a
pure white crescent-shaped spot just within
the boundary of the darker half, and a large
purple-brown halfmoon-shaped mark at the
very tip of the wing : the hind wings have
also a slender white crescent in the dark por-
tion : head, thorax and body brown, thorax
of the male very hairy. The caterpillar is a
rich vinous-brown colour, with a lighter head ;
there is a bifid hump on the fifth, sixth,
eighth and ninth segments ; it feeds on birch
and oak. When about to change, .it spins a
slight cocoon among leaves near or on the
surface of the ground. This beautiful Moth
is double-brooded, the first appearing in May,
the second in August : they differ in colour;
the late Mr. Stevens described the latter under
the scientific name of Odontoptera dclunaria.
(The scientific name is Selenia Illustraria.)

56

BEITISH MOTHS.

117. The Scalloped Hazel (Odontopera bidentata).

117. THE SCALLOPED HAZEL. — All the
wings scalloped at the margin dingy whitey-
brown ; on the fore wings, which are angled
as well as scalloped, are two transverse dark-
brown lines, the first near the base of the
wing, and nearly straight, the second halfway
between the fore and the hind margin, and
very oblique ; both these lines are scalloped,
and between them, equnllv distant from both,
is a small oblong dark ring ; hind wings rather
paler than the fore wings, with a single dark
line across the middle, and within this, that
is, nearer the base of the wing, is a small dark
ring ; head, thorax and body pale brown.
The caterpillar of this moth, unlike its near
relations, has eight claspers instead of four,
but the first and second pairs seem of very
little service in walking, very seldom coming
in contact with the leaf or twig on which the
creature is crawling ; it is rather more slender
before than behind, but has no humps on any
of its segments ; it is very various in colour,
grey, grey-green, oil-grees, or brown, with
a row of lozenge-shaped markings down the
back. It changes to a chrysalis in Septem-
ber, and in this state is found, commonly
under moss ; the moth flies in May. (The
scientific name is Odontopera bidentata.)

118. The Scalloped Oak (Crocallis elingwria).

118. THE SCALLOPED OAK. — Wings very
slightly scalloped or angled ; fore wings yel-
low-ochre, with abroad transverse band in the

middle pale brown, with darker boundary
lines, and a very dark central spot ; hind
wings paler than the fore wings, without a
band, but having a central dot ; there is also
a row of dark dots near the hind margin of
both fore and hind wings ; head, thorax and
body yellow-ochre. The caterpillar feeds
chiefly on honeysuckle, but also on beech,
blackthorn, apple and pear ; it is of uniform
thickness throughout, and the skin appears
too big for the body, and folds or overlaps at
every segment ; it is of a brown-grey colour,
and exactly resembles a twig. It lives through-
out the winter in the larva state about half-
grown, and turns to a chrysalis in June ; it
makes its cocoon between leaves, generally
on the ground, but often under moss on the
trunks of trees ; it should be searched for in
June, and the moth appears on the wing in
July and August. (The scientific name is
Crocallis elinguaria.)

119. The Large Thorn (Ennomos alniaria),

119. THE LARGE THORN. — All the wings
with deeply-scalloped margins, yellow, in-
clining to orange along the hind margin ; the
surface of the fore wings is dotted with pale
brown ; there is an indistinct bent line near
the base of each fore wing, then an indistinct
spot, then a second indistinct and very oblique
line ; the fringe is variegated, the angles being
very dark, the indentations very pale ; head,
thorax and body yellow. It is said that three
specimens of this conspicuous French insect
have been blown across the Channel. The
caterpillar is nearly two inches long, and in
France and Germany feeds on elder, birch,
beech, plum, apple, pear and apricot ; it is
rather more slender before than behind ; it is
of a purple-brown colour, and adorned with
several yellow spots ; in the autumn it spins

GEOMETERS.

57

a slight cocoon under a leaf or on the ground,
and mingles husks of corn in its cocoon
whenever it can procure them. (The scientific
name is Ennomos alniaria.)

120. The Canary-shouldered Thorn (Ennomos tiliaria).

120. THE CANARY-SHOULDERED THORN.—
All the wings with slightly scalloped and
angled margins ; orange-yellow, marked with
minute short streaks of brown ; the fore
wings have two very oblique dark lines ex-
tending from the costa to the inner margin,
both of them slightly curved, and the inner
one slightly angled near the costa ; between
these two lines, and equally distant from
both, is a short central transverse mark of
the same colour ; head and thorax very hairy,
of a beautiful canary-yellow ; body yellow.
The canary-coloured thorax is the distin-
guishing mark of this species. I know
nothing of the caterpillar of this moth.
Mr. Stainton, translating Treitsche, says it
is wrinkled, brown, marbled with darker
brown, with humps on the sixth and tenth
segments gradually increasing in size ; it
feeds on birch, oak, &c. The caterpillar is
found in June, the moth in August. (The
scientific name is Ennomos tiliaria.)

121. The Dusky Thorn (Ennomos fuscantaria).

121. THE DUSKY THORN. — Wings slightly
scalloped and angled, dull ochre frequently
becoming almost lead-colour towards the hind
margin ; fore wings with two very oblique
transverse lines, which are distant on the
costa, but gradually approach until they al-
most touch on the inner margin ; between

them is a slight indication of the usual cen-
tral mark ; the hind wings have scarcely any
indication of marking ; head, thorax and
body brownish. The eggs are almost square,
with the angles rounded ; they are laid close
together on the twigs of the ash-tree, gene-
rally near the tip is formed a curious series,
a good deal resembling a tape-worm. The
young caterpillar at first is a dark opaque
green, but becomes lighter with age, and,
when full grown, is a uniform pale green,
with scarcely any trace of markings ; it eats
round holes in the ash-leaves, very much like
those we commonly see cut out of rose leaves
by the leaf-cutter bee ; the chrysalis is sus-
pended within a curled-up leaf, it is green,
but assumes a purplish tint two days before
it changes to a moth. (The scientific name
is Ennomos fuscantaria)

122. The September Thorn (Ennomos erosaria).

122. THE SEPTEMBER THORN. — All the
wings are angulated, but not acutely ; varia-
ble in colour, but generally ochre-yellow, and
with delicate short transverse streaks; the
fore wings have two transverse lines of dark-
ish brown, the first of them is very slightly
bent backwards near the costal margin ; hind
wings paler than the fore wings, and having
a very pale indistinct brown line across the
middle. Caterpillar very clouded and mar-
bled with brown, with humps on the back
of the third, sixth, eighth, ninth and twelfth
segments, and on the sides of the seventh.
It feeds on birch, oak and other trees. The
moth flies in August and September, coming
to gas-lights ; it used to be common near
London, but has disappeared within the last
few years ; it still occurs in many parts of
thekingdom, particularly in the New Forest,
in Hampshire. (The scientific name is
Ennomos erosaria.)

58

BEITISH MOTHS.

123. The August Thorn (Ennomos angularia).

123. THE AUGUST THORN. — All the wings
are angulated, but not acutely ; very varia-
ble in colour, but generally ochre-yellow, with
numerous delicate, very short transverse
streaks of brown ; the fore wings have two
very oblique transverse brown lines, that
nearest to the base of the wing sharply bent
backwards near the costal margin ; between
these, and near the costa, is a distinct brown
spot ; hind wings paler ochreous than the fore
wings, and having a very slight indication of
a transverse brown line across the middle.
Extremely difficult to distinguish from the
preceding, but the inner brown line always
seems more decidedly angled, and the cater-
pillars of the two are described as decidedly
different. The caterpillar of this species is
red-grey, marbled with brown, and having,
on the sixth and seventh segments, three
warts or humps ; one of these is on the middle
of the back, and one on each side ; the ninth
segment has a large hump on the middle of
the back, and the twelfth has two small warts.
It feeds on oak, birch, elm, lilac, &c., in June,
and the moth flies in August and September
and is a visitor to every gas-light in the neigh-
bourhood of London during those months.
(The scientific name is Ennomos angularia.)

124. THE FEATHERED THORN.— The fore
wings are pointed at the tip, but have no
other conspicuous angle ; margin of the hind

124. The Feathered Thorn (Himera pennaria),

wings only scalloped ; fore wings pale red-
dish-brown, sprinkled all over with small
brown dots, and having a round white spot
near the tip, very bright and conspicuous in
the males, but obscure in the females : they
have also two oblique transverse lines of a
darker brown, the outer of which, that near-
est to the hind margin, is accompanied by
a pale line on the outside ; between these
transverse lines, and rather near the costal
margin of the wing, is a very distinct brown
spot ; hind wings pale, except near the
hind margin, where they are the same
colour as the fore wings ; across the mid-
dle of the hind wings is a nearly straight
transverse brown line, very indistinct, and
between this and the base of the wing is a
brown spot : head red-brown, eyes very black,
antennae of the male beautifully feathered,
shaft snowy white, the plumes red-brown ;
thorax red-brown, the body pale. The cater-
pillar is a pale whitey-brown colour, and with-
out humps or warts, except two red points
just before the tail ; in some specimens I have
seen the diamond-shaped spots along the
middle of the back mentioned by Hubner,
but generally they are scarcely perceptible.
It feeds on oak in May, and the moths come
to gas-lamps in October. (The scientific name
is Himera pennaria.)

GEOMETERS.

59

FAMILY III.— AMPHYDASYD,E.

125. The Pale Brindled Beauty (Phiijalia pilosaria).

126. The Belted Beauty (Nt/ssi-i zomtria).

127. The Small Brindled Beauty (Xyssia kispidaria).

128. The Brindled Beauty (Biston ftirtaria).

129. The Oak Beauty (Amphydasis prodromaria).

130. The Peppered Moth (Ampkydasis betulana).

125. The Pale Brindled Beauty (Phigalia pilosaria).

125. THE PALE SWINDLED BEAUTY. — The
female has no wings, my description will
therefore apply only to the male. Wings
rounded without any trace of angles, mot-
tled grey, with four waved transverse bars
merely indicated, that is, looking as though
they had been plainly visible once, but had
been almost rubbed out. The wings have
altogether a worn or semi-transparent appear-
ance ; the scales seem thinly spread over the
surface, some of them white, others black,
others brown, and so few of the same colour
together as to give the whole a grizzled ap-
pearance without any determined colour or
markings. Hind wings of the same colours,
but fainter ; antenna? feathered; thorax very
stout and hairy, rather darker coloured than
the fore wings ; body not so stout, of the
same colour. The caterpillar feeds on oak, but
I have never met with it. Guenee describes
it as of a grey-brown colour, clouded with
red-brown, and as having warts on the fifth,
sixth, seventh and twelfth segments. The
moth is a very early one, flying in February
and March ; it is not common near London,
but is abundant in the north and west of
England. (The scientific name is PMgalia
pilosaria.)

126. THE BELTED BEAUTY. — The female
is entirely without wings ; the wings of the
males are without any angles, small and
rounded ; the fore wings dark grey, and hav-
ing two very distinct transverse bars parallel
with the hind margin, and an irregular white

126. The Belted Beauty (Nyssia zonaria).

longitudinal stripe extending from the base of
the wing almost to the first transverse bar, and
including a short, narrow transverse black
bar, and several black rays. The hind wings
are white, with a dark-grey hind margin, a
dark-grey transverse bar parallel with the
margin, and a second transverse and zigzag
dark-grey bar across the middle of the wing;
antennae feathered; thorax very stout and
hairy, dark smoky grey with two longitudinal
white stripes, and a dash of white at the base
of each wing ; body black, with six pinked
yellow belts, the sides and tip fringed with
long whitish-grey hairs. The caterpillar is
without humps and of a dingy-green colour
marbled with whiter shades, and having a
yellowish stripe along each side ; it feeds
on the common yarrow. This moth has only
been found in one locality in Great Britain,
and I had the great pleasure of making the
discovery known to entomologists by the
following particulars which I inserted in the
Entomological Magazine. Mr. Eveleigh, the
President of the Banksian Society of Man-
chester, supposing this beautiful and interest-
ing moth new to science, most kindly brought
three specimens to London that I might
describe and name the species. Previously,
however, to doing this, I took them to the
late James Francis Stephens, then our oracle
in all matters relating to insects, and found
from that gentleman that they were as
completely unknown to him as to Mr. Eve-
leigh and myself. Not satisfied with this
failure of obtaining information, and feeling
confident that so striking an insect must

60

BEITISH MOTHS.

have been previously described, I next visited
the late J. Gr. Children, who was then prin-
cipal zoologist in the British Museum, and
whose unrivalled collection of entomological
works was always at the service of entomo-
logists seeking information. The supposed
new moth was soon made out to be the
Greometra zonaria, both of Hubner and
Duponchel. The discoverer was Mr. Nicholas
Cook, who found a single specimen on some
rushes at Black Eock, near Liverpool, in
September, 1832, and the following year
about twenty specimens, females as well as
males, were taken on the same spot. Since
then it has been taken in profusion in three
or four localities in the same neighbourhood,
all of them so near together as to be re-
garded as one, which has been variously
recorded under the names of Birkenhead,
the Bed Nun, Blackrock and New Brighton.
They are all in Cheshire. (The scientific
name is Nyssia zonaria.)

127. The Small Brindled Beauty (Nyssia hispid-aria).

127. THE SMALL BBINDLED BEAUTY. — The
female is entirely without wings. The male
has small rounded wings, dark brown, with a
broad transverse paler band very near the
hind margin ; on the dark part of the wing
are slight indications of two darker, almost
black, transverse zigzag lines ; the fringe is
long and dark brown, with a few pale spots;
hind wings pale smoke-coloured, with a darker
but indistinct transverse bar in the middle ;
antennse feathered and ochre-yellow-coloured ;
head black ; thorax very large, square and
hairy, black, powdered with grey; body black
and very hairy. I never found the caterpillar
of this moth, but it is described in Mr.
Stainton's Manual as brown-grey, more or
less variegated with delicate orange markings,
with a few orange warty protuberances. It
feeds on the oak. This moth is abundant in
Richmond Park, where the chrysalis is dug
up round the roots of oak trees; also in the

New Forest, in Hampshire, and in the north
of England, but I do not consider it gene-
rally common. (The scientific name is Nyssia
liispidaria.)

128. The Brindled Beauty (Biston kirtaria).

128. THE BRINDLED BEAUTY.— All the
wings smoky-brown, sprinkled with dots of
yellowish-brown ; the fore wings of the male
have six irregular rather indistinct narrow
transverse black bands ; two of them are
almost close together near the base of the
wing ; the third crosses the wing rather be-
fore the middle ; the fourth, fifth and sixth
are close together and half way between the
third and the hind margin ; and the margin
itself is spotted with black; the hind wings are
rather more smoke-coloured and rather more
transparent than the fore wings ; they have
three transverse waved blackish lines, very
distinct on the inner margin only. The wings
of the female have the same markings as those
of the male, but are more transparent. The
antennse of the male are beautifully fea-
thered; those of the female thread-like; the
head, thorax and body are of the same colour
as the wings ; the thorax of the male very
hairy.

The caterpillar is without humps; the
ground colour is of two shades, dingy purple-
brown and red-brown ; these colours are ar-
ranged in alternate stripes from head to tail,
and each two stripes are divided by an irre-
gular black line; on the back of each segment
are two small raised bright-yellow spots ; there
is a ring of the same yellow colour just
behind the head, and a row of seven yellow
spots along each side; the head, feet and
claspers are pink, dotted with black. This
caterpillar feeds in June and July on pear,
plum, lime, &c., and sometimes occurs in such
numbers about London as to strip the tree*

GEOMETEES.

of their leaves. When full fed it buries itself
in the earth and changes to a blackish and
somewhat dumpy chrysalis ; the perfect moth
comes out the following April, and crawls up

the trunks of trees, more particularly in theJ
squares of London, where twenty or thirty
may sometimes be seen on one tree. (The
scientific name is Biston hirtara.)

129. The Oak Beauty (Ampkydasis prodromaria).

129. THE OAK BEAUTY. — Fore wings dirty
white, with two irregular broad brown bands;
the first of these bauds is short, and near the
base of the wing ; its outer edge is bordered
with black ; the second baud is near the hind
margin, and its inner edge is bordered with
black ; the whitish space between these two
bands is sprinkled with black dots, and there
is a crescent-shaped black mark near the mid-
dle ; the whitish space along the hind margin
is also variously dotted with black ; the hind
wings are paler, than the fore wings, and are
transversely waved with black. The antennas
are feathered in the male, thread-like in the
female ; the forehead is white, the front of

the thorax also white; the sides whitish-grey,
and the back of the thorax as well as the body
brown.

I never found the caterpillar of this hand-
some moth : it is described as being brown,
marbled with white, and as having two small
reddish lumps on the back of the eighth,
ninth and twelfth segments, and a small lump
on the belly on the seventh, eighth and ninth
segments; the head is slightly notched in
the middle : it is found feeding in July and
August on oak and birch ; the moth comes
out in the following March and April : it is
not common. (The scientific name is
Amphydasis prodromaria.)

130. The Peppered Moth

130. THE PEPPERED MOTH. — All the wings
dingy white, speckled and streaked with
smoky brown ; head white ; antennas of the
male feathered and smoky-black ; of the
female thread-like, black, ringed, with white
thorax and body dingy-white, spotted with
black. A very variable insect ; some speci-
mens have a very decided pattern, others
are sprinkled all over with small black spots,
and others again are black and unspotted.

Caterpillar with the head deeply notched
in the middle ;. the ground-colour is various ;

(Amphydasis betularia).

I have seen them almost the colour of putty,
but some have a green tinge, and others a tinge
of red-brown ; on each side of the fifth, sixth,
seventh, eighth, tenth and eleventh segments
is a reddish raised spot, and there are two such
spots on the back of the ninth and twelfth
segments. It feeds in August on acacia, lime,
birch, oak and many other trees ; it buries
itself in the ground in September, and turns
to a rather brown, rather dumpy chrysalis: the
perfect moth comes out the following May.
(The scientific name is Amphydasis l

62

BEITISH MOTHS.

FAMILY IV.— BOABMOm

181. The

132. The

133. The

134. The

135. The

136. The

137. The

138. The
j.89. The
140. The

Waved Umber (ffemerophila abruptaria).
Speckled Beauty (Cleora viduaria).
Dotted Carpet (Cleora glabraria).
Brussels Lace (Cleora lichenaria).
Mottled Beauty (Boarmia repandata).
Willow Beauty (Boarmia rhomboidaria).
Satin Carpet (Boarmia abietaria).
Ringed Carpet (Boarmia cinctaria).
Great Oak Beauty (Boarmia roboraria).
Pale Oak Beauty (Boarmia consortaria).

131. The Waved Umber (Hemerophila abruptaria).

131. THE WAVED UMBER. — All the wings
wainscot-brown, the male darker and richer
than the female ; the fore wings have a central
black dot, on both sides of which is a slender
zigzag oblique black line ; adjoining the out-
most of these lines, and extending to the hind
margin, is a long dark-brown blotch : hind
wings with a very slender zigzag oblique
black line across the middle ; adjoining this
on the outer side is a broad brown transverse
band ; the same colour prevails above the
black line, but fades to pale wainscot-brown
at the base of the wing ; the fore wings are
slightly, the hind wings deeply scalloped at
the hind margin. In addition to the mark-
ings I have described, there are innumerable
delicate lines and tints of brown on all parts
of both wings. Antennae smoky-brown,
feathered in the male, thread-like in the
female : head and collar brown, thorax paler,
body pale brown, ringed with darker brown.

The caterpillar is of a dark-brown colour
with a whitish ring close behind the head, it
feeds on lilac and rose, and spins a silken
cocoon on the twigs just behind the point
where two twigs separate : the moth frequents
gardens in May and August ; the caterpillars
are to be found in June. The Eev. Mr.
Hellins thus writes of this moth : " It is
undoubtedly double-brooded- From eggs laid

141. The Square Spot (Tephrosia consonaria).

142. The Small Engrailed (Tephrosia crepuscularia).

143. The Engrailed (Tephrosia biundularia}.

144. The Brindled White-spot (Tephrosia extersana).

145. The Grey Birch (Tephrosia punclulata).

146. The Annulet (Gnophos obscurata).

147. The Scotch Annulet (Dasydia obfuscata).

148. The Black Mountain Moth (Psodos trepidaria).

149. The Dusky Carpet (Mniophila cineraria).

in May I bred the perfect insect in August.
Perhaps it would be well to mention that at
the time these latter moths appeared some of
the produce of the very same batch of eggs
were still feeding as larvas, though hatched at
the same time and treated in the same way
as their precocious brethren. I noticed that
the slow feeders attained a much greater size
than the fast ones, and expect to breed larger
moths from them ; when first hatched these
larva have a beautiful purple stripe on the
back, but they soon lose it." (The scientific
name is Hemerophila abruptaria.)

132. The Speckled Beauty (Cleora viduaria).

132. THE SPECKLED BEAUTY. — Fore wings
dingy-white, adorned with smoky-black
markings, most of which cross the wing
transversely ; on the hind margin are seven
crescent-shaped black spots ; hind wings
dingy-white with minute black specks ; and a
black line along the hind margin ; head white;
eyes biack ; antenna black, feathered in the
male, thread-like in the female ; thorax and
body dingy-white, the body indistinctly
spotted with black.

This moth only occurs in Sussex and in
the New Forest, inHampshire ; its caterpillar
is unknown ; the moth flies in June. (The
scientific name is Cleora viduaria.)

133. THE DOTTED CARPET. — Wings dingy
white, delicately sprinkled over with minute

GEOMETEKS.

63

138. The Dotted Carpet (Chora glabraria).

black dots, and adorned with many other black
markings, the most conspicuous of which is a
central black spot ; round the hind margin of
all the wings is a narrow black line : on the
costal margin of the fore wings are four black
spots, the first and third of which commu-
nicate with transverse, irregular, and often
interrupted black lines ; the second joins the
central black spot ; the forth communicates
with a waved but rather indistinct black
band, which crosses the wing near the hind
margin.

Zeller, as quoted by Mr. Stainton, describes
the caterpillar of this moth as greenish-white,
with a black spot on the back of each segment.
It feeds on the lichens which grow on fir-
trees. It occurs in the lake district of West-
moreland, and in the New Forest of Hamp-
shire. The caterpillar is found in May, the
moth at the end of July. (The scientific
name is Cleora glabraria.)

134. The Brussels Lace (Cleora liclienaria),

134. THE BRUSSELS LACE — Green-grey,
clouded with darker shades of the same
colour ; there are two black transverse lines
across the fore wings ; the first is near the
base, slightly curved, and is accompanied on
its inner side by a paler line ; the second is
beyond the middle, very zigzag, and accompa-
nied on the outer side by a paler line ; mid-
way between the two lines is a black central
spot ; the hind wings are rather paler than
the fore wings, with one zigzag blackish line
situated rather beyond the middle, and ac-
companied on its outer side by a paler line.
The antennw of the male are feathered, of

the female thread-like ; the head, thorax and
body are green-grey.

The caterpillar is green-grey, the same
colour as the moth, but is much more beau-
tifully marked, the colours being brighter and
more distinct; there are two little humps on
each of the segments from the fifth to the
twelfth inclusive, those of the fifth and ninth
being the largest. I had aboizt twenty cater-
pillars of this species in 1859, found on lichen
on park palings ; and they so exactly resem-
bled the lichen iu colour and appearance, that
it was extremely difficult to distinguish them.
The caterpillar feeds in September and again
in May, hybernating during winter; the
moth flies in July, and is tolerably common.
(The scientific name is Cleora lichenaria.)

135. The Mottled Beauty (Boarmia repandata).

135. THE MOTTLED BEAUTY. — Smoky grey-
brown tinged with orange-brown, having a
number of waved markings both darker and
lighter transversely crossing all the wings.
These vary so much in different specimens,
that it is impossible to write any description
that will apply to all ; there is, however, a
paler transverse line running through all the
wings, near the hind margin, that appears
to be always present ; the hind margin
itself is surrounded by a delicate scalloped
black line. The antennae are feathered in the
male, thread-like in the female; the head,
thorax and body are brownish-grey. A
variable species ; one specimen which I pos-
sess has a broad central dark-brown band
on all the wings ; others have the transverse
lines clearly defined on a paler ground ; others
again have all the marks suffused, mixed and
indistinct.

The caterpillar may be found in early
spring feeding on plum and birch trees in our
gardens ; it ia of a yellow-grey tint, dotted
with black, a line along the back aud another

64

BEITISH MOTHS.

on each side paler. The moth flies in June
and July, and is very common. (The scientific
aame is Boarmia repandata.)

136. The Willow Beauty (Boarmia rhomloidaria).

136. THE WILLOW BEAUTY.— All the wings
grey-brown ; a dark-brown crescent-shaped
spot in the middle of the fore wings ; several
transverse-waved lines or bands are more or
less plainly marked on all the wings; the
extreme hind margin of all the wings is sur-
rouuded with a delicate zigzag black line just
within the fringe ; near the hind margin, and
almost parallel with this marginal black
line is a pale zigzag line, very indistinct in
some specimens, but plainly observable in
others ; this commences very near the tip of
the fore wings, and termi nates in the anal angle
of the hind wings ; the lower half of this line
on the fore wing is nearly straight; antenna
of the male feathered, of the female thread-
like ; head, thorax and body grey-brown.

The caterpillar is dingy grey, and very stick-
like, but is slightly variegated with darker
markings, and has a pale-yellowish line along
each side by the spiracles ; on each side of
the sixth segment there is a slight hump
just below this line. It feeds in gardens on
roses, plums, birch, &c. The caterpillar is
found in September, the moth in June and
July, sitting on walls, fences and the trunks
of trees ; it is very common everywhere.
(The scientific name is Boarmia rhomloi-
daria.)

137. The Satin Carpet (Boarmia attetaria).

187. THE SATIN CABPET. — Grey-brown,
shaded with velvety black-brown ; a central

crescent-shaped spot on the fore wings very
black ; a row of crescent-shaped black marks
round the hind margin of all the wings ; a
saffron-coloured tint is observable on fine
specimens of this moth ; the antennae are
long, feathered in the male, thread-like and
very black in the female. A very local moth,
found only in pine forests, sitting on the
trunks of the pines in July.

1 know nothing of the caterpillar, but Mr.
Stainton gives the following description from
Freyer : — Keddish-grey, often paler or yellow-
ish on the back ; subdorsal lines black, inter-
rupted ; spiracular line yellowish : it feeds
on fir. (The scientific name is Boarmia abie-
taria )

138. The Hinged Carpet (/iua/mia cinctana).

138. THE BINGE D CATIPET. — Black-brown,
with several transverse- waved darker lines ;
near the middle of the fore wings is a pale
crescent-shaped spot surrounded with a black
line ; beyond this, that is, nearer the tip of
the wing, is a conspicuous narrow black
transverse line, and a^ain outside of this is an
umber-brown transverse band, in fine speci-
mens distinct, in worn specimens indistinct ;
the hind wings are paler than the fore wings,
especially at the base, and are marked with
several waved transverse black lines more or
less distinct ; the antennae are feathered in
the male, thread-like in the female ; bead,
thorax and body grey-brown.

The caterpillar of this pretty moth I
have never met with, but it is described by
Treitschke as having a notched head, and
a small hump on each side of the fifth seg-
ment : it is of a dark-brown ground colour,
with a row of whitish lozenge-shaped marks
along the back on the fifth, sixth, seventh and
eighth segments. It feeds on heath. The
caterpillar is found in September, the moth
in May and June. (The scientific name is
Boarmia cinctaria.)

GEOMETERS.

139. The Great Oak Beauty (Boarmia roboraria).

139. THE GREAT OAK BEAUTY. — The an-
tennae of the male are strongly pectinated,
those of the female simple : the wings are
gray, powdered with minute black spots, and
having also numerous black or dark-brown
markings ; the most conspicuous of these are
four black spots on the costal margin of the
fore wings, each of which, except the first,
seems to originate an irregular, indistinct, and
interrupted transverse black line ; the first
and second of these lines are wide apart at
their commencement on the costal margin, but
almost meet on the inner margin ; the second
is composed of a number of sharp angles; the
third is waved or scalloped, and beyond it is
a similarly-shaped paler line ; there is a row
of crescent-shaped black spots along the hind
margin ; near the middle of the wing is a
crescent- shaped black spot, often very in-
distinct ; the hind wings are marked very
much as the fore wings, but rather less dis-
tinctly : first, there is an oblique baud across
the wing near its base, then a crescent-shaped
black spot, then a zigzag black line, then a
slightly-waved black line, and ,lastly, a very
distinct row of crescent-shaped black spots on
the scalloped hind margin : the head, thorax,
and body are gray.

The CATERPILLAR is very large, and resem-
bles a piece of stick ; there is a rather darker
medico-dorsal stripe, and a rather paler lateral
stripe ; the space between them is varied with
black and white ; there are two rather small
humps on the sides of the sixth segment, and
one underneath the seventh segment : it feeds
only on oak.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
has been taken in the New Forest, Hampshire ;
in Tilgate Forest, Sussex; in Richmond Park,
Surrey ; in Dorsetshire ; in Birchwood, Kent:,
in Epping Forest, Essex ; and is also reported
from Berkshire, Worcestershire, Lancashii e,
Yorkshire, and Ireland. The chrysalis used
formerly to be found in some abundance by
digging round the trunks of oak trees in Rich-
mond Park, but latterly it has been rare in
that locality. (The scientific name is Boarmia
roboraria.)

140. The Pale Oak Beauty (Boarmia consortaria).

140. THE PALE OAK BEAUTY. — The an-
tennae of the male are slightly pectinated,
those of the female simple : all the wings are
gray, powdered with minute black specks ;
the base of the fore wings, and a narrow-
waved band across the middle of all the wings,
dingy yellow brown ; there is a zigzag or
scalloped black line near the hind margin of
all the wings, accompanied exteriorly by a
paler line of exactly similar shape; in the
middle of the hind wings is a crescent-shaped
mark, gray in the middle: the head, thorax,
and body are gray.

The CATERPILLAR is greenish-gray, with a
darker medio- dorsal stripe, and a rather paler
lateral stripe ; there are two small humps on
the back of the sixth segment, and two small
black warts on the twelfth segment ; it feeds
on oak.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, anc
has been taken in the NewForest,Hampshire ;
at Pembury, in Sussex; at Darvent, inKent ;
in. Essex ; and near Stowruarket, in Suffolk ;
nut neither in the north of England, in Scot-
land, nor in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Boarmia consortaria.}

M 5

BRITISH MOTHS.

141. The Square Spot (Tephrosia consonaria).

141. THE SQUARE SPOT. — The antennae are
almost simple in the male, quite so in the
female : the male and female of this insect
are very dissimilar as regards the colour of
their wings : the male has a gray ground,
colour tinged with red-brown ; it possesses
several transverse shades and markings, but
they are very indistinct : the ground-colour of
the female is gray, without the red-brown
tinge, and its markings are most distinct and
conspicuous ; near the base are two short,
curved, transversed bars, the outer narrower
but more distinct than the inner; beyond the
middle of the wings are two more distinct and
zigzag dark lines, and these are united in the
middle by a square brown spot ; the outer of
these lines is accompanied by a pale line of the
same form : the head, thorax, and body are
gray.

The EGG is laid in May, on the trunks of
birch (Beiula alba), beech (Fagus sylvat'ica\
and more rarely on hornbean (Carpinus betu-
lus), on which trees the CATERPILLARS feed.
They are full-fed in June and July.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May and
June, and has been taken freely at Brighton ;
in the New Forest, Hampshire ; at Pembury
and Worthing in Sussex ; in Halton in Buck-
inghamshire ; at Stowmarket in Suffolk ; and
more particularly at Birch wood in Kent,
where I have repeatedly found iton the trunks
of the larch trees formerly so abundant there
— a fact the more noteworthy, since the
caterpillar has never been known to feed on
any species of fir. Mr. Birchall says it is
common in Ireland : he has taken it in the
counties Wicklow and Kerry. (The scientific
name is Tephrosia consonaria.)

142. The Small Engrailed (Tephrosia crepuscularia).

142. THE SMALL ENGRAILED. — The an-
tennse of the male are very slightly ciliated,
those of the female simple : the colour of the
wings is gray, with a yellow-brown tinge ;
all the wings have transverse zigzag black
lines, the most conspicuous of them crosses
each of the four wings about the middle, the
other black or dark lines follow the same
direction as this, but are more liable to vary.

The MOTH appears on the wing in April,
and occurs in most of our English counties,
and Mr. Bristow is said to have taken it in
Ireland. (The scientific name is Tephrosia
crepuscularia.)

143. The Engrailed (Tephrosia Uundularia).

143. THE ENGRAILED. — The antennae of
the male are slightly ciliated, those of the
female simple : the colour of the wings is
gray, with a slight tinge of ochi-eous, and
having numerous transverse dark lines, the
most conspicuous of which are two on the fore
wings and one on the hind ; the first of these
on the fore wings is short and near the base of
the wing ; the second is oblique and situated
beyond the middle of the wing.

Some EGGS of this species were laid by a
captured female from the 21st to the 27th ot
May, and were hatched on the 5th of June.
These CATERPILLARS vary exceedingly, but
more in the colour than in the disposition ot

GEOMETERS.

67

the markings. The usual food-plant is oak
(Quercus Robur), but they feed freely on the
leaves of the plum in confinement, and are
full-fed the first week in July.

The MOTH appears on the wing in April,
and generally again in July; its geographical
range in this country is, without doubt, very
extensive, hut unascertained on account of the
difficulty entomologists find in distinguishing
between this and the preceding species. (The
scientific name is Tephrosia biundularia.}

144. The Brindled White-spot (Tephrosia extersaria).

144. THE BRINDLED WHITE-SPOT. — The
antennae are nearly simple in both sexes: the
wings are smoky-gray, sprinkled all over
with smoky-brown: the fore wings have
four transverse blackish lines, the first near
the base is slightly curved, the second crossing
the middle of the wing is of the same shape
as the first; between these two is a crescent-
shaped blackish mai'knot always very distinct ;
the third transverse line is generally broken
up into black spots; the fourth is exactly
half-way between the third and the tip of
the wing; it is accompanied on the outside
by a slender zigzag white line, and both the
black and white lines terminate in a con-
spicuous white blotch, which is situated
half-way between the costa and the anal
angle : the hind wings have several transverse
markings, but these are far less conspicuous
than those I have described in the fore wings :
the head, thorax, and body ar.' gray-brown.

The CATERPILLAR is gray, clouded with red-
dish brown; it feeds on birch; it is found
in September, and remains in the CHRYSALIS
state during winter, the moth making its
appearance the following June.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
has been taken in Cornwall, New Forest,

Hampshire, Dorsetshire, Sussex, Surrey,
Essex, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxford-
shire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, and
Suffolk, but not in Scotland or Ireland. (The
scientific name is Tephrosia exlersaria.)

145. The Gray Birch (Tephrosia punctulata).

145 THE GRAY BIRCH.— The antennae in
both sexes are simple: the wings are gray
sprinkled over with smoky-brown; on the
costal margin of the fore wings are four very
conspicuous black spots, nearly equally distant
from t-ach other; these spots are long and
narrow, arzd fade into interrupted dotted black
lines, which terminate on the inner margin;
there are some transverse markings on the
hind wings, but they are very indistinct : the
he id, thorax, and body are smoky-gray.

The CATERPILLAR is smooth,and of a reddish
colour, with white spots or blotches on the
bark of all the segments; it feeds on birch
(Betula alba), and may be met with through-
out the month of August.

The MOTH app< ars on the wing in May and
June. It is a very common species round
London, paiticularly at Birch and Darent
Words in Kent, and has occurred more or less
plentifully in all our English oountie--, from
Devonshire and Sussex to Yorkshire. I have
seen no Scottish specimens; but Mr. Birchall
reports it from the counties Wicklow and
Kerry in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Tephrosia punctulata.}

146. THE ANNULET. — The antennae <>f the
male are very slightly ciliated, those of the
female simple: the wings vary in colour from
pale pearly-gray to very dark smoky-biown,
almost black, but the fore wings invariably
have two transverse zigzag black lines, and
the hind wings one; between these transverse
lines ou each fore wing is a black ring or
an.n^1~\ "*"* on each hind wing, very ne<ir the

69

BRITISH MOTHS.

±46. The Annulet (Gnophos dbscurata).

middle, is another annulet : the head, thorax,
and body are of the same colour as the wings.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
has occurred abundantly in Cornwall, Devon-
shire, Somerset, Dorset, in the New Forest,
Hampshire, Tilgate Forest in Sussex, Farn-
ham Heath in Surrey, and also in Wales,
the North of England, and Scotland; Mr.
Birchall says it is generally distributed and
common in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Gnophos obscurata.)

The CATERPILLAR very much resembles the
moth in colour, being gray of various shades,
the back paler than the sides, and the fore
part of each segment paler than the hind part ;
it feeds at night on the salad burnet (Poterium
sanguisorba), and the sun cistus (Helianthe-
mum vulgare), concealing itself tinder stones
or among the roots of the grass by day, and
may be obtained by pulling up and shaking
tufts of grass. The EGG is laid in July and
August, and the young caterpillar is hatched
in a few days, and continues to feed and to
grow slowly until the end of September, when
it is about half-grown, and then hybernates,
reappearing in the spring, and beginning to
feed again in April,

147. The Scotch Annulet (Dasydia obfuscata).

147. THE SCOTCH ANNULET. — The antennae
are very long and slender, ciliated in the male,
simple in the female : the colour of the wings
is smoky-gray, suffused in recent specimens
with greenish or purplish, pearly i-eflection?,
rarely to be observed in cabinet specimens :
near the middle of each of the fore wings is a
faint ring of a darker colour, and there is a
dark spot in the middle of each hind wing ;
there are two very obscure transverse darker
lines on the fore wings, and one on the hind
wings, and these are accompanied by paler and
broken white lines equally obscure ; the fore-
wings are rather pointed, and the hind margin
of the hind wings is waved, but not scalloped :
the head, thorax, and body are smoky-gray.

The CATERPILLAR is described by Guenee as
of a violet-gray colour, with a white spiracular
liue, and an oblique dark gray streak on the
side of each segment ; it has two small humps
on the twelfth segment ; it feeds on the dyer's
green weed (Genista tinctoria\ and various
species of vetch.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July and
August ; it has only been taken among the
Scotch mountains, and in the county Wicklow
in Ireland by Mr. Bristow. (The scientific
name is Dasydia obfuscata.)

148. The Black Mountain Moth (Psodos trepidaria).

148. THE BLACK MOUNTAIN MOTH. — The
antennae are simple in both sexes : the forg

GEOMETERS.

69

wings of the male are smoky-black : of the
female, smoky-gray. In both sexes there are
two transverse zigzag lines, both of which
commence at the costal margin of the wiug —
the first at one-third, the second at two-thirds
of the distance between the base and tip.
These lines are most distant at the costal
margin, and gradually approach to the inner
margin- The part of the wing included be-
tween these two lines is darker than the parts
outside of them ; but not so dark as a patch
at the base of the wing. There is a row of
seven black streaks on the hind margin of the
wing, just within the fringe : these are very
conspicuous in the female, but not so distinct
in the male : the hind wings in the male are
of uniform colour, but have the same marginal
row of black streaks on the hind margin.
The hind wings of the female are gray, with a
light narrow, zigzag band across the middle,
and a light broad band along the hind margin.
The head, thorax, and body are quite black,
and very hairy.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
was taken in the Highlands of Scotland by
the late Mr. Wrenn and the late Mr. Foxcrof t.
I am not aware of its having been seen in
England, Wales, or Ireland. (The scientific
name is Psodos trepidaria.)

149. The Dusky Carpet (Mniophila cineraria).

149. THE DUSKY CARPET. — The antennae
of the male are ciliated, those of the female
simple : the fore wings are gray, with three
transverse darker waved lines : the first and
third are very decidedly marked, and very
distinct ; the middle one is paler, and very
obscure ; the hind margin of the wing is
bordered with a zigzag dark line, and the
fringe is slightly spotted : the hind wings are
paler than the fore wings, and have an indis-
tinct transverse line, and a distinct marginal

line like that of the fore wings : the head,
thorax, and body are gray.

It is said that a specimen was once taken
at Tenby, in South Wales, but I have never
seen it. (The scientific name is Mniophila
cineraria.)

150. The Waved Black (Boletolia fuliginaria).

150. THE WAVED BLACK. — The antennae
are pectinated in the male, simple in the
female : all the wings dark smoky-brown, the
basal half darker than the outer half, and
bordered by a slight, black, zigzag line : this
darker portion of the wing has an indistinct,
crescent-shaped black mark near the middle;
beyond this darker part of the wing is a broad
paler band which, on the fore wings, ends in
a pale blotch, near the inner margin : the
head, thorax, and body gray.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June ;
three or four have been taken in kitchens and
coal cellars in London and one at Worcester.
(The scientific name is Boletobia fuliginaria.)

151. The Grass Emerald (Pseudoterpna cytisaria).

151. THE GRASS EMERALD. — The fore
wings are gray- green, with two indistinct
tranverse darker lines, the first nearly straiylit,
the second zigzag : these two lines are widely
separated at the costal margin, and very near
the inner margin. Between these is an indis-
tinct, crescent-shaped spot of the same colour ;
and beyond them is a third line, also zigzag
and almost white : the hind wings are paler
than the fore wings, and have the white line
less distinctly marked : the hea<l, thorax, and

70

BRITISH MOTHS.

body are the s-ame colour as the wings. It is
remarkable, that when this moth comes out
of the chrysalis in wet weather, every part
of it is suffused with a red tinge.

The CATERPILLAR is green — very much the
same colour as the moth. Its head is notched
on the crown. It feeds on the commou
broom. The caterpillar is found in J me,
and the moth in July.

The EGG is laid on dyer's green-weed
(Genista anglica) and common broom (Spar-
tium Scoparium), generally between the 20th
and 30th of July ; and the young caterpillai s
usually emerge in fifteen days : they feed but
sparingly, and are very small when winter
sets in. My specimens were full-fed on the
14ih of June.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July,
and is common in most of our English
counties ; it has also been taken in Scot-
land, and Mr. Birchall says it is common
and generally distributed in Ireland. The
scientific name is Pseudoterpna cytisaria.)

152. The Large Emerald (Geometra papilionaria) .

152. THE LARGE EMERALD. — The antennae
are ciliated in the male, simple in the female :
the wings are uniformly green : the fore
wings have three transverse, waved, white
lines, not very distinct : the one nearest the
base much shorter than the others : these
lines are very distant at the costal margin,
and much nearer at the inner margin : inter-
mediate between the first and second is a
crescent shaped, dark green mark ; the third
or outer line is broken up into crescentic
spots : the hind wings have a beautifully scal-
loped white line passing transversely across
the middle, and dividing the wing exactly in
half. lu the centre of the space enclosed hv

this scalloped line is a crescent-shaped darker
mark; and exactly intermediate, between the
scalloped line and the hind margin, is a
transverse row of white dots : the antennae
and fore legs are whitish : the head and
thorax green ; the body nearly white.

The EGGS are laid in the autumn, on birch
(Betula alba) ; the young CATERPILLAR
emerges in two or three weeks, according to
the temperature, and feeds for a short time
only, hyberuating when very small : in early
spring it again begins to feed, and is full-fed
towards the end of May. In June it spins
together some of the leaves of its food- plant,
forming a thin whitish cocoon, in which it
changes to a green CHRYSALIS, having brown-
ish wing-cases, and a reddish blotch on the
back of the same segments, which have the
red-brown stripe in the larva.

Tue MOTH appears on the wing about mid-
summer : it is tolerably common in most of
our English counties, and has been taken in
Scotland. Mr. Birchall says that in Ireland
it is common at Killarney and in the county
Wicklow. (The scientific name is Geometra
papilionaria.}

153. The Essex Emerald (Geometra smaragdaria).

153. THE ESSEX EMERALD. — All the wings
green : the fore wings with two transparent,
waved, whitish lines, and a distinct white
spot between them : the costal margin of the
fore wings is tinged with yellow.

My late friend, Thomas Ingall, found the
CATERPILLAR of this species on the Essex,
coast, but unfortunately did not know what
a prize he had obtained until the moth
emerged ; it was of a. dull olive-green, with
humps on the sixth and tenth segments.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May, and
has only been taken on the c^ast of E-sex.
(The scientific i iaiue is Geometra smaragdaria.}

GEOMETERS.

71

154. The Small Grass Emerald (Nemoria viridata).

154. THE SMALL GRASS EMERALD. — The
antennae are simple in both sexes : the wings
are dingy green, often suffused with a reddish
tinge : the fore wings have one very distinct,
transverse, oblique, whitish line beyond the
middle, and a second very indistinct and
shorter transverse line nearer the base : this
second or inner line is frequently wanting :
hind wings with a slight angle near the
middle of the hind margin, and an oblique
whitish line across the middle of the wing,
meeting the principal white line on the fore
wings: crown of the head whitish; thorax
and body dull dingy green.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May and
June, and has been taken in Devonshire,
Dorsetshire, Hampshire, Worcestershire, Lan-
cashire, and the Lake District generally, anr1
Mr. Bristow is said to have taken it in the
county Wicklow, in Ireland. (The scientific
name is Nemoria viridata.)

155. The Small Emerald (lodis vernaria).

155. THE SMALL EMERALD. — The antennae
are ciliated in the male, simple in the female ;
the wings of the most lovely green; the fore-
wings with two, the hind wings with one,
very distinct, white, transverse lines ; the
head, thorax, and body delicate green.

The CATERPILLAR has a porrected head,
deeply notched on the crown; the body is
green, with two whitish stripes on each side.
It feeds on the traveller's joy (Clematis
vitaiba).

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
has been taken in Devonshire, Dorsetshire,

Sussex, Surrey, Essex, Kenr, Buckingham-
shire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and
Worcestershire ; of course it only occurs
where the clematis is abundant. (The scientific
name is lodis vernaria.)

156. The Little Emerald (lodis lactearia).

156. The LITTLE EMERALD. — The antennae
are distinctly ciliated in the male, oimp'e in
the female ; the wings are white ; but when
the moth first emerges from the chrysalis,
tinged with the most lovely green ; a trans-
verse and oblique, but nearly straight, line,
whiter than the ground colour, across the
wing at two-thirds of the distance passes
between the base and hind margin ; this
white line is continued in the same direction
across the hind wing : the antennae, head,
thorax, and body are white, or almost so.

The MOTH appears upon the wing a little
before Midsummer, and occurs in most of our
English counties, and in some localities in
Scotland. Mr. Birchall says it is generally
distributed in Ireland. (The scientific name
is lodis lactearia.)

157. The Blotched Emerald (Phorodesma bajularia).

157. — THE BLOTCHED EMERALD. — The an-
tennae are ciliated in the male, simple in the
female ; the wings green ; the fore winga
with two slender transverse whitish lines •
that nearest the base of the wing is somewhat
waved, the outer one is slightly zigzaj?, and
terminates in a large, squarish, pale blotch
near the anal angle ; this blotch is dingy
white, but tinged with red-brown in the
middle ; the fringe is white, spotted with

BRITISH MOTHS.

brown: the hind wings have a large pale spot
at both angles, and these are connected by a
scalloped marginal line, in the centre of which
is a slender scalloped brown line ; the head
is white ; the body and abdomen are whitish
green.

The MOTH appears on the wing at the end
of June, and has been taken in Devonshire,
Dorsetshire, Hampshire, Sussex, Smrey,
Essex, Bucks, Norfolk, Suffolk, Gloucestt-r,
Worcester, Derbyshire, the Lake District,
and Yorkshire. I have nowhere found it
abundant. (The scientific name is Phoro-
desma bajularia ; both the names are descrip-
tive of the habits of the caterpillar.)

158. The Common Emerald (Hemithea thymiarid).

158. THE COMMON EMERALD. — The an-
tennae are almost simple in both sexes : the
wings are dingy green ; fore wings with the
hind margin scalloped and having two very
obscure waved transverse pale lines : hind
wings with the hind margin scalloped and
angled, and having one waved transverse
whitish line across the middle; the fringe
is dingy white, spotted with brown : head
whitish ; thorax and abdomen of the same
colour as the wings.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
occurs in all our English countries, aiid occa-
sionally in Scotland. Mr. Birchall took it in
the county Gal way in Ireland. (The scientific
name is Hemithea thymiaria.)

159. The False Mocha (Ephyra porata).

159. THE FALSE MOCHA. — The antennae are
slightly pectinated in the male, throughout
the greater part of their length, but simple at

the tips ; they are simple throughout in the
female ; the winys are dull grayish red ; the
red, in very perfect and recently-disclosed
specimens, being brick-dust coloured in the
middle of the wing: a transverse brown line
crosses the middle of each wing, and just
within this, that is, nearer the base of the
wing, is a round white spot, with a narrow
border ; between this white spot and the base
of the wing is a transverse row of six or
seven brown dots ; and half-way between the
white spot «nd the hind margin is a second
row of nine or ten brown dots ; on the hind
margin itself, but within the fringe, is a third
row of brown dots : the head, thorax, and
body are of the same prevailing colour as the
wings.

This species is double-brooded, the MOTH
appearing on the wing in May, and again in
August : it occurs in the Southern English
counties, very generally as far north as
Worcester. (The scientific name is Ephyra
porata.}

160. The Maiden's Blush (Ephyra punctaria).

160. THE MAIDEN'S BLUSH. — The antenna
of the male are fringed, of the female, thread-
like ; the wings dull, grayish red, with a
redder tinge about the middle of the wing; a
very distinct transverse brown line crosses the
middle of the wing ; half-way between this
brown line and the base of the wing, is a
transverse row of six or seven brown dots ;
and half-way between the brown line and the
hind margin, is a second row of nine or ten
brown dots ; besides these, there is a third
row of linear brown spots on the margin,
making a continuous marginal line : the head,
thorax, and body are of the same prevailing
colour as the wings.

The CATERPILLAR is figured by Sepp; like its
congeners, it is of two colours, fawn-coloured

GEOMETERS.

or apple-green, with oblique transverse lines
on the sides; it feeds on oak (Quercus Robur).
This species is double-brooded, the MOTH
appearing on the wing in May and September :
it occurs in all our English counties, and ex-
tends even into Scotland, and Mr. Birchall
took it in the county Wicklow, in Ireland.
(The scientific name is Ephyra punctaria.)

161. The Clay Triple-lines (Ephyra trilinearia).

161. THE CLAY TRIPLE- LINES. — The an-
tennae are pectinated in the male, simple in
theferaale; the wings are fulvous-yellow, with-
out the slightest tinge of red : there are three
transverse lines on each wing, the middle one
much the darkest, broadest, and most plainly
marked; the others are broken and dotted,
and often very difficult to perceive: one of
my specimens has, on the middle of each wing,
a conspicuous white spot, surrounded by a
black line, being, in this respect, similar to
Ephyra porata : the head, thorax, and body
are of the same colour as the wings.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May
and September, and is not uncommon in the
counties of Somerset, Dorset, Hants, Sussex,
Surrey, Kent, Essex, Berks, and Hunts; but
I think does not occur farther north, in Scot-
land, or in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Ephrya trilinearia.)

162. The Mocha (Ephyra omicronaria).

162. — THE MOCHA.— The antennae of the
roale are slightly pectinated, of the female
simple: the wings are whitish-fulvous, with
a double, transverse, zigzag, smoke-coloured
line across the middle of each, and a ring of

the same colour between the zigzag line and
the base of the wing : again, between this ring
and the base of the wing, is a narrow brown
line, composed of two semi-circles: the head,
thorax, and body are of the same colour aa
the wings.

The head of the CATERPILLAR is red above,
and pale yellow, almost white, below: the
body is a beautiful velvety-green colour, with
a slender medio-dorsal stripe, composed of
canary-yellow points, as though jhagreened on
each side; near the medio-dorsal is another
stripe, of the same canary-yellow colour and
rather waved ; and below this, in the region
of the spiracles, are the traces of a third very
indistinct stripe; the spiracles are small and
reddish ; the ventral surface is pale glaucous-
green, with black dots. It feeds on maple
{Acer compestris), and usually when full-fed
conceals itself among moss, spinning a few
threads by way of security, and changes
to a smooth green CHRYSALIS, square a tthe
anterior, and pointed at the posterior ex-
tremity.

The MOTH appears on the wiug in May and
August, and occurs frequently in all the
southern counties in England, but I think
not in the north of England, in Scotland, or
in Ireland. (The scientific uame is Ephyra
omicronaria.)

163. The Dingy Mocha (Ephyra orbiculana).

163. THE DINGY MOCHA. — The antennae are
pectinated in the male, simple in the female:
the wings smoky-gray, mottled and marbled
with darker shades of the same colour : in the
centre of each wing is a round white spot in a
circle of smoky-gray; half-way between this
and the base of the wing are some blackish
dots, arranged in a very indistinct transverse
row; and a^ain, half-way between the white
spot and the hind border of the wing, is a
second row of blackish dots, arranged in zigzag
o der; lastly, there is a third row, on the hind

BRITISH MOTHS.

margin, of linear black spots : these are just
within the fringe, and constitute an almost
continuous marginal line : the head, thorax,
and body are of the same colour as the
wings.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May and
August, and is nowhere common. I used to
take it on the palings of my garden at Dept-
ford forty years ago, and then it was reckoned
a great rarity; there was a rope-walk im-
mediately adjoining the garden, and a double
row of willows seven hundred yards in length :
it has since been taken at Brighton and
Lewes, and in Dorsetshire, Hampshire, Sur-
rey, and Worcestershire. (The scientific
name is Ephyra orbicularia.)

164. The Birch Mocha (Ephyra pendularia).

164. THE BIRCH MOCHA. — The antennae are
very slightly pectinated in the male, simple
in the female: the wings are pale gray,
sprinkled thinly over with specks of smoke-
colour : in the middle of each wing is a round
white spot, surrounded by a smoke-coloured
cloud; between this white spot and the base
of the wing is a transverse row of three or four
smoke-coloured dots; and half-way between
the white spot and the hind margin is a
second row, consisting of ten or twelve smoke-
coloured dots; and again, on the hind margin
itself, is a third row of linear black dots : the
head, thorax, and body are of the same pale
colour as the wings.

The CATERPILLAR is green, tswny, or brown,
with paler spiracular line; the head and legs
reddish (Hub.) ; it feeds on birch (Betula alba).
— Stainton's Manual, vol. ii., p. 39.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May and
August, and occurs in most of our English
and Scotch counties: the name is inserted in
Mr. Greene's list of Irish Lepidoptera. (The
scientific name is Ephyrn pendvl" >vVO

165. The Golden-bordered Purple (Hyria aurororia).

165. THE GOLDEN-BORDERED PURPLE. —
The antennae in both sexes arc; simple and of a
yellow colour : the wings are of a purple-red
colour, with a double blotch in the middle of
the fore wings, a single blotch in the middle
of the hind wings, and a broad border on the
hind margin of all the wings, deep fulvous-
yellow : the thorax is purple; the body bluish,
tipped with orange.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
has been taken in Dorsetshire, Hampshire,
Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Lancashire, and in
the Lake District. Mr. Birchall informs us
it is common on the heaths of the south and
west of Ireland. (The scientific name is
Hyria auroraria.)

166. The Small Yellow Wave (Asthena luteata).

166. THE SMALL YELLOW WAVE.— The
antennae are simple in both sexes : the wings
are rich fulvous-yellow, with zigzag transverse
lines, which are a darker tint of the same
fulvous colour; these zigzag lines are arranged
in pairs, but not very distinctly so : there are
four pairs on the fore wings, and two pairs on
the hind wings ; and between the second and
third pair of these zigzag lines on the fore
wings, is a conspicuous central dot of the
same colour as the lines : the head, thorax,
and body, of the same colour as the ground-
colour of the wings.

The MOTH appears on the wing at Midsum-
mer, and has been taken occasionally in nearly
all the English counties, but I think neither
in Scotland nor Ireland. (The scientific name
is Asthena luteata.)

GEOMETERS.

75

167. The Small White Wave (Asthena candidata),

167. THE SMALL WHITE WAVE.— The
antennae are simple in both sexes : the wings
are white, with seven waved transverse gray
lines on the fore wings, and four on the hind
wings : there is also a spot between the third
and fourth lines on the fore win^s, and the
fourth and fifth lines are nearer together than
either of the others, especially as they ap-
proach the inner margin : on the hind margins
of all the wings is a series of black dots: the
antennae, head, thorax, and body are pure
white.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May
and June, and is common everywhere. (The
scientific name is Asthena candidata.)

168. The Waved Carpet (Asthena sylvata).

168. THE WAVED CARPET. — The antennae
are simple in both sexes : the wings are pale
gray, with zigzag lines of a darker gray ;
there are ten of these gray lines on the fore
wings, and four on the hind wings : the
space on the four wings, between the fifth
and sixth of these lines, is greater than the
other interspaces, and has the appearance of a
pale, transverse band : the last of these lines,
situated on the hind margin, consists of a
series of long spots, and is not zigzag, but
follows the curved outline of the wing, the
head, thorax, and body being of the same
colour.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June,
and is very generally distributed in Eng-
land, and occurs in Ireland, in the counties
Wicklow and Galway. (The scientific name
is Asthetia sylvata.)

169. Blomer's Rivalet (Asthena pulchraria).

169. BLOMER'S RIVULET. — The wings are
pale gray, the fore wings with two waved
rnw-sienna bands near the tip, and very close
toge'her; the inner of these is bounded by a
black waved line ; on the costal margin are
four or five short, oblique, brown lines, and
on the hind margin is a row of long black
spots, following the curved outline of the
wing: the hind wings have a similar row of
spots on their hind margin : both fore and
hind wings have a number of beautifully
delicate, but obscure, transverse, zigzag
markings.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June,
and has been taken in the counties of Devon,
Somerset, Glamorgan, Gloucester, Worcester,
Stafford, Derby, Lancashire, Yorkshire, and
Durham. (The scientific name is Asthena
pulchraria. )

170. The Dingy Shell (Eupisteria heparata).

170. THE DINGY SHELL. — The antennae
are very slightly ciliated in the male, simple
in the female : the wings are dingy yellow
towards the body, dingy brown towards tl<e
hind margin ; the two colours are not marked
by any line of separation, but are blended
into each other : the paler part is marked by
three, four, or five transverse waved lines,
which are often very indistinct, and are
scarcely darker than the general colour of
the wing : the antennae, together with the
head, thorax, and body, are of the same
colour as the paler part <>f the wings.

The MOTH appears in June, and is common
in most of our English counties, but I think
does not occur in Scotland or Ireland. (The
scientific name is Eupisleria heparata.)

BRITISH MOTHS

171. The Welsh Wave (Venusiacanibricaria).

171. THE WELSH WAVE. — The antennae
are ciliated in the male, simple in the female ;
the wings are pale gray : the fore wings have
ten zigzag, brown, transverse lines, which
differ much in darkness of shade ; near the
middle of the wing thei-e is a delicate black
crescent-shaped mark : on the hind wings, the
markings are few and delicate : the head,
thorax, and body are dark gray.

The EGGS are laid about the 17th of July,
and the young CATERPILLARS emerge about the
27th. They feed on mountain ash or rowan
tree (Pyrus aucuparia), and when full-fed
spin together a division of the leaf of the
food-plant, and change to a CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH appears on the wing about Mid-
Summer, and it is said to have occurred in Mon-
mouthshire, but is chiefly an inhabitant of
the northern English count i«s, Cheshire,
Lancashire, the Lake District, Yorkshire,
and Northumberland. Mr. Birchall took it
at Powerscourt, in Ireland. (The scientific
aame is Venusia cambricaria.)

172. The Bright Wave (Acidalia ochrata).

172. THE BRIGHT WAVE.— The antennas
are simple in both sexes : the wings are dingy
hilvous; the four wings have four transverse
line* of a darker hue, and the hind wings
have two ; these markings are only a shade
darker than the general hue of the wing, and
are not all of the same hue, the two nearest
the middle of the wing being obviously
darker than the rest : the head, thorax, and
body are of the same colour as tho -**ugs.

This MOTH appears on the wing in June : it
is only found on the coasts of Kent and Essex.
(The scientific name is Acidalia ochrata.')

173. The Tawny Wave (Acidalia rubricata).

173. THE TAWNY WAVE. — The antennae
are ciliated in the male, simple in the female :
the wings vary in colour, some specimens
being of a grayish green, others of a bright
purple; but in both instances there are three
tranversely oblique darker lines on the fore
wings and two on the hind wings.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June,
and has only been taken in Surrey, Essex,
Norfolk, and Yorkshire. (The scientific
name is Acidalia rubricata).

174. The Single-dotted Wave (Acidalia scutulata).

174. THE SINGLE-DOTTED WAVE. — All the
wings are pale wainscot- brown ; the fore
wings having two waved and interrupted
brown lines near to, and parallel with, the
hind margin : the costal extremity of the first
of these lines consists of a few black dots, that
of the second is indistinct, but near the inner
marginthey become broad and distinct, almost
forming a blotch; near the centre of the wing
is a dark brown dot, and near the base are
several obscure brown markings : the hind
wings have a central dark spot, like the fore
wings, and three or four very interrupted,
waved, transverse lines : there is also a row
of about eight dark brown spots at the base
of the fringe on each wing : the head, thorax,
and body are of the same colour as the wings.

The CATERPILLAR is long, slender, and tapers
towards the head ; its colour is a pale drab,
with a darker medio-dorsal strW- .°*»i1 a paler.

GEOMETERS.

almost white, lateral line. It feeds on the
flowers of the burnet saxifrage (Pimpinella
Saxifraga), and wild chervil (Anthriscus syl-
vestris).

The MOTH appears on the wing in June,
and is generally distributed in England,
Scotland, and Ireland. (The scientific name
is Acidalia scutulata.)

175. The Small Fan-footed Wave (Acidalia Usetata).

175. THE SMALL FAN- FOOTED WAVE. — All
the wings are pale, dingy wainscot-brown ;
the fore wings have two darker transverse
waved lines near to, and parallel with, the
hind margin : a dark central spot, and an
indistinct transverse darker line just outside
the spot : the hind wings have three or four
darker transverse lines, parallel to the hind
margin ; a central dark spot, and an indis-
tinct transverse darker line just within the
spot ; there are a few small and inconspicuous
dots at the base of the fringe, round all the
wings : the head, thorax, and body are of
the same colour as the wings.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June,
and is of frequent occurrence in England,
Scotland, and Ireland. (The scientific name
is Acidalia bisetata).

176. The Treble Brown Spot (Acidalia trigeminata).

176. THE TREBLE BROWN SPOT.— All the
wings are very pale wainscot-brown, ap-
proaching to yellow ; the costal margin of
the fore wings having a dark mark at the
base, extending about a third of its length ;
a tranverse line crosses the wing at the end
of this dark mark, and a second transverse
line, parallel to the first, crosses the middle
of the wing; outside this second line is a
black central spot ; beyond the spot is a

broad double waved bar, parallel with the
hind margin of the wing : the hind wings
very nearly resemble the fore wings in the
number and situation of their markings,
except that there is no dark mark on the
costal margin : the head, thorax, and body are
of the same colour as the wiugs.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
has occurred in Devonshire, Hampshire, Sus-
sex, Surrey, Berkshire, Suffolk, Gloucester-
shire, and Worcestershire ; and Mr. Birchall
has taken it in the county Gal way, in Ireland.
(The scientific name is Acidalia trigeminata.')

177. Greening's Wave (Aciialia conti guana).

177. GREENING'S WAVE. — The antennae
are simple in both sexes : the wings are pale
gray, with three distinct waved dark lines at
equal distances ; the second of these is pre-
ceded by an elongate discoidal spot ; the hind
margin is frequently clouded, and contains a
series of dark spots disposed in pairs.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July,
and has only been taken in North Wales.
(The scientific name is Acidalia contiguaria.)

.178. The Least Carpet (Acidalia rusticata).

178. THE LEAST CARPET. — All the wings
are of a whitish ground colour ; the fore
wings have a central, transverse, brown bar,
the outer margin of which is deeply indented ;
in the middle of this brown bar is a black
spot, and between this brown bar and the
base of the wing the costal margin is of the
same colour; the outer pait of the wing,
between the bar and the hind margin, is
almost white, but is divided into two equal
parts by a transverse, zigzag, pale brown, and
rather indistinct line: the fringo on the hind
margin is spotted with black ; the hind wings

BRITISH MOTHS.

have four indistinct and zigzag, pale, waved
lines, and a very distinct black dot between
the first and second, counting from the base
of the wing : the head and thorax are brown
— of the same hue as the bar on the fore
wings ; the body is variegated with the two
colours, white and brown.

The MOTH appears in July, and is very
abundant in all the hedges about Darent
Wood, in Kent ; it is also said to have
occurred in the Isle of Portland. (The
scientific name is Acidalia rusticala.)

179. The Dark Cream Wave (Acidalia inter jectaria).

179. THE DARK CREAM WAVE.— All the
wings are very pale wainscot-brown, some-
what approaching to a yellow-ochre tinge; the
fore wings have the costal margin shaded
with brown, and five pale, transverse, zigzag
lines, between the second and third of which
is a central black spot ; the two lines between
this spot and the base of the wing approach
each other very nearly in the middle, and I
have one specimen in which they are abso-
lutely united: the hind wings have four of
these pale, waved, transverse lines, and a black
spot between the second and third, counting
from the base of the wing ; along the hind
margin of all the wings is a row of linear, dark
brown spots, perhaps better described as a
series of short dark brown lines ; arrange'! end
to end, and alternating with these lines, is a
series of dots in the fringe ; these dots, how-
ever, are not constant, and are only to be de-
tected in very fine and fresh specimens : the
head, thorax, and body are pale wainscot-
brown, exactly of the same colour as the
wings.

The MOTH appears on the wing about
Midsummer, and has been taken in Devon-
shire, Gloucestershire, Buckinghamshire, Cam-
bridgeshire, and Cheshire. (The scientific
name is Acidalia interjectaria.)

180. The Silky Wave (Acidalia holosericata).

180. THE SILKY WAVE.— All the wings
pale wainscot brown, somewhat approaching
to yellow-ochre ; the fore wings are sprinkled
along the margin with extremely minute,
dark brown dots, and have five transverse and
rather waved lines, of a darker hue than the
ground colour of the wing ; the hind wings
have the same number of waved lines as the
fore wings, which, in all respects, they closely
resemble : the head, thorax, and body are of
the same colour as the wings.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July,
and has been taken in Surrey, Gloucester-
shire, and Worcestershire, but not in Ireland.
(The scientific name is Acidalia holosericata.)

181. The Small Dusty Wave (Acidalia incanaria).

181. THE SMALL DUSTY WAVE.— All the
wings are dingy white, sprinkled all over
with minute black dots ; the black dots are
somewhat symmetrically arranged, forming
several smoke-coloured, transverse, waved,
and very indistinct lines ; each of the four
wings has also a central black spot : along the
hind margin of all the wings is a series of
short, dark, smoke-coloured lines, placed end
to end, and alternating with these is a row of
dark dots in the fringe : the head, thorax,
and body are almost white, but, like the
wings, sprinkled with minute dark specks.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July,
and occurs in all our English counties, and iu
some places in Scotland. Mr. Birchall says
it is common in Ireland. (The scientific
name is Acidalia incanaria.)

GEOMETERS.

182. The Circellate (Acidalia circellata).

182. THE CIRCELLATE. — The antennae are
simple in both sexes; all the wings are ample,
and of a pale gray colour, with a silky gloss;
the fore wings have two narrow transverse
lines ; the firbt is bent towards the base of
the wing before it reaches the costa ; the
second is obliqtie and waved, and is situated
beyond the middle of the wing ; between the
two transverse Hues is a linear discoidal spot,
in a faint linear shade ; this linear shade is
continued across the hind wings, and beyond
this is a very distinct, but irregular, dark
line; there is a very small discoidal spot in
the centre of the wing ; round the hind
margin of all the wings is a series of very
distinct black spots.

This delicate and beautiful little MOTH
appears on the wing in June, and has only
been taken in one English locality that I am
aware of; there is no Scotch or Irish locality
recorded. (The scientific name is Acidalia
circellata.)

183. The Lace Border (Acidalia ornata).

183. THE LACE BORDER. — All the wings are
silvery white, with an exquisitely beautifu'
broad border parallel to the hind margin : the
border consists of, first, a delicate, black, zig-
zag line : beyond this are two waved, broader,
and less distinct lines, somewhat smoke-
coloured, but having a gloss like mother-of-
pearl; the first of these broad lines includes
two brownish blotches, the first blotch rather
above the middle, the second on the inner
margin : these lines do not quite reach the

costal margin ; the outer one is the shorter of
the two ; on the extreme hind margin of all
the wings is a series of short, blackish lines,
placed end to end, and beyond these the
fringe is alternately brown and white : be-
tween the border and the base of the fore
wings is a pale brown transverse line; and
again, half way between this and the base, is a
row of black dots, three, four, or five, arranged
transversely : the hind wings have a very
pale, central, transverse line, and a black dot
in the middle of it : the head, thorax, and
body are silvery white.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June and
August, and is very abundant on chalky
soils in England, but has not been reported
from Scotland or Ireland. (The scientific
name is Acidalia ornata.)

184 The Mullein Wave (Acidalia promutata).

184. THE MULLEIN WAVE. — All the wings
are gray, tinged with ochreous yellow, and
sprinkled all over with minute black specks :
the fore wings have four transverse markings,
the first of which is a tolerably distinct line
near the base : this line is often broken up
and divided into spots : the second is a very
indistinct and cloudy bar, having a black spot
in the middle : the third is a zigzag, dark line
parallel with the hind border; and the fourth
is an obscure and interrupted cloudy band :
on the extreme hind margin is a row of very
distinct, short, black lines placed end to end,
and the fringe is sprinkled with black dots :
the hind wings are very similar to the fore
wings, and the head, thorax, and body are of
the same colour as the wings.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June and
July, and has occurred rather freely in the
south-western counties of England, but I
think not in the eastern counties; it is reported
from Radnorshire, Cheshire, Lancashire, and
Northumberland, but not from Scotland. As
regards Ireland, Mr. Birchall reports it from

80

BRITISH MOTHS.

the counties of Cork and Kerry and that it
is common at Howth and Malahide. (The
scientific name is Acidalia promutata.)

185. The Dotted-bordered Cream Wave (Acidalia
straminata).

185. THE DOTTED-BORDERED CREAM WAVE.
— The wings are very pale testaceous-brown,
with a very small, intensely black discoidal
spot ; between this discoidal spot and the base
of the wing are several transverse lines, one of
them more conspicuous than the rest: beyond
the discoidal spot are three waved transverse
lines, and on the margin itself is a series of
rather elongate but. very distinct black spots.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June,
and has been taken in Dorsetshire, Hamp-
shire, Surrey, and Buckinghamshire ; but is
not recorded from Scotland or Ireland. (The
scientific name is Acidalia straminata.)

186. The Satin Wave (Acidalia subsericata).

186. THE SATIN WAVE. — All the wings
are whitish-gray; the fore wings having five,
and the hind wings four, narrow, transverse,
slightly-waved lines, only a shade darker than
the ground-colour : between the first and
second of these is a central dot on the fore
wings, and there is a very slight indication of
the same on the hind wings : there are no
dark lines on the hind margin of the wings,
but there are a few black dots in the fringe :
the head, thorax, and body are of the same
colour as the wings : the fore legs are remark-
ably long and dark coloured.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
has been taken abundantly in the south-
irestern $nd southern counties of England,

also in Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Lan-
cashire, Cheshire, and the Lake District.
Mr. Birchall says it is common at Howth, in
Ireland. (The scientific name is Acidalia
subscricata.)

187. The Lesser Cream Wave (Acidalia invmutata).

187. THE LESSER CREAM WAVE.— All the
wings are ochreous gray, speckled with minute
black dots : the fore wings have five, and the
hind wings four, transverse, waved lines, only
a shade darker than the ground-colour of the
wing : in the centre of each wing is a con-
spicuous black dot: head, thorax, and body of
the same colour as the wings.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
has occurred in Devonshire, Somersetshire,
Dorsetshire, the Isle of Wight, Surrey, Nor-
folk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Lan-
cashire, and the Lake District. Mr. Birchall
says it is common at Killarney. (The scientific
name is Acidalia immutata.)

188. The Cream Wave (Acidalia remntata).

188. THE CREAM WAVE. — All the wings
are pale, dingy, wainscot-brown, speckled
very sparingly with black dots : the fore
wings have four and the hind wings three
waved lines, slightly darker than the ground-
colour, and the hind wings have a black spot
in the centre : the head, thorax, and body
are of the same dingy hue as the wings.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May, and
has occurred in nearly all our English and
Scotch counties ; and Mr. Birchall says it has
been taken at Killarney, and in the county
Wicklow in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Acidalia remutata.}

GEOMETERS.

189. The Smoky Wave (Acidalia fumata) .

189. THE SMOKY WAVE. — The antennae are
quite simple in the female ; almost so in the
male ; the very short pubescence being imper-
ceptible to the naked eye. All the wings of
the male are smoky gray, sprinkled over with
darker dots. There are four very indistinct
transverse bars on the fore wings, and three on
the hind wings ; but they can scarcely be per-
ceived unless in fresh and perfect specimens.
There is no central dot on either of the wings.
The female is less than the male ; the wings
paler gray, without any tinge of smoke colour.
The face is dark brown ; the crown of the head
gray ; the thorax and body gray, with dark or
almost black dots ; the fringe is dotted in the
same manner as the wings.

The CATERPILLAR has the headand body about
equal in width ; the head broadly but very in-
distinctly notched on the crown ; the body
extremely slender, notwithstanding the pre-
sence of a dilated lateral skinfold ; the twelfth
segment is slightly elevated ; the segments are
transversely wrinkled, and divided by the
wrinkles into fourteen or sixteen extremely
narrow but distinct sections. Colour of the
head wainscot-brown, with four longitudinal
darkermarks, whichare continuous with dorsal
stripes on the body ; body pale wainscot-brown,
with a medio-dorsal darker stripe, which in-
creases in intensity at the divisions of the seg-
ments, and still more at the anal extremity ;
it is traversed throughout by a threadlike paler
stripe ; between this medio-dorsal stripe and the
spiracles is a rather paler stripe, also intersected
by a paler threadlike stripe ; the skinfold is
paler than the dorsal area, and below the skin-
fold is a darker stripe, which becomes more
intense towards the anal extremity, and termi-
nates in the ventral claspers ; the ventral area
is very pale, except between the ventral and
anal claspers ; the spiracles are black, and
there is a black dot below the second, third,
«Wid fourth spiracles ; the feet are very pale ;

the claspers darker, but having a pale external
area. It feeds on heath.

The MOTH flies about midsummer; it is
extremely common on heaths in the west of ^
Scotland, occurs in the north of England, but
I have not seen a southern specimen. It is
widely distributed in Ireland. (The scientific
name is Acidalia fumata.)

190. The Snbangled Wave (Acidalia prataria).

190. THE SUBANGLED WAVE. — Theantenna?
of the male are slightly pectinated ; the pec-
tiaations very short ; those of the female are
simple : the fore wings are simple; the hir.d
wings slightly angulated : all the wings of
yellowish gray, sprinkled with black dots, and
having several indistinct darker transverse
lines on all the wings ; there is a black dot
between the first and second of these lines on
the fore wings ; the first line is short, slightly
waved, oblique, and very ind istinct ; th e second
is more distinct and broader : this is continuous
with the first line on the hind wings, thu.s
passing on the outside of the black central spot
on the fore wings, and on the inside of the
black central spot on the hind wings : the
third line on the fore wings is narrower and
more waved than the second ; it is continuous
with the second line on the hind wings ; be-
yond this third line is a fourth, exactly of the
same form but of lighter shade ; on the hind
margin itself is a very delicate but distinct
dark line.

The CATERPILLAR is of an ochreous-gray
ground-colour, with a darker gray medio-
dorsal stripe, and a paler, almost white, stripe
on each side in the region of the spiracles,
some of which it includes. It feeds on the
hedge woundwort (Stachys sylvatiea), and
may be found during April and May.

The MOTH appears on the wing at mid-
summer, and is almost confined to the neigh-
bourhood of Folkestone, on our south coast. It
has not been found in Scotland or Ireland.
(The scientific name is Acidalia prataria.}

M 6

BRITISH MOTHS.

191. The Small Blood -vein (Acidalia imitaria).

191. THE SM AL L BLOOD-VEIN. — The antennae
of the male are very slightly fringed ; of the
female quite simple ; the fore wings are pointed,
the hind wings sharply angled ; all the wings
clay-coloured, with a broad oblique brown band
continued across both the fore and hind wings;
this band passes outside a central brown dot
on the fore wings, and inside a central brown
dot on the hind wings ; between this oblique
band and the hind margin, there is a delicate
transverse waved line of the same colour, and
a similar line, as regards delicacy and colour,
on the hind margin itself, and just within the
fringe.

The Rev. H. Burney has found the CATER-
PILLAR of this moth on broom ; it is very long
and very slender, quite threadlike, with white
marks down the back : he found, however,
that it would not eat broom, and at last fed it
on sorrel (Rumex acetosella) : it spun up at the
end of June, and turned to a yellowish-brown
CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH came out on the 14th of August :
it is not uncommon in the south of England,
and occurs occasionally as far north as York,
and in two Irish counties, Cork and Kerry,
but has not been found in Scotland. (The
scientific name is Acidalia imitaria.)

192. The Rosy Wave (Acidalia emutaria).

192. THE ROSY WAVE — The antennae are
almost simple in both sexes ; all the wings are
yellowish-white, with a delicate rosy tinge of
mother-of-pearl, and each having an obscure
central dot ; there is an oblique line from the
tip of the fore wing to the middle of its -inner
margin ; and a second equally faintand obscure
line halfway between this and the base ; be-
sides these there are three very oblique series

of small dark spots on the fore wings, and two
on the hind wings. The first of these series
on the fore wings is generally composed of
three spots, the second of eeven or eight spots,
and the third, also composed of seven or eight
spots, is on the hind margin, and in very fine
and fresh specimens these marginal spots are
connected together by an extremely delicate
line; on the hind wings the first series of
spots is generally composed of eight spots, and
crosses the middle of the wing in a straight
line ; on the margin itself is a double series of
elongated markings, connected by a threadlike
line ; the face is dark brown, the collar paler
brown, the crown of the head, thorax, and
body delicate whitish-gray.

The MOTH appears about the middle of
summer, and is found in the Isle of Dogs and
at Woolwich, close to the banks of the
Thames. (The scientific name is Acidalia
emutaria.)

193. The Eiband Wave (Acidalia aversata ;
variety, remutata).

193. THE RIBAND WAVE. — The antennae
of the male are very slightly pubescent, those
of the female quite simple. All the wings
are of a pale dingy yellowish-gray, the fore
wings having three transverse lines and the
hind wings two; just inside the second of
these lines on the fore wings is a central very
small brown spot ; on the hind wings is a
similar spot, generally situated on the first
transverse line, but this situation is not con-
stant ; it is sometimes inside and sometimes
outside of the first line ; the entire space be-
tween the second and third lines on the fore
wings, and between the first and second lines

The Eiband Wave (variety, avergata)

GEOMETERS.

on the hind wings, is not unfrequently entirely
filled up by dark brown, and when this is
the case the lines themselves are scarcely
visible, but a broad brown band or riband
crosses the middle of all the wings. This is
the true "riband wave." When this band or
riband is present there is generally also a
waved, narrow, and rather indistinct band
between it and the hind margin ; the hind
margin itself has a delicate brown line, inter-
rupted only by the wing-rays ; the fringes of
all the wings are of the same ground colour as
the wings themselves, but at the end of each
wing-ray is a round brown dot in the fringe.

The CATERPILLAR is rough, rather like
shagreen, being divided transversely into
narrow sections of segments, and these being
composed of minute warts ; its ground colour
is dark brown, except towards the anal ex-
tremity, which is ochreous-gray ; on each side
in the region of the spiracles is a pale, almost
white line : it feeds on a great number of
hedgerow plants, as water avens, common
avens (Gevm rivals and G. urbanum), meadow
sweet (Spir&a ulmaria), &c.

The MOTH appeai-s about midsummer, and is
very common in England, Scotland, and
Ireland. (The scientific name is Acidalia
aversata.)

194. The Plain Wave (Acidalia inornata).

194. THE PLAIN WAVE. — The antennae of
the male are very slightly pubescent, those of
the female quite simple. All the wings are of
a pale dingy yellowish gray with a slightly
iridescent gloss something like mother-of-
pearl ; the fore wings having generally five
transverse waved lines, and the hind wings
four ; all these are very pale, although darker
than the ground colour of the wing : on the
fore wings there is a central brown spot on
the second line ; on the hind wings there is a
similar central spot on or just below the first
line ; the hind margin itself has a delicate

brown line interrupted only at the wing-rays ;
the space between the outer transverse line
and the hind margin on all the wings is fre-
quently intersected by one or two paler
waved transverse lines ; the fringe is un-
spotted.

The CATERPILLAR rests in a straight posture,
and does not fall off its food when touched or
disturbed; the head looks downward, and not
forward; the body is rather flattened, and
spread out at the sides ; the divisions of the
segments are very clearly marked, and each
segment is divided by transverse furrows into
eight rings ; these rings in the second, third,
fourth, ninth, and following segments are
composed of warts which emit short stumpy
bristles ; the colour is red-brown, with little
variation of shade, but having a whitish me-
dian spot on the back of the sixth and seventh
segments. This caterpillar feeds on several
low plants, and also on low shoots of willow ;
it is full fed at the end of May ; and then
spins a slight web among the leaves of its
food plant, and therein changes to a CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH appears about midsummer : it is
not common, but has been taken in several
of the English counties, and at Kingstown
and Killarney, in Ireland, but not in Scotland.
(The scientific name is Acidalia inornata.)

195. The Portland Riband Wave (Acidalia

degeneraria) .

195. THE PORTLAND RIBAND WAVE. —
Antennae simple in both sexes. Fore wings
slightly hooked : all the wings pale yellowish-
gray, the fore wings having a reddish costal
margin and a broad transverse brown band
situated rather before the middle of the winir ;
in this band is a central brown spot ; half
way between this band and the hind margin
are two transverse waved lines very near
together, the inner being rather darker than
the outer ; the hind margin itself has a
delicate dark line: hind wings with the baaal

BRITISH MOTHS.

portion rather darker, and outside of this basal
darker part is a central black spot ; between
the spot and the hind margin are three trans-
verse waved lines, the darkest inside, the
lightest outside. The crown of the head is
almost white ; the thorax and body are of the
same colour as the wings.

The MOTH is taken in July in the Isle of
Portland, and, I believe, nowhere else in Eng-
mnd, Scotland, or Ireland. (The scientific
name is Acidalia degeneraria.)

196. The Small Scallop (Acidalia emcvrginata).

196. THE SMALL SCALLOP. — The antennae
are nearly simple in both sexes. Fore wings
with a double toothlike projection in the
middle of the hind margin : hind wings dis-
tinctly angulated, the angle being double. All
the wings slightly scalloped, ochreous-yellow,
and each having a central brown spot ; the
fore wings have three narrow transverse lines,
one on each side of the central spot, and the
third on the hind margin : the hind wings
have two narrow transverse lines, the first
outside the central spot, and the second on the
hind margin : the head, thorax and body are
of the same ochreous-yellow colour as the
wings.

This MOTH is not abundant : it is occa-
sionally taken in nearly all the English counties
about midsummer, bub 'has not been found in
Scotland or Ireland. (The scientific name is
Acidalia emarginata.)

197. The Blood-Vein (Timandra anatwria).

197. THE BLOOD- VEIN. The anteunse of
tile male are strongly pectinated ; thost, of the
female simple, the fore wings are pointed, the
hind wings angled ; all the wings of an olive-

gray colour, thickly sprinkled with darker
spots, and having a beautiful oblique red
stripe commencing at the tip of the fore wings,
and ending at the middle of the inner margin
of the hind wings. The fore wings have a
transverse central spot, and a slender dark
waved line, commencing at the tip of the
wing side by side with the red stripe, and
ending on the inner margin, halfway between
the red stripe and the anal angle ; a similar
line on the hind wings meets this one on the
fore wings and crosses the hind wing half way
between the red stripe and the hind margin ;
the hind margins of all the wings are beauti-
fully rose-coloured, the rose colour falling
gradually into the olive gray ; head, thorax,
and body gray.

The CATEEPILLAR is dingy smoke-colour,
with a medio-dorsal stripe almost white ;
between this and the spiracles is another
whitish stripe on each side, but this is less per-
fect than the medio-dorsal stripe. It feeds on
several kinds of dock, sorrel, and knot grass,
Hiid frequently swarms in fields of buckwheat.

The MOTH, which is extremely beautiful, is
common about midsummer in most of the
English counties, and in Ireland has been
taken in Gal way and Kerry. (The scientific
name is Timandra amataria.)

198. The Common White Wave (Cabera pusaria),
male.

198. THE COMMON WHITE WAVE.— The
antennae are pectinated in the male, simple
in the female. All the wings rounded
white, sprinkled with gray dots ; the fore
wings have three oblique, transverse, gray
lines, the hind wings two ; the second and
third of these lines are frequently nearer to-
gether than the first and second. A variety
occasionally occurs, in which the second and
third lines are united and appear as one, so
that the foi'e wings have only two transverse
lines. The shaft of the antennae, the head,
thorax, a" 4 body are pure white,

GEOMETERS.

35

The CATERPILLAR rests in a nearly straight
posture, with the head porrected on the same
plane as the body ; head flattened, quite as
broad as, and in young specimens rather
broader than, the body ; body uniformly
cylindrical, without humps. Colour infinitely
varied ; one variety is uniformly brown, with

Common White Wave, female.

a pair of white dots on the back of each
segment ; another variety is green, with a
medio-dorsal row of brown spots, each spot
situated between two segments, and the an-
terior ones having a small white spot on each
side; each segment has also four black
spots on its under surface. It feeds on oak,
birch, hazel, and many other trees ; it is full-
fed in September, when it spins a loose cocoon
on the surface of the earth.

The MOTH comes out in June, and is on the
wing throughout July and August : it is com-
mon every where in England and Ireland.
(The scientific name is Gabera pusaria.)

199. The Round-winged White Wave, males and
females.

199. THE ROUND-WINGED WHITE WAVE. —
The antennae arepectinatedin the male, simple
in the female. All the wings are rounded,
white sprinkled with gray dots ; the fore wings
have three oblique transverse gray lines, and
the hind wings two ; the second line on the
fore Tings is very indistinct and often wanting.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May in
the south of England ; but is not reported

from Scotland or Ireland,
name is Cabera rotimdaria.)

/The s"ientifi«

200. The Common Wave (Cuvvra exanthemaria) .

200. THE COMMON WAVE. — The antenn»
of the male are pectinated, those of the female
simple. All the wings are dingy yellowish-
gray ; the fore wings having three, the hind
wings two, indistinct transverse darker lines,
and sprinkled all over with still darker dots.
The antennae are white, with black rings
towards the tip; the thorax and body are
gray.

The CATERPILLAR is of an uniform yellow-
green colour, rather more slender towards the
head ; it feeds on sallow and alder, and is
full-fed in the autumn, when it falls to the
ground and makes a slight cocoon under fallen
leaves, and remains in the CHRYSALIS state
during winter.

The MOTH is very common, and is on the
wing during a considerable portion of the
summer in most of the English and Irish
counties. (The scientific name is Cabera ex-
anthemaria.)

201. The Clouded Silver (Corycia temerata).

201. THE CLOUDED SILVER. — The antennae
are simple in both sexes. All the wings are
rounded and white ; fore wings with a central
dark brown spot, a waved and somewhat un-
defined transverse band half way between the
central spot and the hind margin; a row of
very dark crescent-shaped markings on the
hind margin, and the centre of the space be-
tween this row and the transverse band is
occupied by a dark smoke-ooloured cloud ;
these together constitute a conspicuous and
distinguishing blotch ; there is also about the
middle of the inner margin a transversely

86

BRITISH MOTHS.

elongated mark of the same colour ; the hind
wings have two faintly indicated waved lines
parallel with the hind margin, and a series of
slender dark markings on the margin itself;
head, thorax, and body white.

The female, who has a long ovipositor,
well adapted for the purpose, deposits her
eggs in May and June, either in the crevices
of the bark or the axils of the leaves of the
younger shoots both of the blackthorn and
the bird-cherry.

The young CATERPILLARS emerge in about
fourteen days, and are at first of a deep yellow
colour; they soon change to green, and often-
times assume a broad medio-dorsal stripe of
pale yellow, which, after the last moult,
changes as described below. The caterpillar
is full-fed at the end of July, when it rests in
a nearly straight position, with the head por-
rected on a plane with the body. Head flat,
narrower than the second segment, not notched
on the crown ; body smooth, velvety, uni-
formly cylindrical. Colour of the head pale
green, semi-transparent, with a large pear-
sha} 'Ct.1 spot on each cheek, the smaller ex-
tremity of which approaches the mouth, the
larger extremity the crowu ; this spot is
orange-red in the centre, ami black on the
margin ; dorsal surface of the body grass-
green, with a medio-dorsal series of elongate
orange spots, which occur at the interstices of
the segments, and are continuous only on the
third and twelfth segments; these spots are
bordered on both sides with rich brown ; the
second and thirteenth segments are not thus
decorated ; the dorsal surface is also sparingly
dotted with glaucous-green, approaching to
white; on the sides are a series of spiracle-
like black dots, the spiracles themselves being
brown, and each surrounded by a glaucous
ring ; the ventral surface is pale glaucous ; the
legs pale transparent green; the claspers grass-
green, with pink extremities; it spins a slight
cocoon, and remains in the CHRYSALIS state
throughout the winter and until the following
May, when the MOTH emerges. It is not un-
common in England, and is abundant at Kil-
larney, in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Corycia turner ata.}

202. The White-pinion Spotted (Corycia tcminata)

202. THE WHITE-PINION SPOTTED. — The
antennse are simple in both sexes ; all the
wings are white, the fore wings having two
brown and obscurely triangular markings on
the costal margin ; the first of these is situated
at rather more than a third of the distance
between the base and the.tip of the wing, and
the second is just half way between the arst
and the tip : the head, thorax, and bod/ are
white.

The CATERPILLAR is green or purplish brown :
it has a broad purple stripe down the middle
of the back, edged with white : the spiraculai
line white, the spiracles black. It feeds on
wild cherry.

The MOTH occurs, but not commonly, in
May, in the south of England, more rare'y ir
the north. Mr. Birch all says it is abuniant
in Ireland. (The scientific name is Corycic
taminata.)

203. The Sloe Carpet (Aleucis pictwria] .

203. THE SLOE CARPET. — The antennse <,re
simple in both sexes; the fore wings ire
smoke-coloured, with two transverse waved
darker lines, and a central transversely elon-
gated spot of the same colour, exactly mid-
way between them ; the hind wings are paler.
with a very indistinct waved line across the
middle; head, thorax, and body gray.

Mr. Stain ton has most obligingly handed me
the following description of the CATERPILLAR,
written by Mr. E. G. Baldwin : " Brownish
gray, more or less marbled with whitish, par-
ticularly on the eighth and ninth segments ; a
faint, blackish, V-like mark on the back of the
fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth segments, and
a black transverse line on the twelfth segment;

GEOMETERS.

a short, oblique, lateral, black streak on th»
third and fourth segments ; a black spot on
the side of the sixth, seventh, eighth, and
ninth segments, above the whitish spiraclea"
It feeds on the leaves of the sloe.

This MOTH was originally discovered in
abundance near Colchester, and for many years
subsequently it was unobserved until again
discovered on Dartford Heath, flying about
the sloe when in blossom ; it has since
been found in Epping Forest, also frequent-
ing the flowers of the sloe, but has not
been reported from the middle or north
of England, from Scotland, or from Ireland.
(The scientific name is Aleucis pictaria.)

204. Th« Sharp-angled Peacock (Macaria alterncuta).

204. THE SHARP-AKGLED PEACOCK. — The
antennae are simple in both sexes ; the fore
wings angled, and having a deep semicircular
notch just below the tip ; hind wings angled.
All the wings are gray, sprinkled with nume-
rous minute short transverse streaks rather
darker than the ground colour of the wing,
but still extremely pale and indistinct. The
fore wings have a short curved transverse line
near the base, and a second at a short distance
suffused and often indistinct, and beyond this
a third, always accompanied by a broad trans-
verse band, which, although pale, is slightly
darker than the ground colour of the wing;
the costal extremity of this band is conspicu-
ously darker, and it also contains a dark blotch
near the middle ; the crescentic notch on the
hind margin is strongly bordered with brown ;
the hind wings have two broad transverse
bands corresponding with those on the fore
wings, and between them is a dark central
spot. The head and neck are brown, the
thorax and body gray, the latter is sprinkled
with dark dots, and has two conspicuous
brown spots on the base of each segment.

The CATERPILLAR is light green, and
ornamented with three triangular reddish-
brown marks on the sides of the middle

segments ; it changes to uniform reddish-
brown before entering the ground ; the legs
and claspers are reddish-brown. It feeds on
sallow.

The MOTH is apparently rare, occurring only
in the south-west of England, in July, and
not having been found to my knowledge in
Scotland, Wales, or Ireland. (The scientific
name is Maca/ria alternated

205. The Peacock (Macaria notata).

205. THE PEACOCK.' — The antennae are sim-
ple in both sexes; the fore wings are angled
and have a deep semicircular notch just below
the tip on the hind margin ; hind wings
angled ; all the wings gray, sprinkled with
numerous minute short transverse streaks
rather darker than the ground colour of the
wing, but still extremely pale and indistinct;
they have also three transverse lines of the
same colour as these little streaks, the first
short, curved, and very near the base of the
wing ; the second rather longer, curved in the
same direction, and just beyond the first ; the
third is rather beyond the middle of the wing ;
each of these transverse lines terminates in a
dark spot on the costal margin; between this
and the outer margin are two very conspicuous
dark blotches, one of them is on the costal
margin, and is just outside of the third trans-
verse line, the other is below this, and is about
equidistant from the costal, hind, and inner
margins; it is darker than the costal blotch,
and is composed of five smaller spots crowded
closely together ; the third transverse line
seems almost to pass through this blotch ; the
hind margin itself is strongly marked with
dark brown, especially in the semicircular
notch already described ; the hind wings have
two transverse lines which correspond with
the seeond and third on the fore wings, and
between them is a dark central dot ; the hind
margin itself is delicately edged with rich dark
brown just within the fringe. The head is

68

BRITISH MOTHS.

brown, the thorax gray, the body gray with
numerous brown dots, and two conspicuous
brown spots on the back of each segment.

The CATERPILLAR feeds on sallow (Salix
caprcea); it is olive-green on the back, with
a medio-dorsal series of ochreous-brown
spots; the sides are of the same ochreous-
brown colour as the dorsal spots : it is to be
found in September.

The MOTH appears in the following June,
and occurs in several southern counties of
England, and also in Ireland. (The scientific
name is Macaria notata.)

206. The Tawny -barred Angle (Macaria liturata).

206. THE TAWNY-BARRED ANGLE. — The
antennae are very slightly pubescent in the
male, quite simple in the female ; the hind
wings are angled; all the wings are ochreous-
gray, with a broad but indistinct band siiffused
with orange-yellow near and parallel to the
hind margin ; the gray portions of the wing
are delicately dotted with dark brown ; the
fore wings have several very distinct brown
spots on the costal margin ; from three of
these, more conspicuous than the rest, three
waved brown lines cross the wing, termi-
nating on the inner margin, the third borders
the orange-tinged band I have already de-
scribed; hind wings with two waved transverse
pale brown lines, and a central brown spot
between them. Head and neck yellow- brown,
thorax and body sprinkled with brown.

The CATERPILLAR feeds in fir-woods on the
needles of the firs; it has a brown head and
green body, with five whitish stripes, the
medio-dorsal stripe, and the next on each side,
or subdorsal stripe, are rather dingy white,
but the second on each side on the region of
the spiracles is almost pure white.

The MOTH appears in July, in several coun-
ties of England, Scotland, and Ireland. (The
scientific name is Macaria liturata.)

207. The V. Moth (Halia wavaria).

207. THE V. MOTH.— The antennae of the
male are pectinated, the pectinations short, but
very obvious ; those of the female simple ; the
fore wings are simple; the hind wings slightly
scalloped ; all the wings are gray, tinged with
a faint iridescent or purple gloss, the hind
margin also suffused with brown : on the costal
margin of the fore wings are numerous short
transverse streaks, and four conspicuous spots
of a dark timber-brown ; of these spots the first
and third are shortest and smallest, the second
is longest, it almost reaches the middle of the
wing, and then turns at a right angle towards
the base, the fourth is broader but much
shorter than the second ; on the hind margin
is a series of dark black lines almost touching
each other, and the middle of each emits a
little brush of white fringe ; the hind wings
have an obscure spot near the centre, and
similar markings on the hind margin to those
on the fore wing. The body is gray, dotted
with brown.

The CATERPILLAR rests in a nearly straight
posture, but with the head erected and por-
rected. When disturbed, it falls from its food
bent double, and feigns death, remaining for
a long time perfectly without motion ; its body
is slightly dilated at the sides, otherwise uni-
formly cylindrical ; head lead-coloured, with
black markings, the disposition of which differs
in different individuals : the colour of the
back varies from an obscure apple-green to a
decided lead-colour, scarcely two individuals
being precisely similar in tint, but all are
marked longitudinally with waved interrupted
smoke-coloured lines, which are very near
together : belly coloured nearly like the
back ; on the sides each segment is adorned
with a canary-coloured blotch : all these
together have the appearance of a yellow
lateral stripe; on all parts of the body are

GEOMETERS.

shining black warts, each of which emits from
the summit a single black bristle ; four of
these warts are ranged in a transverse series
on the back of the second, third, and fourth
segments, and four of them in a square on
the back of the fifth and following segments,
and three in each yellow mark on the side
form a triangle which comprises the spiracle ;
claspers lead-coloured. It feeds on the common
gooseberry, and changes to a CHRYSALIS in a
slight web attached to some of the leaves.

This MOTH is rather common in our English
gardens, and also in Ireland ; it flies in July.
(The scientific name is Halia wavaria.)

208. The Rest-harrow (Aplasta ononaria).

208. THE REST-HARROW. — The antennae of
the moth are perfectly simple and setaceous
in both sexes ; the fore wings are rather
pointed; the hind wings rounded, but truncate
at the anal angle : the colour of the wings is
dull ochre, thickly irrorated with brick-red
dots, and having a scarcely perceptible median
shade common to them all, and due to the
crowding of the dots ; thehind wings are rather
paler than the fore wings; the underside has
the median shade more distinctly marked than
the upper side : the sexes are alike.

The CATERPILLAR occurs in April and Sep-
tember on the rest-harrow (Ononis spinosa),
the only plant on which it has been known
to feed : it is extremely sluggish, and never
leaves its food-plant : it is short, fusiform,
obese, and without tubercles, and is entirely
covered with short stiff hairs ; its colour is
pale dark green, with a darker medio-dorsal
stripe, and a paler but indistinct spiracular
stripe. When full-fed it spins a cocoon on
the surface of the earth amongst moss, and
therein undergoes its change to a CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH appears on the wing at the end
of May, and again in July and August. It
has been taken in the Warren, at Folkestone,
in July. (The scientific name is Aplasta
ononaria.^

209. The Latticed Heath (Strenia clathrata) .

209. THE LATTICED HEATH. — The antennas
are nearly simple in both sexes. The wings
are rounded, and of two colours, smoky-brown
and dingy white ; the dark colour is arranged
in five broad transverse bands on the fore
wings, and four on the hind wings ; these
bands are very irregular, and very different in
different individuals ; the wing-rays are of the
dark colour, and crossing the bands at right
angles divide the white portions into a number
of squareish white spots, giving to the entire
surface of all the wings somewhat the appear-
ance of lattice-work, whence the name ; the
fringe of all the wings is a most beautiful
object, the dark brown colour alternating
in square spots with other square spots of a
most lovely pearly whiteness ; the antennse
are ringed with dark brown and yellowish-
white ; the head, thorax and body are dark
brown sprinkled with yellowish-white ; the
body having seven slender belts of a pure
and delicate white.

We learn from Guenee that the CATER-
PILLAR has a green head with a white line or
the face ; the body is rather pale green, with
a double white medio-dorsal stripe bordered
with darker green ; on each side is a similar
stripe, and below the spiracles, which are
white and delicately bordered with black, is
another white stripe bordered above with a
line of black dots ; ventral surface green,
with four white lines. It feeds chiefly on
trefoil and saintfoin almost throughout the
) ear, but principally in spring and autumn.

CATERPILLARS that feed on the various
species of trefoil and grasses, may be obtained
abundantly by using the sweeping net at
night.

The MOTH flies in May and June, and ia
common in clover-fields and on heaths in
England and Ireland. (The scientific name
is Strenia clatkrata.}

90

BB1TISH MOTHS.

210. The Brown Silver Line (Panagra petraria) .

210. THE BROWN SILVER LINE. — The an-
tennse of the ma]e are slightly pectinated,
those of the female quite simple ; the fore
wings are pointed, the hind wings rounded :
the colour of the wings is pale wainscot-brown,
sprinkled with rather darker brown, and
having two transverse darker lines, both of
which are bordered on the outer side with a
pale and almost silvery line ; neither of these
double transverse lines quite reaches the costal
or inner margin of the wing, but the outer or
longer one does so more nearly than the inner
or shorter one ; between these two lines is an
oblong dark central spot, and parallel with the
hind margin is a decided indication of a third
transverse line, also of two shades, but this
is indistinct. The h'nd wings are very pale,
with a slight iridescent gloss as if of mother-
of-pearl, with a very faint transverse line
across them in the middle, scarcely percep-
tible except on the inner margin. Head,
thorax, and body very pale wainscot-brown.

We learn from Mr. Hellins that the EGGS
when laid are straw-coloured, but- subse-
quently become bright red, and afterwards
dingy.

The CATERPILLARS, which emerge at the
end of May, feed on the common brakes
(Pteris aquilina). When full-fed their length
is rather more than an inch ; the ground
colour of the back is olive green, of the belly
paler ; the white body is covered with slender
chocolate-brown longitudinal lines arranged in
pairs; there is a double medio-dorsal stripe,
and three double stripes on each side, the
lowest darkest and broadest. The spiracles
are black, and below them is a creamy- white
stripe.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June
in most of the English counties, and in the
county Wicklow, in Ireland. (The scientific
name is Panagra petraria.)

211. The Barred Umber (Numeria pulveraria) .

211. THE BARRED UMBER. — The antennae
are very strongly pectinated in the male, but
simple in the female. All the wings reddish
ximber-brown, sprinkled with darker brown,
the fore wings having a broad transverse cen-
tral band of rich umber-brown ; this band is
much broader at the costal than at the inner
margin, the narrowing taking place just about
the middle. The hind wings have no band,
but a faint central transverse line.

Mr. Merry field has described the general
colour of the CATERPILLAR as purplish-brown,
varied with ochreous ; the head is bifid, light
ochreous-brown, especially in frunt ; a brown
jchreous stripe, lightest at the upper edge,
along the upper part of the side of the fifth
segment. On each segment from the fifth
(inclusive) backwards, is a pair of very small
points, which are light in front and dark
behind, besides smaller points just behind the
spiracles. A pair of large wart& on the back
of the ninth segment, a pair much smaller on
the back of the tenth and twelfth, and a pair
smaller on the back of the eleventh segment.
The tenth, eleventh, and twelfth segments
have some dark arrow-head lines (not, how-
ever, quite meeting in a point) on the back,
margined outwardly with ochreous ; sides
wrinkled, especially in the fore part of the
body ; belly purplish-brown, with ochreous
blotches on each side, the claspers underneath
being dark bluish-green, and the space be-
tween each pair of claspers yellowish; some-
times a lighter line down the middle of the
belly. It feeds on sallow, spinning up among
leaves and moss when full-fed.

The MOTH appears on the wing in the
spring — April and May. It occurs in some
of the English counties, in Ayrshire, in Scot-
land, and at Powerscourt, in Ireland. (The
scientific name is Numeria pulveraria.)

GEOMETERS.

91

218. The Gray Scalloped Bar (Scodionabelgiaria),

male.

212. THE GRAY SCALLOPED BAR.— The an-
tennae of the male are strongly pectinated, of
the female simple; the wings are simple ; in
the male all the wings are of a pale whitish-
gray; the fore wings have two nearly black
scalloped transverse lines, the first crosses the
wing in almost a direct line at about one-third
of the distance between the base and the tip,
the second rather obliquely, and at about two
thirds of the distance from the base to the tip.
Between these two transverse lines, and equi-
distant from both, is a transversely oblong spot
almost black ; outside of the second line, but
closely adjoining to it, are two large dark
blotches. The hind wings have one scalloped
transverse dark line, and a dark spot between
this and the base. Head, thorax, and body

The Gray Scalloped Bar, female.
almost white. In the female, which is much
smaller than the male, the colour of the wing
is much darker, being almost smoke-coloured,
but the markings are the same, except that
bhe two blotches outside the second transverse
line are scarcely to be perceived.

The EGGS are laid in June on the common
ling, on which plant the CATERPILLAR feeds :
this caterpillar hybernates very early in the
autumn, and begins to feed again the following
April; it then grows very rapidly, and is full-
fed about the 1st of May. It falls off its food
and rolls in a ring when handled or disturbed,
and will often remain in this position for an
hour without moving. Its shape is uniformly
cylindrical, with two small warts placed trans-
versely on the back of each segment. There
is a conspicuous conical horn on the twelfth

segment, and a pair of slender closely approxi-
mate horns pointing backwards on the thir-
teenth. Its colour is very dull brown,
obscurely variegated, mottled and streaked
with gray ; on the outside of the first pair of
claspers is a white stripe, and a faint appear-
ance of a similar stripe on the hinder pair.
It spins a slight cocoon on the surface of the
ground, and therein changes to a CHRYSALIS,
and to a perfect insect at th« end of May.
During June it flies over heaths in England,
Scotland, and Ireland. (The scientific name
is Scodiona belgiaria.)

213. The Bordered Gray (Selidosema pl/uma/ria) .

213. THE BORDERED GRAY. — The antennae
of the male are very strongly pectinated, quite
plumose; those of the female simple ; all the
wings are plumbeous- gray, and have a broad
dark band along the hind margin; the fore
wings have two transverse darker bars, the
first near the base, and the second near the
middle ; the female is very much less than the
male, but in colour and markings the sexes are
very similar. The head, thorax, and body are
of the same colour as the wings.

W^

The Bordered Gray, female.

The CATERPILLAR is figured by Hubner as
uniformly cylindrical, and without warts, is
of a brown colour, variegated with darker
spots, and having a very dark medio-doraal
stripe, which grows wide at the posterior
margin of each segment, forming a small
blotch. It changes to a CHRYSALIS under the
surface of the earth.

The MOTH appears in July in the New
Forest, Hampshire, in Cheshire, and Lanc»

BRITISH MOTHS.

shire, and about Killarney in Ireland. (The
scientific name is Selidosema plumaria.)

214. The Netted Mountain Moth (Fidonia

carbonaria) .

214. THE NETTED MOUNTAIN MOTH.— The
antennae of the male are pectinated; those of
the female simple. All the wings white,
freckled with black, the fore wings having
four, the hind wings three, zigzag blackish
transverse bars; in all the wings the bar
nearest the base being very indistinct; a
central black spot between the second and
third bar is often visible ; the extreme hind
margin is also black, and the fringe alternately
black and white. The head, thorax, and body
are nearly black, freckled with pale gray, and
the body has also six pale gray rings.

The EGGS are laid on birch and sallow, on
the leaves of which the CATERPILLARS feed :
when these are full fed. which is usually about
the middle of July, they rest in a nearly straight
position on 'the leaves, preferring the under
surface : if annoyed, they fall from their food-
plant, and remain motionless, still retaining
a nearly straight position : head subporrect,
slightly narrower than the second segment, but
never received into it; body uniformly convex
above, somewhat dilated at the sides, where
it has a very distinct undulated skinfold below
the spiracles: it has no prominent humps, but
a double series of minute dorsal warts, each of
which emits a bristle; there are other bristles
on the side below the spiracles : colour of the
head dull brown, the face variegated with
whitish-brown : body with the dorsal surface
dingy wainscot-brown, of two shades, disposed
in very obscure waved stripes : spiracles pale,
with black rings : minute dorsal warts black :
ventral slightly paler than the dorsal surface ;
a rather broad ruedio- ventral stripe still paler,
and a narrower pale stripeon each side between
this and the skinfold: legs and claspers of
nearly the same colour as the ventral surface.
Changes to a CHRYSALIS on the surface of the
earth among dead leaves.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May, and
occurs only in Scotland and Yorkshire. (The
scientific name is Fidonia carbonaria.)

215. The Common Heath (Fidonia atomaria).

215. THE COMMON HEATH. — The antennae
of the male are strongly pectinated, those of
the female simple; the ground colour of the
wings in the male is dingy orange-brown; in
the female, which is much smaller, the ground
colour of all the wings is white; the fore
wings in both sexes are traversed by four
transverse brown bands, of which the second
and third unite at the inner margin; the hind
wings have three equidistant brown bars; the
pale spaces between these bands are sprinkled
with dark dots ; the fringe is alternately brown
and pale. The head, thorax, and body are
brown, sprinkled with pale scales.

Guene'e describes the CATERPILLAR as very
various in colour, being either rose-coloured,
green, ochre-coloured or brown, with a double
medio-dorsal stripe dilated in to lozenge-shaped
markings; there is also a bright stripe in the
region of the spiracles. The head, feet, and
claspers are concolorous with the body. It
feeds on various plants growing on heaths and
downs, as the trefoils, &c.

The MOTH is very abundant on chalk-downs,
in May, June, and July. It occurs in Eng-
land, Scotland, and Ireland. (The scientific
name is Fidonia atomaria )

216. The Bordered White (Fidonia piniaria), mak
216. THE BORDERED WHITE. — The antennae
of the male are strongly pectinated, indeed
quite plumose; those of the female simple;
male with a large triangular space at the

GEOMETERS.

s,pex 01 tne fore wings occupying almost
half the wing, brown-black ; the same colour
occupies the inner and costal margins, but is
mixed with yellowish markings, and therefore
not of so dark a hue ; the rest of the wing
is white or yellow-white, an elongate brown
blotch extending from the base of the
wing to the middle of this yellow space,
and there emitting two divaricating lines,
•which join the brown apical space ; the
fringe is alternately brown and pale yellow ;
the hind wings have the costal portion and
the hind margin dark brown ; the middle of
the wing is pale yellow with two transverse

The Bordered White (male), underside.

brown lines and numerous small and irregu-
larly sprinkled brown spots ; the head,
thorax, and body are marbled with brown
and yellow-white. Female, orange-brown ;

The Bordered White, female.

the costal margin of the fore wings brown,
with two faint transverse bars of the same
colour, both of them obscure ; the first
crosses the wing near the middle ; the second
commences at the costa and crosses before the
middle of the wing ; the fringe is alternately
brown and gray-white ; the hind wings are of
the same colour as the fore, and have two very
indistinct transverse brown bands; the fringe
is white, slightly interrupted with white spots.

The EGGS are oblong, and laid in a row on
the needles of the Scotch fir.

The CATEEPILLAH is whitish green ; the
dorsal line rather broad, white; sub-dorsal line
pale bluish- white ; spiracular line yellow ;
spiracles orange; belly streaked longitudinally

with light and dark green ; head rather large
in proportion to the body ; the segments are
conspicuously marked with pale whitish-
green.

The MOTH appears on the wing in April and
May, and is not uncommon in fir-plantations
in England and Scotland ; but Mr. Birchall
did not find it in Ireland. (The scientific
name is Fidona piniaria.)

217. The Rannoch Geometer (Fidonia pinetaria).

217. THE RANNOCH-LOOPER. — The antennae
are slightly pectinated in the male, simple in
the female; the fore wings are of a burnt-sienna
brown colour, having three umber-brown,
transverse, slightly waved lines, and between
the outermost of these and the hind margin
is a fourth transverse line slightly indicated,
and conspicuous only at the costal margin ;
the hind wings are rather paler and more
yellow in their hue, and have two transverse
lines less distinct than those on the fore wings :
the fringe is of the same colour as the wings,
as are also the head, thorax, and body. The
underside of the moth is of a brighter and
yellower colour than the upper side, and has
the lines more distinct.

I have not seen the CATERPILLAR, which is
described by Treitsche as feeding on the
bilberry ; and being of a reddish tint, with
white stripes on the back, and a yellow stripe
on the sides.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June and
July, and has hitherto only been found on
Scotch heaths, where it is abundant. (The
scientific name is Fidonia pinetaria.)

218. The Frosted Yellow (Fidonia conspicuata) .

218. The FROSTED YELLOW. — The antennae
of the r~^i are strongly pectinated; those of

BRITISH MOTHS.

the female simple : the fore wings are orange-
yellow, with the hind margin black-brown;
the costal margin is also sprinkled with the
same black-brown colour ; the orange-yellow
and brown being in nearly equal proportions;
the middle of the wing and the inner margin
are entirely of the orange-yellow colour and
unspotted; the hind wings are of a dingy
orange-brown, the margins thickly sprinkled
with darker brown; the head and thorax are
brown; the body variegated with yellow-gray
and dark brown. The underside of the fore
wings is dull orange, sprinkled transversely
with short dark brown lines ; the underside
of the hind wings is variegated with orange
and brown, and has six direct, longitudinal,
silver stripes, the third and sixth of which
extend from the hind margin to the base of
the wing.

The CATERPILLAR if undisturbed rests in a
straight posture, but if touched or annoyed
assumes a curved position; its head is rather
wider than the body, stretched forward, and
divided on the crown; body uniformly cylin-
drical without warts or humps ; head slightly
shining, pale brown, with black markings,
emitting about thirty short, slender, but rigid
hairs; body greenish smoke-colour, striped
longitudinally, and emitting short scattered
hairs; a narrow stripe down the middle of the
back smoke-coloured; on each side of this is a
pair of very narrow, waved, approximate
stripes also smoke-coloured on a greenish
ground; then on each side of the body a broad
blackish stripe ; then a very distinct and con-
spicuous yellow stripe which encloses the
spiracles ; the belly has a pale stripe along the
middle, and the space between this and the
bright lateral stripe is greenish smoke-colon red,
traversed by very slender pale waved stripes.
These insects pass ten days in the egg state,
and the caterpillars are full fed about the
end of August, feeding on the common broom
(Cytisus scopa/rius).

The MOTH occurs plentifully in Suffolk, in a
few localities only, and flies in July ; it is
unknown in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Fidonia conspicuata.)

219. The Drab Geometer (Minoa euphorliata) .

219. THE DRAB GEOMETER. — The antennae
of the male are very slightly pubescent ; those
of the female simple : all the wings are of a
uniform delicate drab, perfectly without mark-
ings : the head, thorax, and body are of the
same colour.

The CATERPILLAR has a bright red head, and
either a bright green or smoky brown body,
with a darker but interrupted medio-dorsal
stripe, and a series of bright yellow spots on
each side; it may be found throughout the
autumn in our Kentish woods on the cypress
spurge (Euphorbia cyparissias), on which it
feeds : when full fed it descends to the ground,
and forms a little cell on the surface, com-
posed of earth and silk, in which it changes to
a CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH appears in June, and is not un-
common in woods in the south of England, but
has not been observed in Scotland or Ireland.
(The scientific name is Minoa euphorbiata.)

220. The Black -Veined (Scoria dealbafa).

220. THE BLACK- VEINED.— The antennse are
simple in both sexes : all the wings, as well
as the head, thorax, and body, are white, with
a tinge of gray ; the antennae, eyes, and costal
margin of the fore wings black : all the wing-
rays are also tinged with smoke colour, and
there is an extremely slender black line round
all the wings, just within the fringe. Beneath,
the wing-rays, as well as margins of all the
wings, are black, and the fore wings have a
crescent-shaped black mark near the middle,
and a narrow smoke-coloured band parallel
with the hind margin,

GEOMETERS.

The Black-veined, underside.

The EGOS are laid on various grasses at the
end of June ; they are of a deep bright orange-
colour when deposited, but become almost
black before they are hatched, which event
usually takes place about the middle of July :
the young CATERPILLARS feed freely on knot
grass : they continue to grow slowly until they
are somewhat more than an inch in length,
when they retire for the winter, concealing
themselves among the stems of grasses, &c.,
which appear to be their favourite resort. They
now are long and slender, and rest on the knot-
grass, attached by the claspers only, the body
being held semi-erect ; a slight bend occurs at
the ventral claspers, and another at the third
pair of feet, the intervening segments forming
an elliptic arch ; the head is porrected on a
plane with the body, and the three pairs of
feet are directed forwards, but not crowded
together ; when touched, shaken, or otherwise
irritated, the anterior segments are bent down-
wards and contorted until they almost form a
ring : head flat, porrect, exserted, of the same
width as the anterior segments : body very
slightly incrassated from the fourth to the
tenth or eleventh segment, transversely
wrinkled, and having a longitudinal lateral
skinfold, which, by increasing the width of the
caterpillar when stretched at full length, gives
it a slightly depressed appearance ; the anal
flap is deltoid, its apex terminating in a few
bristle-like hairs, which are directed backwards :
head and body putty-coloured, striped longi-
tudinally, the stripes varying only in intensity
of colour : a dark and very narrow medio-dorsal
stripe extends from the head to the tip of the
anal flap ; this is darker at the anal extremity,
and is not perfectly uniform in width, but ex-
pands and contracts here and there in its
course : this narrow stripe is intersected by a
median, thread-like, paler stripe : on each side
of the medio-dorsal stripe is a paler and

broader stripe, containing a single series ot
black dots, and being also longitudinally inter-
sected throughout by two thread-like rivulet
markings of a slightly darker hue ; each of
these pale stripes unites with the pale lateral
margin of the anal flap ; adjoining each pale
stripe is a darker stripe of similar width, and
this is longitudinally intersected by three paler
thread-like lines. Of these the middle one is
the most distinct : adjoining this La a paler
stripe, comprising the skinfold and spiracles ;
this commences behind the head, and termi-
nates in the anal claspers : below the pale
skinfold is a broader dark stripe, commencing
behind the head, and terminating in the
ventral claspers; this also is longitudinally,
but very indistinctly, intersected with paler
threads : ventral surface pale, longitudinally
intersected by three dark stripes, each of which
is double, or again intersected by a median pale
threadlike stripe ; these three ventral stripes
commence at the third pair of feet, and termi-
nate at the ventral claspers : legs and claspers
with the same shade of colour as the body.
After hybernation these caterpillars begin to
feed about the middle of April, and are full fed
by the middle of May, when each spins a
delicate yellow shuttle-shaped cocoon, attached
longitudinally to a culm of grass.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
is very common in one or two localities in
Kent ; it is unknown elsewhere in England or
Scotland, but has been found by Mr. Birchall
in Ireland. (The scientific name is Scoria
dealbata. )

221. The Purple -barred Yellow (Lythria purpurcvria) ,
males.

221. THE PURPLE-BARRED YELLOW. —.The
antennae of the male are strongly pectinated,
almost plumose, the pectinations long and
rather distant ; those oi' the female are only
pubescent : the fore wings are olive-yellow,
with the fringe and two or three transverse
bauds, neither of which quite reaches the inner

96

BRITISH MOTHS.

margin, of a vinous rose-colour ; the first of

The Purple-barred "Xellow, female and male.

these bands is slightly bent, the second is
oblique, but not bent : the hind wings are of
a deep dingy fulvous colour, with rose-coloured
fringe, and having the white of the base and
the inner margin suffused with darker olive.

The back of the CATERPILLAR is either dull
green or of the same vinous rose-colour as the
perfect insect, with a darker medio-dorsal
stripe : the belly is brighter green, the two
colours being very distinctly separated : the
head, feet, and claspers are of the same colour
as the body. It feeds on the various species
of polygonum and dock. I know of no moth
more variable than this ; it seems a perfect
Proteus, capable of assuming any size or
colour : it is very Common on dry hills on the
continent of Europe, and occurs also in Scot-
land and the north of England, flying by day,
but has not been taken in any abundance in
either locality, and has not been found in Ire-
land. (The scientific name is Lythria pur-
pur aria.}

222. The Vestal (Sterrha sacraria) .

222. THE VESTAL. — The antennae of the
male are slightly pectinated for above three-
quarters of their length, then simple to the
extremity ; those of the female are simple
throughout ; the fore wings are pointed, and
of a delicate canary-yellow with the costal
margin at the base pink, and a very beautiful
and very distinct oblique pink stripe, begin-
ning at the point of the wing and ending at
the middle of the inner margin, before reachiug
which it almost disappears.

The CATERPILLAR has been described by two
excellent observers : first by M. Millie're, in

France ; and secondly by Mr. Hellins, in
England.

The EGGS are laid in August, on several
kinds of dock and camomile, on the leaves
of which the caterpillar feeds in a state of
nature, but in confinement it has been success-
fully fed upon the common knot-grass. The
egg is very long, oval, and ornamented with
rows of hexagonal network ; its colour at first
is pale greenish-yellow, changing in a day or
two to bright coral-red, and again, a few hours
before the emergence of the caterpillar, to a
smoky-gray. When full grown, the cater-
pillar is about an inch in length, slender,
cylindrical, and tapering gradually towards
the head, which is rather flat and wide ; it
rests with the back slightly raised, but if
annoyed it curls up the anterior part of the
body. The ground colour is green or blue-
green, the posterior segments yellowish-green,
the belly whitish-green, the head brownish-
red with a pale stripe on each lobe, bordered
above with brighter red, and below with
darker brown; the body has a slender, pale,
medio-dorsal stripe, bordered throughout more
or less distinctly with bright rust or deep red
colour, which at the incisions of all the seg-
ments after the fifth, expands into the form of
a letter V, the apex pointing towards the head
of the caterpillar ; each of these marks
encloses a three-cornered yellowish-white spot;
the anal flap and ventral claspers are tinged
with purplish-pink; the regions of the spiracles
is yellowish-green, which becomes a stripe op
the second, third, fourth, eleventh, twelfth,
and thirteenth segments, and runs into the
anal claspers. The CHRYSALIS is long and
slender, the head-case projecting and narrower
than the body ; the wing-cases are widely
separated and reach to the middle of the
chrysalis ; the antennae-cases extend between
the wing-cases ; colour pale yellowish-olive ;
head and wing-cases pale olive-green, finely
outlined with black. The chrysalis is en-
closed in a fine open network cocoon of
yellow silk, fastened between the stems of
the food plant.

The MOTHS fly by day, and appear on the
wing in July, August, and October ; those ot

GEOMETEES.

97

October are certainly a second brood. It
occurs very sparingly in the south of Eng-
land, and Mr. Birchall records the occur-
rence of one specimen in Ireland in 1864.
I ought to add, that from the singular
varieties of this moth bred from the egg
by the Eev. John Hellins, I am inclined to
think it comprises many of the so-called
species described by continental entomolo-
gists as distinct, such, for instance, as
Sanguinaria of Esper, Labdaria of Cramer,
Eosearia of Treitschke, &c., &c. (The
scientific name is Sterrha sacraria.*)

223. The Grass Wave (Aspilates strigillaria).

223. THE GRASS WAVE. — The antennae
of the male are pectinated throughout their
length ; those of the female are simple ; the
margin of the hind wing is slightly scal-
loped. All the wings are gray, sprinkled
with innumerable dots, each consisting of a
single scale, of a dark brown colour ; the
fore wings have three pale, but distinct,
very oblique brown bars ; and the hind
wings have three transverse bars of the
same colour; the head, thorax, and body
are gray.

The EGO of this moth is laid in the
autumn on the common ling (Calluna vul-
garis), on which plant the CATERPILLAR feeds.
This is very small at the approach of win-
ter, and then hybernates at the roots of
heath and grass ; in the spring it feeds
again, and when full-fed, in April and May,
it rests in nearly a straight posture, but
falls from its food, and feigns death when
touched or disturbed ; the head is stretched
forward, simple, and undivided on the
crown, and is rather narrower than the
body; the body is uniformly cylindrical,
emitting here and there, throughout its
length, short black bristles ; it has two
small dorsal warts on the eighth segment ;
two larger and nipple-shaped humps on the
ninth segment, and two still smaller excres-

cences on the tenth segment, besides many
other minute warts on different parts of
the body ; on the thirteenth segment,
immediately above the anal claspers and
below the anal aperture, are two points
directed backwards. The colours are very
obscure gray-brown of different shades,
producing a somewhat mottled appearance,
and the lighter colour assuming the form of
narrow longitudinal stripes. It spins a
slight web among the twigs of its food-
plant, and therein changes to a CHRYSALIS.
The MOTH, which is common on heaths in
the south of England, appears on the wing
about midsummer. It is very abundant in
Ireland. (The scientific name is Aspilates
strigillaria.)

224. The Yellow Belle (Aspilatet citraria).

224. THE YELLOW BELLE. — The antennae
of the male are pectinated throughout their
length ; those of the female are simple ; the
fore wings are yellow, obscurely spotted with
purplish brown, and having two transverse
lines of the same colour ; the first of these
is short and somewhat scalloped, the second
is somewhat bent and more oblique ; be-
tween these transverse lines is a spot of the
same colour ; hind wings paler, almost
white, with a transverse waved gray line
extending from the costal margin two-thirds
of the way to the inner margin ; there is a
round spot of the same pale colour in the
middle of the wing ; the shaft of the an-
tennae is white, the fringe black : the eyes
are black, the head and thorax yellow, the
body white.

The insect is double-brooded ; the eggs
of the first brood are laid about the 20th of
August, and probably during the ensuing
fortnight, and those of the second brood are
deposited in May on the wild carrot, bii'd's-
foot trefoil, and several other plants : the
young caterpillar of this second brood
emerges about the 17th of June, and is
full-fed at the end of July : it rests in a

98

BKITISH MOTHS.

slightly bent posture, with the anterior ex-
tremity raised, and on being touched or
annoyed it suddenly tucks in its head, and
the anterior extremity assumes the form of
an Ionic volute ; in this posture it remains
until the apprehended danger has passed.
Head rather narrower than the body, slightly
notched on the crown, body of uniform sub-
stance throughout, without humps, but
having the skin delicately shagreened ; the
thirteenth segment has below the anal flap
two long, conical, acute points directed
backwards. Head and body putty- coloured,
with numerous narrow, waved, longitudinal
stripes of a darker tint ; of these the more
conspicuous are five in number and approx-
imate ; the middle one, double during a
part of its course, is darker towards the
head, where the others are less conspicuous
and paler ; the spiracles are dark brown.
On or about the 1st of August it changes
in a very slight cocoon among the leaves of
its food-plant ; the CHETSALIS is rather
slender, and much attenuated at the anal
extremity ; it is beautifully variegated with
two colours, wainscot-brown as the ground
colour, and dark umber-brown, approaching
to black, for the ornamentation ; this is
disposed in oblique stripes on the wing-
cases, leg-cases, and antenna-cases ; in rings
on the abdominal segments, and in diversi-
fied markings on the thorax and body.

The MOTH appears on the wing in the
middle of May and middle of August at
Plymouth, on the south coast of England,
arid at Powerscourt, in Ireland, but has not
been taken in Scotland. (The scientific
name is Aspilates citraria.)

225. The Straw Belle (Aspilates gttvaria).

225. THE STRAW BELLE. — The antennse
of the male are strongly pectinated through-
out their length ; those of the female are
simple ; the fore wings are pale yellow, with

many brown dots, and an oblique transverse
pale brown line between the point of the
wing and the middle of the inner margin,
but not quite reaching either ; between this
line and the costal margin is a spot of the
same colour ; the hind wings are paler than
the fore wings, and almost without mark-
ings ; the shaft of the antennse is pale
yellow, the fringe brown, the eyes are black ;
the head and thorax are pale yellow, the
body nearly white.

The CATERPILLAR is putty-coloured, with
a tendency to a rosy tint in some speci-
mens ; it has no well-marked medio-dorsal
stripe, but two lateral stripes on each side,
both of them reddish brown ; the thirteenth
segment has, below the anal flap, two long
conical acute points directed backwards ; it
feeds on the common yarrow (AcMllea
millefolium) throughout June.

The MOTH appears in August in the
southern counties of England and at Powers-
court and in the county G-alway in Ireland,
but has not been noticed in Scotland. (Tho
scientific name is Aspilates gilvaria.)

226. The Currant Moth (Abraxas grossulariata).

226. THE CURRANT MOTH. — The antennse
of the male are very slightly pubescent, those
of the female perfectly simple ; the fore
wings are white, with a yellow blotch at the
base, and a yellow, bent, transverse band
beyond the middle. There are numerous
black blotches, or markings on several parts
of the wing. The situation, size, and num-
ber of these markings are so liable to varia-
tion, that it is impossible to frame a
description that shall serve for every speci-
men ; but I will describe their more general
character. There are five black blotches
on the costal margin, the first of which is
enclosed in the yellow blotch at the base of

GEOMETERS.

99

the wing ; the second and third are oblong
blotches ; both the fourth and the fifth
commence a transverse band of blotches,
which border the yellow band already de-
scribed, and on the hind margin itself are
seven black spots, which extend into the
white fringe, which is thus made alternately
black and white ; the hind wings are white,
with two transverse bands of black spots,
the first near the middle, the second on the
hind margin : these are the principal mark-
ings, but there are always a few others ; the
head is black, the thorax is yellow, with a
black spot in the middle, and another
smaller one at the base of each wing ; the
body is yellow, with a row of black spots
down the back, one row down each side,
and two rows down the belly. This moth
is so subject to vary, that it has been thought
best to figure several remarkable varieties,
which are in the rich cabinet of Mr. Greg-
son, of Liverpool, to whose great kindness
I am indebted for the opportunity of
enriching the work with these illustrations.

I have seen the females of this species
busily engaged in oviposition, not only in
the evening, but even in the middle of a
warm summer's day, depositing a single
egg on a leaf of gooseberry or black currant,
and then flying off to another. I once
counted ten females simultaneously occu-
pied in this manner along a garden wall
less than eighty yards in length.

Like the EGOS of most diurnal Lepidop-
tera they remain but a short time before
hatching ; the young CATEEPILLAE feeds for
two, three, or four weeks, rarely longer, and
then spins together the edges of a goose-
berry leaf, having first taken the precaution
of making the leaf fast to its twig by
numerous silken cables, which prevent the
possibility of its falling when dehiscence

takes place in the autumn ; im the little
cradle thus fabricated, the infant caterpillar
sleeps as securely and as fearlessly as the

sailor in his hammock ; snow-storms and
wintry winds are matters of indifference to
him ; but no sooner have the gooseberry-
bushes begun to assume their livery of green
in the spring, than instinct informs him
that food is prepared to satisfy his appetite ;
so he cuts an opening in his pensile cradle,
emerges, and begins to eat. The full-fed
caterpillar commonly rests in a straight
posture, lying parallel with the branch; but
when annoyed he elevates his back, and
tucks in his head until it is brought into
contact with the abdominal claspers ; if the
annoyance be continued, he drops from his
food, hanging by a thread, rarely falling to
the ground ; but when this is the case, he
is bent double, and remains a long time in
that posture. Head rather small, prone,
partially retractile into the second segment,
scarcely notched on the crown ; body of
uniform thickness, without excrescences.
Head emitting n few strong black hairs,
intensely black, with the exception of the
clypeus and base of the antennal papillae,
which are white ; body cream-coloured, with
a reddish-orange lateral stripe below the
spiracles ; this is conspicuous on the fifth,

sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth segments,
but less so at each extremity ; the whole of
the second segment, and the ventral surface

100

BRITISH MOTHS.

of the third, fourth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth,
and thirteenth segments, is of the same
orange-red colour as the lateral stripe ;
alc/ng the middle of the back is a series of
large, but irregular, black spots ; these are
generally three in number, two amorphous,
transversely placed, and small, the third
trapezoid, much larger, and quite as broad
as the other two ; they assume an altered
form on the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth
segments ; below these is a series of small
streak-like black spots, and again below
those, but above the lateral orange stripe,
is an irregular series of rather large amor-
phous black spots.; below the orange stripe
is an interrupted black stripe on each side,
and on the belly are two distinct and con-
tinuous black stripes ; legs black ; claspers

blotched with black. Feeds in gardens on
the gooseberry and black currant, and more
rarely on the red currant, greatly preferring
those trees of all three species when trained
against a wall ; in woods and hedges it may
be found on black-thorn, which I believe to
be its natural food ; it is full-fed in May,
when it spins a very slight and perfectly
transparent cocoon, in which it fastens itself
by the tail and changes to a chrysalis, the
web or cocoon in no way hiding the CHRYS-
ALIS, which at first is entirely yellow, but
soon becomes black and glabrous, with
seven yellow bands, three of which, the
first, second, and third are dorsal only ; the
others are complete circles ; the tail ter-
minates in three or more very distinct hooks,
which constitute its means of attachment to
the interior of the cocoon.

The MOTH appears on the wing about mid-
summer, and is only too common in all our
gardens, both in England and Ireland. (The
scientific name is Abraxas grossulariata.)

227. The Clouded Magpie (Abraxas ulmata).

227. THE CLOUDED MAGPIE. — The an-
tennae of the male are almost simple, having
a very slight and almost imperceptible
pubescence; those of the female are per-
fectly simple ; the fore wings are white,
with a large yellow-brown blotch at the base ;
and another similar blotch on the inner
margin near the anal angle ; in each of
these large blotches is a silvery cloud, com-
posed of scattered silvery scales ; beside
these principal markings there are other
dark-gray spots and blotches, the largest of
which is on the costal margin, and at two-
thirds of the distance between the base and
the tip ; hind wings white, with a large
yellow-brown blotch on the inner margin,
having a silvery cloud in it like the blotches
in the fore wings ; there are several dark-
gray spots on the wing, some of which
form a transverse band across the middle ;
head and thorax brown ; body yellow, with
a row of black spots down the back, two
rows down each side, and two rows down
the belly.

The CATERPILLAR is beautifully figured by
Sepp, and its life-history given with great
minuteness and accuracy ; its head is black,
its body gray, inclining to blue on the sides,
and covered with black dots, which are
arranged in series ; it has a yellow stripe
on each side, in the region of the spiracles ;
it feeds on elm during the autumn.

The MOTH appears in June and July, and
is very common in the south-west and some
of the midland counties of England, and
has been taken in the county Wicklow, in
Ireland, by Mr. Bristow. (The scientific
name is Abraxas ulmata ; it is also the
Abraxas pantaria of all British authors, but
not of continental ones, who give that name
to a totally different species.)

GEOMETEKS.

228. The Scorched Carpet (Ligdia adustata).

228. THE SCORCHED CARPET. — Antennae
of the male almost simple ; those of the
female quite so ; the fore wings are white,
with a large blotch at the base, and abroad
transverse band beyond the middle, of a
rich purple-brown ; the band is very much
bent ; halfway between the blotch and the
band are several short transverse marks of
the same colour; and beyond the band,
that is, nearer to the hind margin, are other
similar markings ; on the margin itself is a
row of brown spots ; the hind wings are
white, with three waved scalloped brown
bands, of a very pale brown colour, within
which, that is, nearer the base, is a central
brown spot; there are also a number of
brown spots, more or less delicately marked,
near the inner margin ; the head and thorax
are dark brown, the body dingy white.

The CATERPILLAR is described by Guenee
as being of a beautiful green colour, and
having the head, the ventral claspers, and
some lateral spots on the sixth and seventh
segments of a deep red, mixed with yellow ;
the tenth and eleventh segments have also
yellow patches spotted with red. It feeds
on the skewer-wood (Euonymus europseus)
in May and June.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June
and July, and is rather common in England,
and in the counties of Wicklow and Galway
in Ireland. (The scientific name is Ligdia
adustata.)

229. The Clouded Border (Lomaspilis marginata).

229. THE CLOUDED BORDER. — The an-
tennae of the male are almost simple ; those

of the female quite so. All the wings are
white, with smoky-black borders, the outer
edge of which is bounded by the margin
of the wing, but the inner edge is variously

indented with the white, which, in the fore
wings, runs up in two places nearly to the
costa ; the hind wings have usually a median
belt of black spots. The head, thorax, and
abdomen are smoky-black. An extremely
variable insect, scarcely two specimens being
alike in the distribution of the black mark-
ings ; four figures are given to show the
extent and character of the variations. In
the first of these there is a transverse black
band crossing the middle of every wing;

in a second, this band is continuous only
on the hind wings, and in the other two
there is scarcely any black in the hind wings ;
indeed, it would be impossible, from an in-
spection of the hind wings only, to form
any opinion as to the species to which these
specimens belong.

The CATERPILLAR is of a dark-green colour,
with slender medio-dorsal and lateral stripes,
which are sometimes yellow and sometimes
white ; there is a broader pale stripe along
the spiracles ; the head is green, with two

black spots on the face ; the legs and claspers
are green. It feeds on many species of
willow, more particularly on the common
sallow (Salix caprsea).

The MOTH appears on the wing in May,
June, July, and August, and is very abun-

10-2

BEITISH MOTHS.

dant in England and Ireland, but I have
not seen Scotch specimens. (The scientific
name is Lomaspilis marginata.)

230. The Horse-chestnut (Pachycncmia hippocsata-
naria).

230. THE HORSE-CHESTNUT. — The an-
tennae are almost simple in the male as well
as the female ; the fore wings long and
narrow, like those of the genus Lithosia ;
the hind wings are rounded ; the fore wings
are brown, with a very slight tendency to
purple, and have two narrow transverse
pale bars, both of them indistinct ; the first
of these bars is near the base of the wing,
and of a crescentic form ; the second is
almost parallel with the hind margin ; be-
tween these two bars is a central dark spot ;
the hind wings are pale smoky-brown ; the
head and thorax are of the same colour as
the fore wings ; the abdomen of the same
colour as the hind wings.

The CATERPILLAR is sometimes found in
great abundance by sweeping the heath in
the heath-field at West Wickhain. It has
a very broad head, and a cylindrical body,
of a dingy olive-green colour. I had a large
number of these caterpillars brought to me
in 1857, but unfortunately lost them during
a temporary absence from home.

The MOTH appears in May, on the heaths
of Surrey, Sussex, and Hampshire, but I
have not heard of its occurrence in the
midland or northern counties of England,
in Scotland, or in Ireland ; in France, a
second brood makes its appearance at the
end of June. (The scientific name is
Pachycnemia hippocastanaria.)

Obs. The natural position of this species
among the Geometrse seems extremely doubt-
ful ; its nearest allies appear to me to be
the species of Chesias hereafter to be de-
scribed ; but Guenee thinks it has no
characters in common with them except the
elongated form of its fore wings. Herrich-
Schaeffer points out its resemblance to the

genera Lithosia and Nola, and even to
Sarrothripa Reayana, a moth belonging to
an entirely different section of the Lepidop-
tera. Both the English and scientific name
are very inappropriate to an insect which
in neither of its states has any connection
with the horse-chestnut.

231. The Early Moth (Hybemia rupicapraria).

231. THE EARLY MOTH. — The au-ennse
of the male are slightly pectinated ; those
of the female simple ; the fore wings of
the male are ample, of a dark-brown colour,
and having two transverse lines still darker ;
the outer and longer of these has a pale
exterior margin ; between these transverse
lines is a conspicuous dark spot placed
transversely between them ; hind wings
very pale, with a nearly median transverse
line which is parallel to the semicircular
margin ; in the middle of the area enclosed
by this line is a spot of similar tint. The
wings of the female are very short, and cut
off obliquely at the hind margin, as repre-
sented in the lower figure ; these are palish
brown, with a darker central band.

The EGGS are laid in February, on the
trunks and twigs of whitethorn, blackthorn,
and less commonly of oak.

The CATERPILLARS emerge in April, and,
wandering among the twigs, are ready to
begin eating as soon as the leaves expand :
they grow rapidly, and have attained their
full size by the end of May or beginning
of June. The full-fed caterpillar generally
rests with both feet and claspers attached
to the food-plant, and the back arched. The
head and body are of nearly equal width,
the head not conspicuously notched on the
crown ; the body velvety and without humps
or warts. In colour the variation is extreme ;

GEOMETERS.

103

the head usually semi-transparent apple-
green ; the more usual colour of the body
glaucous-green, approaching to white on the
dorsal, and to apple-green on the ventral
surface ; the white appearance of the back
is partially due to the presence of whitish
stripes, of which the more conspicuous pair
extend on each side from the head to the
anal extremity, and divide the dorsal area
into three nearly equal parts ; the other
white markings are irregularly arranged in
waved linear series, often imparting a re-
ticulated appearance to the surface ; at each
interstice of the segments adjoining the
principal white stripes are blotches of darker
or olive-green. It is full-fed by the end of
May, and then descends to the ground, and
turns to a CHRYSALIS in a slight web on the
surface.

The MOTH is very abundant in January
and the first half of February; it seems
to brave the coldest weather, and is common
in England, Scotland, and Ireland. (The
scientific name is Hybernia rupicapraria.)

232. The Spring Usher (Hybernia leucophearia).

232. THE SPRING USHER. — The antennae
of the male are slightly pectinated, those of
the female simple ; the wings of the male
are long and rather narrow ; they are very
variable, some being dark brown with a
central whitish bar, as represented in the
lower figure, and having a row of roundish
pale spots parallel with the hind margin ;
others are pale, with numerous dark trans-
verse waved lines, as shown in the upper
figure ; the hind wings are pale, and

sprinkled with dark dots. The female
is almost without wings.

The EGGS are laid by the female on the
trunks and branches of oak in March.

The CATERPILLARS emerge towards the
end of April or beginning of May, and as
soon as the leaves expand fasten them
loosely together, forming a little domicile
for concealment from the prying eyes of
birds, which at this season are constantly
on the look-out for caterpillars with which
to feec1 fheir young. They are full-grown
in June. Head narrower than the body,
body obese, transversely wrinkled and
verrucose, having also a manifest lateral
skinfold. Colour infinitely varied. They
change to CHRYSALIS on the surface of the
earth.

The MOTH appears on the wing in Febru-
ary and March, and is common everywhere
in England and Ireland. (The scientific
name is Hybernia leucophearia.)

233. The Scarce Umber (Hybernia aurantiaria').

233. THE SCARCE UMBER. — The antennae
of the male are pectinated, the pectinations
long, slender, and bent ; those of the female
are simple ; the wings of the male are
ample, the fore wings orange-ochreous, with
three darker transverse lines, the first and
second of which are near the base, oblique,
direct, and short ; the third is beyond the
middle, oblique, and angled near the middle;
there is a dark spot between the second and
third line, and also an oblique transverse
series of spots between the third line and
the hind margin ; the hind wings are paler,
and have a slightly darker transverse line
beyond the middle, and a central spot be-
tween this and the base. The female has
mere stumps of wings, which are darker-

104

BEITISH MOTHS.

coloured than those of the male, and have
two brown transverse bars on each ; the
body is orange-brown with two dark brown
spots on each segment.

The CATERPILLAR has been described by
Mr. Hornby : when first hatched it is of a
deep yellow colour, which grows gradually
darker until it becomes nearly black, ex-
cepting a naedio-dorsal yellow stripe : when
full-fed it is dusky greenish-black, with a
light-brown medio-dorsal stripe ; it feeds
chiefly by night on the leaves of the white-
thorn, and also occasionally on birch and
oak, and spins a slight cocoon on the sur-
face of the earth before changing to a
CHRYSALIS, which is of a reddish-brown
colour, with a dark medio-dorsal stripe. It
is to be found in May and June.

The MOTH appears on the wing in Octo-
ber and November, and is not uncommon
in most of our English counties. Mr.
Birchall says it is common in Ireland. (The
scientific name is Hybernia aurantiaria.)

234. The Dotted Border (ffybernia progemmaria).

234. THE DOTTED BORDER. — The an-
tennse of the male are slightly pectinated,
of the female quite simple ; the wings of
the male are ample, those of the female
very short and incapable of flight ; the fore
wings of the male are pale reddish-brown,
with three transverse darker lines ; the
first and second of these are very short,
and near the base of the wing ; the third
is much longer, more oblique, and bent to-
wards the hind margin, at a third of the
distance from the costa ; beyond this the
ground colour of the wing is darker, and
between the second and third lines is a
dark, transversely-linear spot ; on the hind
margin, but within the fringe, is a series of
distinct dark dots ; the hind wings are pale,
with a dark central spot, and a waved line
outside the spot; the short wings of the

female are pale brown, with two darker
bars across the fore, and one across the
hind wings.

The CATERPILLAR is full-grown in May,
when it rests in nearly a straight position,
generally holding to its food-plant by both
feet and claspers ; the head is senii-porrect,
and broader than the body ; the body is
of uniform substance throughout, without
prominent warts or excrescences, but each
segment bears a few scattered bristles, each
bristle seated on an extremely minute wart ;
the colour of the head is generally brown,
sometimes inclined to yellow ; it has two
indistinct paler bars across the face ; the
colour of the body is extremely various,
but the prevailing shade always brown;
the middle of the back generally paler, and
forming a broad stripe ; on each side is also
a pale stripe, which includes the black and
shining spiracles ; this stripe is generally
continuous, but sometimes divided, and then
forms a series of pale spots. I have found
these caterpillars in great abundance feed-
ing on hornbeam in Epping Forest. They
turn to CHRYSALIS just below the surface of
the earth between the 24th of May and
1st June ; the chrysalis is brown and
shining.

The MOTH does not appear on the wing
until the following February and March. It
is common in Great Britain and Ireland.
(The scientific name is Hybernia progem-
maria.)

235. The Mottled Umber (Hybernia defoliaria) male,
variety of male, and female.

235. THE MOTTLED UMBER. — The an-
tennae are pectinated in the male, simple in
the female ; the wings are ample in the
male, of a pale wainscot-brown colour, with
two dark brown bands ; the first of these
is short, crescent-shaped, and near the base •-

GEOMETEES.

105

the second is bent, angled, irregular, and
beyond the middle ; between them is a dark
spot near the middle of the wing ; the hind
wings are rather paler, and have a brown
spot near the middle ; all the wings are
more or less sprinkled with brown dots ;
this is the more common colouring of the
insect, and is represented in the preceding
column, but is very subject to vary, and is
sometimes of a uniform reddish-brown,
freckled all over with minute dots, as re-
presented in this column ; the wings of the
female are so short and small as to be
almost invisible. The body is of a wain-
scot-brown colour, with two very conspicu-
ous dark spots on the back of each seg-
ment.

The CATEEPILLAB, when full-fed, rests in
a curved position ; does not tuck in its head,
or feign death, but when disturbed by the
entomologist or otherwise, falls from its
leaf or twig, and hangs by a thread eighteen
inches or two feet in length, and, thus sus-
pended, will swing for hours in the gentle
breezes we sometimes have at the end of
May after the east winds have taken their
departure. This suspension seems to be
sometimes a voluntary and recreational per-
formance, for in passing through the
woods I have sometimes seen thou-
sands upon thousands of these beauti-
ful caterpillars thus dangling in mid-
air, and not unfrequently swinging them-
selves into my mouth and eyes. The head
is rather large, and not notched on the
crown ; the body is uniformly cylindrical,
and without humps ; the head is without
gloss, and brown ; the body has a broad
dorsal area, of a clear brown colour ; this
area is bounded on each side by a very dis-
tinct, but narrow, waved, black stripe, and
is also adorned with gray markings, which
are particularly conspicuous at the inter-
stices of the segments where they approach

the black boundary stripe ; below the
boundary stripe the body is bright yellow ;
the spiracles are white, and the region sur-
rounding each spiracle brown ; the belly is
greenish-yellow ; legs and claspers pale. A
beautiful but very abundant caterpillar. It
feeds on hornbeam, whitethorn, blackthorn,
hazel, oak, and many other trees, and is
full-fed at the middle of June, when it
changes to a CHRYSALIS on the surface of
the earth.

The MOTH appears in October, and is
very common in England and Ireland.
(The scientific name is Hybernia defoliaria.)

236. The March Moth (Anisopteryx cescularia).

236. THE MARCH MOTH. — The antennae
of the male are pectinated, but not strongly
so ; those of the female simple : the wings
of the male are ample, those of the female
wanting; the fore wings of the male are
rather long and rather pointed, of a dingy
brown colour, with a pale zigzag transverse
line beyond the middle ; on the inner
margin of this line the ground colour of the
wing is darker, and near the base of the
wing is a shorter transverse line, the outer
margin of which is bordered with a
darker ground colour ; there is a shorter,
transverse, dark spot between these two
lines ; the hind wings are paler, with a dark
central spot, and a faint zigzag line just
beyond this spot. The wingless female is
brown, and has a conspicuous tuft at the
extremity of the abdomen.

The CATERPILLAR feeds on the. elm, oak,
lime, whitethorn, and blackthorn ; its head
and body are of a pale clouded green colour,
with a whitish stripe on each side, and a
brighter and more distinct pale line in the
region of the spiracles.

The MOTH appears on the wing in April,
and is abundant in Great Britain and Ire-
land. (The scientific name is Anisopteryx
sescularia.)

106

BEITISH MOTHS.

237. The Winter Moth (Chimatobia brumata).

237. THE WINTER MOTH. — The antennae
in both sexes are nearly simple ; the fore
wings of the male are rounded, and of a
grayish-brown colour, tinged with ochreous,
and having several narrow transverse waved
bars, which in some specimens are associ-
ated in three pairs ; the hind wings are
pale, with scarcely any markings ; the wings
of the female are very short, are quite
unadapted for flight ; her locomotive power
is restricted to running about on fences and
trunks of trees, much in the manner of a
spider.

This is one of our most injurious insects>
and therefore requires a somewhat more
elaborate and lengthened history than we
can afford to give to others of less economi-
cal importance. The apterous female lays
EGGS in the crevices of the bark of various
trees and shrubs during November and
December ; when laid the eggs are greenish-
white, but they become orange, and subse-
quently brown, before hatching, which takes
place about the beginning of April.

The CATERPILLABS are extremely small at
first, and suspend themselves by threads,
and are blown about in all directions by the
cold winds of spring ; many must certainly
perish, but multitudes escape, and find con-
genial homes ; they commence their de-
structive career by eating into the young
unexpanded buds : at this time of the year
the bullfinches, sparrows, and titmice render
the most important services to the gardener,
by their activity in devouring the buds, and
thus destroying this little garden-pest.
When the leaves have begun to expand,
each caterpillar draws two or three together,
and unites them by a silken web, coming
partially out to feed, and retiring again
within its domicile when satisfied. When
full-fed it rests with its head on one side,

and curled round so as to touch the middle
of its body. The head is scarcely so wide
as the body, and scarcely notched on the
crown ; the body is rather obese, decreasing
in size towards each extremity. Head pale
green, semi-transparent, the cheeks often
blotched with smoky -brown on each side,
just in the region of the ocelli. The body
is glaucous-green, with a narrow median
blackish stripe on the back, and three
narrow white stripes, at equal intervals, on
each side ; the third or lowest on each side
includes the spiracles. The legs and clas-
pers are transparent green. It is a variable
larva, the colour sometimes green, some-
times smoky-brown, approaching to black-
ish ; the stripes in different individuals
differ greatly in distinctness ; the medio-
dorsal stripe is apparently in great measure
due to the food in the alimentary canal
being visible through a very transparent
skin ; it is sometimes bordered OD each side
by an obscure white stripe, thus making
eight stripes in all. It is almost useless to
specify any tree as the food-plant of this
ubiquitous larva ; I have beaten it by thou-
sands from the hornbeam in Epping Forest,
and I am unable to mention a tree the
leaves of which it does not devour; it is
especially destructive to plantations of fil-
berts, to plums and bullace, quinces, med-
lars, and in a less degree to apples and
pears.

The MOTH appears everywhere in Octo-
ber, November, and December ; it is full-fed
in May, and then descends to -the earth,
and changes to a CHRYSALIS near the sur-
face. (The scientific name is Chimatobia
brumata.)

Obs. It may be assumed that so injurious
an insect has excited considerable interest,
and that many remedies have been pre-
pared, and experiments tried, to arrest its
ravages. I have extracted a detailed
account of these, published a few weeks
back in the Field newspaper, and having
more especial reference to the cider and
perry orchards of Herefordshire and Wor-
cestershire.

When the destruction of these insects on
a large scale is to be effected, the operation
should be divided into three campaigns,

GEOMETEKS.

107

corresponding to the three stages of the
enemy's existence — caterpillar, chrysalis,
and moth.

1. When the caterpillar is still in the
buds it must be left, to the bullfinches and
titmice, as human exertions fail to effect
any considerable diminution of its numbers.
It is not, however, to be supposed that
bullfinches only pick off those buds which
are infested with these caterpillars : the
contrary is most assuredly the case, and a
little company of these pretty birds — they
travel in little companies of four, five, or
six — will not unfrequently settle in a
gooseberry-bush, or plum-tree, and not
leave it until half the buds have been
picked off. It is a remarkable fact, and
one that I have repeatedly verified, that
scarcely half of the buds thus destroyed
are eaten ; the remainder may be observed
scattered on the ground beneath. When
the caterpillars have emerged from the bud,
fed for some fortnight or three weeks, and
are nearly full-grown, shaking or striking
the trees with a stick will cause them to fall
to the ground, or to hang by a thread.
When on the ground they can be crushed
under foot, or caught in cloths and burned.
Before shaking the tree some persons daub
the stem near the ground with a sticky
mixture, or pour coal-tar on the ground
round the stem, to cut off their escape as
they retreat : a good plan where the trees
stand alone, but of little service where there
is an undergrowth of gooseberry or currant
bushes, as the caterpillars will ascend them.

2. Little can be done against the insect
in its chrysalis state. Digging the ground
under the trees in August has theoretical
advantages : it displaces the chrysalis from
;ts self-selected habitation, and subjects it
to the chance of more or less moisture than
is congenial to its nature : and breaking up
the soil exposes it to the attacks of beetles,
earwigs, and birds, all of which feed upon
it. Several years' experience has failed to
show much practical benefit from the pro-
cess. It can only be recommended as
auxiliary to other means of destruction.

3. The third campaign is the most impor-
tant. The female moth, having no wings,
is compelled to climb the tree to deposit her

eggs, and may be caught by a sticky com-
position placed in her path.

In Germany this is done by surrounding
the stem with a four-sided box about twelve
inches high, the lower end of which is fixed
in the ground, and the upper end coped.
Tar daubed every few days on the outside
of the box, below the coping, catches the
females in their ascent. This box plan was
found to be expensive for thickly-planted
orchards, so it became important to get a
composition which might be applied directly
to the stem without injury to the tree.
Various things were tried, of which Stock-
holm tar and cart-grease mixed in equal
proportions proved to be the best. This
compound remains sticky four or five days,
and the experience of eight years shows
that it does no material injury to the trees
if applied in November and December, the
period when the moth is out ; but applied
in the warm weather of April and May it
has proved destructive in many cases, prob-
ably from its greater fluidity in the latter
case, allowing the tree to absorb it prior to
drying.

The composition rather tightens the
bark, which should therefore be slit the
next summer, but in other respects does no
injury that can be perceived, even when
trees are cut down and split open ; and the
growing bark sliced off with a knife is the
same colour where the daub is applied as in
other parts. It may be employed without
fear, but where fear does exist, a coat of
whitewash made of whitening and glue size
applied before the daub will afford addi-
tional safety, as thick grease will not pene-
trate glue.

From the 20th October to the 20th of
December, the gardener should examine his
plantation every evening with candle and
lantern, and destroy by hand all the moths
within reach. The couples are mostly on
the stem or within reach, and very visible.
If he find the moths numerous — and some-
times they are (the men say) as thick as
bees — he should the following day daub his
trees with a ring of this composition round
the stem or branches in the most conveni-
ent places, taking care to leave no other
path to the tree, such as side shoots, or

108

BEITISH MOTHS.

contact with the branches of other trees,
for the ascent of the female. By this means
hundreds, nay thousands, of females have
been destroyed on a single plantation in one
night, and as each female is calculated to
lay 200 eggs, the destruction of caterpillars
for the following season is very great. The
daub must be renewed every few days, and
the trees should be well shaken when the
daub is applied, to dislodge as far as pos-
sible any female moths that are in them.
The composition loses its stickiness in frosty
weather, but the moths do not then come
from their hiding-places under the dead
leaves and in the cracks of the ground and
bark.

Where winter moths exist, the pruning
of fruit-trees should not be done till after
Christmas, that a portion of the eggs may
be carried away with the prunings, none of
which should be dug in or allowed to
remain on the ground, as the egg would
hatch in the spring, and the young cater-
pillar ascend the nearest tree or shrub.

238. The Northern Winter Moth (Ohimatobia boreata).

238, THE NORTHERN WINTER MOTH. —
The antennae are nearly simple in both
sexes ; the wings of the male fully
developed ; the fore wings are semi-trans-
parent grayish-brown, with an ochreous
tint, and having several, generally seven,
narrow transverse lines, three of which,
near the base, are oblique and approximate ;
the others form two waved pairs ; hind
wings very pale brown, without markings,
and almost transparent ; female with very
small undeveloped wings ; quite incapable
of flight ; the fore wings pale brown with a
darker bar in the middle.

The CATERPILLAR is very similar to that
of the winter moth, but more transparent,
and the stripes more indistinct, but it

chiefly differs from that very common
species in having a brown head, that of the
winter moth being pale green and semi-
transparent : it feeds on birch.

The MOTH appears in October, and is not
uncommon in the English counties, but has
not been recorded for Scotland or Ireland.
(The scientific name is Chimatobia boreata.)

239. The November Moth (Oporabia dilutata).

239. THE NOVEMBER MOTH. — Antennae
almost simple, and the wings ample in both
sexes ; fore wings pale smoky-gray, with
several transverse waved lines of a darker
hue, somewhat smoke-coloured; but both
the ground colour and the lines or bars are
too subject to variation in tint to admit of
any precise description ; hind wings, paler
and with several slender zigzag lines
parallel with the hind margin.

The second figure represents a pale
variety of this very common moth. It ought
to be added that entomologists have given
names to several of the varieties of this
moth ; ventilata of Fabricius, impluviata,
affinitata, and carpinata of Borkhausen,
inscriptata of Donovan, fimbriata of Ha-
worth, and neglectata of Stephens, are all
referred by Ouenee to this species.

The head of the CATERPILLAR is rather
narrower than the body, and not notched
on the crown ; the body is stout, velvety,
and cylindrical ; the colour of the head is
dull green, the moufh tinged with purple ;
the body is apple-green above, but liable to
great variation, purple markings sometimes

GEOMETERS.

109

appearing on all the segments ; the back of
the second segment, and a median line on
the tenth, e'eventh, and twelfth 'segments
are often of this colour, and the thirteenth
segment is generally tinged with purple ;
there is, moreover, a white stripe just below
the spiracles ; the body is glaucous or blue-
green ; the legs are pale transparent green,
the claspers of nearly the same colour, but
often tinged or blotched with purple. It
feeds on whitethorn, blackthorn, hornbeam,
sloe, oak, and almost every forest tree, and
is full-fed in June.

The MOTH appears on the wing in No-
vember, and is common everywhere in
England, Scotland, and Ireland. (The scien-
tific name is Oporabia dilutata.)

240. The Autumnal Moth (Oporabia filigrammaria).

240. THE AUTUMNAL MOTH. — The an-
tennae are almost simple in both sexes ; the
fore wings are gray, with numerous darker
transverse waved lines, and are subject to
the same variations as those of the preced-
ing species, from which, however, it appears
constantly to differ, in being of less size,
and in having the fore wing narrower and
considerably more pointed.

The CATERPILLAR is described by Mr.
Hellins as feeding on sallow ; it is stout and
smooth, the general colour rich velvety
green, the belly pale whitish-green; the
head • and second segment shining, and
having a blackish tinge; on each side of

the dorsal vessel is a pale yellowish-green
stripe, and on each side are two sulphur-
yellow stripes ; on the back of each seg-
ment tubercles appear as minute yellow

dots ; the segmental divisions are orange-
yellow; the spiracles are yellow, and be-
tween them and the belly are a few speckles.
The caterpillars bury themselves in the earth
in April, to undergo their transformation.

The MOTHS are taken in August and Sep-
tember, and have only been found in the
north of England and in Scotland, never in
the south of England or in Ireland. (The
scientific name is Oporabia filigrammaria.)

241. The Twin-s,jO^ Carpet (Larentia didymata).

241. THE TWIN-SPOT CARPET. — The an-
tennae of the male are slightly pectinated ;
those of the female simple ; the fore wings
of the male brown, with four irregular trans-
verse waved pale gray bars ; the first of
these is short, narrow, and very near the
base ; the second broader and double ; the
third, also broader and double, is beyond
the middle of the wing ; the fourth is
narrow, interrupted and parallel with the
hind margin ; between the third and fourth
of these bars, about its middle, is a double
dark spot, which gives the insect its name ;
the hind wings are paler, with several trans-

verse waved markings. The female is alto-
gether paler, that is, of a pale whitish gray,
the markings of the male being perceptible,
but not conspicuous.

The CATERPILLAR feeds on the common
chervil (Anthriscus sylvestris), and may be
obtained by shaking the leaves of that plant
into an open umbrella in April and May ;
it is of a pale green colour, with a narrow
green stripe on each side.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June,
and is common in England, Scotland, and
Ireland. (The scientific name is Larentia
didymata.)

110

BKITISH MOTHS.

242 The Mottled Gray (Larentia multistric/ata).

242. THE MOTTLED GRAY. — The antennae
are slightly pubescent in the male, quite
simple in the female ; male much larger
than the female : the wings in both sexes
ample ; fore wings gray, transversely barred
with darker gray ; sometimes the ground
colour has an ochreous tinge ; the trans-
verse markings are irregular, waved, and
interrupted, and rather like series of dots
than consecutive lines ; the hind wings are
pale gray, transversely marked with dark
but indistinct waved lines towards the hind
margin.

The EGG is laid in April, on the different
species of lady's bedstraw, but feeds freely
on sweet woodroof in confinement ; it rests
in a nearly straight or slightly arched posi-
tion, the feet as well as the claspers generally
attached, and the head prone and tucked
under. The head is as wide as the second
segment, and not notched on the crown ;
the body is uniformly cylindrical, the seg-
mental divisions well marked, and the
lateral skinfold rather prominent. The
colour of the head and body is gray-brown,
occasionally tinted with pink or yellow ; a
narrow medio-dorsal clearly-defined darker
stripe runs from the second segment to the
tip of the anal flap; three broader, less
regular, and less clearly-defined stripes run
along the sides parallel with the medio-
dorsal stripe, and between this and the
spiracles ; ventral surface paler than the
dorsal surface, and having an extremely
slender and delicate medio-ventral stripe ;
and between this and the spiracles are three
other stripes, all of which are waved, and
that nearest the medio-ventral is double ;
the spiracles are intensely black ; in addi-
tiou to the stripes are numerous extremely
small warts, darker than the general sur-
face, and each emitting a minute bristle.

The MOTH appears on the wing in early
spring, and is found in most parts of Eng-

land and Scotland, and in the county Dublin,
in Ireland. (The scientific name is Larentia
multistrigata.)

243. The Gray Mountain Carpet (Larentia ccesiata).

243. THE GRAY MOUNTAIN CARPET. — The
antennae are almost simple ; the fore wings
gray with numerous darker, transverse, zig-
zag markings ; across the middle of the
wings these darker markings form a trans-
verse median bar, the costal extremity of
which is divided, and encloses a gray space,
which contains an oblong central dark spot ;
the hind wings are very pale, with an oblong
dark spot above the middle, and three
transverse waved lines towards the hind
margin.

The EGG is laid on the slender stalks of
the wort, whortleberry, or bilberry (Vacci-
nium Vitis-Idxa), in July and August, and
the young CATERPILLAR emerges in about
twelve days, but soon hybernates on the
surface of the earth, at the roots of the
food-plant ; it begins to feed again in April
of the ensuing year, and is full-fed by the
second week in May ; it then rests on the
stalk of its food-plant by day, generally
with the head downwards, and in a per-
fectly straight position ; on the approach
of evening it turns round, re-ascends the
stalk, and feeds on the leaves during the
night. When full-grown the head is prone,
scarcely so wide as the second segment, and
without any manifest notch on the crown ;
the body is of uniform substance through-
out, and having a perceptible lateral skin-
fold along the region of the spiracles ; each
segment has a few small warts, and each
wart emits a short and feeble bristle. The
colour of the head is umber-brown, in some
specimens inclining to red ; the body is
velvety red-brown, or velvety olive-green ;
in both varieties there is a series of medio-
dorsal V-shaped markings of great beauty,
these occur on the fifth, sixth, seventh,

GEOMETERS.

Ill

eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh segments ;
the apex of each mark points towards the
head ; the sides of these marks are not
quite closed at this point, but allow the
passage of a fawn-coloured stripe which
expands immediately after entering the
area enclosed by the V, and is again re-
stricted to a mere line where it approaches
the boundary of the segment; the remainder
of the area enclosed by the V is of a lovely
rose-colour ; each side of the V is bordered
with rich brown ; anterior to each V, that
is, adjoining the anterior margin of each
segment, are four short parallel lines, pale
in the brown variety, perfectly white in the
green one ; the lateral skinfold in both
varieties is almost white, and thrown up in
bold relief by contrast with the ground
colour immediately adjoining it ; the belly
is of the prevalent ground colour ; the legs
are semi-transparent and pinkish ; the clas-
pejs of the prevailing ground colour. It
spins a slight cocoon amongst the leaves of
its food-plant, and changes to a CHBYSALIS
in May.

The MOTH appears on the wing about
midsummer, and is very abundant in the
northern counties of England, as Durham,
Lancashire, Cumberland, &c., and also in
Scotland ; it is generally distributed in
Ireland. (The scientific name is Larentia
ccesiata.}

244. The Yellow-ringed Carpet (Larentia ruficinctata) .

244. THE YELLOW-HINGED CARPET. — The
antennae are almost simple in both sexes ;
the fore wings are grayish lead-colour, with
five transverse yellowish bars, equidistant
from each other, and also numerous dotted
lines ; the hind wings are paler lead-colour
with obscure darker bars towards the hind
margin.

The CATEEPILLAE, according to Freyer,
feeds on the white meadow saxifrage, in
May ; it is of a tawny or olive- green ground

colour, with a medio-dorsal series of tri-
angular red spots, each of the spots edged
with white.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July,
and is confined to a few localities, in Lanca-
shire, Westmoreland, Cumberland, and
Perthshire ; it has not yet been discovered
in Ireland. (The scientific name is Larentia
ruficinctata.)

Obs, In reference to the extreme difficulty
experienced by southern entomologists in
obtaining this and other northern species,
I strongly recommend the collectors of our
British lepidoptera to make their wants, as
well as their superabundance, known
through the pages of " The Entomologist : "
by this means alone can anything approach-
ing a perfect collection be formed. I have
established that little Journal with this
especial object, and also for the convenience
of answering any questions as to names,
&c. It only costs sixpence a month, and
is a means of communication between all
our principal entomologists ; the miscel-
laneous information it contains would be
out of place in a systematic work like the
present.

245. The Striped Twin-spot Carpet (Larentia tali-
cata).

245. THE STEIPED TWIN-SPOT CARPET. —
The antennae are pubescent in the male,
simple in the female ; the fore wings are
grayish lead-colour, with numerous zigzag
transverse markings, some of which unite
in forming a transverse median bar, which
is divided by a paler space, enclosing a dark
dot near its costal extremity ; the hind wings
are pale lead-colour, with darker waved
markings near the hind margin.

The CATERPILLAR, in a state of nature,
feeds on several species of bedstraw, and in
confinement it not only feeds on bedstraw,
but thrives equally well on sweet woodroof,
a plant much to be recommended as growing

112

BKITISH MOTHS.

luxuriantly in London and country gardens,
and as furnishing an acceptable food to
nearly all those caterpillars which, in a
state of nature, feed on the different species
of bedstraw. The caterpillars of Larentia
salicata* when full-fed, rest with the clas-
pers attached tightly to the food-plant, and
from the abdominal pair the body ascends
at a right angle, the anterior segments being
bent gracefully over ; when annoyed the
peculiarities of this posture become intensi-
fied, the anterior segments assuming the
form of an Ionic volute, of which the tightly
tucked-in head is the centre; this figure
becomes more and more rigid as the annoy-
ance continues, until the caterpillar aban-
dons its hold on the food-plant, rolls itself
in a compact ring, and, feigning death,
falls to the ground. The head is rather
small, semi-porrect, not notched on the
crown, and beset with a few hairs ; the body
is of uniform thickness throughout, with-
out humps or warts, but beset with scat-
tered hairs, and having a rather remarkably
conspicuous tuberculated double skinfold
along each side below the spiracles. The
head is pale, semi-transparent, and of an
umber-brown colour, spotted with darker
umber-brown ; the body is umber-brown,
with four narrow approximate parallel
whitish stripes, extending the entire length
of the back ; on each side below the spira-
cles, and comprising the skinfold already
noticed, is a broad pale somewhat flesh-
coloured stripe ; the ventral surface is rather
pale along the middle, but darker on the
sides, where it touches the pale lateral
stripe ; it also exhibits traces of four parallel
narrow stripes, of which the inner pair are
very obscure ; the feet and claspers are
similar in colour to the darker parts of the
body. When full-grown, these caterpillars
in my cages spun together the leaves of the
woodroof, incorporating particles of cocoa-
nut husk, provided for their accommoda-
tion, and constructing tough cocoons.

The MOTH appears on the wing early in
June and again in August, it is common in
a few localities in the west and north of
England, also in Scotland, and at Killarney
and in the county Galway in Ireland. (The
scientific name is Larentia salicata.)

246. The Beech-green Carpet (Larentia olivata).

246. THE BEECH-GREEN CARPET. — An-
tennae very slightly pubescent in the male,
quite simple in the female ; fore wings olive-
green, and having a nearly triangular blotch
at the base, and a central serrated bar much
darker ; and beyond and immediately ad-
joining this bar is a double zigzag white
line, and again beyond the double white
line is a transverse series of three dark
spots near the angle of the wing ; the hind
wings are brownish lead-colour, without
any conspicuous markings.

The EGGS are laid at the end of August,
on a species of bedstraw (Gatium mollugo),
and the CATERPILLARS are red when first
hatched, but soon become rugose and dingy-
coloured ; they hybernate very early at the
roots of the bedstraw.

The MOTH appears on the wing about
midsummer, and is generally distributed,
but is not common ; it is occasionally taken
in most of the English counties and also in
Scotland and Ireland. (The scientific name
is Larentia olivata.)

247. The Green Carpet (Larentia pectinitaria).

247. THE G-REEN CARPET. — The antennae
are very decidedly pectinated in the male,
but simple in the female ; the fore
wings are rather pointed, and have a de-
cided and very beautiful green tint ; at
the base they have a somewhat triangular
blotch, which has black margins and a
pale centre, and is bordered by a white line ;
across the middle of the wing is a trans-
verse band, wide at the costal, and narrower

GEOMETERS.

113

at the inner margin ; both sides of this
band are very irregular and toothed, and
are bordered by a delicate white line ; and
just within these white Hues, both at the
costal and inner margin, is a black blotch,
those on the costal margin being large, distant,
and conspicuous, those on the inner margin
near together, and almost united; there is also
an oblique black spot at the apex of the
wing ; the hind wings are pale, with indis-
tinct waved lines ; the eyes and feelers are
very black, the thorax pale green, with a
black transverse line before the middle ; the
body is pale green, with a medio-dorsal
series of black dots, and with white mar-
gins to the segments.

A writer in the " Entomologist's Weekly
Intelligencer," who does not give his name,
but whose accuracy is unquestionable, says the
CATERPILLAR'S not being so well known as the
abundance of the perfect insect would lead
one to expect, need not be wondered at ; it is
such a sluggish creature, and so fond of hiding
at the roots of its food-plant, that he would
think scarcely any one who had not taken the
trouble to breed it can have seen it ; some
whichhehadin confinement remained motion-
less, as if dead, for hours ; in fact, he never
once saw them move, although he watched
them often. When first hatched they are
bright red, but soon become dingy ; when full-
grown they are short, stout, and wrinkled,
with small black tubercles emitting bristles ;
the ground-colour is a dingy olive- brown,
with a dark interrupted dorsal line, from the
fifth to the tenth segment ; a row of reddish
V-like marks, having the apex of each pointing
towards the head, and the side-lines reaching
almost to the spiracles ; from the tenth seg-
ment to the tail is a broad stone-colon red
strip ; the sub-dorsal line is light and waved ;
the belly fawn-colour, with dark patches above
the feet It feeds on two species of bedstraw
(Galium mollugo and G. saxatile).

The MOTH appears on the wing through
out June and during part of July, and is
generally common in England, Scotland, and
Ireland. (The scientific name is Larentia
pectinitaria.)

248. The Eivulet (Emmelesia ajfmitata).

248. THE RIVULET. — The antennae are sim-
ple in both sexes ; the fore wings are dark
dusky gray, with a number of transverse
irregular waved lines, both darker and lighter;
just beyond the middle of the wing is a very
distinct double rivulet line, pure white ; and
half way between this double line and the
hind margin, is an interrupted series of white
spots, which in some specimens almost form a
second line ; the hind wings are paler, with a
still paler bar across the middle.

The CATERPILLAR lives enclosed in the seed-
capsules of various plants; according toGuenee,
it is of a dirty-white colour, with black head,
legs, and spiracles ; it has also a black dorsal
plate on the second segment.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
is not uncommon in several of the English
counties, but has not been observed in Scotland
or Ireland. (The scientific name is Emmelesia
affinitata.)

249. The Small Rivulet (Emmelesia alchemillata).

249. THE SMALL RIVULET. — The antenn»
are simple in both sexes ; the fore wings are
dusky gray, with numerous transverse waved
lines both darker and lighter ; just beyond the
middle of the wing is a very distinct double
rivulet line, pure white, and halfway between
thisand the hind margin, is a very conspicuous
transverse white spot on the costal margin '•
the hind wings are paler, but still of the same
dusky gray as the fore wings ; there is gener-
ally also a paler bar across the middle* but
this is not very constant.

Mr. Crewe has described the CATERPILLAR as
short, stout, and stumpy ; the ground-colour
is dull red, suffused with yellowish green, or
vice versd; the central dorsal line is broad, and

M 8

BRITISH MOTHS.

of a yellowish green colour, with a slender
dark green line in the centre. The sub-dorsal
lines are red, edged with yellow. The head is
flattened and of a dark reddish brown colour ;
the spiracular line greenish yellow ; the belly
is greenish yellow, with two darker green sub-
veutral lines ; the back and sides are studded
with a few very short whitish hairs. Mr.
Crewe found this caterpillar feeding somewhat
abundantly in August and September, 1862,
on the leaves, flowers, and unripe seeds of
Galeopsis tetrahit, and more sparingly on those
of G. ladanum. The CHRYSALIS is enclosed
in a tightly-spun earthen cocoon ; it is of a
yellowish-green colour, slightly tinged with
red.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
occurs wherever its food-plants are found in
England, Scotland, or Ireland. (The scientific
name is Emmelesia alchemillata.)

250. The Grass Rivulet (Emmelesia albulata).

250. THE GRASS RIVULET. — The antennae
are simple in both sexes ; all the wings are
pale gray, inclining to white, with numerous
transverse waved lines quite white; the most
conspicuous of these are two, close together,
just beyond the middle of the fore wings, and
a third half-way between these and the hind
margin ; the hind wings are almost without
markings.

The CATERPILLAR of this moth has been
found by the Rev. Hugh A. Stowell. The head
is rounded, and narrower than the body; the
body is rather stout, and transversely wrinkled,
having a corneous shining plate on the back
of the second and thirteenth segments. The
head is intensely black and shining ; the body
is dingy white, tinged with green, and having

broad medio- dorsal stripe, and a narrower
lateral stripe darker green; each segment has
six, eight, or ten minute black dots; and plates
on the second and thirteenth segments are
giuoke-coloured, and there is a similarly-

coloured corneous plate on the outer side of
each of the anal claspers; the legs and claspers
are nearly concolourous with the body, but
rather more dusky. It spins together the
sepals of the yellow Tc&li\G(Rhinanthus Crista-
galli), feeding on the seeds, and is full-fed
about the middle of August, when it changes
to a CHRYSALIS within the domicile it has
already formed.

The MOTH appears on the wing during the
following June, and is very generally distri-
buted in England, Scotland, and Ireland.
(The scientific name is Emmelesia albulata.)

251. The Sandy Carpet (Emmelesia decolorata).

251. THE SANDY CARPET. — The antennae are
simple in both sexes; the fore wings are pale
wainscot-brown, rather inclining to dull ochre-
ous-yellow, and having numerous irregular
waved transverse white lines ; the most con-
spicuous of these are a pair almost close
together across the middle of the wing, but
these are interrupted in the middle by two
tooth-like projections of the ochreous ground-
colour; near the base of the wing are three of
these waved white lines, all less conspicuous
than the tuedian pair ; and half-way between
the median pair and the hind margin is a
single irregular and indistinct waved white
line. The hind wings are dingy white, with
few and inconspicuous markings.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
is of general occurrence in England, Scotland,
and Ireland, but I have not found it very
common. (The scientific name is Emmelesia
decolorata.)

252. The Barred Carpet (Emmelesia twn/iata\

252. THE BARRED CARPET. — The antennae
are simple in both sexes. The fore wings have

GEOMETERS.

115

a triangular blotch at the base, and a broad
median transverse bar, very dark brown (in
recent specimens in fine condition almost
black) ; the space between these two cou-
spicuous marks, and also the space between
the bar and hind margin, are pale reddish
brown; the margins of both the dark markings
are delicately bordered with white, and the
outer white border of the median bar expands
on the costa into a conspicuous white spot ;
the hind wings are pale dingy brown, with a
paler waved transverse line below the middle,
and a black spot above the middle.

The MOTH appears on the wing at the end of
June and in July, and occurs in some abund-
ance in the lake districts of England and
Ireland, being particularly attached to the
holly. Mr. Birchall and the late Mr. Bouchard
obtained it abundantly by beating holly trees
in the neighbourhood of Killarney ; but" Mr.
Birchall thinks it resorts to the hollies for
concealment only, and not as a food-plant. It
is an extremely beautiful and distinct species.
(The scientific name is Emmelesia t&niata.)

253. Haworfch'a Carpet (Emmelesia unifasciata).

253. HAWORTH'S CARPET. — The antennae
are simple in both sexes ; the fore wings are
dull brown, with numerous transverse waved
lines, and a distinct double rivulet line just
beyond the middle ; the inner section of this
double rivulet line is white, the outer ferru-
ginous ; half way between this and the base,
is a second double rivulet line, much more
obscure ; between these two double lines the
area of the wing is darker than beyond them,
and there is a very evident, although not con-
spicuous, discoidal spot; half way between the
exterior rivulet line and the hind margin is a
transverse series of pale spots, interrupted in
the middle; and near the apex of the wing are
two short oblique black lines, or markings,
almost fused into one, and also a double,
or twin spot, as in Larentia didymata ; the
hind wings are pale, dingy brown, with a

few waved darker lines, and a central darker
spot.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, but
is very rare; the most copious capture I have
heard of is that of Mr. Hodgkinson, in 1865,
in the lake district of the north of England ;
Mr. Doubleday has taken it at Epping, and
Mr. M'Lachlan at Forest Hill.

1st Obs. — I have adopted the name from
Doubleday's synonymic list and GueneVs
Species General, but, without wishing to im-
ply that I agree with it : the insect before me
corresponds with the description of Phalcena
bifaciata of Haworth (p. 334), and figured by
instruction of the late Mr. Stephens, by
Wood, under that name (fig. 702); the figure
of unifasciata in Wood (701), also from the
same source, bears no resemblance whatever
to the insect I have described. Herrich-
Schaefier's description of Aquilaria (Geo-
metrse, p. 163, No. 151, and figured pi. 55,
fig. 336), is without doubt the insect under
consideration. Seeing that our three English
authors, Haworth, Stephens, and Wood, have
made two species out of one, and that all later
authors agree in combining them, and in drop-
ping the first name, bifaciata, I should have
preferred adopting Herrich-Schaeffer's name,
as combining the two others, and as admitting
of no doubt.

2nd Obs. — This pretty moth closely resem-
bles Coremiaferrugata, to be described further
on; it appears quite out of place here.

254. The Heath Rivnlet (Emmelesia ericetatd).

254. — THE HEATH KIVULET. — Theantennse
are simple in both sexes ; the fore wings art
smoke colour, and are traversed by numerous
white bars ; the first of these is short, and
very near the base, and generally single, but
sometimes double ; the second is nearer the
middle of the wing, nearly straight, and
always double; the third is situated beyond
the middle of the wing, is bent and angled,
and always double. In some specimens the

116

BRITISH MOTHS.

second and third bars approach, and are united
near the middle ; half way between the third
bar and the hind margin is a single delicate
white line, regularly serrated ; the bind wings
are pale smoke-coloured, with transverse
lighter lines faintly indicated.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June and
July; it is purely a heath insect, occurring in
the lake district of the north of England, near
Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland, and on
the Mourne Mountains in Ireland. (The
scientific name is Emmelesia ericetata.)

255. The Pretty Pinion (Emmelesia blandiata).

255. THE PRETTY PINION. — The antennae
are simple in both sexes ; the fore wings are
whitish-gray, with a u early triangular blotch
at the base, and a narrow, angled, transverse,
median band, dark smoke-coloured ; this band
contains a conspicuous black discoidal spot
above the middle, but just below this black
spot the band is obscure, and sometimes looks
as though washed out ; beyond this band are
three transverse markings, all of them smoke-
coloured ; the first of these is a pale and
narrow waved line — the second a broad
waved bar — the third is marginal; the hind
wings are light smoke-colour, with a dark
discoidal spot, and several pale waved lines
below it.

" The CATERPILLAR is green, with a dorsal
row of reddish triangles; spiracular line, yel-
lowish green." — Freyer,as translated in Stain-
ton's Manual, vol. ii., p. 82. It feeds on
eyebright ( Euphrasia officinalis).

The MOTH appears on the wing in May and
June, and again in July and August. I took
it rather abundantly at the end of June in
Argyleshire, between Loch Fyne head and
Loch Goil, but the specimens, even of the
early brood, are much wasted ; Mr. Birchall
took it in the county Galway, and Dr. Wal-
lace at Killarney. (The scientific name is
Emmelesia blandiata.)

THE GENUS EUPITHECIA.

Before entering on the hitherto un attempted,
and confessedly difficult, task of distinguishing
from each other the little moths which con-
stitute the Genus Eupithecia, or, as called by
collectors, "Pugs," it is desirable to follow
the course adopted by that eminent French
entomologist, M. Guenee, in devoting a short
space to general observations. A few years
back, even so lately as 1859, when Mr. Stain-
ton's Manual appeared, the caterpillars and
life-histories of thirty-two British species had
never been observed in this country, and those
of eighteen species were absolutely unknown.
It was probably this great deficiency of
satisfactory and reliable information that in-
duced the Rev. H. Harper Crewe to investi-
gate and make known the life-histories of
most of our British species. This gentleman's
invaluable researches were published from
time to time in the Zoologist, nnd it is with
feelings of gratitude that I now publicly
announce that I have received Mr. Crewe's
permission to transfer them to these pages.
Free access to Mr. Doubleday's matchless
collection of the perfect insects, has also been
granted me, without any reserve, and with a
generosity that only finds a parallel in the
liberality of this distinguished entomologist
on all previous occasions, to whomsoever has
sought assistance and instruction at his hands.
No one, therefore, could possibly have better
materials for a labour of this kind than I
have, and my readers will please accept the
assurance, once for all, that while I express
my deep gratitude for the assistance I have
received, I by no means desire to remove the
responsibility of errors from my own shoulders-
and it must be obvious that in a work par-
taking so largely of the character of a com-
pilation, errors are very likely to creep in.

The cater pillars of the Eupithecise are
various, in food, economy, shape, and colour.
A few feed on leaves, but the greater number
revel in the flowers of trees, shrubs, and her-
baceous plants, devouring the petals, sepals,
stamens, and pistils ; and, in not a few in
stances, they penetrate the capsules, and feast

GEOMETERS.

117

or the seeds themselves, making the seed-pod
a dwelling place, in which they are effectually
protected from all inclemencies of the weather.
This propensity, or more properly speaking
economy, is of course detrimental to the
beauty of flowers, and, moreover, destructive
to seeds and fruit. M. Guenle has devoted
much time, thought, and attention to the in-
vestigation of these ravages, and has given a
very complete account of them, as regards
one of the more numerous species, an ac-
count to which I must again recur in a proper
place.

When full-fed, the caterpillars usually de-
scend to the ground, and there each constructs
a delicate little cell, composed of silk and
particles of earth, polishing the interior, but
leaving the exterior in a rough and unfinished
state, looking merely like a little lump of
earth, and thus eluding the researches of mice,
birds, beetles, and cockroaches, all of' which
evince great affection — cupboard love, it may
be called — for the delicate morsel contained
in the interior. A few of the species construct
their cocoons in the seed-pods themselves,
after consuming all the provender laid up
therein by a bounteous nature for the preser-
vation of the plant from generation to gene-
ration.

The chrysalis in this genus is remarkable
for the brightness and vividness of its colours ;
greens, brown, and reds, of every shade, are of
almost constant occurrence — these colours are
not unfrequently found on the same chrysalis
— and some so abound in ornamentation as
to become really beautiful objects, and to form
rather a striking contrast to the somewhat
plain coloured chrysalids of the majority of
geometers.

The moths themselves are peculiar in ap-
pearance, and are to be recognised at a glance ;
they sit by day on walls, fences, and trunks
of trees, with the wings expanded, and so
closely appressed to the surface that they
seem part and parcel of the object on which
they are resting ; the fore wings are generally
stretched out at right angles with the body,
exposing almost the whole of the hind wings.
Tbel" antennae are short, and those of the

males are very slightly fringed, or pectinated ;
in this respect I find them so uniform that I
have thought it almost unnecessary to men-
tion the antennae at all in my descriptions of
the numerous species. There is also a general
similarity in the ornamentation of their wings,
which consists of numerous transverse lines,
of a different shade as to light or dark, but
generally of the same colour, the difference
being only in intensity. Longitudinal mark-
ings are of less common occurrence, but are
sometimes present, and, intersecting the trans-
verse markings, combine with them in covering
the wing with the appearance of network.
The transverse lines are not unfrequeutly con-
fluent, and when two or three of them are
thus united, I have described them as " bars,"
but when four or five are thus united, I call
them " bands " — terms which are somewhat
arbitrary, but which will I trust convey my
meaning to the English reader. A discoidal
spot is also generally present on the fore
wings, its length is almost invariably greater
than its breadth, and its position transverse ;
it is situated about half-way between the base
and tip of the wing, and two-fifths of the
way between the costal margin and the anal
angle. I have observed that the ornamenta-
tion of the fore wings, of whatever character
it may be, is usually continued or repeated in
the hind wings; all the markings combine
together to constitute a pattern, which would
be incomplete if either wing were absent ;
generally, however, there is an evident etiola-
tion, or diminution of colour, in the hind
wings, so that the ornamentation of the hind

O '

wings, when contrasted with that of the fore
wings, is as an echo, or, as the second rainbow
when compared with the first — a repetition,
with diminished intensity. The head, thorax,
and body have the prevailing tint of the
wings — generally some shade of brown, but it
is not uncommon for the collar, scutellum, or
a belt at the base of the body, to have a more
conspicuous colour, as white, or bright rust-
colour.

Owing to the small dimensions of these
moths, their extreme similarity to each other,
and the great number of species, the task

118

BRITISH MOTHS.

of distingxiishing them, either by words or
representations, is one of considerable diffi-
culty ; ai d a curious phenomenon observable,
more or les-s, throughout the class Lepidoptera,
finds an interesting illustration and exposition
in this pretty genus; I allude to the existence
of pairs of species, that is, that two species
of which the caterpillars are totally unlike in
food, form, colour, and size, shall so closely
resemble each other when arrived at the
perfect state, that it is found impossible to
distinguish them. Confused by these diffi-
culties, entomologisis have very frequently
united, under one name, two species which
are perfectly and permanently distinct ; and,
still more frequently, have described, under
new names, species which have been im-
perfectly and unintelligibly described under
previous names. Heirich-Schaeffer, Guenee,
and Doubleday have done their best to reduce
into order the chaotic mass of names thus
created, but it must be admitted that the
synonymy of the species requires still more
careful investigation before it can be per-
manently and satisfactorily settled.

256. The Netted Pag (Eupithecia venosata),

256. THE NETTED PUG. — The fore wings
are smoky gray, with a tinge of wainscot
brown ; in some specimens this tinge prevails,
in others the smoke-colour prevails ; there are
two transverse zigzag white bars, the first
rather less than a third of the distance from
the base towards the tip, the second rather
more than two thirds ; both these bars are
intersected throughout, and also bordered on
each side by a black line ; between these
bars is a curved black line, unaccompanied
by any white, and between the first bar
and the base is a nearly straight black
line, bordered outside with white ; there
are two longitudinal black lines connecting
the two transverse bars, and five short black
lines connecting the outer oar with as many

transverse black lines on the hind margin ;
the hind wings are nearly of the same colour
as the fore wings, with several darker trans-
verse zigzag lines; the head, thorax, and
body are also of the same colour ; the thorax
has a round black spot, and the body a black
belt.

The CATERPILLAE, as described by Mr.
Crewe, is by no means uncommon. " It is
very easy to rear ; when young, it is quite
black, but when full fed, it is short, thick,
and stumpy ; its back is dull leaden gray,
sparingly studded with minute white spots
and short hairs ; the belly and sides are dirty
greenish white ; the head is black. It feeds
inside the seed-capsules of the bladder ^mpion
(Silene inflata), and the common red Lychnis
(Lychnis dioicd), and is full fed from the
middle to the end of July. When about to
assume the CHRYSALIS state, it comes out of
the capsule and enters the earth, where it spins
a very slight cocoon, and turns to a bright
red chrysalis."

The MOTH appears on the wing from the
beginning to the end of .May, and at the be-
ginning of June, and has been taken in many
of our English and Irish counties. (The scien-
tific name is Eupithecia venosata).

257. The Pinion-Spotted Pug (Eupithecia consignata).

257. THE PINION-SPOTTED PUG. — The fore
wings are gray, with a glaucous tint, and
having several transverse, dark brown, waved
lines, three of them terminating on the costal
margin in large dark blotches, the middle one
of which is united to the discoidal spot in a
manner that eclipses the latter, and renders
it inconspicuous ; the hind wings are pale
gray, with a dark discoidal spot, and certain
waved, but very indistinct, lines parallel with
the hind margin.

The CATERPILLAR, so far as I am aware, has
not been found in this country, but is well
known on the continent, and is described by
several European entomologists. Guenee sajr

GEOMETERS.

119

of it : " The caterpillar is as beautiful as the
moth ; is of an apple-green colour, the in-
cisions of the segments being yellow; the
dorsal area is brighter, and is ornamented at
the anterior margin of every segment with a
imall triangular red spot. It feeds in June,
on fruit trees."

The MOTH appears on the wing in May and
June, and has been taken in Herefordshire,
Cambridgeshire, Gloucestershire, and Sussex,
generally, if not exclusively, in apple orchards.
It is extremely rare in collections, probably
owing to its not haviugbeen sought at the proper
times, and in the proper places ; it settles on the
trunks of apple trees generally just below the
first branching, and owing to its exact simi-
larity to the colour of the bark, is difficult to
find, but may be induced to fly by giving the
trunk a sharp stroke with a thick stick. (The
scientific name is Eupithecia consignata.}

258. The Toadflax Pug (Eupithecia linariata).

258. THE TOADFLAX PUG. — The fore wings
ire very variegated ; at the base is a smoky-
black spot on the costa, almost surrounded by
a paler space ; then follows a transverse chest-
nut coloured band, paler on the outside; then
a broad black band, having a transverse dis-
coidal spot, deeper black ; this is bordered on
each side by a white line ; beyond this white
lino is a pale wainscot bar, then a chestnut
bi.. fchon a white line, and, lastly, a darker
bat sor lewhat variegated bar, occupying the
fund margin; the hind wings are smoky
OT».r ^'iler across the middle ; the head is
smoKy black, the thorax chestnut brown; the
body is black at the base, paler towards the
extremity, with a medio-dorsal series of small
black spots.

Mr. Crewe describes the CATERPILLAR as
"short, stumpy, and slightly tapering to-
wards the head ; when young, it is bright
yellow, with blackish dorsal spots ; when
full-fed, yellowish green, with a series of
Jarc"1 Hull olr*o, or rust coloured dorsal spots

or bars, running the whole length, and bor-
dered on either side by a dusky olive line ;
the head is nearly black; the belly, dusky;
the spiracles, black ; the body is sprinkled
with short whitish hairs, and here and there
studded with black tubercles ; the dorsal
markings are frequently very indistinct, and
sometimes wanting altogether, and the cater-
pillar is then of a uniform yellowish green. It
feeds in August and September on the flowers
and seeds of the common wild snap-dragon, or
yellow toad-flax (Linaria vulgaris). It is un-
certain in its appearance, being oue year ex-
ceedingly abundant and the next very scarce.
The CHRYSALIS, which is enclosed in an earthen
cocoon, has the abdomen reddish yellow; the
tip blood-red ; the thorax and wing-cases,
olive."

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
has been taken in most of our English coun-
ties, but not in Ireland ; in very warm seasons
it is double-brooded. (The scientific name is
Eupithecia linariata.}

259. The Foxglove Pug (Eupithecia pulchellata).

259. THE FOXGLOVE PUG. — The fore wings
are very variegated ; at the base of the wing
a portion of the area is divided from the re-
mainder by a black line ; the upper portion
of this area is almost black, the lower portion
generally pale ; this is followed by a white
zigzag bar ; then follows a transverse chest-
nut-coloured band, paler on the outside ; then
follows a broad dark band, having a transverse
discoidal black spot, and many other mark-
ings ; this band is bordered on each side by a
white line; beyond this is a pale wainscot
bar, then a second chestnut bar, then a white
line, and, lastly, a darker, but variegated bar,
occupying the hind margin ; the hind winga
are smoky gray, paler across the middle, and
having certain indistinct darker zigzag lines ;
the head is dark ; the thorax, chestnut-brown ;
the body, black at the base, and paler toward*

120

BRITISH MOTHS.

the extremity, with a medio-dorsal series of
small black spots.

Four varieties of the CATERPILLAR are thus
described by Mr. Crewe : —

" Var. 1. — The ground colour is dull yel-
lowish ereen; the central dorsal line is broad,
continuous, and of a dull, dingy purple
colour; the sub-dorsal line is also dull, dingy
purple — it is narrow and interrupted on the
anal segments; the ypiracular line is narrow,
broken, and dingy purple colour, marked
with lines, or spots, of a deeper shade ; the
belly is whitish green, with a whitish central
line ; the whole body is st rewed thinly with
whitish hairs, and occasionally suffused and
clouded with dull, dingy purple ; in shape it
resembles the cater pillar of E. linariata, in
markings that of E. centaureata.

" Var. 2. — The ground colour is dull yel-
lowish, or whitish green ; the central dorsal
line, dusky green ; the segmental divisions
arc yellowish ; the spiracular line is very
narrow, and faint, dull green ; the belly is
whitish, without lines or markings.

" Var. 3. — The ground colour is pale prim-
rose-yellow, slightly suffused with green ; the
central dorsal line dull faint green, nearly
evanescent on the posterior segments; the
sub-dorsal lines are dull faint green, much
broken, having more the appearance of de-
tached spots; the spiracular line is very faint,
pale yellow ; the belly whitish.

" Var. 4. — The ground co'our is bright,
yellowish green; the central dorsal line, pale
olive, rather broad ; the sub-dorsal lines, pale
olive, and narrow ; the spaces between the
central dorsal and sub-dorsal lines are bright
yellow ; the spiracular line is dusky green,
faint and broken ; .the belly is sea-green."

These caterpillars fee< I on the flowers of the
common foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), and
are full fed from th* middle of July to the
beginning" of August. They spin together
the mouth of the corolla, and, in the habita-
tion thus constructed, devour the stamens,
pistils, unripe seeds, and capsules ; those
flowers which contain a caterpillar remain on
the stem long after the others have fallen ;
the caterpillars appear to seek the s"rface of

the ground before undergoing their change,
and the CHRYSALIS is found enclosed in a slight
earthen cell ; its thorax and wing-cases are
transparent yellowish green, and its body
reddish yellow ; the divisions of the body and
the tip are dark red.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May and
June, and occurs in England, Scotland, and
Ireland, — in almost every locality where the
foxglove abounds. (The scientific name is
Eupithecia pidchellata.)

Obs. — This beautiful little moth is so
similar to the preceding, that many naturalists
have declined to consider it distinct. Guenee
hesitates to record it as a species, but is in-
duced to do so from the fact of Mr. Doubleday's
having bred a large number of E. linariata,
without finding a single example of E. pui-
chellata amongst them. Our only English
author on Lepidoptera, Haworth, appears to
me to have described it as linariata ; he cer-
tainly has not separated the two ; still, from
the difference of caterpillars, now distinctly
ascertained, I cannot avoid the conclusion that
the two species are perfectly distinct.

260. The Lime Speck (Eupithecia centaureata).

260. — THE LTME SPECK. — The fore wings
are almost white, with two delicate transverse
zigzag black lines, and a crescentic black spot
between them ; the costal margin has twelve
or fourteen short brown markings, three or
four of which, uniting with the discoidal, black
spot, form a dark and conspicuous blotch ;
very similar markings occur on the inner mar-
gin ; the hind margin is occupied by a fawn-
coloured band, intersected throughout by a
white line ; the hind wings are nearly white,
with several transverse brown markings on
the inner margin ; the thorax is nearly white;
the body variegated with white, brown, and
black.

The CATERPILLAR is long, rather slender, and
tapering towards the head ; it has a slightly
wrinkled appearance. In colour it is very

GEOMETERS.

variable. The following varieties are described
by Mr. Crewe : —

" Var. 1 . — Bright yellowish or blueish green,
with a number of dorsal or sub-dorsal spots
and lines of a darker shade, the dorsal mark-
ings very often forming a series of disjointed
lozenge-shaped spots.

" Var. 2. — Uniformly yellow, yellowish, or
bluish green, without any spots or markings
whatever.

" Var. 3. — Greenish or pinkish- white, with a
chain of deep red, trident-shaped dorsal spots,
connected together by the central prong, and
becoming confluent towards the head ; belly
whitish, with a short red line or spot in the
centre of several of the segments. It feeds in
August and September up<>n the flowers of
the ragwort (Senecio jacobcea and S. erucifo-
lius), of golden rod (Solidago Virgaurea Achil-
Icea Millefolium, hemp agrimony (Eupatorium
cannabianum), Pimpinella magna, and P. saxi-
fraga, Silaus pratensis, Campanula glome-
rata, and Scabiosa columbaria. Vars. I and 2
I have almost invariably found upon the three
first- named plants, whilst those on the other
flowers were Var. 3."

The CHRYSALIS is enclosed in an earthen
cocoon. There are two varieties, one of which
is of an uniform pale red colour. The perfect
insect appears more or less from May to
August.

The MOTH appears on the wing more or less
abundantly from May to August ; it is one of
our common species of Eupithecia, and is to
be seen on every fence or park paling early in
the morning, resting with expanded wings ;
it certainly occurs more frequently in such
situations, but also is to be found on trunks
of trees, and stone walls ; it occurs in England,
Scotland, and Ireland. (The scientific name
is Eupithecia centaureata.)

261. THE BORDERED LIME SPECK. — The
fore wings are white, clouded, and marked
with smoky gray, and having a nearly circular
discoidal spot, intensely black ; the smoky
markings occupy the entire costal margin,
except a square white spot situa: ed at about
two-thirds of its length ; the hind margin is
»l»o occupied by a broad smoky band, and the

inner margin with a lighter smoky area,
traversed throughout by delicate transverse
white lines ; half-way between the central
black spot and the hind margin is a transverse
series of black dots, in some specimens scarcely
perceptible, in others vet y manifest ; the hind
wings are nearly white, clouded, and delicately
barred with smoke-colour ; the crown of the
head is white ; the collar brown ; the disk of
the thorax white ; the body brown except
near the tip, where it is white, the extreme
tip being brown.

Three varieties of the CATERPILLAR are thus
described by Mr. Crewe : —

" Var. 1. — Dull, dark, reddish brown ; the
central dorsal line is dingy black, connecting
a chain of dull black inverted, kite-shaped
blotches, which become confluent on the an-
terior and posterior segments; sub-dorsal lines
dusky, slender, waved, uninterrupted, darker
between the dorsal blotches ; median dorsal
blotches at some distance from each other ;
the border generally pale, and the centre
dusky ; the spiracular line is dirty white, in-
terrupted ; the head is bordered by a reddish
line ; the belly is dusky at the edges, and
pinkish white in the middle ; the central
ventral line blackish ; the back and sides
sprinkled with a few reddish hairs ; the cen-
tral area dingy.

"For. 2. — Pale reddish brown ; the central
dorsal line and blotches being dingy olive;
the sub-dorsal lines dusky, very indistinct.
In other respects resembling Var. 1.

" Var. 3. — Ground colour dark, dingy olive.
In other respects like Var. 1."

The CHRYSALIS is enclosed in an earthen
cocoon.

It feeds on the leaflets of the mugwort
(Artemisia vulgaris.)

The MOTH appears on the wing in July,
and occurs in some of our English counties, as
also in Scotland and Ireland.

Obs. I possess a specimen of the male, in
which the hind border has a series of eight
ferruginous spots, and it differs also in several
minor characters; this is the Disparata of
Hiibner, the Eupithecia succenturiata, Var.
disparata of Guen^e.

BRITISH MOTHS.

262. THE TAWNY SPECK. — The central disk
of the fore wings is bright ferruginous, the
base, costal margin and hind margin being
smoky brown, and a nearly circular discoidal
spot is quite black ; the costal margin is in-
terrupted by numerous short, transverse,
waved, gray lines, and the hind marginal band
is intersected by a zigzag whitish line ; the
hind wings are smoke-coloured ; the head>
thorax, and body are also smoke-coloured ;
the body has a bright ferruginous belt near
the base.

Two varieties of the CATERPILLAR are thus
described by Mr. Crewe : —

" Var. 1. — Reddish brown ; the central
dorsal line pale olive, connecting a series of
perfectly oval, dusky olive blotches, which
become confluent on the anterior and posterior
segments ; the sub-dorsal lines are blackish
red, interrupted ; they are dark opposite the
dorsal blotches, and pale and almost, if not
quite, evanescent'between them ; the median
dorsal blotches are pale in the centre, very
close together, and almost confluent ; the
spiracular line is white ; the back is thickly
studded with minute white tubercles, and less
thickly with whitish hairs ; the belly is
whitish, with a purplish central lina

" Var. 2. — Ground colour pale yellowish
brown. Markings similar to Yar. 1."

It feeds on the leaves, flowers, and seeds of
the common yarrow (Achillea miUefolium).

The MOTH appears on the wing in August,
and occurs not unfreqnently in most of our
English counties, more especially in gardens,
and Mr. Birchall reports it as common in the
county Galway, in Ireland.

263. The Shaded Pug (Eupithecia subumhrata).

263. THE SHADED PUG. —The ground colour
of the fore wings is white, intermixed, espec-
ially along the costal and hind margins, with
smoke colour ; there is a very small discoidal
spot, but so indistinct that iu borne specimens

it is scarcely to be perceived ; the smoke-
colour is arranged transversely, and inter-
rupted by waved whitish transverse lines ;
the hind wings are almost white, with a
smoke-coloured hind marginal band, but this
band is also interrupted with whitish mark-
ings ; the head, thorax, and body are mottled
with white, ami smoke-colour, and greatly
resemble the fore wings.

Mr. Crewe describes two varieties of the
CATERPILLAR as under : —

" Var. 1. — Very long and slender, tapering
very much towards the head ; ground-colour
dull yellowish green ; the central dorsal line is
broad, dark green, narrower at the segmental
divisions ; the sub-dorsal lines are dusky, very
narrow, and indistinct ; the dorsal segmental
divisions are orange ; the ventral divisions
yellow; the spiracular line is dusky green.
On each side of the head and segment is a
yellowish line.

" Var. 2. — The ground colour is dirty
greenish brown ; the central dorsal line dusky
olive ; the subdorsal lines are of the same
colour ; and the narrow posterior segments
are reddish. In other respects it resembles
Var. 1."

This singular long thin caterpillar I have
been in the habit of taking at intervals for
some years past in Buckinghamshire. It feeds
in the open spaces between and near beech-
woods, on the petals of almost any flower
which happens to grow in such localities, for
instance, Centaurea nigra Knnutia arvensis,
Gentiana amarella, and(r. campestris, Apargia
hispida, Origanum vulgare, Prunella vulgaris.
GaUum mollugo, &c., preferring, perhaps,
Apargia hispida, and Crepis taravicifolia. It
is full-fed at the end of August and through-
out September.

The CHRYSALIS is enclosed in an earthen
cocoon, and has the thorax and wing-cases
dark green ; the body is ochreous, with the
tip dusky red.

The MOTH appears in June, and is not very
uncommon in England ; and Mr. Birchall
informs us that it is common in the county
Galway, in Ireland. (The scientific name is
subumbrata.)

GEOMETERS.

123

264. Guenee's Pug (Eupithecia pernotata).

264. GUENEE'S PUG. — The four wings
are of a delicate pearly gray colour, with an
ochreous tinge diffused uniformly over the
entire surface, which is also traversed by
numerous transverse lines, all of them more
or less waved, and more or less oblique ; these
transverse lines are paler than the ground-
colour, but not very conspicuously so, neither
are they quite continuous ; the wing-rays
are spotted with dark brown; there is also a
series of transverse dark markings bet ween the
costal and sub-costal rays, and a slender inter-
rupted dark brown line on the hind margin ;
the hind wings are of a pearly gray colour,
without the ochreous tint, but their markings
are very nearly the same as those of the fore
wings. I am unable to find the usual discoidal
spot on either of the wings ; the fringe is
spotted ; the head, thorax, and body are
ochreous-brown, speckled with darker brown,
and there is an evident darker belt at the junc-
tion of the thorax and body : it is a large and
interesting species; although the colours are
very subdued, and present no strong contrast,
the pattern, so to speak, is very elegant ; when
fresh from the chrysalis the specimen de-
scribed had a distinct reddish marginal band
on all the wings.

The only specimen I have seen is in Mr.
Doubledny's collection ; it was bred from a
caterpillar which was found by Mr. Machin,
feeding on the flowers of the golden rod. (The
scientific name is Eupithecia pernotata.)

J65. The Lead -coloured Png (Eupitheciaplumbeolata) .
265. THE LEAD-COLOURED PUG. — All the
wings are lead-coloured, with slightly darker,
delicate, transverse waved lines, but these are
rery indistinct, and tend rather to increase
than diminish the plain lead-coloured nppear-

ance of the insect ; there is a splendid inter-
rupted black lin« on the hind margin, just
wiihin the fringe ; the hind wings are rather
paler than the fore wiugs. I am unable to
find any trace of the discoidal spot on either
of the wings. The head, thorax, and body
are of the same colour as the fore wings.

The CATERPILLAR is thus described by Mr.
Ore we : —

"Somewhat short and stumpy ; the ground-
colour is pale yellowish green ; the central
dorsal line broad, continuous, dull purplish
red, enlarged into a somewhat pear-shaped
blotch on the centre of each segment ; sub-
dorsal lines narrower, sinuous, dull purplish
red ; dorsal and subdorsal lines sometimes
merged into one, leaving the whole back and
sides suffused with purplish red ; a few slender
yellowish hairs sprinkled over the dorsal and
latei'al segments ; the belly is naked, pale,
dull greenish yellow ; central ventral line
wanting ; subventral lines narrow, purplish
red. It feeds on the flowers of the common
cow- wheat (Melampyrum pratense); when
quite young on the stamens only, afterwards
on the whole corolla tube ; it is full-fed fro n
the middle of July to the middle of August.
The CHRYSALIS is enclosed in a slight cocoon,
either in a dry corolla tube, or in the surface
of the earth; its general colour is golden yel-
low, with the abdominal divisions and tip red."
The MOTH appears on the wing at the end
of May, and occurs in most of our English
counties, also in Scotland ; and Mr. Birchall
informs us it is common at Killarney, in Ire-
land. (The scientific name of this homely
little moth has been changed a great many
times ; it has been called Plumbfolata, Pusil-
lata, Scabiosata,, Begrandaria., and Valeria-
nata, but I think the oldest intelligible de-
scription is Haworth's, under the name of
Eupithecia plumbeolata.)

266. Haworth's Png (Eupithecia isogrammata).

266. HAWORTH'S PUG. — All the wings are
brownish gray, the colour being given by
numerous waved and clo<ely approximate

•84

BRITISH MOTHS.

transver.se lines, which are alternately dark
and light ; the hind wings are, as usual in
the genus, less clearly marked than the fore
wings ; the discoidal spot is absent from all
the wings ; the head and thorax are of the
same colour as the fore wings, but the body
has a broad rust-coloured, or fulvous belt at
the base, which always fades, and often en-
tirely disappears, when the specimen has been
some years in a cabinet.

Mr. Crewe says : — " The CATERPILLAK
seems to be little known, and has not, I
think, ever been described. I have, however,
taken it in plenty wherever its food-plant
occurs: it is very short and stumpy, the
ground-colour pale blueisb, or yellowish green,
with three horizontal dorsal stripes of a darker
shade ; these stripes are often very indistinct,
and sometimes altogether wanting; the head
is dusky, spotted with olive, and the body
sparingly spudded with minute black dots : it
is full-fed from the middle of July to the
middle of August. It feeds inside the un-
opened flower-buds of Clematis vitalba, com-
monly known as the Traveller's Joy. When
nearly full-fed it frequently feeds among the
stamens of the expanded flower, and may then
be beaten into an umbrella : it also feeds on
the common white garden clematis. The pre-
sence of the caterpillar may generally be de-
tected by the blackened appearance of the
flower-buds. When it has eaten the inside
of one bud, it comes out and bores into a
fresh one : I have frequently seen it busily
engaged in this operation. The CHRYSALIS is
enclosed in a very tightly-constructed earthen
cocoon ; the thorax and wing-cases are green,
and the body red."

The MOTH appears on the wing in June,
and the beginning of July, and is abundant
among Clematis vitalba: it flies about with
extreme rapidity in the hot sunshine, and it
is Almost invariably wasted when caught. It
occurs in many of our English counties, and
Mr. Birchall says that it is common at Kil-
larney, in Ireland. Of course the range of its
food-plant rules the geographical distribution
of the species. (The scientific name is Eupi-
thecia i^grammata.)

Obs. Haworth was the first author who
characterised this species, but he considered
it a variety of E. piumbeolata, the insect last
described, and therefore did not name it. Mr.
Doubleday very early saw that this was an
error, and gave it the name of the distin-
guished entomologist who discovered it,
namely, E. Haworthiata ; it has, however,
since been identified as the E. isogrammata
of Treitschke, and, in accordance with the
rule of priority, we must retain that name.

267. The Marsh Png (Eupithecia pygm&ata).

267. THE MARSH PUG. — The fore wings
are brownish gray, with numerous paler and
darker closely approximate waved transverse
lines ; and it is these which communicate the
general tint to the wing ; several of the pale
lines become white in the costal margin, and
are then more conspicuous, but this more
conspicuous portion of the line is very short ;
there is a delicate black line on the extreme
hind margin ; very near the hind margin,
and parallel therewith, is a waved b«t rather
indistinct pale line, which terminates in a
white spot at the anal angle ; there is no dis-
tinct discoidal spot, and, indeed, scarcely a
trace of one: the hind wings, head, thorax,
and body are nearly of the same colour as the
fore wings : it is altogether an extremely
plain-looking insect.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June,
but is not very common; it has been taken
in both the northern and southern English
counties, also near Glasgow and Ardrossan,
in Scotland, and in the counties Galway and
Wicklow, and at Portmarnock, in Ireland :
it flies by day. (The scientific name is Eupi-
thecia pygmceata.)

268. THE EDINBURGH PUG.— The fore
wings are smoky gray inclining to brown, and
adorned, especially in the female, with darker
transverse markings in the disk, and a very
conspicuous transverse discoidal spot; there
area number, generally eight, short transverse

GEOMETERS.

125

markings both on the costal and inner mar-
gin, a white spot in the anal angle, and paler
as weii as darker markings on all the wing-
rays ; and, moreover, certain transverse gray
markings which alternate with the darker
markings on the costal as well as inner mar-
gin ; there is a very perceptible but not large
discoidal spot : the hind wings are brownish
gray, with a small discoidal spot, and the
hind margin is darker, which makes an ex-
treme marginal pale line very conspicuous ;
the fringe is alternated with two shades of
brown : the head, thorax, and body are gray-
brown, the body having the margins of the
segments much darker, and each terminating
in a delicately white and very narrow belt ;
the contrast of the very dark brown and pure
white makes this annular ornamentation the
more conspicuous.

The CATERPILLAR is thus described by Mr.
Crewe : — "rather short and stumpy, alto-
gether a most dumpy -looking caterpillar ; of
the same thickness from head to tail ; the
ground-colour is grass-green; the central dor-
sal line is dark green and slender, the tip
always purplish brown or purple ; the sub-
dorsal lines are broader, dark green, edged
anteriorly with pale straw-colour, and pos-
teriorly sometimes with purple ; the spira-
cular line is waved, pale yellow or straw-
colour ; the head is slightly bifid, and when
at rest, curved inwards ; it is of a dusky
purple colour, sometimes almost black ; the
segmental divisions are yellowish. It feeds on
the common juniper (Juniperue communis),
and is found full-fed from the middle to the
end of September."

The MOTH appears on the wing in May, and
has been taken by Mr. Logan near Edinburgh,
bat I believe neither in England nor Ireland.
(The scientific name is Eupiihecia helveticata.}

Obs. Mr. Crewe observes that this species
is often a month or six weeks earlier than
Eupithetia arceuthata; also that the cater-
pillar is shorter and more stumpy, and its
colour duller.

269. FREYER'S PUG. — The fore wings are
brownish gray, with four pale waved bars ;
three ul tUem are rather broad atid double ;

that is to say, they are intersected throughout
by a slender dark line ; the fourth, nearer to
the hind margin, is single and zigzag; the
extreme hind margin is pale, and the fringe
is dark interiorly, and paler exteriorly ; the
boundary of the two tints being clearly de-
fined ; there is generally no very distinct dis-
coidal spot, but there are two longitudinal
series of white dots, extending from the base
of the wing to the third double band ; one of
these is about midway between the costal and
inner margin, the other is half-way between
this first and the inner margin : the hind
wings are brownish gray, with a short double
transverse bar originating at the inner mar-
gin, and scarcely reaching the middle of the
wing, and half-way between this and the hind
margin is a single pale bar extending entirely
across the wing ; the extreme margin and
fringe are as in the fore wings, and there is
a discoidal spot slightly indicated ; the head,
thorax, and body are gray- brown.

The CATERPILLAR is thus described by Mr.
Crewe: — "Short and plump, of the same
thickness from head to tail ; the ground-colour
is grass-green; the central dorsal line dark
green ; the subdorsal lines pale yellow, or
yellowish white, posteriorly dark green ; the
spiracular line is white or yellowish ; the seg-
mental divisions yellow ; the head is some-
what bifid, when at rest it is slightly curved
inwards, and invariably of a uniform dull
green colour ; the belly is bright green ; the
central ventral line is yellow, and the tip of
the central dorsal line always dark green ; the
spaces between the subdorsal and spiracular
lines are darker green than the rest of the
body. Ib feeds from the end of September to
the middle of November, and is seldom full-
fed before the middle of October; it will feed
on cypress if reared from the egg in confine-
ment, but in a state of nature it feeds on the
common juniper (Juniperus communis) The
CHRYSALIS is enclosed in a slight earthen
cocoon : its wing-cases are transparent yel-
lowish green; the thorax and body being
rather paler ; the tip of the body is dull red."

The MOTH appears on the wing in May ;
the caterpillar has been obtained in Bucking-

126

BRITISH MOTHS.

hamshire. (The scientiBc name is Eupithecia
arceuthata).

1st Obs. — Staudinger, in his catalogue of
European Lepidoptera, unites Eupithecia ar-
ceuthata of Freyer with E.helveticata of Bois-
duval : this opinion is shared by many ento-
mologists; but as the caterpillars seem so
distinct, it is desirable to keep them separate.

2nd Obs. — It appears to be a most variable
species — some specimens having the discoidal
spot very large, while in others it is scarcely
perceptible.

270. THE SATYR PUG. — The fore wings
are long, and rather pointed : they are of a
brownish smoky gray colour, with numerous
paler waved transverse lines ; one of these
near the hind margin is paler and much more
distinct, although less continuous than the
rest, being broken Tip or divided into whitish
spots, which sometimes form a zigzag series ;
one of these spots near the anal angle is larger
and more conspicuous than the rest : there is
an evident, but not very conspicuous, dis-
coidal spot, and the wing-rays in perfect speci-
mens are dotted with dark smoke-colour : the
hind wings are obscure smoky gray, with in-
dications of transverse waved lines, and are
perceptibly darker towards the hind margin ;
the head, thorax, and body are of the same
colour as the fore wings.

Var. 1. — Three varieties of the CATERPIL-
LAR are thus described by Mr. Crewe : —
"Ground-colour, pale yellowish green, with
the segmental divisions yellow; the central
dorsal line is dusky green. Down the centre
of the back is a series of Y-shaped dusky green
blotches, edged with purplish brown, and be-
coming confluent or merged in the central line,
on the anterior and posterior segments ; the
eubdorsal lines are very slender and indis-
tinct, and of a dusky green colour ; the spira-
cular line is yellow. Between the subdorsal
and spiracular lines is a row of small slanting
purplish blotches; the back is studded with
very minute yellowish tubercles.

Var. 2. — The back is greenish white ; the
central dorsal line pinkish or rose-colour ; the
subdorsal lines the same. Down the centre of
the back is a series of large rose-coloured and

rusty red goblet-shaped blotches, becoming
faint or merged in the central line on the an-
terior and posterior segments; the spiracular
line is waved and rose-coloured ; the subdor-
aal and spiracular lines connected by a num-
ber of slanting rose-coloured streaks ; the
belly is pale sea-green, or greenish white,
with a central white line ; the back is studded
with numerous small white tubercles.

Var. 3. — The whole of the back is suffused
with rose-colour ; the subdorsal lines are yel-
lowish ; the dorsal blotches are edged with
yellow. The spiracular line is interrupted
with yellow patches; the belly is greenish
white; the ventral segmental divisions are
white.

This caterpillar tapers considerably towards
the he»d ; it is very local, but occurs in
plenty in some parts of Buckinghamshire,
where, however, it is confined to the open
spaces between and near the beech woods. It
feeds upon the petals of almost any flower
which happens to grow in the locality, e.g.,
Centaurea nigra, Knautia arvensis, Gentiana
amarella, and G. campestris, Apargia hispida,
Origanum vulgare, Prunella vulgaris, Galium
mollugo, &c., preferring the two first-named.
It is full-fed in September. The CHRYSALIS,
which is enclosed in an earthen cocoon, has
the thorax and wing-cases golden yellow,
suffused with red. The divisions of the seg-
ments and the tip of the body are red."

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
occurs plentifully in Buckinghamshire, and is
said to have been found in the north of England
and in Scotland. Mr. Birchall says that it is
generally distributed and common in Ireland.
(The scientific name is Eupithecia satyrata.)

271. THE PAUPER PUG. — Fore wings lead-
coloured, with darker transverse lines, four of
these are equidistant, and near the base of the
wing a fifth originates on the inner margin,
and terminates in the discoidal spot, which is
very distinct : beyond this is a double line
twice elbowed, and again beyond this a
single line ; the hind-marginal area is inter-
sected by a zigzag whitish line ; the extreme
margin of the wing is delicately edged with
black, and the basal half of the fringe is

GEOMETERS.

127

spotted : the hind wings are of ne<u ly the
same Colour as the fore wings, with a crescen-
tric discoidal spot ; the hind margin and fringe
are as in the fore wings ; the head, thorax, and
body are of the same colour as the fore wiugs;
the body has a medio-dorsal series of double
black spots.

The MOTH appears on the wing at mid-
summer, and is said to have been taken in
Wales. It seems to be very rare. I have
never seen a specimen, but there is one in the
cabinet of Mr. E. C. Buxton. (The scientific
name is Eupithecia egenata.)

Obs. In this instance, my description is not
taken from the insect itself, but chiefly from
Herrich-Schaeffer's figures. (Geom. Europ.
279, 280.)

272. The Gray Png (Eupithecia castigata).

272. THE GRAY PUG. — The fore wkigs are
snoky gray, with several paler gray waved
transverse lines, three of which are double,
that is, intersected throughout by a distinct
darker line ; the fourth line nearest the hind
margin, is single aud more interrupted, and
zigzag ; it is of the same gray colour as the
rest, and has a very indistinct pale spot at the
anal angle ; there is a small and rather incon-
spicuous discoidal spot, and a slender inter-
rupted black line on the hind margin; the fringe
is smoky gray, and longitudinally, but indis-
tinctly intersected by a darker line ; the hind
wings are paler at the base, darker towards
the hind margin, and have a small, but dis-
tinct, discoidal spot ; the head, thorax, and
body are smoky gray.

The CATERPILLAR is thus described by Mr.
Crewe : — " Long, slender, and tapering ; the
ground colour is pale or dusky olive, or reddish
brownx with a chain of dusky lozenge-shaped
dorsal spots, becoming confluent on the ante-
rior and posterior segments; the segmental
divisions are reddish; the body is thickly stud-
ded with minute white tubercles, and clothed
more sparingly with short bristly hairs ; the

belly has a central blackish or purple line
running from tip to tail. It feeds indifferently
on almost every tree, shrub, and flower, in
August and September. In almost every
particular-, it closely resembles tlie caterpillar
of E. vulyata. The CHRYSALIS is enclosed in
an earthen cocoon ; its body is slender, taper-
ing, and of a reddish or greenish yellow ; its
thorax and wing cases yellow; the latter more
or less suffused with green."

The MOTH appears on the wing in May,
and occurs in most of our English counties,
and also in Scotland, and Mr. Birchall says,
that in Ireland it is common and generally
distributed. (The scientific name is Eupithecia
castigata.)

273. The Golden Rod Png (Eupithecia virgawreata).

273. THE GOLDEN ROD PUG. — Fore wings
br own-gray with a slight tendency to fulvous
in the middle ; on the costal margin are
several, four to eight, short transverse black
markings, which extend distinctly only as far
as the subcostal ray, but are slightly indicated
on the disk of the wing ; thei e is a pale, irre-
gular, and interrupted line parallel with the
hind margin, and this terminates in a rather
conspicuous gray mark ; all the wing- rays are
more or less dotted with black ; there is also
a slender interrupted black line on the hind
margin, and the discoidal spot is dark and
conspicuous ; the hind wings are of much the
same colour as the fore wings, but are paler
on the costal margin, and have a number of
short transverse lines on the inner margin.

The following description of the CATERPIL-
LAR was written by Mr. Crewe : —

" Fulvous, with a series of black dorsal
triangular spots ; becoming confluent towards
the head, and faint or altogether evanescent
on the caudal segment. On either side is a
row of conspicuous, slanting whitish or yel-
lowish stripes, forming a sort of margin to the
dorsal spots ; the belly is dusky, reddish ki

128

BRITISH MOTHS.

the centre, and having a dusky central line
running the whole length ; the body is stud-
ded with variously-sized white tubercles, and
is thinly clothed with short hairs. It feeds
upon the flowers of the golden rod (Solidago
virgaurea), in August and September. I have
found it by iio means rare in the Kentish
woods, where the underwood is of one or two
years' growth, and the golden rod has room to
grow and flower freely. In confinement this
caterpillar will feed freely upon ragwort (Se-
nedo jacobcea) and S. Palustris. The CHRYSA-
LIS, which isenelose'l in a slightly-spun earthen
cocoon, is very distinct from all the rest of the
family. The thorax is yellowish green, wit'i
a very accurately and distinctly defined bor-
der, and looks almost as if set in a frame.
When examined with a glass, some singular
dark spots and markings are seen, which give
it very much the appearance of a skull. The
body is a yellowish red, with two indistinct
interrupted dorsal, and two more distinct sub-
dorsal dusky lines ; the wing-cases are yellow-
ish olive, streaked with dusky markings, and
having the wing rays very prominent."

The caterpillar is rather slender, and tapers
towards the head. In general appearance it
resembles E. castigata and E. vulgata.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May and
the beginning of June, and has been taken by
Mr. Doubleday at Epping : it has been re
ported from other southern localities, and is
common ne*r Liverpool, but has not occurred
in Scotland or Ireland. (The scientific name
is Eupithecia virgaureata.)

Obs. This insect has for many years stood
under the name of E. pimpinellata in our
cabinets, and under fhat name Mr. Crewe has
described tl>e caterpillar; but this gentleman
was, I believe, the first to suspect and to point
out the error, for he appends to his description
the following judicious remarks: — "I am
inclined to suspect that this insect has been
wrongly named ; I have constantly and most
closely examined both the flowers and seeds
of Pimpinella magna and P, saxi/raga, but
could never detect the slightest trace of the
caterpillar, but I have repeatedly beaten it
from the flowers of the golden rod, and from

that plant alone, although both species of
Pimpinella are common in this locality/' I
may state that Mr. Doubleday entirely agrees
with this change of name, which I trust will
hereafter be generally adopted.

274. THE WHITE-SPOTTED PUG. — The fore
wings are brown, minutely speckled with
darker brown, and the wing-rays are spotted
alternately dark and pale ; near the middle of
the wing is the usual discoidal dark spot very
conspicuous, and almost round, and below the
hind margin is an interrupted transverse series
of white markings, three of which, situated
towards the anal angle, are very conspicuous ;
between this series and the fringe the wing-
rays are entirely dark ; the hind wings are
brown, and very minutely speckled with
darker brown, and these have also a trans-
verse and almost marginal series of white
markings, terminating in a conspicuous white
spot near the anal angle; the head, thorax,
and body are brown ; the thorax being marked
with a white bar across the middle, and a
white triangle where it joins the body.

Mr. Crewe has described two varieties of.
the caterpillar as under : —

"Far. 1. — Groundcolour, pale lemon yellow,
more or less suffused with rich brown. Down
the centre of the back is a series of deep
brown lily-shaped spots, bordered on either
side by a slender sub-dorsal line of the same
colour ; on each side is a row of slanting
bright yellow stripes and deep brown blotches;
the belly is greenish yellow ; the central
ventral line deep brown ; the sub-ventral line
deep brown, much broader than the central
one. Body studded with numerous white
tubercles.

" For. 2. — Ground colour pale yellowish
green ; down the centre of the back is a series
of semi-lozenge-shaped dusky brown spots,
connected by a central line of the same colour,
and becoming indistinct on the posterior, and
confluent on the anterior segments; sub-dorsal
lines dusky, indistinct. On each side is a
series of dusky blotches ; the central ventral
line dusky, interrupted ; the whole body,
especially the back, is studded wilh minute
white tubercles, and a few short blackish

GEOMETERS.

129

hairs. The dorsal, sub-dorsal, and lateral
blotches, spots, and lines are sometimes almost
or entirely wanting, leaving the caterpillar
of a uniform pale yellowish green.

"This caterpillar tapers towards the head,
and has a slightly wrinkled appearance.
When full-fed and ready to spin it turns
pink."

It feeds on the blossoms of the wild angelica
(Angelica sylvestris], and common hog-weed
(Heracleum sphondylium). The CHRYSALIS is
enclosed in a slight earthen cocoon; its thorax
is yellowish green, and the wing-cases dark
green, furrowed and wrinkled ; the body is
tapering, rough, and of a dull red colour ; it
has a slight ventral protuberance.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May and
June, and has been taken in Suffolk, Kent,
and Derbyshire, but not in Scotland or Ire-
land. (The scientific name is Eupitheda albi-
punctata, under which it was first described
by Haworth (Lep. Brit. 360), but Herrich-
SchsefFer (Supp. p. 77, fig. 461) has called
it E. tripunctaria, and Guenee (Ura/n. tt
Phal p. 315, No. 1,412) and Mr. Ore we
(Zool. 7,567 and 7,762) have adopted that
oame ; the older name must be restored.)

275. THE VALERIAN PUG.— "All the wings
are ashy brown, with the ordinary discoidal
spot in the centre of the fore wings, and a
very indistinct pale waved line at the hind
margin ; the hind wings are pale brown, with
very faint waved lines."

The CATERPILLAR is thus described by Mr.
Crewe : " Rather short, but tapering very
considerably towards the head ; the ground
colour is bright green, and very translucent ;
the central dorsal and sub-dorsal lines are
dark green but varying considerably in
breadth, and in intensity of colour ; the seg-
mental divisions are yellow ; the belly is
generally destitute of markings, but is occa-
sionally traversed longitudinally by two slen-
der faint sub-ventral lines, rather darker than
the ground colour; the spiracular line is
"whitish green ; when young, the ground colour
is greenish white ; it feeds on the flowers and
seeds of the common valerian ( Valeriana offid-
talis), in woods and osier beds, and is full-fed

from the middle of July to the middle of
August.

The MOTH appears in May, and occurs ir
Buckinghamshire, Dorsetshire, Derbyshire,
Devonshire, and Herefordshire. (The scien-
tific name is Eupitheda valerianata.)

Obs. — This insect is the Eupitheda vimi-
nataoi Mr. Doubleday formerly, but Hubner's
is the prior name, and is very appropriate,
as the caterpillar feeds on valerian. I have
copied Mr. Doubleday's original description
of the moth.

276. THE LARCH PUG. — The fore wings
are long, rather pointed, and of a dark, smoky-
gray colour, with several transverse pale gray
markings, and a distinct transverse discoidal
black spot ; the principal pale markings are a
vague band just outside the black discoidal
spot, a waved bar beyond this, which is
double, or intersected throughout by a slender
dark smoke-coloured line, and a single slender
line, half-way between this and the hind
margin ; there is a delicate interrupted black
line on the hind margin itself, and the fringe
is very indistinctly spotted with two shades of
gray; the hind wings are much the same
colour as the fore wings, but paler at the
base ; they have a rather indistinct crescentic
discoidal spot, and a double series of gray dots
parallel with the hind margin ; there is the
same interrupted black line on the margin as
iu the fore wings, and the fringe is indistinctly
spotted ; the head, thorax, and body are
sprinkled over with the two shades of gray,
the dark smoky-gray greatly prevailing ; at
the base of the thorax is a semicircular
whitish spot.

Mr. Crewe has described two varieties of
the caterpillar as under : —

" For. 1. — The ground colour is bright grass-
green, somewhat darker on the centre of the
back ; the central dorsal line is dark green :
the anal tip of the central dorsal line reddish ;
the sub-dorsal lines are wanting, or so faint
as to be scarcely visible ; the spiracular line
is whitish, or pale straw-colour ; the seg-
mental divisions are yellowish ; the belly IE
whitish, with a dark green central line ; it is
a long slender caterpillar, tapering towards

M 9

130

BRITISH MOTHS.

the head, and a good deal resembles in ap-
pearance the caterpillar of E. fraxinata.

"Few. 2. — The groundcolour is yellowish
red, or reddish buff; the central dorsal line
brownish olive ; the sub-dorsal lines brownish
olive, occasionally very faint ; the spiracular
line is pale greenish yellow ; the anal tip of
the central dorsal line reddish ; the belly is
whitish, with a dusky central and two broad
lateral lines. It feeds on larch and spruce fir,
and is full-fed at the end of July.

"The CHRYSALIS is en closed in a slight earthen
cocoon ; it is rather long and slender ; the
thorax is yellowish olive ; the wing-cases
deep green ; and the body yellowish green,
tinged with red ; the abdominal divisions and
tip red."

The MOTH appears on the wing at the end
of May ; it was discovered by Mr. Eedle, in
SuiTey, only a few years ago, and its namu
ascertained by Mr. Doubleday ; it is now
found to be very abundant in fir plantations
In the south of England, but has not yet been
recorded from the north of England, from
Scotland, or from Ireland. (The scientific
name Is JSupithecia lariciata.)

277. The Triple-Spot Pug (Eupithecia trisignata).

277. THE TRIPLE-SPOT PUG. — The fore
wings are gray, tinged with ochreous, and
having a number of transverse bent lines of
a darker colour ; three of these originate
about the middle of the costal margin, in as
many black spots, and below these is situated
the usual discoidal spot which is nearly round,
and very conspicuous; the hind wings are
slightly paler, but very similar ; the under
side of this little moth has a discoidal spot,
rather conspicuously placed near the centre of
each wing.

The CATERPILLAR Is thus described by Mr.
Crewe : « Rather short and stout, tapering
but slightly towards the head ; the ground
colour is pale green ; the central dorsal and

sub-dorsal lines dark green, the latter broader
than the former ; the spiracular line is waved,
and of a whitish or yellowish colour; the seg-
mental divisions are yellowish ; the head is
black, and, when at rest, curved considerably
inwards ; the anal tip of the central dorsal
line is purplish ; the back is wrinkled, and
sprinkled with a very few short bristly hairs;
the belly is green, with a central yellowish
line. The CHRYSALIS is enclosed in an earthen
cocoon ; its thorax is pale olive ; its wing-
cases are pale olive, and very transparent ; its
body tapering, and of a reddish yellow colour;
its tip and segmental divisions blood-red."
It feeds on the flowers of the wild angelica
(Angelica sylvestris).

The MOTH appears in June and July, and
occurs in Buckinghamshire and Derbyshire,
but has not been recorded from Scotland ; Mr.
Birchall obtained it at Howth, in Ireland.
(The scientific name is Eupithecia trisignata.)

278. THE DWARF PUG.— The fore wings
are very strongly marked ; the ground colour
is pale gray, and there are numerous trans-
verse, irregular, interrupted bars of a dark
brown colour ; the first of these is more con-
spicuous than the rest ; the second is inter-
rupted in the middle ; the third includes the
usual discoidal spot ; and there is also a series
of distinct black lines on the hind margin,
just within the fringe, which is alternately
dark and pale ; the hind wings are gray, with
waved darker bars and a discoidal spot ; they
have also a marginal series of dark lines ; the
heao. thorax, and body are grayish brown,
and speckled ; the body has a black belt near
the base.

The CATERPILLAR ta thus described by Mr.
Crewe : " Long, slender, and tapering con-
siderably towards the head ; ground colour
orange red, or dull ochreous green ; central
dorsal line dusky olive, often apparent on the
anterior segments ; sub-dorsal line of the same
colour ; spiracular line yellow ; segmental di-
visions orange ; central ventral line yellowish.
It feeds on spruce fir (Pinus abies), and is
full-fed the first week in July. The CHRY-
SALIS is enclosed in a slight earthen cocoon ;
it is slender and delicate, of a pale ochreous

GEOMETERS.

131

yellow colour, with black and prominent eyes ;
the upper edge of the wing-cases is bordered
with two black spots, and the lower edge by a
slender blackish line."

The MOTH appears on the wing in May, and
is then very common at West Wickham Wood,
in Surrey, and has been taken in Devonshire,
but I think not in the north of England, Scot-
land, or Ireland. (The scientific name is
Eupithecia pusillata.)

279. The Marbled Pug (Eupithecia irriguata).

279. THE MARBLED PUG. — The fore wings
are pale gray, almost whit:,, with several dark
brown markings; these are, first, a small
triangular blotch at the base of the wing ;
secondly, an elbowed bar near the base ;
thirdly, a triangle on the middle of the costal
margin ; the apex of this brown triangle joins
the black discoidal spot ; and fourthly, a broad
marginal band intersected by a pale gray
zigzag line, which is tolerably perfect on the
costal margin, but broken up towards the
anal angle ; the hind wings are whitish gray,
with a few darker markings, but nothing
resembling those on the fore wings. The
thorax and body are prettily variegated with
the two shades of colour prevalent on the
wings.

The MOTH appears on the wing in April and
June, in the New Forest, in Hampshire, but
seems to be rare. (The scientific name is
Eupithecia irriguata.)

280. THE PIMPINEL PUG. — The fore wings
are elongated, but less lanceolate than those
of E. innotata, and the hind wings are much
more rounded than in that species ; they are
bright gray, with a slight tint of reddish
brown or clay-colour, especially on the lower
part of the wing, and before the subterminal
line, where it forms almost a band ; the
discoidal spot is large and very black, and the
usual lines, which are more or less distinct,
originate in black costal spots ; the sub-
twminal line is indistinct and irregular, and

there is no white spot at the anal angle ; the
hind wings are light, with rudiments of lines
and a band, especially on the inner margin,
and the second and third wing-rays are inter- .
sected with black and white ; the discoidal
spot is very distinct ; the body has a red
band on the second segment.

Mr. Crewe thus describes the CATERPILLAR :

" It is long, rather slender, and tapering
towards the head. There are two varieties :

" Var. 1. — Is green, with three purple
dorsal lines, the central one of which is broad
and distinct, expanding considerably on the
anal segment ; the two side ones are very
indistinct ; the head and prolegs are purple ;
the segmental divisions and spiracular lines
yellowish ; the belly is green ; the back
studded with a few minute white tubercles,
interspersed here and there with a black one.

" Var. 2. — Is of a uniform purple, with
two lines of a deeper shade on each side of the
back. It feeds, as far as my experience goes,
exclusively on the flowers and seeds of the
lesser Bur net saxifrage (Pimpinellasaxifraga),
and is full-fed throughout the month of
September, and occasionally at the beginning
of October. It prefers the hedge sides and
banks. It is fearfully infested with ichneu-
mons, not above one in ten escaping. The
CHRYSALIS is enclosed in an earthen cocoon ;
there are two varieties, the one yellowish
green, the other red. This caterpillar is by
no means rare in the eastern counties. I
have also taken it in Derbyshire."

The MOTH appears on the wing twice in the
year, in April and August. (The scientific
name is Eupithecia pimpinellata.)

Obs. — Mr. Crewe has described this larva
under the name of E. denotata, and M»
Guenee has described the perfect insect under
the same name ; but Mr. Doubleday believes
this species to be the Pimpinellata of Hubner,
and the food-plant as well as the characters of
the perfect insect which I have copied from
Guenee, go to prove the justice of this con-
clusion.

281. THE ASH-TREE PUG. — Forewingsvery
long, narrow, and rather pointed ; smoky-
brown, with a distinct although very narrow

132

BRITISH MOTHS.

crescentic discoidal spot ; between the costal
and sub-cosfcal wing-rays there are a number
of short transverse markings, which are el-
bowed when they reach the latter, and then
are directed for a short distance only towards
the tip of the wing; the wing-rays are spotted
with brown and pale gray ; those six which
run parallel with each other to the hind
margin are very dark, and each is inter-
rupted by a pale gray spot, which six spots
form an oblique series from the costal margin
near its tip to the inner margin ; near the
anal angle there is a slender interrupted black
line on the extreme hind margin, with which
the dark wing-rays are united ; the hind
wings are pale-brown, with a small circular
discoidal spot, and a number of very indistinct
transverse waved lines near the hind mar-
gin ; there is a very slender black line on
the margin itself; the fringe is dark and
intersected by a slender pale line ; the head,
thorax, and body are dark brown, and some-
what spotted.

The CATERPILLAR is thus described by Mr.
Crewe : " Long, smooth, rather slender, and
tapering towards the head ; the ground colour
is uniform dark green ; the central dorsal line
faint purplish, and enlarged into a very dis-
tinct purple spot on the anal appendage ; the
segmental divisions are yellow ; the spiracu-
lar Hue is waved and yellowish ; the belly is
wrinkled and whitish ; the central ventral
line, dark green. A variety occurs, in which
the central dorsal line is supplied by a series
of dusky triangular blotches, very faint, or
altogether evanescent, on the anterior and
posterior segments; on each side is a row
of slanting faint yellow stripes, tinged with
pink. It feeds upon ash, and is full-fed at the
end of August and beginning of September.
The CHRYSALIS is enclosed in a slight cocoon,
under moss, on the trunks of ash-trees ; it
is long, slender, and tapering, with the thorax
and wing-cases dark olive ; the body is still
darker, and almost black, tinged posteriorly
with red."

The MOTH appears on the wing in June and
July. (The scientific name is JSupithecia
fraxinaia. )

1st Obs. — The caterpillars, in confinement^
will feed on the flowers of Laurustlnus.

2nd Obs. — Mr. Crewe at first supposed this
to be the caterpillar of Eupiihecia innotata,
and described it as such in the " Zoologist."

282. THE OCHREOUS PUG. — The fore wings
are rather pointed, and of a pale wainscot
brown colour, with a distinct oblong discoidal
spot, a slender interrupted black line on the
hind margin, and seven or eight faintly indi-
cated waved, oblique transverse dark lines, all
of which originate in dark transverse spots,
which connect the costal and sub-costal rays ;
the hind wings are very pale, with a gray
discoidal spot, and a delicate dark line on the
hind margin ; the fringe of all the wings is
very pale ; the head, thorax, and body are of
the same colour as the wings. It is altogether
a faded or bleached-looking insect.

The CATERPILLAR is thus described by Mr.
Crewe : " Long, slender, and tapering con-
siderably towards the head ; the ground colour
is pale greenish yellow, or yellowish red ; the
central dorsal line, dusky reddish brown or
olive, frequently very indistinct or wholly
evanescent, except on the capital segments ;
the sub-dorsal lines, pale yellow ; the belly is
greenish yellow; the central ventral line,
yellow ; the sub- ventral line, reddish brown."

The EGGS from which the caterpillars above
described were reared, were laid upon the
wild juniper and cypress, and the caterpillars
were full-fed from the middle to the end of
July.

The species is double-brooded, the MOTH
appearing on the wing in May and August ;
it is by no means uncommon in Yorkshire,
and has occurred also in Scotland. (The
scientific name is Eupithecia indigata.)

283. THE WILD THYME PUG.— The fore
wings are rather short, and rather rounded at
the tips ; all the wings are slightly scalloped
at the hind margin ; the fore wings are gray,
with a long black discoidal spot, and nine or
ten zigzag or waved darker transverse lines,
some of which are distinct on the costal
margin, but vanish towards the centre of the
disk, re-appearing on the inner margin, where
ten may be counted without difficulty; the

GEOMETERS.

183

hind wings are precisely the same colour as
the fore wings, and have a slender crescentic
discoidal spot, but no distinct transverse lines,
except the slender interrupted marginal line,
which is common to all four wings ; the head,
thorax, and body are gray, and scarcely at
all spotted.

The CATERPILLAR is thus described by Mr.
Crewe, under the name Eupitheda distinc-
tata : "Rather long and slender, tapering con-
siderably towards the head ; the ground colour
is dark green; the central dorsal line broad,
and purplish red ; the spiracular line indis-
tinct greenish yellow ; the skin is wrinkled,
and the back studded with numerous very
short stiff bristly hairs ; down the centre of
the belly is a whitish line ; the ventral seg-
mental divisions are yellowish." It feeds
on the flowers of the wild thyme (Tliymus
serpyllum). The CHRYSALIS is yellowish green
and olive, and changes on the ground in a
slight earthen cocoon.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July and
August. It has been taken in Scotland, and
is common and generally distributed iu Ire-
land. (The scientific name is Eupitheda con-
gtrictata.)

284. THE CAMPANULAPUG. — Thefore wings
are pale dingy brown, with a clearly defined,
oblong, discoidal spot, and scarcely any other
distinct markings ; there are a few very in-
distinct dark marks between the costal and
sub-costal rays, and a few dark dots here and
there on the wing-rays, the wing-rays them-
selves being evidently darker towards the hind
margin, and this dark portion being intersected
by a slender white zigzag line, which in some
specimens terminates in a small white spot at
the anal angle of the wing ; on the hind
margin, just within the fringe, is a slender
interrupted dark line ; the fringe itself is
dingy brown, interrupted by a few wedge-
shaped white spots, very feebly marked ; the
hind wings are slightly paler, with a small
discoidal spot, a few dark spots on the wing-
rays, and a slender interrupted marginal line ;
the head, thorax, and body are of the same
colour as the fore wings, and indistinctly
dotte'1 ^*h darker brown.

Mr. Crewe thus describes the CATERPILLAR :
"Rather short and stumpy ; the ground colour
light ochreous brown ; the central dorsal line
very deep brown or black, intersecting and
uniting a chain of very strongly-defined black
or deep brown lozenge-shaped spots, placed in
the centre of each segment ; sub-dorsal lines
very slender and faint, blackish or deep brown ;
head, dingy brown or black ; spiracular and
central ventral lines, dingy black or brown ;
central dorsal spots becoming confluent, and
merged in the central line on the anterior and
posterior segments ; both spots and ground
colour varying considerably in intensity of
colouring. The skin is rough and wrinkled,
and sprinkled with a few whitish hairs. It
feeds upon the unripe seeds and seed-capsules
of the nettle-leaved campanula (Campanula
trachelium). Until nearly full-grown it lives
either in the dry corolla-tube, or just at the
crown of the capsule. In confinement it will
feed upon the garden species of campanula.
It is full-fed at the end of August and begin-
ning of September. The CHRYSALIS is enclosed
in a slight earthen cocoon; its thorax and
wing-cases are golden yellow ; its body red-
dish ; the abdominal divisions and tips are
red."

The MOTH appears on the wing in July.
The caterpillar has been found by Mr. Crewe,
who says : " A few weeks since, whilst
walking in a beech- wood near Tring, I found
a number of caterpillars of some species of
Eupitheda unknown to me, feeding on the
seed-capsules of Campanula trachelium." Mr.
Crewe sent them to Dr. Breyer, who at once
pronounced them to be the species described
above. (The scientific name is Eupitheda
campanulata.)

Obs. — Mr. Doubleday seems to have no
doubt that this species is the Denotata of
Hubner ; but as this problem can scarcely be
solved now, it seems desirable to continue
Herrich-Scha3ffer's very appropriate name of
Campanulata, as there can be no doubt as
to the species intended by that eminent
lepidopterist.

285. THE NARROW-WINGED PUG. — The fore
wings are rather elongated, rather narrowband

184

BRITISH MOTHS.

rather pointed at the apex ; they are dark
smoke-coloured, with a number of white
markings, which are disposed in four irregular
transverse bars ; the first, second, and third of
these are double, that is, are severally inter-
sected by a delicate dark line ; the first and
third extend from the costal to the inner mar-
gin ; the second ceases about the middle of
the wing ; the fourth, parallel with the hind
margin, is single and strongly dentate ; the
discoidal spot is very small, nearly circular,
quite black, and adjoins the second or abbre-
viated double bar ; the hind wings are light
gray, with three smoke-coloured transverse
bars, the outer of which is marginal ; the,
fringe of all the wings is dark smoke-coloured,
spotted with pale gray ; the head is gray,
the thorax and body gray, with smoky mark-
ings.

The CATERPILLAR is thus described by Mr.
Crewe : " Long and slender, tapering towards
the head ; the ground colour white or greenish
white, with a chain of pear-shaped red dorsal
spots, bordered on either side by an interrupted
line of the same colour, and becoming confluent
on the capital and anal segments ; the sides
are spotted with red ; the belly has a central
red line running the whole length ; the body
is clothed with a few very short hairs. A
very pretty variety of this caterpillar has the
ground colour bright green, with a series of
tooth or pear-shaped white dorsal spots, inter-
sected by a central horizontal dark green line,
becoming purple at the anal tip ; the spira-
cular line is white and broken ; the back is
sprinkled with a few short black hairs. It
feeds on the flowers of the common ling
(Calluna vii/garis) in August and September.
The CHRYSALIS is enclosed in an earthen
cocoon ; its thorax and win^-cases are yellow ;
its body deeply suffused with red ; and its
thorax considerably elevated. The chrysalis
of the green variety is suffused all over with
green."

The MOTH appears on the wing in May, and
has been taken in Suffolk and the north of
England, Scotland, and Ireland ; it is by no
means uncommon. (The scientific name is
Ewpithecia nanata.)

286. The Plain Pug (Eu/pithecia subnotata).

286. THE PLAIN PUG. — The fore wings are
very broad, and of an ochreous tint, with a
small brown circular and inconspicuous dis-
coidal spot ; there are indications of four white
bars, three of which are double, that is, inter-
sected with delicate darker lines ; the first is
double, very short, and very indistinct ; the
second, double, and sharply angled in the
middle, the angle pointing to the discoidal
spot ; the third is double, oblique, but more
direct, and acutely dentate along the margin,
near to the base of the wing ; each tooth is
tipped with black ; the fourth bar is single
and very decided ; it is bordered by a bright
ochreous band towards the base of the wing ;
the fringe is gray; the hind wings are
ochreous gray, with whitish dentated trans-
verge lines ; the head, thorax, and body are
pale ochreous.

Mr. Crewe thus describes the CATERPILLAR :
" Ground colour dull yellowish green, pale
green or reddish gray, with a cham of dull
olive lozenge-shaped dorsal spots, becoming
confluent towards the head and tail, and often
bordered by an indistinct olive line ; the spots
and lines are sometimes very faint ; tlie seg-
mental divisions are yellowish or reddish ;
the spiracular line yellowish ; the whole body
very rough, and thickly studded with minute
white tubercles and white spots, and sprinkled
here and there with short stumpy hairs ; the
belly is pale »reen, with an interrupted line
running the whole length. It feeds on the
seeds and flowers of various species oi' A triplex
and Chenopodium, in August and September.
It seems to prefer the banks of tidal rivers. I
have taken it in profusion on the banks of the
Or * ell and the Stour, near Ipswich, but have
also met with it in some plenty in waste
ground near Bexley. It is not so easy to rear
as others of the family, and often pines in
confinement. The CHRYSALIS, which isenclosed
in an earthen cocoon, has the wing-cases dark

GEOMETERS.

135

green, and the thorax and body yellowish ; the
latter is not so tapering as many of the other
Eupithecice"

The MOTH appears in June and July, and is
not uncommon in the south of England. (The
scientific name is Eupithecia subnotata.)

287. THE COMMON PUG. — The fore wings
are rather long, i ather pointed, and of a dull
red brown, with an indistinct discoidal spot
which is sometimes entirely black, sometimes
entirely white, but more frequently black,
with a white surrounding or a white margin ;
nearly parallel with the hind margin is a
transverse series of white crescents, termi-
nating in a white spot near the anal angle ;
there are six or eight dark transverse bars
along the costal margin, but these scarcely
reach the middle of the wing, or are very
faintly indicated beyond ; the wing-rays are
dotted with black ; there is a slender inter-
rupted black line on the hind margin, and this
is immediately followed by a pale marginal
line of the fringe ; then comes a dark line,
then a second pale line, and lastly a dark
line. The hind wings are plain brown, with
scarcely any markings, except the usual
slender interrupted dark marginal line. The
head, thorax, and body are brown. The
markings of the under side are more distinct
than on the upper ; the discoidal spot is much
more strongly developed.

Mr. Crewe writes thus of the CATERPILLAR :
" Common as this insect is everywhere, the
caterpillar seems to be but little known. I
have run er myself beaten it, but have several
times reared it from the egg ; it so closely
resembles that of E. castiyata, that it requires
a very practised eye to distinguish them. It
is slender, and tapers towards the head ; its
general colour is reddish-brown or dusky
olive ; along the centre of the back there is a
chain of dirty greenish, lozenge-shaped spots,
becoming confluent at the capital and anal
segments ; the spiracular line is waved
yellowish, and occasionally interrupted with
black ; the segmental divisions are orange ;
the whole body is studded with minute white
tubercles, and sparingly clothed with short
whitish hairs. It feeds on white thorn

(Cratcegus oxyacantha), and is full-fed in the
middle of July. The CHRYSALIS is enclosed
in an earthen cocoon ; it is slender and
delicate ; its head, thorax, and wing-cases
olive. The body is reddish, and sharply
pointed."

The MOTH appears on the wing in May and
June, in England, Scotland, and Ireland.
(The scientific name is Eupithecia vulgata.)

288. The Bleached Pug (Eupitheria expalUdata) .

288. THE BLEACHED PUG. — The fore wings
are rather broad, rather rounded at the tip,
and of a uniform testaceous gray colour,
with a large and most distinct discoidal spot,
which is all the more apparent from the
extremely pale and bleached appearance of
the area around it ; there are six or eight dark
transverse markings between the costal and
sub-costal rays, and these seem to indicate
the commencement of as many transverse
lines, which, however, I fail to trace ; there
is a waved and interrupted white line, parallel
with the hind margin ; the hind wings are
of the same colour as the fore wings, with
scarcely any darker markings, except an in-
distinct discoidal spot ; the head and thorax
are pale ; the body is pale, with a black back
and black sides.

Mr. Crewe has described four varieties of
the CATERPILLAR as under : —

" Var. 1. — Ground colour, pale canary yel-
low ; central dorsal line, pale brown ; down
the centre of the back there is a chain of
large, deep, rich brown, tooth-shaped spots,
united at the points, and bordered on either
side by an almost black sub-dorsal line ; dorsal
spots becoming faint and confluent in the
central dorsal line, on the anterior and pos-
terior segments, almost obliterated on the
latter ; below the sub-dorsal lines is a narrow
rich brown line and a row of slanting stripea
of the same colour ; the spiracular line is
yellowish ; the belly is suffused on either aide

136

BRITISH MOTHS.

with brown, and having a central line of
the same colour running the whole length ;
the body is minutely studded with tubercles
and very short hairs ; it has a wrinkled
appearance.

" Var. 2. — The ground colour is grass or
yellowish green. The dorsal spots are brown,
and perfectly lozenge-shaped, ceasing on the
posterior segments ; the sub-dorsal lines are
deeper brown than the dorsal spots, and are
interrupted at the segmental divisions ; the
spiracular line is yellowish, and bordered on
the lower side with brown.

" Var. 3. — Ground colour various shades of
green. All the markings, except the sub-
dorsal lines, faint or altogether wanting.

" Var. 4. — Whole body, with the exception
of the posterior dorsal segments, suffused with
a deep rich chocolate brown ; the posterior
dorsal segments are canary-yellow, with a
central pale brown line. On every other
dorsal segment are two yellow spots ; on each
side are two yellow waved lines, enclosing a
brown line. It feeds in September and
throughout October on the flowers of the
golden rod (Solidago virgaurea).

" In confinement it will eat various species
of Michaelmas daisy. It has also, I believe,
been beaten from the flowers of ragwort ;
but I have not myself met with it on anything
but, Solidago virgaurea. The CHRYSALIS, which
is enclosed in an earthen cocoon, is large and
thick, and has the thorax and abdomen
yellow, the latter deeply suffused with blood
red. The wing-cases are more or less tinged
with green."

The MOTH appears in July and August, and
has been taken in Wales and in the county
Wicklow in Ireland, but I know of no recent
captures. (The scientific name is Eupithecia
expallidata.)

Obs. — M. Guen6e seems to doubt whether
it is distinct from the next species, but I
confess I am unable to see any great similarity
between them, and the discovery of the cater-
pillar so carefully characterised by Mr. Crewe
seems to settle the question.

289. THE WORMWOOD PUG. — The fore wings
"Vo brown gray, the middle of the wing being

suffused with a most delicate tinge of mother-
of-pearl, which is due to the presence of
numberless minute opalescent scales ; between
the costal and the sub-costal wing-rays are
several transverse dark brown markings ; the
most conspicuous of these is situated beyond
the discoidal spot (which is transverse and
very conspicuous), and is bordered on the
outside by a gray, almost white marking, of
nearly the same size and shape ; intervening
between the other dark costal markings are
less distinct pale gray markings ; between
the base of the wing and the discoidal spot is
a trans verse series of three double black spots,
all of them on the wing-rays ; beyond the
discoidal spot is an oblique transverse series of
compound spots, also on the wing-rays ; each
of them is gray in the middle and black on
the outsides, and though the series of com-
pound spots is transverse, each individual
spot is longitudinal ; between this series and
the hind margin is a series of white spots, for
the most part imperfect and obscure, but the
one nearest the anal angle is always larger
and more conspicuous than the others, and
always double or nearly double ; there is a
pale line on the extreme hind margin, and
another along the middle of the fringe ; the
hind wings are paler, and have a darker hind
margin and discoidal spot, and a still darker
marginal line ; the head, thorax, and body are
brown ; the collar pale ; the base of the body
also pale, but immediately followed by a
dark belt ; there is a medio-dorsal series of
minute crests on the body, all of which are
tipped with white.

Mr. Crewe has written thus of the CATER-
PILLAR : " It would be impossible to give an
accurate description of the almost endless
varieties of this most variable caterpillar; they
run so closely into each other that it would
be an almost Herculean task to separate them.
The ground colour is either deep rose colour,
or dirty reddish-brown, with a series of
reddish lozenge-shaped spots down the contre
of the back, generally becoming faint or con-
fluent towards the head or tail ; in the green
variety these spots are often entirely wanting j
on each side is a number of narrow slanting

GEOMETERS.

137

yellow stripes, forming a sort of border to the
dorsal spots; spiracular line waved, yellow;
body wrinkled, thickly studded with minute
white tubercles, and somewhat more sparingly
with short white hairs ; segmental divisions
yellow : it is thick and stumpy, tiering but
little. It feeds from the end of August to the
beginning of November on the flowers of the
common yellow and hoary-leaved ragwort
(Seneciojacobceaand /S. erucifolius), on the hem p
agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum),the mug-
wort (Artemisia vulgaris), the yarrow (AcMllea
millefolium), the golden rod (Solidago rir-
gaurea), and other plants. The CHRYSALIS,
which is enclosed in a tightly-spun earthen
cocoon, has the wing-cases bright green, the
rays very prominent ; the thorax yellowish
green, and the body reddish yellow, with a
dark green dorsal line."

The MOTH appears on the wing in June and
July, and is common in most of the English
counties, and occurs also in Scotland and
Ireland.

290. THE LING PUG. — The fore wings are
rather long, narrow, and pointed; they have a
reddish brown tinge, with a distinct but not
very large discoidal spot; between the costal
and sub-costal rays are several transverse
markings of a dark brown colour, and on the
inner margin are other somewhat similar
markings ; these form, as it were, the two
extremities of transverse lines, the presence of
which is slightly indicated on the disk of the
wing ; parallel with the hind margin is an
interrupted series of white spots, most of them
linear and very obscure ; but there is one
more distinct and larger at the anal angle ;
the hind wings are pale dingy brown, with a
whitish spot at the anal angle; the head,
thorax, and body are of the same colour as the
fore wings ; the sides of the body are dark
brown.

The CATERPILLAR is described by Mr. Crewe
as " short, thick, and stumpy ; the ground
colour is dull pink or flesh-tint, with a series
of dusky Y-shaped dorsal spots, connected by
a central pink line, and becoming faint on
the anterior, and almost obliterated on the
posterior segments; each dorsal segment is

studded with four yellowish tubercles ; the
spiracular line is yellowish, interrupted at
intervals by dusky blotches. The head is
dusky olive, marked with black ; the belly is
dusky or pinkish white ; the back thickly
studded with small white, and a few black,
tubercles, and sprinkled here and there with
short hairs. It feeds on the flowers of the
common ling (CaUunavulgaris), in August and
September. The CHRYSALIS is enclosed in an
earthen cocoon ; it is short and thick, with
the thorax and wing-cases golden yellow;
the body yellow, generally suffused with red ;
the wing-cases very transparent, and the tips
of the body blood-red."

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
has been taken at West "Wickham, in Surrey,
at Glasgow, in Scotland, and is common in
Ireland. Mr. Crewe believes it to be common
wherever its food-plant occurs. (The scientific
name is Eupithecia minutata.)

Obs. — M. Guenee confesses himself unable
to define any essential difference between
E. absynthiata and E. minutata; he had united
them in his " Species Gen6ral," until Mr.
Doubleday, who has reared both species from
the caterpillar, carefully keeping them sepa-
rate, induced him to alter his opinion ; in
examining long series of both species obligingly
sent to him by Mr. Doubleday, he finds the
prevailing colour of Absynthiata more of an
isabelline brown, and less liver-coloured than
in E. minutata ; the costal markings darker,
the discoidal spot blacker, oblong and well-
defined ; the series of white markings near the
hind margin is more or less interrupted, but
is always continued to the anal angle, where
it terminates in a large semi-double white
spot. Of the present species, E. minutata,
M. Guene"e says it only differs from E. absyn-
thiata in its smaller size, its more cinereous
tint of colour, and its markings being more
distinct. My own impression, with Mr.
Doubleday's specimens before me, is that E.
minutata is a less insect ; the fore wings,
measured from the costal margin to the anal
angle, are decidedly narrower ; relatirely, but
not actually, longer ; and certainly more
pointed ; of the difference in colour, I am not

138

BRITISH MOTHS.

prepared to express an opinion, as varieties
occur in the series of both insects in this
respect.

291. THE CURRANT Puo. — The fore wings
are broad and rather short, they are rounded
at the apex; their colour is dusky grayish
brown, with scarcely a tinge of red or fer-
ruginous brown ; the discoidal spot is very
black and distinct, and transversely elongate ;
between the costal and sub-costal rays are
several transverse dark markings, and from
these, obscure indications of waved transverse
lines descend to the inner margin ; parallel
with the hind margin is an interrupted
series of white markings, terminating in a
double white spot, which is very conspicuous ;
the hind wings are scarcely paler than the
fore wings, and have a decided discoidal spot,
and several narrow transverse waved lines,
and a white spot at the anal angle ; the head,
thorax, and body are of the same colour as
the fore wings ; the body has a medio-dorsal
row of dark brown spots, and dark brown
sides.

The CATERPILLAR is described by Mr. Crewe
as " slender, and tapering slightly towards
the head, and about three-quarters of an inch
in length. The ground colour is yellowish
green ; segments of rings yellow ; the cen-
tral dorsal line dark green ; the two side ones
of the same colour, but very indistinct ; these
latter are studded, in some instances, at in-
tervals with black dots. The whole body is
thickly sprinkled with small yellowish green
tubercles, and very sparingly strewed with
short whitish hairs. It strongly resembles a
young larva of E. cervinaria. It turns pinkish
when ready to spin up; the CHRYSALIS is greenish
brown, and enclosed in an earthen cocoon.
The caterpillar feeds, towards the middle of
October, on the under side of the leaves of the
black currant ; mine were taken in October,
from the 13th to the 15th. I am inclined to
think it is double-brooded. It eats oblong
holes in the leaves, by which its presence
may be generally detected. In repose it
mostly lies along the mid-rib of the leaf.

''' Var. 1. — Of a uniform pale green colour
until the last moult ; afterwards it has a chain

of rusty brown dorsal spots running from tip
to tail, and these are intersected and united
by a central dorsal line ; the ground colour is
dirty yellowish green ; the dorsal spots are
confluent on the anterior and posterior seg-
ments, and bordered on each side by a dusky
line ; the sides are suffused with dusky red-
dish brown, and streaked with waved lines of
the same colour ; the belly is greenish j the
body is covered with small white tubercles,
and studded with a few short white hairs ;
the segmental divisions are orange ; the head
is greenish, marked with black ; it feeds on
the black currant and wild hops in September
and October.

" Var. 2. — The ground colour is pinkish ;
the back and belly are tinged with green;
the central dorsal line is dark green, having
on each of the middle segments a black dot on
either side ; the segmental divisions are red-
dish ; the body is thickly studded with minute
white tubercles, and less thickly with short
whitish hairs. Head green, transparent,
marked with black. I found this caterpillar
on the black currant in September, 1859 ;
and this spring, as I expected, it produced
E. assimilata."

The MOTH appears on the wing in May and
August; its geographical range in this country
has not been ascertained. (The scientific
name is Eupithecia assimilata.)

Obs. — I am quite unable to write any
character of this little moth, by which I can
satisfactorily distinguish it from Itlwpithecia,
absynthiata, but I think Guen6e is right in
stating that the fore wings are generally
broader and more rounded at the tip ; the
discoidal spot is very long and very dark, and
is followed by five or six very delicate gray
marks, which, however, are not entirely
absent in E. absynthiata. The series of
white spots near the hind margin is more
clearly defined and distinct, and the double
transverse white spot at the anal angle more
conspicuous ; the hind wings have a similar
white spot at the anal angle ; the fringe is
slightly interrupted : in all other characters
the moth resembles E. absynthiata.

292. THE SLENIXER PUG. — The fore

GEOMETERS.

13Q

are short, broad, and rounded at the tip ; they
are gray, with smoky-brown markings, which
are numerous and conspicuous on the costal
margin ; the discoidal spot is intensely black,
but not very large; there are numerous closely
approximate transverse markings between the
costal and sub-costal wing-rays ; the con-
tinuity of this series is broken at two-thirds
of the distance between the base and tip, by
two pale gray markings of similar shape ; the
disk of the wing is traversed by narrow
waved lines, most of which originate in the
costal markings already noticed, but two differ
from the rest in originating on the inner
margin, and not reaching the costal margin,
but uniting before they reach the sub-costal
ray, from a loop which touches and encloses
the discoidal spot ; there is a pale zigzag line
parallel to the hind margin, and a slender
interrupted black line on the margin itself :
the hind wings are gray, with transverse
markings : the head, thorax, and body are
gray ; the last with the penultimate segment
darker-, especially on the sides.

The CATERPILLAR is thus described by Mr.
Crewe : —

" Short and stumpy ; the ground colour is
dirty yellowish green. The sides and centre
of back slightly tinged with rose-colour, down
the centre of the back is a row of very indis-
tinct dusky spots, becoming confluent in a
black line at the anal segment, and bordered
by an interrupted black line. On each side
is a row of slanting tubercular flesh-coloured
stripes ; the head and fore feet are black ; it
feeds on the crtkins of sallow in spring, and is
full-fed by the end of March and beginning of
April. In appearance it much resembles the
caterpillar of Eupithecia isogrammata. When
full fed, it comes out of the sallow catkins, and
spins a slight cocoon among earth, roots of
grass, and moss. The CHRYSALIS is pale golden
yellow ; the abdominal divisions dusky ; the
thorax and wing-cases have a slight greenish
tinge ; the eyes are prominent and blackish ;
the body short and curtailed."

The MOTH appears on the wing in June,
and has been found both in the north and
west of England, and by Mr. Birchall at

Killarney, in Ireland. (The scientific nama
is Eupithecia tenuiata.)

293. The Maple Pag (Eupithecia suboiMafa).

293. THE MAPLE PUG. — The antennae of
the male are very slightly pectinated, or
rather ciliated, in this respect differing from
all the other British species of the genus ; it
is a very small species, the wings scarcely
pointed, and the markings very indistinct; the
fore wings are pale grayish brown ; there is
an indistinct discoidal spot, and the other
markings are transvei-se, waved and inter-
rupted, and, with the exception of the slender
interrupted black marginal line, none of them
present characters to describe ; the area near
the hind margin is the darkest, end is tra-
verse 1 by a pale zigzag line, which commences
on the costal margin, and descends to the
anal angle ; the hind wings are paler at the
base than the fore wings, but otherwise of the
same colour, and the markings, such as they
are, are rather more distinct than on the fore
wings.

The MOTH appears on the wing at the end
of July, and was discovered by Mr. Double-
day, in Cambridgeshire, and subsequently by
Dr. Knaggs, among maple trees, at Saltwood,
near Hythe. (The scientific name is Eupi-
thecia subciliata.)

Obs. — Mr. Doubleday pays, he believes
this insect to be the Dositlwa circuitaria of
Stainton's " Annual," but it bears no resem-
blance to the figures in Hubner'sand Herrich-
SchtefFer's works. Mr. Stainton has an Eupi-
thecia subciliata also (Manual, vol. ii. p. 90),
but I am uncertain whether the present species
is intended ; and the reference in the Index
to E. subumbrata as a synonyme makes the
matter still more obscure.

294. THE OAK-TREE PUG. — The fore wings
are neither long and pointed, nor broad and
rounded ; they are of a pale gray colour, with
the slightest possible tint of olive T*M?n oa

140

BRITISH MOTHS.

recent and very perfect specimens ; there is a
transverse discoidal spot, but so closely united
with one of the transverse bands, that it is
very inconspicuous ; there are a number of
transverse dark lines, and some of them,
crowded between the discoidal spot and the
base, communicate to the triangular basal area
of the wing a darker tint, which in some
specimens is very decided ; beyond the dis-
coidal spot, yet absolutely touching it, is a
pale double bar ; aud again beyond this, a
darker area, which encloses two pale waved
lines ; the inner of these has a tendency to be
double, the outer is single and very zigzag ;
the hind wings are nearly of the same colour
as the fore wings, and both have a slender
interrupted black marginal line, the divisions
of which are slightly crescentic, giving a some-
what scalloped appearance to the margin ;
all the markings are indistinct, and must
not be regarded as fully described in this
brief definition; the head and thorax are
gray, the body olive brown, and a little
variegated.

Mr. Ore we has described three varieties of
A,he CATERPILLAR as under : —

" Var. 1. — Ground colour ochreous red ;
central dorsal line very dusky olive, almost
black, interrupted. Down the centre of the
back is a series of blackish or dusky olive
arrow-shaped blotches, reduced in size on the
posterior, and merged in the central line on
the anterior segments ; the sub-dorsal lines are
slender, dusky, bordered with dull yellow ;
the spiracular line alternating between dull
yellow and dusky olive. Between the sub-
dorsal and spiracular lines is a row of slanting
bright yellow stripes, interspersed with dusky
blotches ; the segmental divisions are orange
red. The body is thickly studded with
minute black tubercles, and thinly clothed
with whitish hairs. In appearance it strongly
resembles the larva of Eupithecia virgaureata.

" Var. 2. — The ground colour is pale
yellowish green, the central dorsal line and
blotches being similar to those of Var. 1, but
much paler olive ; the spiracular segmental
divisions and lateral stripes are greenish
yellow.

" Var. 3. — The ground colour is orange
red. The back tinged and suffused with dull
yellowish green; the dorsal blotches are
wanting ; the central dorsal line reddish
brown or olive, enlarged in the centre of each
median segment ; the sub-dorsal lines are the
same colour, and slender ; the spiracular line
and lateral stripes greenish yellow, the latter
indistinct. It strongly resembles the larva of
Eupithecia abbreviata."

These caterpillars under Mr. Crewe's care
fed on oak, and he has been in the habit of
beating them from the same tree for some
years. In confinement many of them died
when full-fed, a misfortune which he attri-
butes to the difficulty of supplying them
regularly with the youngest and most succu-
lent leaves, which they always seemed to
prefer ; but I have been so accustomed to
see full-grown caterpillars die, and hang like
bags of water from their food-plant, that I
think there must be some hitherto undiscov-
ered cause for this mortality. The CHRYSALIS
is either enclosed in a slight earthen cocoon,
or secreted under bark of oak and white
thorn ; it is of a dark dusky red colour, the
upper edges of the wing-cases being of a
brighter red than the rest; it has a rough
wrinkled appearance.

The MOTHS appear on the wing in May and
June, and have been taken in several English
counties. (The scientific name is Eupithecia
dodoneata.)

295. The Brindled Png (Eupithecia abbreviate).

295. THE BRINDLED PUG. — The fore wings
are broad, and rather prolonged at the apex ;
their colour and ornamentation are happily
described by the word " brindled," a peculiar
coloration formerly seen on cows and some
varieties of dog, but now extremely uncom-
mon ; the prevailing tint is ochreous brown ;
the discoidal spot is narrow, transverse, and
very inconspicuous ; the gray transverse bars
as well as the dark brown ones are irregular,

GEOMETERS.

141

waved, and interrupted j the principal gray
bar is beyond the middle of the wing, and is
very distinctly double, that is, intersected
throughout by a delicate zigzag dark line ;
the wing-rays before entering this gray band
are intensely black ; there is a pale gray space
near the base of the wing, and another smaller
one immediately adjoining the discoidal spot ;
there is also a broken zigzag gray line parallel
with the hind margin ; on the hind margin
itself is a slender black line, interrupted where
intersected by the wing-rays ; the fringe is
pale gray at the base, spotted in the middle,
smoky on the outside ; the hind wiugs are
paler, especially at the base, and are inter-
sected by transverse series of black spots,
which always occur on the wing-rays ; the
head is gray, the collar dark brown, the
thorax ochreous brown, the body variegated,
the dorsal surface is principally umber brown ;
there is an interrupted black line on each side,
and the tip is pale gray.

The CATERPILLAR is thus described by Mr.
Crewe : " Slender, hairy, tapering towards
the head ; the ground colour is pale yellowish
red ; the central dorsal line is pale olive ;
down the centre of the back is a series of pale
olive V-shaped spots, sometimes bordered with
yellow ; the spiracular line is yellowish ; the
segmental divisions are red ; the central ven-
tral line is yellowish,and sometimes altogether
wanting ; the dorsal spots are frequently
merged in a broad central line. The whole
of the markings on this caterpillar vary much
in intensity of colouring, but are usually faint
and indistinct. It feeds on oak, and it is full-
fed at the beginning of July. The CHRYSALIS
is enclosed in a slight earthen cocoon ; it is
bright red ; the thorax and wing-cases are
paler than the body ; the base of wing-cases
is dusky ; the abdominal divisions and tips
are deep red."

The MOTH appears on the wing in March
and April, and is of common occurrence
in many of the English counties ; it is also
common in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Eupithecia abbreviata.)

296. The Mottled Pug (Eupithecia exiguata).

296. THE MOTTLED PUG. — The fore wings
are rather long and pointed ; they are of a
dingy grayish brown colour, with darker
transverse lines ; the discoidal spot is oblong
and very black, and being unconnected with
other dark markings, stands out conspicu-
ously ; there is a double pale transverse line
between the discoidal spot and the hind mar-
gin ; and a single pale line still nearer the
margin ; this, however, is very indistinct ; the
hind wings are pale, with a distinct oblique
discoidal spot, and a few short transverse
lines on the inner margin ; the slender black
marginal line is very distinct ; the head,
thorax, and body are brown and somewhat
variegated.

Mr. Crewe says that the CATERPILLAR "some-
what resembles that of the little blue emerald
(lodis lactearia), and appears at the same
time. It is long, slender, and tapering ; the
ground colour is dark green, with a central
row of small dull red lozenge-shaped dorsal
spots, connected by a central dorsal line of
the same colour ; the spiracular line is red,
bordered with yellow ; the segmental divisions
yellowish ; the dorsal blotches are often want-
ing on the anterior segments, and their place
is supplied by a greenish line ; in the centre
of each dorsal blotch is a small yellow spot ;
it feeds in September and October on bar-
berry, whitethorn, black currant, ash, alder,
and sallow. The CHRYSALIS is enclosed in
an earthen cocoon ; it is long, slender, and
tapering ; its wing-cases are dark olive
green ; its thorax and body dusky olive ;
the abdominal divisions being gray and very
conspicuous."

The MOTH appears on the wing in May and
June, and is rather common in England and
Ireland. (The scientific name is Eupithecia
exiyuata.)

Its

BRITISH MOTHS.

297. The Juniper Pag (Eupithecia sobrinuta).

297. THE JUNIPER PUG. — The fore wings
are rather long and pointed ; they are of a dull
brown colour, with numerous darker lines ;
the discoidal spot is dark, but so united with
an oblique band of the same colour that it is
very inconspicuous ; the wing-rays are con-
spicuously variegated with black, and between
the sub-costal ray, which is almost entirely
black, and the costal margin, are several
transverse dark brown spots ; there is the
usual slender interrupted black line on the
hind margin ; the fringe is pale next the
margin, then darker, then paler, and then
again darker on the extreme outside ; the
hind wings are of the same brown tint as
the fore wings, and are adorned with several
series of black dots, none of which can be
properly called lines, from the absence of
continuity ; the head, thorax, and body are
brown ; the latter has a darker belt near the
base.

The EGGS are deposited in July, on the
twigs of juniper ; wnen first laid they are
yellow, but shortly turn to a leaden blue ;
they do not hatch until the end of January,
when the young caterpillars immediately
begin feeding on the needles of the juniper.

Mr. Crewe says this CATERPILLAR "is rather
variable in appearance ; the ground colour is
either dark green or yellowish red, with a
series of rust-coloured dorsal blotches, inter-
sected by a central dorsal dark green hori-
zontal line, and bordered on either side by a
yellowish one ; these blotches generally dis-
appear on the posterior segments, and are
sometimes wanting altogether ; the spiracular
line is waved, aud of a pale yellow or whitish
colour ; the belly has a whitish central hori-
zontal line. It feeds only on the juniper. I
have found it tolerably common on the old
trees in gardens and shrubberies in Derby-
shire. It is full-fed at the end of May and
beginning of June. The CHRYSALIS is enclosed

in an earthen cocoon or a slight web, among
the stalks ; its head, thorax, and wing-cases
are dark green ; its body yellowish."

The MOTH appears on the wing in July,
and is by no means of uncommon occurrence
in England, Scotland, or Ireland. (The
scientific name is Eupiiheda sobrinata.)

298. The Cloaked Pug (Eupithecia togata).

298. THE CLOAKED PUG.-— This is the
largest of our English species of Eupithecia,
sometimes exceeding an inch in the expanse
of its spread wings. The colour is pale
brown, with a variety of waved transvers^
lines ; two of the most conspicuous of thase
are dark brown, nearly black ; the first com-
mences at the costa of the fore wing, at about
a third of the distance between its base and
apex ; it is very irregular, and has several
teeth or projections directed outwards or
towards the hind margin ; the second also
commences at the costa of the fore wing, and
at about two-thirds of the distance between
its base and apex; this also is very irregular,
and has several teeth or projections directed
inwards ; this second line is continued through
the centre of the hind wings ; between these
two lines on the fore wings, but rnuoh nearer
to the first or inner one, is a conspicuous
transversely oblong discoidal dark spot ; there
are seven inner marks of the same dark
colour, arranged along the outer margin of
the fore wings, and six along that of the hind
wings ; midway between the exterior trans-
verse line and the marginal inner mark is a
waved dentated band, extending through both
wings, and this, in the living insect, has a
beautiful pink tinge ; this, however, fades after
death ; at the base of the fore wings is a
short dark brown line, elbowed outwards.

Several specimens of the KOTH - ere taken
by Mr. Stevens, Mr. Bond, and others, in June,
1845, at Black Park, in Buckinghamshire.
(The scientific name is Eupithecia togata.)

GEOMETERS.

Ots. — I first described this magnificent Eu-
pithecia as British, in the " Zoologist " for
1845, at p. 1086, and have copied my original
description here; but it appears to be an insect
of excessive rarity.

299. THE DOUBLE-STRIPED PUG.— The fore
wings are very varied and distinctly marked,
but all the markings are broken up, or inter-
rupted, along the costa ; they have a vinous
tint in some specimens, almost rosy ; there
are three pairs of whitish transverse lines, and
two single ones ; the first single line is very
short and near the base, the other single line
is parallel with the hind margin, and zigzag ;
the three pairs are intermediate between
these ; the space between the second and third
pair of pale transverse lines is grayish brown,
with six, and sometimes seven, dark brown
longitudinal wedge-shaped streaks, the bases
of which rest on the third pair of transverse
lines, and the apices point towards the base
of the wing ; the other interspaces are all of
a vinous red colour ; the hind wings are gray,
with transverse zigzag markings, both paler
and darker ; the body is also variegated.

The CATERPILLAR is thus described by Mr.
Crewe : " Short and stumpy, tapering slightly
towards the head ; ground colour pale yel-
lowish olive, reddish olive, or rusty red ; cen-
tral dorsal line dusky olive, almost black ;
down the centre of the back is a chain of
dusky arrow-shaped spots, more or less dis-
tinct, and becoming merged in the dorsal line
on the anterior and posterior segments ; on
each side is a broad ribbon-like stripe ; yel-
lowish in the middle, dusky at the edges ; the
dorsal spots are bordered uninterruptedly with
yellow ; the spiracular line is yellowish. The
caterpillars from which the foregoing de-
scription was taken, were reared from eggs
sent me by Mr. Hellins, at the end of May,
and fed on flowers of Anthriscus sylvestris.
They were full-fed at the end of June, and
the first perfect insect appeared on the 16th
of July. Mr. Hellins tells me he has reared
the caterpillars on flowers of clematis. The
CHRYSALIS, which is enclosed in a slight
earthen cocoon, has the thorax and wing-
«a»ei pale yellow; the body is short and

yellow, with a red tip, and its divisions
slightly so."

The MOTH appears in April and May, and
again in July and August, flying about the
furze bushes in the sunshine ; it occurs com-
monly in most of our English counties, also in
Scotland, and is common and generally dis-
tributed throughout Ireland. (The scientific
name is JSupithecia pumilato.)

300. The V Pag (Eupithecia coronata).

300. THE V PUG.— The fore wings are
green, with numerous black and pale mark-
ings ; of these the most conspicuous is a V-
shaped black mark, the apex of which points
towards the hind margin ; one of the arms of
this V, which, however, is rather irregular,
touches the costa at about two-thirds of its
length, the other vanishes in the middle of
the wing ; and between this V and the inner
margin are four small black longitudinal
streaks ; the extreme hind margin has an in-
terrupted black line just within the fringe ;
there are also three pairs of transverse zigzag
silvery lines ; the first pair near the base of
the wing, the second just within the V mark,
the third outside of the V mark ; the hind
wings are very pale towards the base, but
clouded with smoke-colour towards the hind
margin ; the extreme hind margin, as in the
fore wings, has an interrupted black line just
within the fringe ; the head, thorax, and body
are greenish, and adorned with several black
markings.

Mr. Crewe describes the CATERPILLAR as
under: "I think this caterpillar the prettiest
of all the genus. It is excessively variable
in colour — so much so, that it was not until
I had repeatedly bred the insect that I could
believe that such different-looking caterpillars
could produce the same moth. The following
are some of the principal varieties : —

" Var. 1. — Ground colour yellowish green,
with three Veddish dorsal lines; the centre

144

BEITISH MOTHS.

one interrupted, and sometimes enlarged into
a chain of lozenge-shaped spots ; the two side
ones very indistinct ; the body, when closely
examined, is very slightly hairy.

" Var. 2. — Ground colour uniform sea-
green. The dorsal lines and spots wholly or
almost entirely wanting.

" Var. 3. — Ground colour greenish yellow,
with a series of rusty lozenge-shaped dorsal
spots or bars ; the sides and belly are, more
or less, suffused with rust-colour; the seg-
mental divisions bright yellow.

" Var. 4. — Ground colour bright yellow,
with a series of broad dull red dorsal bars, in-
tersected and bordered by lines of the same
colour ; the sides and belly are thickly clouded
with red. This caterpillar is somewhat dif-
ferent in gait and shape from those of all the
other Eupithecice, and resembles that oiHyber-
nia ruplcapraria. Its favourite food is the
petals of the traveller's joy (Clematis vitalba),
from which plant it may be beaten in some
plenty from the middle of July to the middle
of August. I have also beaten it from the
flowers of the hemp agrimony (Eupntorium
cannabinurri), the golden rod (Solidago vir-
gaurea), and the wild angelica (Angelica
sylvestris). The CHRYSALIS, which is enclosed
in a rather closely-spun earthen cocoon, has
the body very much curtailed, and sharply
pointed ; the eyes black and very prominent ;
the thorax and wing-cases spotted with black,
the latter much ribbed ; the spots do not
appear for a week or two after the caterpillar
has turned, and until then the chrysalis is of
a uniform pale yellowish red colour."

The MOTH appears on the wing in April and
May, and a second brood appears in August ;
it occurs in many of our English counties,
and also in the counties Dublin and Wick-
low, in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Eupithecia coronata.)

301. THE GREEN PUG.— The fore wings
are green, with a transverse elongate discoidal
black spot, and numerous transverse waved
black linear markings; there is usually a broad
darker band across the middle of the wing,
bordered on both sides by one of the black
linear markings, and there is a pale, almost

white, transverse waved line within, and
parallel to, the hind margin ; the hind wings
are green, very distinctly marked with trans-
verse black lines, one of which, crossing the
middle of the wings, has a V-shaped angle
pointed towards the hind margin ; the head,
thorax, and body are greenish ; tne body
having a blackish belt near the base, and
many other black markings.

Mr. Crewe describes the CATERPILLAR as
under : —

" Short, thick, and stumpy ; ground colour
very pale yellowish green, darker when young;
central dorsal line varying very much in
breadth and intensity of colouring, sometimes
rusty-red, sometimes dark green, frequently
very indistinct, and sometimes wanting alto-
gether; segmental divisions reddish; spiracular
lines rather darker than the ground colour.
Whole body very transparent ; the circulation
is very visible under the central dorsal line ;
the back is sprinkled with a few very short
hairs ; the dorsal stripe, when young, is broad,
distinct, and rusty-red. It feeds, in April and
May, on the blossoms of apple and wild crab,
and is full-fed the middle of the latter month.
I noticed that those which fed upon the wild
crab were much brighter and darker coloured
than those which fed upon the blossoms in the
gardens. The CHRYSALIS is enclosed in a
slight earthen cocoon ; its thorax and wing-
cases are yellow, suffused with olive ; its
body tapering ; the lower divisions and tip
blood-red. It remains in the chrysalis state
about a fortnight."

The insect is excessively abundant in the
apple and pear orchards in the south of
France, as discovered and described by M.
Guenee. It is well known to farmers and
gardeners that out of every bunch of ten or
a dozen blossoms, since two or three only
expand their petals and drop them at the
proper time, the others often retain their
petals, even although fully developed, in an
arched or globular form over the young fruit,
and from being of a pure white colour in the
case of pears, or a lively pink in that of
apples, will become brown, and lose all their
vitality. The caterpillar of the Green Pug

GEOMETERS.

145

unites with a little beetle called the " apple
weevil," ^Mcn I have described elsewhere,
in causirg this singular appearance ; the egg
is laid on the flower-bud, and the young
caterpillar emerging at the time that the
flowers begin to prepare for expansion, enters
the little chamber formed by the still united
petals, and feeds in the interior of this choice
domicile ; begins by eating the still imper-
fect stamens, then devours the pistils, and,
lastly, the fruit itself, hollowing it out and
leaving only the rind, which forms a kind of
cup ; but before it has proceeded thus far, it
has spun together the petals, and has fastened
them to the calyx by threads so minute as to
escape observation, although their presence is
sufficiently obvious from the manner in which
the petals, calyx, and what remains of the
fruit, still adhere together. No sooner has
the caterpillar attained its full size, than it
spins a little cocoon within its dwelling-place,
and therein changes to a chrysalis, and the
purpose at first required by the continued ad-
hesion of the fruit being fulfilled, it now falls
to the ground, and in due time the moth
emerges. Now the question arises, and it has
been well put by M. Guenee, " Does this
insect thus feeding on the future fruit, cause
any real or important diminution of the
crop 1 " I certainly think not. Nature pro-
duces flowers in such lavish abundance, that
the trees wouid scarcely bear a tithe of the
fruit if it all came to maturity ; and every one
must have observed, that when the green pug
and apple weevil are altogether absent, the
little pears will frequently fall to the ground
by thousands and hundreds of thousands,
simply because the tree cannot supply them
with nutriment sufficient to bring them to per-
fection. But this subject has to be looked at
from another point of view; nature, or rather
a beneficent Providence, has provided for
the preservation and continuance of every
created being, and has appointed certain
natural police to prevent each species from
encroaching on the rights of its neighbours.
The titmice and other small birds are the police
appointed in the case of this little caterpillar ;
trovidence wills that the little birds should

check its too great increase; but our French.
neighbours have willed the destruction of
these little birds ; they suppose that they
know best, and have slain, as far as they can, ('
every feathered inhabitant of field or forest,
garden or orchard. They are now profiting by
experience, and are talking of laws which
shall protect birds, because the birds protect
the apples and pears; they begin to perceive
that by destroying the one, they destroy the
other also.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
is very common in England, Scotland, and
Ireland. (The scientific name is Eupithecia
rectangulata.}

Obi. — The moth Is excessively variable,
some being almost black in tint, others ap-
proaching to ochreous ; I have described the
more usual colour.

302. THE BILBERRY PUG. — The fore wings
are gray, with a very slight, almost impercep-
tible tinge of green ; they have a distinct, but
inconspicuous discoidal spot, almost round, and
numerous transverse smoky gray markings ;
the basal portion of the wing is pale ; then
follows a broad band of a rather darker colour,
which includes the discoidal spot ; and then a
pale waved bar, separated from the broad band
by a series of black dots; near the hind
margin is a pale zigzag line : the hind wings
are pale, with darker transverse markings,
similar to those on the fore wings. This
species, to my perception, always conveys
the idea of having possessed brighter and
more distinct colours, which have faded or
been washed out.

Mr. Crewe describes the CATERPILLAR as
under : " Rather short and stout, the ground
colour dull yellowish green ; the whole body
is rather transparent, and more or less suffused
with } ellow ; the central dorsal line is rather
darker than the rest of the body ; the sub-
dorsal lines are wanting ; the spiracular lines
are dull yellow ; the head, dusky brown or
blackish ; the belly is destitute of markings.
It feeds on the leaves of the whortleberry
( Vaccinium myrtillus), and is full-fed the be-
ginning of May, when it spins a slight earthen
cocoon." It has been observed by Dr. Breyer,

M 10

146

BRITISH MOTHS.

of Brussels, that it spins the leaves of the
whortleberry together, and resides in the
domicile thus formed, after the manner of so
many of the Tortrices.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, but
is confined, as far as my information extends,
to one English county, Devonshire, and to the
neighbourhood of Killarney, in Ireland. (The
scientific name is EupitJiecia debiliata.)

303. The Dentated Pug (Collix sparsata).

303. TffEDENTATEDPuG. — Theantennseare
slightly pubescent in the male, quite simple
in the female; the fore wings are ample,
slightly falcate, and pointed towards the tip,
and they have a sinuous hind margin ; their
colour is dingy grayish-brown, with a distinct,
discoidal spot, and a dark costal margiu,
forming almost a costal stripe, but having its
inferior edge very irregular ; this costal stripe
is interrupted at two-tliirds of its length by a
double pale gray spot ; beyond this pale gray
marking is a transverse series of black spots or
dots, all of them seated on wing-rays, and
more especially on that particular ray nearest
the inner margin ; there is a pale, but in some
specimens extremely indistinct, zigzag line,
parallel to the hind margin, and this termin-
ates in a gray spot near the anal angle ; the
hind wings have five of their seven parallel
rays produced into angles ou the hind margin ;
the exceptions are the fifth and seventh,
counting from the anal angle ; this structure
gives a scalloped appearance to the margin of
the wing ; the tint is exactly the same as that
of the fore wings, but there are a number of
pale gray, as well as darker markings, above
the anal angle, and extending considerably
into the disk of the wing.

" The CATERPILLAR is pale green, with five
white dorsal lines, and a broad yellow spira
cular line (Treitschke) ; it feeds on Lysimachia
vulgaris" — Stainton's Manual, vol. ii., p. 93.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June ;

my specimens came from the Cambridge coif-
lectors, but I am not sure of the exact locality;
I have not heard of its occurrence in Scotland
or Ireland. (The scientific name is Collix
sparsata, )

304. The Small Seraphim (Lolophora sexalisata).

304. THE SMALL SEKPHIM. — The antennae
are simple in both sexes ; the fore wings are
brownish-gray, with four paler transverse
bars ; the first of these is very short and very
indistinct ; it is situated near the base of the
wing; the second bar is placed rather before,
and the third rather beyond the middle of the
wing ; both of these are oblique, bent, and
double, that is. intersected throughout by a
slender waved ochreous line ; the fourth is
siender waved and single, and should, perhaps,
be more properly called a line than a oar; the
space between the two double bars is smoky-
gray towards the costal, pale gray towards the
inner margin, and just beyond the first double
bar is the discoidal spot, distinct, oblong,
black, and surrounded by a white margin ;
the space between the second double bar and
the hind margin is smoky-gray : the hind
wings are gray, with an indistinct darker bar
across the middle, and a gradually darker hind
margin.

The CATERPILLAR rests in a nearly straight
petition, generally stretched at full length on
the mid-rib of the leaf of its food-plant, the
head being tucked in and the mouth concealed
between the first pair of legs. It does not fall
from its food, or feign death, on being dis-
turbed. The head is rather narrower than
the body, and distinctly di^'ded into two
rounded lobes on the crown ; the body is
uniformly cylindrical, without excrescences,
but a good deal wrinkled, and the thirteen <h
segment terminates in two divaricating points
directed backwards. The colour of the head
is opaque yellowish green; of the body, npple
green, with three indistinct whitish stripes

GEOMETERS.

147

down the back ; the tips of the anal points are
pink. It feeds on the common sallow (tialix
capreea), and is full-fed about the middle of
September, when it spins a slight ova! cocoon
among the fallen leaver The CHRYSALIS is
short, chesnut-brown, and shining ; it remains
in its cocoon throughout the winter.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May
and June, and has been found in some of our
English counties, both northern and southern,
but I have not heard of its occurieiice in Scot-
land ; Mr. Birchall records it from Ireland
on the authority of Dr. Bull, but no locality
is given. (The scientific name is Lobophora
sexalisata.)

305. The Seraphim (Lobophora hexapterata).

305. THE SERAPHIM. — The fore wings are
long, broad, ample, and of a pale gray colour,
with a slight tinge of ochieous in some speci-
mens; they have a n imber of transverse
smoky markings, some of which form linear
series, while others ate too irregular to de-
scribe; the extreme base of the wing is gray,
then follows a short and narrow curved smoky
bar, both margins of which are darker, then a
pale elbowed bar, then a broader smoky bar,
then a waved pale line, then an indistinct
double smoky line, then a pale transverse
space, which contains a small linear black dis-
coidal spot ; and beyond this the tints and
markings are confused and broken, and mixed
and interspersed with black arrow-heads
placed transversely : the hind wings are small
and rounded ; in the male each of them has
an oblong lobe at the base, extending nearly
half the length of the win<j, and delicately
fringed at the margin, so as to ha\e the ap-
pearancf of a real wing ; both the hind wings
arid their lobes are almost snowy-white, but

the wings have a slender black line on the
margin itself, and an obscure series of dots
just within the margin.

" CATERPILLAR, beautiful green ; a sulphur
line on each side, and two sulphur points
project from the anal segment; head with
two yellow points (Treitschke). On sallow
and aspen, June." — Staintoris Manual, ii. 94.

"Although this species is the commonest
of the genus, its caterpillar is not very clearly
known; Lyonet has given a very clumsy
figure of it, and Treitschke a very brief de-
scription. The first-named of these authors
does not mention its food-plant, the second at
first makes it feed on beech, and afterwards
on sallow and poplar." — Guenee, (Iran, et
PhaL, ii. 368.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
occurs in many of our English counties, but I
do not rt collect seeing it recorded from Scot-
land or Ireland. (The scientific name is
Lobophora hexapterata.)

Obs.- 1 regret my inability to describe the
caterpii.a. of this common moth, but shall be
much gratified if the brief extracts given
above afford a clue to its discovery.

306. The Yellow-barred Brindle (Lobopftora viretata).

306. THE YELLOW-BARRED BRINDLE. — The
fore wings are ample, but not elongate ; they
are of a delicate ochreous green colour, which
is traversed by slender waved white lines, and
decorated with transverse series of black spots;
several of these combine in forming a broad
band across the middle of the wing, but this,
again, is interrupted by a pale median space,
in which a slender linear discoidal spot may
sometimes be traced ; beyond the band is a
double series of black spots, and on the hind
margin is a single series of double black spots:
the hind wings are very pale dingy brown,
with the slightest possible trace of a discoidal
spo*-- r.s»/t » V-o^averse line below it.

146

BRITISH MOTHS.

The CATERPILLAR is full-fed at the end of
June, when it rests in a somewhat arched
posture, the anterior part of the body being
held quite free of the food-plant, and bent
outwards and upwards from the fourth seg-
ment, and the head slightly porrected ; when
touched, or otherwise annoyed, the head is
tucked in a little, but the caterpillar will
not readily fall from its food-plant, or relin-
quish the hold by its claspers ; if compelled
to relinquish this hold, it drops, hanging by a
thread. Head not notched on the crown,
decidedly narrower than the second segment,
into which it is occasionally partially with-
drawn; body almost cylindrical, but narrowest
towards the anterior extremity ; the second
segment is narrower than the third, the third
narrower than the fourth ; the skin is folded
transversely, but not conspicuously so ; there
are no humps or conspicuous warts on any part
of the body, but the fourteenth segment termi-
nates beneath the anal flap, in two very short
approximate, obtusely conical points, directed
backwards; each of these points emits a
slender bristle, and there are several other
small and inconspicuous bristles on various
parts of the body. The colour of the head is
purplish brown ; the body beautifully varie-
gated with purple-brown and apple-green ;
the brown is mostly dorsal, the green mostly
ventral, but not entirely so ; on the second
and third segments, the brown is confined to
an amorphous dorsal blotch ; on the fourth
segment, it descends to the insertion of the
legs ; on the fifth and sixth segments, it
descends to the ventral surface, forming a
complete band round the body ; this band is,
however, interrupted on the back by two
transversely placed lunulate green marks ; on
the ninth segment, it appears on the dorsal sur-
face only; on the tenth, it is confined to three
parallel stripes on the dorsal, and a large
patch on the ventral surface ; on the eleventh,
there is a medio-dorsal purple stripe, and a
lateral amorphous purple patch ; on the
twelfth and thirteenth, the purple predomin-
ates almost exclusively ; the legs are purple-
brown ; the ventral claspers green and very
small ; the anal claspers almost entirely

purple. It is scarcely to be supposed that
this distribution of colour obtains in every
individual, but it was very constant in those I
have had the opportunity of examining. It
feeds on the privet (Ligustorum vulgare), and
on the 1st of July, the caterpillars in my
possession connected the leaves of the privet
together by silken threads, and underwent
pupation in the domicile thus formed.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May and
June, and has been taken in several of our
English counties, both northern and southern,
but I do not recollect seeing it from Scotland.
Mr. Birchall says it is common at Killarney,
in Ireland. (The scientific name is
phora viretata.)

807. The Early Tooth-striped (Lobophora Lobulata)

307. THE EARLY TOOTH STRIPED. — The
fore wings are long and rather pointed, of a
pale ochreous gray colour, with five transverse
smoke-coloured markings ; the first of these is
single, very near the base, and elbowed out-
wards; the second is single and nearly direct;
the third is double and waved ; the fourth is
double, waved and much interrupted; and the
fifth, single and interrupted; these markings
vary greatly in intensity, they are never very
strongly developed, and often nearly imper-
ceptible; there is a series of black dots on the
hind margin ; the discoidal spot is long, nar-
row, transverse, and inconspicuous ; it is con-
tiguous to the inner edge of the middl'
double marking or bar : the hind wings of thi
male have a small lobe at the base ; they art
gray, with two transverse series of obscure
spots, and an interrupted marginal line. This
species is sometimes of a beautiful light greet
when fresh from the chrysalis.

The EGO is laid in the spring, on the honey-
suckle (Lonicera periclymenum), and perhaps
also on the sallow (Salix caprcea), on which
shrubs, as well as on other species of willow,

GEOMETERS.

149

the CATERPILLAR feeds freely in confinement.
When full-fed, which is towards the end of
June, the caterpillar rests in a nearly straight
position, the anterior extremity being slightly
raised, and the middle of the back slightly
arched. The head is prone, hidden from above
by the an terior margin of the second segment ;
ibis not perceptibly notched on the crown;
the body is rather obese, rather depressed, and
has a conspicuous dilated skinfold on each
side, just below the spiracles, and two short
points directed backwards, below the anal
flap; the colour of the head is dull green,
with intensely black ocelli ; the body is dull,
opaque green above, and has a narrow white
stripe on each side, including the dilated skin-
fold ; this white stripe extends from the head
to the apex of the anal flap ; the anal points are
slightly tinged with pink; the belly has a
broad median glaucous stripe, between which
and the white lateral stripe the belly is nearly
concolorous with the back ; the legs are semi-
transparent and pale green ; the claspers are
green, slightly tipped with pink. It spins a
slight web on the surface of the ground, and,
changing to a CHRYSALIS, remains in that
state throughout the winter.

The MOTH appears on the wing in April,
and occurs in England as well as Scotland,
but is not recorded from Ireland. (The
scientific name is Lobophora lobulata.)

308. The Barred Tooth-striped (Lobophora poly-
commata).

308. THE BARRED TOOTH-STRIPED. — The
antennae are almost simple in the male, quite
so in the female ; the fore wings are long and
rather narrow; their colour is pale wainscot-
brown, with various umber-brown markings;
the principal of these are, first, a brown spot at
the extreme base of the wing ; then a short
transverse angled line ; then a broad and

well-marked band of a very rich brown ; this
band is interrupted at the costal extremity by
a large wainscot-brown blotch, contiguous
to the outer border of which is the discoidal
spot, not very apparent ; at its lower ex-
tremity this band is interrupted by a small
wainscot-brown blotch; beyond the band is a
double waved bar, interrupted in several parts,
but more particular near its costal extremity,
by a pale space ; and this is immediately
followed by a double darker blotch, which has
two acute angles, pointing towards the hind
margin ; there is a narrower band of brown
contiguous to the hind margin ; and on the
margin itself is a series of minute black spots,
arranged in pairs ; the hind wings are pale,
with a discoidal spot, a beautifully scalloped
transverse line below the middle, and a dark
interrupted liae on the hind margin.

The EGG is laid in April or May, on honey-
suckle or ash, on both of which the CATER-
PILLAR feeds in confinement ; it is full-fed
about the middle of June, and then rests in a
nearly straight position, the head is prone,
indeed, bent completely under, and the mouth
closely pressed against the legs, which are
crowded together, and directed forwards as if
purposely to meet the head. Head decidedly
smaller and narrower than either of the
following segments ; second segment slightly
dilated at its anterior margin, thus forming a
kind of shallow cup, into which the head is
partially received ; body obese, of uniform
substance, and cylindrical with the exception
of a dilated lateral skinfold ; its surface both
above and below most delicately shagreened ;
the thirteenth segment terminating in two
pointed processes directed backwards. The
colour of the head is dull but pale green ; the
dorsal surface of the body is dull green, with
a narrow, medio-dorsal stripe slightly darker;
this is sometimes so faint as to escape obser-
vation ; indeed, it may possibly arise at all
times from the presence of food in the ali-
mentary canal ; ventral surface with a broad
median stripe of glaucous green, having within
it a narrow medio- ventral stripe of a still
paler and almost white green ; but this, like
the medio-dorsal stripe, is very obscurely

150

BRITISH MOTHS.

defined; the dilated skinfold, exactly inter-
mediate between the dorsal and ventral sur-
face, is whitish yellow, and forms a conspic-
uous lateral stripe continued from the head
to the extremity of the anal flap ; the series
of spiracles is just above the lateral stripe,
and of the same pale colour.

The MOTH appears on the wing in April,
and has been taken in the southern and
northern counties of England, more particu-
larly about Windermere. (The scientific
name is Lobophora polycommata.}

Obs. — The oa'erpillar of this moth is so
like that of the Lobophora lobulata, that it is
difficult to expret-s the difference in words,
but through the unceasing kindness of Mr.
Doubled ay, I ha\e been enabled to place side
by side specimens of both species reared from
the egg, and a careful comparison shows that
the caterpillar of L. polycoinmata is the more
robust of the two. It changes to a chrysalis
just below the surface of the earth, and re-
mains in that state throughout the winter.

869. The Juniper Carpet (Thera juniperata).

309. THE JUNIPEK CARPKT. — The fore
wings are rather narrow and lather pointed ;
they are of a delicate grey colour, with a basal
blotch and a median baud rather darker ; the
basal blotch has a blackish exterior margin ;
the median band is broad at the costal, narrow
at the inner margin ; it is bounded on both
sides by a black margin, which is the more
conspicuous from the paler ground colour
with which it comes in contact ; this black
margin is irregular, and so indented that it
frequently divides the band into four com-
partments, of which the costal compartment
is much the largest, and contains the discoidal
spot; the second is small and pear-shaped; the
third and fourth are somewhat heart-shaped,
with a very deep median notch, sometimes so
deep as to divide the compartment into two ;
the appearance of this band reminds one of

the Cheese-ring, the compartments being
piled on each other like the stones of that
celebrated object of curiosity ; between the
tip of the wing and the principal projection of
the band is an oblique dark streak, and there
is a series of double black spots on the hind
margin, just within the fringe: the hind wings
are pale gray, with the slightest possible in-
dication of two darker transverse bars.

The CATERPILLAR restswith the head slightly
bent under, the mouth meeting the legs ; the
head is of about the same width as the second
segment, the body stout and uniformly cylin-
drical, except in having a lateral skiufold ;
the thirteenth segment terminates in two
distinct points directed backwards. The
colour of the head is green ; of the body, also
green, inclining to glaucous on the dorsal, to
apple green on the ventral area ; on each side
is a broadish stripe of a lemon-yellow, and
below this, in the region of the spiracles, is a
double stripe, the upper portion being purple-
brown, the lower portion white ; the spiracles
are yellow, the legs reddish-brown, the
claspers green. It feeds throughout the late
summer and autumn on the common juniper,
and is sometimes very abundant where that
shrub occurs. The CHRYSALIS is green, and
is either suspended among the twigs of the
juniper, or changes on the surface of the
ground ; the caterpillar spins a slight web.

The MOTH appears on the wing in October,
and is very abundant on the downs about
Cioydon and Mickleham, in Surrey; it is to
be obtained by searching the s'ems of the
juniper bushes with a lantern. Mr. Stainton
also reports it " near Glasgow," but I have
not seen specimens either from Scotland or
Ireland. ( The scientific name is Thera juni-
perata.)

310. The Chestnut-coloured Carpet (Thera simulate).

310. THECHESNUT-COLOUKED CARPET. — The
lore wings are rich umber-brown, with a basa

GEOMETERS.

blotch and a median band rather darker; both
thene markings are bounded by very dark mar
gins, and come in contact with a bleached por-
tion of the ground colour, so conspicuous as
sometimes to appear absolutely white ; the
band contains the discoidal spot ; in many
specimens there is a zigzag white line be-
tween the median band and hind margin :
the hind wings are smoky-gray.

The Rev. Joseph Greene thus describes the
CATERPILLAR : " When full-grown it is short
and stumpy, extremely like the caterpillars
of some of the pugs. The head is pale brown,
the ground colour of the body grass-green.
Dorsal line broad, pure bluish white ; this is
bordered on each side by a slender stripe of
the same colour ; spiracular line the same.
These stripes are all very clear, and well
denned. Segmental divisions yellow, claspers
pink. There are no dots or marks. It is
one of the most sluggish creatures I ever saw,
lying for hours— even days — in the same
place, just stretching itself to get at the food
within reach. It remained a long time in the
larval state, as it was hatched the third week
in March, and did not spin up till June 6th.
It effected this change between moss and the
sprig of Juniper, on which it was feeding, so
unwilling was it even then to move. The
CHRYSALIS is dark grass-green ; abdominal
segments lighter.

The Chesnut-coloured Carpet is double-
brooded ; the MOTH appears on the wing in
April and May, and again in August, and has
been taken near Newcastle, Keswick, Dar-
lington, and Glasgow ; and Mr. Birchall
reports it to be common in Ireland. (The
scientific name is Them simulata.)

311. The Shaded Broad Bar (Thera obeliscata).

311. THE SHADED BROAD BAR.— The fore
wings are brownish - gray, with a basal
blotch and median band darker, and yet

brighter, having a decided tinge of ches-
nut ; these markings are not bounded by
dark margins, but have several dark wing-
rays and a dark inner margin ; there is a
smoke-coloured tinge towards the hind mar-
gin : the hind wings are pale brownish-
gray, with a slight indication of a dis-
coidal spot, and a smoky tinge on the hind
margin.

The CATERPILLAR rests in a nearly straight
position, lying along one of the needles of the
Scotch fir (Pinus sylvestris), on which it feeds,
its claspers being always attached, but its legs
free ; it will not roll the anterior part of the
body into a volute, nor will it fall from its
food-plant on being annoyed ; the head is
exserted, and of slightly less circumference
than the body, and has scarcely any indi-
cation of a notch on the crown ; its
position is prone, the mouth being tucked
under and brought into close proximity with
the legs ; the body is of uniform thickness
throughout, and has a lateral skinfold ; it
is otherwise uniformly cylindrical and quite
smooth ; the thirteenth segment terminates
beneath the anal flap in two short points
directed backwards. The colour of the head
is pale opaque green, of the body dull green,
with three white dorsal stripes, each of
which is somewhat double, that is, it has a
narrow darker median stripe vaguely defined;
of the three double stripes, the middle one is
less distinct and less conspicuous than the
others; on the lower or ventral margin of the
lateral skinfold is a narrow but clearly defined
white stripe, and there is also a narrow but
clearly defined medio- ventral white stripe;
the legs and mouth are pink, the claspers
green.

The MOTH appears on the wing during the
summer months, and is common in many
English counties, but is not reported from
Ireland. (The scientific name is Thera
obeliscata : it is considered by most of the
recent continental authors to be a variety
of Thera variata of the Vienna Catalogue;
but as the true Thera variata has never
occurred in England, the two are probablj
distinct species.)

152

BRITISH MOTHS.

312. The Pine Carpet (Thwa firmata).

312. THE PINE CARPET. — The antennw of
the male are strongly pectinated ; the fore
wings are chesnut-gray, very pale. There is
a basal blotch and a median band of a rather
brighter chesnut, but these are scarcely dis-
tinguishable from the general ground colour
of the wing, and they have neither dark
margins nor rays, but the inner margin of the
wing is slightly bordered with dark smoky-
brown ; the hind wings are pale wainscot-
brown, without markings.

The CATERPILLAR rests in a nearly straight
position on the needles of the fir, but with the
head slightly bent under, so that the mouth is
closely approximate to the legs, but does not
assume the involute form. The head is dis-
tinctly exserted, and yet slightly narrower
than the second segment; there is scarcely
any indication of a notch on the crown ; the
body is uniformly cylindrical, with the excep-
tion of a lateral skinfold, and is quite smooth ;
the thirteenth segment terminates beneath the
anal flap, in two points directed backwards.
The colour of the head is ferruginous red,
with a darker line on each cheek near the
crown; the dorsal area of the body is dull
grass-green, with a slightly darker medio-
dorsal stripe ; on each side is a slender stripe
of a dingy white, and below the spiracles is
another slender line, also whitish, but becom-
ing yellow from the ninth to the terminal
segment ; the ventral area is brighter green,
with three pale slender stripes which extend
from the third pair of legs to the ventral
claspers ; these are tinged with brown, and
have a reddish line on the outeide. It feeds
on the common fir.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
occurs not uncommonly in England and Scot-
land, but is not reported from Ireland. (The
scientific name is Thera firmata.)

%r

313. The Buddy Highflyer (Ypsipttea rubtrata).

313. THE RUDDY HIGHFLYER. — The palpi
are porrected in front of the head and very
long ; the antennae are simple in both sexes ;
the fore wings are gray, confused and marbled
•with numerous transverse markings ; at the
base of the wing there is usually a triangular
space, rather pale; this is followed by a
broad darker band which contains a median
bar still darker, and on each side of this, but
separated by a bar of the usual gray ground
colour, is an interrupted waved ferruginous
bar, rather indistinct; then follows a pale gray
bar, which includes the discoidal spot, which
is long, narrow, and black; and again beyond
this pale gray bar are two interrupted waved
ferruginous bars, separated by a gray bar.
There is an oblique black mark at the apical
angle of the wing, and many markings not
described; but all the markings are so obscure
and ill-defined that it is difficult to find words
which will render them intelligible. The
hind wings are pale brownish gray, with a
faint discoidal spot and two faint transverse
bars.

The CATERPILLAR is described by Mr.
Machin as rather hairy, and of a dirty-white
or grayish colour. Mr. Doubleday informs me
that it changes to a shining black CHRYSALIS
in the autumn, and remains in that state
through the winter.

The MOTH appears in May, and has a wide
range in England, having been taken at Cam-
bridge in the east, Barnstable in the west,
and Birkenbead in the north ; but I have no
account of its occurrence in Scotland or

GEOMETERS.

153

Ireland. (The scientific name is Ypsipetes
ruberata.)

314, The May Highflyer (Ypsipetes impluviata).

314. THE MAYHIGHFLYER. — The palpi are
moderately long ; the antennae are simple in
both sexes ; the fore wings are grayish green,
with a broad median band of pale gray;
this band contains the discoidal spot, which
is long, very narrow, black, and rather indis-
tinct ; the basal portion of the wing is of three
different tints, all of them bordered by zigzag
black lines, and on the apical portion of the
wing, that is between the median band and the
hindmargin, therearealso differenttints trans-
versely arranged, and each tint is bordered
by zigzag lines. The hind wings are pale
brownish gray, with a faint discoidal spot and
two faint transverse bars.

The CATERPILLAR is stout and obese ; it con-
ceals itself during the day in a rolled-up leaf
of the alder, on which it feeds exclusively by
night. Its colour is dingy yellow, with a
medio-dorsal and two lateral lines of a glauc-
ous green.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May, and,
according to Guenee, also in July and August.
It is by no means common, but has been taken
in many of the English counties, in Scotland,
and in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Ypsipetes impluviata.)

Varieties of the July Highflyer.

315. The July Highflyer (Tptipetes elutata).

315. THE JULY HIGHFLYER. — The antenna
are simple in both sexes, and the palpi mode-
rately long. The fore wings are dull olive-
green, with a small basal smoke-coloured
blotch, and five transverse smoke-coloured
bars, of which the second is very much bent,
the third and fourth broken off in the middle \
there is no discoidal spot, but near the hind
margin, and exactly half-way between the
costal margin and the anal angle, is a nearly
circular pale gray or whitish blotch ; the
hind wings are pale brownish gray, with a
faint discoidal spot and two extremely obscure
transverse bars.

The EGOS are laid in July, on several species
of sallow, Salix caprcea and S. cinerea being
preferred. The young CATERPILLARS emerge
in twelve days, and feed on the sallow leaves
until half-grown, when they hybernate. In
the spring they begin to feed again, as soon as
the leaf-buds of the sallow expand. They
then grow very rapidly, and are frequently
full-fed by the 1st of June. The full-fed
caterpillar has a singular habit of secreting
itself in the seed-down of the sallow during
the day, and of spinning this together in
masses ; it seems to feed principally during
the night. When full-fed it is an obese and
lethargic caterpillar, which doubles itself up,
and falls from its food-plant if shaken or an-
noyed. The head is narrower than the body,

154

BRITISH MOTHS.

scarcely notched on the crown ; it is porrected
in crawling ; the body is rather depressed,
and slightly attenuated anteriorly. Thecolour
of the head is clear brown, rather glabrous,
the cheeks are reticulated with black, the lip
is entirely black; the dorsal surface of the
second segment brown and shining, that of
the following segments pale brown or smoky-
black, of a very varied tint in different indi-
viduals, but in each individual the tint of the
dorsal area is pretty uniform as far as the
spiracles ; it is, however, intersected through-
out by two distinct pairs of white stripes, the
inner stripe of each pair being the broader and
u,ore distinct; both are irregular and inter-
rupted, and just below the spiracles is a third
white stripe, still more obscure and inter-
rupted. This third stripe serves as a boundary
between the dorsal and ventral area. The
ventral area, anal flap, and claspers are tes-
taceous brown; the legs testaceous brown,
spotted with black. These caterpillars con-
struct themselves cells in the down of the
sallow seeil, and therein change to bright
brown and very glabrous CHRYSALIDS in the
beginning of June. The caudal extremity of
the chrysalis terminates in two setiform pro-
cesses, which are approximate at the base,
but divergent at the tip.

This extremely variable MOTH appears in
July, and occurs in almost every English
county, and also in Scotland. Mr. Birchall
reports it as common and generally distrib-
uted in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Ypsipetes elutata.)

Obs. — In the genus Ypsipetes the species
have a decided resemblance to each other,
both in the economy of the caterpillars, and in
the size and general colour of the moths.
They are liable to infinite variation, but the
variations are too numerous to describe, and
too confused to be expressed by representa-
tions, except in the third or common species
Y. elutata. It will be seen that I have
figured five specimens of this insect, selecting
puch as I considered particularly interesting.
Asa general observation, Y. ruberata may be
distinguished by its longer palpi, and its
ferruginous bars, which, however indistinct,

seem to be always present ; Y. impluviata by
its median gray bar containing the discoidal
spot ; and Y. elutata by its decided green tint,
and the round whitish spot near the hind
margin. With these exceptions, no markings
possess any decided constancy

316. The Blue-bordered Carpet (Melanthia
rubiginata).

316. THE BLUE-BORDERED CARPET. — The
palpi are rather short, the antennae of the
male slightly fringed, of the female simple.
The fore wings are white, with a dark and
almost triangular blotch at the base, and
another large one on the costal margin ;
both of these are smoky- black, and the latter
includes the discoidal spot, which is intensely
black; between this costal blotch and the
inner margin is a series of small blotches,
which are rarely similar in two specimens ;
sometimes they are entirely wanting, and
sometimes they are united so as to form with
the costal blotch a continuous band across the
middle of the wing. Between these extremes
every conceivable variation occurs. There are
two smoky-blue bars parallel with the hind
margin : the hind wings are white, excepting
a faint discoidal spot, and two-smoky blue bars
parallel to the hind margin, and similar to
those on the fore wings ; the head and thorax
are smoky-brown, with some small white
markings ; the body is white.

The CATERPILLAR is full-grown about the
beginning of June, and then rests with the
claspers tightly attached to a twig of the food-
plant, and all the body anterior to the ventral
pair porrected in a straight line, at an angle
of 45 degrees. When annoyed, the anterior
part of the body is waved backwards and
forwards in the air. The head is prone, and
about equal in width to the second segment.
The body is long, slender, and smooth, entirely
without humps; the thirteenth segment ter-
minates beneath the anal flap, in two rather
long parallel points, directed backwarda

GEOMETERS.

155

The colour of the head and body is apple-
green, the latter with a rather broad medio-
dorsal stripe, considerably darker than the
ground colour; on each side is a yellowi.-h or
whitish green stripe, but all the colours
must be characterized as green. It feeds on
blackthorn and bullace, and occasionally in
gardens on the cultivated damson It spins a
very loose and shapeless web, and therein
changes to a smooth brown CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH appears in July in most of our
English counties, in several Scotch localities,
and in the counties Dublin and Wicklow in
Ireland. (The scientific name is Melanthia
rubiginata).

Obs. — I possess specimens in which the
smoky-blue colour of the hind margin is more

Melanthia rubiginaja, var. Plurribaia.

or less spread over the wing, and one in which
the wings are entirely of this colour. This is
represented in the second figure, and is the
variety Plumbata of Mr. Doubleday's list.

317. The Purple Bar (Melanthia ocellata).

317. THE PURPLE-BAR. — The palpi are
rather long and porrected in the similitude of
a beak ; the fore wings are creamy-white,
with a triangular blotch at the base, and a
broad median band, both of a rich dark brown
glossed with purple; the band has a rather
sharp angle on its outer margin, and is con-
siderably indented on its inner margin ; it
includes the discoidal spot, which is very large
and of unusual form, somewhat like an arrow-
head <>r a fleur-de-lis, and pointing towards
the hind margin ; between the basal blotch
and median band are a few smoke-coloured

markings, and there are some similar ones
between the median band and the tip of the
wing; the hind margin is clouded with similar
brown, and there is a slender very dark line
on the hind margin, which is continued also
on the hind wings; these are white with a
discoidal spot ; the head, thorax, and base of
the body are black ; the remainder of the
body creamy-white, with two nearly square
black spots placed transversely on each seg-
ment.

The EGGS are laid on lady's bedstraw
(Galium verum) in June, and the CATERPILLAR
is full-fed by the middle of July, when it rests
in a somewhat bent position on its food-plant ;
the head is pointed, the back slightly arched,
and the legs diiected forwards; on being
annoyed, the head is altered into a prone
position, and bent under, the back increasingly
arched, and the caterpillar falls to the ground
as though lifeless, and frequently remains as
much as an hour perfectly motionless; the
head is about the same width as the second
segment, perhaps rather narrower, and there
is no apparent notch ou the crown ; the body
is almost uniformly cylindrical, but slightly
increases in size towards the anal extremity;
it is wrinkled transversely, and has numerous
small warts, each of which is surmounted by
a bristle. The colour of the head and body is
yellowish-brown, with a slight tinge of olive-
green ; the head has three parallel longi-
tudinal stripes almost white, and the spaces
between these are dotted with darker brown ;
the body has numerous and very distinct
white markings ; there is a pair of white
and closely approximate medio-dorsal stripes
on the second, third, and fourth segments ;
and the slender darker stripe which separates
them is continued to the anal extremity,
passing through the points of five very distinct
white V-shaped markings, whose points are
directed backwards; these Vs are bordered
by a darker gnnmd colour, which renders
them very conspicuous ; the dorsal area is
bordered by a very distinct white stripe,
which, commencing at the mouth, extends to
the extremity of the anal claspers, emits a
branch into the ventral claspers, and touches,

156

BRITISH MOTHS.

but does not include, the jet black spiracles ;
the ventral is paler than the dorsal area, but
is thickly sprinkled with yellow-brown dots,
some of which form a narrow medio ventral
stripe, while others form oblique lines, one on
each segment. About the 20tb, or from that
to the end of July, these caterpillars spin
together the little steins of the bcdstraw close
to the ground, and, forming the slightest
covering, they change to brown and shining

CHRYSALIDS.

The MOTH appears in June, in England,
Scotland, and Ireland. (The scientific name
is Melanthia ocellata.)

318. The Beautiful Carpet (Melanthia albiciUata).

318. THE BEAUTIFUL CARPET. — The fore
wings are creamy- white, with a large brown
blotch at the base, and a triangular brown
blotch on the costal margin, near the tip of
the wing ; from the lower extremity of the
blotch, two delicate waved lines extend side
by side to the inner margin, both of them
clearly defined, but the inner is much the
more distinct of the two ; beyond these is
a series of somewhat semicircular smoke-
coloured markings, and the hind margin and
fringe are also smoke-coloured j the hind
wings are creamy-white, with a broad smoke-
coloured hind margin, and two delicate lines
occupying a similar position to those on the
fore wings ; the discoidal spot is faintly indi-
cated on all four wings ; the head, thorax,
and base of the body are dark brown ; the
rest of the body is mottled with various shades
of brown.

Writing the life-history of this species, M r.
Beauchamp says : " Some eggs sent me from
the North hatched about the end of June,
and some that I procured in Sussex hatched
about a week later. I had no bramble or
raspberry at hand, so I tried them with

several other plants, of which they took
readily to wild strawberry. 1 soon, however,
transferred them to bramble, on which they
fed up very fast, being full-grown by the
end of July. I should describe them thus :
Velvety deep green, with a few short and
rather bristly hairs; head greenish brown,
with three pale vertical stripes ; the inter-
stices of the segmente yellowish, especially
on the sides ; on the back, at the posterior
part of each of the segments from the fourth
to the tenth inclusive, there is a triangular
rather bright yellowish brown spot (looking
red by contrast with the green ground colour),
the apex towards the head bordered with dark
brown, and having a dark brown tapering
streak up the centre ; the surface of these
spots appears corrugated. Claspers and pos-
terior part of anal segment brown, spiracular
line whitish, edged beneath on the first four
and on the tenth and eleventh segments
with brown ; the belly is green, with numer-
ous whitish lines and dots. The usual posi-
tion of the larva is that of a bow, but it has a
trick, especially when changing its skin, of
hanging down with the body bent backwards
almost at a right angle behind the fourth, and
again behind the ninth segment, so as to
resemble the outline of a very lanky letter E.
The back is round, and the belly very flat ;
the body tapers rapidly from the fifth segment
to the head."

The MOTH makes its appearance in June, it
has been taken in many English counties,
and in the Irish counties Wicklow, Kerry,
and Gal way, but I do not recollect having
seen Scotch specimens. (The scientific name
is Melanthia albicillata.)

Obs. — Mr. Beauchamp adds the following
note respecting this species : " Its vivid colour
and velvety texture render this a very beau-
tiful larva ; but the perfect insect, when
bred, seems to me almost without a rival
for purity and exquisite delicacy of design.
I should doubt whether, in the range of
nrttural objects, a more beautiful line is to
be found than that exquisite cool gray streak
upon the rich creamy ground of the fore
wing."

GEOMETERS.

157

319. The Argent and Sable (Melanippe hastata).

319. THE ARGENT AND SABLE. — All the
wings are white, with a broad black marginal
band, and each wing having a distinct white
arrow-head running into this marginal band
about the middle ; the black is also inter-
rupted by a short zigzag white line near the
tip of the fore wing, and a white spot at the
anal angle of each wing ; there are also
numerous black markings at the base of the
fore wings, a black spot, sometimes double, on
the middle of the costal margin, several black
spots about the middle of the inner margin, and
others again, in the centre of the wing ; there
are a few black markings at the base, and ou the
inner margin of the hiud wings; the fringe of
all the wings is alternately black and white ;
the antennae are black, with white rings; the
thorax is black, with four transverse white
lines; the body is gray, with two black spots,
and a white margin to each segment.

The head of the CATERPILLAR is of moderate
size; the body, when at rest, almost straight;
the head not tucked in, and hence the anterior
part of the body not involute ; the second
segment is covered with a shining plate ; the
other segments regularly and transversely
wrinkled, and of a texture like leather ; the
tenth segment is rather the largest, aud from
that the larva tapers slightly to both extremi-
ties. The colour of the head is black and
shining ; the body is generally black, but
sometimes rich black-brown ; on each side is a
continuous series of minute black dots, which
form a slender lateral stripe along all the
segments except the second and thirteenth ;
this stripe is above the spiracles ; the spiracles
are black, and each is enclosed in a white spot,
and below each white spot is a crescentic white
marking, the convexity of which is towards
the belly, the cusps towards the back ; above
the slender lateral stripe already described

there is sometimes an interrupted sub-dorsal
stripe ; all these markings vary occasionally
from white to brick-dust red. It feeds on
birch (Betula alba,) and sweet gale (Myrica
gale). The economy, habit, structure, and
distribution of colour in the caterpillar of
Melanippe hastata are entirely different from
those of any other of the genus Melanippe.
It spins together the leaves of its food-plant,
and feeds from the inside of the chamber thus
formed, sometimes eating through the sub-
stance of the leaf, at others eating only the
upper surface ; it is full-fed towards the end
of August, and soon afterwards becomes a
CHRYSALIS, in which state it passes the winter.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
appears tobe generally distributed, occurringin
both northern and southern Euglish counties,
in Scotland, and in Ireland, in which island
Mr. Birchall says it is common at Killarney.
(The scientific name is Melanippe hastata.)

Obs. 1. — A variety of great beauty and
distinctness occurs in the north of England
and in Scotland, in which the black greatly
predominates, and the white is consequently

Variety of Melanippe hastata.

less; it nearly agrees with the Melanippe,
hastulata of Guenee, but Mr. Doubleday
informs me it is not that insect.

Obs. 2. — I have to acknowledge my great
obligation to the Rev. John Hellins, for the
free use of his valuable notes in describing the
caterpillars of the genus Melanippe, and also
of a most beautiful series of exquisitely
coloured drawings of each species, by Mr.
Buckler.

320. The Small Argent and Sable (Melanippe trisiaia).

320. THE SMALL ARGENT AND SABLE. — Tht

158

BRITISH MOTHS.

fore wings are smoky-black, with two white
bars ; the first of these, situated near the base,
is short and rather narrow; the second is
beyond the middle, angled and interrupted
by a median series of black dots ; the black
area between these bands is slightly marbled
with gray, and includes an intensely black
aud rather large discoida1 ^pot ; the broad
dark area on the hind margin is tinged with
brown, and marbled with gray : the hind
wings are smoky-black, with a broad median
white bar, interrupted as in the fore wings
with a series of black dots ; the dark basal
area includes two transverse white lines, and
the marginal area, a median white arrow-
head ; the fringe is alternately black and
white; the l-ead, thorax, and body are smoky-
gray ; the body has a white margin, and two
black spots placed transversely on each seg-
ment.

The CATERPILLAR is cylindrical, slightly at-
tenuated in front, and rests in nearly a straight
posture, but when disturbed, tucks in its head,
and the anterior part of the body is then
slightly involute. The head is brown, dotted
with black ; the body brown, with a dark,
nearly black, narrow median stripe ; on each
side of this are two white dots on each seg-
ment ; and on each side of the body are two
narrow, pale, slightly undulating stripes, the
lower of which is immediately above the
spiracles; these two stripes are most delicately
margined with black. This caterpillar is ex-
tremely constant in colour; it feeds on the
hedge bedstraw, and is full-fed at the begin-
ning of August; it spins a slight cocoon on the
surface of the earth, and remains in the CHRY-
SALIS state throughout the winter.

The MOTH appears in June ; nearly all the
localities given for this insect are northern
ones ; but it has been taken at Stowmarket,
in the east, and in Gloucestershire, in the
west ; it also occurs in Scotland, and Mr.
Birchall says it is widely distributed and
common in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Melanippe tristata.)

Obs. — I possess recently disclosed specimens
in which all the parts which are usually
black, have a smoky-gray appearance.

321. The Chalk Carpet (Melanippe procellata).

321. THE CHALK CARPET. — The fore wings
are white, with various dark markings, the
ground colour of which is smoky-brown, varied
with red-brown ; the sub-costal ray is red-
brown, aud the extremities of the parallel
rays are of that colour ; the dark markings
are, first, a triangular blotch at the base of the
wing ; secondly, a large shapeless blotch on
the middle of the costa ; and thirdly, a broad
hind-marginal band, interrupted in the middle
by a large white blotch ; there are a few
brown spots on the costa, and a few rivulet
markings on the disk : the hind wings are
white, with a few transverse dark lines,
especially towards the hind margin, with
which they are parallel. The head and thorax
are dark brown, the body white.

The EGGS are laid toward the end of July,
and are hatched in a very few days. When
full grown the CATERPILLAR is cylindrical and
elongate. It rests in nearly a straight position,
which it retains when disturbed. The head
is rather small, brown, dotted with black, and
having two divaricating darker stiipes nearest
together on the crown, and most distant at the
mouth. The body is wainscot -brown, lighter
from the tenth to the thirteenth segments,
both inclusive. There is a medio-dorsal varied
stripe, commencing indistinctly on the third
segment, and dilating into a conspicuous dark
blotch at the commencement of the sixth,
seventh, eighth, and ninth segments ; before
and after each of these blotches the medio-
dorsal stripe assumes a reddish hue, and again
assumes a deep black immt diately after the
red ; on each side of this varied medio-dorsal
stripe is a paler stripe, also slender, and
beyond these are three smoke-coloured stripes,
rather diffuse and ill-defined; the first of these
on each side passes into the head, and termin-
ates on each side of the mouth, as already

GEOMETERS.

159

described. On the back of each segment are
two or four black dots ; the sixth, seventh,
eighth, and ninth segments are slightly darker
than the rest ; the spiracles are black. It
feeds on the traveller's joy (Clematis vitalba),
and is full-fed about the middle of September,
when it spins a slight web, and remains in
the CHRYSALIS state throughout the winter.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May,
June, and July, principally in June ; it occurs
in the southern counties of England, but not
in the north, nor have I seen specimens from
Scotland or Ireland. (The scientific name is
Melanippe procellata.)

322. The Sharp-angled Carpet (Melanippe
unangulata).

322. THE SHARP-ANGLED CARPET. — The
basal portion of the fore winga is smoky-
brown, marbled with paler brown and gray,
and bounded by a zigzag white line j the
middle of the wings is occupied by a broad
band which includes the discoidal spot, and is
sharply angled on its outer, and concave on its
inner margin ; beyond the dark band is a
white bar, bent in the middle, and double or
intersected throughout by a faint brown line ;
the hind margin of the wing is occupied by
a smoky-brown band, which has a median
zigzag white line, a pale oblique streak at the
tip, and a pale and vague blotch in the
middle ; the hind wings are grayish white,
with a faint discoidal spot and a double
smoke-coloured bar on the hind margin. The
head, thorax, and body are marbled with gray
and brown.

The CATERPILLAR is stout, rather attenuated
at both ends, and rests with the head tucked
in the anterior part of the body, when dis-

turbed, being curled in, or carved in the man-
ner of the Ionic volute. The head is brown,
beautifully dotted, and marked with black.
The body is smoky-brown, delicately mottled
and varied ; the back may be said to have
seven smoke-coloured stripes, alternating with
paler stripes ; the medio-dorsal stripe is not
perceptible on either the second or thirteenth
segments, but is distinct and uninterrupted oil
the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and
eighth segments ; it is suddenly dilated an-
teriorly, and more gradually posteriorly, and
is extremely attenuated and scarcely percep-
tible on the remaining segments. On each of
the interstices between the segments com-
mencing between the fourth and fifth is a
short transverse reddish band, terminating at
each extremity by a longitudinal black spot ;
the remaining smoke-coloured stripes, three in
number, on each side of the median stripe, are
scarcely susceptible of verbal definition. Each
segment of the belly after the fourth has a
cluster of black dots, which are not piesent
in any other British species of the genus; but
Mr. Hellins informs me that markings of the
same colour and character occur in Cidaria
picata. It feeds on the common chickweed
(Alsine media), and is full-fed at the beginning
of August. It spins its cocoon on or just
under the surface of the earth, and remains in
the CHRYSALIS state all the winter. In cap-
tivity it is sometimes double-brooded, but not
in a state of nature.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June ; it
occurs in many of our English counties, but
not yet observed in Scotland. Mr. Bristow
has taken it near Belfast in Ireland. (The
scientific name is Melanippe unangulata.)

323. The Wood Carpet (Melanippe rivatn],

323. THE WOOD CAKPET.— The basal por-
tion of the fore wirg is smoky-gray, bounded
by a slender curved white line, and beyond is

160

BRITISH MOTHS.

a slender gray bar ; then a double white bar,
that is, a white bar intersected by a slender
smoke-coloured line ; immediately following
this is a broad smoky-brown band, which
includes the discoidal spot, and is traversed by
several slender waved lines, both lighter and
darker; beyond the dark band is a curved
white bar, intersected by a faint gray line,
which is often interrupted or broken up into
dots ; beyond this is a broad marginal band of
a blue-gray or lead-colour, and intersected by
a slender zigzag white line ; on the extreme
margin is a series of black spots ; the fringe is
brown-gray, interrupted with pale gray, and
having a conspicuous white spot at the apical
angle ; the hind wings are pale gray, rather
darker at the base, and having three darker
waved lines before the middle of the wing ;
on the first of these the discoidal spot is
situated ; there is a broad marginal blue-gray
or lead-coloured band, intersected by a slender
zigzag white line ; the extreme margin and
fringe are as in the fore wings. The head and
thorax are brown-gray, the body smoky-gray,
with two nearly black spots placed trans-
versely on the back of each segment.

The head of the CATERPILLAR ia of nearly
the same width as the body, which is uniformly
cylindrical ; it rests generally in a slightly
bent posture, but when disturbed tucks in the
head, thus giving to the anterior portion of
the body the figure of the Ionic volute. The
colour of the head is dusky-brown, with two
darker brown lines meeting on the crown ;
the colour of the body red-brown or dingy
brown, beautifully variegated and mottled ;
the second and third segments have a median
black line, and on each side of this is a direct
white line, which extends into the fourth
segment ; on each of the four succeeding
segments is a somewhat horse-shoe shaped
median white mark ; these marks might be
called lozenge-shaped, but they are open at
the posterior extremity ; on the tenth segment,
and extending thence to the extreme tip of
the thirteenth, is a broad median dark brown
stripe, and separated from this by a space
equal to its owu diameter, is a white stripe of
corresponding length, terminated at its anterior

extremity by a somewhat comma-shaped jet
black mark, which has a white dot iu the
head of the comma; on each side of the
median markings is a series of white dots
the third and fourth segments have two dot!
each, the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth
have four each, the ninth and following ones
have two each ; there are several indistinct
stripes and dots on each side of the body. It
feeds on the great hedge bedstraw (Galium
mollugo), and is full-fed about the 22nd of
July, when it spins a cocoou on the surface
of the earth.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
is common in most of the southern counties of
England, and also occurs at Manchester, in the
lake district, and near Durham. It is reported
by Mr. Birchall from Cork, on the authority
of Mr. Clear, and I think not from Scotland.
(The scientific name is Melanippe rivata.)

Obs. — The species is sometimes double-
brooded in captivity, but never in a state of
nature.

324. The Common Carpet (Melcmippe subtristata).

324. THE COMMON CARPET. — The basal por-
tion of the wing is smoky-gray, bounded by a
slender waved white line, and beyond this is a
broadish gray-brown bar; then a double white
bar, and then abroad smoky-brown band, which
includes the discoidal spot, and is traversed
by darker and whiter slender lines ; beyond
this dark band is a curved white bar, inter-
sected by a distinct and continuous dark gray
line; beyond this is a broad marginal band of
a brown-gray tint, intersected by a slender
zigzag white line ; on the extreme margin is
a series of narrow linear black spots, not
always very distinct ; the fringe is brown-
gray, interrupted with pale gray : the hind
wings are pale gray, darker at the base, the
darker basal portion including the discoidal
spot ; the white bar following this is inter-
sected by a slender darker line ; there is *

GEOMETERS.

161

brown-gray marginal band intersected by a
slender zigzag white line ; the extreme
margin and fringe are as in the fore wings :
the head and thorax are brown-gray, the
body smoky-gray, with two nearly black spots
placed transversely on each segment.

The head of the CATERPILLAR is nearly of the
same diameter as the body, which is uniformly
cylindrical ; the caterpillar generally rests in
a nearly straight position, but when disturbed,
tucks in its head very tightly, thus giving to
the anterior portion of the body the figure of
the Ionic volute. The colour of the head is
pellucid smoky-brown, dotted with black, and
having two darker brown lines which meet on
the crown ; the body is brown, beautifully
variegated, and mottled ; the second, third,
and fourth segments have a median black
line, and on each of the six succeeding seg-
ments is a somewhat horse-shoe shaped
median white mark ; the last of these termi-
nates in a median brown stripe, which ex-
tends through the eleventh and twelfth
segments, and to the extreme tip of the
thirteenth; these marks might be called
lozenge-shaped, but they are open at the
posterior extremity ; the enclosed space in
each is brick-red, with a median transverse
black bar ; there are two or four white dots
on the back of each segment, and numerous
waved markings of different shapes on the
sides. It feeds on the great hedge bedstraw
(Galium mollugo), and is full-fed about the
30th of June, when it spins a slight cocoon
on the earth, and changes to a CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH appears in May, and again in
July, towards the end of the month ; it is of
common occurrence in all parts of the United
Kingdom, whence a report has been obtained.
(The scientific name is Melanippe subtris-
tata. )

Obs. — This species is double-brooded, both
in a state of nature and in captivity. The
question whether the two species of Melanippe,
M. rivata and M. subtristata, are identical or
distinct, is one which has often occupied the
attention of our most acute lepidopterists ; I
confess my self unable to appreciate the reasons
that have been assigned for considering them

identical, and have, therefore, always kept
them separate ; this opinion, however, has
been formed almost entirely on superficial
grounds, and without that minute attention
to distinctive characters, on which alone
such a conclusion should be grounded. It
is, therefore, with extreme pleasure that I
now cite from the memoranda of Mr. Hellins
the following excellent observations : — " Be-
tween the caterpillars of Melanippe rivata
and M. subtristata, there is, at first sight,
as great a similarity as exists between the
same insects in the perfect state ; the ground
colour of both is the same, varying from a
pale fawn-colour, through a greenish brown,
to a dull green, and even sometimes to a
bright green, the lines and borders of the
markings being of a deeper tint of the ground
colour, and often tinged with a good deal of
red; in both, the segmental divisions are light
red, though this, indeed, may be observed in
a very great number of grey and brown cater-
pillars, and in both the dorsal markings are
of the same shape, namely, dark longitudinal
lines, bordered with light on the front and
hind segments, and on the intermediate ones
are blunt white arrow-heads,* pointing for-
wards and placed at the segmental divisions,
the white being clearest and brightest at the
point, enclosing a diamond-shaped spot of a
dark tint of the ground colour, which at its
hinder end runs indistinctly into the broken
dorsal line, and themselves enclosed on the
front edge by a dark suffused V-shaped
mark, the apex of which runs into the dorsal
line, and the sides appear to reach down to
the spiracles, but become indistinct when
examined with a lens.

"So far these species are alike, but a care-
ful examination of the number of specimens
during the past two or three years has led to
the conclusion that they differ as follows : The
caterpillar of M. rivata, as might be expected
from the relative size of the two perfeci
insects, is invariably the larger; it is also

* Perhaps lozenges would be a better word, but
the other was chosen on account of the opening ot
the hinder end, which seemB to admit the shaft of
the arrow.

M 11

162

BRITISH MOTHS.

more delicately tinted, and has the lines better
defined ; its dorsal arrow-heads, moreover,
are but four in number, being placed on the
divisions between the fifth and ninth seg-
ments ; the seeming arrow-head between the
fourth and fifth segments, on examination
with a lens, shows no white ; and barely an
interruption of the dorsal line ; and the dorsal
line, which recommences between the ninth
and tenth segments, is not preceded by any
clear white. In M. subtristata, the whole
back is generally more clouded, the sub-dorsal
lines which form the boundaries of the white
arrow-heads not being defined; the arrow-
head mark between the fourth and fifth seg-
ments in M. subtristata, when examined with
a lens, becomes quite distinct, and though not
so perfectly formed as the four others that
follow it, is yet quite plain and complete ;
between the ninth and tenth segments, also,
there is a well-defined half arrow-head, the
hind part of which runs into the lines on
the hinder segments, the entire number of
arrow-heads being thus five and a half, instead
of only four. The difficulty of obtaining both
species in the same stage, at the same time,
no doubt renders this comparison less perfect
than it might be, could they be placed side by
side ; but the first or June brood of caterpillars
of M. subtristata are all gone down before
the single brood of M. rivata have assumed
the characteristic markings ; and these, again,
are gone down before the August and Septem-
ber caterpillars of M. subtristata are available
for comparison. It is well to mention that
among some hundreds of the perfect insects
of both species which have been bred by four
or five different entomologists during the last
three years, there have occurred no inter-
mediate varieties whatever ; M. rivata varies,
indeed, in having the gray border of the hind
margin of its wings sometimes tinged with
blue, sometimes with brown, but the white
lines always preserve their distinctive width,
and the under side is always lighter than in
M. subtristata ; the only variety that has been
observed was one which, far from having the
white lines broader than usual, had the dark
bands wider. Of course, worn specimens,

which, having lost many of their scales, ap-
proached M. rivata in paleness, are not
worthy of notice."

325. The Silver-ground Carpet (Melanippe
montanata).

325. THE SILVER-GROUND CARPET. — The
fore wings are creamy- white with an ochre-
gray blotch at the base, and an irregular
ochre- gray median band, which includes a
creamy-white blotch and a distinctly black
discoidal spot ; the costal margin has several
transverse brown spots, and the hind margin
has a broad but pale band of smoky-brown,
intersected throughout by a scalloped white
line : the hind wings are nearly white with a
discoidal spot and a few indistinct transverse
markings : the head, thorax, and body are
creamy-white, the body having two black
spots placed transversely on pach segment

The CATERPILLAR is almost uniformly cylin-
drical, and rests in a nearly straight position,
but tucks in the head very tightly when
disturbed, the anterior part of the body then
assuming the form of the Ionic volute. The
head is pale brown, with numerous black
lines ; the body pale brown, with a number
of variously- coloured markings; there is a
narrow median stripe traversing all the
segments except the first and thirteenth ;
this median stripe is parti-coloured; it is
blood-red at the interstices between each two
segments beginning from the fourth, and the
blood-red portion is always succeeded by a
jet-black portion, and the other parts are
smoke-coloured ; the sides have two approxi-
mate rich brown rivulet stripes, both edges
of which are delicately margined with black ;
these stripes extend from the head to the
thirteenth segment ; below these is a paler
stripe, and the belly is also pale, but of a
different hue ; between the median stripe and

GEOMETERS.

163

the two approximate lateral stripes is a pale
brown broader stripe, interrupted with various
black markings ; on the back of the seventh,
eighth, and ninth segments is a conspicuous
black V-shaped mark, the apex of the V
pointing backwards, and each terminating in
one of the blood-red marks already described ;
these three V's are very large, obscuring, on
the three segments where they occur, the
stripes previously described, and below them
are fiv 3 black dots on each side of the stripe.

The EGG is laid in the autumn, on the leaves
of the primrose (Primula, vulgaris), on which
this caterpillar hybernates, and it is full-fed
at the end of March : this is the only species
of the genus that hybernates. Mr. Hellins
remarks that this caterpillar is always to be
distinguished by its having but three perfect
dorsal markings instead of four, which is the
normal number in the genus Melanippe.

THE MOTH appears on the wing throughout
the summer, and is common in England,
Scotland, and Ireland. (The scientific name
is Melanippe montanata.)

326. The Galium Carpet (Melanippe galiata).

326. THE GALIUM CARPET.— The fore
wings are white, with a smoky-gray blotch at
the base ; the lower half of this is very pale,
and there is a smoky-gray median band, some-
what indented on its inner margin, and much
indented and angled on its outer margin;
this band is divided into six bars by means
of zigzag black lines ; the third of these bars,
counting from the base of the wing, is the
broadest, and of the purest gray, and also
contains the long and narrow discoidal spot ;
the other bars are tinged with brown ; there
is a marginal black line on each side of the
median band; the costal margin has a blackish
cloud half-way between the median band and
tip, and there is another in the middle of the

hind margin; this includes two white lunules :
the hind wings are pale gray, transversely
clouded with darker gray, and having a small
but distinct discoidal spot : the head, thorax,
and body are smoky-gray.

The CATERPILLAR is almost uniformly cylin-
drical, and generally rests in a slightly curved
position, but when disturbed or irritated it
tucks the head in very tightly, so that it
touches the tenth segment, giving the anterior
part of the body the form of the Ionic volute.
The head is pale brown, with two broadish
dark stripes united on the crown, but widely
separated at the mouth ; the rest of the head
is dotted with black : the body is brown,
with parallel stripes of different shades ex-
tending its entire length ; the median stripe
is almost black, and on each side of it is a
paler stripe; in each of these paler sub-median
stripes are four black spots, one each on the
anterior edge of the sixth, seventh, eighth,
and ninth segments ; again outside each of
these sub-median stripes is a very pale stripe,
almost white, then follows a broader, more
diffuse, and more irregular double brown
stripe, perhaps more precisely described as
two brown and closely approximate rivulet
stripes, a very delicate pale stripe passing
between them ; then follows a paler stripe, in
which are situated the spiracles ; and finally,
the belly is paler, but striped much in the
same way as the back. It feeds on two
species of bedstraw (Galium verum and G.
mollugo), and is double-brooded ; the second
brood of caterpillars are full-fed on the 5th of
September. Mr. Buckler has represented an
extremely beautiful variety, in which the
black dots on the back form the nuclei of
variegated black, red, and white markings.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June,
and has been taken in most of our English
counties, especially in the chalk districts of
Kent and Surrey : I have sometimes found it
so abundant in the former, that it has become
almost a nuisance when collecting, the cap-
tures being incessant, and each capture when
examined proving to be a Galiata. It is also
found in Ireland, especially on the coast.
(The scientific name is Melanippe galiata.)

164

BRITISH MOTHS.

327. The Garden Carpet (Melanippe fluntuata) .

327. THE GARDEN CARPET. — The fore
wings are gray, with a dark smoky-brown
blotch at the base, and another much larger
on the middle of the costal margin; this
latter includes the discoidal spot, which is
always present but indistinct; from the
costal blotch tc the inner margin of the
wing there is a smoky-gray cloud ; beyond
the blotch the wing is irregularly clouded and
barred with smoky-brown: the hind wings
are clouded and transversely barred with
smoky-brown, and have a discoidal spot :
the head, thorax, and body are gray : the
body has two indistinct brown spots placed
transversely on each segment.

The CATERPILLAR is slightly attenuated
towards each extremity ; it generally rests
in a slightly bent posture : it is very variable
in colour, brown, gray, or green. I describe
the brown type : the head delicately marked
transversely with dark brown, median stripe
interrupted and of various colours, of which
brick-red and deep black are most con-
spicuous ; a small oblong red space sur-
rounded by dingy white, occupies the middle
of the hind margin of each segment after the
fourth, and is united to a black spot similarly
surrounded on the anterior margin of the
succeeding segment ; the two combined con-
stitute what Mr. Hellins terms the arrow-
head markings; the dorsal surface of the
tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth seg-
ments is very pale, forming a conspicuous
pale patch, and this is continued beyond the
posterior margin of the ninth segment ; each
of the segments after the fourth has four
distant and distinct white dots arranged in
a square ; those on the tenth, eleventh, and
twelfth segments are surrounded with small
back markings ; the sides are pale, the belly
is also pale, but has darker stripes : it feeds
on the several varieties of cultivated cabbage

(Brassica), or nasturtium (Tropceolummajus),
and other garden plants, and is double-
brooded both in a state of nature and in
captivity ; the second brood of caterpillars is
full-fed at the beginning of September.

The MOTH flies throughout the summer : it
is the commonest of all our garden geometers
in England, Scotland, and Ireland. (The
scientific name is Melanippe fluctuate,,)

328. The Eoyal Mantle (Antidea sinuata).

328. THE ROYAL MANTLE. — The fore wings
are parti-coloured ; there is a large dark and
somewhat triangular blotch at the base, the
prevailing tint of which is dark leaden-brown,
approaching to black, but it is divided by a
transverse median bar of two colours, brown
or smoky-gray towards the base, rust-coloured
gray externally, where it is bounded by a
double slender bent line, the inner half of
which is nearly black, the outer half white ;
beyond this basal blotch there is a large
creamy- white area, restricted at the costa, but
expanding before the middle, and continued
to the inner margin ; beyond this is an almost
square black costal blotch, sprinkled with
gray, and bounded by a double zigzag black
line, which extends to the inner margin;
beyond this is a rust-coloured bar, broad at
the costa, but gradually diminishing in width
to the anal angle; then follows a zigzag white
line, and finally a mixed marginal band which
has a darker central cloud : the hind wings
are grayish-white, with a transverse zigzag
umber-brown line parallel with the hind
margin. There is a narrow and scarcely
perceptible discoidal spot on all the wings.
The head and thorax are almost black, the
body creamy-white. Such are the principal
markings of this beautiful moth, on which
the older collectors conferred the name of
the Royal Mantle.

The head of the CATERPILLAR is slightly
divided on the crown, as broad as the body :

GEOMETERS.

the body is uniformly cylindrical, without
humps or warts. The colour of the head is
yellowish-green, with mottled black markings;
the body is yellowish or bright green, with
two black dorsal stripes scarcely so broad as
the green median space between them ; the
spiracles are black ; the legs and claspers pale
green ; all parts of the body emit fine short
scattered black hairs. It feeds on lady's
bedstraw (Galium verum), and is full-fed by
the end of August, when it spins a slight web
among the leaves or flowers, and changes to a
short obese CHRYSALIS, the wing-cases of which
are very ample, and of a dark brown colour;
the body is reddish.

The MOTH flies in June. I have taken it in
Birchwood, Kent, and Mr. Brown has sent
me the caterpillar from Cambridgeshire, but
it is a very local insect in England, and I do
not hear of its occurrence in Scotland or
Ireland. (The scientific name is Anticlea
sinuata.)

329. The Flame (Antidea\ruUdata).

329. THE FLAME. — The fore wings have
a small triangular dark brown blotch at the
base, edged with white ; then a rust^coloured
band, then a dark brown bar delicately edged
on both sides with white, and having a dis-
tinct discoidal spot attached to its outer
margin, and this also is generally edged with
white ; then a brown-grey band, which some-
times bears a rust-coloured shade about the
middle, then a dark brown bar, very distinct
at the costa, but continued to the inner margin
only as a zigzag black line; and lastly a broad
rust-coloured marginal band, intersected by a
slender scalloped pale gray line : the hind
wings are grayish-brown with transverse
waved lines, both darker and lighter; the
head, thorax, and body are grayish-brown,
the body having a pale margin, and two
darker spots on each segment.

The EGGS are laid at the end of June or
beginning of July, on the great hedge bed-
straw (Galium mollugo), and other species of
the same genus ; they are hatched in ten or
twelve daya

The CATERPILLARS are full-fed in August,
and then rest in nearly a straight position.
The head is semi-porrect, of almost exactly
the same width as the body, and the body of
uniform thickness throughout and cylindrical.
The colour of the head is smoky-brown, with
a brown V-shaped mark on the face, pointed
backwards, and several black dots and hairs;
the body is red, brown, or gray, but in either
case beautifully variegated ; on the body is a
median series of five lozenge-shaped or arrow-
headed markings, each having a dark centre,
a pale disc, and a slightly darker margin;
beyond and in continuation of these, and ex-
tending from the ninth segment to the anal
flap, is a medio-dorsal black stripe ; the entire
back may be described as having five longi-
tudinal stripes ; of these the medio-dorsal
passes through and partly comprises the arrow-
headed markings and the black stripe already
described ; the remaining stripes are some-
what sinuous, of a reddish brown colour, and
bordered on each side by black dots ; the legs
are paler, the claspers slightly darker. It
goes into the ground to change to a CHRYSALIS,
and forms a small earthen cocoon.

The MOTH flies in June, and occurs in several
counties north, south, east, and west, but I
think neither in Scotland nor Ireland. (The
scientific name is Anticlea rubidata.)

330. The Shoulder Stripe (Anticlea badiata).

330. THE SHOULDER STRIPE. — The fore
wings are sienna-brown, with the base and a
broad hind-marginal band umber-brown, and
a median band pale wainscot-brown ; this

166

BRITISH MOTHS.

latter includes a distinct but very small round
discoidal spot ; about the middle of the mar-
ginal band is. a snow-white lunule; with the
exception of the pale median band, every part
of the wing is traversed by slender dark brown
transverse lines : the hind wings are gray,
tinged with brown, and have a small discoidal
spot, slender waved transverse lines across the
middle, and a broad marginal band rather
darker, and intersected by a sinuous pale line;
the margin itself is very distinctly scalloped
and dark brown ; the head and thorax are
rich umber-brown, the body pale brown at
the base, rather darker at the tip ; there are
two dark spots placed transversely on each
segment.

The EGGS are laid in March, on the buds or
stems of the dog-rose (Rosa canina).

The CATERPILLAR is full-fed at the end of
May, when it rests in a nearly straight posi-
tion, attached by the claspers only. The head
is semi-porrect, slightly notched on the crown,
slightly narrower than the body ; the body is
of uniform size throughout, slightly depressed,
and entirely without humps. At first, all the
caterpillars are green, afterwards they vary
slightly : the colour of the head is orange,
with a large black spot on each side just above
the ocelli ; the dorsal area of the body is
green, sometimes exquisitely shaded, more
especially towards the sides, with purple; the
second segment has a slender medio-dorsal
pale line, on each side of which are four
white dots arranged in a square, and below
these on each side are two other white dots
placed transversely ; the third and fourth seg-
ments have each a transverse series of six
white spots on the back, and two placed
longitudinally on each side ; the fifth, sixth,
seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, and
twelfth segments have each four dorsal white
dots arranged nearly in a square ; the thir-
teenth segment has a transverse series of six
similar dots, and every segment has a lateral
white dot at the junction of the dorsal and
veriti^al area ; the anal flap is rounded, and
dark purple-brown; the sides of the second,
third, and fourth segments are reddish-brown;
the sides and ventral surface of the other

segments are dingy-white ; the spiracles in-
tensely black ; the legs green ; the ventral
claspers pale green, with an intensely dark
purple brown blotch on the outside; the anal
claspers are dingy, with a similar blotch. It
feeds on the leaves of the dog-rose, and
descends to the ground and changes to a
CHRYSALIS on the surface of the earth in an
earthen cocoon.

The MOTH appears on the wing in April,
and is of frequent occurrence in some of our
English counties, and Mr. Birchall says it is
very common in Ireland. (The scientific
name is Anticlea badiata.)

331. The Streamer (Anticlea derivata).

331. THE STREAMER. — The fore wings are
purple-brown, with a paler median area, and
having a delicate gloss over the whole surface;
they have two darker bars, the first near the
base, short, narrow, and rather obscure, the
second before the middle of the wing, and
very strongly pronounced ; beyond the middle
of the wing is a dark brown blotch on the
costa, the two margins of which are continued
as mere lines to the inner margin ; the inner
of these lines is simply scalloped, the outer is
much angled, the angle projecting almost to
the middle of the inner margin ; midway
between the second bar and the first of these
lines is a small but distinct dot-like discoidal
spot ; the hind wings are gray, with a purple-
brown gloss, but with scarcely any markings;
the head, thorax, and body have various snades
of brown, the margins of the segments being
pale.

The EGGS are laid in March or April, on
the buds or stems of the dog-rose (Rosacanina),
on the leaves of which species the caterpillar
feeds ; the CATERPILLARS are full-fed in May,
when they rest in a straight or but slightly

GEOMETERS.

167

bent position ; the head is semi-porrect,
scarcely so broad as the body; the body is
cylindrical, but slightly narrowed anteriorly;
the skin appears tight, and has but little
appearance of wrinkles or skinfolds. The
colour of the head is light red, tinged with
green in the middle of the face ; the body
is delicately green, with red blotches as de-
scribed below; the first originates immediately
behind the head, and is there of the same
breadth as the head, but it narrows to a point
on the back of the fifth segment; others —
three, four, or even five in number — form a
longitudinal medio-dorsal series, and others
sometimes appear placed transversely on the
tenth and thirteenth segments ; the legs are
pinky-red ; the claspers green, with a red
blotch on the outer side; it descends the rose-
bush, and changes to a CHRYSALIS in the earth.
The MOTH appears in April in most of our
English counties, and occurs also in Scotland,
and in the county Wicklow in Ireland. (The
scientific name is Anticlea derivata.)

332 The Barberry Carpet (Anticlea lerlerata).

332. THE BARBERRY CARPET. — The fore
wings are gray, with very numerous markings
of umber-brown of different shades ; near the
base is a short bar, both margins of which are
darker than the median area ; this bar is
followed by a gray space, which includes two
elbowed darker lines ; then follows a dark
umber-brown bar, and then a gray band scal-
loped at the sides and interrupted at the costal
extremity, and in the middle ; the middle of
this band is the centre of the wing ; a short
distance beyond this band is a sharply-angled
zigzag black line; there is a broad pale band
on the hind margin, except at its costal extre-
mity, where an oblique division of colours
takes place at the very tip of the wing, the
costal area of the tip being dark, the hind-
margiiial area pale gray; the hind wings are

pale gray -brown, with several darker but pale
zigzag lines parallel with the hind margin :
the head, thorax, and body have the same
shades of colour disposed transversely.

The CATERPILLAR is extremely sluggish, and
disinclined to move; when compelled to do so,
it generally drops from its food-plant sus-
pended by a thread ; it rests with its claspers
firmly attached, but most commonly has the
legs free, the body being bent double, and the
legs being brought almost or quite into con-
tact with the ventral claspers ; sometimes
both the anterior and posterior segments are
straight, the intervening segments consti-
tuting a loop ; the head is partially concealed
by the anterior margin of the second segment,
it is rounded on the crown, is of somewhat
less diameter than the body, and is slightly
hairy; the body is obese, short, and rugose,
the rugosity occasioned by each segment
having an elevated transverse skinfold on
which are situated several warts, each wart
emitting a slender bristle. The colour is va-
rious ; the prevailing varieties are : first — a
pale raw-sienna brown, with three dorsal
stripes of a somewhat darker colour, all of
them indistinct, and the median one very
slender : secondly — a brighter or burnt-sienna
brown, with two broad, dorsal, longitudinal
umber-brown stripes, and the faintest possible
indication of a slender median stripe : thirdly
— a gray or putty-coloured ground colour,
thickly sprinkled with black, and having on
each side of each segment an indication of
a large crescentic white mark ; in the last
variety the base of the legs is black, and in
all the varieties the head is beautifully tesse-
lated, the tesselations in the brown specimens
being a darker shade of the same colour, those
in the gray specimens being pure black. It
feeds on the common barberry (Berberis vul-
yaris), appearing in May. The larvae of the
second brood are those from which I have
taken my description ; they were full-fed at
the end of September.

The MOTH is double-brooded, appearing in
May, and again in August; it has been taken
in Essex, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire, but
not in the north of England, in Scotland, or

168

BRITISH MOTHS.

in Ireland. (The scientific name is Anticlea
berberata. )

W

333. The Red Carpet (Coremia munitata).

333. THE RED CARPET. — The antennae of
the male are strongly pectinated more than
half their length ; the tips are simple ; the
fore wings are slightly falcate ; they have a
reddish blotch at the base, then a narrow gray
band, then a broad reddish band with darker
margins, and a long discoidal spot of the same
darker 'tint, and delicately margined with
white ; the inner margin of this band is con-
cave, the outer sinuous ; lastly, there is a
broad gray marginal band traversed through-
out by a slender waved white line, within
which white line the marginal band is whitish-
gray, and outside the white line pinkish-gray ;
at the extreme tip of the wing is an oblique
streak, above which the gray tint is whiter,
below it redder and darker : the hind wings
are dingy-gray, with waved transverse mark-
ings both lighter and darker; the head, thorax,
and body are dingy-gray.

The Rev. Joseph Greene has reared this
moth from the egg, which was hatched in
June; the young CATERPILLARS fed on ground-
sel during the autumn ; they grew very slowly;
before winter they left off eating altogether,
but in early spring again ate the groundsel,
and were full-fed before the end of March.
The caterpillar when full fed is an inch in
length, the ground colour dull green, or
brown, but very variable ; the segments
pink or flesh-coloured ; the body is slightly
sprinkled with black dots, with two very
distinct blotches on the sixth and seventh
segments, the latter being the largest. It spins
up in moss, and turns to a brown CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH appears in June and July, and
seems to be a northern insect ; it has been
taken most abundantly in Orkney. I have
seen in the boxes of a collector who had sum-
mered in Orkney, hundreds of this species,

but so bad was their condition, that I could
not select a dozen worth preserving ; there
are several localities in Scotland, and some
in the northern counties of England. Mr.
Birchall also reports it as taken by Mr.
Bristow at Belfast (The scientific name is
Coremia munitata.)

334. The Flame Carpet (Coremia propugnata).

334. THE FLAME CARPET. — The antennae
of the male are slightly pectinated ; the fore
wings have a chocolate blotch at the base,
then a pale gray band almost white, then a
chocolate band barred transversely with two
shades, and including an elongate white dis-
coidal spot; this band is concave on its inner,
and doubly angled on its outer margin ;
lastly, there is a broad gray marginal band
traversed through half its length by a deli-
cate waved white line ; the hind wings are
dingy- gray, with transverse markings ; the
head, thorax, and body are gray, the margins
of the segments chocolate-brown.

The CATERPILLAR is figured in Sepp's ex-
quisitely beautiful work on Dutch Lepidop-
tera ; it is represented feeding on a species
of cabbage (Brassica). The ground colour is
a reddish-gray, with a medio-dorsal series of
triangular markings of a rosy-pink, and a
lateral stripe in the region of the spiracles of
a dingy -yellow.

The MOTH flies in May and June, and again
in August, and occurs in most of our English
and some of our Scotch counties. Mr. Birchall
found it abundant at Powerscourt, in Ireland.
(The scientific name is Coremia propugnata.}

335. The Red Twin-spot Carpet (Coremia ferrugata).
335. THE RED TWIN-SPOT CARPET. — The

GEOMETERS.

169

antennae are pectinated in the male ; thefore
wings have a reddish blotch at the base, then
a gray band intersected by several transverse
markings, then a broad reddish bar also tra-
versed by transverse markings, and including
a very indistinct discoidal spot ; the band is
bordered by a slender pale, almost white line,
and this again by an equally slender brown
line ; lastly, there is a broad hind marginal
gray band which includes many waved lines
of different shades, a rust-coloured costal
blotch and a double black spot within the
hind margin about the middle : the hind
wings are dingy gray, with various transverse
markings : the head, thorax, and body are
variegated with gray and brown, the body
having two blackish spots placed transversely
on each segment.

The EGGS are generally laid on the stems
of ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea), on the
leaves of which plant the caterpillars feed;
the period in the egg state varies from ten to
twenty days, according to the temperature ;
the cold east winds, which so frequently pre-
vail in the spring, greatly retarding their
emergence. The full-fed caterpillar rests with
the anterior extremity rigidly extended, but
often in a slightly arched position ; when
annoyed, it tucks in its head, and rolls up the
anterior part of its body in the form of the
Ionic volute ; the legs are crowded together,
and closely appressed to the mouth ; the head
is prone, not conspicuously notched on the
crown, and nearly of the same width as the
body ; the body is of nearly the same width
throughout, and uniformly cylindrical, with
the exception of a lateral skinfold which ex-
tends its whole length ; it is without humps,
but, in common with the head, has a few
small scattered warts, each of which emits a
single small bristle; the head is putty coloured,
freckled with black on the face, and having
a darker stripe on each cheek ; the colour of
the dorsal area of the body, as far as the
ninth segment, is dingy brown, but this hue
appears to be caused by the somewhat tesse-
lated ornamentation : this consists, in the
first place, of a medio-dorsal stripe, narrow
and almost thread-like on the third, fourth,

fifth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth segments ;
on the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth seg-
ments, the medio-dorsal stripe is interrupted,
and reduced to a median intensely black spot;
each of these black spots is sxirrounded by a
paler area, dilated laterally, but attenuated
at the extremities ; a dorsal series of lozenge-
shaped markings results, as far as regards
these four segments ; on each side of this dor-
sal ornamentation are three slender rivulet
stripes, all of them sesquialterous or semi-
double, but neither of them very conspicuous;
the ventral area, extending to and including
the spiracles, is putty-coloured, but the spi-
racles themselves are intensely black, and
surrounded by a paler area ; there is a medio-
ventral pale brow nor reddish stripe, contain-
ing three black spots, and extending from the
fifth to the twelfth segment ; on each side of
this medio- ventral stripe the ground colour
is extremely pale, and the pale part is bounded
by a double sinuous darker stripe, very
similar to those on the dorsal area : this com-
mences at the base of the third pair of legs,
and ceases at the base of the ventral claspers ;
this is again succeeded by a paler ground
colour, and this again by a frequently inter-
rupted and most irregular stripe, which con-
tains five conspicuous black spots, and termi-
nates in a larger linear spot close to the ventral
claspers. The CATERPILLAR spins a slightwet)
among the stolons of the ground-ivy, and in
this changes to a smooth brown CHRYSALIS.

. The MOTH appears in May, and again in
August; it is abundant in England, Scot-
land, and Ireland. (The scientific name is
Core tuia ferrugata. )

336. The Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet (Coremia,

unidentata) .

336. THE DARK-BARRED TWIN-SPOT CARPET.

— The antennas are distinctly pectinated in

the male; the fore wings have a brown blotch

170

BRITISH MOTHS.

at the base, then a grand band intersected by
two ferruginous bars, the inner of which is
broader and more distinct than the outer,
then a broad smoky-black band in which the
discoidal spot is generally obliterated ; this
bar.i is bordered with white ; lastly, there
is a broad gray hind-marginal band which
includes two slender waved rust - coloured
lines, a rust-coloured costal blotch, and a
double black spot within the hind margin
about the middle ; the hind wings are dingy-
gray, with various transverse markings ; the
head, thorax, and body are variegated with
gray and brown ; the body has two blackish
spots placed transversely on each segment.

N.B. — The broad median band is some-
times purplish red.

The EGGS are laid on lady's bedstraw (Ga-
lium veriim), in July, and the CATERPILLAR
feeds freely on that plant as well as on sweet
woodroffe (Asperula odorata) ; my specimens
were full-fed on the 30th of August, and then
rested in a posture slightly bent, and with the
head usually porrected, but bending down-
wards in a prone position on the slightest
touch. The head is flat, exactly of the same
width as the second segment, but not so wide
as the following; thebody is slightly depressed,
without excrescences, but having a manifest
lateral skinfold and numerous minute warts,
each of which emits a bristle ; these warts
and bristles are eight or ten on each segment ;
the colour of the head is pale testaceous-brown
or putty-colour, with dark brown spots, some
of which group together and form two longi-
tudinal stripes, one on each cheek ; the body
is pale testaceous-brown or putty-coloured,
with numerous dark brown dots, which asso-
ciated, form lozenges on the back, and longi-
tudinal rivulet markings on the sides ; the
perfect lozenges on the back are four in
number, and each has a quadrate black spot
in the centre ; there are two principal lateral
rivulet stripes, both of them double ; the
lower of these comprises the black spiracles,
and terminates in the anal claspers ; a long
black spot on each side runs into the ventral
claspers ; the double rivulet markings of the
ventral surface are five in number ; of these

the median one is the narrowest and the
palest in colour, and its component parts most
approximate ; the upper double stripe on each
side is situated just below the skinfold, it is
very interrupted and indistinct, and contains
five quadrate black spots, namely, on the fifth,
sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth segments ;
the warts are pale, and the bristles they emit
are black with white tips : my specimens of
this caterpillar changed to dark brownglabrous
chrysalids in a slight web among dry remains
of the food-plant on the surface of the earth.

The MOTH is common in May and June,
and again in August, in many of our Eng-
lish counties, and occurs also in Scotland
and Ireland. (The scientific name is Core-
mia unidentata. )

Obs. — Since it has been discovered that
Coremia unidentata occasionally has a purple-
red median band very much resembling that
of C. .ferrugata, it has become extremely
difficult to define in words the distinguishing
characters of the two species : so long as C.
ferrugata was distinguished by its ferruginous,
and C. unidentata by its dark brown band,
there was no difficulty in separating the two
species ; but now that C. unidentata has been
found to vary in this respect, the test character
as it was formerly thought no longer continues
to be such, and it becomes necessary to breed
both species from the egg before the name of
the red-banded specimens can be positively
pronounced. The same difficulty does not
exist with the brown-banded specimens, as I
have never seen a specimen of C. ferrugata
with the brown band. Nevertheless, the prac-
tised eye rarely fails to distinguish between the
two species : C, ferrugata always seems to me
more variegated, and to have a greater mixture
of colours. Guenee combines the two, making
the unidentaria oi. Ha worth his variety A, and
he adds that although C. unidentaria is not
essentially different from the type (C. ferru-
gata), except in colour, this is so constant that
he would have been tempted to give it as a
distinct species, had not Sepp figured both
varieties as bred from the same caterpillar :
C. unidentaria varies a little, but far less than
C. ferrugata. It ought to be added that the

GEOMETERS

171

two caterpillars which I have described from
life, arid without reference to previous des-
criptions, are extremely similar in all their
characters.

337. The Large Twin-spot Carpet (Coremia

quadrifasciata) .

337. THE LARGE TWIN-SPOT CARPET. — The
antennae of the male are pectinated : the fore
wings are fawn-coloured, with a broad median
band of a very dark and smoky umber-brown,
yet including a still darker discoidal spot and
waved lines ; this band is concave, and pretty
regular on its inner margin, but sinuous and
sometimes having a sharp angle on its outer
margin, which is edged with a slender white
line ; about half way between this and the
hind margin is a scalloped white line not so
distinct ; and touching the inner margin of
this, about its middle, is a double dark spot ;
the fawn-coloured or isabelline ground on
both sides the median bar has various indis-
tinct waved markings : the hind wings are
dingy-gray, with several transverse rivulet
markings, some of them darker, some lighter
than the ground colour: the head, thorax,
and body are dingy brownish-gray ; each seg-
ment of the body having a darker marginal
belt delicately bordered with white.

" The caterpillar is yellowish-gray, marbled
with brown ; the spiracular line blackish,
sometimes interrupted (Hubner). On low
plants, hawthorn, &c." — Stainton's Manual,,
vol. ii. p. 106.

The MOTH appears in June in the southern
counties of England. It was formerly so
common about Godalming, in Surrey, that it
was turned out of the net when taken ; it has
since occurred commonly at Haslemere ; it
has been taken by the Cambridge collectors,
and by Dr. Bree at Stowuiarket. (The scien-
tific name is Coremia quadrifasciata.)

338. The Yellow Shell (Camptogramma 'bilineata).

338. THE YELLOW SHELL. — The antennae
are simple in both sexes ; all the wings are
yellow ; the fore wings have three slender
waved white lines, all of them bordered with a
brownish tint ; there is a pale, but not white,
zigzag line near the hind margin ; the space
between the second and hind white lines is
sometimes dark brown; this is more especially
the case near these lines ; there are also many
slender waved brown lines and an indistinct
discoidal spot : the hind wings are yellow,
with two waved white lines apparent only
near the inner margin, and many darker lines ;
the hind margin is irregularly scalloped ; all
the lines are transverse, and all the wings
have a slender and continuous dark marginal
line : the head, thorax, and body are yellow.

The CATERPILLAR appears to have been
seldom observed until M. Guene"e gave us the
clew to its discovery : it feeds on different
grasses by night, secreting itself during the
day on the under side of stones, under clods
of earth, or at the roots of the herbage during
the month of April ; it rests with the head
rather prone and bent under ; the head is
pale dull green, the dorsal surface of the body
glaucous green, with a darker or olive-green
medio-dorsal stripe ; this stripe is bordered
with greenish- white ; on each side is a slender
white stripe, and another of precisely the same
colour in the region of the spiracles, which
arc yellow, and each encircled with a sienna-
brown ring ; the ventral area is pale green
with a in edio- ventral stripe of very pale
yellow, and a series of spots which are rose-

172

BRITISH MOTHS.

coloured or violet, or purple-brown, and
sometimes absent ; the legs and claspers are
of the same colour as the body.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June and
July ; is one of our very commonest species,
occurring in every field, land, and hedgerow
throughout the summer. (The scientific name
is Camptogramma bilineata.)

MALE. FEMALE.

339. The Gem (Camptogramma fluviata).

339. THE GEM. — The antennae are pecti-
nated in the male, the pectinations being very
short and inconspicuous. The male has the
fore wings clay-coloured, inclining to wains-
cot-brown, with a narrow transverse median
band of a smoky-brown, and including a
small black discoidal spot, which is surrounded
by a pale ring ; there is an oblique smoke-
coloured shade at the tip of the wing, descend-
ing towards its centre ; the clay -coloured area
on both sides of the median band is traversed
by faint white lines, the two more conspicuous
of which are between the band and the hind
margin ; the first of these is waved, the second
zigzag. The fore wings of the female are
purple-brown, sometimes inclining to brick-
dust-red ; the median band is faintly indicated,
but the discoidal spot is very conspicuous,
rendered so by the ring which surrounds it
being snowy-white : the hind wings in both
sexes are pale brownish-gray, with waved
lines both lighter and darker : in each sex
the head, thorax, and body are much the
same colour as the fore wings.

I have found the CATERPILLAR of this
geometer on the leaves of the common persi-
caria (Polygonum persicaria), but I have not
Described it from nature, as a very accurate
description which I have quoted below was
previously published in the " Entomologists'
i ntelligencer " for 1858 : " A lovely female of
this species laid me some EGGS on the 24th of
•I uly ; they were oblong, flattish, and yellow,
but changed to a dusky-brown colour on the

1st of August ; the following day the CATER-
PILLARS hatched ; at first, they were very
dingy, but on the 8th of August became dusky
sap-green, and on the 16th assumed their
characteristic markings. There were evidently
two distinct varieties, one of which had the
ground colour of a greenish-gray, tinged with
red between the segments ; the spiracular line
blackish and irregularly interrupted; the back
(except the last two segments) dusky, having
on the intermediate segments a row of five
elongated diamonds of the ground colour, with
a dusky dot in each ; on the front segments
these markings ran into three parallel dusky
lines, while on the end segments there were
four slender dusky lines arranged in a dia-
mond pattern ; the claspers had a dusky
stripe running down them. The other variety
had the ground colour of a light yellowish-
green, quite yellow between the segments ;
the spiracular line and pattern on the back
faintly indicated by dusky-black lines and
dots. These caterpillars feed readily on
groundsel (Lenecio vulgaris), at last eating
through stems bigger than themselves ; but,
as their frass seemed very watery, I doubt
whether this is their proper food. They were
quiet in their habits, resting on the under
side of the leaves, hiding themselves skilfully,
and could not be easily dislodged ; when dis-
turbed, they curled up the front segments,
but not into such a twisted knot as I have
sometimes seen in more slender geometers.
From the 21st to the 23rd of August the
caterpillars, being full-sped, spun up in moss.
After having been in chrysalis about a fort-
night, the perfect insects emerged. There
went down two of the green and four of the
darker caterpillars ; there have come up
again one C. fluviata (male), and five C.
gemmaria (female) — such a narrow risk did
I run of missing the solution of this problem.
Solved, however, it is, and C. fluviata and C.
gemmaria are hereby declared to be man and
wife. I expected to find the difference of
colour in the caterpillar would turn out to be
a sexual one ; this, however, has been contra-
dicted by the result. The CHRYSALIS is brown,
smooth, spiked at the tail, and enclosed in a

GEOMETERS.

173

thin silken cocoon in moss. I have now seen,
in all, about fifteen specimens of C. fluviata,
and six of C. gemmaria, and find that the
absence in each of what were considered the
distinctive markings of the other is not con-
stant ; the subapical blotch of C.fluviata may
be traced more or less distinctly (sometimes
quite distinctly) in C. gemmaria; while some
specimens of C. jhiviata have the central spot
placed in the light ring, only the dark ground
of C. gemmaria makes this ring shine forth
much more brightly, just as a negro's sable
skin enhances the whiteness of his eyes. One
of my bred specimens, having given me the
slip over the edge of the table, was detected
in a dark corner of the room by the white spots
on the fore wings. As to the other markings,
they are, line for line, precisely similar, so
that the ground colour alone remains to make
the sexes look unlike, and perhaps further
breeding may sometimes upset this."

The MOTH occurs occasionally throughout
the summer, and there appears to be a succes-
sion of broods : it seems to be most common
in the vicinity of London, where it frequents
the gas lamps, but single specimens have been
taken at Lewes, Brighton, Bristol, Derby, and
Warrington, and Mr. Birchall informs us it
has occurred at Howth and Malahide, in Ire-
land. (The scientific name is Camptogramma
fluviata.}

340. The Fern (Philalapteryx tersatd).

340. THE FERN. — The antennae of the male
have extremely short pectinations, giving
them the appearance of being stouter than
those of the female; the fore wings are
wainscot-brown, with various umber-brown
streaks and dots which are generally seated on
the wing-rays; a short oblique streak descends
from the tip towards the middle of the wing,
and there is a short transverse streak near the
base of its inner margin; there is also a zigzag

whitish line parallel with the hind margin,
and terminating in a white spot near the anal
angle ; there is a very small brown discoidal
spot : the hind wings are paler than the fore
wings, with several darker waved lines on the
disk, and one zigzag white line near the hind
margin ; at the base of the wing is a short
transverse brown line : the body is wainscot-
brown, with a dark brown belt near the base ;
when the wings are spread out, this belt
unites with marks already described on the
fore and hind wings in forming a somewhat
crescentic ornamentation.

The CATERPILLARS of this species are thus
described by Mr. Beauchamp : " During the
last week of August and the first fortnight
of September, 1861, 1 beat a number of these
caterpillars, in company with those of Mela-
nippe procellata, from the common clematis
(Clematis mtalba) after dark. They are long,
slender, and tapering towards the head, which
is small, flat, and rounded ; the ground colour
is very pale grayish-brown; the dorsal line is
dark brown, very conspicuous and broad on
the head, thence tapering to the end of the
fourth segment, where it generally becomes
invisible, re-appearing, however, as a gray
spot just behind the intersections of the seg-
ments, and on the tenth segment broadening
into a conspicuous black spot, which tapers to
a point forwards. Similar spots, but much
fainter, can be traced on the eighth and ninth
segments, and sometimes on the seventh. On
the hinder part of each of the middle segments
is a pair of spots of the same colours as the
gray spots before mentioned, with which they
form a triangle ; the spiracular line is slender,
pale, and edged on each side with dark ; the
sides below the spiracles are paler and rather
ochreous. The spots and spiracles are con-
spicuous, black, ringed with pale ; the ventral
line is pale, rather broad, and edged with a
dark line of considerable but variable breadth ;
there are numerous longitudinal lines, and on
many specimens transverse dorsal shades,
especially on the middle segments. In some
examples, all the above markings are very
indistinct, except the conspicuous black spot
on the tenth segment.

174

BRITISH MOTHS.

These caterpillars come out at dusk to feed,
usually holding on the edge of a leaf, and at
the slightest touch dropping off, without
leaving any silken thread to return by ; when
on the ground, they curl into a regular St.
Catherine's wheel. They are very lively at
night, but quite the reverse by day. In
habits they closely resemble the caterpillars
of Melanippe procellata. The cocoon is
rather slight and subterranean.

The MOTH appears in June ; its range is
confined to the eastern and southern counties
of England; indeed, it may be supposed
dependant on the abundant growth of its
food-plant It has not occurred in the north
of England, in Scotland, or Ireland. (The
scientific name is Phibaletpteryx tersata.)

841. The Slender-striped Rufous (Phibalapteryx

lapidata) .

341. THE SLENDER-STRIPED RUFOUS. — The
antennae appear slightly thicker in the male :
the fore wings are somewhat falcate, and the
tips rather acute ; their colour is wainscot-
brown, with nine dark lines ; the first, second,
and third of these are separate and oblique,
the others in pairs and very sinuous, more
especially the first and third pairs ; ther^ is
a very obscure, scarcely perceptible, discoidal
spot : the hind wings are dingy brownish-
gray, with a double transverse slender line
parallel to the hind margin, and slightly
darker, and there are indications of similar
lines on the inner margin, but not continued
across the wing : the head, thorax, and body
are wainscot-brown.

The MOTH appears on the wing in August,
but this is in all probability a second
brood ; it has been taken at Rannoch, in
Scotland, but neither in England •• Ire-
land. (The scientific name is Phibalapieryx
lapidata. )

342. The Oblique Carpet (Phibalapteryx lignata).

342. THE OBLIQUE CARPET. — The antennae
appear slightly thickened in the male : the
fore wings are somewhat falcate, and the tips
rather acute ; their colour is pale wainscot-
brown, with numerous dark oblique lines ;
three of these closely approximate to the base
and also to each other, are very short, and
being sharply angled on reaching the sub-
costal ray, return to the costa ; the next line
originates on the inner margin, and proceeds
two-thirds of the way towards the costa ; it
then suddenly returns to the inner margin,
enclosing a finger-shaped area, the inner half
of which is dark, the outer half pale; a very
conspicuous black discoidal spot is placed near
the finger-shaped mark, and there is also, in
some specimens, an extremely fine line run-
ning from its summit to the costal margin ;
next follow four oblique umber-brown lines,
the first, second, and third of which are bent
at the sub-costal ray, the fourth is continued
to the costa without bending ; there is a
conspicuous umber-brown cloud between the
discoidal spot and the tip of the wing, and
the four oblique umber-brown lines pass
through this cloud; a white line follows the
fourth of these dark lines, and then a trans-
verse series of dots, all of them seated on the
wing-rays ; these are very indistinct ; lastly,
there is a white line parallel with the hind
margin, and rather undulating : the hind
wings are of the same colour as the fore
wings, with eight transverse dark lines
parallel with the hind margin ; there is a
very distinct dark line on the margin itself
in all the wings : the head, thorax, and body
are variegated with the two shades of brown.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June. It
has occurred in several English counties, both
north and south, and has been taken in Scot-
land ; it is also reported by Mr. Birchall as

GEOMETERS,

taken by Mr. Bristow in the county Wicklow.
(The scientific name is Phibalapteryx lignata.)

343. The Many-lined (Phibalapteryx conjunctaria) .

343. THE MANY-LINED. — The antennae ap-
pear slightly thicker in the male ; the fore
wings are very pale wainscot-brown, with
numerous transverse darker lines ; two of
these, near the middle of the wing, enclose an
area which is darker round the margins, and
especially near the inner margin, and paler in
the middle ; the pale part including a small
but very distinct discoidal spot ; exterior to
this median enclosure, a very oblique dark
band crosses the wing from the extreme tip to
the inner margin, and the costa itself is of
the same colour, but interrupted by five or
six pale spots ; in addition to these principal
markings there are several transverse dark
lines : the hind wings are pale wainscot-brown,
with six or seven trans verse darker lines which
originate on the inner margin, and terminate
rather beyond the middle of the wing : the
head, thorax, and body are pale wainscot-
brown, the body having two black spots placed
transversely on each segment.

The MOTH appears twice in the year, in
March and September ; it has been taken in
damp meadows near Bristol and Cambridge,
but is extremely local. I am not aware
of its having been taken in the north of
England, in Scotland, or in Ireland. (The
scientific name is Pkibalapteryx conjunctaria.}

Obs. — This moth is the Phibalapteryx poly-
grammata of Doubleday's List, and Mr.
Doubleday himself informs me that it is
certainly the Phibalapteryx conjunctaria of
Lederer, who has sent him a specimen of the

sen, which is very different in general appear-
ance from our English insect described above.
Guenee appears to think that the two insects
are not specifically distinct, and makes con-

junctaria a variety of polygrammata, a view
of the case which Mr. Doubleday adopted in
his Catalogue of 1866.

344. The Small Waved Umber (Phibalapteryx
vitalbata).

344. THE SMALL WAVED UMBER.— The

antennae are almost simple in the male, but
appear somewhat stouter than those of the
female ; the fore wings are long and rather
f >ointed, of a pale wainscot-brown colour, with
a broad oblique smoke-coloured shade, which,
commencing below the tip of the wing, ter-
minates near the middle of its inner margin,
and includes several waved umber-brown
lines : there is a small but very black discoidal
spot, and between the oblique shade and the
hind margin are two waved umber-brown
lines : the hind wings are dingy grayish-
brown, with numerous waved transverse
darker lines : the head is dark brown ; the
thorax pale, with two transverse dark brown
belts ; the body dark brown, with paler belts.

The EGGS are laid during the summer
months, July and August, on the common
honesty or traveller's joy (Clematis vitalba),
and the CATERPILLAR feeds, as far as my ob-
servations extend, exclusively on this plant.

It appears to be full-fed in October, and
then rests in a very rigid, straight, and stick-
like position, attached by its claspers, and
sometimes also by its feet, often thus forming
a bridge between two leaves or petioles ; the
head is equal in width to the second segment,
flat, generally porrected on the same plane as
the body, but when the caterpillar is annoyed,
it is bent down into a prone position ; the
antennal papillae are very conspicuous and
slightly divergent : the body is cylindrical,
but has a lateral skinfold, and is wrinkled
transversely, the wrinkles being more mani-
fest towards either extremity ; the head an ;1
body have many small scattered warts, and

176

BRITISH MOTHS.

each wart emits a rather stiff bristle ; the
colour of the head is gray, with a median
brown stripe, which dilates at the mouth,
where it terminates in two black spots : the
gray cheeks are adorned with a double series
of short narrow black lines : the body is
grayish umber-brown, paler and almost pure
gray towards the anal extremity ; there is a
medio-dorsal, narrow, and almost black stripe
extending from the head (where it meets the
dark median stripe of the head) to the anal
flap ; this is interrupted at the interstices of
the segments, and indistinct in the middle
of the body, but strongly pronounced at both
extremities; the skinfold is pale, the pale
colour much interrupted and broken into
spots, but extending on each side into the
anal claspers, where it is very conspicuous,
and bordered on each side with dark brown,
approaching to black : the ventral area is
dark brown, with a medio-ventral dark stripe,
intersected throughout by a narrow light
stripe, which is sometimes entire, sometimes
broken into shuttle-shaped divisions : legs and
ventral claspers concolorous with the body.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June and
again in August : it seems to be confined very
much to the southern and eastern English
counties, and has not been observed in the
north of England, in Scotland, or in Ire-
land. (The scientific name is Phibalapteryx
vitalbata. )

Obs. — Several specimens of this strikingly-
marked moth, among many others, have been
sent me to name, a circumstance that leads me
to say that I am at all times willing to name
insects sent to me with this object, but that I
can neither undertake to repack and return
the boxes, nor to write a letter about each
of such consignments. I do not make this
announcement from any disinclination to the
task, but because it is impossible to do so and
simultaneously proceed with this ''Natural
History of British Moths ; " I have not time
for both occupations. If, therefore, my readers
continue to apply for names, they must seek
the replies in the " Entomologist," which is
published on the first of every month, and is
devoted entirely to the diffusion of informa-

tion about insects. It may be had of Simpkin,
Marshall, & Co., or any other London book-
seller, and has long been the means of
introducing to each other those entomologists
who desire to improve their collections by
exchange of specimens. It must be obvious
that such matters cannot with propriety be
introduced into a systematic work such as this
" Natural History of British Moths." Should
any entomologist wish to retain the specimens
sent for names, they may be had on personal
application at this office, between the hours
of ten and four, No. 9, Devonshire Street,
£isho])syate Street.

m

345. The Tissue (Scotosia diibitata).

345. THE TISSUE. — The antennse are simple
in both sexes ; all the wings are broad and
ample, the hind margin of the fore wings
slightly scalloped, that of the hind wings
deeply so : the fore wings are very glossy, and
of an umber-brown colour, with a very beau-
tiful tint or reflection of rosy-red ; this rosy
gloss, seeming to overlie the rich brown, gives
the recently-disclosed insect a remarkably
beautiful appearance ; moreover, there are
transverse lines and bars traversing every part
of the wing ; some of these are darker, some
lighter than the ground colour, and all of them
are waved and irregular ; some of these trans-
verse markings combine to form a broad but
rather indefinite median band, which is darker
at both margins and lighter in the middle ; the
outer margin of this band has two sharp teeth
or angles projecting towards the hind margin;
the upper of these is very acute, the lower
obtuse ; on each side of the median band is a
paler bar intersected by a slender rivulet line ;
the parallel wing rays extending towards the
hind margin are spotted with dark brown and
whitish-gray, and there is a slender and indis
tinct sinuous pale gray line parallel to the hind

GEOMETERS.

177

margin and expanding into a pale gray blotch
near the anal angle ; the margin itself has
a slender but very distinct dark brown line
following its sinuosities : the hind wings are
dingy brown, with about six transverse, waved
whitish lines : the head and thorax have the
same colour as the fore wings ; the body the
same colour as the hind wings, each segment
having a gray margin and an indication of two
dark spots placed transversely.

Mr. Crewe thus describes the CATERPILLAR :
The ground colour is pale yellowish green,
•with two whitish yellow central dorsal stripes;
there are two sub-dorsal stripes also whitish
yellow; the spiracular stripe is bright yellow
and orange ; the back and sides are occa-
sionally studded with a few black tubercles,
and always with a few short whitish hairs ;
the belly is destitute of markings. It feeds
on the common buckthorn (Rhamnus catJiar-
ticus), and is full-fed about the middle of
June, when it forms an earth, a cocoon, and
therein changes to a dark reddish brown
CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH appears on the wing in August,
and the impregnated females hybernate and
deposit their EGGS in the spring, the males
being destroyed by the early frosts at the
approach of winter. It occurs in most of the
English counties, and is reported from Scot-
land and Ireland. (The scientific name is
Scotosia dubitata.)

346. The Brown Scallop (Scotosia vetulata).

346. THE BROWN SCALLOP. — The antennae
we simple in both sexes ; the hind margin of

the fore wings is slightly waved, that of the
hind wings scalloped ; the colour of all the
wings is a faded grayish-brown, thickly pow-
dered with excessively minute darker dots,
each of which generally consists of a single
scale ; some of these dots are so grouped as to
form very iudistinct, waved, transverse lines,
which are more distinct and spot-like on the
costal margin, but become obscure and diffi-
cult to trace on the disk of the wing ; there
are also two slender transverse whitish lines,
which seem designed to mark the limits of a
median band, the band itself being obsolete ;
between these lines is an obscure roundish
discoidal spot ; on all the wing-rays of both
fore and hind wings are pale spots or dots :
the head, thorax, and body, are of the same
colour as the wings ; the body of the male
has a large trifid tuft at the extremity.

The CATERPILLAR, as described by Mr.
Crewe, is short and stout, and in form much
resembles that of the winter moth ; the back
and a central dorsal stripe are black, the latter
bordered with white ; the sides are yellow ;
the spiracular line is black, broken, and un-
connected; the spiracles are black; the head
is black ; the collar yellow, with a transverse
blackish dotted line. It feeds on the common
buckthorn (Rhamnus catharticus), residing
between two leaves which it spins together ;
it eats the outer cuticle of the leaf, leaving
the membrane bare, and is full-fed the first
week in June, when it descends to the
ground and spins an earthen cocoon, in
which it changes to a long and slender
CHRYSALIS, the body of which is tapering and
bright red, the divisions being dark red; the
wing cases are paler, and semi-transparent

The MOTH appears on the wing at the
end of June, and is not uncommon in the
southern counties of England ; but has not
been reported from Scotland or Ireland.
(The scientific name is Scotosia vetulata.)

Obs. — Haworth invites especial attention
to the trifid tuft which terminates the body
of the male ; there are perhaps some indies'
tions of this character in other cognate
Geometers, but in this species alone is it
developed in roch an extraordinary manner.

M 12

178

BRITISH MOTHS.

347. The Dark Umber (Scotosia rhamnata).

347. THE DARK UMBER. — The antennae are
simple in both sexes ; the wings are ample ;
the hind margin of the fore wings is waved ;
that of the hind wings scalloped ; the colour
of the fore wings is deep sienna-brown, with
an oblique median band of smoky umber-
brown ; the margins of this band are bordered
by a slender white line, and are very irregular,
the interior margin having an acute double
notch or indentation; the exterior margin
has an acute double angle or tooth in a cor-
responding position ; an oblique shade pro-
ceeding from the tip of the wing meets this
projecting angle, and at the first glance seems
continuous with it, but is not so; within the
oblique band over the double notch, which I
have described, is a longish black discoidal
spot ; there is a slender sinuous gray line ac-
companied by a dark line of similar character
parallel to the hind margin, and the hind
margin itself has a distinct and continuous
slender line almost black, following its sinuosi-
ties : the hind wings are of nearly the same
colour as the fore wings, the median band
being absent, but in its place is a very dis-
tinct slender line almost black, and there is
a similar line on the hind margin : the head,
thorax, and body have the same colour as
the wings ; the body has a blackish margin
to each segment, and that of the male is
tufted at the extremity.

Mr. Crewe describes the CATERPILLAR as
Having the ground colour of a bright vivid

green ; the medio-dorsal stripe is bright green,
the respiration being very apparent beneath
it ; the sub-dorsal stripes are very slender
and indistinct, and of a yellowish colour ;
the segmental divisions are deep yellow; the
spiracular stripe pale yellow and slender ;
on each side of the three posterior segments
below the spiracles is a broad purple stripe;
the anal flap, tip and claspers are deep purple,
the belly is traversed longitudinally by three
whitish stripes, the central one broader
than the others, and bordered with small
yellowish spots. It feeds on the common
buckthorn (Ehamnus catharticus\ and is full-
fed the first week in June, when it descends
to the earth, and forming an earthen cocoon,
changes therein to a dark reddish-brown

CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH appears on the wing in August,
and occurs chiefly in the southern and
eastern counties of England, but has been
reported as far north as York. I have not
heard of its occurrence in Scotland or Ireland.
(The scientific name is Scotosia rh<tmnata).

348. The Scarce Tissue (Scotosia certata).

348. THE SCARCE TISSUE. — The antennae
are simple in both sexes ; the hind margin
of the fore wings is waved, that of the hind
wings scalloped ; the colour of all the wings
is grayish-brown, with a slight tint of sienna-
brown ; there are several compound bars
composed of dark lines on the fore wings,
but nothing like a distinct median band ;
there is a conspicuous discoidal spot adjoining
one of these darker lines, and there is also
a zigzag gray line parallel to the hind
margin ; this dilates into a small gray blotch
at the anal angle of the wing ; there is a
slender dark line on the hind margin ot" ail

GEOMETERS.

179

the wings following their sinuous outline,
but interrupted by a pale gray spot on
each wing-ray as it passes through this
marginal line : the head, thorax, and body
are of the same colour as the wings ; the
basal segment of the body has a black belt
interrupted in the middle, and two black
dots placed transversely on each of the
following segments.

The CATERPILLAR feeds on the leaves of the
common barberry (Berberis vulgarls), a plant
formerly abundant in our eastern counties,
but now in the process of extermination,
under the insane idea that it produces blight
in wheat. My kind friend Mr. W. R.
Jeffery, of Saffron Walden, has sent me a
dozen of these caterpillars, greatly varying
in size ; when young, they spin together
two leaves of the barberry, adjusting the
edges with so much care that the two
leaves look like one ; the back of the upper
leaf I always find applied to the face of
the lower ; and between these leaves the
enclosed caterpillar rests in a curved pos-
ture, the head brought round to touch the
side of the tenth segment, but the cater-
pillar always resting on its ventral surface,
and not ring-fashion : in this retreat it eats
the cuticle and parenchyma of the upper
leaf, its operations betraying its whereabouts
by the appearance of a large brown blotch
on the surface.

The full-fed caterpillar is obese and some-
what depressed; the head glabrous, narrower
than the body, which is of nearly uniform
substance throughout, and furnished, on the
sides especially, with minute scattered bristles :
there are no excrescences. The colour of the
head is wainscot-brown, with a few black
dots ; the body has the dorsal area dull
lead-colour, bordered with a blackish stripe
on each side ; beneath this is a series of
orange spots, and in the middle of each
spot a black spiracle ; the ventral surface is
pale smoke-colour, with two darker blotches
on each side of each segment, the upper of
which is small and roundish, the lower
larger and longer ; intermediate between the
lead-coloured dorsal area and its marginal

dark stripe, is a series of white dots; the legs
are dark ; the claspers concolorous with the
ventral surface. The caterpillars are full-fed
about the beginning of July.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May and
June, in which months I have found it not
unfrequently on park palings on Blackheath;
it has also been taken in Essex, Cambridge-
shire, and Gloucestershire, but I have not
heard of it from Scotland or Ireland. (The
scientific name is Scotosia certata.)

349. The Scallop Shell (Eucosmia undulata).

349. THE SCALLOP SHELL. — The antennae
are simple in both sexes ; the fore wings are
broad and ample, the tips rather pointed, the
hind margin is almost straight, that of the
hind wings scalloped; the inner margin of the
hind wings is dilated near the middle, and
beneath the dilatation, and partially protected
by it, there is, in the male only, a beautiful
tuft of long scales, which project beyond the
dilated margin, and form a conspicuous object
even when the insect is viewed from above.
The ground colour of the wing is grayish-
brown, transversely traversed by fourteen
zigzag black lines, the crenations of which, as
far as the ninth, which includes the discoidal
spot, are directed towards the hind margin,
the remainder towards the base of the wing,
thus frequently producing a chain-like orna-
mentation towards the middle of the wing ;
the hind margin is sienna-brown, intersected
throughout by a zigzag white line : the hind
wings are rather paler than the fore wings,
with four distinct, and two (nearer the base)
indistinct black zigzag lines; the hind margin
is sienna-brown, intersected throughout by a
zigzag white line ; the fringe is alternately
pale and dark : the tuft on the hin J wings of
the male is black ; the head, thorax, and body
are gray-brown ; there are two darker spots

i80

BRITISH MOTHS.

placed transversely on the thorax, and two on
each segment of the body. The under side is
remarkable for the presence of a very con-
spicuous discoidal spot on each wing, these
spots not being traced without difficulty on
the upper side.

Mr. Beauchamp has favoured me with the
following life-history of this species : — " I
took a female in 1861. She laid me some
small oval whitish EGGS on the under side of a
sallow-leaf, generally in the hollow by the
side of the mid-rib or some other rib, often
two or more on a leaf, but never adjoining
each other. I transferred them to a young
tree growing in a pot. As soon as hatched,
the CATERPILLARS spun a web resembling that
of the Yponomeutidce, and sometimes, like
them, several together. When a little older,
they bent and fastened leaves together, and
ate through the walls of their dwelling until
they left only a skeleton, when they went on
to another place, to behave in a similar man-
ner. They were very sluggish, not taking
the trouble to push their tails outside, so that
when they had eaten the walls of theu "'••eiit,
the lower part formed a bag full oi tneir
excrement. They usually lay curled up in
their tent, and all mine continued to dwell
under cover until they went down. I think
I never saw them outside, except when they
were removing, and once when they had eaten
their plant down to the stump ; then they
crawled about uneasily until fresh food was
introduced. When full-grown they were
scarcely an inch long, and reminded me some-
what of the caterpillars of Eupitheciavenosata
in their general appearance. I proceed to give
a description of them. Shortand stumpy, with
a few very short hairs ; head small, shining
brown, the two upper lobes round and >n
epicuous ; dorsal line brown, borders, on the
tipper side by a slender broken whitish iine
(perhaps this is the true sub-dorsa ) ; spiracu-
lar line broad, dirty white, puckered ; the
ground colour above the spiracular line varies
from pale flesh-colour to dark brown ; the
belly from pale gray to dark gray; in the
dark specimens the dorsal line is scarcely per-
ceptible, but the sub-donsal (?) is perceptibly

darker. On the upper side of each of the anal
claspers there is a large blackish spot, in
addition to which, light specimens have a
blackish spot on the centre-piece of the anal
segment. The chrysalis is in a rather slight
earthy cocoon. I kept mine in a fireless
attic."

Mr. Beauchamp's MOTHS began to emerge
early in May, and the last made its appear-
ance about the end of that month : he took
great pains to continue the breed, but in-
effectually, although he sacrificed a dozen
specimens for that purpose, keeping them till
they died, in a large leno bag over a growing
tree, and feeding them with syrup ; some
of them lived more than a fortnight, but
only a score of eggs were laid, and all of
them proved infertile.

The MOTHS usually appear on the wing in
June, notwithstanding Mr. Beauchamp's
brood appeared early in May. They have
been taken in many parts of England, par-
ticularly in the southern counties, but I
do not know of the species having occurred
IP Scotland; but Mr. Birchall has taken it
at Powerscourt, in Ireland. (The scientific
name is Eucosmia undulata.)

350. The Ked-green Carpet (Cidaria ptittacata).

350. THE RED-GREEN OARPET. — The an-
tennae are slightly pubescent in the male, just
sufficiently so to make them appear more
robust than those of the female ; the fore wings
are rather narrow, and the tip rather pointed ;
the colour of the fore wings is a rich greenish
gray, with two paler transverse bars ; the
first of these is situated before the middle of
the wing ; it commences on the costal margin,
and is contracted before the middle ; it then
expands, then again contracts below the
middle, and lastly, expands to its greatest
width on the inner margin ; the second bar W

GEOMETERS.

181

beyond the middle of the wing; it is fre-
quently interrupted in the middle, or broken
into two pale blotches, one on the costal, the
other on the inner margin ; each of these
blotches is intersected by a slender darker
line, and they are connected by a slender
paler line, sometimes scarcely perceptible, but
always sufficiently so to indicate the direction
of the bar, even when its centre is suffused
with dark gray-green ; the blotch on the
costal margin is the paler of the two, that on
the inner margin is rufous in the middle,
white on the sides ; near the middle of
the wing is a very obscure discoidal spot ;
the hind wings are dark gray-brown, with
a transverse waved whitish line parallel
with the hind margin ; they have also an in-
distinct linear discoidal spot ; the head and
thorax are of the same colour as the fore
wings ; the body of the same colour as the
hind wings.

The CATERPILLARS are very rarely met with,
and we are without much information respect-
ing them ; they are almost uniformly cylindri-
cal, and the anal segment terminates in two
acute points directed backwards ; in colour
they are very variable, some of them being
yellowish green as regards the dorsal, olive-
green as regards the ventral area ; others
have the green dorsal area relieved by a medio-
dorsal series of bright red blotches, and the
anal points are also red ; others, again, have
a pink medio- ventral stripe and pink legs.
In 1863, Mr. Hellins beat four of these
caterpillars from oak, two of them, very
small, on the 15th of June, and two larger
ones on the 10th of July ; July and August
are probably the right months to find the
caterpillar full-fed.

The MOTH does not appear until October
and November, and may then be occasionally
found on the blossoms of ivy and Laurus-
tinus. It occurs in most of the southern
counties of England, also in Durham, the
Lake District, Yorkshire, and Scotland, and
Mr. Birchall informs us it is common at ivy-
bloom in the county of Wicklow, in Ireland.
The impregnated female hybernates. (The
scientific name is Cidaria psittacata. )

351. The Autumn Green Carpet (Cidaria miata).

351. THE AUTUMN GREEN CARPET. — The
palpi are rather long and porrected, the
antennae are simple in both sexes ; the fore
wings are blunt at the tip, and of a pale green
colour, with two pale or gray-green bars, the
first before the middle of the wjng, the
second beyond it ; the green ground colour is
thus divided into a basal blotch, a median
band, and a hind-marginal band ; and this
last is intersected by a transverse zigzag white
line ; the green parts include a number of
waved and interrupted black lines, and a dis-
coidal spot is indistinctly visible in the median
band ; on the hind margin itself is a series of
jet-black dots arranged in pairs, and between
them and the white line already described,
are six, and sometimes a seventh, jet-black
streaks ; the hind wings are gray, with a
discoidal spot ; the head and thorax are
green, the body gray-green.

The CATERPILLAR of this species has been
found by Mr. Machin in August, feeding on
alder, oak, and birch ; it is green, with two
points projecting from the anal segment.
This very slemder information is recorded in
Mr. Stainton's Manual. The caterpillar was
unknown to Guenee.

The MOTH appears on the wing in October,
and frequents the blossoms of ivy ; like some
other species of geometer, the impregnated
female hybernates, and deposits her EGGS in
the following spring ; it is very commonly
found in sheds, outhouses, and other build-
ings, during the winter, but the male has not
been seen in such situations, and it is pre-
sumed that he perishes with the early frosts.
This moth occurs in many English counties,
both northern and southern, also in Scotland,
and in the county of Wicklow and at Howth,
in Ireland. (The scientific name is Cidaria
miata )

182

BRITISH MOTHS.

352. The Short-cloak Carpet (Oidaria picata).

352. THE SHORT-CLOAK CARPET. — The palpi
are short, and the antennae simple in both
sexes ; the fore wings are dark olive-green,
from the base to beyond the middle, and this
dark area is followed by a white band into
the middle of which the dark area projects a
double angle ; the hind margin is olive-green
interrupted with white lunules, and a white
blotch near the tip : the hind wings are
smoky-gray, with transverse whitish mark-
ings : the head and thorax are nearly of the
same colour as the fore wings.

An anonymous writer in the Entomologist's
Weekly Intelligencer, informs us that the
ground colour of the CATERPILLAR is a
pale stone-colour, with the segmental divi-
sions reddish ; there is no dorsal line, but
a dark blackish patch, on each segment,
increasing in size and depth of tint up to the
ninth, where it attains its maximum ; there
are none of these patches on the last four
segments ; the sub-dorsal stripe is dusky,
very much freckled and diffused, and forming
four small dark dots at the corners of the
dorsal patches; just above the spiracles is
an irregular dusky stripe, enclosing a thin
waved line of the ground colour, bordered
with black : the spiracles are black ; the
belly is marked on each side at the segmental
divisions with groups of small black spots.
In confinement it will feed on chick-weed,
and thrives well.

This MOTH, which appears to belong to the
genus Melanippe rather than to Cidaria, is
taken not unfrequently in the south of Eng-
land in June. I have found it in Darenth
and Birch- woods, in Kent, but I have no
record of its occurrence in the north of
England, in Scotland, or in Ireland. (The
scientific name is Cidaria picata.)

353. THE HAZEL CARPET. — The palpi are
pointed, porrected, and rather long ; the
antennae are simple in both sexes ; the fore
wings are blunt at the tip ; they have an
olive-brown blotch at the base, and an olive-
brown median band, the margins of which are
much angled and very irregular ; both the
blotch and the band are bordered with a pure
white line ; between the blotch and the band
is an angulated pale brown bar, and beyond
the band, is another bar of the same colour,
beyond which is a zigzag white line, and
again, beyond this are several white crescents
almost on the hind margin; the median band
is very frequently interrupted in the middle,
the discoidal spot being in the upper division;
the hind wings are gray, with a transverse
median white line and a discoidal spot in the
basal area; the head and thorax have the
same colour as the fore wings, the body the
same colour as the hind wings.

There are two so-called species of this moth
united under the name corylata. They are
now generally considered varieties.

Var. 1. The Broken-barred Carpet (Cidaria
corylata). — The fore wings have a very dis-
tinct basal blotch and median band.

Var. 2. The White-blotched Carpet (Ci-
daria albo-crenata). — The fore wings are
marked very confusedly with white.

An anonymous but perfectly trustworthy
writer in the Entomologist's Weekly Intelli-
gencerwriies thus respecting the CATERPILLAR
of this species : — " Two or three caterpillars,

GEOMETERS.

183

hatched on the 22nd of June, fed upon the
small-leafed sloe, and went to earth on the
2nd of October, having grown so very slowly
that for a long time I fancied — especially as
they did not appear at all unhealthy — that
they would hybernate. They had the ground
colour of a yellowish green, and the sub-dorsal
stripe greenish yellow ; on the third to the
fifth segment, and again on the eleventh to
the tail, there is a dark reddish brown dorsal
stripe ; on each of the intermediate segments
are four very fine brown dots arranged in
pairs, with a fine dash on each segment, and
at each segmental division ; the spiracles are
white, the middle ones having between them
a row of four brown spots ; the belly is
sprinkled with very fine brown dots, arranged
in lines." Mr. Hellins, in the Zoologist for
1864, adds to this information that this is
the only British species of Cidaria that has
the head bifid ; it is singular also in having
but one anal point.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June,
and seems to be abundant in most parts of
England, Scotland, and Ireland. (The scien-
tific name is Cidaria corylata.)

354. The Marsh Carpet (Cidaria sagittata).

354. THE MARSH CARPET. — The palpi are
very short and scarcely perceptible from
above ; the antennae are simple in both sexes ;
the fore wings are black at the tip, their
ground colour is the most delicate isabelline
or fawn-colour, with a basal blotch and me-
dian band of a rich dark olive-brown, almost
black ; there is a delicately-white line on both
sides of the basal blotch, and also on both
sides of the median band, the middle of which
emits an elongate and sharp angle towards
the middle of the hind margin, which it
almost reaches, but a small and vaguely-de-
fined white blotch intervenes ; the discoidal

spot is present in the central band, but so
nearly of the same colour as the band, that
it cannot be distinguished without difficulty ;
the fringe is pale, with seven dark spots :
the hind wings are very pale, with a distinct
discoidal spot, a very slender hind-marginal
line, and a spotted fringe : the face is black,
the crown white, the thorax isabelline, with a
central brown blotch ; the base of the body has
a black band followed by a white belt ; the
rest of the body is rich brown, with a median
dark dot on each segment.

The EGGS are laid in July, in little batches
of three or four, on the partial stalks or flowers
of the subcorymbose panicle of common mea-
dow-rue (Thalictrum Jlavum), a plant which
grows abundantly by the sides of some of the
fen-drains near Chatteris, in Cambridge-
shire; they are opalescent when laid, but
become yellow before the young CATERPILLARS
emerge, which emergence generally takes
place during the first week in August. The
young caterpillars are at first orange-
coloured, but soon acquire a more variegated
appearance. They feed almost entirely on the
seeds of the meadow-rue, but sometimes they
also nibble round the partial stalks of the
panicle, denuding them of their cuticle, and
causing small white patches ; and Mr. Fryer,
to whom I am indebted for a bountiful supply
of these caterpillars, as well as many parti-
culars of their economy, informs me that
in confinement they will eat the dried or
withered leaves of Thalictrum glaucum, or
Thalictrum aquilegifolium, the latter a spe-
cies very commonly cultivated in gardens, and
remarkable for its abundantly floriferous
panicle, so attractive to the beautiful rose-
beetle (Cetonia aurata), and other insects.

Mr. Fryer has observed that if, when the
caterpillars have attained about half their
growth, they are supplied with Thalictrum
glaucum^ they will bite half through the foot-
stalks of the leaves, thus causing the leaf to
droop and wither, and in this state they will
feed on it as a substitute for their natural
food, the seeds of Thalictrum Jlavum. In
their progress towards maturity, the cater-
pillars undergo considerable change, the ex-

184

BRITISH MOTHS.

quisite colouring of the full-fed caterpillar
being only acquired by slow degrees.

They are full-fed in about a month, and
then invariably rest with the back much
arched, the head almost entirely withdrawn
into the second segment, the feet directed
forwards, and the claspers tenaciously ad-
hering to the slender flower-stalks of the food-
plant. The head is narrower than the second
segment, highly glabrous, the face flattened,
the crown slightly notched : the body is obese,
deeply incised at the divisions of the segments ;
the thoracic segments, namely, the second,
third, and fourth, are dilated at the sides, and
the second segment also in front ; the dorsal
areas of these three segments unite in forming
a shield; the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth,
ninth, and tenth segments have each a trans-
verse dorsal ridge, very prominent and con-
spicuous, which terminates on each side in a
kind of lobe or festoon, containing the spiracle:
the ventral area has also gibbous projections,
somewhat corresponding with those on the
back, but proportionally less, in order to
allow of the arched position in which the
caterpillar usually rests ; scattered over the
dorsal area are minute warts, few in number
and very inconspicuous in appearance ; each
of these emits a small bristle. The colour of
the head is apple-green, the cheeks being
sparingly and inconspicuously sprinkled with
black : the body is apple-green ; the crest of
each dorsal ridge is of a rich velvety oil-green,
thus forming a series of conspicuous trans-
verse bands, the interstices being pale apple-
green ; the lateral lobes or festoons are in
some specimens apple-green, but in others of a
most beautiful rose-colour, and this again is
bordered below by the most intense velvety
black ; this black border descends into the
anal, but not into the ventral claspers ; the
dorsal area of the tenth and twelfth segments
is smoke coloured, fading at the lateral
margin into green, and there decorated with
blotches of rose-colour ; the spiracles are
reddish ; the ventral area, legs, and claspers
are delicate apple-green ; the hairs or bristles
are black. At the end of August most of
these caterpillars spin up amongst the flowers

of the food-plant ; others descend to the sur-
face of the earth, and there change into short,
obese, glabrous CHRYSALIDS, having the head
rather projecting and rounded, the thorax very
conve*c, the wing-cases ample, and the anal
segment very slender and horn-like, directed
backwards, and bearing at its extremity two
stout divaricating bristles. The colour of the
head, thorax, and wing-cases is transparent
olive-green, of the abdomen testaceous brown.
The MOTH appears on the wing in July,
and is only known to have occurred in Cam-
bridgeshire, more especially near Chatteris.
(The scientific name is Cidaria sagittata.)

355. THE COMMON MARBLED CARPET. —
The palpi are short, connivent, and form a
short beak ; the antennse are nearly simple
in both sexes ; the fore wings are ample and
somewhat pointed at the tip ; their colour is
very varied ; there is a large smoky-brown
space at the base, intersected but scarcely
interrupted by a sienna-brown bar; the middle
area of the wing is whitish-gray, and in-
cludes on its whitest part a narrow oblique
discoidal spot, and two or more irregular
transverse lines, in addition to similar boun-
dary lines, the exterior of which is produced
in the middle into a triple blunt lobe ; ad-
joining this lobed black line is a zigzag white
line dilated at the costa ; this is followed by
a sienna-brown bar, and this by a broad hind-
marginal smoky-brown band, which is inter-
sected throughout by a zigzag white line and
other markings too numerous and too obscure
to describe : the hind wings are pale gray-
brown : the head and thorax are very much
of the same colour as the base of the fore
wings ; the body is of the same colour as
the hind wings.

It seems absolutely necessary in this and
some other moths to mention that more than
one book species are included under the
name : I will call them varieties.

Obs. — Both the English and scientific names
of the varieties in this and the following
species are taken from Haworth ; the names
of the species, which combine and include
the varieties, are from Doubleday's List.

GEOMETERS.

185

Var. 1. The Common Marbled Carpet
(Cidaria Centum-notata). — The median area
of the fore wings is pale gray, almost white.

Var. 2. The Yellow Marbled Carpet (Ci-
daria Comma-notata). — The median area of
the fore wings is bright fulvous yellow.

Var. 3. The Brown Marbled Carpet (Ci-
daria perfuscata). — The median area of the
fore wings is dark smoky-brown.

This species is uniformly double-brooded.

The EGGS which produce the spring brood
are laid about the middle of August ; those
which produce the autumnal brood are laid
about the middle of May ; the CATERPILLARS
from this second brood hybernate, or rather
live through the winter, feeding at intervals
when the weather is mild : the egg is flattish
or depressed on the crown, and of a dingy
yellow colour, " resembling that of a pale-
tinted chip-box ; " it is laid on the leaves of
wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca), and also,
according to Guenee, on birch and whitethorn,
and according to Mr. Hellins, " on sallow : "
the young csrterpillars emerge about fourteen
days after the egg is deposited, and are at first
of a dirty white, hut soon acquire a green
tinge, which continues to increase as they

advance towards maturity. When full-fed
this caterpillar usually rests in a straight po-
sition, but when annoyed or disturbed, tucks
in its head, bringing it in close contact with
the legs, thus causing the anterior half to
assume the volute form. The head is about
the same width as the second segment, not
notched on the crown, and slightly hairy : the
body is almost uniformly cylindrical, but
somewhat restricted immediately behind the
fourth segment, which is produced ventrally
into a lump, on the summit of which are seated
the third pair of legs; the thirteenth segment
below theanalflap isproduced into two parallel
" acutely pointed " processes directed back-
wards ; the colour of the head is pale opaque
green, with conspicuous black ocelli ; the body
is pale yellow-green, with a medio-dorsal
stripe,narrow and indistinct, of adarker, duller
green ; there is also on each side a paler stripe,
equally indistinct ; and in many specimens,
below this sub-dorsal stripe, is a lateral, but
often interrupted rosy-red or purple stripe :
this red stripe is accurately described by
Guenee, and Mr. Doubleday assures me it is
of common occurrence : the transverse skin-
fold at each segmental division is yellowish,
and over the entire surface of the body are
scattered minute white warts, each of which
emits a slender hair, and is surrounded by
an area slightly darker than the prevailing
ground colour ; the anal points are generally
tipped with rose-colour, and the legs and
claspers are tipped with purple When full-
fed it spins a leaf together with a few slight
threads, in the manner of a spider's web, and
in this flimsy retreat turns to a delicately-
green semi-transparent CHRYSALIS.

The MOTHS appear in May and August, and
are common in England, Scotland, and Ire-
land. (The scientific name is Cidaria russata.)

356. THE MARBLED CARPET. — The palpi
are short, connivent, and form a short beak ;
the antennae are simple, or nearly so, in both
sexes; the fore wings are ample and somewhat
pointed at the tip; their colour is very varied;
there is a gray -brown blotch at the base, which
has generally two transv^-=« zigzag black

186

BRITISH MOTHS.

lines, one median, the other marginal ; this is
followed by a sienna-brown bar, bordered on
both sides by a delicate white line ; next fol-
lows a broad median bar, which is generally
pale gray in the middle, and darker towards
each margin ; it includes a narrow oblique
discoidal spot and four zigzag black lines,
the exterior of which is produced in the
middle into a bifid angle or lobe ; this black
boundary line of the median band or area is
followed by a zigzag white line, which widens
into an oblique white blotch on the costa,
and is immediately followed by a sienna-
brown zigzag bar, and this again by a zigzag
white line ; the hind margin of the wing is a
mixture of gray and smoky-brown : the hind
wings are pale grayish brown : the head and
thorax are of the same colour as the fore
wings : the body of the same colour as the
hind wings.

This moth has been made into two book
species, which I will call varieties.

Far. 1. The Dark Marbled Carpet (Cida-
ria immatiata). — The median area of the fore
wings is very dark brown, almost black.

Var. 2. The Marbled Carpet (Cidaria
marmorata). — The median area of the fore
wings is pale whitish gray.

This species is uniformly single-brooded :
the EGGS are laid in August, on the leaves of
wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca) ; they are
rather flat, and of a primrose-yellow colour,
in some instances with a reddish tinge ; the
young CATERPILLARS emerge towards the end
of March of the following year, and are then

yellow, but after the first month acquire a
green tint, and the colour continues to change
as the spring advances, until the end of May
or beginning of June, when they are full-fed,
and then are almost precisely of the same
colour as the leaf on which they are feeding;
when young they drill small circular holes in
the strawberry leaf, but when older feed in
the usual manner at the edges.

The position in which the adult caterpillar
rests is usually perfectly straight, but on
being annoyed it raises the anterior part of its
body and tucks in its head, which is brought
into contact with the legs, and the whole
crowded together : if the annoyance is con-
tinued, the anterior part of the body is curled
into a compact volute. The head is about
the same width as the second segment, is not
notched on the crown, and is slightly hairy ;
the body is almost uniformly cylindrical, but
somewhat restricted immediately behind the
fourth segment, which is produced ventrally
into a lump, on the summit of which are
seated the third pair of legs : the thirteenth
segment below the anal flap is produced into
two parallel " bluntly " pointed processes
directed backwards. The colour of the head
is uniform dingy green, the ocelli black and
conspicuous : the body is apple-green, with
narrow inconspicuous stripes of a darker
hue ; the principal of these is medio-dorsal ;
the others in the region of the spiracles are
extremely difficult to distinguish, and have a
median, hair-like, whitish line ; a transverse
skinfold at each segmental division is yellow :
the body is beset with minute white warts,
each of which emits a slender white hair, and
is surrounded by a green space rather darker
than the rest of the body ; the tips of the
anal processes are rosy ; the legs and claspers
are green, tinged at the extremities with
purple.

When full-fed the caterpillar either goes
down into the moss usually kept in the
breeding-cage, or selects a dried leaf, fastening
the moss or the edges of the leaf together
with a few silken threads; within this flimsy
retreat it changes to a smooth, green, semi
transparent CHRYSALIS.

GEOMETEKS.

137

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
occurs in England, Scotland, and Ireland.
(The scientific name is Cidaria immanata.}

Obs. — Mr. Hellins, whose observations
have at different times thrown so much light
on the life-history of our native Lepidoptera,
has turned his attention to the difficult task
of distinguishing between this closely allied
pair of species. His first paper, treating of
the perfect insects, is published in the
Zoologist ; his second paper, treating of the
preparatory states, appears in the Entomolo-
gist's Monthly Magazine.

I have freely availed myself of both these
papers, and still more freely of my friend Mr.
Doubleday's assistance, to whom Mr. Hellins
fully acknowledges his obligation for much of
the information he has given to the public.
From these sources, far more than from my
own observations, the following summary
results. First — The time of appearance in
the perfect state differs : C. russata appears
in May, and again in August, the May
moths being the parents of the August moths.
C. immanata appears in July : thus the
single brood of C. immanata is intermediate
between the two broods of C. russata. C.
russata certainly hybernates in the caterpillar
state, but C. immanata passes the winter in
the egg state. Secondly — The habit of the
moths differs : C. russata has the habit of a
true Geometer, when at rest with its wings
deflexed ; C. immanata rather resembles a
Deltoid : and this difference arises from a
difference in structure, the fore wings of
C. immanata being slightly narrower and
perhaps also slightly more pointed. Thirdly —
The colour and markings : both species vary
greatly in colour, especially as regards the
disk of the fore wings, the extremes being
dark smoky, almost black, and pale cinereous,
almost white ; but C. russata has a very com-
mon variety in which the disk is fulvous : (7.
immanata has no such variety. Again, (7.
immanata has the two narrow, waved, and
angulated, transverse, sienna-brown bars on
the fore wings, much more distinct than C.
russata. Moreover, there is a difference in
ihe exterior outline of the broad central band

of the fore wings : "In both species this com
mences at the costa, at about two-thirds of
the distance between the base and the tip,
and runs across the wing for a little space with
very small teeth, then shoots out into a large
bilobed (sometimes, in C. russata, trilobed)
tooth, which is followed by another not quite
half as large ; and, lastly, slants away to the
inner margin, forming three more teeth not
much differing in size ; but the distinction is
this, that in C. immanata these teeth, espe-
cially the largest of them, are more prominent
and acute ; in C. russata they are not so pro-
minent and often rounded." Fourthly — The
caterpillar of C. russata is dull ochreous at
first, but "after wards brightish green, and often
ornamented with red on the sides. The cater-
pillar of C. immanata is bright yellow at first,
but afterwards dull green, and never orna-
mented with red on the sides. Mr. Hellins
also says that the anal points are acute in
C. russata, obtuse in C. immanata. I have
described both caterpillars from nature with-
out observing this, but have added these
words in inverted commas, as quoted from
Mr He lins.

o57. THE WATER CARPET. — The palpi are
/cry snort, never visible from above as more
than two minute points projecting between
the eyes; the antennae are simple in both
sexes ; the fore wings are ample and rather
pointed at the tip ; their colour is brown of
two shades ; the dark shade is confined to a
basal blotch, a broad median band, a costal
blotch near the tip, and a vague hind-marginal
band ; the basal blotch and median band have
white marginal lines ; the band includes a
narrow transverse discoidal spot, and the
hind-marginal band includes a transverse
series oH white spots. An oblique elbowed
white line runs from the extreme tip through
the hind-marginal band, towards the middle
of the wing : the hind wings are brownish-
gray, and all the wings have a marginal
series of black spots : the head, thorax, and
body are dark brown.

Two book species are here included which
I call varieties.

188

BRITISH MOTHS.

Far. 1. The Water Carpet (Cidaria suffu-
mata). — The fore wings are very glossy, and
distinctly varied with two shades of brown.

Far. 2. The Pitchy Carpet (Cidaria pi-
ceata). — The fore wings are very glossy, and
of a uniform pitchy-brown, with a hind-mar-
ginal series of white spots.

The CATERPILLAR, when full-grown, rests
in nearly a straight position, its feet as well
as claspers holding the food-plant ; the head
generally porrected and elevated. When dis-
turbed, it raises the fore part of its body, and
tucks in its head. The head is rather small ;
the body has a rough or wrinkled skin, and
both head and body emit short scattered
bristles, each bristle emanating from a scarcely
perceptible wart. All the segments are cen-
trally swollen, especially below, but without
dorsal humps. The colour of the head is pale
brown, freckled with black ; the colour of the
body is brown of various shades ; the dorsal is
decidedly darker than the ventral area, and
separated by a clear line of demarcation. The
tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth seg-
ments have the same pale hue above and
below ; the second, third, and fourth seg-
ments are marked by a median whitish dorsal
stripe ; the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and
ninth with a dark V-shaped mark, pointing
towards the head, and its arms extending on
each side as far as the spiracles. Each
V-shaped mark contains a median dark mark,
somewhat shaped like an arrow-head, and
bordered with a pale margin. The belly is
traversed by gray, waved, interrupted, and

not clearly-defined stripes, extending through-
out its entire length. The spiracles are in
tensely black. It feeds on the great hedge
bed-straw (Galium mollugo), and spins among
the leaves of its food-plant towards the middle
of June.

The MOTH appears on the wing in April,
and occurs very commonly in England and
Ireland. (The scientific name is Cidaria
suffumata.}

358. The Netted Carpet (Cidaria reticulata).

358. THE NETTED CARPET. — Thefore wings
are deep chocolate-brown, with numerous
creamy-white markings. All the wing-rays
are white, with the exception of a portion of
three or four of them, where they cross a
brown blotch near the middle of the wing,
and assume the same colour ; the rays, there-
fore, appear as white lines, and are connected
at the distal extremity by a hind-marginal
line of the same pale colour, and are inter-
sected by white bands ; the first of them is
narrow and obscure, and situated near the
base of the wing ; the second is broad and
semi-double, and projects a very conspicuous
angle below its middle, and directed towards
the hind margin ; the next is narrow ; it
commences on the costa, and curves to meet
the double band already described ; the next
also originates on the costa, and curving in a
contrary direction to the last, unites with the
broad semi-double bar near the inner margin.
The next, being the fifth, is broader ; it de-
scends straight from the costa half-way across
the wing, and then becomes scalloped, and
curves towards the inner margin, near the
anal angle. The sixth is double at its com-
mencement, enclosing a small triangular area
at the tip of the wing ; it is oblique at its
commencement, and becomes scalloped at
about half its length, and terminates near the
anal angle- These various markings give to

GEOMETERS.

189

the fore wings a remarkably beautiful and
tesselated character. I fail to discover a
discoidal spot. The hind wings are dingy
brown, with two transverse whitish lines, the
first slightly waved, the second scalloped.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
has been taken, but not frequently, in the
lake districts of England. It is not reported
from Scotland or Ireland. (The scientific
name is Cidaria reticulata.)

359. The Small Phoenix Moth (Cidaria silaceata).

359. THE SMALL PIKENIX MOTH.— The
palpi are short and very sharp-pointed ; the
antennae are nearly simple in both sexes; the
fore wings are scarcely pointed at the tip ;
their colour is brown of two shades, intersected
and divided by very pale lines; the dark brown

is comprised in a basal blotch, a median band,
a transverse series of conical spots, and three
or four hind-marginal blotches, the upper-
most of which is the largest ; the hind wings
are pale gray -brown ; the head, body, and
legs are brown. The size, form, and direction
of the markings are so various as to require
a series of figures. I am indebted to Mr.
Doubleday and Mr. Bond for the loan of the
remarkable varieties figured.

The CATERPILLAR, when full-grown, gene-
rally rests in a straight position, except that
the feet are occasionally attached to the stem
of the food-plant, and then the anterior part
of the body— that is, the head, together with
the second, third, and fourth segments — bent
at a right angle with the remainder of the
body, the third pair of legs forming the apex
of the angle ; when disturbed, the legs are de-
tached from the food, and the body bends and
oscillates backwards and forwards as long as
the disturbance continues. The head, after
the manner of many other Geometers, is flat-
tened and porrected, and of equal diameter
with the body : the body is long, slender, uni-
formly cylindrical, without tubercles, having
distributed very sparingly over its surface
short scattered hairs, which are very slender
and inconspicuous, except under a lens. The
colour of the head is pale whitish green, the
face variously marked with clear brown, which
colour is sometimes confined to the sides,
sometimes pervades nearly the whole face ;
the body is delicately green, with a median
series of brown dots, one of which is seated
on the skin- fold, between the segments ; the
belly has a median and narrow but conspi-
cuous white stripe ; the first and second pair
of legs whitish green, delicately tinged with
brown; the third pair is brown, the colour
continued on the belly to a length about equal
to that of the legs themselves ; the ventral
claspers are pale green, with an exterior tinge
of brown; the anal claspers have a double
lateral oblique stripe pointing towards the
back ; the anterior half of this stripe is white,
the posterior half purple-brown. I found this
caterpillar in a garden at Leominster, feeding
on enchanter's night-shade (Circcea lutetiana),

190

BRITISH MOTHS.

and Mr. Thomas Huckett has found others
feeding on willow-herb, all of which were full-
fed on the 20th of September, when they spun
a small cocoon, of very loose structure and
somewhat resembling network, against the
side of the gallipot in which they were kept,
and to this they attached a portion of the
food-plant, and in this receptacle changed

into CHRYSALIDS.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May, and
a second brood in August, and is regarded as
common in England, Scotland, and Ireland.
(The scientific name is Cidaria silaceata.)

360. The Phoenix (Cidaria ribesiaria).

360. THE PHCENIX. — The fore wings are of
a rich chocolate-brown colour, interrupted by
two compound transverse bars, the first of
which is beyond the middle of the wing, the
second is almost on the hind margin ; the
first bar is bordered on both sides with white,
the interior border being concave and broadly
scalloped, the exterior border having two sharp
angles projecting into the rich brown ground
colour ; between these boundary lines there is
a third and faint whitish line which follows
the bendings of the outer one ; the second bar
originates on the costa, almost at the tip,
where it is very broad ; it is then narrowed
and bent inwards, and then again widened
and bent outwards to the hind margin ; the
second bar is bordered by white ; on the in-
terior side it descends straight from the costa
to the middle of the wing ; it is then scalloped
and descends to the anal angle ; the exterior
border is whitish, but not so white as the in-
terior, and the interspace between these two
white borders contains seven or eight black
markings, all of them bordered with white ;
they are set, as it were, in white frames ; the
first, second, and third of these are triangular,

the fourth linear, the remainder crescent-
shaped ; the hind wings are brownish-gray at
the base, and paler towards the hind margin,
the paler portion being intersected by two
faint zigzag lines, each of which is darker to-
wards the base, paler to wards the hind margin;
the head, thorax, and body are brown ; the
segments of the body edged with gray, and
having two spots placed transversely on each.
The EGGS are laid in July on the bark of
currant and gooseberry -bushes, but do not
hatch until the following spring; they are
shaped much like a powder-flask, with three
ridges at the smaller end and a depression on
the side. The CATERPILLAR feeds on the leaves
and is full-fed in June. The head is rather
small, porrected, but not distinctly exserted ;
the second segment is small and narrow, the
third is swollen all round ; the remainder of
the body uniformly cylindrical. There are
two very distinct varieties as regards colour :
in the more common variety the colour of the
head is sepia-brown, variously shaded and
spotted with darker tints of the same ; the
body is dingy brown ; the third segment has
a transverse elevated black band, which con-
tains eight white dots ; the fourth segment
has a conspicuous black dot on each side ; on
every segment, from the fourth to the eleventh,
both inclusive, is a median dark mark, which
divides at each extremity, the anterior divi-
sions divaricating slightly and becoming lost
as they gradually merge in the ground colour;
the posterior division divaricating decidedly
and abruptly, and terminating at the pos-
terior margin of the segment ; each pair of
divisions encloses a paler and somewhat tri-
angular space, and these triangles meet base
to base at the junction of the segments, thus
forming a series of medio-dorsal lozenge-
shaped markings, eight in number ; in each
dark marking are four white dots, and in each
lozenge is a median longitudinal black and
slightly waved line ; the sides are delicately
varied with different shades of sepia-brown,
and every segment has a few scattered hairs.
The other variety is green, and exhibits traces,
more or less distinct, of the markings I have
described. The caterpillars are full-fed about

GEOMETERS.

191

the middle of June, when they spin a slight
web between two leaves of the food-plant,
and therein change to CHRYSALIDS.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June
and July, and is common in many parts
of England, Scotland, and Ireland. (The
scientific name is Cidaria ribesiaria.)

361. The Chevron (Cidaria testata).

361. THE CHEVRON. — The palpi are rather
long, pointed, and porrected ; the antennae
of the male are slightly incrassated ; the fore
wings are rather pointed ; their colour is red-
dish fulvous, having a gray or hoary appear-
ance; the fulvous is of two shades; there is a
basal blotch, a broad median band, and a hind-
marginal blotch of a brighter and more dis-
tinct fulvous than the interspaces. The
margins of these markings are clearly defined,
and bordered more or less distinctly with
white ; the basal blotch and median band are
slightly varied with irregular transverse lines
of a more intense shade : the hind wings are
very pale at the base, but rather darker and
inclining to testaceous on the hind margin ;
below the middle they have a slender double
line, the lower half of which is white ; there
appears to be no discoidal spot on either of
the wings : the head and thorax have the
fulvous colour of the fore wings ; the body
has the pale tint of the hind wings : the
male is much larger than the female.

The CATERPILLAR, when full-grown, rests
in a straight posture, and does not fall off its
food-plant when disturbed ; the head is flat
and porrected ; the body is cylindrical, with-
out humps. The head is putty-coloured,

with darker dots and reticulations; the body
also is putty -coloured ; the back has a slender
median brown stripe ; the sides have two
dingy white stripes, the upper straight, the
lower undulating : the spiracles are placed
below the second white stripe, and are
intensely black ; the belly has six whitish
stripes, of which the median ones closely
approximate. The divisions of the segments
are marked by slender rings of a pink tinge.
It feeds on birch and sallow, and is full-fed at
the end of May, when it spins a few threads,
and draws together the leaves of its food-
plant, making a very open kind of network
cocoon, so open, indeed, as not in any degree
to hide the enclosed CHRYSALIS, which will
even drop out through the meshes if shaken.
The chrysalis is rather long, and very pointed
at the tail : it is of pale putty-colour, with a
broad conspicuous median brown stripe down
the thorax and body : the oblique posterior
margins of the thorax are also of the same
dark colour ; the head and wing-cases are
dingy brown, lined with darker brown, by
which colour the antennae, legs, wing-rays,
&c., are clearly indicated : the antenna-case
slightly exceeds that of the wings in length :
on the body is a median dark stripe below,
corresponding with that above, and the
lateral region between these two stripes is
spotted with dark brown.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
occurs commonly in many parts of England,
Scotland, and Ireland. (The scientific name
is Cidaria testata.)

362. The Northern Spinach Moth (Cidaria populata) .

362. THE NORTHERN SPINACH MOTH. —The
palpi are rather short; the antennae of the

192

BRITISH MOTHS.

male very slightly thickened ; the fore wings
are scarcely pointed ; their colour is yellowish
fulvous, with a basal blotch, a median band,
and an apical blotch, darker and interspersed
with smoky-brown ; the margins of these
markings are clearly defined, and very dark ;
there is an indication, although indistinct,
of a discoidal spot: the hind wings are very
pale testaceous yellow : the head, thorax,
and body are pale yellow.

The CATERPILLAR has the head rather
small ; the second segment also rather small ;
the third segment is swollen or furnished
with a dorsal band, raised transversely. In
colour it is remarkably variable, being of
one or two tints of green, pale brown,
reddish brown, or even dark brown : the
raised band is dotted with white on a
black or reddish ground, according as the
ground colour of the caterpillar is dark or
light. There is a medio-dorsal stripe of a
reddish tint, and an olive-green stripe in
the region of the spiracles. It feeds on the
whortle-berry ( Varcinium vitis-idcea), and in
confinement it will thrive on sallow. For
these few particulars we are indebted to Mr.
Hellins.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July,
from the north to the south of England, and
also in Scotland and Ireland. (The scientific
name is Cidaria populate.)

363. The Barred Yellow (Cidaria fulvata).

363. THE BARRED YELLOW. — The antennae
of the male appear very slightly stouter than
those of the female ; the fore wings are of a
fulvous yellow colour, with a median band
of grayish-brown, which in recently disclosed
specimens has a bloom or lustre on it much
like that of a plum; this band is broadest at
the costal margin, and there opens and includes
a fulvous yellow space; about its middle a
conspicuous angle projects towards the hind

margin, and both its own margins are bordered
with white ; there is a pale triangular blotch
at the tip of the wing on its costal margin,
and an oblique sienna-brown mark adjoins
this ; at the base of the wing a triangular
blotch is indicated but not pronounced : the
hind wings are pale yellow, almost white :
the head and thorax are fulvous yellow ; the
body very pale, almost white.

The CATERPILLAR is figured by Hiibner,
with the dorsal area glaucous green, the sides
olive-green, and the incisions of the segments
whitish. It feeds on the dog-rose (Rota
canina).

The MOTH appears on the wing in July,
and is common both in Great Britain and
Ireland. (The scientific name is Cidaria
fulvata.)

364. The Barred Straw (Cidaria pyraliata).

364. THE BARRED STRAW. — The antenn»
of the male are rather stouter than those of
the female; the fore wings are rather narrow,
pointed at the tip, and very slightly falcate ;
their colour is pale ochreous yellow, with
three transverse brown lines, all of which are
elbowed but not sharply angled ; the elbow
is directed towards the hind margin; the first
is short and near the base, the second before
the middle of the wing, and the third about
the middle of the wing ; between the third
and the hind margin is a transverse series of
smoke-coloured spots, sometimes conspicuous,
at other times nearly obliterated ; there is an
oblique streak of the same colour at the tip
of the wing ; the basal portion of the fringe
is pale yellow, the outer portion smoky-
brown : the hind wings are very pale, and
the fringe concolorous : the head, thorax,
and body are pale yellow.

The Rev. H. Harper Crewe says that the
CATERPILLAR is long, slender, and tapering

GEOMETEES.

193

towards the head ; tha ground colour is
grass-green ; the central medio-dorsal line
is broad and dark green; it is bordered on
either side by a pale yellow line ; the seg-
mental divisions are yellow ; the medio-
ventral line is yellow ; these caterpillars
were hatched in March, from dark yellow
eggs laid the previous August ; they fed till
the last month on the great hedge bed-
straw (Galium mollugo), and afterwards on
Galium aparine, and were full-fed the
second week in May. The CHRYSALIS,
which was enclosed in a slight cocoon
among leaves, was pale drab, resembling
in colour that of Ennomos angularia, or-
E. erosaria.

" A rather slender pale green caterpillar,
with yellowish segmental divisions, and a
broad dark green dorsal line, bordered on
each side with yellow, which I found in
spring feeding on cleavers (Galium apar-
ine), produced this species, and I know it
has also been both reared and taken on
Galium mollugo. Query, Is Albin, as
quoted by the Manual, right in giving
whitethorn as the food ? though I suppose
it is certain that Eupithecia vulgata feeds
on flowers of Ragwort, &c., as well as haw-
thorn."— Rev. J. Hellins.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July,
and occurs rather frequently in different
parts of England. Mr. Birchall has also
taken it at Powers court and Howth, in
Ireland. (The scientific name is Cidaria
pyraliata.)

365. The Spinal (Cidaria dotata).

365. THE SPINACH. — The palpi are long
And porrected, and the antennae are simple
in both sexes ; the fore wings are ample,
scarcely pointed at the tip, and not at all
falcate ; their colour is ochreous yellow,
with darker transverse lines, all of which
are sharply angled, the angles pointing

towards the hind margin; the first and
second of these lines are faint, slender, and
near the base ; the third is before the
middle of the wing, and is very distinct ;
the fourth and fifth are slender and indis-
tinct ; the sixth is beyond the middle of the
wing, and is very distinct, its interior mar-
gin is gradually shaded off into the paler
ground colour ; its exterior margin is
sharply defined and accompanied by a paler
line, which makes it still more conspicuous ;
there is a faint oblique streak at the tip of
the wing, dividing the costal and hind mar-
gins, the former of which is the paler ; the
fringe is pale with eight brown spots ; the
hind wings are very pale, slightly yellower
towards the hind margin ; their fringe is
pale, with four or five brown spots ; the
head, thorax, and body are pale yellow.

Mr. Wormald has described the CATER-
PILLAR thus : " It rests on the posterior
claspers with the head and the legs con-
tracted ; it is smooth, without lumps or
warts, long, slender, and attenuated to-
wards the head ; the colour is pale yellow-
ish green, with the dorsal line darker, and
the sub-dorsal lines pale yellow and indis-
tinct ; it feeds at night on the black currant
(Ribes nigrum) ; its habit is very sluggish,
remaining for several days on one twig, and
feeding on all the leaves within its reach
before changing its position. The EGGS
were laid on the 3rd of August, and hatched
in the second week of April, and the cater-
pillar was full-fed at the beginning of June,
when it spun a slight cocoon on the surface
of the ground. The CHRYSALIS is pale
yellow, and semi - transparent." Mr.
Doubleday informs me that at Epping
this caterpillar always feeds on the red
currant.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June,
and has been found in many parts of Eng-
land, north and south. Mr. Birchall has
taken it at Cork, Powerscourt, and Kings-
town, in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Cidaria dotata.)

Obs. — This moth has been honoured with
four names ; it is the Dotata of Linneus,
the Bilineata of Sepp, the Associata of
Borkhausen, and the Spinaciata of Ha-
worth.

M 13

194

BEITISH MOTHS.

366. The Dark Spinach (Pelurga comitata),

366. THE DARK SPINACH. — The antennae
are simple in both sexes ; the fore wings are
ample, pointed, and slightly falcate ; their
colour is tawny yellow, with a small trian-
gular basal blotch, and a broad median
band, the exterior margin of which has a
large rounded lobe in the middle, and a
smaller one near the hind margin ; the basal
portion of the blotch and the middle of the
band are of the same colour as the rest of
the wing, but the margins of both are
darker, approaching to brown, the brown
being disposed in waved lines ; there is a
small but intensely black discoidal spot in
the median band : the hind wings are dull
brownish yellow, the basal portion slightly
darker ; the head, thorax, and body are dull
ochreous yellow.

The CATERPILLAR generally rests in a
straight position, except that the posterior
extremity is raised and the anal claspers
are not attached to the food-plant; but
sometimes the ventral and anal claspers are
both firmly attached, the legs and anterior
segments held clear of the food-plant, and
the back arched; when annoyed it falls
to the ground and lies quite motionless,
bent nearly double, and bent again at the
ventral claspers, the following segments
standing out at an obtuse angle with the
loop. The head is narrower than the second
segment, the anterior margin of which
forms a kind of cup, receiving the head ; the
face is very flat, and the crown without any
conspicuous notch ; the body is stout and
has a dilated skinfold, which is deeply
indented at the incisions of the segments,
giving the sides of the caterpillar when
viewed from above a serrated or notched
outline. The colour of the face is dark
smoky -brown, almost black, but the sides
of the head and the region about the mouth
are paler; the entire head is rather gla-

brous : the colour of the body is dull opaque
olive-brown, with slender rivulet smoke-
coloured dorsal stripes, very indistinct
except on the anterior segments ; on the
fifth, sixth, and seventh segments is a dorsal
longitudinal series of three yellow dots on
each side, and between each series, on the
posterior margin of the segment, is a trans-
verse median yellow spot ; an oblique shade
passes forwards from each side of each seg-
ment, outside the median yellow spot and
inside the three yellow dots ; the combination
of each pair of these oblique shades forms
a V-shaped ornamentation ; there are four
minute white warts, arranged in a quad-
rangle, on the back of each segment after
the fourth, and each wart emits a small
black bristle ; the dilated skinfold is of a
pale but not vivid pink ; the ventral is paler
than the dorsal area, and there is a narrow
medio-ventral stripe still paler, but inter-
sected by a slender smoke-coloured line ;
this only extends from the third pair of
legs to the ventral claspers ; there are many
minute blackish warts on the ventral sur-
face, each emitting a bristle ; the legs are
very pale, the claspers concolorous with the
body. It feeds on the various species of
goose-foot (Chenopodium) , and is full-fed
early in September, when it changes to a
CHRYSALIS on the surface of the earth, and
remains in that state throughout the
winter.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July,
and has been taken in most of our English
counties, both north and south, also in Scot-
land, and Mr. Birchall records it as of
common occurrence at Howth, in Ireland.
(The scientific name is Pelurga comitata.)

367. The Mallo-w (Eubolia cervinaria).

367. THE MALLOW. — The antennae are
pectinated in the male, simple in the

GEOMETEKS.

195

female. The fore wings are ample, pointed
at the tip, slightly falcate, and have a sinu-
ous hind margin ; their colour is brown,
with a tinge of vinous red, particularly
observable in recently disclosed specimens,
but always present in a greater or less
degree ; they have a basal blotch, and a
median band somewhat darker, and both
these markings are darker at their margins,
which are succeeded and bounded by a
slender sinuous white line ; the hind wings
are rather lighter than the fore wings, and
exhibit traces of a darker median band ;
there is a thread-like white line on the hind
margin of all the wings ; the head and
thorax are of the same colour as the fore
wings ; the body of the same colour as the
hind wings.

The CATERPILLAR rests by day in a
straight position on the under side of the
leaves, or on the leaf-stalk, of the common
mallow (Malva sylvestris), on which plant
it feeds : when annoyed it tucks in its head,
forming the anterior part of the body into
an Ionic volute, which becomes tighter as
the annoyance continues, until at last the
claspers lose their attachment, and the
caterpillar falls to the ground, a compact
but not uniform ring, which closely resem-
bles the curious seed of the 'mallow, so
familiar to all of us, when children, under
the name of " cheeses." When the cater-
pillar is stretched out at length, and rigidly
straight, it has an equal resemblance to the
leaf-stalks of the same plant. The head is
rather narrower than the second segment,
scarcely notched on the crown, and semi-
porrect : the body is cylindrical and slightly
scabrous, the scabrosity being caused by the
presence of minute warts, some of which
are somewhat larger than the rest, and each
emits a bristle from its summit ; on each
segment there are usually six of these
bristle -bearing warts, four of them arranged
in a dorsal quadrangle : the colour of both
head and body is opaque apple-green, the
latter with a medio-dorsal, narrow, and
indistinct stripe of a smoky-green hue,
evidently due to the presence of food in the
alimentary canal : the warts are white ; the
ventral is concolorous with the dorsal area,
and the claspers are of the same hue ; but

the legs are almost colourless, and very
nearly transparent. These caterpillars are
full-fed in June, and then retire below the
surface of the earth to undergo pupation.

The MOTH appears on the wing in Sep-
tember, and is recorded as having been
taken in many English counties, and also
in Scotland, and Mr. Birchall . says it is
common at Howth, in Ireland. (The scien-
tific name is Eubolia cervinaria.)

368. The Fortified Carpet (Eubolia maniata).

368. THE FORTIFIED CARPET. — The
antennae of the male are slightly pecti-
nated ; the fore wings are pointed at the tip,
but in no degree falcate ; their colour is
leaden-gray, with a broad median band, the
interior margin of which is very straight,
and is bordered by a quadruple line, the
first portion of which is ochreous, the
second ferruginous, the third ochreous, and
the fourth ferruginous ; equidistant be-
tween this and the band is a zigzag fer-
ruginous line ; the exterior margin of the
band has a prominent median lobe directed
towards the hind margin, and bordered by
a distinct white line ; the band itself has
the middle area leaden-gray, shading off to
rich sepia-brown at both margins ; the
exterior brown portion is much the broad-
est ; there are two small and circular dis-
coidal spots ; the hind margin is clouded
with darker brown ; the hind wings are
gray-brown ; the head, thorax, and body
have the same tints as the wing.

The CATERPILLAR is " ashy-gray, more or
less reddish, dotted with brown ; dorsal
line brownish, with black longitudinal
streak. (Treitschke) On broom." — Stain-
ton's Manual, vol. ii. p. 119.

" The MOTH appears on the wing in June
and again in August in pine woods and

196

BRITISH MOTHS.

heaths on the stony declivities of the Alps,
Pyrenees," &c. (Guenee). "Once near
Baron Wood, Carlisle" (Staintori). A
second specimen is reported as having been
taken in 1866. I copy the record : " On the
19th of August last I took what I thought
to be a good variety of E. mensurata ; a few
weeks ago, when examining the specimen
more closely, I found it answered exactly
the description in Stainton's Manual of E.
mseniata. I took it by beating broom." —
W. Prest. York, Jan., 1867. (The scientific
name is Eubolia mceniata.)

Obs. — The description and figure are
taken from an authentic Continental speci-
men : I never saw a British one.

869. The Small Mallow (Eubolia mensuraria).

369. THE SMALL MALLOW. — The antennae
of the male are pectinated, those of the
female simple ; the fore wings are pointed
at the tip, and very slightly falcate ; their
colour is clear but rather pale brown, with
a broad median band of a darker tint ; this
median band includes two lines of a still
darker tint ; the interior of these is much
more slender than the exterior ; between them
is a small but conspicuous black discoidal
spot ; at the extreme tip of the wing is a
short oblique dark streak ; the hind wings
are pale gray -brown with a darker median
line faintly indicated : the head, thorax, and
body are brown.

The CATERPILLAR of this common insect
is unknown to me, and I do not find any
published description.

The MOTH appears in June and July, and
occurs commonly in the south of England,
and probably also in the north, and Mr.
Birchall describes it as being common in
Ireland. (The scientific name is Eubolia
mensuraria.)

Obs, — This moth is the Chenopodiata of
English authors.

370. The Belle (Eubolia palumbaria).

370. THE BELLE. — The antennae are
pectinated in the male, simple in the
female ; the fore wings are pointed at the
tip and lead-coloured, with three transverse
brown lines, the first is oblique and near
the base ; it is very slender, and both its
margins are clearly defined ; it is sometimes
slightly sinuous, but generally direct ; the
second is oblique and situated before the
middle of the wing; its interior margin
is sharply defined, the exterior margin
shading off gradually into the ground
colour ; the third is still more oblique, its
interior margin shades off gradually into
the ground colour, its exterior margin is
sharply defined ; between the second and
third lines is a conspicuous black discoidal
spot ; at the extreme tip of the wing is a
short oblique streak of the same colour as
the transverse lines ; the hind-marginal
area is not unfrequently of two shades of
colour, the exterior being the lighter, and
the division between the two acutely zig-
zag : the hind wings are pale gray-brown ;
the head, thorax, and body are of the same
lead-colour as the fore wings.

The CATERPILLAR feeds by night only on
needle green- weed (Genista Anglica), and
sometimes, but less frequently, on the com-
mon broom (Spartium scoparium). Mr.
Hellins informs me that Mr. Buckler has
figured it, and has represented it as of a
very pale stone-colour with interrupted
dorsal and sub-dorsal lines, and apparently
with three fine irregular lines above the
spiracles. Another variety is dark gray on
the back, the black dashes of the inter-
rupted dorsal line alternating with small
light oblong spots, which occur just before
the segmental divisions. They appear to
be full-fed in May.

The MOTH appears in June, and continues
on the wing for some months ; it is common
in all the southern and several of the

GEOMETERS.

197

northern English counties ; it has also been
taken in Scotland, and, according to Mr.
Birchall, is common in Ireland. (The scien-
tific name is Eubolia palumbaria.)

371. The Chalk Carpet (Euboliu bipunctata).

371. THE CHALK CARPET. — The palpi
are rather short, very approximate and
beak -like ; the antennae of the male are
pectinated, of the female simple ; the fore
wings are rather pointed, and of a chalky-
gray colour, with a median band, both the
margins of which band are darker, but its
median area is of the same tint as the rest
of the wing, and includes two small round
black spots placed transversely in place of
a discoidal spot : the hind wings are gray
tinged with smoky : the head, thorax, and
body are of the same chalky colour as the
fore wings.

The CATERPILLAR is obese, pale brownish-
gray, with darker dorsal and sub-dorsa1
stripes (Treitschke) . — Stainton's Manual,
rol. ii. p. 49. — It feeds on the Bird's-foot
Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) and hybernates
when very small.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July :
it is excessively abundant on the chalk hills
of Kent, Sussex, and Surrey, and it is said
also to be found in the north. It occurs in
Mr. Greene's List of the Lepidoptera of
Ireland, but no locality is given. (The
scientific name is Eubolia bipunctata.)

372. The Oblique-striped (Eubolia lincdata).

372. THE OBLIQUE-STRIPED. — The an-
tennae of the male are almost simple ; the
fore wings are pointed ; their colour is gray,

with three compound bars, which are uni-
formly oblique but direct, that is without
conspicuous angles : the first of these is
near the base, and treble, dark brown, and
intersected by a pale line ; the second bar
is quadruple, the first portion white, the
second dark brown, the third pale brown,
the fourth dark brown : between the second
and third bars is a distinct discoidal spot :
the third bar is sextuple, the shades are
arranged thus — light brown, white, dark
brown, light brown, dark brown, white ;
there is also a short dark streak descending
from the extreme tip towards the middle of
the wing : the hind wings are gray, with
transverse lines both darker and lighter:
the body is gray.

The CATERPILLAR is figured by Htibner
feeding on ladies' bedstraw (Galium veruni) ;
its colour is represented as wainscot-brown,
with a medio-dorsal and lateral line darker
brown ; the latter is bounded by a narrow
yellow line. Mr. Hellins informs me that
Mr. Buckler nas figured it, and that his
figure represents the caterpillar as " pinkish
on the back, with the dorsal and spiracular
lines dark green, the latter edged below
with pale green." Mr. Hellins adds,
"My own recollection of two caterpillars
I once possessed is somewhat nearer
Hubner's description as given in the
M.anual."

The MOTH appears on the wing in May
and June ; it is abundant on the coast of
Sussex and on the Cheshire side of* the
Mersey ; it has also been taken in Cam-
bridgeshire, and, by Mr. Birchall, on Man-
gerton mountain near Killarney, at a con-
siderable elevation— a strange locality, as
Mr. Birchall well observes, for this coast
insect. (The scientific name is Eubolia
lineolata.)

Obs. — Guenee says that this species varies
infinitely, and explains particular variations
at seme length ; nevertheless, I do not find
any variations that strike me as worth
figuring ; the beautiful varieties of the two
species next following have been most
obligingly lent me for this work by Mr.
Bond. I allude to the second and third
figures of Carsia imbutata and the second
figure of Anaitis plagiata.

198

BEITISH MOTHS.

373. The Manchester Treble-bar (Carsia imbutata).

373. THE MANCHESTER TREBLE-BAR.-^
The palpi are very scaly, porrected, and the
points slightly deflected in the form of a
hooked beak ; the antennae of the male are
pubescent ; the fore wings are slightly
pointed, and their costa is perfectly straight;
their colour is ashy-gray with a short
oblique brown line near the base, and a
broad median band of an umber-brown
colour, and doubly angulated on its outer
margin ; this band opens at both extremi-
ties, and includes a gray space at each end ;
sometimes the gray spaces unite and form
a pale band within the dark one; both
margins of the median band are slenderly
bordered with white ; the broad hind-mar-
ginal area is clouded with purple-brown,
and surrounding each of the two principal
angles of the median band is a suffused
blotch of a brick dust-red colour ; the hind
wings are gray-brown : the head, thorax,
and body are cinereous gray.

The CATERPILLAR feeds on the cranberry
(Vaccinium oxycoccos) ; I have never seen
it. Freyer describes it as " reddish yellow,
with three wide stripes down the back;
spiracular line yellowish white." — Stainton's
Manual, vol. ii. p. 120.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July,
and is very local. I have it from the
neighbourhood of Manchester, where it
appears abundant ; it has been received from
Scotland, and Mr. Birchall has taken it at

Howth, in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Carsia imbutata.)

374. The Treble -bar (Anaitis playiata).

374. THE TREBLE-BAR. — The antennae
are simple in both sexes ; the fore wings
are ample and rather pointed at the tips ;
they are of a distinct dove-colour, and
traversed by transverse markings, the first
of which is near the base, and is sharply
bent as it crosses the sub-costal ray ; it is
rather broad at the costal margin, very
narrow and linear at the inner margin, it
opens at the flexure and contains a small
dove-coloured space ; the second marking
is rather before the middle of the wing,
and may be called a triple bar ; it is single
at the costal, and triple at the inner margin ;
the third may also be called a triple bar ;
it has two sharp angles on the outer side ;
as it approaches the inner margin it bends
slightly towards the anal angle of the wing ;
just on the costal margin the three lines
forming this bar are united : there is a
short longitudinal black streak at the base
of the wing, four faint transverse lines
between the first and second of the principal
markings (two of them very imperfect), a
faint linear discoidal spot between the
second and third (triple) bars, three faint
lines between the third (triple) bar and the
hind margin, and finally, a short oblique
black streak running from the tip of the
wing, and terminating in a little rust-
coloured cloud before it reaches the upper
angle of the triple bar : the hind wings are
smoky- gray, with a double median trans-

GEOMETERS.

199

verse line, the inner portion of which is
darker, the outer lighter than the disk of
the wing ; near the base of the wing is a
faint discoidal spot : the head, thorax, and
base of the body are dove-coloured, the
rest of the body pale brownish-gray.

The CATERPILLAR rests in a nearly straight
position with the claspers only attached,
but bends itself in a loop when annoyed :
the head is about equal in width with the
body, prone, rounded on the crown, and
partially immersed in the second segment ;
the body is cylindrical, the segments
wrinkled transversely ; the anal flap is
truncate at the extremity. The colour of
the head is wainscot-brown ; the dorsal
area of the body wainscot-brown, with a
paler, almost yellow, space at the interstices
of the segments ; and there are a number
of darker rivulet lines extending the entire
length of the back, and these are particu-
larly conspicuous when passing through the
yellow spaces already mentioned ; these
darker markings approximate and unite in
the anal flap ; on each side is a narrow
yellow stripe commencing at the head and
terminating in the anal flap ; the upper
margin of this stripe is vague, fading off
into the dorsal area, the lower margin is
sharply denned, and contrasts strongly with
the ventral area, which is dark brown with
a medio-reatral stripe rather paler : the lens
and claspers are nearly of the same colour
as the ventral area. It occurs twice in the
year, feeding on the leaves and flowers of
the perforated St. John's wort (Hypericum
perforatum) , but chiefly among the flowers.
The CHRYSALIS is of a reddish-yellow colour
irrorated with white ; it has a small scabrous
plate of a reddish-brown colour on each side
of the neck at the base of the tippets ; this
plate is connected with the first spiracle.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May
and June, and a second brood in August
and September : my specimens of the second
brood are much smaller and less distinctly
marked than those of the first. It occurs
in many of our English counties, both north
and south ; also in Scotland ; and Mr.
Birchall informs us it is common and
generally distributed in Ireland. (The
scientific name is Anaitis plagiata.)

375. The Pale Gray Carpet (Lithostege griseata).

375. THE PALE GRAY CARPET. — The fore
wings are sharply pointed at the tip, and
of a whitish-gray colour, in some specimens
deepening into a smoky tint ; there is an
oblique stripe extending from the tip of the
wing to the inner margin just within the
anal angle ; the hind wings are whitish at
the base, and slightly tinged with smoke-
colour towards the hind margin : the head,
thorax, and body are extremely pale gray,
almost white : the dull tint mtore or less ob-
servable in this moth is due to minute black
dots, most of them consisting of single
scales only.

I am indebted to Mr. Hellins for the fol-
lowing description of the CATERPILLAR : —

" To Mr. T. Brown of Cambridge I am
indebted for a liberal supply of the eggs
and caterpillars of this species, as well as
for the food-plants, without which I could
not have reared them. Mr. Brown having
found the caterpillars feeding on the seed-
pods of Sisymbrium Sophia, last year kindly
sent me seeds (as he believed) of this mus-
tard, in order that I might be prepared for
the coming season of 1867 ; it has turned
out, however, that the seeds so sent were
those of Erysimum cheiranthoides, but fortu-
nately the mistake did no harm ; the cater-
pillars hatched here from the egg took to
the Erisymum at once, and throve on it
well; whilst those captured at large on
Sisymbrium Sophia, when sent to me did
not make much difficulty about taking to
their substitute food, and lost no time in
completing their full growth on it.

" I received eggs on June 18th and 25th ;
the caterpillars appeared soon afterwards,
and took about a month to feed up, all
being in chrysalis by August 1st. Two
days after this date Mr. Brown sent me
some more caterpillars, just captured by
himself, and these continued to feed for
nearly a fortnight longer.

200

BEITISH MOTHS.

" The CATERPILLAR, when full grown, is
nearly an inch long, rather slender, of uni-
form bulk throughout, rather flattened be-
neath ; head rather large and rounded.
There are several varieties in colour and
markings, but as all the captured specimens
sent to us by Mr. Brown were of one variety,
I have, at Mr. Buckler's suggestion, taken
this as

" Var. 1. — Ground colour a dull olive-
green, except the spiracular region, which
is a pale yellow ; a thin dorsal line of a
darker tint of the ground colour ; some-
times there is a similar line on either side
of it, and sometimes these lines appear
only as two olive-brown or purplish wedges
just before each segmental fold ; sub-dorsal
line greenish-gray with darker edgings ; the
spiracles are black, and above and just be-
hind them, in the yellow spiracular stripe,
are suffused blotches of the colour of the
dorsal edges.

" Var. 2. — Ground colour of a fresher,
more yellowish green, with the dorsal region
of a full green ; spiracular region yellowish,
and the blotches in it of darker purplish
tint than in No. 1, and more clearly defined
in shape.

" Var. 3. — Ground colour greenish white ;
three very fine purplish-brown or blackish
lines down the back, of which the central
one becomes wider and darker just before
each segmental fold, and the other two
across the fold ; sometimes these lines are
interrupted, and appear only in the thick-
ened parts ; sometimes again there is a
transverse band uniting the base of all three
of these dashes ; the sub-dorsal line paler
than the ground, but edged below with the
dark colour ; the spiracular region of the
ground colour, with the wedge-shaped
blotches not only above the spiracles, as in
the other varieties, but also with similar
ones below again, and in some specimens
the spiracular stripe itself interrupted by
these pairs of upper and under blotches
being partially united.

"The anal flap and the anal pair of
claspers dark blackish green or purplish
brown.

" Varieties 2 and 3 were reared from the
egg on Erysimum cheiranthoides.

" The larvae went underground to undergo
their final change."

The MOTH appears on the wing in June,
and has been found in two localities only ;
the first specimen was taken at Thetford by
a Miss Clarke, and was unique for many
years in the cabinet of the late Mr. Curtis,
where it stood under the name of Minoa
ClarJciata: it was subsequently named M.
niveata, by Mr. Stephens. Mr. Doubleday
afterwards received a pair among a number
of insects collected by a boy of the name of
Reynolds, a son of Mr. Reynolds the bird-
stuffer. The late Mr. Bouchard deter-
mined on finding the insect, and within the
last few years supplied some of our cabinets.
It has also been taken at Brandon. Its
economy was unknown until discovered last
year by Mr. Brown, of Cambridge, as re-
corded above. (The scientific i:ame is
Liihostege griseata.)

Obs. — Guenee considers this moth iden-
tical with the Phaleena asinata of Fabricius.

376. The Streak (Chesias spartiata).

376. THE STREAK. — The antennae are
simple in both sexes ; the palpi long and
porrected in the form of a beak ; the fore
wings are long, obtusely pointed, and
narrow, with a shining silky lustre, and of
a grayish-brown colour with a very pale,
almost white, stripe extending from the
base to the extreme tip ; there is also a
transverse series of three almond-shaped
blotches across the middle of the wing;
these are very nearly concolorous with the
general area of the wing, but frequently
have pale margins and pale centres, which
make them conspicuous ; the white stripe
passes between the first and second of these
blotches ; parallel with the hind margin is
a pale oblique line accompanied by a broader
rust-coloured stripe ; the hind wings are
pale grayish brown : the head thorax, and
body are darker and silky.

GEOMETERS.

201

The head of the CATEKPILLAB is pale
green and unicolorous ; the dorsal area is a
deep green colour, with certain stripes dis-
tinctly marked ; the medio-dorsal stripe is
dark between two lines of bright green ;
on each side of this is a whitish stripe
shaded below with dark green ; below this,
in the region of the spiracles, is a white
stripe ; the spiracles above are reddish and
surrounded with pale yellowish green ; the
ventral area is green with three white
stripes. It feeds on the common broom
(Spartium scoparium) . I have freely trans-
lated this from Guenee's description (Uran.
et Phal, vol. ii. p. 506).

The MOTH appears on the wing in Sep-
tember; it has been taken hi the north,
south, east, and west of England, and near
Glasgow, and Mr. Birchall informs us there
is a specimen in the late Mr. Tardy 's Irish
collection, but its habitat is unknown.
(The scientific name is Chesias spartiata.)

877. The Broom Tip (Chesias obliquaria).

377. THE BROOM TIP. — The antennae are
simple in both sexes ; the palpi rather- long
and porrected, in the form of a beak ; the
fore wings are long, obtusely pointed, and
narrow, with two indistinct angled lines
before the middle, and a dark abbreviated
band beyond the middle ; this band origi-
nates on the costal margin, and is con-
spicuous half-way across the wing, whence
it is continued as a very indistinct double
line to the inner margin ; between the
abbreviated band and the tip is a smoky
costal blotch ; there is a broad hind-mar-
ginal band of a smoky-gray colour inter-
sected by a submarginal pale scalloped line ;
the head, thorax, and body are of the same
colour as the fore wings.

Mr. Machin beat seven or eight of the
CATERPILLARS off common broom (Spartium
scoparium) in 1856, and bred the perfect

insect in 1857: it closely resembles the
caterpillar of C. spartiata, but is of a rather
darker green, and wants the yellowish tinge ;
Mr. Machin also thought it thicker towards
the head, and not quite so smooth. It feeds
exclusively on the common broom (Spartium
scoparium) .

The MOTH continues on the wing from
the middle of May to the middle of July ;
Mr. Machin took it without intermission
from the 20th of May to the 7th of July.
It occurs in Surrey, Kent, and Suffolk, and
has also been taken in Scotland. (The
scientific name is Chesias obliquaria.')

Obs. — This insect is called "the Chevron"
by Donovan, a name which belongs properly
to Cidaria testata ; and " the Broom Buff
tip" by Harris and Stephens : I have
adopted Haworth's English name in order
to avoid confusion.

378. The Chimney Sweeper (Tanagra chcerophyllata).

378. THE CHIMNEY SWEEPER. — The fore
wings are rather ample and rounded at the
tip ; their colour is sooty black, the fringe
snowy white at the tip and interspersed
with white on the hind margin : the hind
wings, head, thorax, and body are sooty
black.

Mr. Buckler has thus described the
CATERPILLAR from specimens found by Mr.
Howard Vaughan, to whom we are indebted
for the discovery of its food-plant : " When
full-grown, is nearly three-quarters of an
inch in length, cylindrical, short in propor-
tion, and almost equally thick throughout,
rather shining, and with distinct lines, as
follows : — Ground colour of the back green
or bluish green, becoming on the sides
gradually paler towards the spiracular
regions. The dorsal line is darker green,
and on the anal segment becomes dark red
and thicker, forming a very conspicuous
mark. The sub-dorsal stripe is of a darker
green than the ground colour, running be-
tween two fine lines of pale whitish-green,

202

BEITISH MOTHS.

which in some individuals are also seen to
be very finely edged externally with darker
green. The spiracles are red, and below
them the green fades into a whitish stripe,
and it is forcibly contrasted beneath by a
darker tint of the green of the back soften-
ing gradually into a paler green on the
ventral surface, where there are three longi-
tudinal whitish stripes, the middle one
being the widest." It feeds on the blossoms
of the common earth-nut (Bunium flexu-
osum) during the month of May ; the speci-

mens described above descended to the
earth to undergo pupation by the 8th of
June.

The MOTH appears on the wing at the end
of June, and is extremely common in many
parts of England, both north and south : I
have also found it in countless thousands
in Scotland, at Inverary, the seat of the
Duke of Argyll, and generally in the low-
lands of Scotland. Mr. Birchall found it
commonly in Ireland. (The scientific name
is Tanagra chserophyllata.)

CUSPIDATES.

CATERPILLARS OF CUSPIDATES.

1. Platypteryx Sicula.

2. Cilix Spinula.

3. Dicranura Furcida,

4. ,, tisttlfit,

5. ,, • bifida.

6. Dicranura vinula.

7. Hoplitis terrifica (not British).

8. Stouropvt Pagi.

9. Notodonta camelina.
10. bicolor.

11. Notodonta cucuttina.

12. ,, ziczac.

13. ,, trilophus.

14. Endromis versicolor.

15. Petasia, catainea.

204

BRITISH MOTHS.

THE NEXT PRINCIPAL DIVISION OR TRIBE

of Moths is called Cuspidates (in science
Cuspidatse') from the singular form of the
caterpillars, which frequently end in a sharp
point ; but in this, as in many other in-
stances, the name of the division does not
strictly apply to all of the contents of the
division ; thus the Hook-tips terminate in a
single point (figure 1), the. Puss-moths in
two points (figure 6), and the Prominents
are not pointed at all (figure 13). In order
to be perfectly understood, I must here in-
troduce, in as few words as possible, a few
general remarks on the structure of cater-
pillars, although I am fully aware that in
doing so some little repetition is unavoid-
able.

The caterpillars of moths and butterflies
invariably have the body divided into thir-
teen segments or rings ; the first of these is
the head, the second bears a pair of legs,
the third a pair of legs, and the fourth a
pair of legs, so that every caterpillar, like
all other insects, has six legs, and six only ;
these are hard, horny, and pointed at the
tip, and are constantly used by the cater-
pillar for holding its food firmly ; while it
is eating the edge of the leaf is brought to
the mouth, and is devoured by a series of
mouthfuls, the first taken as far as it can
reach (as represented in figure 10), the next
a little nearer, and the next still nearer,
until at last the head is brought quite up
to the legs (as represented in figure 4), and
the leaf shows by a semi-circular notch how
much is gone. No sooner has the mouth
been brought up to the legs than it is
stretched out again, and the same operation
is repeated. The legs are also used in
walking, but the principal use seems to be
holding the food steadily while it is being
eaten. In what are considered very scien-
tific entomological writings, the legs are
often called pro-legs or /ore-legs ; this term,
however, could only be strictly applied to
the first pair, and is moreover objectionable,
because it has been transferred by Messrs.
Kirby and Spence to the claspers, and it
creates confusion if we apply the same name
to two parts which are decidedly different.
The fifth and sixth segments have neither
legs nor claspers ; the seventh, eighth, ninth,

and tenth segments have each a pair of
claspers ; these are circular or oval disks
furnished with a fringe of incurved pre-
hensile hooks, which enable the caterpillar
to adhere tightly to any object on which I.
may be resting — so tightly, indeed, that rain
and wind in moderation cannot remove it.
These claspers, as I have said, have also
been called pro-legs, and as Messrs. Kirby
and Spence are the greatest and best ento-
mological teachers this country has ever
produced, the error has been repeated by
others up to the present day. This is one
of the very numerous proofs how dangerous
it is for those who have established a re-
putation to make the slightest mistake ; the
mistake generally proves more attractive
than the entire mass of truthful teaching
which the same authors may have diffused.
In the Geometers we have seen that the
claspers are usually absent from the seventh,
eighth, and ninth segments ; in Cuspidates
they are present on these as well as on the
tenth segment, but are often absent from
the thirteenth, and if present are almost
invariably useless ; sometimes, indeed, they
appear to be converted into horn-like ap-
pendages, which stand nearly erect (see
figure 8). Many of these curious cater-
pillars spin a sort of filmy surface-web, or
coating of silk, on the upper side of a
poplar or willow leaf, in order to insure a
safer holding for their claspers ; this is
more particularly the case when they are
about to undergo a change of skin ; on such
occasions it is not uncommon for the Puss-
moth or Kittens to remain perfectly motion-
less for two or three days. And not only
at such periods, but also daily, may these
curious caterpillars be found in such situa-
tions exposed to the full light of sunshine,
and scarcely moving or eating whilst day-
light lasts. Their voracity by night makes
ample amends for their abstinence by day.
Many of these caterpillars have humps on
their back, giving them a very singular
appearance (see figures 7, 12, and 13). No
Cuspidate caterpillar has the power of roll-
ing itself in a ring, and in this form of
falling to the ground in order to escape
observation : it would seem that their
general resemblance in colour to the leave*

CUSPIDATES.

205

on which they feed answers the same pur-
pose of concealment from their enemies.

The colour of Cuspidate caterpillars
varies greatly in different species, but there
is a fashion or method both in the tone and
disposition of the ornamentation ; the pre-
vailing tint is a delicious apple-green, and
the distribution of colours, when these are
various in the same caterpillar, is generally
referable to two or three different types ;
the first of these is the division of the body
into two distinct areas, a dorsal area, which
is purple or pink or brown, and a ventral,
which is green ; the boundary line between
the two colours is straight in the Hook-tips
(figure 1), but in the Puss-moth (figure 6)
it ascends to the middle of the back about
the fifth segment, and then descends to the
pointed extremity. Another type is the
longitudinally striped (figure 10), and a
third has a series of oblique stripes on the
sides, generally six or seven in number
(figure 14) ; each of these oblique stripes
commences near the spiracles, and is con-
tinued upwards and forwards in direct
contrast to the striping of the Sphingiforms,
which, commencing in the same part of the
caterpillar, is always directed upwards and
backwards, the last stripe terminating in
the caudal horn.

The mode of pupation is various ; some
of the Cuspidates, as the Puss-moth, form
very tough cocoons, made of glue, and
sparingly mixed with sawdust of their own
fabrication. These cocoons are attached so
closely to the bark of trees, and are so much
of the same colour, that it is impossible for
the uneducated eye to detect them ; and
thus they escape alike the notice of men,
mice, and birds, although generally con-
structed in the most exposed places. Some-
times these cocoons form a little lump or
excrescence on the smooth trunk, but at
other times the caterpillar selects a crack in
the bark, and filling it up exactly to the
level utterly defies the skill of the most ex-
pert searcher. It may here be observed
that the glue of which these cocoons is
made is nothing more than condensed or
coagulated silk, or reversing the order, silk
is nothing more than spun glue, and
whether the substance be produced in the

form of glue or silk, it has a remarkable
power of resisting wet, which seems to have
no effect on it whatever. At the period of
emergence the moth, by some unknown
process, has the power of softening this
material and entirely overcoming its tena-
city ; and whether in the form of glue or
silk, the substance yields at once to the
emerging moth, which escapes through
an aperture produced by some mechanical
or chemical means that we have not yet
discovered.

Other species of Cuspidates undergo their
metamorphosis in a slight web which the
caterpillars spin between the leaves of the
tree on which they feed ; these united leaves
falling during the autumn or winter, are
converted into a kind of parachute, in which
the enclosed chrysalids are floated gently
and safely to the ground, there to remain
among fallen foliage until the advent of
spring calls them into their winged exist-
ence. Other species, again, turn to chrys-
alids on the surface of the earth without
even the pretence of a cocoon ; and two or
more have been ascertained to bury them-
selves deeply in the earth, provided, in all
probability, with some mechanical contriv-
ance for ascending through the superim-
posed earth when the period for the final
change has arrived.

The moths themselves have generally
small and short palpi, and very short and
insignificant trunks, or, as these are more
properly called, maxillse. I allude, of course,
to the spiral tube which we find wound up
in a ring, like the spring of a watch, be-
neath the heads of butterflies and moths.
This beautiful apparatus, so well adapted
for sucking the honey, or nectar, from
flowers, although so like a tongue, is not
really one, but is composed of two long
flexible jaws.

Following, as I have done throughout,
the arrangement of niy friend Mr. Double-
day, which is printed for cutting out and
placing in slips below the insects themselves
when arranged in cabinets,* I do not
consider myself at liberty to make any

* Synonymic Lut of British Butterflies and Moths.
By Henry Doubleday. Price One Shilling and Six-
pence. Sold by all London Booksellers,

206

BEITISH MOTHS.

alterations ; otherwise I should feel inclined
to place the beautiful Kentish Grlory (En-
dromis versicolor) next to the Great Pro-
minent (Notodonta trepida), to which it is
so nearly allied ; and to remove the choco-
late-tips (Clostera), and, perhaps, also the
buff-tips (Pygsera) to the neighbourhood
of the genus Cymatophora, to which they
are very closely related.

With regard to the proper place of the
Cuspidates in a natural system, I also differ
from my friend. I incline to place them in
close proximity to the Sphingiforms, es-
pecially the genus Smerinthus, and I think
they should be followed by the Tau Em-
peror (Aglia tau), introduced by Haworth
as a British insect ; and this again by the
Verticillates, of which the Emperor moth
(Saturnia Carpini) is the only British
example, but which contains three European
and a host of Asiatic and American species,
some of them lately rendered very interest-
ing from the praiseworthy attempts to
obtain silk from their cocoons.

379. The Scalloped Hook-tip (Platypteryx lacertula).

379. THE SCALLOPED HOOK-TIP. — The
palpi are very small, scarcely perceptible ;
the antennae of the male are decidedly

pectinated, those of the female very slightly
so ; the wings are broad and ample ; the
fore wings are pointed at the tip, falcate,
and have the hind margin toothed ; the
teeth or angles are five in number, three
small ones immediately below the tip, and
two larger ones below these ; their colour is
wainscot-brown, having two oblique trans-
verse lines, the outer of which is angled
immediately after leaving the costal margin ;
between these is a small circular discoidal
spot ; there is great diversity in colour in
different specimens varying from wainscot-
brown to umber-brown ; and in the male
the hind-marginal area is traversed by a
transverse whitish bar : the hind wings are
paler, and have a very minute discoidal
dot.

This species is double-brooded, the cater-
pillar occurring in June and again in Sep-
tember. The EGG is laid on birch (Betula
alba) in June, and the CATERPILLARS,
hatching in about two weeks, feed on the
leaves ; they are full-fed in September, and
then spinning a slight cocoon among the
leaves, turn to CHRYSALIS and remain in
that state during the winter ; when full-fed
the caterpillar rests in nearly a straight
position, but with both extremities slightly
raised, the ventral claspers only being
attached to a silken pad which is apparently
spun for the purpose of affording a safer
foothold : when jerked by a sudden blow,
it falls hanging by a thread ; the head is as
wide as the second segment, prone, and
slightly indented on the crown ; the body
is rather depressed, and has two tubercles
placed transversely on the back of the third
and fourth segments, and two much smaller
ones on the twelfth : its colour is yellowish-
brown, blotched, and variegated with darker
brown.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June
and September. It occurs not uncommonly
in the southern counties of England, but
not so commonly in the north. (The scien-
tific name is Platypteryx lacertula.)

Obs. — The figures were drawn from speci-
mens very differently coloured, in the hope
that the difference would be exhibited in
the engraving : this unfortunately is not
sufficiently the case.

CUSPIDATES.

207

380. The Scarce Hook -tip (Platypteryx sicula).

380. THE SCARCE HOOK-TIP. — The palpi
are very short, entirely concealed when the
insect is viewed from above ; the antennse
are strongly pectinated in the male, simple
in the female ; the fore wings are falcate
and sharply pointed, and the hind margin
is deeply concave below the tip. The colour
is isabelline, or testaceous fawn-colour, with
darker clouds of the same colour ; these are
in the centre of the wing ; and near the
hind margin, and parallel with the hind
margin, are certain pure black markings
which assume a somewhat crescentic
form.

The CATERPILLAR rests with the anal ex-
tremity elevated, the feet and ventral clas-
pers touching the food-plant. The head is
slightly broader than the second segment ;
the body is somewhat shuttle-shaped ; the
anal extremity tapering to a sharp point,
and the anal claspers being entirely absent ;
there are two pyramidal papillae placed
transversely on the back of the third, fourth,
fifth, and sixth segments, making eight in
all ; the colour of the head is reddish, with
two transverse whitish bars ; the dorsal
area of the body, including the papillae, is
ochreous ; the papillae are tipped with
white ; the ventral area is glaucous ; the
two areas are separated by a white stripe,
which is intersected throughout by a deli-
cate pink line ; there is a medio-dorsal series
of linear black streaks, and there are two
oblique linear black streaks on each side of
each segment ; the legs are greenish ; the
claspers are glaucous, concolorous with the
ventral area ; each segment has also two
white dots on each side of each segment ;
the CHRYSALIS is rather stout, with a bifid
head and a very sharp-pointed tail.

The MOTH appears on the wing at the end
of May and beginning of June. It occurs
In Leigh Woods, near Bristol, where a few

specimens only have been taken. (The
scientific name is Platypteryx sicula.)

381. The Pebble Hook-tip ( Platypteryx falcula).

381. THE PEBBLE HOOK-TIP. — The an-
tennae are pectinated in the male, almost
simple in the female ; the wings are broad
and ample, the fore wings pointed and fal-
cate, the hind margin without teeth or
angles ; their colour is wainscot -brown,
frequently suffused with a richer, redder
brown; there is an oblique bar of this
richer tint from the top of the wing to the
inner margin, and there are four transverse
zigzag dark brown lines, which are equi-
distant at the costal margin, but diverge
more or less on the disk of the wing ; be-
tween the second and third of these are two
small discoidal spots placed longitudinally ;
just within the third line, and nearly in the
centre of the wing, is a large roundish
blotch ; the fourth or outer zigzag line
crosses the oblique bar near the tip of the
wing, and running parallel with the hind
margin is broken up into dots : the hind
wings are paler, and have five transverse
zigzag lines, four of which are perceptible
only on the inner margin, the fifth or outer
one is very distinct.

The CATERPILLAR is pointed at the tail,
the anal claspers are absent. There are
two prominent and distant papillae or nipple-
shaped warts on the back of the third,
fourth, fifth, and sixth segments ; those on

208

BEITISH MOTJS.

the fifth segment are smaller and shorter
than the others ; those on the third and
fourth segments are sesquialterous, that is,
they have a smaller papilla adjoining them
on the outer side ; the papillae are crowned
with a circle of short brown hairs, and a
larger bristle rises from the centre of each
circle. The seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth,
and eleventh segments ha,ve each two
minute warts in the place of papillae ; each
of these also emits a bristle. The face is
gray, the crown gray-green, with two trans-
verse reddish bars ; the body is pale green,
with testaceous or purplish markings on
the mottled back of the sixth and following
segments ; these markings combine in form-
ing a broad stripe down the middle of the
back, the papillae being of the same colour
as the stripe, and being included therein.
It feeds on birch (Betula alba) ; doubles
over the corner of the birch-leaf, and spins
a slight web, in which it changes to a
CHRYSALIS. The species is double -brooded ;
the second brood of caterpillars is full-fed
at the end of September.

Mr. Greene, in his Insect Hunters' Com-
panion, recommends collectors to examine
the leaves of birch-trees when joined to-
gether for the chrysalis of this species.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May,
and again in August, and is very common
in several English counties ; and Mr.
Birchall informs us it is common in the
county Kerry in Ireland. (The scientific
name is Platypteryx falcula.)

382. The Oak Hook-tip (Platypteryx hamula).

882. THE OAK HOOK-TIP. — The antennae
are decidedly pectinated in the male, simple
in the female ; the fore wings are ample,
pointed at the tip and hooked ; their colour

is raw sienna, shaded to umber-brown on
the hind margin below the tip, and traversed
by two pale lines, the exterior of which has
a large angle projecting towards the hooked
tip ; between these transverse lines are two
nearly circular black discoidal spots placed
obliquely transverse. The hind wings of
the male are of the same colour as the fore
wings, with two approximate paler trans-
verse lines, and two minute discoidal spots.
The female differs in being considerably
larger, and in having the hind wings ful-
vous yellow : the head is fulvous yellow ;
the body brown.

The CATERPILLAR is " grayish-brown ; a
broad dorsal stripe, greenish-brown on the
second, third, fourth, twelfth, and thirteenth
segments, yellowish-brown on the others,
edged with yellow on each side ; the fourth
segment T*ith two tubercles on the back.
(Dup.) *t feeds on oak and birch." —
Stainton's Manual, vol. ii. p. 164.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May
and August ; it ha.s been taken in the
southern and eastern counties of England,
but not, so far as I am informed, in Scot-
land or Ireland. (The scientific name is
Platypteryx hamula.)

383. The Barred Hook-tip (Platypteryx unguicula).

383. THE BABRED HOOK-TIP. — The an-
tennae are decidedly pectinated in the male,
simple in the female ; the fore wings are
ample, pointed, and slightly hooked ; their
colour is fulvous-brown, with ihe hind
margin and a median band slightly darker ;
the median band projects an obtuse angle
towards the tip, and contains a very indis-
tinct discoidal spot ; the hind wings are of
the same colour as the fore wings, and have

CUSPIDATES.

the same darker median band : the head,
thorax, and body are of the same colour as
the wings.

The species is supposed to be double-
brooded, a subject on which I am not quali-
fied to express an opinion ; all that I can
assert positively is that the CATERPILLAR
occurs abundantly in August and Septem-
ber, and the moth in May, and that the
May moths emerge from the August cater-
pillars is beyond a question ; but the point
to be settled is, whether there is an entire
round of existence — egg, caterpillar, chrys-
alis, and perfect insect between May and
August, which is a view of the case taken
by most Lepidopterists. The EGG is laid
on the leaf of beech (Fagus sylvatica),
especially on those stunted or pollard trees
which so abound in Epping Forest. When
full-fed, in which state it is found at the
end of August, and throughout September,
the caterpillar rests in a nearly straight
position, but with both extremities slightly
raised, and not touching the object on which
it rests ; when roughly touched, or jerked
off with the beating stick, it very frequently
hangs by a thread, and thus suspended,
begins twirling round and round, at first
slowly, and afterwards with great rapidity
— a feat I ha?e sometimes seen performed
by a slug when suspended by a thread of
slime exuded from its own body. The head
is manifestly wider than the segments im-
mediately following, prone, slightly notched
on the crown, which rises in a very marked
manner above that part of the back which
is immediately behind the head ; the body
tapers gradually to the eleventh segment,
and thence more suddenly tapers to a point ;
on the fourth segment are two closely ap-
proximate warts placed transversely : every
part of the body is beset with minor warts,
each of which emits a hair. The colour of
the head is pale reddish brown, reticulated
with darker brown ; the body has its dorsal
surface dark umber-brown ; there is a pale,
almost white, narrow stripe on each side,
commencing close to the head, and passing
obliquely towards the back, where it unites
with a medio-dorsal white V-shaped mark
on the sixth segment ; the same marking is
continued as a pale brown shuttle-shaped

dorsal stripe on the seventh, eighth, ninth,
and tenth segments, and is intersected
throughout by an extremely narrow dark
median line : there is a conspicuous and
elongate pale spot on each side of the
eleventh segment ; the dorsal warts on the
fourth segment and the anal point are red-
dish ; the ventral area, legs, and claspers
are very pale, and have a very obscure tinge
of green. It changes to a CHRYSALIS among
the leaves in a slight web. The chrysalis
is brown, the wing-cases having a greenish
tinge.

The MOTH, which, as I have said, seems
to be double-brooded, appears on the wing
both in May and August. It occurs abun-
dantly in some of the southern English
counties, but neither in the north of Eng-
land, in Scotland, nor in Ireland. (The
scientific name is Platypteryx unguicula.)

384. The Chinese Character (Cilix spinvla).

384. THE CHINESE CHARACTER. — When
at rest this interesting little moth sits with
the inner margin of the wings raised above
the body, the costal margin deflected, and
the whole roof -like : the antennae of the
male are decidedly pectinated, of the female
simple ; the tip of the fore wings is not
hooked, it is obtuse but scarcely rounded ;
their colour is snowy -white, with an oblique
median smoky band which does not reach
the costa, but is very dark brown and con-
spicuous on the inner margin ; in the very
centre of the wing, which is traversed of
course by the median band, the branched
wing-rays are beset with silvery scales,
which are thus rendered conspicuous, and
are supposed to resemble Chinese letters,
whence the name ; the hind margin is occu-
pied by a smoke-coloured band, and within
this is a semi-double oblique series of seven
or eight smoke-coloured lunules, each of
which is surrounded with pure white : the
hind wings are white with a hind-marginal

M H

210

BEITISH MOTHS.

series of pale smoke-coloured spots : the
head is whitish ; the thorax white, with a
smoke-coloured blotch in the centre ; the
body is smoke-coloured — paler on the
sides.

The head of the CATERPILLAR has a bifid
crown, its divisions being obtuse : the second
segment has four minute pointed warts,
transversely arranged; the third segment
has two larger dorsal warts, placed trans-
versely ; the fourth has two still larger
dorsal warts, also placed transversely ; the
eleventh has a transverse dorsal protuber-
ance ; and the twelfth a pair of minute
dorsal warts, also placed transversely ; every
wart terminates in a minute bristle : the
ventral claspers are eight in number, and
situated on the usual segments ; the caudal
claspers are aborted or soldered together,
and form a single terminal and gradually
attenuated spine or spike, which never
appears to touch the leaf on which the
caterpillar is feeding, but to be elevated in
the air without occupation ; at the base of
this spike is a minute wart on each side ;
the body is altogether rugose, and the skin
pitted with small depressions. The colour
is dingy-brown, with a narrow median
darker dorsal stripe, and numerous rivulet
markings, and there is also a pale lateral
elevated line on each side of the twelfth
segment. It feeds on whitethorn (Cratasgus
Oxyacantho), and is full-fed the first week
in July, when it spins a tough gummy
cocoon attaching it to a twig of the haw-
thorn, generally in the axil of one of the
thorns, and fastens on the exterior of the
cocoon fragments of the still green leaves,
in such a manner as to conceal it effectually
from sight : in this the CHRYSALIS remains
not longer than two or three weeks.

The MOTH appears on tne wing in May,
and again in August : it is certainly double-
brooded, and is generally distributed over
England and Ireland. (The scientific name
is Cilix spinula.)

Haworth unites this moth with the
species of Platypteryx above described, with
which, he justly observes, it agrees in its
most singular caterpillar, and disagrees
only in wanting the hooked tip to the
wings.

385. The Alder Kitten (Dicranura bicuspis).

385. THE ALDER KITTEN. — The antennae
of the male are strongly pectinated, those of
the female slightly so ; the shaft of the an-
tennae is white, the pectinations black : the
fore wings are rather narrow, with a very
straight costal margin, and a rounded tip ;
their colour is white, with a broad trans-
verse dark gray median band, the interior
margin of which is nearly straight ; the ex-
terior margin is very different in different
specimens ; in some it is nearly straight, in
others it has a wide concave notch ; it is
always bordered with a black line more or
less accompanied with yellow ; the boun-
daries of this band are always distinct and
clearly marked ; between this band and the
base of the wing is a transverse series of
five or six black spots ; and at the base of
the wing is a single black spot ; exterior to
the band is a small discoidal spot, and be-
yond this are three slender zigzag dark
lines, the outer of which expands on the
costa into a large transverse blotch of the
same colour as the band ; on the hind mar-
gin is a series of seven or eight small black
spots : the hind wings are nearly white,
with a pale smoke-coloured bar near the
hind margin and a series of black spots on
the margin : the head is whitish ; the thorax
variegated with black, white, and yellow ;
the body almost white, with dark gray but
ill-defined bands.

The CATERPILLAR rests with the anal ex-
tremity elevated : the head is slightly
narrower than the second segment : the
body is almost uniformly cylindrical, but
somewhat humped on the sixth segment,
from which it gradually decreases in size to
the anal extremity, where it terminates in
two long caudal horns directed backwards :
the colour of the head is brown j of the

CUSPIDATES.

211

body glaucous green, with a bright and
distinct double stripe on each side, which,
commencing immediately behind the head,
ascends towards the back on the sixth seg-
ment, and then, after descending, is con-
tinued in a direct line to the base of one
of the caudal horns ; this stripe is divided
throughout, the upper half being pink, the
lower half white ; the dorsal area has an
oblique white streak on each side of each
segment ; the caudal horns are blackish,
tipped with red ; the spiracles are yellow ;
the claspers pale green. The CHRYSALIS is
to be found within a compact gummy cocoon
on the trunks of alders (Alnus glutinosa),
and I believe that is the only tree on which
the caterpillar feeds : as many as ten of the
empty cocoons have passed through my
hands, all of them still adhering to a por-
tion of the alder bark. Mr. Oreene also
says : " I have found the cocoons, empty,
I am sorry to say, here on alder ; but as yet
all my efforts to find one from which the
insect had not escaped have been fruitless.
The vacant cocoons have been found almost
invariably about four feet from the ground
and on the north side of the tree. Very
rarely the caterpillar spins its cocoon on the
wood [bark ?] and not in the crevices or
chinks; of course they (the cocoons) are
much more easily detected in the former
situation, but I do not remember to have
seen it more than once. I think it a good
plan to scrape the trunk with the edge of
the trowel."

The MOTH appears on the wing in May.
At present it seems to be a species of some
rarity in this country, but its range is rather
extensive. Its principal habitat is the
Weald of Sussex. " It has been taken
several times at Burton-on-Trent," also in
Derbyshire, and even as far north as Lanca-
shire. (The scientific name is Dicranura
bicuspis.) This species must not be con-
founded with the Cerura bicuspis of Eng-
lish authors, which, together with Cerura
integra and C. latifascia of Stephens, must
be referred to my Dicranura furcula. It
may here be observed that nothing has so
constantly retarded the progress of ento-
mology in this country as the intense desire
to make new species.

386. The Sallow Kitten (Dicranura fvrcula).

386. THE SALLOW KITTEN. — The an-
tennae of the male are strongly pectinated,
those of the female slightly so ; the shaft
of the antennae is white, the pectinations
black: the fore wings are rather narrow,
with a very straight costa and a rounded
tip; their colour is pale gray or whitish
gray, with a broad transverse median band
of a darker gray ; the interior margin of
this band is straight, and is bordered by a
straight black line, and this is accompanied
by a straight yellow line ; the exterior
margin has a wide concave notch near the
costa, and an obtuse angle below the notch ;
it is bordered by black and yellow like the
interior margin, but these colours, and in-
deed the boundary of the band, almost dis-
appear as the latter gradually slopes to-
wards the anal angle and approaches the
inner margin : between the band and the
base of the wing is a transverse series of
five black spots, and at the base of the wing
is a single black spot ; exterior to the band
is a small circular discoidal spot ; and again
beyond this are three zigzag black lines, the
third expanding into a large transverse
dark gray blotch on the costa ; on the hind
margin itself is a series of eight small
circular black spots : the hind wings of the
male are white, with an occasional smoke-
coloured cloud and a marginal series of
black dots : in some of the females the
hind wings are white, in others smoky ; the
marginal black spots are always present :
the head and collar are white ; the thorax
is whitish, with three transverse black bars
more or less interspersed with yellow ; the
body is gray, with smoke-coloured bands.

The EGGS are laid singly on the leaves of
several species of the genus Salix, more
particularly those called sallows (Salix
caprsea and S. cinerea) : the young cater-

212

BRITISH MOTHS.

pillar emerges about the 1st of July, and
may be found feeding throughout the
month ; it rests on the upper surface of a
leaf, with the ventral claspers attached to a
silken pad, previously spun, apparently
with this object; both extremities are
slightly elevated, the posterior more than
the anterior. The head is decidedly nar-
rower than the second segment, into which
it is received, and by the anterior margin
of which it is almost entirely concealed ;
the face is flat; the second segment is
dorsally flattened, the flattened portion
being slightly dilated and squarely truncate,
the truncature terminating on each side in
an obtuse angle ; the third segment has a
narrow portion dorsally flattened and ele-
vated posteriorly into a narrow transverse
ridge ; the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth
segments gradually diminish into a conical
mass, at the apex of which are two cylin-
drical tubes nearly parallel, closely approxi-
mate, and directed backwards; they are
beset both above and beneath with short
stiff bristles, and each emits a slender
drooping filament from the extremity : the
colour of the head is pearly-gray, tinged
with purple ; the dorsal area of the body
is divided from the lateral area by a dis-
tinct white stripe, which is absent only
from the eighth segment ; this stripe com-
mences on each side on the second segment,
at the angles already described, ascends
obliquely to the dorsal ridge on the third
segment, descends obliquely to the spiracle
on the seventh segment, is lost and con-
fused on the eighth, re-appears on the ninth,
and is continued thence to the extremity of
the anal flap ; on the upper margin of this
white stripe, and immediately adjoining it,
is a delicate purple stripe, and within this
the dorsal area is white, with a median grass-
green stripe, and there is also an oblique
grass-green stripe on each side of the
seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh
segments ; the lateral surface is apple-
green, adorned with numerous roundish
purple spots, each ocellated with a central
white dot, and enclosed in a white ring ; in
addition to these are other larger and
amorphous purple spots, possessing the
white margin, but wanting the central dot ;

the second segment has on each side in front
a large purple-brown blotch, bordered ex-
teriorly with yellow ; and on each side of
the seventh and eighth segments are ob-
scure orange patches ; the legs are princi-
pally purple ; the ventral claspers are apple-
green, with a purple, V-shaped, white-mar-
gined mark descending into each ; the
ventral surface is apple-green ; the anal
horns are nearly white above, with a ten-
dency to purple, and have a white ring at the
tip. When full-fed the caterpillar spins a
gtutinous cocoon on the bark of the sallow,
often towards the bottom of the stem, from
one to three feet from the ground, and
therein changes to a CHRYSALIS, in which
state it passes the winter.

The MOTH appears in June, and is gene-
rally distributed throughout the United
Kingdom. (The scientific name is Dicra-
nura furcula.)

387. The Poplar Kitten (Dicranwra btfda).

387. THE POPLAE KITTEN. — The antennae
of the male are strongly pectinated, those
of the female slightly so ; the shaft is white,
the pectinations black ; the fore wings are
rather narrow, straight on the costa, and
rounded at the tip ; their colour is pale
gray, with a broad transverse median band
of a darker gray ; the internal margin of
this band is straight, and bordered with a
straight black line, which is accompanied
by a straight yellow line ; the exterior mar-
gin is slightly concave about the middle,
and is bordered with black and yellow like
the interior margin ; but these colours, and,
indeed, the boundary line altogether be-
comes less distinct towards the inner mar-
gin : between this band and the base of the
wing is a transverse series of five black
spots, and at the base of the wing is a
single black spot : exterior to the band is a

CUSPIDATES.

213

small circular discoidal spot, and again be-
yond this are certain zigzag blackish lines,
the outer of which expands into a large
transverse dark gray blotch on the costa ;
on the margin itself is a series of eight
small circular black spots : the hind wings
of the male are white, with an occasional
smoke-coloured cloud and a marginal series
of black dots ; in both sexes, but particu-
larly the female, they have occasionally a
broadish smoke - coloured hind - marginal
band, terminating in a diffuse spot at the
anal angle. The head and collar are white ;
the thorax whitish, varied with smoky-
black; the body gray, with smoke-coloured
bands.

The Baas are laid separately on the
upper surface of the leaves of aspen (Popu-
lus tremula), the female selecting those
dwarf shrubby plants which grow in
woods ; and in gardens on the leaves of
tacamahac (Populus fcaZsami/'era), about the
1st of July, and the young CATERPILLAR
emerges about the 14th ; it appears to be
full-grown about the 26th. It spins a silky
coating near the middle of the leaf of its
food-plant, and, attaching itself to this,
both by its feet and claspers, it is very
difficult to remove ; it remains perfectly
without motion during the day, exposed to
the rays of the sun, and feeds during the
night. After feeding it sometimes remains
clasping the margin of the leaf it has been
eating; when at rest the head is nearly
withdrawn into the second segment. The
eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth segments
are elevated, and the anal horns are closely
approximate and pointing in a straight line
backwards ; the head is prone, and narrower
than the second segment into which it is
received ; the body rises from the head to
the fourth segment, which is produced into
a transverse dorsal ridge, whence the body
gradually tapers to the anal extremity, the
eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth segments
forming a cone ; at the anal extremity are
two cylindrical tubes, each of which is
covered with short bristles, which give it a
scabrous feel as well as appearance ; and
each of which also contains a slender fila-
ment capable of being protruded at the will
of the caterpillar. The colour of the head

is grayish-brown, the sides dark brown, the
face delicately reticulated ; the dorsal area
of the body is gray-brown, marbled with
darker and lighter shades, and bordered
throughout with bright yellow ; the lateral
and ventral areas are bright apple-green,
dotted with purple-brown, and every dot
emitting a small black bristle. On the
fifth segment the green colour extends
completely round the caterpillar, interrupt-
ing the dorsal brown area, which recom-
mences in a point and increases in breadth
to the eighth segment, on which it descends
below the spiracle ; it then gradually nar-
rows to the twelfth segment, and again
expands on the thirteenth. The anal tubes
are green, with a brown patch on the inner
side of each near the base ; they have a
brown ring beyond the middle, and a
second paler ring at the tip ; the filaments
are black, the spiracles brown ; the ventral
surface of the segments is blotched with
brown ; the legs are green, each joint hav-
ing a red mark on the outside. When full-
fed this caterpillar excavates a portion of
the bark of the tree on which it feeds, and
in this constructs a very strong glutinous
cocoon, so like the bark in colour as to be
seen with difficulty.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June,
and is very widely distributed in England ;
and Mr. Birchail says it is not uncommon,
and is widely distributed in Ireland. (The
scientific name is Dicranura bifida, and this
name also includes Cerura arcuata and C.
fuscinula of Stephens.)

Obs. — Notwithstanding the perfect con-
viction I feel that Dicranura furcula and
D. bifida are distinct species, I am bound
to acknowledge my inability to make the
difference apparent in words. The exterior
margin of the median band in D. furcula
is generally more concave or scooped out
below the costa than in D. bifida; the
median band is darker coloured in bifida,
it is more inclined to orange in furcula ;
bifida is also a larger insect ; but these are
comparative differences only, and therefore
we must appeal to the differences in food
and colour of the caterpillars, when all
doubt of the distinctness of the species will
be at once removed.

214

BKITISH MOTHS.

388. The Puss Moth (Dicranura vinula).

388. THE Puss MOTH. — The antennae
are pectinated in both sexes, but much
more strongly so in the male ; the fore
wings are rounded at the tip, their colour
is gray, with very numerous darker mark-
ings, some of which — those nearest the base
and costal margin — are generally short,
transverse, and bounded by the wing-rays ;
som.9 of. them, however, unite in forming an
obscure transverse band near the base of
the wing ; still nearer the base is a trans-
verse series of five or six black spots, and
there are one or two others at the very
base ; the principal wing-rays are denuded
of scales, and therefore appear yellowish,
but the parallel rays, extending to the
hind margin, are clothed with black scales ;
there is a distinct crescent-shaped discoidal
spot, between which and the hind margin are
several deeply zigzag smoke-coloured lines ;
on the hind margin are nine or ten distinct
smoke-coloured streaks, alternating with
the wing-rays, and terminating in black
marginal dots : the hind wings are snowy-
white at the base, rather smoke-coloured in
the disc ; they have a faint discoidal spot,
and four or five dark spots in the fringe :
the head is white, the thorax nearly white,
with eight intensely-black spots the body

is whitish-gray, with transverse smoke-
coloured markings. The female is much
larger than the male, and has the wings
and body considerably darker.

The EGGS are laid on the leaves of willows
and poplars, and the young larvae when
they emerge from the egg-shell are almost
black, and have two processes, something
like ears, standing out from the front of the
second segment, one on each side of the
head ; as the caterpillars increase in size,
these little ears gradually decrease in rela-
tive magnitude, and at length merge in the
black spots adjoining the head, which are
presently to be described. The full-grown
CATERPILLAR rests with its flat head drawn
into the second segment, and its anterior
segments elevated ; the body is quite
smooth, the dorsal outline rising to a
pointed hump on the fourth segment, then
falling to the sixth segment, then of
uniform substance to the ninth, and thence
the body is rapidly attenuated to the
thirteenth, which terminates in two horns
covered with scabrous points, each emitting,
when the caterpillar is irritated, a slender,
pink, drooping filament ; the head is pale
brown in front, and black at the sides ; the
recess into which the head is withdrawn is

CUSPIDATES.

215

pink, with a large black spot on each side ;
the body has a white lateral stripe, ascend-
ing obliquely from each side of the head to
the apex of the hunip, then descending
obliquely to below the spiracle on the
eighth segment, then again ascending ellip-
tically, and terminating at the base
of the anal horns ; above this white
stripe the body is whitish, longitudinally
striated with purple-brown, the white pre-
dominating along the median line, the
purple-brown predominating in the vicinity
of the lateral white stripe ; below this
white stripe the body is yellow-green, with
the exception of a nearly round purple-
brown blotch, just above the clasper on the
eighth segment : this blotch, not always
present, is bordered above with white : the
legs are yellow-green, with a black ring at
the base, and black tips ; the eight ventral
claspers are green, the two horn-like anal
tubes whitish, with black scabrosities. It
feeds on several varieties of narrow-leaved
willow (Salix), is full-fed in July, when it
crawls down the stem of the willow to
within two, three, or four feet of the
ground, then gnaws out the bark, and spins
an extremely tough, gluey cocoon in the
excavation thus made ; in this gluey cocoon
it changes to a CHRYSALIS, and remains in
that state all the winter.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May
and June, and is common in England, Scot-
land, and Ireland. (The scientific name is
Dicranura vinula.)

Obs. 1. A correspondent of the Zoologist,
who seems to have enjoyed considerable
opportunities of rearing these caterpillars,
and of observing their manners in confine-
ment, has published the following particu-
lars in that journal : —

" Having reared a pretty considerable
number of the caterpillars of the Puss-moth
during the present season, I have ventured
to put upon record a few observations
respecting thoir habits. A good number of
them were reared from the egg. The
earliest eggs were found from the begin-
ning of June to the 14th September, and I
took young caterpillars as late as the middle
of August, some of which have not yet com-
pleted their growth, so that the life of the

caterpillar extends from June to September.
The markings on the back, it is well
known, vary slightly in different indi-
viduals; I have yet to ascertain whether
these are distinctive of the sexes. Besides
this there is one variety, distinguishable
even from the egg, which is pink instead of
red. From these lighter eggs the cater-
pillars produced have, throughout their
earliest stages, a reddish tint in those parts
of the body where the other specimens are
black ; and after the last change of skin
they are lighter than the others, both in
the ground colour and the shadings. These
caterpillars were fed both on willow and
poplar, but the poplar seemed to be the
most congenial food, and the largest in
growth were fed exclusively upon it. They
were supplied with fresh leaves twice a day,
at 8 A.M. and 6 P.M., and really appeared to
manifest some dim consciousness of the
approach of feeding time, even when their
stock of food was not exhausted, although
they certainly did not display the restless
agitation which the accustomed hour pro-
vokes in the captive Carnivora. At each
successive change of skin the caterpillar
devours the cast-off garment, with the
exception of the head, which seems too
tough a morsel. The time occupied by
each change is usually four days, and the
caterpillar eats nothing for about half-a-
day after it is completed, saving the old
skin. These caterpillars are remarkably
pugnacious after they have changed their
skins for the last time, the approach of an
observer immediately occasioning the pro-
trusion of the tentacula or filamentous
horns. As they increase in size, they
become more pacific. These caterpillars
have, as most entomologists have observed,
the power of ejecting a fluid in defence
when annoyed or irritated. Old writers on
Natural History state that this fluid is
thrown from a rose-coloured aperture
behind the head. On the contrary, the
aperture is below the head, extending,
when the caterpillars are full-grown, trans-
versely about two lines, just beneath the
chin, if one might so call it. Rennie says
that this power of ejection is lost when the
caterpillars are removed from their parent

216

BEITISH MOTHS.

tree. This is the case with most, but
singularly enough not with all ; three of
those I had were exceptions to this rule.
This liquid is of an acrimonious nature,
probably containing an acid. A large pro-
portion of my caterpillars lost one or both
of their ' horns ' or ' tail appendages ' from a
curious cause. They appear to be reckoned
tit-bits by some individuals, and when they
could do so successfully they employed
their jaws in nibbling off the posterior
ornaments of their companions. This
strange propensity was not occasioned by
any scarcity of their accustomed food. The
caterpillars, however, when awake, are
peculiarly sensitive to any attacks of this
kind, and I noticed that these approaches
were only successful at times when the
individual attacked was in a state of repose.
I use the word ' awake ' advisedly, for,
from my observations made upon many
species of lepidopterous caterpillars, I feel
convinced that they do sleep at times, or
something very nearly analogous to it.
This same propensity manifested itself in a
brood of Smerinthus ocellatus, half of which
had the posterior horn nibbled off. When
the caterpillars of the Puss-moth are about
to cease eating and form their cocoons, the
whole ground colour changes to a dull

brown. I was anxious to ascertain whether
any two of the caterpillars, who were seek-
ing at the same time for a convenient spot
to form their cocoons, would unite and
form a common one, as sometimes occurs
with the silk-producing caterpillars : no
such instance occurred. They seemed,
however, fond of forming their cocoons
upon those of their predecessors. In one
corner of a box I have no less than six
clustered together. Several of them orna-
mented their cocoons by interweaving some
of the excreta or ' caterpillar's pills,' as a
juvenile friend calls them, thus presenting
rather an odd appearance when finished."
These statements have been fully corrobo-
rated by several writers in the Entomologist
during the past year, especially as regards
the cannibalistic propensity to devour each
others' tails. The sources or original reser-
voir of the moistening fluid, together with
the mode of its expulsion and the chemical
properties, if any, of the fluid itself, are
subjects well worthy of careful investiga-
tion ; a minute investigation of the caudal
horns and their contained thread-like
appendages would also abundantly repay
the little expenditure of time and trouble
needful to obtain satisfactory results.

389. The Lobster (Stauropus Fagi).

389. THE LOBSTEE. — The antennae are
strongly pectinated in the male, from the

base to near the extremity, which is quite
simple and thread-like ; in the female they

CUSPIDATES.

217

are simple throughout : the fore wings are
arched towards the tip, but not pointed ;
their colour is smoky-brown, with a large
pale gray blotch at the base, and within
this blotch, close to the body, is a small
black spot ; towards the hind margin the
wings are also paler, and the central por-
tion is bounded on each side by a zigzag
pale line, which gives it the app jarance of a
median band ; between the outer of these
pale lines and the hind margin is a series
of six blackish spots, each accompanied by
a pale spot on its inner side ; five of these
double spots are ranged in a row parallel
with the hind margin, but the first or
uppermost is nearer the median band ; the
inner margin, more especially in the male,
is tinged with rust colour : the hind wings
are uniform gray-brown, in some specimens
having a median waved whitish line : the
head and thorax are gray-brown ; the body
generally paler, except towards the extrem-
ity, which in some specimens is almost
white, and the scales on this part are
always long and hair-like.

The CATERPILLAR does not roll in a ring,
or feign death when disturbed ; when at rest,
it throws back its head so as entirely to hide
the second, third, and fourth segments ; the
head being quite equal in bulk to these three
segments if united ; the posterior segments
are at the same time elevated in an extra-
ordinary manner ; the first pair of legs is of
moderate size, the second and third pairs
have the femora and tibiae extremely
lengthened ; the body is deeply incised at
the division of the segments ; the fifth,
sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth seg-
ments have each of them two humps, — those
on the fifth, sixth, and seventh are the largest
and of equal size, the others gradually de-
creasing in magnitude ; the eleventh, twelfth,
and thirteenth segments are without humps ;
the eleventh segment has a narrow, flattened,
crenulated, lateral margin ; the twelfth has
a much more extensive margin, having the
same characters ; the thirteenth segment
terminates in two erect, stiff, slightly clavate,
slightly curved, appendages or horns. The
colour is testaceous-brown, covered through-
out with pale points like shagreen ; there
%re two interrupted, slender, black stripes

down the back, and a paler median stripe
between them ; there are, moreover, several
slender black markings on both sides of the
caterpillar. This singular caterpillar, which
is known to collectors as " The Lobster,"
feeds on oak (Quercus Robur) and birch
(Betula alba), and is full-fed about the 25th
of September ; it then spins together two
or three oak-leaves, and makes a retreat
wherein to form its cocoon ; in this it
changes to a CHRYSALIS, and when the
united leaves fall on the approach of winter,
they form a kind of parachute, which con-
veys the chrysalis gently and safely to the
ground, where it remains throughout the
winter.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June ; it
has occurred only in the southern and eastern
counties of England, — Essex, Kent, Surrey,
Sussex, Hampshire, Devonshire, and once,
according to Mr. Greene's " Insect Hunter's
Companion," at Halton, in Buckingham-
shire. The London district would seem to
be its chief resort ; Epping, West Wickham,
Birch, and Darenth, are noted localities.
(The scientific name is Stauropus Fagi.)

390. The Sprawler (Petasia cassinea).

390. THE SPRAWLER. — The antennae are
very decidedly pectinated in the male,
simple in the female ; the fore wings are
narrow, and have the costal margin re-
markably straight, the tip neither pointed
nor rounded : their colour is wainscot-
brown, with several distinct longitudinal
umber-brown streaks, the most conspicuous
of which originates at the middle of the
basal margin : the hind wings are pale
gray, with the discoidal spot and wing-rays
decidedly darker; on the extreme hind
margin is a series of dark brown markings :
the head, thorax, and body are gray-brown ;

218

BEITISH MOTHS.

the thorax has a dark streak on each side
at the base of the wing.

The CATERPILLAR rests in nearly a
straight position, with all the claspers
attached to the food-plant : the head is
rather narrower than the second segment,
the body is nearly uniformly cylindrical as
far as the twelfth segment, which is perhaps
the deepest of any, being dorsally produced
into a kind of hump ; the colour of the head
is dull olive-green, that of the body yellowish
green, but of different shades in different
individuals, some inclining to glaucous : it
has a narrow yellowish- white collar and
five narrow whitish stripes ; one of these
is medio-dorsal, and extends from im-
mediately behind the head to the extremity
of the anal flap : another on each side runs
from immediately behind the head below the
spiracles; this is tinged with yellow and
bordered above by a delicate dark brown
line: the spiracles are white, each sur-
rounded by a black ring which touches the
dark line I have just described ; exactly
intermediate between the medio-dorsal and
lateral line is a slender white line which
begins on the fifth segment, runs straight
from thence to the tenth segment, and then
turns upwards towards the medio-dorsal
stripe, which it nearly touches on the twelfth
segment; it then again descends towards
the anal extremity, where all the stripes
meet. It feeds on oak (Quercus Bobur),
from which tree I have repeatedly beaten
it in June ; it falls into the umbrella with
its feet sprawled out as wide as possible,
whence perhaps the name of the moth ; in
confinement it is a perfect cannibal, de-
vouring its companion caterpillars without
mercy. When full-fed, it buries itself in
the earth as deep as the breeding cage will
allow, and changes to a smooth brown
CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH appears on the wing in October,
and has occurred in several English counties
both north and south. The males, probably
from their being more volatile, are much
more frequently taken than the females,
which are very rarely indeed, if at all, pro-
cured otherwise than by rearing from the
caterpillar. (The scientific name is Petasia
cassinea.)

391. The Rannoch Sprawler (Petasia nubeculosa).

391. THE EANNOCH SPRAWLER. — The
antennae of the males are decidedly pecti-
nated, those of the female simple : the fore
wings are rather narrow, the costal margin
straight and the tip obtuse ; their colour is
rich bistre-brown with paler markings, the
principal of which are a large reniform
stigmoidal spot, a short interrupted basal
line, a transverse zigzag line beyond the
middle, and a marginal zigzag line ; the
hind wings are smoky-brown with a darker
discoidal spot, darker wing-rays, and a con-
tinuous series of darker hind-marginal dots :
the head, thorax, and body are bistre-brown,
and densely clothed with long loose down.

The EGG is laid about the middle of April,
either on the slender twigs or young leaves
of the birch, and is hatched about the 1st
of May. The caterpillar rests in the form
of a horseshoe, the head thrown back until
it nearly touches the elevation on the twelfth
segment ; when in this position, it often
adheres by three pairs of claspers only, the
first and fifth pairs being raised : it does
not fall off its food, feign death, or roll
itself in a ring when touched or disturbed.
The head is of slightly less diameter than
the body, and is susceptible of being
partially withdrawn into the second seg-
ment; the body is of uniform diameter
throughout, the twelfth segment being
elevated on the back into an obtuse angle ;
the divisions of the segments are marked
by conspicuous incisions. The head is
shining glaucous or blue-green ; the body
is delicate apple-green, with a narrow,
transverse, oblique yellow stripe on each
side of the fourth segment ; on the back of
each segment from the fifth to the tenth,
both inclusive, is a whitish cloud, and on

CTJSPIDATES.

219

each side of each segment a faint indication
of a similar whitish cloud ; on the summit
of the elevation on the twelfth segment is a
narrow transverse line, bright yellow at
both extremities, but paler in the middle ;
on each side of each segment also are ten
raised dots : the two that most nearly ap-
proach the median line of the back are
yellow, and each emits a single black bristle :
then follows a longitudinal series of three
white dots, and then a single yellow dot
emitting a black bristle, and below this
yellow dot is a spiracle, oblong, white, and
black-margined ; anterior to the spiracle
and in a line therewith are two white dots,
and posterior to these one yellow dot emit-
ting a black bristle and one white dot;
behind the last spiracle, and extending
along the edge of the anal flap, is a bent

white line, in which are two conspicuous
yellow dots, larger than either of those
previously mentioned : the legs are rather
long, green tinged with red-brown ; the
claspers are apple-green, with a shield-
shaped mark in black outline on each. It
feeds on birch (Betula alba), and is full-fed
rather before the middle of June, when it
measures rather more than two inches in
length ; it then goes into the earth, con-
cealing itself just beneath the surface.

The MOTH appears at the end of March
or the beginning of April, and, as far as
the British Isles are concerned, has hitherto
been found only at Rannoch, in Scotland.
In confinement it rarely attains the perfect
state, most commonly dying as soon as
full-fed. (The scientific name is Petasia
nubeculosa.)

392. The Buff-tip (Pyycera bucephala).

392. THE BUFF-TIP. — The antennae are
serrated in the male, simple in the female :
the fore wings have the costal margin
straight, the tip obtuse but not rounded ;
when at rest, the wings are wrapped round
the body, which thus acquires something
the appearance of a cylinder cut off at both
ends ; their colour is pearly-gray, inclining
to purple-gray towards the costal margin,
and to silvery- gray at the base, and along
the inner margin ; there is a slender trans-
verse brown line very near the base, and
near this is a transverse bar composed of
three lines, the middle one sienna-brown,
the outer ones umber-brown ; a second bar
coloured in a similar manner originates
almost at the tip of the wing, makes a
semicircular curve inwards, and then de-

scends in an obtusely zigzag manner to the
inner margin ; the space enclosed between
these two bars contains a pale reniform
stigmoidal spot, and very numerous short
waved transverse streaks ; the tip of the
wing is occupied by a large ochreous blotch ;
the hind margin is notched and has a triple
marginal bar coloured like the transverse
bars already described ; the hind wings are
yellowish white with a slightly darker cloud
across the middle ; the head is ochreous ;
the thorax ochreous, with a double brown
line on each side and behind ; the body is
dingy ochreous.

At the beginning of June these singular
moths may be frequently found coupled in
pairs on the trunks of lime, elm, and other
trees, or on the herbage below them ; the

220

BRITISH MOTHS.

truncate heads and closely convolute wings
giving each pair the appearance of a single
piece of dead and dried stick. As soon as
they separate the EGGS are laid in a patch
of thirty to sixty, mostly on the upper side
of a leaf ; they are convex above and flat
beneath, of a china-white colour above, and
smoke-colour beneath, and having, in the
middle of the convex portion, a very
conspicuous black dot ; the young CATER-
PILLARS emerge in fourteen days, and, after
eating a portion of the egg-shell around the
point of emergence, they feed in company
on the upper cuticle and the parenchyma of
the leaf, leaving the veins entire and con-
nected by the lower cuticle : they have
then large shining black heads, and much
narrower yellow bodies beset with long soft
hairs, and adorned with series of black spots
or blotches, of which the medio-dorsal series
is by far the most conspicuous, the lateral
series consisting of minute and incon-
spicuous spots ; the dorsal surface of the
second segment as well as the whole of the
thirteenth segment is black, as are also the
anal claspers, which are constantly elevated,
rarely touching the leaf on which the little
creatures are standing : after eight days
they undergo the first moult, and then
separate into little companies of six, eight,
or ten, each company ascending to the tip
of a leaf, and feeding at the edge in the
usual manner ; but when resting, each little
company huddles together on the surface of
the leaf, reposing side by side with the anal
claspers elevated : the head is now still
more largely developed, much broader than
the body, and shining black ; the dorsal
surface of the second and thirteenth seg-
ments is still black ; after a second moult,
the head is less conspicuously large, and
the body more variegated : as the caterpillar
continues to grow, the markings develop
themselves, and the head and body become
covered with soft, flexible, and rather longish
hairs. The caterpillars are full-fed towards
the end of July, and are readily found by
the devastation they cause : each brood
fixes on some topmost outside branch of
elm ( TJlmus campestris) l\mc(Tiliaeuropfea),
hazel (Corylus avellana), or other tree (for
this species appears a very general feeder),

and, completely stripping off the foliage,
leaves the twigs as bare as in the depth of
winter : these voracious colonies are seldom
within reach of the hand, but if a stick be
thrown up the caterpillars descend in a per-
fect shower : they are extremely flaccid, and
never roll in a ring, but almost immediately
on regaining their legs turn their heads
towards the trunk of the tree whence they
have been shaken, and reascend, traversing
the branches and twigs until they attain an
elevation and exposure satisfactory to their
minds. The head of the full-fed caterpillar
is prone, exserted, and of nearly the same
width as the body ; it is covered with
crowded but minute punctures, and with
fine silky hairs ; the body is uniformly
cylindrical, clothed with very fine silky
hairs, and having a glabrous corneous plate
on the thirteenth segment, which decreases
in size after each moult. The colour of the
head is black, with a bright yellow mark
on the face in the form of a letter V re-
versed : the base of the antenal papillae is
also yellow : the colour of the body is dull
yellow, with a transverse band about the
middle of each segment of a deeper colour,
almost orange ; and on each side, alternat-
ing with these orange bands, which occupy
the verrucose portions of the surface already
noticed, is a series of obscure and ill-defined
markings, almost white ; there are also nine
longitudinal black stripes extending from
the third to the twelfth segment, both
inclusive ; these stripes are interrupted
throughout by small circular yellowish
dots, each of which has a minute central
black dot, emitting a white hair ; of these
nine stripes the medio-dorsal is somewhat
the broadest, and decidedly the most con-
spicuous ; between the third and fourth
lateral stripes are the intensely black
spiracles ; there is also a glabrous corneous
black plate occupying the anal flap; the
legs are intensely black and shining, and
have dull blackish markings above their
base ; the ventral claspers have a black
shining exterior corneous plate, and smoke-
coloured markings on the outer surface ;
the anal claspers are black and still elevated
when at rest ; the belly is yellow, with two
series of black blotches between the fourth

CUSPIDATE S.

221

pair of ventral and the anal claspers. These
caterpillars having arrived at their full-fed
condition, descend the trunks or stems of
the trees on which they ha^e fed, and crawl
about the surface of the ground with great
activity, often crossing dusty roads and
leaving long circuitous tracks in the dust ;
sometimes marching over nagged pathways,
and being consequently trodden under foot
of man, by which casualty hundreds come
to an untimely end ; those which escape
nestle at the roots of herbage or under
fallen leaves, and change to CHRYSALIDS
on the surface of the earth, without any
web, cocoon, or protection of any kind, and
with so little attempt at concealment, that
they are frequently seen by the passing
entomologist, and are sometimes in such
abundance that boys collect them to sell to
dealers in entomological specimens at a
penny or twopence a dozen : they also con-
stitute a favourite food of poultry, and are
sought for with great eagerness ; Dame
Partlet may often be seen scratching for
them in my own neighbourhood under the
lindens. The chrysalis is regularly punc-
tuate, but slightly shining: its colour is
very dark brown ; a deep dorsal notch
divides the twelfth and thirteenth segments ;
the latter terminates in two very singular
processes, each of which is furcate, the
prongs divaricating and acutely pointed.

The MOTH appears in June, and is abun-
dant in many parts of England and Ireland.
(The scientific name is Pygcera bucephala.)

398. The Chocolate-tip (Clostera curtula').

393. THE CHOCOLATE-TIP. — The antennae
are moderately pectinated in the male, very
slightly so in the female : the fore wings
have the costal margin straight, the tip
obtuse j their colour is brownish-gray with

a tinge of pink, except at the tip, which is
occupied by a very large, bright, chestnut-
coloured blotch ; each wing is traversed by
five transverse bars, the first, second, and
fourth of which, counting from the base,
are very distinct, and almost direct ; they
are white or ochreous-white, with darker
borders, the third is less distinct and less
complete ; it is imperfect at both extrem-
ities, at its lower extremity not quite
reaching the inner margin, and at its upper
extremity bending towards and uniting with
the fourth, before it reaches the costal
margin; the fifth is little more than a
transverse series of irregular dots : it inter-
sects the apical blotch, cutting it into two
almost equal but irregular sections : the
hind wings are gray -brown ; the head is
gray-brown ; the thorax is gray -brown ;
with a cordate median umber-brown blotch,
the smaller end being directed backwards,
prolonged and pointed ; the body is gray-
brown, the extremity umber-brown and
spreading.

The EGGS of the first brood are usually
laid during the month of April, on the
common aspen (Populus tremula) , and other
species of poplar. When hatched, the
young CATERPILLARS associate in companies,
spin together the leaves of the food-plant
without altering their perfectly flat position,
and reside entirely in the domicile thus
formed, eating only the upper cuticle and
parenchyma of the lower of the two leaves
of which their dwelling is composed, and
leaving the ribs as it were skeletonized, yet
connected together by the lower cuticle.
When the leaves forming this dwelling are
separated, each caterpillar leaves its domi-
cile at night to feed, and returns to it before
morning. The head is rather wider than
the body, which is somewhat depressed in
form, but of nearly uniform substance
throughout ; there is a dorsal hump on the
fifth and another on the twelfth segment ;
each segment, except the second, which
has but a single wart on each side, has also
a transverse series of six warts of nearly
uniform size, besides a minute wart just
behind the spiracle on the fifth, sixth,
seventh, eighth, and twelfth segments ; on
the ninth, tenth, and eleventh segments

222

BEITISH MOTHS.

there are two warts below the spiracle in-
stead of one ; all the warts emit silky hairs :
at this period the head is black, the body
opaque black, with a broad pale yellow
median stripe, which is composed of four
narrow approximate stripes, and is inter-
rupted on the fifth and twelfth segments by
the dorsal humps, which are black ; all the
warts are pale yellow : the belly, anal flap,
and anal claspers are smoke-coloured, with
a tinge of pink ; the legs black ; the ventral
claspers smoke-coloured. After the last
ecdysis, which takes place in May, the cater-
pillar leaves its domicile, rarely returning
to it, and its appearance is greatly altered ;
the black dorsal humps remain, the warts
and hairs remain ; the warts are orange-
red, the hairs nearly white ; the whole body
with these exceptions is reddish- gray,
spotted with black ; the body having greatly
increased in size is now wider than the
head, which is black only on the sides,
having a red stripe down the face, a black
clypeus and a white labrum : it still spins
together the leaves of its food-plant, the
lower usually remaining flat, while the
upper is raised into a manifest convexity ;
in this retreat it changes to a CHRYSALIS of
a dark-brown colour, and rounded at the
anal extremity.

The MOTH appears on the wing in April
and July, the chrysalis producing the April
brood remains in that state throughout the
winter. It occurs in the caterpillar state
in our northern, midland, and southern
counties, and also near Clonmel, in Ireland.
(The scientific name is Clostera curtula.)

394. The Scarce Chocolate-tip (Clostera anachoreta).

394. THE SCARCE CHOCOLATE-TIP. — The
antennae are moderately pectinated in the
male, very slightly in the female ; the fore
wings have the costal margin straight, and

the tip obtuse ; their colour is brownish-
gray, with a tinge of pink, except the tip,
which is occupied by a very large purple-
brown blotch ; each wing is traversed by
five transverse bars, the first and second of
which are indistinct, but almost direct ; the
third is waved, and very indistinct ; all the
three are composed of a lighter and a darker
line ; the fourth is sinuous ; it intersects
the apical blotch, and is there pure white,
and very distinct, but below the apkal
blotch it is comparatively faint ; the fifth
is little more than a transverse series of
irregular dots ; near the anal angle of the
wing is an almost circular black spot, with
one or two minor black spots below it : the
hind wings are gray-brown ; the head is
gray -brown, with an umber-brown crown ;
the thorax is gray-brown, with a broad
longitudinal stripe of umber-brown ; the
body is gray-brown, the extremity rather
dark and tufted.

The CATERPILLAR does not roll in a ring,
or fall from its food-plant, or feign death
when disturbed; the body is slightly de-
pressed, and has a double skin-fold, extend-
ing its entire length, on each side, in the
region of the spiracles ; it has a prominent
median hump on the back of the fifth seg-
ment, and1 a second but less prominent
median hump on the back of the twelfth
segment. The head is black, slightly shin-
ing, and beset with chestnut-coloured hairs :
the body is velvety black, mottled and re-
ticulated with smoky-gray ; there is a broad
median stripe of dingy white down the
back ; this stripe is composed of square
median markings, which are situated re-
spectively on the fourth, sixth, seventh,
eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh segments ;
that on the fourth segment is isolated, but
not so clearly defined as the others, which
are strung together by four parallel whitish
lines, situated in the interstices of the seg-
ments ; these connecting lines are especially
observable when the caterpillar is crawling :
the humps on the fifth and twelfth segments
are bright chestnut-brown ; that on the fifth
emits a few longish chestnut-brown hairs ;
and there is a series of markings of a simi-
lar colour along each side on the elevations
of the skin-folds, both above and below the

CUSPIDATE S.

223

spiracles ; the fifth segment is entirely
without the median white mark, its site
being occupied by the chestnut-brown hump,
and on each side of this is a somewhat
square spot of snowy whiteness, and entirely
surrounded with intense velvety black ; on
each side of each of the square white dorsal
markings is also a squarish spot of intense
velvety black : the back of the second,
third, and thirteenth segments has a trans-
verse series of small chestnut-coloured pro-
minences, emitting chestnut-coloured hairs ;
the belly is pale smoky-gray ; the legs
black; the claspers are smoky flesh-coloured.
This beautiful caterpillar was first found
by my friend, Mr. Sidney Cooper, at
Folkestone, feeding, as he believes, on sal-
low (Salix caprasa) ; afterwards by Dr.
Knaggs, feeding on poplar (Populus nigra?) .
The caterpillars spun up between leaves
about the middle of July, and therein
changed to CHRYSALIDS.

The MOTH, like the preceding, is rarely
found in the perfect state. There is, or
was, a specimen in the British Museum,
and it is described both by Haworth and
Stephens as a British insect ; it has been
bred so abundantly from the caterpillars
found at Folkestone that it now abounds in
all our cabinets. (The scientific name is
Clostera anachoreta.)

395. The Small Chocolate-tip (Closlcra reclusa).

395. THE SMALL CHOCOLATE-TIP. — The
antennae are decidedly pectinated in the
male, but almost simple in the female ; the
fore wings have the costal margin straight,
the tip almost square ; their colour is purple-
gray at the base, brown-gray and darker

towards the hind margin ; each wing is
traversed by four pale transverse lines, the
first and second of these are united just
before they reach the costa, and again just
before they reach the inner margin ; the
third is bent before reaching the costal
margin, and then turns downwards and
outwards, meeting and uniting with the
fourth ; it also again unites with the fourth
near the inner margin ; the fourth is nearly
direct ; it commences on the costa in a con-
spicuous crescentic white spot ; the hind
wings are dark brown-gray ; the head is
gray, with an umber-brown crown ; the
thorax is gray, with an umber-brown me-
dian longitudinal stripe, which divides at
the lower end, the branches extending to
each side at the junction of thorax and
body, which latter is gray, and has a slight
tuft at the extremity.

The head of the CATERPILLAR is black ;
the body has a very broad median gray
stripe down the back, in which stripe is a
central tubercular velvety spot on the fifth,
and another on the twelfth segment ; this
stripe also contains yellow transverse mark-
ings, which are very distinct on the third,
fourth, and sixth segments : on each side
of the gray median stripe is a broad, lateral,
smoke-coloured stripe ; the belly, legs, and
claspers are also smoke-coloured, and be-
tween the smoke-colour of the lateral stripe
and that of the belly is a narrower stripe,
composed of black and yellow spots and
dots, and including the spiracles : the entire
body of the caterpillar is slightly hairy. It
feeds exclusively on dwarf sallows (Salix
caprsea and 8. cinerea), and is double-
brooded ; the first brood is full-fed about
the 5th of July, the second at the end of
September ; then spinning a web amongst
the leaves of its food-plant, and turning to
chrysalis in the retreat thus fabricated, it
remains in that state throughout the
winter.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May
and August. I have received it from
Brighton, Saffron Walden, Ipswich, and
Cockermouth, and I believe it is widely and
generally distributed both in England and
Ireland. (The scientific name is Clostera
reclusa.)

224

BEITISH MOTHS.

396. The Dusky-marbl&l Brown (Oluphisia crenata).

396. THE DUSKY-MARBLED BROWN. — The
antennae of the male are strongly pectinated,
those of the female slightly so ; there is no
tuft of scales at their base, the fore wings
are blunt at the tip, the hind margin almost
straight, the inner margin has no angle or
tuft, their colour is dingy-brown with a gray
transverse line accompanied exteriorly by a
dark line before the middle ; beyond the
middle is a similar gray line with a similar
accompaniment, but conspicuous only on
the inner margin ; beyond and parallel with
the hind margin is a pale zigzag bar very
imperfectly developed : the hind wings are
dingy-brown ; the head, thorax, and body
are dingy -brown.

" The CATERPILLAR is pale green, the
dorsal line spotted with ferruginous, bor-
dered on each side by a yellow line. (Dup.)
On poplar." Stainton's Manual, vol. i.,
p. 122.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June.
Three specimens have been taken at Epping,
and I believe nowhere else in Great Britain.
(The scientific name is Gluphisia crenata.)

397. The Plumed Prominent (Ptilophora plumigera).

397. THE PLUMED PROMINENT. — The an-
tennae are beautifully plumose in the male,

simple in the female ; the fore wings have
the costal margin straight, the tip scarcely
pointed, and the hind margin slightly
scalloped ; they are semi-transparent and
of a pale raw sienna-brown, with a much-
bent interrupted and very indistinct paler
transverse bar beyond the middle ; the
wing-rays are brown, except when they cross
the pale bar: the hind wings are rather
paler than the fore wings, but the head,
thorax, and body are of the same colour as
the fore wings.

I am indebted to the Eev. H. Harpur
Crewe for the following information : —

The EGGS are brown, and laid in the
month of November.

The CATERPILLAR is pale whitish-green,
the centre of the back is bluish, the sub-
dorsal lines are distinct and white ; the
spiracular lines pale yellow, slender and
waved, two on each side, the lower of each
pair becoming broader on the anterior and
posterior segments ; the segmental divisions
are pale yellow, the ventral area is grass-
green. It feeds on maple (Acer campestris)
in shady woods and hedges, generally in
chalky districts, and is full-fed at the end
of June and beginning of July.

The CHRYSALIS is enclosed in a tight
earthen cocoon, rather short and black ; rich
dark reddish-brown ; its thorax and wing-
cases are almost black. The extremity of
the body is furnished with a bristly bifur-
cate appendage.

The MOTH appears on the wing in Octo-
ber, and seems to be of very rare occur-
rence in this country. My specimens are
from Buckinghamshire, but I do not know
the exact locality. (The scientific name is
Ptilophora plumigera.)

398. The Pale Prominent (Ptilodontis palpina).

398. THE PALE PROMINENT.— The palpi
are very long, pointed, and bent downwards
at the tip ; the antennae are strongly pecti-

CUSPIDATES.

225

nated in the male, less so in the female ;
the fore wings have the costal margin
straight, the tip pointed, the hind margin
slightly scalloped, and the inner margin
with two decided angular projections or
lobes ; their colour is pale wainscot-brown,
with three obscure bands of darker brown ;
one of these occupies the hind margin and
the others are parallel to it at short dis-
tances ; scattered over the wings are certain
black dots and streaks, always seated on the
wing-rays : the hind wings are smoky-
brown, paler at the base, and have a very
pale fringe : the palpi, head, thorax, and
body are of the same colour as the fore
wings; the body of the male has a split
tuft at the extremity.

The CATERPILLAR has rather a small head
and the body is without hairs or humps,
but rough, with transverse wrinkles. Ths
colour of both head and body is glaucous-
green, with six stripes ; two of these are
slender, white, and tolerably near together,
running parallel down the back, each of
them being composed of minute, raised,
white warts ; on each side is a lateral stripe
of the same hue, but more slender, less con-
spicuous, and less evidently composed of
warts ; and below this on each side, just
above the spiracles, is a most distinct yellow
stripe, delicately margined above with in-
tense black ; on the second and third seg-
ments is a little patch of delicate lilac im-
mediately adjoining the yellow stripe ; the
two dorsal stripes and the yellow spiracular
stripes, together with their black margin,
extend along the head to the very mouth ;
but the middle stripe on each side does not
enter the head. It feeds on several varie-
ties of willow and sallow (Salix), and on
more than one species of poplar (Populus) •
and is full-fed at the beginning of October :
it spins on the surface of the ground ; and
remains in the CHRYSALIS state all the
winter.

The MOTH appears in June, and is by no
means uncommon in England : Mr. Birchall
also records it as having been taken by Mr.
Bristow, in the county Wicklow, in Ireland.
(The scientific name is Ptilodontis palpina.)

Obs. — Mr. Greene, in writing of the
chrysalis, observes, it is " occasionally found

at poplars, but much more frequently at
willows, especially when on the banks of
ditches and streams. When in such situa-
tions, that side of the trunk which faces
the stream is often clothed with grassy sods
of loose dry friable earth ; this is the place
for Palpina, shake the sod well, and the
cocoon, which is grayish and of weak con-
sistency, will generally be found among the
dry roots ; it is easily distinguished from
that of Dictsea, being much smaller (i.e.,
the cocoon) , and not so much mixed up with
earth. End of September."

399. The Coxcomb Prominent (ffotodonta camelina).

399. THE COXCOMB PROMINENT. — The
palpi are very small and insignificant ; the
antennae are slightly pectinated in the male,
quite simple in the female : the fore wings
have the costa almost straight from the
base to the tip, which is pointed ; the hind
margin is scalloped, and has six points or
angles besides the tip ; the inner margin
has two angular projections or lobes, one
small and obscure near the anal angle, the
other half way between this and the base,
and very prominent ; their colour is rather
pale brownish rust-colour ; in some speci-
mens the brown tint prevails, in others the
rust-colour ; there is generally a broad
darker hind-marginal band, but in some
specimens only the inner half of this is
perceptible, reducing the band to a mere
bar ; parallel with this bar is a second
oblique bar commencing on the costa, and
ending in the large inner-marginal projec-
tion ; this second bar has an acutely zigzag
margin ; a slight cloud occupies the site
of the usual discoidal spot ; the wing-rays
are slightly darker than the disk : the hind
wings are paler, except towards the hind
margin ; at the anal angle of each is a very
dark blotch interrupted by a rather long
transverse pale spot : the head and thorax
are nearly of the same colour as the fore

M 15

22C3

BEITISH MOTHS.

wings ; the body of the same colour as the
hind wings.

The CATERPILLAR has a greenish head,
and the body is uniformly cylindrical to
the twelfth segment, which is rather tumid,
and has two distinct but approximate warts
on its back. The colour is glaucous-green,
paler on the back ; the warts are tipped
with pink, and armed at the tip with a small
fascicle of short black bristles ; a slender
bluish median stripe originates on the back
of the third segment, and passes in a direct
line to between the pink -tipped warts on
the twelfth segment ; the back is particu-
larly inclined to white on each side of this
median stripe ; on each side of the body is
a series of white spots, most of which en-
close a black spiracle, and behind each white
spot, and closely adjoining it, is a pink
spot : this series of spots is connected to-
gether by a number of slender white lines,
and the whole together constitute what
might with propriety be called a spiracular
stripe. All parts of the body emit scattered
black bristles ; the head and second seg-
ment have more than the following seg-
ments ; the legs and claspers are pinkish ;
the belly is distinctly green. It feeds on
birch (Betula alba), maple ' 4.cer campestris),
oak (Quercus robur), &c., and is usually
full-fed in September ; it spins a slight
cocoon on the surface of the earth, and re-
mains in the CHRYSALIS state all the winter.
(See fig. 9, p. 203.)

The MOTH seems to have no especial sea-
son. I have found it from May to Sep-
tember, and the caterpillar will occasionally
fall to the beating-stick as long as the oak
remains in leaf. The species is common
wherever I have collected in England, and
Mr. Birchall informs us it is abundant at
Powerscourt and Killarney, in Ireland. (The
scientific name is Notodonta camelina.)

400. The Maple Prominent (Notodonta cucullina).
400. THE MAPLE PROMINENT. — The palpi

are small and inconspicuous ; the antennae
are slightly pectinated in the male, quite
simple in the female : the fore wings have
the costa very slightly arched, the tip blunt,
the hind margin slightly scalloped, and the
inner margin with a slight median projec-
tion ; their colour is rusty-brown ; there is
a large but vague paler blotch at the costal
portion of the base occupying nearly a
quarter of the entire area of the wing ; the
hind margin of the wing is brown at the
tip, but grayish below the tip ; the gray is
bounded on the inner side by a slender
white bar, which is interrupted in the
middle ; most of the wing-rays are dark,
but not uniformly so ; the fringe is alter-
nately pale gray and dark brown : the hind
wings are dingy-brown, with a spotted
fringe, and a dark suffused blotch at the
anal angle : the head and thorax are
coloured much like the fore wings, the body
much like the hind wings.

According to Hiibner, the CATERPILLAR
rests with the anal extremity raised, and
the anal claspers not touching the food-
plant ; the head is rather flat, and about
equal in width to the second segment ; the
body gradually increases in size to the fifth
or sixth segment, and then as gradually
decreases to the twelfth, which again in-
creases, rising into a medio-dorsal pyra-
midal hump : the colour of the head is
brown, of the body dingy-white, with a
medio-dorsal brown stripe, which, commenc-
ing immediately behind the head, expands
on the third, fourth, and fifth segments,
and then again contracts and terminates in
the pyramidal hump ; the spiracles are
white, each surrounded by a black ring;
and there is a black dot immediately
above and below each; the ventral area,
legs, and claspers are brown. (See fig. 11,
p. 203.)

The MOTH appears on the wing in May.
Mr. G-reene is said to have taken fifty -four
of the caterpillars at Tring, and he informs
us that he " found a chrysalis under moss
on a beech-tree (Fagus sylvatica), having
doubtless wandered from some neighbour-
ing maple." This was in October, at
Halton, in Buckinghamshire. (The scien-
tific name is Notodonta cucullina.}

CUSPIDATES.

227

401. The Scarce Prominent (Notodonta Carmelita).

401. THE SCARCE PROMINENT. — The
palpi are very small and inconspicuous ;
the antennae are slightly pectinated in the
male, quite simple in the female : the fore
wings have the costa nearly straight, the
tip pointed ; the hind margin very slightly
scalloped, the inner margin with a small
median projection ; their colour is pale
purplish-brown throughout the costal area,
shading to purplish-gray throughout the
inner-marginal area ; on the costa itself is
a very conspicuous crescentic white spot at
one-third of the distance between the tip
and the base ; and half way between this
and the base is a small and insignificant
whitish spot, sometimes scarcely percepti-
ble ; two transverse series of triple spots
cross the disk of the wing ; these are seated
on the wing-rays, and each is composed of
a whitish dot, accompanied by a darker
dot on each side ; the fringe is alternately
brown and whitish, and the extreme margin
within the fringe is indicated by a scalloped
brown line : the hind wings are purplish-
gray, with a darker cloud at the anal angle
and a spotted fringe : the head and thorax
are purple-brown, the latter with a whitish
blotch at the base of the body, which is
uniformly brown.

The head of the CATERPILLAR is pale
semi-transparent green, with two approxi-
mate longitudinal yellow lines on the face,
separated only by the usual suture ; the
dorsal surface of the body is apple-green,
with raised pale yellow markings variously
situated ; there is a bright stripe along each
side, being a dilated skinfold, and includ-
ing the spiracles, which are black ; this
stripe is of three colours, white, yellow, and
pinkish-red, the colours being clearly de-
fined ; it commences immediately behind
the head, and extends the entire length of

the caterpillar, passing below the anal flap ;
the belly, legs, and claspers are glaucous-
green. It feeds on birch (Betula alba), and
is full-fed in June or July, when it buries
itself in the earth and changes to a CHRYS-
ALIS.

The MOTH usually appears in April, some-
times in March. It has been taken at
Birchwood, in Kent, West Wickham, in
Surrey, Hurstpierpoint, in Sussex, Epping,
in Essex, and Cockermouth, in Cumber-
land. (The scientific name is Notodonta
Carmelita.)

402. The White Prominent (Notodonta bicolor).

402. THE WHITE PROMINENT. — The an-
tennas are slightly pectinated in the male,
quite simple in the female : the fore wings
have the costal margin very slightly arched,
the tip obtuse, and the inner margin has a
slight angle or notch about the middle ;
their colour is white with two oblique
trans-v^rse series of black spots, one before,
the other beyond the middle of the wing :
neither extremity of the first series quite
reaches the costal or the inner margin ; it
is accompanied on its outer side by two
orange blotches, the upper of which is
double and very short, the lower is also
double at the end nearest the body, but is
prolonged almost to the anal angle, crossing
the second transverse series of black spots :
the hind wings are light and spotless ; the
head, thorax, and body are white ; the last
is sometimes tinged with fawn-colour.

Hubner figures the CATERPILLAR in a
nearly straight position : the head narrower
than the second segment, and rather por-
rected ; the body almost uniformly cylin-
drical, the divisions of the segments being
conspicuously marked. The colour of both
head and body is green, rather approaching
to olive-green, and adorned with a bright
yellow stripe on each side, commencing im-

228

BKITISH MOTHS.

mediately behind the head, and extending
into the anal claspers; this yellow stripe
includes the black spiracles : four other
stripes are indicated on the dorsal area :
these are slightly darker than the ground
colour : the legs are nearly black ; the
claspers green. (See fig. 10, p. 203.)

The MOTH appears in June : it is said to
have been taken at Killarney, in Ireland, by
the late Mr. Bouchard, and also at Burnt
Wood, in Staffordshire, as recorded in the
Zoologist for 1861, at p. 7682, in these
words : " At the ordinary meeting of the
Manchester Entomological Society, held on
the 3rd of July, 1861, Mr. John Smith, an
artisan collector resident here, exhibited a
specimen of Notodonta bicolor, captured by
himself at Burnt Wood, Staffordshire, in
the latter part of June last. The specimen
is a fine male, though a little rubbed,
through being boxed out of the net." There
have been several subsequent records of
this species at the same locality. (The
scientific name is Notodonta bicolor.)

403. The Swallow Prominent (Notodonta dictcea).

403. THE SWALLOW PROMINENT. — The
antennae are moderately pectinated in the
male, very slightly so in the female ; the
fore wings are rather long and rather
narrow, their costal margin nearly straight,
the tip rather prolonged and obtuse ; the
hind margin sinuous ; the inner margin has
a small and inconspicuous lobe or angle
about the middle ; their colour is pale
whitey -brown in the centre, the costal mar-
gin darker, the dark part expanding into a
narrow longitudinal chocolate-brown blotch
near the tip ; near the inner margin, anc
extending from the middle of the base to
the hind margin, is a rich chocolate-brown
shade, the upper margin of which vanishes
in the pale median area ; this shade is in

.errupted near the hind margin by several
whitish longitudinal streaks ; the first long,
narrow, and pointed at the anal angle ; the
second somewhat like a compressed cres-
:ent ; the third near the base and touching
;he thorax ; the inner margin, especially
near the base, has an ochreous tinge ; the
lind margin has three slender lines, the
interior very pale, the next very dark, the
xterior one is intermediate in colour be-
tween the other two ; three lines are inter-
sected by very pale wing-rays : the hind
wings are very pale, with a compound brown
blotch at the anal angle ; the fringe is of two
colours opposite the blotch, the inner pale,
the outer darker ; the thorax is umber-brown
tinged with gray ; the body grayish-brown.
The CATERPILLAR has rather a large head,
very slightly notched on the crown and
shining ; it is of pale green colour : the
body is almost uniformly cylindrical until
the twelfth segment, which is humped, the
hump terminating in a moderately sharp
point ; the colour of the body is whitish or
glaucous-green on the back, with a broad
paler green stripe on each side, and adjoin-
ing this there is a narrow raised yellow-
green stripe, just below the spiracles, and
touching all of them except that on the
twelfth segment ; it extends the entire
length of the caterpillar, terminating in
the anal claspers ; on the summit of the
twelfth or humped segment is a black trans-
verse line. It feeds on poplar (Populus
nigra), sallow (Salix caprasa), &c., and is
full-fed about the 22nd of September ; it
then spins a thin but large cocoon on the
surface of the earth, attaching the upper
part to a fallen leaf, which thus performs
the office of roof to the domicile, in which
it remains throughout the winter. There
is a very common variety of this caterpillar,
plain brown, without the slightest appear-
ance of the lateral stripe : this occurs after
the last change of skin.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May
and June, and occurs throughout England,
north, south, east, and west ; also occasion-
ally in Scotland. Mr. Birchall found it not
uncommonly in the county Wicklow, in
Ireland. (The scientific name is Notodonta
dictsea.)

CUSPIDATES.

229

404. The Lesser iSwallow Prominent (Notodonta
dictcei.ides),

404. THE LESSER SWALLOW PROMINENT.
— The antennae are moderately pectinated
in the male, very slightly so in the female ;
the fore wings are rather long and narrow,
the costal margin nearly straight ; the tip
is rather prolonged and obtuse, and the
hind margin sinuous ; the inner margin
has a small and inconspicuous lobe or angle
about the middle ; their colour is pale
whitish-brown in the middle, the costal
margin darker, the darker portion being
very narrow at the base, but expanding
into a broader although still narrow choco-
late-brown blotch near the tip ; near the
inner margin, and extending from the middle
of the base to the hind margin, is a rich
chocolate tint, the upper margin of which
shades off into the pale median area ; the
hind margin has three slender lines, the in-
terior very pale, the next very dark, and the
third or exterior line is intermediate in tint
between the other two ; these lines are in-
tersected by the whitish wing-rays ; at the
anal angle is a long wedge-shaped white
mark, its tip pointing towards the base of
the wing ; opposite the lobe is another
white mark in the form of a compressed
crescent, and near the base a white streak
which touches the thorax : the hind wings
are very pale, with a compound brown blotch
at the anal angle : the thorax is umber-
brown tinged with gray ; the body grayish-
brown.

The CATERPILLAR has rather a large head,
slightly notched on the crown, brown and
shining ; the body is almost uniformly cylin-
drical until the twelfth segment, which is
humped, the hump terminating in a some-
what sharp and very shining papilla ; the
thirteenth segment is rugose above ; the
colour of the back is purple-brown, very
shining when full-fed; on each side is a

distinct yellow stripe, which includes the
spiracles, excepting that on the twelfth
segment ; the spiracles are black, the
ventral is much paler than the dorsal area.
This caterpillar, when compared with that
of Notodonta dictsea, may be distinguished
by its somewhat more slender proportions,
by its more glabrous skin, by its uniformly
possessing the purple-brown hue, and by
the greater brightness and distinctness of
the lateral stripe. It feeds on birch (Betula
alba), and is full-fed at the end of Septem-
ber, when it descends to the ground, spin-
ning a slight cocoon between the surface of
the earth and a fallen leaf : it remains in
the CHRYSALIS state all the winter.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June,
and has been found in most of the English
counties, but not commonly : Mr. Birchall
records its occurrence in the county Wick-
low, in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Notodonta dictteoides.)

Obs. — My plan of describing each moth
in full, without reference to any other, has
compelled me to write two descriptions
almost exactly similar; the principal dis-
tinguishing character between this and the
preceding moth is to be found in the anal
angle of the fore wings : in Dictcea the white
mark is almost linear, but very sharp-
pointed ; in Dictceoides it is wedge-shaped*
and decidedly more conspicuous.

405. The Iron Prominent (Notodonta dromedarius).

405. THE IRON PROMINENT. — The an-
tennae of the male are slightly pectinated,
those of the female quite simple ; the fore
wings are nearly straight on the costa, blunt
at the tip, slightly scalloped on the hind

230

BRITISH MOTHS.

margin, and having a conspicuous lobe or
angle near the middle of the inner margin ;
their colour is dull purplish-brown, with a
pale blotch at the base, and two pale waved
transverse bars, one before, the other be-
yond the middle, and midway between these
is a transverse oblong discoidal spot, which
has pale margins and dark centre ; the outer
pale bar expands into a decided pale spot
on the costa ; beyond the outer pale bar,
and midway between this and the hind
margin, is a rust-coloured bar frequently
broken up into spots ; the pale bars are
generally accompanied by rust-coloured
markings ; the hind wings are smoky-
brown, with a darker discoidal spot, a
darker anal angle, and two paler transverse
bars, the first below the middle of the wing,
the second on the hind margin ; all the
wing-markings are obscure and confused :
the head and thorax have the colours of the
fore wings ; the body is dingy-brown.

The head of the CATERPILLAR is broader
than the second segment, and bifid on the
crown, the lobes being blunt and rounded ;
it is shining and of a brown colour, speckled
with darker brown ; the sides are rather
paler ; the body is not regularly cylindrical,
but uneven, being humped on the fifth,
sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth segments ;
the hump on the eighth segment is the least ;
those on the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth,
have obtuse summits directed backwards ;
that on the twelfth segment is erect; the
colour of the body is yellow-green, with
purplish-brown markings, which form a
conspicuous stripe on the back of the
second, third, and fourth segments, and
which crown all the five humps and fill
the interstices between the second and third,
and between the third and fourth ; on the
fifth hump this purple-brown colour forms
a mere line, and there is a similar line on
the last or thirteenth segment ; a very
similar colour occupies nearly the whole of
the ventral area, which is darkest on the
tenth, eleventh, and twelfth segments. It
feeds on birch (Betula alba), and is full-fed
about the 20th of September, when it de-
scends the tree, and generally spins a slight
cocoon on the earth, attaching the upper
side of the cocoon to a fallen leaf ; in this

situation it remains in the CHRYSALIS stat«
all the winter.

The MOTH appears in June, and has oc-
curred not uncommonly in most of our
English counties, and also in Scotland and
Ireland. (The scientific name is Notodonta
dromedarius.)

Ols. — The Lush specimens of this insect
are much darker than the English ones, and
have been described as a distinct species
under the name of Notodonta perfusca. Mr.
Greene states that he found nine chrysalids
at the roots of alder (Alnus glutinosa).

406. The Three-Humped (Notodonta trilophus).

406. THE THREE - HUMPED. — The an-
tennae are slightly pectinated in the male,
and simple in the female ; in both sexes
there is a fascicle of longish scales at the
base ; the fore wings are blunt at the tip,
and have a prominent angle or tooth about
the middle of the inner margin ; their pre-
vailing colour is umber-brown, with various
markings of other tints between the base
and the discoidal spot ; a double transverse
line, waved but almost direct, crosses the
wing from the costa to the inner-marginal
lobe ; the interior portion of this line is
light, the outer dark ; the discoidal spot is
very conspicuous, transverse, and oblong
the middle is rust-coloured, the exterior
gray ; parallel with the hind margin is an
oblique and rather vague ferruginous band,
bordered exteriorly with gray ; at the anal
angle this band turns inwards and upwards
towards the discoidal spot, but is lost before
reaching it ; above the discoidal spot is a
pale costal blotch, and beyond this a short
gray oblique streak : the hind wings are
gray, tinged with brown, and having a con-
spicuous but vague blotch at the anal angle,
which extends some distance along the inner

CUSPIDATES.

231

margin; this blotch is almost confined to
the fringe ; the head and thorax are umber-
brown, spotted with gray ; the body brown
and unspotted.

The CATERPILLAR rests with the anal ex-
tremity elevated, and the anal claspers not
touching the food-plant ; the head is about
equal in width to the second segment ; the
fifth, sixth, and seventh segments have each
a medio-dorsal pyramidal hump ; the twelfth
segment is almost produced into a kind of
dorsal hump ; the colour of the head is
brown, of the body glaucous-green, This
description is made from Hiibner's figure.

The caterpillar was once taken at St.
Osyth, in Essex, by Mr. Douglas, who suc-
ceeded in rearing the moth. One or more
European specimens are sometimes sold as
British in the sales of British insects by
auction in London. (The scientific name
is Notodonta trilophus.)

Obs. — The name has been changed into
Tritophus by modern entomologists, but I
think without reason ; indeed, I have a
great objection to the change of a specific
name under any circumstances, unless it be
a duplicate name in the same genus : the
derivation is from the Greek word Trilophia,
that is, bearing three crests, lobes, or humps,
in allusion to three dorsal protuberances of
the caterpillar. (See fig. 13, p. 203.)

407. The Pebble Prominent (Notodonta, ziczac).

407. THE PEBBLE PROMINENT. — The an-
tennae of the male are slightly pectinated,
those of the female quite simple ; the fore
wings are nearly straight on the costa, blunt

at the tip, and have a decided tooth or angle
near the middle of the inner margin ; their
colour is clear ochreous-brown, except a large
pale gray blotch occupying the middle third
of the costal margin ; this blotch is bounded
towards the base of the wing by a straight
dark line extending half way across the wing,
and towards the tip it is bounded by a dark,
crescentic mark, the cusps of which are
turned towards the hind margin, and this
crescentic mark combines with other darker
and lighter markings in forming a large eye-
like ornamentation, which occupies the apical
portion of the wing ; there is a slender dark
line on the extreme hind margin, and a
brown fringe beyond this : the hind wings
are dingy-brown, with an indistinct cres-
centic discoidal spot, and an indistinct
transverse pale bar: the head is plain
brown, the thorax variegated with different
shades of brown, and the body uniform
dingy-brown.

The CATERPILLAR has a large head, and
its body has one hump on each of the sixth,
seventh, and twelfth segments ; that on the
sixth is largest, and points backwards ; the
colour of the head is brown : of the body
purple-brown, with darker patches on the
back of the second, third, and fourth seg-
ments, also on the front of the dorsal
humps ; these darker patches are bordered
with paler margins, and there are also paler
oblique lines on the sides of the segments :
the eleventh and twelfth segments are
yellowish, dorsally marbled with brown :
there are two pale approximate lines on the
back of the eighth, ninth, and tenth seg-
ments. It feeds on several species of poplar
(Populus), and sallow (Salix), and is full-
fed at the end of September, when it spins
its sli ght cocoon on the surface of the earth,
and remains in the CHRYSALIS state all the
winter. (8e« fig. 12, p. 203.)

The MOTH appears on the wing in May,
and in our breeding-cases continues to
make its appearance throughout June, July,
and August. It occurs in all parts of
England, and Mr. Birchall says it is not
uncommon in Ireland. (The scientific name
is Notodonta ziczac, so called from the ex-
traordinary appearance, of th» caterpillar
when at rest.)

232

BEITISH MOTHS.

408. The Great Prominent (Notodonta trepida).

408. THE GREAT PROMINENT. — The an-
tennae are long, decidedly pectinated towards
the base in the male, but become almost
simple and hair-like towards the tip ; in the
female they are quite simple : the fore wings
are rather long and narrow, slightly arched,
but blunt at the tip, and having a decided
lobe or angle near the middle of the inner
margin ; their colour is smoky-brown,
slightly suffused with a saffron tint, and
ornamented with a great number of trans-
verse and longitudinal darker markings,
among which a transversely oblong discoidal
spot is perceptible, but not conspicuous ; it
is ochreous, with a darker central line : the
hind wings are semi-transparent, almost
white, the inner margin tinged with saffron-
colour ; there are also a number of darker
markings about the costal margin and tip,
and a series of dark brown markings on the
hind margin : the head and thorax are
brown, variegated with saffron-tinted gray ;
the body is velvety-brown.

The head of the CATERPILLAR is as wide
as the second segment ; the crown is ele-
vated, but scarcely notched; the body is
smooth, almost uniformly cylindrical, and
without humps : the colour of the head is
pale apple-green, with four pale stripes
down the face ; the median pair are some-
what approximate towards the crown, but
more widely separated towards the mouth ;
the mouth and a conspicuous mark on the
lower portion of the cheeks are brown : the
body is apple-green, the dorsal surface
slightly glaucous ; there are two narrow
approximate yellowish -white stripes down

the back, extending the entire length of the
caterpillar, but interrupted at the anterior
extremity ; exterior to this double stripe on
each side is an irregular and very indistinct
series of dots of the same colour ; the second
segment has a lateral blotch of brownish-
yellow below the spiracle ; the third seg-
ment has a larger and more elongated
blotch, extending at its posterior extremity
towards the back ; these two blotches and
the mark on the cheek form a single oblique
patch, when the caterpillar is at rest ; the
fourth segment has a small lateral spot of
the same colour, and on each side beyond
this are seven oblique stripes on each side
of the caterpillar, the seventh being longer
than the rest, and terminating in the anal
flap ; these oblique stripes are longitudinally
divided, the upper portion being pink, the
lower white or whitish-yellow ; near the
inferior extremity of each stripe, and almost
touching it, is a pale spiracle in a black
ring ; in the seventh stripe the spiracle is
almost in the middle ; the legs are pinkish ;
the claspers are of the same colour as the
ventral area of the body, but are tinged
with purple at the extremities. It feeds on
oak (Quercus robur), and Mr. Greene has
been successful in finding the CHRYSALIDS
at the roots of oak-trees in September.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May
and June : it is esteemed a rarity, but
has occurred in several of our English
counties, and Mr. Birchall says it is not
uncommon in the county Wicklow, in Ire-
land. (The scientific name is Notodonta
trepida.)

CUSPIDATES.

238

409. The Lunar Marbled Brown (Notodonta cltaonia).

409. THE LUNAR MARBLED BROWN. — The
antennae are pectinated in the male, simple
in the female ; the fore wings are nearly
straight on the costa, blunt at the tip, and
have a small tuft-like lobe or angle about
the middle of the inner margin ; their colour
is pale smoky-black, with three zigzag
transverse bars, all of them white with
black margins ; the first is very short, and
very close to the body ; the second is before
the middle of the wing, and nearly direct ;
the third is beyond the middle of the wing,
oblique, and very sharply zigzag ; the area
between the first and second bar is uni-
formly smoky ; that between the second
and third bars is very pale gray, with a
transverse smoky cloud, and a narrow cres-
centic discoidal spot ; the hind-marginal
area is smoky, with an indistinct waved
median bar, which intersects the darker
wing-rays ; the fringe is alternately gray
and smoky ; the hind wings are stnoky-
gray, with darker wing-rays, and a very
indistinct paler median band ; the head
and collar are white or gray : the thorax
gray ; the body dingy -brown.

The full-grown CATERPILLAR rests in a
nearly straight position, and with the anal
claspers frequently attached to a twig of
the food-plant ; the head is manifestly
narrower than the second segment, rather
flat and porrected ; the body is slightly
attenuated at both ends, and the segmental
divisions are very strongly marked, other-
wise the caterpillar is uniformly cylindrical ;
the anal claspers are long, and are stretched
out behind ; the colour of both the head
and body is pale sickly-green, sometimes
approaching to glaucous, and this is the
usual colour all over ; but Mr. Hellins in-
forms me that the ventral surface is full
green in some specimens : there are four

narrow yellow stripes, two of them dorsal :
one on each side dilates slightly at each
spiracle, which it encloses : the spiracles are
black ; the legs and claspers are unicolorous
with the body. It feeds on oak ; but I have
not seen a specimen, and therefore have de-
scribed the caterpillar from Hiibner's figure.
Mr. Greene says of the CHRYSALIS of this
species that it is stouter and smoother than
that of N. dodontea, but not so glossy.

The MOTH appears in May ; it is a rare
species in Great Britain, but seems widely
distributed, and Mr. Birchall informs us it
has been taken at Killarney, and in the
county Wicklow, in Ireland. (The scien-
tific name is Notodonta chaonia.)

410 The Marbled Brown (Notodonta dodoncea.)

410. THE MARBLED BROWN. — The an-
tennae are pectinated in the male, simple in
the female ; the fore wings are nearly
straight on the costa, blunt at the tip, and
have a small tuft-like lobe or angle about
the middle of the inner margin ; their colour
is smoky and marbled -gray at the base, in-
tersected by a curved paler transverse line,
which, descending from the costa, terminates
in the inner-marginal lobe : this smoky
area is followed by a broad pale gray almost
white band, and the hind-marginal area is
of nearly the same colour as the basal area,
but generally more marbled and varied ;
there is no discoidal spot ; the fringe is
alternately gray and smoky ; the hind wings
are pale smoky, with darker wing-rays, and
an indistinct transverse paler band : the
head, collar, and sides of the thorax are
very pale gray, sometimes quite white ; the
hind part of the thorax is smoky, varied
with gray ; the body is fawn-coloured.

The head of the CATERPILLAR is broader
than the second, third, or foiirth segments ;
its colour is bluish-green and reticulated ;
the body is pale green, and is transversely

234

BEITISH MOTHS.

wrinkled ; it has two yellowish and very
narrow stripes near together down the
middle of the back ; these under a lens are
seen to be composed of yellow dots ; two
similarly-dotted stripes are observable out-
side these, but not extending beyond the
sixth segment ; on each side of the cater-
pillar, extending from the head to the anal
point, is a raised pale stripe, which is
alternately pink and pale yellow, and which
includes the spiracles. It feeds on oak
(Quercus robur), and is full-fed about the
4th of September, when it spins a slight
cocoon on the surface of the ground, and
changes to a CHRYSALIS, in which state it
remains throughout the winter.

The MOTH appears in May : it occurs in
Kent, Essex, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire,
and Gloucestershire, in the South, and in
Cumberland, Lancashire, and Westmore-
land, in the North of England. Mr.
Birchall says it is not uncommon at Kil-
larney, in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Notodonta dodoncea.)

411. The Pigure-of-Eight Moth (Diloba cceruleo-
ccphala).

411. THE FIGURE-OF-EIGHT MOTH. — The
antennae of the male are pectinated, those
of the female simple : the costal margin of
the fore wings is nearly straight, the tip
blunt ; their colour is leaden-brown, glossed,
in recently disclosed specimens, with mother-
of-pearl reflections ; they are traversed by
two angulated black lines, the first of which
is nearly direct, and situated near the base
of the wing ; the second is beyond the
middle of the wing, very oblique, and very
much bent and angulated, and, although
very distant from the first on the costa,
almost joins it on the inner margin : be-
tween these two lines are two very large
kidney-shaped white spots with double
nuclei ; these remarkable spots bear a super-
ficial resemblance to figures-of -eight, whence

the name of the moth : the hind wings are
dingy-brown, with darker wing-rays, an
indistinct discoidal spot, and a dark, almost
black, blotch at the anal angle : the head
and thorax are gray-brown ; the body
brown.

The EGGS are laid in September in clus-
ters of six or eight at the base of the lateral
shoots of whitethorn (Cratsegus oxyacantha),
or blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), the leaves
of these shoots being the earliest to expand
in the spring, when the caterpillar emerges
from the egg-shell. When full-grown, which
is usually in May or June, the CATERPILLAR
has a small head of a blue-green colour
with two black spots on the crown ; the
general colour of the body is glaucous-
green above, tinged with smoke-colour, and
having a median rather broad yellow stripe
interrupted at each junction of two seg-
ments ; on each side, just below the spira-
cles, is another yellow stripe seated on a
longitudinally-raised fold of the skin; be-
low this the body is smoky-green, shading
off to yellow-green on the ventral area ; on
every segment are numerous black warts,
each of which emits a single black bristle ;
the most conspicuous of these warts are
four on the back of every segment ; the
anterior nearer together than the posterior
pair : the yellow median stripe passes be-
tween them, leaving two on each side : each
of the warts seems to acquire a greater
intensity of colour from its being surrounded
by a paler space : the legs are shining,
glaucous, and black-spotted; the claspers
opaque green, with two black spots on each.
It feeds on whitethorn (Cratzsgus oxya-
cantha) , and is full-fed about the middle of
June, when it spins an oblong cocoon formed
of minute particles of the rind of the white-
thorn twigs, small fragments of the green
leaves, and an abundance of silk ; this is
generally attached to the underside of a
small hawthorn twig : in this it changes to
a CHRYSALIS, and remains in that state
about two months.

The MOTH appears in September, and is
common throughout England, but Mr.
Birchall says it is not abundant in Ireland.
(The scientific name is Diloba cseruteo-
cephala.)

NOCTUAS.

THE NOCTFAS, OWL MOTHS, OR FULL-BODIES
(in science Noctuse), constitute the next
principal division. They are very numer-
ous ; in Britain alone three hundred species
have been discovered, and in Guenee's
great work on the Noctueliies, no less than
eighteen hundred and eighty -four are
characterized ; the three hundred species
inhabiting Britain are remarkably unifonn
in appearance, size, and tint ; there are,
indeed, a few grand and striking departures
from the usual brown and sombre colouring,
but these exceptional instances, like gleams
of sunshine in a dark cloudy day, seem to
make the pervading gloom still more op-
pressive. This uniformity adds greatly to
the difficulty of the describer ; for, although
the more striking differences may be ren-
dered intelligible without much difficulty,
it is comparatively a hard task to dis-
tinguish, either by words or representations,
objects that closely resemble each other,
and seem almost to defy our powers of
discrimination, even when placed side by
side.

Although this general uniformity per-
vades the Noctuas in their perfect state,
there is a great difference among the cater-
pillars, both as to their appearance and
economy. In the two species which stand
at the head of the list, the Buff-arches and
the Peach-blossom, the caterpillars are
smooth and velvety, and feed exposed on
the leaves of the bramble : they attach
themselves by their ventral claspers, and
hold the anal claspers slightly elevated, in
the same manner as the Cuspidates. In
the next genus, Cymatophora, the cater-
pilJa,rs live between two leaves, the edges
of which they spin together ; in this home
they remain all day, with their heads
turned round towards the middle of their
bodies : they come out to feed by night.

The caterpillars of the genus Bryophila
reside in cases formed of silk and frag-
ments of lichen, and come out to feed at
night, and also in wet weather. In the
large and interesting genus Acronycta, the
caterpillars are generally hairy, sometimes
excessively so, and greatly resemble the
bear caterpillars of the Tiger-moths ; they
feed perfectly exposed, having no means of
concealment. Many of the genera which
follow these have perfectly smooth cater-
pillars, which feed on herbs, coming abroad
only by night, and, when disturbed, roll
themselves in a compact ring, and, thus
disguised, fall to the ground, and, feigning
death, remain motionless at the roots of
the herbage until the supposed danger has
passed. As regards the number of claspers,
ten is the general number, the last, or anal,
pair being always present. In the genus
Erastria the first pair are wanting, and in
the beautiful genus Plusia the first and
second pair are wanting, the number being
thus reduced to eight in Erastria, and to
six in Plusia.

These caterpillars, as well as those of the
grand genus Catocala, comprising the Clif-
ton Nonpareil and the Red and Crimson
Underwings, crawl with arched backs, like
the Geometers, and hence were called by
my predecessor, Half-loopers or Hernigeo'
meters.

The pupation of the Noctuas is as various
as the economy of the caterpillar ; the
greater number undergo this change under-
ground ; the numerous chrysalids found by
gardeners in digging for the winter crops
are those of Noctuas, for they abound
everywhere ; but others are found spun up
among the leaves of trees, and others, again,
on the ground ; they are generally very
shining, and of a bright reddish-brown
colour, or black ; the body is conical and

886

BRITISH MOTHS.

pointed. The chrysalids of the Catocalse
are covered with delicate powder, which
exactly resembles the bloom on a plum.

The MOTHS have rather long and slender
antennae, always decreasing in si? : /ro i\ the
base to the tip ; those of the male generally
appear slightly stouter than those of the
female, rom their being downy or pubes-
cent • and some are as decidedly pectinated
as tno.se of the Bombyces. Their trunks,
or 'maxillae, as I have called this organ at
p. 205, are long and robust : when at rest
by day, they are tightly coiled up under the
head, but when abroad at night, expanded
to their full length, and in constant use for
sucking the honey of flowers. This honey-
sucking propensity makes the Noctuas an
easy prey to the entomologist, who avails
himself of this taste for sweets, not only by
searching their favourite flowers, but also
by providing artificial sweets exactly to
their taste. At night, Noctuas swarm on
the blossoms of honeysuckle, jasmine, red
valerian, and a number of other plants.
It is, indeed, a beautiful sight to see the
Noctuas revelling on the plant last named ;
if you take a bull's-eye lantern, and throw
the light full on a party of moths feasting
off these saccharine flowers of the valerian,
the sight is one not soon to be forgotten ;
the glare of the lamp is reflected from a
hundred pairs of the brightest eyes, and as
these change their position in moving from
flower to flower, the scene is almost magical
Sallow bloom in the spring and ivy bloom
in the autumn, are quite as attractive as
valerian in the summer. Still more attrac-
tive is sugar, an artificial substitute for
flowers. This discovery was first made
known in the pages of the Entomologist,
and has been the means of revolutionizing
the science : species previously unknown
have been discovered ; and species previ-
ously of excessive rarity have become
abundant. I will describe the process of
sugaring for Noctuas. Buy three or four
pounds of the strongest moist sugar, — it is
usually called " Jamaica foots ; " mix it with
hot beer until it becomes of the consistence
of treacle ; carry it to the field of opera-
tions in a small tin -can suspended by a
strap passing over the shoulder. In a

separate phial carry a modicum of rum,
and, before using the mixture already de-
scribed, add a few drops, perhaps a tea-
spoonful of rum. Select a tree with toler-
ai»ly smooth Lark, and, with a painter's
brush, lay on the mixture in narrow stripes ;
then paint another tree ; then a third,
fourth, fifth, and so on in the same way.
In twecty minutes return to the first tree,
and the Noctuas will be found, with spark-
ling eyes, extended trunks, and gently
quivering wings, revelling on the banquet
thus provided. Now throw the light of
the bull's-eye lantern full on the revellers,
and box those you want in chip pill-boxes,
holding the box below the moth, and the
lid above, and so proceed until your coat-
pockets are filled with pill-boxes, a rarity
in each. I have always found a mild,
damp, dark night the best for this occupa-
tion. The reader will please observe that
this plan of entoinologizing is often attended
with some unpleasantness ; such, for in-
stance, as the obtrusive visits of game-
keepers, who always require a bribe to
leave you alone ; and, in Ireland, the atten-
tion of the police, who are excited by a
lantern, just as a turkey-cock is by a red
rag, or a bull by a scarlet cloak or coat.
Then, if the evening turn out rainy, the
herbage becomes loaded with moisture, and
boots, stockings, and trousers get saturated
with moisture. Juvenile collectors are
greatly comforted in the belief that they
possess some nostrum with a long Greek
name that will keep out wet ; but this de-
lusion is evaporated by experience, which,
after all, is the most satisfactory guide. A
writer in the Intelligencer says that aniseed
has been found remarkably attractive to
Noctuas ; and another writer in the same
periodical recommends the following
method : — Instead of brushing the sugar
on the bark of the trees, get some pieces
of coarse rag, then mix up your bait and
steep the rags in it ; let them remain in
soak until they are well saturated, when
they may be pinned up wherever you wish,
and, when done with, put away for another
night. In Germany it is a common practice
to cut apples in slices and thread them on
a string, and, when dried, they are found

NOCTUAS.

237

quite as attractive as sugar to the night-
waudering Noctuas. It has also been found
an excellent expedient to sugar isolated
thistle-heads when standing up in fields.
It is quite useless to offer any of these
baits for Noctuas on a bright moonlight
night.

As a general rule, it may be said that the
fore wings of Noctuas entirely cover and
hide the hind wings when the insect is at
rest ; they are never raised over the back as
in Butterflies, or rolled round the body as
in the Footmen : the ornamentation of the
fore wings is very rarely indeed continued
on the hind wings, as we so frequently see it
more or loss conspicuously in the Geometers ;
but it is very uniform, that is, it is gener-
ally referable to one pattern, which under-
goes almost endless modification — for in-
stance, near the centre of the wing, in the
place occupied by the discoidal spot, which
I have described in so many of the
Geometers, there are two ocellated or eye-
like spots, that is, spots having a different
colour in the centre from that on the cir-
cumference : the one nearest the body is
generally round, or nearly so, and is called
the orbicular discoidal spot; the other
nearer the tip of the wing, but still not
very far distant from the first, is kidney-
shaped, and is called the reniform discoidal
spot; these two discoidal spots will be
frequently mentioned in the descriptions
which follow ; the hind wings, besides being
less variegated, are generally paler ; never-
theless, in some instances, the hind wings
are brilliantly yellow, red, or blue, these
bright colours being transversely inter-
sected with one or two black bands.

With regard to the position of the
Noctuas in a natural system, I am unable
to perceive their resemblance to the
Geometers, which have always hitherto
been placed between Noctuas and the Del-
toids. The genus Acronycta unites the
Noctuas with the Arctias, and the smaller
Noctuas merge so gradually and naturally
into the Deltoids that it is utterly impos-
sible to tell where one tribe ends and the
ocner begins : the series would be not only
interrupted, but entirely broken by the
intervention of the Geometers,

412. The Buff -arches (Oonopkora derasa.)

412. THE BUFF-ARCHES. — The antennae
are very slightly pubescent in the male,
quite simple in the female ; the fore wings
are broad and ample, the tip very slightly
arched ; their colour is various, and their
ornamentation extremely beautiful : an
oblique white bar extends from the costa
near its base to the anal angle, and this bar
emits a branch towards the base of the
thorax ; a second white bar extends from
the tip of the wing to the anal angle, where
it unites with the oblique bar already
described ; these two bars unite with the
costal margin in forming a triangle, which
encloses at least two-thirds of the wing ;
the enclosed area is almost white near the
costal margin, sienna-brown towards the
base, and smoky-brown towards the hind
margin ; the whole is exquisitely and deli-
cately pencilled ; the basal area of the
wing is smoky-brown, and has a semi-trans-
parent appearance ; the hind-marginal area
is brown, transversely divided into five
lines, and these are traversed by a scalloped
line of pure white, which is so distinct as
to appear like a white thread : the hind
wings are smoky-brown ; the head is urnber-
brown ; the thorax brown, with its fore and
hind margin raised in a ridge or crest ; the
body is brown ; the second, third, and
fourth segments are dorsally crested.

The CATERPILLAR rests in a slightly bent
position, both extremities being, held clear
of its food-plant, and the anal claspers
unattached: the head is exserted, and has
an almost square outline ; the body is
smooth and velvety ; the colour of both
head and body is a raw sienna-brown, with
a rather paler medio-dorsal stripe : on each
side of the fourth segment is a round white
spot, and very frequently, but not con-
stantly, a smaller white spot on each side of

238

BRITISH MOTHS.

the fifth segment ; there is a short oblique
dark stripe on each side of each segment,
but this is by no means conspicuous or dis-
tinct ; the spiracles are black ; the ventral
is paler than the dorsal area, indeed,
inclined to gray ; the legs are reddish-
brown ; the claspers are paler, correspond-
ing to the ventral area ; I have frequently
found this caterpillar feeding on the com-
mon bramble (Rubus fruticosus), and I
know of no other food-plant ; when full-fed
it spins a few leaves together, and in the
retreat thus made it turns to a cylindrical
CHRYSALIS with a conical body, which ter-
minates in a slender horn-like point directed
backwards.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July,
and is common in most of the English
counties ; Mr. Birchall says it is very
common in Ireland, and gives Kil-
larney, Wicklow, Galway, and Howth as
habitats. (The scientific name is Gonophora
derasa.)

Obs. — Ochsenheimer has united the Buff-
arches with the Peach-blossom, under the
genus Thyatira ; they are very different in
appearance, and I quite incline to Mr.
Bruand's view of keeping them distinct.

413. The Peach -blossom (Thyatira batis).

413. THE PEACH-BLOSSOM. — The anteimae
are very slightly pubescent in the male,
quite simple in the female ; the fore wings
are blunt at the tip ; their colour is olive -
brown, with one small and four large
roundish spots on each, and also one addi-
tional large spot common to both wings
near the middle of the inner margin ; the
largest of these spots is amorphous, and is
seated at the base of the wing ; two others
closely approximate are at the extremity of
the costal margin; a fourth occupies the

anal angle ; and close to this on the hind
margin is the smaller spot already men-
tioned ; the disk of all these remarkable
and very ornamental spots is rosy or rosy-
brown, but their circumscription is white ;
they have much the appearance of the fallen
petals of some flower, whence the name of
" Peach-blossom : " the hind wings are
dingy-brown, with a paler and indistinct
transverse median band : the head is pale
brown ; the thorax pale brown with trans-
verse bars of rosy-brown, faint and delicate ;
the body is pale brown, the second, third,
and fourth segments having a small dorsal
crest.

The CATERPILLAR rests with the anal
claspers raised from its food-plant, and
apparently not used for prehension; the
legs likewise are seldom attached. The
head is about equal in width to the second
segment : the face is prone, and the croVn
slightly produced and indistinctly notched ;
the body is rather velvety, the dorsal area
irregularly humped ; the principal hump is
on the third segment ; it is bifid, pro-
jected forwards, generally extending over
the second segment, and sometimes over
the head ; the fourth and fifth segments are
nearly simple, but those which follow from
the sixth to the tenth, both inclusive, have
each a medio-dorsal crest or hump ; the
twelfth segment is dorsally pointed: the
colour of the head is reddish - bro wn ; the
dorsal area of the body is reddish-brown,
marbled with reddish-gray ; it feeds on
the common bramble (Rubus fruticosus'),
and in September, or sometimes as early
as the end of August, spins a very slight
and loose cocoon among the leaves, and
wnen in confinement among the moss or
rubbish on the floor of the breedino1-
cage, and therein changes to a blackish
CHRYSALIS, which has a stout thorax but
rather small conical body and a sharp anal
point.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June
and July of the following year, and is far
from uncommon in most of our Eno-Ush

O

counties, and Mr. Birchall says it is very
common in Ireland. (The scientific name
is Thyatira batis.)

NOCTUAS.

239

414. The Lesser Satin Moth (Cymataphora duplaris).

414. THE LESSER SATIN MOTH. — The
antennae are slender in both sexes, and
almost simple, but slightly stouter in the
male than in the female ; in both sexes they
have a very short pubescence : the fore
win^s are nearly straight along the costa.
and square-tipped, they are very ample
compared with the size of the body ; their
colour is smoky-gray, transversely marked
with different shades of the same colour ;
the basal area is pale, bounded by an
almost white line ; the middle area is dark
smoke-coloured, taking the form of a broad
median band, on the exterior margin of
which are two sub-linear black marks,
which, perhaps, represent the orbicular dis-
coidal spot ; then follows a paler band amd
then a smoky hind-marginal area, which is
traversed throughout by a zigzag white
line : the hind wings are dingy-gray, with a
paler transverse median bar : the head and
thorax are smoky-gray ; the body, which is
very slender, almost like that of a Geometer,
pale gray.

The CATERPILLAR resides between two
leaves of birch (Betula alba), carefully
fastened together with silken cords ; I found
that instead of eating the leaves it used for
a domicile, it left them by night and ate
other leaves in the neighbourhood ; when
ejected from its dwelling-place by day, it
usually retreated backwards and invariably
hung by a thread ; no persecution could
induce it to roll in a ring or feign death :
but when on the carpet or table-cloth it
crawled to some place of concealment with
restless and unceasing activity,— these char-
acters, which it possesses in common with
several species which follow, have reminded
me of those of the Tortrices. The head is
slightly narrower than the second segment ;
tho crown gibbose and very shining ; the
body is slightly depressed dorsally and flat

ventrally : the colour of the head is pale
brown across the middle of the face, and
has a black space between the lobes of the
crown, and a black spot on each side of the
mouth ; the dorsal area of the body is
occupied almost exclusively by a very broad
bluish smoke-coloured stripe, within which,
on each lateral margin, is a series of white
mai'ks, two on each segment ; the lateral
area is whitish, slightly mottled with smoke-
colour; the belly, legs, and claspers, are
dingy whitish- green.

The MOTH appears on the wing about
midsummer, and has occurred in most of
our English counties : Mr. Birchall informs
us that he has taken it at Killarney, in Ire-
land. (The scientific name is Cymatophora
duplaris.)

415. The Satin Carpet (Cymatophora fluctuosa).

415. THE SATIN CARPET. — The antennae
are slender and very slightly pubescent in
both sexes ; they are rather stouter in the
males ; the fore wings are very ample,
nearly straight on the costa, and bluntly
square at the tip ; their colour is pale gray
at the base, traversed always by one, some-
times by more, waved transverse lines ; the
middle area is occupied by a broad smoky
band ; this is followed by a pale gray,
almost white, band traversed by darker
lines, the exterior of which dilates and
deepens into a costal blotch ; the hind-
marginal area is smoky-gray ; the hind
wings are pale gray, almost white ; the head
and thorax are smoke-coloured, the body
smoky-gray.

The CATERPILLAR resides between two
leaves of the birch (Betula alba) when young;
when older, it uses more leaves than two
for the purpose of a domicile, and in this
always remains concealed during the day,
feeding by night only : it has a great pro-

240

BKITISH MOTHS.

penalty to fall, and hang by a thread when
disturbed. The head is about equal in
width to the second segment, the divisions
of the crown are rather convex and promi-
nent ; the body is dorsally depressed, ven-
trally flattened, it bears numerous fine
scattered hairs ; the colour of the head is
dark brown on the crown, paler across the
face, and has a black spot on each side, close
to the mouth : the colour of the body is
almost white, or yellowish-gray, the dorsal
area more inclining to gray, and having
a narrow slightly darker medio-dorsal
stripe, probably due to food in the alimen-
tary canal ; there is also a distinct black
mark on each side of each segment ; the
siaes and belly are whiter than the back.
My specimens were full-fed at the begin-
ning of October, and then spun slight
cocoons among the birch leaves, in which to
turn to CHRYSALIDS.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June.
It seems to be of much more limited distri-
bution than those species which immedi-
ately precede and follow. My specimens
have come from Huddersfield and Ipswich,
and I have seen others from the western
counties. Mr. Birchall has taken it at
Killarney, in Ireland. (The scientific name
is Cymatophora fluctuosa.) ,

416. The Lesser Lutestring (Cymatophora diluta).

416. THE LESSEE LUTESTRING. — The
antennae are slender and very slightly
pubescent in both sexes, but most so in the
males : the fore wings are ample, very
slightly curved on the costa, and bluntly

square at the tip ; their colour is dingy-
gray, with a tendency to a brickdust-red
tinge in fine and recently disclosed speci-
mens ; at the base there -is usually a darker
shade, and there are two distinct transverse
brown bars ; one of these is rather before,
the other rather beyond, the middle ; both
of these are nearly direct, but their borders
are waved, and both of them are evidently
composed of four lines crowded together ;
there is a third but indistinct band nearer
the hind margin, and a delicate dark line
oil the margin itself : the hind wings are
gray, with two faint transverse bars of a
darker tint : the head, thorax, and body
are gray ; the body is stout, and in-
variably has one, and sometimes two, erect
medio-dorsal tufts of black scales near the
base.

The CATERPILLAR resides resting on its
ventral surface, and with its head turned
on one side, between two spun together
leaves of oak (Q'tercus robur) or birch
(Betula alba) , and comes out of its domicile
to feed during the night ; it hangs by a
silken thread when driven out of this
retreat. The head is narrower than the
second segment, rather convex on the
crown, and very glabrous : the body is
obese and maggot-like ; it bears numerous
fine scattered hairs. The colour of the
head is dark brown, almost black ; of the
body pale gray, with a narrower medio-
dorsal stripe rather darker, and a narrow
lateral stripe rather lighter ; the spiracles
and a series of dots beneath them are
nearly black. It spins a slight cocoon
among the leaves, and therein changes to a
CHRYSALIS towards the end of June or
beginning of July.

The MOTH appears on the wing in
August, and occurs in most of the English
counties ; Mr. Birchall also reports it from
Killarney, in Ireland. (The scientific name
is Cymtaophora diluta.)

Obs. — The upper figure represents a very
beautiful variety in the cabinet of Mr.
Bond, kindly lent me expressly to figure in
this work ; but it is not a species given to
variation, this and its immediate congeners
being insects of much uniformity in tint,
markings, and size,

NOCTUAS.

241

417. The Poplar Lutestring (Cy matophora Or).

417. THE POPLAR LUTESTRING. — The an-
tennae are very slender in both sexes, but
slightly stouter in the males than in the
females : the fore wings are scarcely curved
on the costa, and bluntly square at the tip ;
their colour is gray, with two transverse
dark lines at the base, and two transverse
bands ; the first, the broader of the two, is
nearly direct, and is situated before the
middle of the wing ; it is composed of four
dark lines ; the second, beyond the middle
of the wing, is rather oblique, and is com-
posed of four zigzag lines; between these
bars the orbicular and reniform discoidal
spots are perceptible, but not conspicuous :
each has a pale area and a darker border ;
near the hind margin is a dark zigzag line,
commencing in a dark streak at the tip of
the wing, and on the very margin is a
slender dark line : the hind wings are dingy-
gray : the head, body, and thorax are gray ;
the body is stout and of a brownish -gray
colour.

The CATERPILLAR, when full-fed, resides
habitually between two leaves of the poplar
or aspen (Populus nigra and Populus tre-
mula), on which it feeds : the two leaves
thus converted into a residence are always
on one shoot, so that the wind, moving the
shoot or twig altogether, has no tendency
to separate them ; they are generally placed
with the back of the upper leaf to the face
of the lower one, and the edges are united
together by silken threads, with much skill
and neatness ; in this retreat the caterpillar
rests during the day in a curved form, the
head being brought round towards the
middle of the body, but the body invariably
resting on its ventral surface, and not on its
lide ; when driven from this retreat, it fre-

quently escapes backwards, and but rarely
falls to the ground, generally hanging us-
pended by a thread, The head is narrower
than the second segment, the face rather
flat and porrected ; the body is rather de-
pressed dorsally, and flattened ventrally ; it
has a number of minute warts, each of which
emits a hair. The colour of the head is red,
of the body whitish-green, or tinged with
glaucous : it has a very bleached and semi-
transparent appearance, probably owing to
its habit of living protected from the sun-
light; there is a medio-dorsal stripe of
dingy-green, probably owing to the presence
of food in the alimentary canal; this is
especially visible when the caterpillar is
crawling, an act which it performs with
much activity when expelled from its re-
treat ; just below the spiracles is a faint
yellowish stripe ; the ventral is rather paler
than the dorsal area. It undergoes puba-
tion in its retreat, and turns to a red-brown
CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June
and July, and has been taken in most of our
English counties. (The scientific name is
Cymatophora Or.)

418. The Figure of Eighty (Cymatopkora ocularit).

418. THE FIGURE OP EIGHTY. — The an-
tennae are very slender ; the fore wings are
ample, almost straight on the costa, and
obtuse at the tip ; their colour is pale brown,
with a tinge of red in recently disclosed
specimens ; there is a slightly paler trans-
verse median band, which contains the
reniform and orbicular spots ; these are
closely approximate and very conspicuous
and ornamental, the central area of each
being dark and the border pure white ; on
the left wing this ornamentation represents
the number 80, on the right wing it is re-

M 16

242

BRITISH MOTHS.

versed; the wing is traversed by several
transverse dark lines, two or three of them
before, and four or five beyond, the figure
of eighty; there is a short oblique dark
stripe at the tip : the hind wings are dingy
brown, with two or three slender darker
lines across the middle, and a darker hind
margin : the head, thorax, and body are
gray-brown : the body is stout.

" The CATERPILLAR is very pale yellowish-
green, with greenish dorsal line, and green-
ish line along the spiracles, which are
reddish ; a row of black dots above the
legs (Frey). It feeds on aspen (Populus
tremula)." — Stainton's Manual, vol. i. p.
175. " The CHRYSALIS is black and stout,
enclosed in an extremely delicate open net-
work of a rusty-brown colour ; it is very
difficult to find ; it frequently — nay generally
— spins on the surface of the spreading
moss, or barely beneath it, sometimes be-
tween two leaves ; in this latter case it is
soon blown away, and, in the former, falls
an easy prey to the first prowling mouse : it
should, therefore, be sought for as soon as
possible after the change ; this, I think,
should certainly not be later than the first
week in October. ... I have found
the following a very good method of ob-
taining it. Instead of turning up the sod,
lay hold of the grass lying close to the
trunk, and pull it (the sod) from the tree
about an inch or so, and the chrysalis, if
there, will almost invariably be found
attached to the tree, or else among the
blades of grass which lie close to it. Its
presence may be detected by the open net-
work alluded to above. If, after pulling
the grass from the trunk, small pieces of
bark are found loosely attached to it, i.e.,
the trunk, they should be carefully removed
and examined, as behind them the caterpillar
frequently spins up." — Greene's Insect Hun-
ter's Companion, p. 19.
• The moth appears on the wing at the end
of June, and has occurred in Norfolk,
Suffolk, Essex, Buckinghamshire, and
Worcestershire, but is always esteemed a
rarity. Mr. Greene has taken it in Ire-
land. (The scientific name is Cymatophora
ocularis.)

419. The Yellow-Horned (Cymatophora flavicornis).

419. THE YELLOW-HORNED. — The an-
tennae are stout, particularly in the males,
and of an ochreous-yellow colour : the fore
wings are rather narrow, the costa nearly
straight, the tip blunt ; their costal area is
gray from the base to the middle ; the re-
mainder of the wing is dark smoky-gray,
the orbicular spot is large, but rather indis-
tinct ; the renif orm spot imperceptible ; the
wing is traversed by seven or more trans-
verse dark lines, three of these are before
the discoidal spots ; these lines are perfectly
separate at the inner margin, but united on
the costa ; two others are beyond the dis-
coidal spots, and much bent ; again, nearer
the hind margin, are two others, waved and
indistinct : the hind wings, head, thorax,
and body, are gray-brown : the thorax is
very stout, the body rather so.

The head of the CATERPILLAR is pale
wainscot-brown, with a black spot on each
cheek, near the mouth ; the body is dingy
yellowish- green, the second segment having
six black spots, all of them close adjoining
the head, and the two dorsal ones being
larger than the rest ; on each of the follow-
ing segments are five black spots, the largest
of which form a dorsal series ; the second,
smaller, constitute a supra-spiracular series ;
and the third, the smallest, an infra- spira-
cular series ; each of the larger black spots
has a row of three white dots above it, and
one white dot below ; the third and fourth
segments have a transverse band or belt of
twelve white dots. It feeds on birch (Betula
alba) , of which it rolls up the leaves into a
kind of case, and only conies partially out
to eat : it is almost impossible to beat this
caterpillar : in order to obtain it, the rolled-
up leaves must be sought out and picked :
it is full-fed in the beginning of July.

The MOTH appears on the wing in March,

NOCTUAS.

243

and is by no means uncommon in our Eng-
lish counties, and Mr. Birchall says it is
common in Ireland. (The scientific name
is Cymatophora flavicornis.)

420. The Frosted Green (CymatopTiora ridens).

420. THE FROSTED GREEN. — The an-
tennae are dull yellow, rather stout, and, in
the male, strongly ciliated ; the fore wings
are rather narrow, and have a very straight
costa , their prevailing colour is gray-green,
there being abroad transverse median band
darker, a basal area paler, and a bar beyond
the median band also paler : the hind
margin is darker, and the fringe spotted
alternately pale and dark : this distribution
of colour is inconstant, and every part of
the wing is ornamented with transverse
markings . the hind wings are whitish-gray,
with brown wing-rays, and a smoky cloud
on the hind margin, especially towards the
tip .- the head and thorax are beautifully
mottled with the colours of the fore wings ;
the body is rather stout and of the colour
of the hmd wings.

The EGGS are laid on the twigs of oak
(Queroms rdbur) in April, and the young
CATERPILLARS emerge in the beginning of
June, and spin for themselves little domi-
ciles for concealment or protection ; this is
generally effected by curling the edge of a
young and tender oak-leaf, and securing it
in that position by a few silken threads : it
continues to conceal itself in this manner
for several weeks, and appears to be full-fed
by the middle of July. I took a great
number on the 8th of July, 1864, beating
them from the oaks in Birchwood. They
fell into the umbrella without any covering ;
but, immediately it had the opportunity,
each caterpillar constructed a domicile for
itself, generally fastening together two oak
leaves face to face, and allowing them to
remain perfectly flat; but, in some instances,

I found that a caterpillar had bent the tip
of an oak-leaf backwards, and fastened it
in this position in the manner always prac-
tised by the recently-emerged caterpillar :
in either case the domicile was perfectly
closed all round with silken threads : in this
retreat it rests on its ventral surface during
the day, having the head always turned on
one side, and the thirteenth segment, with
its claspers, tucked m under the preceding
segment. I have never seen one feeding
by day ; at night it makes an opening in
its dwelling-place, and devours the leaves
within its reach, but never those of which
its dwelling is constructed: sometimes a
caterpillar would appear to be very circum-
spect in what might be called keeping its
seat during temporary absence, the anal
claspers adhering to the entrance of its
retreat, while the body was stretched about
in all directions : at other times it would
come completely out and wander at random
among the dwelling-places of its brethren ;
in such cases, it seems to lack the unerring
instinct of the bee in returning to its own
hive, for I have more than once seen two
caterpillars contending for the same retreat :
in these contests one of the combatants often
receives an unpleasant gripe, and its pale
green blood issuing from the wound, seems
to impart cannibalistic propensities to the
aggressor, for in these civil wars several
caterpillars were destroyed and partially
eaten. The head of the full-grown cater-
pillar is exserted, it is quite as wide as the
second segment, having very gibbose cheeks
and a notch on the crown : the body is very
flaccid and wrinkled, both transversely and
longitudinally, the latter more especially
along the sides : the divisions of the seg-
ments are sufficiently obvious : a number
of small but obvious warts occur on the
body ; the second segment is without these
warts ; the third and fourth have ten each ;
the rest, as far as the tenth, have eighteen
warts each ; six of these are arranged in a
transverse series, reaching from spiracle to
spiracle ; two, not invariably present, are
behind these ; and five others are situated
on each side below the spiracle. The colour
of the head is wainscot-brown, reticulated
with dingy- white ; the colour is paler about

244

BRITISH MOTHS.

the mouth, and this pale region has a black
reniform spot on each side of the mouth,
including the ocelli, which are also black ;
on each side of the face, near the median
division, is a whitish line, which ascends to
the crown, and then turns obliquely towards
the anterior margin of the second segment.
The colour of the body is yellowish, the
warts being white, and very frequently —
that is, in many of the specimens — sur-
rounded by a smoke-coloured ornamenta-
tion, that imparts a decidedly different
appearance to those specimens which pos-
sess it ; the spiracles are wainscot-brown,
the bristles from the warts are white ; the
legs and claspers are very pale, almost
white. From the 8th to the middle of July,
I observed these caterpillars spinning their
cocoons on the still verdant leaves of the
oak ; and, on subsequently examining these
cocoons, I found them very tough and com-
pact, and each contained a smooth, brown,
obese CHRYSALIS, having a very pointed anal
extremity, furnished with a series of minute
hooks, by which it is suspended, head down-
wards, in the interior of the cocoon. From
the circumstance of the perfect insect being
almost invariably found on the . trunks of
the oaks in April, when they are perfectly
denuded of leaves, it must be inferred that
the falling leaves, acting as parachutes, carry
with them, in their descent, the enclosed
chrysalis, which, thus protected, remains on
the ground until the moth makes its escape :
in confinement, this escape took place at the
end of February and the beginning of March
— at least a month before the ordinary time
in a state of nature.

" Of the chrysalis of this rare and very
beautiful insect, I took twenty-six last
autumn ; like that of Cymatophora ocularis,
it is extremely difficult to find, and should
be sought for as soon as possible, viz., at
the middle and end of August. The follow-
ing directions may enable others to find it :
detached oaks growing in meadows of a dry,
loamy soil seem the best ; the situation
evidently preferred is the corners filled with
dry rubbish and little stunted brambles.
Insert the trowel well into the earth, six or
seven inches from the angle, and turn up
the sod, bramble and all, if possible : to find

the chrysalis, after this is done, is a work
both of time and pain ; it will not do in this
case to tap the sod. First, carefully examine
the dead leaves, for the caterpillars fre-
quently spin up in them : you must then,
regardless of scratches, tear the roots
asunder as gently as 'possible. The cocoon
is very weak, composed of little bits of stick,
dried leaves, &c., and requires delicate hand-
ling. Indeed the whole concern demands an
elaborate manipulation." — Greene.

The MOTH appears on the wing in April,
and seems to be very generally distributed in
our English counties, but nowhere common.
(The scientific name is Cymatophora ridens.)

421. Tbe Marbled Green (Bi-yophila glandifera).

421. THE MARBLED G-REEN. — The an-
tennae are slender, simple, and similar in
both sexes ; the wings are straight on the
costa, and blunt at the tip ; their colour is
gray, with darker markings, and the whole
suffused with green : there is a dark blotch
at the base, followed by a white bar, which
extends from the costal almost to the inner
margin, but not quite ; the inner discoidal
spot is larger and reniform, the outer smaller
and orbicular ; the costa and fringe are
spotted with black, and there are several
transverse bent black lines : the hind wings
are pale at the base, smoky at the margin,
and the fringe is white and unspotted : the
head and thorax are whitish-gray ; the body
gray. The ground colour of the fore wings
is rery variable, sometimes nearly white,
sometimes gray-green, sometimes very de-
cidedly green, and sometimes reddish-
brown.

The EGGS are laid in September, on those
flat lichens which so commonly cover the
surface of stones used in building walls,
bridges, houses, churches, &c. ; they are
white, and, when laid in confinement, are
arranged in a perfectly straight line j

NOCTUAS.

245

are hatched in October ; the little CATEE-
PILLAE, on leaving the egg-shell, being per-
fectly black and very hairy : they appear
to hybernate in the crevices of the stone
while still extremely small, but in the
following March or February, or even the
end of January, if the weather happen to
be wet and mild, they again begin to feed :
each then constructs a new house for him-
self, a kind of cocoon made of silk and
particles of earth, mortar, or stone ; this
cocoon has little resemblance to the usual
formula adopted by caterpillars when pre-
paring for pupation, but is very like the
blister we occasionally see on paint ; while
tenanted, it is closed at both extremities,
just as though the occupant had shut him-
self up to undergo pupation ; in the night
or early morning, more especially in wet
weather, he gnaws an opening at one end
of his dwelling-place, comes completely
out, and feeds on the lichen ; but during
the greater part of the day, and indeed
during the night also in very dry weather,
he remains shut up in his house : in moist
weather, after making a copious meal on
the saturated and swollen lichen, each
caterpillar seeks his accustomed shelter,
always carefully fastening the door, or, in
other words, spinning up the opening ; but
it is curious, and rather opposed to the
ordinary habits of insects in this respect,
that, as a general rule, each caterpillar is
totally careless whether he return to his
own dwelling-place or to that of some
friend or relation : he will, without a mo-
ment's hesitation, coolly possess himself of
any tenement he finds unoccupied, and
carefully closing the entrance, maintain
his position against all comers ; supposing,
however, that the tenement he examines
with a view of taking possession be already
occupied, he never presumes to intrude,
never thinks of contesting the point, but
continues to wander about on the look-out
for a house until he finds one unoccupied :
an occupied cell is invariably closed, so that
when you find one open, you may at once
conclude it is an empty house ; in no in-
stance do two caterpillars attempt to occupy
the same dwelling as tenants in common.
Should any difficulty arise in finding an

empty house, which not unfrequently hap-
pens, the caterpillar sets to work in the
most contented manner to construct one,
and probably before long is as comfortably
housed as any of his friends. I have said
that in dry weather these caterpillars re-
main sealed up in their domiciles, and when
this continues for long, they appear to suffer
greatly from lack of food — for if, after a
long continuance of drought, the cocoon be
forcibly opened, the caterpillar is found in
a very shrivelled and atrophied state, with
its head disproportionately large and con-
spicuous. When full-fed, which is about
the end of May, it has a limp and flaccid
character very similar to that of a cater-
pillar that has been ichneumoned ; it
neither feigns death nor rolls in a 'ring
when disturbed or annoyed, as probably
the only protection it seeks or requires IB
that afforded by its case. The head of the
full-grown caterpillar is porrected in crawl-
ing ; it is rather narrower than the body,
and is perfectly glabrous, but emits about
thirty fine hairs, which are directed for-
wards ; the body is of uniform substance
throughout, the back slightly depressed,
the belly flattened ; each segment has twelve
warts, and each wart emits a bristle. The
colour of the head is intense black and
shining, the labrum white ; the dorsal sur-
face of the body is dark smoke-coloured as
far as the spiracles, and having an irregular
narrow medio-dorsal yellowish stripe, in-
terrupted on the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth
segments ; the warts and bristles are white,
the ventral surface beginning at the spira-
cles, as also the legs and claspers are
ochreous -yellow ; in very wet weather, when
the caterpillar feeds voraciously, the belly
and all the under parts assume a tinge of
green : nevertheless, although these parts
assume this green tinge after voracious
feeding, they invariably return to their
normal colour before pupation, thus proving
the altered tinge to be the result of reple-
tion; when the time of pupation arrives,
they usually secrete themselves in holes in
the wall, and spin a slight web among old
spiders' webs, dust, and crumbled earth or
mortar, in which they undergo the change,
but sometimes they use for this purpose

246

BBITISH MOTHS.

the cocoons they had previously constructed
as habitations during their caterpillar state ;
they usually remain in the chrysalis state
throughout June and July. On account of
its peculiar economy, this species is rather
difficult to manage in confinement ; the
caterpillars from which my description is
made, proved exceedingly restless in con-
finement, and pertinaciously refused to
build or to feed on the diversified banquet
of lichens which I provided for their well-
being.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July
and August, and is abundant, but local, in
our southern counties, occurring in plenty
on walls at Exeter, Plymouth, Brighton, &c.,
and formerly on the canal bridge in the Old
Kent Eoad, where I have not seen it for
twenty-five years ; 1 know of no other
locality in the London district: it comes
freely to sugar. (The scientific name is
Eryophila glandifera.)

422. The Marbled Beauty (Bryophila Perla).

422. THE MARBLED BEAUTY. — The an-
tennae are slender, simple, and similar in
both sexes ; the fore wings are very nearly
straight on the costa ; the tip is blunt ;
their colour is pale gray, almost white, and
varied with darker markings of a smoky-
gray, but these as well as the general sur-
face of the wing are often suffused with a
greenish and sometimes with an ochreous
tinge ; there is always a dark blotch at the
base of the wing, and this is followed by a
white bar, which extends from the costal to
the inner margin ; the discoidal spots are
very large, vague, and almost united with
each other, and also with the inner margin
by a smoky cloud ; the costal margin and
fringe are spotted with blackish-gray, and
there are several transverse lines of the
same colour. The hind wings are pale, but
smoky towards the margin ; the head and
thorax are white, the body smoky-gray.

The EGGS, which are white, are laid in
August and September on those fat lichens
which are so commonly found growing on
brick walls : in the neighbourhood of
London are many such localities, and in
one in my own immediate neighbourhood
there is a brick wall which these little moths
have colonized, and which I have been in
the habit of visiting for the last twenty
years.

The young CATERPILLARS, which are at
first very dark coloured, and very hairy,
emerge from the egg-shell in about a fort-
night— indeed, the time varies from ten to
twenty days ; at the approach of winter
they are still very small, and, spinning
little silken cocoons in the crevices of the
bricks or mortar, remain entirely concealed
during the winter ; in the spring they begin
to feed again, eating nothing but the flat
lichens on which the eggs are laid, and
these only when saturated with moisture ;
the colony I have more particularly ob-
served is on a wall facing the south, and
exposed to the mid-day sun, but the cater-
pillars always retire from the sunshine,
concealing themselves in little silken domi-
ciles ; they feed morning and evening, when
the atmosphere is laden with moisture ;
and in wet weather in the day also ; the
lichens absorb water, whether from dew or
rain, and it is only in this moistened state
that they are relished by these little cater-
pillars, which then feed greedily, and are
rarely found at rest except in their cocoons.
When full-fed, ihe head is rather small,
and is retractile within the second segment ;
it is shining, slightly hairy, and of a bluish-
black colour on the crown and sides, but
the face is spotted with black ; the body is
stout, and of uniform thickness throughout,
with the back slightly depressed, and the
belly flattened ; each segment has twelve
small warts, and each wart emits a bristle ;
the dorsal area is almost entirely occupied
by a broad slate-coloured stripe, which is
bounded on each side by a series of orange
markings, narrow, linear, or somewhat
crescentic ; between this series of markings
and the legs is a slender white line on the
anterior segments, and attached to each of
the markings is a small white spot ; the

NOCTUAS.

247

ventral area is smoke-coloured tinged with
green, and the legs and claspers are of the
same colour. When arrived at its full size,
it finally leaves its silken home and builds
another, in which it changes to a smooth
CHRYSALIS, which is of a testaceous red
colour, the wing-cases being especially red ;
it is covered with a slight whitish, bloom,
like that of a ripe plum ; the last segment
is fluted, and terminates in three spines,
the outer ones of which are smaller than
the middle one.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July,
August, and September ; there seems to be
a continuous succession of moths for about
ten weeks : it is very common in most of
our English counties, and occurs also in
Scotland and Ireland. (The scientific name
is Bryophila Perla.)

423. The Tree-lichen Beauty (Bryophila Alga).

423. THE TREE-LICHEN BEAUTY. — The
antennse are flender, simple, and alike in
both sexes. The fore wings are rather
ample, nearly straight on the costa, and
rounded at the tip ; their colour at the base
is gray-green, followed by a nearly straight
transverse bar almost white ; then follows
a broad median brown band, which includes
a darker discoidal spot ; then follow a very
pale bar, very distinct, and divided at both
extremities, but less distinct in the middle,
and lastly, a grayish or brownish green
hind margin : the hind wings are brown,
with a perceptible but not very conspicuous
crescentic discoidal spot : the head and
thorax are brownish-green, the body paler,
with a medio-dorsal series of black spots.

The CATERPILLAR is gray-green, marbled,
with a white medio-dorsal stripe, and a
series of white lateral spots ; a stripe near
the spiracle, and a horse-shoe shaped mark-
ing are black ; the head also is black : it
feeds on the lichens which grow on trees.

I am unacquainted with this caterpillar,
and have made the best I can of Guenee's
brief description.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July :
two specimens have been taken by Mr.
Sidebotham in the north of England, but
I have neither seen these nor any other
British examples. (The scientific name is
Bryophila Algae.')

424. The Scarce Marveil-du-Jour (Dijrfitkera Orion).

424. THE SCARCE MARVEIL-DU-JOTJR. —
The antennae are ciliated in the male, sim-
ple in the female ; the colour of the fore
wings is a beautiful clear green, with four
longitudinal white stripes, and three inter-
rupted transverse black bars ; the four
white stripes are equidistant, the first costal
and narrow, the fourth inner marginal
and narrow, the intermediate ones rather
broader ; the first black bar is near the
base of the wing, much bent and very irreg-
ular ; the second is median and interrupted
in the middle ; the third is the broadest
and most conspicuous, very much bent and
slightly interrupted, it is accompanied on
the outside by a smoky band ; the orbicular
spot is small, and is united with the median
bar on its inner side ; the reniform spot is
outside the median bar, it is black with a
white exterior border ; there is a regular
hind-marginal series of black and white
spots, the inner portion of each being
white, the outer portion black ; the fringe
is regularly spotted with black and white .•

248

BRITISH MOTHS.

the hind wings are dark smoke-coloured,
with a still darker discoidal spot, some
transverse white lines at the anal angle,
and a spotted fringe : the head is green,
the eyes black, the collar black, the median
area of the thorax green, the posterior
margin of the thorax is divided into four
lobes, all of which are black at the base,
and pale green at the tip; the body is
smoky-gray, with a medio-dorsal series of
blackish crests, of which the third and
fourth are the most prominent.

The EGG is figured by Sepp as having
the shape and somewhat the appearance of
an Echinus, or sea-urchin, having twenty
ribs, which, instead of being perfectly direct,
are slightly waved ; there are also a great
number of delicately minute transverse
lines. Mr. Crewe has described the CATER-
PILLAR. He says, " Whilst staying in
Hampshire, I took a female D. Orion -, as
she was slightly worn and chipped, I kept
her in the hope of obtaining eggs. In this
I was not disappointed, and the young
caterpillars fed well till their last moult
on birch (Betula alba). They then, with-
out any apparent reason, began to die off.
I then introduced some twigs of oak
(Quercus robur), for which the birch was
entirely deserted, but out of a numerous
brood I only succeeded in obtaining four
chrysalids. I am inclined to think that in a
state of nature the caterpillar feeds indis-
criminately on oak and birch, wandering
from one to the other. I never but once
beat the caterpillar ; this was in Suffolk,
where 1 thrashed it out of a birch bush
in a wood near Ipswich, and thence it was
that I fed my young caterpillars solely on
birch." The following is a description of
the caterpillar : the back is bluish-black ;
on the fourth, sixth, and ninth segment
respectively is a large primrose-yellow
blotch, and smaller ones of the same colour
on the third and anal segments ; on the
second and third segments are the rudi-
ments of two central primrose-yellow dorsal
lines : the dorsal and lateral segmental
divisions are girt with a belt of orange and
primrose-yellow tubercles surmounted by
tufts of pale reddish hair ; the sub-dorsal
lines are primrose-yellow, interrupted and

studded with various sized primrose-yellow
spots ; the lateral lines are four or six in
number, black interrupted with yellow and
orange, the intermediate spaces being yel-
low ; the head is black, slightly marked
with yellow ; the belly is dirty-gray, spotted
and marked with black and white ; the legs
and claspers are yellowish, with black
markings : it is full-fed in September, and
then strongly resembles the caterpillar of
the satin moth (Liparis Solids). The
CHRYSALIS is enclosed in a cocoon of gnawed
bark, or rotten wood ; it is of a dull red
colour.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June,
and has been found in the New Forest in
Hampshire, near Maidstone in Kent, near
Brighton, and in the Weald of Sussex, and
especially near Ipswich. I have no record
of its occurrence in Scotland or Ireland.
(The scientific -name is Diphthera Orion.)

Obs. — I have given two very different
figures of this most beautiful moth, and I
find two descriptions of its caterpillar
equally different : it is very probable that
there are two species combined under one
name, and require separation ; the late
eminent naturalist, J. F. Stephens, was
decidedly of this opinion, and called one of
them Diphthera Orion, and the other Diph-
thera Bunica (see Illustrations of British
Entomology, Haustellata, vol. iii. p. 46), but
entomologists have hitherto declined to
accept them as species.

425. The Dark Dagger (Acronycta trident}.

425. THE DARK DAGGER. — The antennae

NOCTUAS.

249

are rather short, and are simple in both
sexes ; the fore wings are gray, with various
black linear markings : the principal of
these are, first, an irregular cross, which
bears a fancied resemblance to a Greek psi
placed sideways -£-, and is situated near the
anal angle ; exactly intermediate between
this and the tip of the wing is a much
smaller mark of the same shape : the reni-
f orm and orbicular spots are very vague and
obscure ; the orbicular has a very delicate
black border on its outer side only, the
reniform has a similar black border on its
inner side only, and this is double at its
lower extremity ; these two semicircular
markings are placed back to back, and are
connected by a short and straight black
line ; together this constitutes the second
principal marking ; the third is a strong
black line, which proceeds from the base
of the wing almost to its middle, and
which emits three or four lateral branches :
the hind wings are nearly white with
darker wing-rays and a spotted fringe :
the head, thorax, and body are gray ; a
black line originating in each palpus,
passes along the head including the eye,
and along the thorax just above the base of
the wing.

The CATERPILLAR does not roll in a ring,
or feign death when disturbed. The body
is somewhat incised at the interstices of the
segments, hairy, and having a conspicuous
hump on the fifth and twelfth segments.
The head is black and shining, but emitting
so many hoary hairs as to give it a gray
appearance. The body is black, beautifully
ornamented with orange and snow-white
markings ; the second segment is black,
with a small median white spot on the back ;
the third and fourth segments are slightly
swollen on the back, the centre of each
swelling being orange-yellow ; on each side
of each of these segments is also a bright
orange spot ; the fifth segment has a con-
spicuous median hump, velvety-black on
the summit, but hoary behind, and having
one white spot on each side ; a little dis-
tance below this is a pair of white spots
closely approximate, and on each side of
them a larger orange spot ; on the sixth,
seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh

segments is a median stripe, rather nar-
rowed, entire, and of an orange-yellow
colour, in the centre of each segment,
rather dilated, longitudinally divided, and
dingy -white in the interstices ; on each side
of each segment, below this median stripe,
are two white spots, one above the other,
like the colon in printing, and there are
three orange spots of different forms below
the lower of these white spots ; the twelfth
segment is decidedly humped, and has a
conspicuous snowy-white mark on the sum-
mit, shaped something like a cross, but the
hinder radius of the cross is sometimes
wanting ; the hind margin of this segment
has a broad orange border ; the thirteenth
segment terminates in a kind of horn, quite
black and directed backwards : below the
lateral series of orange spots I have de-
scribed is a lateral stripe mottled with
yellowish markings, among which are situ-
ated the spiracles, and below this again
is a slender interrupted orange stripe. It
feeds on whitethorn (Crattegus oxyacantha) ,
blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) , and some other
trees and shrubs. When full-fed in Sep-
tember and October, it spins a silken cocoon
on the trunks of trees, concealing itself in
crevices of the bark, and therein changing
to a CHRYSALIS, in which state it remains
throughout the winter.

The MOTH appears in June ; the cater-
pillar has been taken in many English
counties, and also in Ireland. (The scien-
tific name is Acronycta tridens.)

1. 06s. — The beautiful variety repre-
sented by the second figure is in the rich
cabinet of Mr. Greening, and has been
kindly lent me purposely to figure in this
work.

2. 06s. — I do not know why this insect is
called the " Dark " Dagger : it is no darker
than the " Gray " Dagger ; but I have an
insuperable objection to changing a name.
I may, perhaps, be allowed, in this place, to
express a hope that my younger readers,
for whose accommodation the English
names are introduced, will endeavour to
learn the Latin or scientific names which
.are now in universal use among entomolo-
gists.

250

BEITISH MOTHS.

426. Tbe Gray Djgger (Acronycta Psi).

426. THE G-RAY DAGGER. — The antennae
are rather short, and are simple in both
sexes ; the fore wings are gray, with various
black linear markings : the principal of
these are, first, an irregular cross, which
bears some small resemblance to a Greek
psi placed sideways £-, and is situated near
the anal angle : exactly intermediate be-
tween this and the tip of the wing is a
much smaller mark of exactly the same
shape : the reniform and orbicular spots
are vague, but perceptible ; the orbicular
has a very delicate black border on its outer
side only, the reniform has a similar black
border on its inner side only, and this black
border is double at its lower extremity ;
these two semicircular markings are placed
back to back, and are connected by a short
black line ; together they constitute the
second principal black marking ; the third
is a strong black line which proceeds from
the base of the wing almost to its middle,
and which emits three or four lateral
branches: the hind wings are nearly
white with darker wing-rays, and a spotted
fringe : the head, thorax, and body are gray ;
a black line originates in each palpus, and
passing along the head, includes the eye,
and along the thorax just above the base
of the wing.

The head of the CATERPILLAR is rather
wider than the second segment ; the body
is hairy with parallel sides, but humped on
the back ; the first hump is slender, long,
erect, horn-like, and seated on the fifth
segment ; the second hump is shorter,
broader, and on the twelfth segment. The
head is black, hairy, and shining ; its divi-

sions very convex ; the second segment is
black, with a very narrow median yellow
line : the third, fourth, sixth, seventh,
eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh segments
have a broad median yellow stripe, and there
is a median square spot of the same colour
on the hinder part of the twelfth segment ;
the horn-like hump on the fifth segment is
intensely black, and clothed with crowded
short black hairs, intermixed with scattered
long ones ; on each side of the median
stripe is an equally broad jet-black stripe,
and in this, on every segment, from the
fifth to the twelfth, both inclusive, are two
transverse bright red spots, with two minute
whitish warts between each pair, the warts
emitting black bristles : below the black
stripe, on each side, is a broad gray stripe
emitting gray hairs, and including the black
spiracles ; this gray stripe is reddish on the
anterior segments, the intensity of the red
increasing towards the head. The belly,
legs, and claspers are dingy flesh-coloured.
It feeds on whitethorn, pear, and a variety
of other trees, and is full-fed in September,
when it spins a whitish cocoon in the
crevices of the bark of trees, and therein
changes to a CHRYSALIS, in which state it
remains throughout the winter.

The MOTH appears in June, and is com-
mon everywhere. (The scientific name is
Acronycta Psi.)

Obs. — I am quite unable to distinguish
by words between this and the preceding
species, but am convinced they are distinct,
from the great difference of the caterpillar :
in my specimens, the reniform and orbicular
spots are more clearly defined in Psi than in
tridens ; they are very obscure and difficult
to trace in both, but Psi has most decidedly
the advantage in this respect. Mr. Double-
day, whose almost instinctive perception
and appreciation of difference is familiar to
all who know him, says that he finds little
difficulty in distinguishing the two insects
in their perfect state ; but I am little for-
tunate, or, more properly speaking, less
gifted in the power of discrimination, and
never pronounce on either with feelings of
certainty.

NOCTUAS.

251

427. The Miller (Acronycta leporina).

427. THE MILLEE. — The antennae are
simple, but rather stout ; the fore wings are
gray, with three principal black spots on
the costa, the middle one of which descends
in an elongate linear form towards the
middle of the wing, which it almost reaches ;
beyond the third black costal spot is a
transverse zigzag oblique black line ; the
fringe is very distinctly spotted : the hind
wings are nearly white, with a marginal
series of black dots : the head, thorax, and
body are gray.

The CATERPILLAR, when disturbed, falls
off its food-plant, and for a short time feigns
death, lying in a semicircular posture ; but
its outline is concealed by the length of its
hairs : its colour is pale delicate green,
completely covered with long curved silky
hairs, all of them directed backwards ; these
hairs are either hoary white or delicate pale
canary-colour, or more decidedly yellow, and
the body has a tendency to similar variation
in colour, although its normal tint is green :
there are small erect fascicles of short black
hairs on the back of the fourth and sixth
segments, and single erect black hairs in a
row on both sides. It feeds on birch
(Betula alba\ and is full-fed towards the

end of September, when, concealing itself in
a crevice of the bark, it makes a little exca-
vation, in which it changes to a CHRYSALIS,
and remains in that state all the winter. In
confinement, it will gnaw a hole in cork, or
touch-wood, about the circumference of its
body, and after entering, gum up the mouth
of the hole, so that its ulterior proceedings
are completely concealed ; but in this re-
treat it changes to a CHRYSALIS, and remains
in that state throughout the winter.

The MOTH appears in June, and occurs
occasionally in all our English counties, but
is always considered a rarity. Mr. Birchall
reports it as common in the counties Wick-
low and Kerry, in Ireland. (The scientific
name is Acronycta leporina.)

Obs. — Two supposed species represented
by the first and second figures are here in-
cluded under the name Leporina : these are
A. le porina of Stephens (Illustrations of
British Entomology, Haustellata, vol. iii. p.
35), and A. brady porina of Stephens (Id.
vol. iii. p. 36) ; the third figure represents
a beautiful variety in the rich collection of
Mr. Bond, which has been lent me expressly
for this work.

428. The Sycamore (Acronycta Aceris).

428. THE SYCAMORE. — The antennae are
rather stout, but simple in both sexes ; the
fore wings have the costal margin straight,
the hind margin very slightly scalloped ;
their colour is pale gray, streaked and
mottled with smoky-gray ; the orbicular
spot is clearly defined, the reniform more
vague, and confused with the other mark-

252

BEITISH MOTHS.

ings ; there is a hind-marginal series of
eight black dots, and opposite each of these
the gray fringe is interrupted by a smoke-
coloured streak : the hind wings have the
hind margin slightly scalloped ; they are
white, occasionally but not constantly, with
black wing-rays : the head, thorax, and body
are uniformly gray.

The EGGS are laid in July, but whether on
the leaves, twigs, or trunk of the food- plant,
I am unable to state with any certainty.
The CATERPILLAR is full-fed in August and
September, and then if annoyed, rolls itself
into a compact ring, with the head on one
side like an lulus ; and in this position it
remains for a long time most pertinaciously.
The head is as wide as the body, wider than
the second segment ; the body is almost
uniformly cylindrical, densely clothed with
long hairs, which on each segment converge
at the extremities : along each side is a
slender skinfold passing immediately below
the spiracles : the head is black and shining,
with a white mark on the face, shaped like
an inverted letter V ; the labrum is white.
The body is pale gray, sometimes approach-
ing to flesh-colour, and sometimes having a
tinge of smoke-colour, especially near the
head, with a medio-dorsal series of kite-
shaped, snow-white spots ; eight of these,
those from the fifth and the twelfth seg-
ments, both inclusive, are bordered with
intense velvety-black; three others, those
on the second, third, and fourth segments,
are linear and almost confluent, but still
bordered by the same intense black ; on the
thirteenth segment the black is present, but
the white is wanting : the converging hairs
form a double series of dorsal fascicles, each
series composed of nine fascicles, and ar-
ranged on each side of the medio-dorsal
ornamentation just described ; these fas-
cicles are usually of a uniform dingy orange-
red or salmon-colour, but in some specimens
are ochreous-yellow ; in one specimen I have
examined, six of these fascicles were salmon-
coloured, and the rest ochreous ; all the
other hairs 011 the body are ochreous ; the
spiracles are black, the legs nearly black ;
the claspers dark brown. This caterpillar
feeds on the sycamore (Acer pseudopla-
tanus), often on the loftiest branches ; also

on the horse chestnut (JEsculus hippo-
castanuin), and more rarely on the oak
(Quercus robur*) : when these beautiful
and very conspicuous caterpillars are full-
fed, they may be observed crawling down
the trunks in order to undergo pupation,
which takes place in a web on the surface
of the ground, amongst fallen leaves, under
loose bark, &c. : it remains in the chrysalis
state all the winter.

The MOTH does not appear on the wing
until June, generally between the 8th and
the 23rd, when it may occasionally be found
resting on the trunks of the sycamores. It
occurs every year all round London, and
also in the eastern and south-eastern coun-
ties, as at Ipswich, Norwich, Stowmarket,
Co 'chester, Maidstone, Lewes, Worthing,
and Brighton, and Mr. Birchall records its
occurrence in the county G-alway, in Ireland.
(The scientific name is Acronycta Aceris.)

Obs. — The second figure represents an un-
common variety in Mr. Bond's collection, in
which the entire surface of the fore wings
is suffused with ochreous-brown.

429. The Poplar Gray (A crony eta megacephala).

429. THE POPLAR GRAY. — The antennae
are rather short and rather slender ; they
are simple in both sexes : the fore wings are
pale gray, mottled with darker or smoky-
gray ; the orbicular spot is clearly defined,
the reniform is vague and amalgamated
with a large pale blotch nearer the tip, and
this large blotch is also vague and its boun-
daries undefined : the hind wings are white
with smoky wing- rays, and not unf requently
also with two very vague and indistinct
smoky transverse bars : the head and thorax
are very dark gray, the body pale gray.

The CATERPILLAR rests on the surface of
a leaf in a curved posture, the head being

NOCTUAS.

253

turned on one side and brought into con-
tact with the side of the tenth segment : it
frequently spins together the edges of two
poplar leaves, and thus conceals itself from
observation, generally, however, maintain-
ing the bent posture. The head is por-
rected, and much wider than the second
segment ; indeed, so large as to justify the
name of " megacephala," probably given to
the species on this account ; the body is
rather depressed, of nearly uniform width,
and has the divisions of the segments
clearly marked ; it has several series of
small warts, each of which emits a few
hairs. The anal claspers are rather long
and spreading. The colour of the head is
whitish, with a large and almost circular
black blotch on each cheek ; this is enclosed
in a whitish circle, and this again in a black
circle ; the clypeus is included in a black
V-shaped mark ; the dorsal area of the
body is smoky-black with a slender medio-
dorsal line extending from the head to the
fifth segment ; the second, third, and fourth
segments have a whitish spot on each side
of this median line ; the fifth segment has
a white spot and a red spot on each side of
it; the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and
tenth segments have each two longitudinal
compound marks, each composed of four
closely approximate spots, the first of which
is white, the second and third reddish, and
the fourth white ; the eleventh segment has
a rnedio-dorsal whitish blotch, and the
twelfth segment four white spots ; the
thirteenth segment and its claspers are
dingy -white ; the ventral area, legs, and
ventral claspers are pale smoke-colour,
tinged with pink. The caterpillar feeds on
several species of poplar. I found it com-
monly on the tacamahack poplar (Populus
balsamifera) , at Leominster, in July and
August, 1866 ; in the latter month it ap-
peared to be full-fed. In order to undergo
pupation, it creeps into the very smallest
chinks of the bark of the trees on which it
has been feeding : Mr. Greene gives the
following directions for finding the chrys-
alis : — " Break off every bit of loose bark
with the point of the trowel, and the
chrysalis-case, which with the chrysalis
closely resembles that of Acronycta Psi,

will be found firmly glued to the surface :
the cocoon is formed of decayed wood."
Guenee also informs us that the readiest
way to obtain this species is to search the
bark of poplars and aspens.

The MOTH appears in June, and is of
common occurrence in most of our English
counties. Mr. Birchall says it is also com-
mon in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Acronycta megacephala.)

430. The Grisctte (Acronycta striyosa).

430. THE GRISETTE. — This insect is
smaller and more slender than its congeners :
the antennae are very slender ; the fore
wings are pale gray, marbled with smoky-
gray, and having at the base of the inner
margin an ochreous linear patch, the two
combining to form on the closed wing an
ochreous spot at the base of the thorax :
the costal and hind margins are spotted
with smoke-colour ; the orbicular and reni-
form spots are distiuct, and there is a
conspicuous angled line between the reni-
form spot and the hind margin : the hind
wings are very pale gray, with a rather
darker but still very pale discoidal spot, and
transverse median bar: the head, thorax,
and body are gray.

The EGGS are laid at the end of June, on
the twigs of whitethorn, more particularly
in old whitethorn hedges, growing in chalky
districts throughout the neighbourhood of
Cambridge ; the CATERPILLAR emerges in
July, and is usually full-fed at the end of
August, or beginning of September. The
head is porrected, fiat, of about the same
width as the second segment ; the body is
of nearly uniform width throughout ; the
segments are strongly pronounced, and the
divisions between them deeply incised ;
there is a double series of bristle-bearing
warts down the back — two each on the
third, fourth, sixth, seventh, and tenth seg-
ments ; four each on the fifth, eighth, ninth,
eleventh, and twelfth segments. The colour

254

BEITISH MOTHS.

of the head is umber-brown, with very dark
reticulations on the cheeks ; the colour of
the body is delicate apple-green, with a
well-marked niedio-dorsal stripe, of a rich
purple-brown colour ; this is dilated on the
second segment immediately behind the
head, also on the fifth, eighth, and ninth
segments ; thence it decreases in width, and
on the twelfth and thirteenth segments is
very narrow ; the spiracles are white, in a
brown ring; the legs and claspers green,
red-brown at the extremities ; when full-
fed, it spins together any dead leaves or
rubbish within its reach, or buries itself in
decayed wood, if it have the opportunity ;
and thus concealed it changes to a CHRYS-
ALIS, and remains in that state through-
out the winter.

The MOTH appears on the wing during
June and July. I have received it from
Cambridge, but know of no other locality.
(The scientific name is Acronycta strigosa.)

431. The Alder (Acronycta Alni).

431. The fore wings are gray, with a very
large dark brown, almost black, blotch
which occupies nearly half of the wing,
extending from the middle of the base to
the hind margin, near the anal angle, and
covering all the inner margin, excepting a
very small space at the basal, and another
at the anal angle, both of which are gray :
this dark blotch has also a broad band or
branch, which connects it with the middle
of the costal margin : the areas not occu-
pied by this blotch are two, the first
occupying broadly the basal half of the
costal margin, the second being somewhat
triangular and apical, both of them are
beautifully marked with darker shades ;
the fringe is spotted ; the reniform spot is
indicated by a pale gray outline ; the orbi-
cular is scarcely perceptible j the hind wings
are white, with smoky discoidal spot, wing-

rays and apical angle, the fringe is spotted ;
the head is gray, the antennae and eyes
black ; the thorax gray, with a black streak
at the base of the wings ; the abdomen
gray, inclining to smoky.

The CATERPILLAR rests in a nearly straight
position, and does not fall from its food-
plant when disturbed, or exhibit any symp-
toms of uneasiness when handled ; its head
is about equal in breadth to the second
segment, and intensely glossy ; the body is
almost uniformly cylindrical, the segmental
divisions clearly indicated The colour of
the head is black, of the body intense
purple-black, without gloss, and having in
most specimens a medio-dorsal series of
yellowish markings, one ou each segment ;
these are transverse and oblong, and in
many specimens bordered with white ; the
presence of these markings is not constant,
and some entomologists have figured the
caterpillar only exhibiting these on the
second and twelfth segments ; each seg-
ment has a process or appendage on each
side resembling a black horse-hair dilated
and flattened at the tip : the appearance of
these appendages is so remarkable that it
is impossible to mistake this caterpillar for
any other ; when full-fed, it sometimes spins
together the leaves of its food-plant ; some-
times it excavates a dead bramble stick ; and
in either situation changes to a CHRYSALIS
of a rich deep chestnut-brown colour. With
regard to the food-plant of the caterpillar,
there is considerable doubt ; it has been
found in confinement to eat whitethorn
(Cratsegus oxyacantha) , and alder (Ainu"
glutiiiosa), but I am not certain whether it
has been ascertained to eat either of these
in a perfectly natural condition.

The MOTH appears in June, and has been
found occasionally in most of our English
counties, and Mr. Birchall records the
occurrence of a single specimen from the
county Wicklow, in Ireland, but it has
always been regarded as a great rarity.
(The scientific name is Acronycta Alni.)

Obs. — The extraordinary caterpillar of this
moth has no affinity with any others of the
genus ; indeed, the great diversity in the
caterpillars of the Acronyctse is very re-
markable.

NOCTUAS.

255

432. The Coronet (A crony eta Ligustri).

432. THE CORONET. — The antennae are
simple, but stouter in the male than in the
female ; the colour of the fore wings is
dark rich brown, sometimes with a tinge of
green, and always marbled and mottled ;
the orbicular spot is indicated by a white
outline ; the reniform has a white exterior
border, and beyond it is a large whitish
blotch, which has a double black outline :
the hind wings are brown-gray : the thorax,
like the fore wings, is marbled with dark
brown and white ; the body, like the hind
wings, is brown-gray.

The CATERPILLAR will not roll in a ring
when handled. The head is of a delicate
green, almost transparent, and very shining ;
the mouth dark brown, or almost black.
The body is of a glaucous- green, with a
very narrow median white stripe down the
back, not always extending to the second
or thirteenth segment ; there is another
stripe, rather broader than the median
stripe, and of a yellowish white on each
side, extending from the head the entire
length of the caterpillar ; this is about
equidistant between the dorsal stripe and
the spiracles ; each segment emits eight,
ten, or twelve delicate silky-looking bristles.
It feeds principally on ash (Fraxinus ex-
celsior), but also sometimes on privet
(Ligustrum vulgare) , and is full-fed towards
the end of September, when it buries under
the moss growing on the trunks of ash-
trees. Mr. Greene says the CHRYSALIS is
to be found abundantly in such situations,
and directs that the moss must be torn off
very carefully, when the chrysalis-case,
which is black and very tough (not hard),
will, in most cases, be found adhering to
the moss ; if there be no moss, examine
the trunk. There are often long perpen-
dicular slits in the bark of ash-trees, and
this is a favourite retreat of this species.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June
and July, and is considered moderately
common both in England and Ireland. (The
scientific name is Acronycta Ligustri.)

433. The Knot-^rass {Acronycta Rumicis).

433. THE KNOT-(TRASS. — The antennae
are simple in both sexes, but rather stouter
in the male ; the colour of the fore wings
is dark gray, marbled and mottled with
black : the orbicular and reniform spots
are visible in outline, but are indistinct;
there are two rather small and closely
approximate white spots placed transversely
near the hind margin at two-thirds of the
distance between the base and anal angle :
the hind wings are brown-gray, the base
and fringe being paler : the thorax is mot-
tled and marbled with pale gray, almost
white, and dark gray, almost black : the
body is brown- gray.

The EGGS are laid on the leaves of very
many low herbaceous plants in May or
June, and the CATERPILLAR is full-fed by
the second week in July : it then rests in a
nearly straight position, but with the head
somewhat bent under the anterior seg-
ments : when annoyed, it falls from its
food-plant feigning death and rolls in a
ring, but very soon unrolls and commences
crawling with some rapidity. The head is
rather narrower than the second segment ;
and manifestly narrower than those which
follow ; the body is obese, the segments
swollen, the incisions between them deep ;
on every segment is a transverse series" of
ten warts, all somewhat dilated and flat-
tened, and each emitting a fascicle of
spreading bristles. The colour of the head

256

BKITISH MOTHS.

is black with clearly defined rich brown
markings on each side, and a brown mark
on the face in the form of an inverted letter
V : the body is richly adorned with diversi-
fied colours, somewhat after the fashion of
tesselated pavement : each segment from
the fourth to the twelfth, both inclusive,
has on its anterior margin a medio-dorsal
orange spot, on each side of which is an in-
tensely black velvety spot ; these two being
connected behind the orange spot, and com-
pletely enclosing it : on each side of the
black spot is a somewhat quadrate pure
white spot, the hinder margin of which
terminates in a wart, also white ; the lateral
surface below the series of white spots is
smoke-colour delicately lined and irrorated
wii-h burnt-sienna brown ; this lateral region
contains the spiracles, which are pure white
surrounded with intense velvety - black ;
there are also on each segment three warts,
two of which are above the spiracle and
brown, the third below the spiracle and
orange-red, being seated in a conspicuous
spot of the same showy colour ; below the
spiracles and extending from the fifth to
the twelfth segment is a zigzag and moder-
ately wide pure white stripe, interrupted by
the orange spots just described ; the pos-
terior half of the dorsal surface of each
segment is orange-brown irregularly lined
with black ; the ventral surface, logs, and
claspers are smoke-coloured, approaching
to pitchy -red : the fifth wart on each side
is situated at the base of a clasper or in a
corresponding site, when the clasper is
absent ; it is smoke-coloured ; all the bristles
are red-brown. It feeds on the common
knot-grass (Polygonum aviculare), dock, and
strawberry, both wild and cultivated, and
many other plants : it is particularly fond
of those strawberries which are cultivated
under the name of " alpine : " when full-
fed, it spins a cocoon near the ground and
therein turns a CHRYSALIS, and remains in
that state during the whiter.

In May and June the MOTH appears on
the wing, and is very common both in
England and Ireland, and Mr. Douglas
Robinson informs me it is taken in Kirk-
cudbrightshire, in Scotland. (The scientific
name is Acronycta Rumicis.)

Obs. — Mr. Greening, of Warrington, had
bred a considerable number of this species,
smaller and darker than usual ; and has
most kindly presented some to me for figur-
ing in this work : this variety is represented
in the second figure.

434. The Scarce Dagger (Acronycta auricoma).

434. THE SCARCE DAGGER. — The antennae
are simple ; the colour of the fore wings is
dingy- gray mottled with darker markings,
but all of them confused and indistinct ;
the orbicular spot is surrounded by a paler
ring, and usually has a black dot in the
centre ; the reniform is scarcely discernible ;
there is a black streak at the base of the
wing and another near the anal angle, both
very obscure : the hind wings are pale
brown-gray with pale gray fringe : the head
and thorax are of the colour of the fore
wings ; the body of the colour of the hind
wings.

The CATERPILLAR rests in nearly a straight
position, but falls off its food- plant, assum-
ing a crescentic form when disturbed ; its
head is manifestly narrower than the second
segment, into which it is partially received
when at rest, but porrected when crawling ;
the body is of nearly equal size throughout,
but exhibits the division of the segments
in a very decided manner ; each segment
has six or eight warts, each of which emits
a fascicle of radiating hairs ; four of these
warts forming a square on the back, are
more conspicuous than the rest ; on the
thoracic segments the dorsal warts form a
transverse series : the head is black and
shining ; the body smoky-gray with a broad
black band round each segment ; the warts
are orange-coloured, the hairs they emit are
yellowish ; the spiracles are white ; the ven-
tral is paler than the dorsal area, but of the
same smoky-gray colour. It feeds on bram-
ble (Rubus fruticosus) and is full-fed tie

NOCTUAS.

25T

middle of J'lly, when it spins a silken cocoon
cm the underside of a bramble-leaf, and therein
turns to a dark brown CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH appears in about a fortnight and
is extremely local, being almost confined to
the counties of Kent and Sussex. (The sci-
entific name is Acronycta auricoma.)

Obs. Mr. Doubleday thinks this species
may be double-brooded : the moth certainly
appears in May from chrysalids of the pre-
ceding autumn.

435. The Light Knot-Grass (Acronycta

Menyanthidis) .

435. THE LIGHT KNOT-GRASS. — The an-
tennae are simple, but stouter in the males
than in the females ; they always possess an
ochreous tint : the colour of the fore wings is
pale gray with black markings, as follows : — at
the middle of the base is a short streak which
generally unites with an angulated transverse
line crossing the wing very near the base;
beyond the middle is a second and bent line;
betwee^ +hese two lines are the two discoidal

spots, the orbicular is generally a small aiud
perfectly circular ring, but sometimes it is a
solid spot having no pale central area; the
reniform is large but less clearly defined ; the
hind-marginal area of the wing is darker than
the median or basal areas : the costal margin
and fringe are spotted : all these markings
are subject to be suffused and indistinct : the
hind wings are brewn-gray with a whitish
fringe : the head is gray ; the thorax gray,
with a black line on each side at the base of
the wing ; the body is gray.

The CATERPILLAR rests in a nearly straight
position on the twigs of the sweet-gale (My-
rica gale), on the leaves of which shrub it
feeds : the head is rather narrower than the
second segment ; the body is of almost uni-
form substance throughout, and rather obese,
the segment swollen in the middle, the inci-
sions between them very decided ; each seg-
ment has a transverse series of warts, and
each wart emits a radiating fascicle of longish
hairs : the colour of head, body, legs, and
claspers is black, excepting the warts which
are bluish, the spiracles which are white, and
an interrupted stripe below them which is
bright red.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June,
and has occurred in most of those boggy dis-
tricts in England where the sweet-gale grows.
(The scientific name is Acronycta Menyan-
thidis.)

Obs. I am indebted to Mr. Bond for the
loan of the beautiful varieties represented in
the third and fourth figures.

436 The Sweet-gale Moth (Acronycta Myricce).

436. THE SWEET-GALE MOTH. — The anten-
nae are slender and simple; the costal margin of

M 17

258

BRITISH MOTHS.

the fore -mngs straight, the tip rather prolonged
and rather pointed, the hind margin rather
oblique ; their colour is dark lead-coloured
gray, mottled and marbled ; at the base of the
inner margin is a slender dash of white ; the
orbicular and reniform spots ai'e visible in
outline only ; the fringe is spotted : the hind
winga are white in the male with darker
wing-rays and a marginal series of dark dots :
darksmoky -brown, almost black, in the female,
with white fringe : the head, thorax, and body
are of the same colour as the fore wings.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May and
June, and occurs plentifully at Rannoch, in
Scotland, and has also been taken at Killai-ney,
in Ireland, but hitherto not in England. (The
scientific name is Acronycta Myricce.}

437. The Powdered Wainscot (Simyra v&nosa).

437. THE POWDERED WAINSCOT. — The
antennae are almost simple in both sexes, but
those of the male are rather stouter than those
of the female : the fore wings are slightly
arched on the costa, and very sharply pointed
at the tip; their colour is white, approaching
to cream colour, with a narrow longitudinal
stripe of dark brown originating at the base
of the wing, and running along the middle of
the wing, but not quite reaching the hind
margin : the whole area of the wing is more
or less thickly sprinkled with brown dots :
the hind wings are snowy white : the head
and thorax are creamy white, the body snowy
white.

The EGG is laid on the leaves and stems
of the common reed (Arundo Phragmites), in
June, and the young CATERPILLARS emerge in
about fourteen days and feed on that plant.

The full-grown caterpillar rests in a nearly
straight position on the reed, but when an-
noyed rolls itself in a very compact ring and

falls to the ground. The head is rawer nar-
rower than the body, and very glabrous ; t/ie
body is cylindrical with the segmeatal divi-
sions clearly indicated, and each segment has
a transverse seiies of prominent warts, each
wart crowned with a fascicle of radiating
hairs. The colour of the head is black, with
a white V-shaped mark on the face, two
whitish lines on the crown, a whitish blotch
in the middle of each cheek, and a conspi-
cuous white base to the antennal papillae ;
the colour of the body is varied ; there is a
broadish but irregular medio-dorsal black
stripe, then a lateral stripe of a creamy-
white colour, in which are situated two red-
dish warts in each segment, the bristles
emitted by the warts being black ; then fol-
lows a broad gray or mottled stripe on each
side ; this is really composed of black and
white spots, the mixture of which gives the
gray colour, this stripe also contains a wart
on each segment, and below this wart a white
spiracle ; below this broad mottled stripe is
the skin-fold, which is white with a reddish
wart-like spot on each segment ; the ventral
area is honey-yellow, the legs variegated and
shining ; the claspers honey-yellow tinged
with green, semi-transparent, and withou
gloss. When full fed it draws together th'
edges of one of the broad leaves of the reed
and spins a perfectly white cocoon on the
upper surface of the leaf, but before this
habitation is finally closed, it collects a num-
ber of fragments of the leaves, and in some
instances those of smaller grasses, and laying
them side by side with much care, skill, and
neatness, binds them together with silk, and
thus forms a kind of roof to protect the co-
coon in which it changes to a CHRYSALIS, and
in which also it has to pass the winter.

The MOTH appears OH the wing about mid-
summer, and has been found only in the fen
districts of Cambridgeshire. Both the cater-
pillar and cocoon are very conspicuous ob-
jects on the reeds, and both, as well as the
perfect insect, exhibit many striking simi-
larities to some of the Ursines. (The scien-
tific name is £</t;«yra v&nosa.)

NOCTUAS.

259

438. Tho Brown-line Bright-eye (Leucania conigera).

438. THE BROWN-LINE BRIGHT-EYE. — The
antennae are slightly ciliated in the male,
simple in the female : the fore wings have the
costal margin very straight, the tip almost
pointed; their colour is raw sienna-brown with
two slender transverse umber-brown lines, the
first of which originates on the costa at about
a quarter of the distance from the base towards
the tip ; it runs obliquely nearly to the
middle of the wing, and then turns abruptly
to the inner margin, and joins it at a third of
the distance between the base and anal angle ;
the second originates on the costa at three-
fourths of its length, and runs obliquely
towards the inner margin, and joins it at two-
thirds of the distance between the base
and anal angle ; the orbicular and reniform
spots are between these two lines, the orbi-
cular scarcely perceptible, the reniform very
conspicuous and shaped something like the
letter S, the upper portion being ochreous, the
lower brilliantly white : the hind wings are
gray -brown with a brick-dusty tinge : the
head and thorax are of the same colour as
the fore wings, the body of the same colour
as the hind wings.

The CATERPI LL AR has been found in May, and
is described in the third volume of the JKnto-
mologixts' Monthly Magazine, by Mr. Buckler.
Six specimens were received by that gentle-
man, three of them of a bright ochrsous tint,
and the other three were of an almost uniform
gray colour. It is nearly cylindrical in form,
but tapers slightly at the anterior extremity :
in the ochreous variety, Mr. Buckland says,
" The colour of the back is deep ochreous, the
dorsal line pale sulplnir-yellow, enclosed on
either side by a black line, and well defined
in its entire length. The sub-dorsal line

rather broad, of equal width, and uninter-
ruptedly black throughout, followed by a pale
yellow line, finely edged below with black ;
next, a stripe of pale ochreous, then another
pale yellow line finely edged above with
black, and followed by a broad stripe of deep
ochreous, and broadly edged with black, both
above and below, the black spiracles being
along the lower edge. Above the legs is a
stripe of pale dull ochreous, the belly and
claspers being slightly darker, the anterior
pairs of black dots visible only on the back of
each segment. The head is brownish, streaked,
and mottled with black. The other variety is
of a brownish-gray tint, with all the lines and
stripes less distinct, but all disposed in the
same order as above described ; but the yellow
lines of the former are, in these, represented
by lines of gray, and the ground colour of the
back is brownish-gray." It feeds on several
grasses, preferring that plague of the gardener
called couch-grass, spear- grass, or squitch
(Triticum repens), and is full fed at the end
of May.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July ; it is
common and generally distributed in England,
Scotland and Ireland. (The scientific name
is Leucania conigera.)

439. The Delicate (Leucania vitellina).

439. THEDBLICATE.— The antennae are very
slightly pubescent in the male : the fore wings
are straight on the costa and rather blunt at
the tip ; their colour is delicately pale ochre-
ous, the reniform spot and three slender zigzag
transverse lines being slightly darker, indeed,
tinged with brown ; the first of these trans-
verse lines crosses the wing half way between
the base and the reniform spot, and is nearly
direct, but very indistinct, indeed scarcely
perceptible; the second and third are very

BRITISH MOTHS.

oblique, and divide the area between the reni-
form and hind margin into three nearly equal
parts ; the wing-rays are slightly darker than
the ground colour : the hind wings are very
pale ochreous white, the wing-rays are slightly
darker : the head and thorax are of the most
delicate ochreous ; the body silky.

The CATERPILLAR has been minutely
described and most carefully figured in
Boisduval's Collection des Chenilles; and I
can obtain no information respecting "it from
any other source : it rests on a blade of grass
in a perfectly straight position ; the head is
small, manifestly narrower than the second
segment; the body is nearly uniformly cylin-
drical from the fourth segment to the eleventh
but tapers at both extremities ; the colour of
the head is ferruginous-brown reticulated with
black ; of the body a very pale reddish browi ;
there are two narrow white stripes on each
side, and each of these stripes is slightly inter-
rupted at the incisions of the segments, and
also bordered on both sides with pale brown;
below these are the spiracles quite black,
and below the spiracles is a broader stripe
very pale, but not so nearly white as those
already described ; and below this is a pale
brown stripe which touches the legs and
claspers ; the ventral is paler than the dorsal
area, and the legs and claspers are concolorous
with the belly : the text describes the first
and last segments as having a reddish dorsal
plate, but the figure does not exhibit this
character. It is found during winter and at
the beginning of spring feeding on grasses,
and undergoes pupation in February, March,
and April, buried in the earth, but without
spinning a cocoon : the CHRYSALIS is of a dull
reddish-brown colour, and is furnished at the
caudal extremity with a number of small
hooks, two of which are larger than the others,
distant from each other and parallel.

Two specimens only of this delicate insect
have been taken in England, both of them at
Brighton, by Mr. Thorncroft, who has kindly
presented one to my collection with the view
of offering all entomologists the opportunity
of examining it. (The scientific name is
£e>ucania vitellina.)

440. The Double-line (Lcncania turca).

440. THE DOUBLE-LINE. — The antennae are
very slightly pubescent in the male, simple in
the female : the fore wings are dull brick-
dust red with two transverse dark brown lines :
the first is slightly waved, but its direction is
nearly straight; the second is oblique and
slightly waved near the inner margin; the
orbicular spot is wanting ; the reniform spot
is narrow, crescentic and whitish : the hind
wings are brown in the disk, reddish round
the margins : the head and thorax are of the
same colour as the fore wings, the body of
grayish brown, more or less inclining to brick-
dust red.

Guenee says that the CATERPILLAR is of
a yellowish gray colour, with a slender whitish
medio-dorsal stripe, and a lateral stripe in the
region of the spiracles which divides the
caterpillar into two colours, the whole of the
ventral being decidedly paler than the dorsal
area ; there is also a very imperfect series of
dorsal lozenges, which are brighter on each
side : the head is pale, horny, shining, and
unspotted ; the spiracles are very obvious,
each has a black circumscription : the legs are
of the same colour as the body. It feeds in
February and March on the grasses which
grow in woods, more particularly on the spring
wood-rush (Luzula vernalis), a species which
does not occur under that name in the British
flora. In Britain, Luzula pilosa and L. cam-
pestris, two very common species of wood-rush,
are likely to be its food-plants.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, ana
has been taken principally on our south coast,
as at Folkestone, Rye, Worthing, Lewes,
Brighton, and in the New Forest of Hamp-
shire. It occurs at Epping, but is rare ; it
was formerly abundant in Hainault Forest
(The scientific name is Leucamo, turca,)

NOCTUAS.

261

44>1. The Clay (Leucania lithargyria).

441. THE CLAY. — The antennae are slightly
pubescent in the male, simple in the female :
bl.3 fore wings are reddish-gray, the red having
a brick-dust tinge ; there is a bent transverse
series of ten or eleven brown dots curving
across the wing nearly pai'allel with the hind
margin ; the orbicular spot is absent ; the
reniform is reduced to a small whitish dot :
the hind wings are smoky-brown, the fringe
paler : the head, thorax, and body, are nearly
of the same colour as the fore wings.

The Rev. H. Harpur Crewe has described
the CATERPILLAR in the Zoologist for 1861, as
under : — " The ground colour is ochreous or
reddish-drab, the central dorsal line slender
and blackish, with a white centre ; the sub-
dorsal lines are broad and deep black, bordered
with white on the lower side ; between the
dorsal and sub-dorsal lines is a very slender in-
distinct dusky line. The spiracles are black in a
whitish ring ; and between the latter and the
sub-dorsal lines is a whitish waved line edged
with black -, between the spiracles and legs
are two conspicuous yellow lines ; the belly is
destitute of spots or markings : the sub-dorsal
lines vary much in intensity of colour : it
feeds by night, in April or May, on various
species of grass, concealing itself by day, and
crawling up the blades as soon as it is dark :
it is full-fed from the middle to the end of
May. The CHRYSALIS is of a bright red
colour, and is enclosed in an earthen cocoon."

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
is common in almost every part of England,
Ireland, and Scotland. It has a remarkably
delicate appearance, the colours being ex-
quisitely blended. (The scientific name is
Leucania lithargyria.)

442. The American Wainscot (Leucania extranea).

442. THE AMERICAN WAINSCOT. — M. Guenee
says that the species varies greatly in size, but
is always larger than Leucania lithay^ria ;
the circumscription of the wings is, how ever,
altogether different, and rather resembles -hat
of Heliothis armigera and H. peltigera ; the
fore wings are very pointed at the tip ; their
colour is gray, more or less tinged with red,
but sometimes whitish, thickly sprinkled with
black scales ; the two discoidal spots are
detached, and of a light colour, more or less
tinged with red; below the reniform spot there
is a white dot indistinctly surrounded with
black : there is no trace of lines, but the series
of black dots which represents the elbowed
line, is often very distinct ; an oblique black
streak which originates in this series ascends
to the tip of the wing, and this, in conjunction
with the form of the wing, is a principal
characteristic of the species : the hind wings
are semi-transparent and gray, with the hind
border and wing-rays blackish ; there is
scarcely any difference in the sexes.

The MOTH appears on the wing in Septem-
ber ; Mr. Bond captured one specimen at
sugar at Freshwater, in the Isle of Wight, on
the 6th of that month, 1859. It has always
been considered an American insect. (The
scientific name is Leucania extranea.^

443. The Obscure Wainscot (Leucania obsolete).

443. THE OBSCURE WAINSCOT. — The an-
tennae are slightly ciliat in the male, sirnpi*

262

BRITISH MOTHS.

in the female ; the fore wings are pale wains-
cot-brown, the wing-rays being a shade lighter;
on each side of each ray is a delicate line of
darker brown, and in the interspace between
the rays is a similar slender brown line. The
median wing-ray has a pale, almost white spot
at its extremity, and beyondthis is a trans verse
series of eight or nine black dots ; these descend
as far as the third or fourth in a direct line
from the costa, and then trend obliquely to the
middle of the inner margin : the hind wings
are almost white, with the wing-rays and an
apical radiating cloud smoky-brown ; on the
extreme margin is a series of dark brown
dots : the hind wings are pale gray with dark
brown rays, and a brown cloud on the hind
margin : the head and thorax are exactly the
same tint as the ground colour of the fore
wings ; the body is much paler, almost white.

Guenee describes the CATERPILLAR as of a
grayish-yellow colour with a tinge of red,
which is more perceptible at the interstices of
the segments where the skin is folded ; there
is a slender white medio-dorsal stripe, bordered
on each side with deep transparent green, and
also a slender whitish lateral stripe ; the area
between the medio-dorsal and lateral stripe is
marbled, and is longitudinally divided by
another broader and less clearly defined stripe;
the spiracular stripe is continuous and bright ;
the spiracles are black with a dingy gray
centre; the head is pale, reticulated with
brown, and having the upper margin of the
divisions darker; the neck is gray-brown
with three white lines. It feeds by night,
in August and September, on the leaves of
the common reed (Arundo Phragmites), and
conceals itself by day in the hollow stems of
the reed, which it fills with its green excre-
ment : at the approach of winter it loses its
colour, and passes the whole of that season
in the reed-stems, only changing to a chrysalis
in the following spring.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June,
and occurs commonly round London in reed-
beds, more especially on the banks of the
Thames : Mr. Birchall records its having been
taken in the Coiinty Wicklow, in Ireland, by

Mr. Bristow. (The scientific name is Leucania
obsoleta.}

444. The Cosmopolitan (Leucania, Loreyi).

444. THE COSMOPOLITAN. — The palpi are
rather long and porrected, the terminal joint
being short and naked : the antennae are
simple in both sexes : the fore wings are
nearly straight on the costa, but slightly
bent and blunt at the tip; their colour is
pale wainscot-brown with a darker median
dash, which extends from the base beyond
the middle of the wing, and includes a white
spot, which represents the reniform ; a simi-
larly coloured shade extends obliquely from
the tip towards the middle of the wing, but
does not reach the median dash ; the upper
boundary of this oblique shade is sufficiently
definite, but the lower vanishes in the hind-
marginal area; there is a curved series of
small black dots half way between the cen-
tral white spot and the hind margin ; the
fringe is concolorous with the hind-marginal
area ; the hind wings have their hind margin
slightly scalloped ; their colour is very pale
with darker wing-rays, which, in the female,
expand into undefined spots on the hind
margin : the head and thorax are pale wains-
! cot brown : the body is much paler.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July,
and is common to almost all countries — the
south of Europe, Africa, Asia, the islands of
the eastern archipelago, and South America.
In Britain it has only occurred twice, two
specimens having been taken on the race-
course near Brighton by Mr. Thorncroft, one
of our most energetic and successful ento-
mologists. (The scientific name is Leucania
Loreyi.)

NOCTUAS.

263

445. The Shore Wainscot (Leucania littoralis).

445. THE SHORE WAINSCOT. — The antennae
are almost simple in the male, quite so in the
female : the fore wings are blunt at the tip,
their colour is a most delicate isabelline brown,
with a median longitudinal slender but con-
spicuous white line, extending from the base
to the middle of the hind margin ; this white
line near its middle emits a short branch
towards the anal angle ; the sides of this white
line are darker brown than the rest of the
disk : the hind wings are white, the rays being
slightly darker : the head and thorax are of
the same colour as the fore wings, the body
paler.

We are indebted to M. Mabille for our
knowledge of the life-history of this species :
it is published in the " Annals of the Entomo-
logical Society of France," in the first quartei-ly
part for 1863. The EGG is laid in July among
the grasses which grow on the sand-hills by
the sea-side, and the young caterpillar, emerg-
ing before the winter, hybernates, burying
itself in the loose sand : in early spring it
eats very little and grows very slowly ; it is
of a very delicate constitution, and when in
confinement, the accidental omission of any of
the attentions necessary for its welfare, is at
once fatal to its existence ; as spring advances
it feeds more freely, and grows more rapidly,
but never thinks of leaving the vicinity of its
birth-place, when its presence is rendered
apparent by the abundance of its yellow-
green excrement on the sand : if this be
absent, the entomologist has no chance of
finding the caterpillar. The full-grown
caterpillar has a flattened porrected head,
rather wider than the second segment, and
rather broader at the mouth than on the
crown ; the body is nearly cylindrical, but is
slightly attenuated at both extremities ; the

divisions of the segments are clearly defined,
and the segments themselves are full and
tumid; there is a glabrous plate longitudinally
divided on the back of the second segment :
the colour of the head is shining testaceous-
brown with a white line down the face, and
a white neck j the plate on the second seg-
ment is also shining testaceous-brown ; the
body is pale gray tinged with red, but varies
in different individuals, some having a brighter
tint, others are of a plain ashy-gray colour :
the dorsal area is gray intersected by a narrow
white medio-dorsal stripe, and bounded on
each side by a compound stripe, the middle
portion of which is pale, the two borders
composed of elongate dark markings; this
compound stripe is followed by a narrow
white stripe, and this again by a narrow
isabelline-brown stripe : then another white
stripe and another isabelline stripe ; and,
lastly, there is a broad milky-white stripe,
which includes the black spiracles ; below
this the colour is testaceous-gray, a colour
which also pervades the claspers ; the ventral
area is tinged with green. In a state of
nature, this caterpillar feeds exclusively on
the maritime grass, so valuable, in an econo-
mical point of view, in binding the sandy
dunes of our sea-shores, and so familiarly
known under the names of "marram," "mat-
weed," and " sea-reed " (Ammophila arundi-
naceci), but in confinement it will eat sedges
(Carex riparia and C. sylvatica). When full-
grown, it emits a gummy fluid from its mouth,
and, mingling this with the loose grains of
dry sand, constructs therewith a cocoon rather
larger than a partridge's egg ; the grains of
sand are arranged with some regularity on
the outside of this cocoon, but its powers of
cohesion are very limited, and the contour of
the cocoon is easily disturbed : in the interior
the caterpillar changes to an elongate CHRY-
SALIS, of a bright yellow tint, having still
paler wing cases : it remains in the chrysalis
state from fifteen to twenty days.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June*
and July, and is very local in England; it has
been taken on the sand-hills at New Brighton,
in Cheshire, and abundantly at Lytham, in

•264

BRITISH MOTHS.

Lancashire, in the Isle of Wight, and on the
east coast of Ireland. (The scientific name is
Leucania littoralis.)

446. The Striped Wainscot (Leucania pudorina) .

446. THE STRIPED WAINSCOT. — The an-
tennae of the male are slightly ciliated; the fore
wings have thecosta straight, the tip blunt, and
the hind margin rather arched ; their colour is
ochreous, strongly tinged with a rosy hue, and
thickly sprinkled with dark-brown scales which
occupy the wing-rays ; on the upper side of
the median ray these dark scales are numerous
and crowded, and form a rather conspicuous
streak along the middle of the wing ; they are
also more crowded towards the costal and hind
margins, near the latter forming decided
markings which diminish to points towards
the central disk : the hind wings are dingy
gray-brown ; the head and thorax are of the
same colour as the fore wings; the base of
the body is rather paler; the rest of the body
inclining to a reddish tint.

The EGGS are laid on the common reed
(Arundo Phragmites) and on several grasses on
which the CATERPILLAR feeds. The full-grown
caterpillar rests in a perfectly straight position
and when disturbed falls off its food plant and
forms a lax ring, but almost immediately un-
folds to resume the straight position. The
head is porrected, and of the same width as
the second segment: the body is obese, cylin-
drical, and tapers towards the anterior ex-
tremity. The colour of the head and body is
pale wainscot brown : the head being glabrous,
and having darker reticulated markings, and
two approximate longitudinal dark stripes on
the face, which diverge at the clypeus ; the
body has two closely approximate but very

narrow and very indistint medio-dorsal black
stripes, exterior to which are numerous very
delicate reticulated or rivulet markings of a
smoky black colour ; again, exterior to the
somewhat wide space occupied by these, is a
distinct double stripe on each side, of a dark
smoke-colour, almost black; this has the ex-
terior margin darker than the interior margin,
and bounded by a narrow lighter stripe, which
makes it still more conspicuous; exterior to
this are four lateral stripes, each composed of
multitudinous delicate markings, the lowest
on each side containing the perfectly black
spiracle ; below the spiracles is a broader
pale stripe, and then a delicately reticulated
surface of rather a darker hue ; each segment
has two very small but intensely black dots
on its dorsal surface, equidistant from the
double medio-dorsal stripe and the next dark
stripe; and ranged along each side is a series
of black dots, one above and another behind
each spiracle ; and similar black dots occur
below the lowest lateral stripe; the ventral
surface, legs, and claspers, are of the same
pale wainscot-brown as the general dorsal
surface.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
and has been taken in the southern, eastern,
and northern counties of England, and Mr.
Birchall says it is abundant at Killarney, in
Ireland. (The scientific name is Leuccmia
pudorina.}

447. The Shoulder-striped Wainscot (Leucania,

Comma) .

447. THE SHOULDER-STRIPED WAINSCOT. —
The antennae of the male are slightly pubes-
cent ; the fore wings are rather rounded a.t
the tip ; their colour is wainscot-brown with
a whitish dash under the costa, originating at
the base and extending nearly to the tip of
the win-g ; the median wing-ray is white,

NOCTUAS.

265

and the parallel rays running to the hind
margin are pale ; there is a dark brown dash
beneath the median ray, and in each inter-
space between the parallel wing-rays is a
shorter dash of the same colour: the hind
wings are pale smoky brown gradually growing
darker towards the fringe, which is lighter;
the rays are darker: the head, thorax, and
body are wainscot-brown.

The EGG is laid on cock's-foot grass (Dactylis
glonierata) and other grasses, in June, and the
CATERPILLAR probably hybernates, not being
full-fed until the following spring; it feeds
almost exclusively by night, reposing t>y day
near the ground, on the stem of its food-
plant, in a perfectly straight position : when
annoyed, it rolls itself in a compact ring,
falling to the ground and remaining concealed
at the roots of the grasses. The head is
semi-globose, of the same breadth as the
second segment ; the body is almost uniformly
cylindrical, slightly narrower towards the
anal extremity ; the anal claspers project
beyond the anal flap and are slightly spread-
ing. The head is glabrous, wainscot-brown,
delicately reticulated with darker brown,
and having two dark brown stripes down the
face which approximate on the crown, but
divide towards the mouth, enclosing the
clypeus ; the colour of the body is wainscot-
brown, variegated throughout the dorsal
surface with delicate rivulet markings, of
both darker and paler brown, and having
four black dots, arranged as a trapezoid, on
the dorsal surface of every segment, from the
fifth to the twelfth inclusive ; the second
segment has a semicircular semi-corneous
plate, its truncated margin next the head :
this is traversed by three distinct pale
stripes, which are continued indistinctly
throughout the entire length of the cater-
pillar, and are bordered with dark brown
dots and shades, here and there massed into
patches; the spiracles are intensely black,
and immediately below them is a rather broad
and very distinct pale stripe : the ventral
surface is tinged with purplish semi-trans-
parent green ; the legs and elaspers are of
the same colour : it changes to a smooth

brown CHRYSALIS beneath the surface of the
ground.

The MOTH appears in June, and is found in
most of our 'English counties, north, midland,
and south ; it is also common in Ireland.
(The scientific name is Leucania Comma.)

448. The Devonshire Wainscot (Leucania putrescens).

448. THE DEVONSHIRE WAINSCOT. — Thean-
tennse are slender in the males, still more so in
the females; the wings are straight on the
costa, blunt at the tip, slightly scalloped on
the hind margin ; their colour is very pale
wainscot-brown, with a median longitudinal
dash of dark brown, in the middle of which
is a slender white lunule; there are a number
of dark brown longitudinal streaks towards
the hind margin, and these are separated and
rendered more conspicuous by six white wing-
rays : the hind wings are pearly white, with
a marginal series of black dots alternating
with smoky wing-rays ; the head and thorax
are wainscot-brown, tinged with gray ; the
latter has two transverse dark lines on the
neck, the posterior of which emits two longi-
tudinal branches parallel with the base of the
wings, and directed towards the base of the
body, which is pale gray-brown.

The CATERPILLAR has been described by
Mr. Buckler in the second volume of the
" Entomologists' Monthly Magazine : " it was
found feeding on grass in the month of October :
its colour was pale grayish ochreous, striped
longitudinally after the manner of its con-
geners. The head is mottled with dusky-
gray and ochreous, with a black streak border-
ing the front of each lobe, followed by a
white streak on each side of the central
portion : the dorsal line is whitish, con-
spicuous only on the second, third, and fourth
segments, and afterwards nearly obliterated
by the dusky edging enclosing it; and on

\

266

BRITISH MOTHS.

either side a dorsal broad stripe of mottled
grayish-ochreous, followed by a pale ochreous
stripe, and a grayish-ochreous darker stripe.
The sub-dorsal line is whitish, very finely
edged above and below with dusky grayish-
brown, followed by a broad stripe of mottled
ochreous, and then by a lateral whitish line,
finely edged with dark grayish-brown; below
this is a broad grayish-brown stripe, the
spiracles being situated along its lower edge,
the belly and legs pale ochreous. The ordi-
nary spots and spiracles are black. The
shining plate on the second segment is dusky
between the lilies.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
occurs in great abundance on the Devonshire
coast. (The scientific name is Leucanid
putrescwis.}

449. The Southern Wainscot (Lcucania straminea).

449. THE SOUTHERN WAINSCOT. — The an-
tennse are very slightly ciliated in the male,
perfectly simple in the female : the fore wings
are pointed at the tip ; their colour is a very
delicate wainscot-brown with a slightly darker
dash from the base along the middle of the
wing ; the wing-rays are rather paler than
the interstices ; in the very centre of the
wing is a black dot, and half way between
this and the hind margin is an oblique trans-
verse series of black dots, some of them very
inconspicuous, but two are distinct, and these
form a triangle with the central dot ; there is
also a series of seven or eight small circular
black dots on the very margin ; the hind
wings are white, but have an obscure trans-
verse median series of small black dots, and a
marginal series of still smaller ones; some of
the interstices between the wing-rays are
indistinctly clouded with smoky brown ; the
head and thorax are delicate wainscot-brown;
the body white.

Guene"e says that although the perfect
insect has been well described by Treitschke,
it is not so with the CATERPILLAR, which varies
greatly, if we may judge by the published de-
scriptions. This great lepidopterist thus gives
the result of his own observations : its body
is very long, and the ventral surface rather
flattened ; the legs are very long ; the head is
lenticular and of a yellowish-red colour; there
is a very slender medio-doraal stripe placed
between two series of black dots ; there is
a lateral stripe like the medio-dorsal, but less
distinct ; and a broad and clearly defined
spiracular line on both sides, and having its
margins rather lighter ; in the area between
the lateral and spiracular stripes there is a
series of small slender lines alternately
blackisla and of the ground colour, or even
lighter; the spiracles are above the spiracular
stripe, whitish and encircled by black : the
first spiracle situated in the neck of the
caterpillar is unusually large : the head is
very pale, with indistinct markings. It is
found in February in damp meadows and on
the banks of streams ; and when at rest
stretches itself out in a straight position and
remains motionless.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June,
and was formerly taken in great abundance
among the reeds at Hammersmith ; but this
once favourite locality seems likely to be
destroyed, and I know of no other. (The
scientific name is Leucania straminea.}

450. The Smoky Wainscot (Leuccmia impura).

450. THE SMOKY WAINSCOT. — Thearitennse
are evidently stouter in the male than in the
female : the fore wings are scarcely pointed at
the tip ; their colour is wainscot-orowu, the
wing-rays being paler ; they have a central
black dot, and between this and the hind

NOCTUAS.

26?

margin are two other black dots which com-
bine with the first in forming a triangle: the
hind wings are dark smoke-colour, almost
black, the fringe white : the head and thorax
are wainscot-brown ; the body very much
paler.

The CATERPILLAR has been minutely described
and figured in Boisduval's Collection des Che-
nilles, and I have obtained no information
respecting it from any other soin'ce ; it rests in
a straight position on the blades of grass on
which it feeds ; the head is small, much
narrower than the second segment, and por- |
rected; the body is cylindrical, except at the
extremities, which are tapering ; the colour of
the head is reddish brown, with darker re-
ticulations, and six darker lines ; the body is
pale reddish gray: there is a medio-clorsal
stripe intersected by a white thread-like line,
and this is bordered by a rather broad
brownish stripe, which has two black dots in
each segment, really four on each segment,
two on each side of the medio-dorsal stripe,
and each of these black dots emits a small
bristle : on each side are two compound
stripes paler than the ground colour, one
above, the other below the spiracles ; both
these stripes are pale yellow-gray and rather
broad, and both are intersected throughout by
a median red portion which seems to have no
dearly defined boundaries; the ventral is paler
than the dorsal area, and slightly tinged with
green, the spiracles are oval, reddish, and
edged with black : the legs are reddish, the
claspers are concolorous with the ventral
area, but each has two black points and a
little cloud on the outside : it undergoes
pupation in the earth without spinning any
cocoon, and changes to a smooth CHRYSALIS of a
dull dee]) red brown, which has a number of
hooks at the anal extremity, two of which are
longer and every way larger than the rest:
they are widely separated at the base but
approach at the tips.

The MOTH appears on the wing about mid-
summer, and continues throughout July ; it
is very abundant in England, Ireland, and
Scotland. (The scientific name is Leucania
impura.)

Obs. — A series of Scotch specimens, most
kindly presented to me by Mr. Birchall, are
rather smaller, and have the hind wings much
blacker than English ones.

451. The Common Wainscot (Leucania pollens).

451. THE COMMON WAINSCOT. — The an-
tennae are very slightly thicker in the male:
the fore wings are obtuse, almost rounded, at
the tip : their colour is pale wainscot-brown,
very frequently inclining to red, the tint being
very delicate and beautiful ; the wing-rays are
very pale, nearly white ; there is a black dot
in the very centre of the wing, and two others
between this and the hind margin, the thr»e
forming a triangle : the hind wings are white,
the wing-rays and a portion of the interspaces
slightly clouded; there are a few dots on the
wing-rays, in some specimens forming a
median series ; the fringe is pure white; the
head and thorax are wainscot-brown ; the
body paler.

The CATERPI ',LAR has been reared from the
EGO which hatched in September ; it feeds
on grass and lives through the winter; it is
full-fed about the middle of March or during
April, and is thus described by Mr. Buckler
in the third volume of the " Entomologists'
Monthly Magazine : " its form is cylindrical,
its colour ochreous or grayish ochreous, with a
whitish dorsal line outlined with dark gray
running through the middle of an oval mark
of brownish-gray on each segment ; the sub-
dorsal line is whitish-margined above, with a
grayish stripe, and below by a thin brownish
line, and after an interval of the ground
colour, another fine line of brown, edged
below with a thin line of pale ochreous,
followed by a broad stripe of grayish, the
black spiracles being along its lower edge;
below is a broad stripe of pale ochreous ; the

268

BRITISH MOTHS.

belly and legs are ochreous-gray ; the ordinary
dots along the back are dark brown, and very
small : the head is mottled with gray-brown.

The JIOTII appears on the wing in June,
July, and August, and is generally distributed
throughout England, Ireland, and Scotland.
(The scientific name is Leucania pallens.)

452. The Flame Wainscot (Meliana flammed).

452. THE FLAME WAINSCOT. — "The an-
tennae are alike in both sexes, inserted close
to the eyes on each side of the cro\wn of the
head, not very long, setaceous, covered with
scales above, pubescent beneath, the basal
joint very robust. * * * Labial palpi curved
upward, thickly clothed with scales, triarticu-
late, basal joint robust, second scarcely so
thick, cylindrical, truncated obliquely ; third,
the longest, spoon-shaped, hollow, coriaceous
at one edge, submembranous and ciliated at
the other, and terminated by a bifid claw or
tooth. * * * Wings convoluted when at rest,
fore wings rather long and narrow, hind wings
ample. * * * Fuscous with a pale reddish
tinge, fore wings with a brown flame-like
space along the centre (narrowed at the base),
above which is a short narrow ochraceous
stripe, five or six minute brown spote, forming
a curved line near the hind margin, upon
which there are seven minute black spots,
alternating with the wing-rays, which are

pale, inclining to white towards the costa, the
internal margin sprinkled with dark spots ;
inferior wings rather paler, their fringe
whitish." — Curtis 's British Entomology, Fars.
201.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
has only been taken at Wicken Fen, in Cam-
bridgeshire, and Yaxley in Huntingdonshire.
(The scientific name is Meliaiw flammea.)

Obs. — The upper figure is copied from Mr.
Curtis's " British Entomology," the lower
figure from a specimen kindly lent me by
Mr. Bond.

453. The Silky Wainscot (Senta maritima).

453. THE SILKY WAINSCOT. — The antennae
are very slightly pubescent, the fore wings are
rather arched in the costa, rather pointed at
the tip, and quite straight on the hind margin
for half its length, when the outline suddenly
bends obliquely to the anal angle; their ground
colour is pale wainscot-brown, silky and
glistening; the discoidal spots appear to be
always present ; sometimes only to be traced
by an extremely slight outline, sometimes

NOCTUAS.

269

plainly visible as black spots : but the orna-
mentation of the wings is so diverse and so
varied, that no description could be compiled
which should include them all, and therefore
four of the most striking variations are
selected as illustrations : the hind wings are
pearly white ; the head and thorax are pale
wainscot-brown ; the body silky white.

" The CATERPILLAR is yellowish ochreous
with several fine lines (Treitschke). It feeds
on the common reed (Arundo Phragmites), in
September, March, and April." — Stainton's
Manual, vol. i. p. 191.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June,
and has been taken in the Cambridgeshire
fens, and also in Hammersmith marshes.
(The scientific name is Senta maritima.)

Obs. The moth represented in the third
figure has been named Bipunctata by Haworth,
and is the Ilythia anella of Stephens. This
species is also the Melia serica of Curtis, and
the Senta Ulvce of Doubleday's List. I am
indebted to Mr. Bond for the loan of the
three varieties.

454. The Small Rufous (Ccenoliarufa).

454. THE SMALL RUFOUS.— The antennae
are very slender in both sexes : the fore wings
have the costa rather arched, the tip very
blunt, and the upper portion of the hind
margin very straight ; their colour is reddish-
brown, with a median longitudinal dash, and
the wing-rays darker ; at some distance from
the hind margin each ray has also a black dot,
and these together form an oblique transverse
series ; the lowest ray, that nearest the inner
margin, has two such dots ; the hind wings
are dark gray, tinged with brown ; the basal
portion of the fringe is ochreous, the exterior
portion brown ; the head and thorax are gray-
brown ; the body is paler, and very sparingly
clothed with scales ; it is tufted at the ex-
tremity.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July ; it
occurs very commonly in the Cambridgeshire
fens, and has been taken at Epping and other
places in the South. (The scientific name is
Ccenobia rufa : it is the Nonagria despecta of
Doubleday's List.)

455. The Keed Wainscot (Nonagria Cannoi).

455. THE REED WAINSCOT. — The antennse
are slightly ciliated in the male, and therefore
appear stouter than in the female : the fore
wings have the costa veiy slightly arched, the
tip blunt but not rounded, the hind margin
almost straight ; their colour is red-brown,
with the median ray dark brown, and ter-
minating in a brown spot, beyond which is an
arched series of dark brown spots, one on
each wing-ray; the lowest wing-ray, that
nearest the inner margin, has two such spots ;
the hind margin has sometimes, but not con-
stantly, a dark continuous line ; the fringe is
red-brown : the hind wings are dingy brown,
with reddish margins and fringe : the head
and thorax are reddish brown, the body
paler.

" The CATERPILLAR is greenish or yellowish,
with the dots black, the head brownish, the
plate of the second and anal segments greenish
white; the spiracles black (Treitschke). It
feeds on the reed mace (Typha latifolia)." —
Stainton's Manual, vol. ii. p. 193.

The MOTH appears on the wing in August,
and has been taken in the fens of Cambridge-
shire. (The scientific name is Nonagria
Cannce.)

Obs. — The very peculiar red colour of
this moth distinguishes it at once from either
of its congeners, which are, generally speak-
ing, very similar in colour, and difficult to
distinguish.

270

BRITISH MOTHS.

456. The Bull-rusv (Nonagria Typhcs).

456. THE BULL-RUSH.— The antennae are
ciliated in both sexes, rather more so in the
male : the fore wings have the costa rather
arched, the tip rather blunt, the hind margin
slightly scalloped ; their usual colour is
wainscot-brown, with three transverse series
of small dark spots, the first of which consists
of the usual six or seven spots forming a
curved line, and these are always seated on
the wing-rays ; the second of longitudinally
linear or sometimes arrow-like marks, all
seated in the interspaces and not on the wing-
rays, and the third in a hind-marginal series
of crescents on the extreme edge of the wing ;
the hind wings are pearly gray, and have a
broad band, more or less conspicuous, of a
smoky black colour, just within the margin :
the ground colour of the fore wings sometimes
varies to a dark umber-brown, and this is
more especially the case in the male : the
head and thorax are wainscot-brown, the
body dingy brown.

The CATER PI LLAK is long and maggot-like,
fche head very glabrous, and the second seg-
ment having a dorsal plate, which is also
iaghly polished. The head is reddish : the
body is putty -coloured, inclining to wainscot-
brown, with the plate on the second segment
reddish — indeed, of the same colour as the

head ; on each side, above the spiracles, are
two narrow ochre-coloured stripes, the spi-
racles themselves being black ; the ventral
surface, legs, and claspers are pale putty-
coloured, the legs tipped with brown. It
feeds in the stem of the reed-mace (Typha
latifolid), eating only the pith until nearly
full-fed, when it prepares a circular hole for
escape, eating away the coating of the reed
mace, except a very slender skin, almost as
thin as tissue paper : having prepared this
means or' escape, it returns up the gallery
it has excavated, and at the end of August
changes to a dark brown CHRYSALIS, the anal
extremity of which is fixed to the wall of its
gallery, and there it hangs with the head
downwards, about an inch and a half above
the hole.

The MOTH appears on the wing in Sep-
tember, and occurs commonly in all localities
in England where the reed mace (Typha
latifolici) abounds. Mr. Birchall has not met
with it in Ireland, but gives the County
Wicklow as a locality, on the authority of
Mr. Bristow. (The scientific name is Nona-
gria Typhcz.}

487. The Twin-spotted Wainscot (Nonagria
g f minipun eta).

457. THE TWIN-SPOTTED WAINSCOT. — The
antennae are nearly simple in both sexes ; the
fore wings have the costa rather arched, the
tip blunt, the hind margin nearly straight ;
their colour is dingy olive-brown, paler and
inclining to ochreous along the inner margin,
more especially to wards the base of the wing ;
in the very centre of the wing is a small
double spot, sometimes white, sometimes dark
brown, and in some instances, white sur-
rounded with dark brown ; and between
this and the base is a second double spot,
often indistinct, and apparently almost absent.

NOCTUAS.

271

but when distinctly present, entirely brown
without any white : the hind wings are plain
brown with paler fringe : the head, thorax,
and body are rather pale brown.

The CARERPILLAR, according to Guen6e, is of
a dingy white colour freckled with brown
spots ; the head is ferruginous and glabrous,
and the spiracles are black : it resides in the
interior of the hollow stems of the common
reed (Arundo Phraymites], on which plant ex-
clusively it seems to feed.

The MOTH appears on the wing In July, and
has been taken near Witham, in Essex, and
in Hammersmith marshes. (The scientific
name is Nonagrta yeminipuncta.)

458. The Brown -veined Wainscot (Nonagria

Arundineti).

458. THE BROWN- VEINED WAINSCOT. — The
antennae are nearly simple in both sexes ; the
fore wings have the costa rather arched, the
tip very blunt, and the hind margin slightly
arched; their colour is ochreous-brown in some
specimens, plain brown in others ; in the
former instances there is a darker median
longitudinal dash, and near the extremity of
this is an ocellated nearly circular spot, dark
brown in the centre, and surrounded with
paler brown : in the paler specimens the
wing-rays are spotted ; there are three rather
conspicuous but very small spots above the
ocellated spot, but nearer the base of the
wing, and there is also a hind-marginal series
of dark crescentic spots : the hind wings are
gray-brown and rather paler at the base; they
also have a marginal series of dark crescentic
spots : the head and thorax in the paler
specimens is ochreous-brown;. in the darker

specimens, dark brown ; the body is long,
slender, and tufted at its tip ; its colour is
grayish-brown.

" The CATERPILLAR is dirty white with pale
red dorsal line (Treitttchke). It feeds in the
stem of the common reed (Arundo Phrag-
mites)," — Stainton's Manual, vol. i. p. 193.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
has been taken in the fens of Cambridgeshire.
(The scientific name is Nonagria Arundineti:
it is the Nonagria neurica of Doubleday'a
List).

Obs. — The lower figure represents the
variety dissoluta of Treitschke : this is ohe
neurica of Hubner, figs. 659 — 661, and tiie
ffessii of Boisduval. The upper figure is the
•a urica of Treitschke.

459. Fenn's Nonagria (Nonagria brevilinea).

459. FENN'S NONAGRIA. — "Fore wings
rather sharply angulated at the junction o'
the costal and hind apical margins ; brownish
ochreous, with numerous scattered black
scales; a sharply-defined short black dash
from the middle of the base; a curved row of
small black dots reaches from the costa to the
inner margin beyond the middle; apical veins
[rays] conspicuously paler than the ground-
colour, apical margin unspotted; hind wings
gray, paler towards the base, a very indistinct
transverse row of black dots, rather beyond
the middle, uniform with those in the fore
wings." — C. Fenn, in Entomologists' Monthly
Magazine, vol. i. p. 107.

The MOTH appears early in August: Mr.
Fv nn, to whom we are indebted for a know-
ledge of the insect, and whose description I
have quoted, took a single specimen flying at
dusk among the great reed mace (Typha
latifolia), on the 4th of August, 1864: he has
most kindly lent me the insect to figure for

272

BRITISH MOTHS.

this work. (The scientific name is Nonagria
brevilinea.)

Obs. — I can do nothing more than quote the
description, without expressing any opinion
as to the validity of the species.

460. The Large Wainscot (Calamia lutosa).

460. THE LARGE WAINSCOT. — The antennae
are slightly ciliated in the male, which gives
them the appearance of being much stouter
than those of the female, but in both sexes
they are rather stouter than in the congeneric
species : the fore wings have the costa slightly
arched beyond the middle, the tip rather
pointed, and the outline of the hind margin
waved ; their usual colour is very pale
wainscot-brown, the wing-rays being still
paler, and the interspaces in the immediate
r*£cinity of the rays being sprinkled with
_>lack ff ;s ; beyond the middle of the wing
is a curved series of six or seven black spots,
all of them seated or wing-rays ; the ground
colour aften varies x> redt»iih-och/ eous, and
sometimes to sienna-brown ; the nmd wings
are pearly white, sprinkled with dark brown
or black scales, and frequently, but not con-
stantly, having a median transverse series of
dark spots, all of them seated on wing-rays :
the head and thorax are usually very pale
wainscot-brown, but vary with the colour of
the fore wings ; the body is pearly white,
jlightly tinged with wainscot-brown.

The EGG is laid in August, September,
'.nd even occasionally so late as October,
on the stems of the common reed (Arundo
Phragmites), and the young CATERPILLAR very
shortly emerges, and eats into the stem,
descending towards the roots, on which it
feeds, below the surface of the ground : it
feeds during the remainder of the autumn,

and probably also throughout the winter and
spring, ceasing and remaining in a quiescent
state only during severe frost : when full-fed,
it gnaws its way upwards, and j ust above the
surface of the earth it erodes the reed-stem,
in a circular form, sufficiently large to admit
of the escape of the moth, but invariably
leaving a thin epidermal layer of cuticle, just
sufficient to prevent the influx of water in
flood-time, but offering very slight resistance
to the moth, when, having accomplished its
final change in August, it is prepared to enter
on its new career. The caterpillar is full-fed
about midsummer : the head is then exserted
and porrected in crawling, and is nearly equal
in width to the second segment ; it is semi-
globose, prominent, and glabrous ; the body is
very long, maggot-like, flabby, and gradually
attenuated towards the anal extremity ; there
is a corneous, glabrous, dorsal plate on the
second segment ; the dorsal surface is trans-
versely wrinkled when at rest, and has a
lateral skinfold ; small bristles are scattered
over the body, more especially on the
thirteenth segment. The colour of the head
is clear chestnut-brown, with black labrum
and mandibles : the body is pale flesh-colour ;
the ventral paler than the dorsal surface ; the
legs and claspers of the same pale hue as
the ventral surface. It changes to a smooth
brown CHRYSALIS in the interior of the reed.
The MOTH appears on the wing in August,
and has been taken in many of our English
counties: it has the same predilection for
the common reed (Arimdo Phragmites) as
Nonagria Typhce has for the reed-mace. (The
scientific name is Calamia lutosa.}

461. The Fen Wainscot (Calamia Phragmitidis).

461. THE FEN WAINSCOT. — The antennae
are scarcely different in the two sexes : the
fore wings are rather produced at the tip, but

NOCTUAS.

273

not pointed ; they are extremely glossy, and
of a very ambiguous colour, pale ochreous at
the base, gradually deepening to an olive-
brown towards the hind margin ; the fringe
is darker than any other part of the wing j
the hind wings are gray-brown, with the rays
and fringe paler ; the head and thorax are
pale ochreous-gray, the body rather darker.

The EGGS are laid in July, on the stems of
the common reed (Arundo Phraymites), and
the little CATERPILLARS soon emerge, enter
the stem through a minute circular aper-
ture, which they gnaw, and begin feeding :
towards the end of the following May they
may be found in the stem, in the first or
second interuode from the top. When full-
grown, the caterpillar has a very maggot-like
appearance ; if removed from the interior
of the reed, it does not feign death, or roll
iteelf in a ring, but is restless, and crawls
incessantly, but not with great activity : the
head is very small, and extremely glabrous ;
it is porrected in crawling : the body is obese,
and slightly attenuated towards »-oth extre-
mities ; on the dorsal surface of the second
segment is a semicircular corneous plate, the
eonvex margin of which is benij ? ; the dorsal
surface of the thirteenth segment is entirely
covered by a similar plate ; the incisions of
the segments are clearly marked. The head
is intensely black ; the body dingy white, with
a large amorphous ill-defined purplish patch
on each side of each segment, except the '
second and thirteenth ; the corneous plate on
the second segment is glabrous and brown ;
below it on each side are three black dots ; on
the third and fourth segments, respectively,
is a transverse dorsal series of ten black dots ;
on each of the following segments are four
such dorsal dots ; the anterior pair on each
segment, excepting the eleventh, are rather
nearer together than the posterior pair ; on
the twelfth segment they form an exact quad-
rangle ; on the sides are two series of similar
dots ; every one of these dots emits a black
bristle ; the ventral surface of the fifth and
sixth segments is purplish, of the others,
dingy white ; the legs are rather long, gla-
brous, corneous, and dark brown ; the claspers

are dingy semi-transparent white; they are
slightly constricted at the base, a peculiarity
which gives them an elongate-linear and
unusual appearance. About the middle, or
towards the end of June, the caterpillar
gnaws a perfectly circular hole in the stem
of the reed, and, descending to the ground,
changes to a CHRYSALIS amongst damp moss.
The MOTH appeai-s on the wing about mid
summer, and is very local : I have taken it on
the banks of the Thames below and opposite
Greenwich, once a delightfully wild and pro-
ductive region for the naturalist ; subsequently
it became a perfect hive of industry in our
shipbuilding days : now, owing to the effects
of trades' unions and strikes among the ship-
wrights, this trade has gone abroad or to the
North, and the wretched inhabitants are
pauperised, and subsisting on parish relief or
private bounty, so that we may look forward
to the return of the whole district to its
pristine state, and that the naturalist will
again revel in undisturbed security and
silence, where the clang of hammers, and the
smell of pitch, and the busy tread and loud
voices of innumerable money-making arti-
zans once reigned supreme. It has also been
taken in some abundance in the Cambridge-
shire fens. (The scientific name is Leucania
Phragmitidis.') .

462. The Brighton Wainscot (Synia musculosd).

462. THE BRIGHTON WAINSCOT. — The
antennae are slightly pubescent in the male,
quite simple in the female ; the wings are
very straight on the costa, blunt, but not
rounded at the tip, and have the hind mar-
gin very oblique ; their colour is whitish,
almost white, with a tinge of ochreous, and
there are three very faint and indistinct
stripes originating at the base and diverging :
the hind wings are almost white, and their

M 18

274

BRITISH MOTHS.

rays darker : the head, thorax, and body are
pale ochreous.

My specimen was taken in August at
Brighton, aud Mr. Doxiglas Wilkinson in-
forms me it has been taken in Kircudbright-
»hire, in Scotland, but I have not seen any
specimens from the North : is the specimen
correctly named 1 (The scientific name is
Synia, musculosa.)

j63. The Small Wainscot (Tapinostola fulva) .

463. THE SMALL WAINSCOT. — The antennae
of the male are slightly pubescent, and there-
lore appear stouter than those of the female :
the fore wings have the costa quite straight to
the tip, which is rather pointed ; their hind
margin is straight at the tip, but rather
convex below ; their colour is very various,
sometimes whitish-gray, sometimes ochreous
or fulvous, and sometimes even ferruginous or
brick-oust red, but always sprinkled, more or
less, with black or dark-brown atoms or single
scales, and these are so numerous on the
wing-rays and in the vicinity of the sub-
costal and median wing- rays, and again near
the tip, as to give these parts a decidedly
darker tint ; each of the parallel rays has
also a small black dot, and these together
form a curved series almost parallel with the
hind margin ; the fringe is nearly concolorous
with the disk of the wing : on the underside
of the moth the central area of the fore wing
is ymoky-gray, and all the margins are paler :

the hind wings are small, rather narrow and
rather long, in this respect contrasting with
those of Hellmanni ; their colour is smoky-
gray, the fringe and costal margin being
paler : the head and thorax vary in colour
with the fore wings, the thorax being densely
clothed with lougish scales ; the body is
whitish-gray, the extremity in the male being
tufted, or rather fringed, with long scales.

"The CATERPILLAR is short and thick, dirty-
white with reddish dorsal stripe ; a blackish
line above the spiracles (Treitschke). Feeds in
the stems of grass (Po<i aquatica), and sedge
(Carex)" — Stainton's Manual, vol. i. p. 193.

The MOTH appears on the wing in Septem-
ber, and is found in most of our English coun-
ties, north and south. Mr. Birchall informs us
that it is widely distributed in Ireland, and
Mr. Logan takes it in Scotland. (The sci-
entific name is Tapinostola fulva : it is the
Nonagria fulva of Doubleday's List.)

464. The Concolorous (Tapinostola concolor).

464. THE CONCOLOROUS. — The palpi are
long and projecting ; the antennae are simple
in both sexes : the fore wings are nearly
straight on the costa and blunt at the tip ;
their hind margin is straight for half its
length, and then rather suddenly bends to-
wai-ds the anal angle ; their colour is dingy- '
white, slightly tinged with wainscot-brown,
the wing-rays appearing paler from the inter-
spaces being sprinkled with darker atoms or
scales, especially towards the hind margin :
there is an arched series of seven or eight
black dots beyond the middle of the wing,
and somewhat following the course of the
hind margin : the usual discoidal spots are

NOCTUAS

275

not perceptible : the hind wings are rather
darker than the fore wings, especially towards
the hind margin, and there is a small, faint
and scarcely perceptible discoidal spot : the
head and thorax are of the same colour as the
fore wings ; the body is paler.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June,
and has been taken in the fens of Cambridge-
shire. (The scientific name is Tapinostola
concotor.)

Obft. Guenee believes this species to be
Leucania e.vtrema of Herrich-Schseffer, de-
scribed at great length in his " Systematische "
(Nocturni, p. 228, and figured 337); but
neither the description nor figure exactly
agrees with our English insect : the transverse
series of minute spots is not represented in
Herrich - SchsefFer's figure, which, moreover,
has a marginal series of black dots wanting in
ours.

465. The Mere Wainscot (Tapinostola Rellmanni).

465. THE MERE WAINSCOT. — The palpi are
rather long and projecting ; the antennae
are simple in both sexes ; the fore wings are
straight on the costa, pointed at the tip, and
have the hind margin straight for about two-
thirds of its length, and then bent rather
abruptly towards the anal angle ; their colour
is reddish-fulvous, all the wing -rays being
darker and speckled throughout ; both the
iiscoidal spots are plainly perceptible ; they
are outlined in pale ochreous, almost in white,
the enclosed space being nearly of the same
colour as the disk of the wing : the hind
wings are very ample, and their hind margin
is semicircular ; their colour is paler than that
of the fore wings, but still faintly clouded

with brown towards the hind margin : the
head, thorax, and body are of the same colour
as the wings ; the female is usually smaller
and paler than the male.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
has been taken in the fens of Cambridgeshire.
(The scientific name is Nonagria Hellmanni.)

466. The Lyme Grass (Tapinostola Elymi).

466. THE LYME GRASS. — The palpi are
almost concealed by the long scales in which
they are clothed : the antennae are slightly
stouter in the male than in the female : the
fore wings are straight on the costa, very
blunt at the tip, and arched on the hind
margin ; their colour is pale wainscot-bruwn
with darker shades, more especially in the
male ; the darker colour forms two spreading
streaks, both extending towards the hind
margin : there is a double series of very in-
conspicuous spots on the wing-rays taking the
same curve as the hind margin ; in the male
there is an indication of the reniform and
orbicular spots paler than the general area,
and in the female there is a brown spot in the
place of the reniform ; in both sexes the
fringe is alternately darker and lighter, but
the contrast is not great ; the hind wings
are very pale and rather silky : the head
and thorax are precisely of the same colour
as the fore wings, the body of the hind
wings.

The MOTH, according to Guenee, has been
taken in Prussia on the shores of the Baltic,
but is very rare : one or two specimens have
been taken in England. (The scientific name
is Tapinostola Elymi?)

Obs. I am indebted to Mr. Doubleday wi-
the loan of the continental specimen 1 have
figured : I have not an English one.

276

BRITISH MOTHS.

467. Bond's Wainscot (Chortodes Bondii).

467. BOND'S WAINSCOT. — The antennae are
very nearly simple in both sexes ; the fore
wings are almost straight on the costa and
almost pointed at the tip, their colour is white
slightly clouded with gray, and having a
curved transverse series of six or seven black
dots parallel with the hind margin ; on the
under side of the moth the entire area of the
fore wings, with the exception of the mar-
gins, is smoky-brown : the hind wings are
smoky-brown with white fringe : the head
and thorax are white, the body pale gray.

The MOTH appears in June and July, and
has been taken in Woolwich marshes, and
also near Folkestone. (The scientific name
is Chortodes Bondii.)

Obs. It need not be concealed that con-
siderable uncertainty attends the name of
Bondii, most entomologists believing the
species to be identical with the Noctua ex-
trema of Hiibner; but on this I am unable
to pronounce with certainty, and therefore
prefer to retain the name of " Bondii" a just
compliment to a most zealous entomologist,
and a kind friend to all who know him. I
would not, however, on these grounds trans-
gress the law of priority were I by any means
certain that the two names under considera-
tion referred to the same insect.

468. The Small Dotted-Buff (Chortodes arcuosa).

468. THE SMALL DOTTED-BUFF. — The paipi

are porrected, moderately long and rather
distant ; the antennae are simple in both
sexes : the fore wings are ample, especially
in the male, their costal margin is very
slightly arched, and their tip blunt; their
colour is ochreous, with several dark spots on
the costa, and two series of longitudinally
linear black spots on the disk, and between
these two series is a broad transverse band
slightly darker than the general area, and
more particularly observable in the female,
especially towards the inner margin ; there
is a hind-marginal series of transversely linear
spots, and a longitudinally linear mark is
attached to each of them, but soon disappears
towards the disk of the wing : the fringe
is also varied : the hind wings are smoky-
brown with a paler fringe : the head and
thorax are clingy-ochreous, the body smoky-
brown.

The CATERPILLAR is said to feed on the
turfy hair-grass (Aira ccespitosa), and to con-
ceal itself in the interior of the enormous
tussocks formed by that beautiful grass, but I
have never succeeded in finding it.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June and
July, frequenting those grassy places in woods
where the Aira abounds in most of o\ir
English counties. (The scientific name is
Chortodes arcuosa.)

Obs. 1. My illustrious predecessor described
the sexes of this insect as distinct species,
and placed them in different genera without
taking any notice of their similarity ; the
male is his Pkytometra arcuosa (Lepidoptera
Britannica, p. 260, No. 17), and the female
his Noctua minima (Id. p. 216, No. 153).
In Doubleday's List, these are united under
the name of Miana arcuosa.

Obs. 2. In concluding the family of Leu-
canidce, it seems desirable to allude to th' ,
changes which it has been deemed right ti {
make in the names : but I believe I maj
state, that where I have departed from the
names and arrangement of Mr. Doubleday's
List, it has been with the entire approval of
that lepidopterist.

frOCTTJAS.

277

469. The Brindled Ochre (Dasypolia Templi).

The under- side of the Brindled Ochre.

469. THE BRINDLED OCHRE. — The palpi
are rather slender and compressed, forming a
kind of beak ; the divisions of the joints are
not perceptible on account of the mass of
scales in which they are clothed ; the trunk is
very short, and the moth has rarely been
observed using it for procuring the honey of
flowers or attracted by the sugar-bait prepared
by entomologists : the antennae of the male
are doubly fringed, each joint emitting on each
side a fascicle of slender hairs, six or eight in
the fascicle, and these are of different lengths ;
the hairs in each fascicle are approximate at
the base, but diverge towards the extremity :
the antennae of the female are downy or
velvety, but the down is so short that they
appear simple when viewed with the naked
eye : the head and thorax are thickly clothed,
especially in the males : the wings are ample,

and their fringe remarkably long ; the fore
wings have a straight costa and a rounded tip ;
their colour is ochreous-gray, the ochreous
tint generally much more apparent in the
males than in the females; both the discoidal
spots are paler than the ground colour, but
very indistinct and sometimes scarcely per-
ceptible, and there are two transverse zigzag
lines darker than the ground colour, but also,
like the discoidal spots, very indistinct and
imperfectly denned ; the first of them is
nearer the base than the discoidal spots, and
is nearly direct ; the second is exterior to the
discoidal spots, curved after leaving the costa,
and very oblique ; the hind-marginal area has
a darker tint than the rest of the wing, but is
interrupted by a pale transverse zigzag line,
very undefined : the hind wings are paler
than the fore wings, and have two indistinct
narrow bars rather darker than the ground
colour, the margin is also darker ; the head,
thorax, and body are dingy gray-brown, in-
clining to ochreous in the male : the fore and
middle thighs are densely clothed with thick
woolly scales as shown in the third figure, iu
which it will also be seen that the ornamenta-
tion of the under side is different from that
of the upper.

The hybernated females, impregnated in
the autumn, lay their EGGS in March on, the
cow parsnip (Heracleum sphondylium), in con-
finement. Mr. Doubleday found that this
event took place about the 20th of March,
and that the eggs were fixed on the under-
side of the leaves, but whether this is so in a
state of nature I am unable to say : the egg
is shaped somewhat like an Echinus, but is
rather taller, and its sides are ribbed ; when
first laid "it is yellowish in colour, with a
pinkish-brown spot on the top, and a ring
rather above the middle; finally turns black
a day or two before the hatching of the cater-
pillar." The caterpillars " appear about the
20th of April ; at first, they are of a dingy
olive-colour, with black heads, rather longish-
looking in shape." " Some began by attack-
ing the leaf itself, and afterwards the stem ;
others made at once for the stem, and com-
menced eating their way into the interior and

BRITISH MOTHS.

drinking the sap which flowed in their little
tunnels." As the caterpillars grow older and
larger, they burrow downwards headforemost,
aud make their way slowly but regularly in
the same direction, until eventually they enter
the root, in the very centre of which they
excavate a circular gallery at least half an
inch in diameter : the presence of a cater-
pillar in the root is made apparent by the
drooping or sickly appearance of the plant on
which its destructive powers are being exer-
cised. Removed from its retreat, an operation
which requires care, since the slightest
fracture of the skin is fatal, it neither feigns
death nor rolls in a ring, but crawls slowly
and deliberately into some dark recess, and
embraces the first opportunity of concealing
itself in the stem or root of the food-plant. I
need, |>erhaps, scarcely say that the plant must
be pulled up and the stem carefully split
open until the interior of the root is exposed.
The head is very glabrous and is porrected in
crawling, but when the caterpillar is perfectly
quiescent, it is nearly withdi'awn into the
second segment : the body is uniformly cylin-
drical, and has a conspicuous corneous plate
on the back of the second, and another on
the back of the thirteenth segment : on the
twelfth segment are three minor corneous
plates arranged transversely : the colour of
the head and corneous plates is testaceous
brown ; the body is dingy flesh-coloured, and
rather shin ing, and has a number of dark brown
dots on every segment ; these dots form a
transverse series on the backs of the third and
fourth segments ; they are four in number on
the back of the following segments, from the
fifth to the eleventh, both inclusive ; the
twelfth has but two dorsal dots in addition to
the three corneous plates already mentioned ;
on each side of each segment are four such
dots, and within the area bounded by these
four dots is a white spiracle margined with
black, and there is one other such dot on each
side of each segment at the base of each leg
and clasper ; every dot emits a minute hair ;
on the fifth, sixth, eleventh, and twelfth seg-
ments are numerous smaller dots of the same
colour, and these are arranged in a transverse

series : the legs and claspers are concolorous
with the body.

The CATERPILLAR is full -fed about the mid-
dle of August, when it makes an aperture in
the side of the root, and leaves its dbmicile for
ever ; it now wanders a considerable distance
from its food-plant, sometimes on the surface
of the groimd, but I think generally beneath
the surface : this certainly was the case with
those I had in confinement, which were pro-
vided with loose light earth, in which they
could have burrowed without difficulty ; arid
having placed a satisfactory space between its
present resting-place and its quondam home,
it makes a rude cell in the earth, and without
the slightest apology for a cocoon, changes to
a smooth dark brown CHRYSALIS, the terminal
or anal segment of which is rather long and
slender, and is furnished with two long and
sharp spines.

Both sexes of the MOTH leave the chrysalis
state in October, and the female is impreg-
nated, after which, it may be presumed, the
male dies, for he certainly disappears ; but
the females hybernate, passing the winter
under stones, and may be found motionless and
semi-dormant during the coldest weather :
the entomologist has often found it a finger-
aching and laborious task to remove the heaps
of stones, one by one, in the hope of finding
an occasional prize, and it may not be quite
out of place to remark that the dense furry
clothing of the moth seems especially adapted
for its protection and comfort under such
adverse conditions. It has been found both
in the north and south of England, Yorkshire,
Lancashire, Devonshire, and the Isle of Wight.
The Rev. Job Johnson says he took the female
at the blossoms of the sallow. Mr. Birchall
informs us it is common at Howth, in Ireland.
(The scientific name is DatypoKa Templi.)

Obs. 1. — The genus Dasy polio,, instituted
for the reception of this single species by
M. Guenee, who was unacquainted with its
economy, is placed by that eminent lepidop-
terist between Polia and Epunda; but having
been most obligingly furnished, by a friend,
with all the materials for a life-history of the
species, and its interesting economy having

NOCTUAS.

been carried on under my own eye.s, I pub-
blished, some years back, in the Zoologist, the
details I have now reprinted, which appear to
me to open up other unlooked-for affinities :
thus there are not only striking points of
similarity between Das y polio, and GueneVs
families, Leucanidce and Apamidce, but others
between Dasypolia and the xylophagous
genus Phragmatoscia, and the rhizophagous
Hepialus. Admitting the propriety of group-
ins the Noctuas into families as Guenee has

o

done, I must regard Dasypolia Templi as a
member of the family Apamidce.

Obs. 2. — Mr. Buckler, having lately puo-
lished some remarks on this species in the
Entomologists' Monthly Magazine, while this
description was going through the press, I
have inserted his additions in inverted
commas.

Obs. 3. — Seeing that the economy of this
species is carried on entirely in the dark,
totally concealed from the prying curiosity of
birds and beasts, or even of man, it appears
to me remarkable that a very large, indeed an
overwhelming, majority of the individuals
never attain maturity, owing to the attacks of
ichneumonideous parasites. It is difficult to
imagine in what manner, or at what period
of the caterpillar's life, the parent ichneumon
can possibly find access to it, and, led with
such certainty by its own unerring instincts,
prevent the creature from arriving at perfec-
tion, and thus arrest the multiplication of the
species. A similar instance of an internal-
feeding caterpillar becoming the prey of an
ichneumon, occurs in the genus Sirex ; but in
that instance the parasite is of excessive rarity,
the victim frequently most injuriously com-
mon. The parasites on Dasypolia Templi are
of two kinds ; first, a large solitary species of
true ichneumon (Ichneumon castanopyga), and,
secondly, a small gregarious species of Micro-
gaster, the name of which has not been ascer-
tained, but which is so numerous that Mr.
Bond bred four hundred and forty-seven of
them from a single chrysalis. Neither of
these parasites is peculiar to this moth ; the
smaller one is known to destroy hundreds of
the caterpillar of Xylophania polyodon.

470. The Frosted Orange (Gortynaflavago).

470. THE FROSTED ORANGE. — The palpi are
rather long and porrected, the terminal joint
small, short, and comparatively naked ; the
antennae appear rather stouter in the males
than in the females, from their being slightly
ciliated ; they are of a dingy purple colour,
except the broad basal joint, which is white :
the fore wings are ample, nearly straight on
the costa, pointed, but not acutely so, at the
tip, and slightly waved on the hind margin ;
their colour is varied, bright ochreous-yellow
and rich purple - brown, the limits of each
colour being always clearly defined ; the
yellow occupies the base of the wing and a
broad transverse median band ; the purple
occupies a transverse band near the base, and
a very broad oblique hind-marginal band, but
the ground or prevailing colour in each of these
principal divisions of the wing is interrupted
by well-defined markings of the other colour :
thus the basal yellow blotch contains two
irregular transverse purple lines ; the adjoin-
ing purple band has a single but very conspi-
cuous yellow spot ; the broad median yellow
band has the orbicular and reniform spot as
well as a D-shaped spot situated below it,
clearly outlined in purple, and also three
waved but transverse purple lines ; the first
of these is continuous and placed nearest to
the base of the wing ; the second is slightly
interrupted, and passes between the orbicular
and reniform spots; the third is continuous
and exterior to the reniform ; the broad purple
hind-marginal band is traversed by a yellow
line broken up into several detached portions :
the hind wings are dingy-ochreous, marked
very indistinctly by a dusky discuidal spot,
a transverse median line, and a submarginal
band : the thorax is (rested, it hag a purple

280

BRITISH MOTHS.

disk, and is yellowish on the sides ; the body
is dusky ; the anterior pair of thighs is densely
clothed with long woolly scales.

The EGG is laid on the stems of burdock
(Arctium Lappa), thistles (Carduus), elder
(Sambucus nigra), hemp agrimony (Eupalo-
rium cannabinum), fox-glove (Digitalis
europcea), mullein (Verbascum Thapsus), and
even the cultivated potato of our gardens ; and
the young caterpillar enters the stems through
an excessively small opening, no trace of which
can be discovered a few days after it has
achieved the passage : the plant in which I
have most commonly found this caterpillar is
the marsh thistle (Carduus palustris), and this
only by cutting open the stem about midsum-
mer, when the full-grown caterpillar will be
seen comfortably ensconced in the interior, and
devouring the pith. When removed from its
domicile, it neither feigns death nor rolls in a
ling, but deliberately crawls away to some
haven of refuge, which all the internal feeders
seem to consider dependent on darkness. The I
head is narrower than the second segment, into I
which it can be partially withdrawn, but when j
the caterpillar is crawling, the head is por- j
rected : it is rather flattened, glabrous, corne-
ous, and of an ochreous-yellow colour : the"
body is nearly cylindrical, but rather attenua-
ted at both extremities ; it has a corneous
plate on the back of the second segment, and
another on the back of the thirteenth segment ;
both of these are hard and glabrous, the colour
of these plates is dingy brown : the rest of
the body is soft, maggot-like, and of a pale
putty-colour tinged with yellow or pink, and
it has a number of dark brown dorsal dots on
each segment, each of which emits a minute
bristle ; these dots form a transverse series j
on the third and fourth segments, and a kind j
of square on those which follow ; there are
also other lateral dots, generally four on each
side of each segment ; the legs are horny and
tipped with brown ; the claspers soft, and of
the same colour as the rest of the body. I
have found these caterpillars full-fed during
the first week in July in the stems of the tall
marsh thistles, which often abound in Joyn-
wood, at the back of the inn at Birch

Wood Corner : scarcely one of these stately
plants escapes, and its fate is plainly indicated
by the sickly and moribund state of the
remarkable clustered head of flowers witb
which this species is so conspicuously crowned.
The annual gathei'ing of entomologists at
Birch Wood during the first week in July,
when these observations have been so often
repeated, seems to fix indelibly on the mind
the period when the caterpillar has arrived at
its full growth. When about to change, it
prepares a means of escape by gnawing away
the substance of the thistle-stem, leaving only
the most slender and delicate epidermis which
always remains intact ; and then changes to
an elongate, cylindrical, smooth, dark brown
CHRYSALIS, which has a small nipple-like pro-
jection from the crown of the head, and two
sharp spines placed transversely on the ter-
minal or anal segment.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June,
and is generally distributed throughout our
English counties : it is common and widely
distributed in Ireland and Scotland. (The
scientific name is Gortynaflavago.}

Obs. This species is remarkably obnoxious
to the attacks of an ichneumon ; scarcely one
in twenty seems to reach maturity ; but the
mode in which the ichneumon contrives to
introduce its egg into the concealed caterpillar
has not been ascertained.

471. The Ear-Moth (Hydroecia nictitans).

471. THF EAR- MOTH. — The palpi are
slightly curved upwards, but not very pro-
minent ; the antennae appear thicker in the

NOCTUAS.

281

male, owing to their being slightly ciliated :
the fore wings are nearly straight on the
costa, pointed, but not acutely, at the tip,
and waved, but not scalloped, on the hind
margin ; their prevailing colour is rich ferru-
ciiious brown, varied with darker longitudinal
streaks or stripes and transverse lines, which
combine in giving a somewhat reticulated
appearance to the wing. The orbicular is
very round, and usually of a fulvous colour,
but often indistinct ; the reniform is usually
white, and very distinct, but sometimes bright
fulvous ; it is divided at its lower extremity
into two portions, and the upper portion con-
tains an evident reniform mark, in outline
corresponding with the exterior outline ; the
hind wings are gray-brown with a paler
fringe ; the head, palpi, antennae, and neck
are rich reddish brown ; the thorax darker
brown, the body gray-brown, inclining to red
towards the extremity.

" The CATERPILLAR is dull brown, the dor-
sal plate of the second segment darker and
shining ; a row of brown dots on each side
of the dorsal line (Treitschke), on roots of vari-
ous grasses." — Staintoris Manual, vol. i. p. 197.
I have found this pretty little MOTH on the
wing in the middle of the day in all English
localities where I have collected ; it is very
fond of settling on flowers. Mr. Birchall says
it is common, and widely distributed in Ire-
lixnd, and Mr. Douglas Robinson that it occurs
in Kirkcudbrightshire, in Scotland. (The
scientific name is Hydrcscia nictitans.)

Obs. 1. — The very common variety of this
insect represented in the second figure, and
having no trace of white in the reniform, is
the Noctua erythrostigma of Haworth (Lep.
Brit., p. 240). My illustrious predecessor,
although comparing it with the moro usual
variety with the white reniform, emphatically
pronounces it " distinct " as a species, a deci-
sion in which I am unable to concur.

Obs. 2. — Hydrcecia lucetis of Herrich-
Schaeffer must also be referred to this species :
I entirely agree with M . Guenee, who says, " I
confess that I am totally unable to point out
any character by which to distinguish Lumens
from Nictitaiis."

472. The Butter-bnr (Hycbrcecia PdasiUs).

472. THE BUTTER-BUR. — The palpi are
curved upwards, but are very inconspicuous ;
the antennae are delicately ciliated in the
male : the fore wings are slightly arched on
the costa, rather pointed at the tip, very
slightly incurved below the tip, and have the
hind marginal outline waved but not scalloped;
their colour is gray-brown, s\ifl\ised in recently
disclosed specimens with a purplish gloss or
reflections : there is a darker median band, in
which the paler reniform and orbicular are
very visible ; there is also a hind marginal
band, the interior border of which is irregular,
but mapped out by a slender gray line : the
wing-rays are thickly sprinkled, but not
entirely covered with pale gray scales : the
hind wings are pale dingy gray-brown, with a
crescentic discoidal spot, a median transverse
line, and a hind marginal shade rather darker :
the antennae are pale ; the head and thorax of
the same colour as the fore wings ; the body
of the same colour as the hind wings.

" The CATERPILLAR is of a dull whitish col our
with black dots ; the head and the dorsal
plates of the second and anal segments reddish
brown " (Freyer) — Staintoris Manual, vol. i.
p. 198. It feeds in the roots and flowering
stems of the butter-bur (Petasites vulga/ris),
and when full fed leaves its food-plant and
forms a cocoon of earth glued together, and in
this changes to a CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH appears on the wing in October.
Tt is likely to be found wherever the butter-
bur (Petasites vulgaris) occurs, but at present
has only been captured in one English county,
Lancashire; in Scotland, near Edinburgh;
in Perthshire ; and at Howth, in Ireland.
(The scientific name is Hydrcecia Petasitis.)

Obs. -This species is the Hydro&cia vindelida

282

BRITISH MOTHS.

of Freyer, Herrich-Schseflfer, and Guenee, the
last of whom treats our English insect as a
variety, and retains Mr. Doubleday's name to
the variety only : as this name has the claim
of priority, and as I am unable to distinguish
between the type and the variety, I retain the
earlier name for the species.

473. The Eosy Kustic (Hydrcecia micacea) .

473. THE ROSY RUSTIC. — The palpi are short
and inconspicuous ; t-h« antennae very slightly
stouter in the males : the fore wings have the
costa very straight, the top pointed, and the
hind margin waved but scarcely scalloped ;
their colour is rich reddish brown, with a
broad median band, the limits of which, as
well as those of the orbicular and reniform
spots, are clearly mapped out in outline ; the
outer portion of the median band is very rich
dark brown; the space following the outer
portion is much paler, but gradually deepens
in tint to the hind margin, which is marked
by a waved darker line ; the hind wings are
dingy gray-brown with a darker crescentic
discoidal spot and transveive median bar ; the
antennae are nearly white ; the head and thorax
of the same colour as the fore wings ; the body
of the same colour as the hind wings.

The head of the CATERPILLAR is rather
narrower than the second segment ; it is
glabrous and porrected, and has a rather flat
face : the body is soft, fleshy, and maggot-like,
the segments being distinctly marked ; each
has sixteen or eighteen minute black warts,
and each wart emits a minute but rather stiff
bristle ; there is a corneous glabrous plate on
the second and thirteenth segments ; the col our
of the head is testaceous red, of the body
grayish flesh-colour, with a very narrow darker
medio- dorsal stripe; the dorsal has more
colour than the ventral surface, which has a

glaucous or bleached appearance ; the warts
on the third and fourth segments are arranged
in transverse dorsal series, but not so on the
fifi h and following segments, including the
twelfth ; on these segments the dots usually
form something like a ti'iangle on each side of
the medio-dorsal stripe, and three others form
a linear series below them ; the warts, as
well as the bristles, are black ; the legs and
claspers are nearly concolorous with the
ventral area. It feeds at the base of the leaves
of sedges (Carex, Cyperius, &c.), but leaves this
situation and buries itself in the earth in order
to change to a CHRYSALIS.

The Rosy Rustic appears in the MOTH state
throughout the autumn ; there seems to be a
succession of emergences, as in the case of so
many internal feeders ; it has been taken in
most of our English counties. Mr. Birchall
says it is common and widely distributed in
Ireland; and Mr. Douglas Robinson gives it as
a native of Kirkcudbrightshire, in Scotland.
(The scientific name is Hydrcecia micacea.)

474. The Flame (Axylia putris).

474. THE FLAME. — The palpi are short,
rather inconspicuous, slightly curved up wards,
and distinctly separate, the terminal joint is
very short ; the antennae are simple in both
sexes : the fore wings are narrow, straight on
the costa, rounded at the tip, and haviiig
the hind margin very slightly waved ; their
colour is pale wainscot-brown, with a dark
umber-brown costal margin, and two blotches
of the same colour on the hind margin ; the
upper of these is somewhat wedge-shaped, the
point of the wedge being directed towards the
reniform spot ; the lower, near the anal angle,
is smaller and almost round ; the reniform spot
is indistinctly shaped like the letter S, the
middle being a bent gray line, and surrounded
by a black line, this again by a pale line, and
last by a slender dark brown border; the
orbicular is very inconspicuous, but has the

NOCTUAS.

283

same colours ; a double series of very distinct
but very small black dots crosses the wing,
halfway between the reniform and the hind
margin ; the fringe is spotted : the hind wings
are very pale wainscot-brown and semi-trans-
parent, with a very indistinct crescentic dis-
coidal spot, and a series of dark marks on the
hind margin, forming an almost continuous
line : the head, neck, and body are pale
wainscot-brown ; the thorax is variegated with
umber- brown. The species rests with its
wings folded round the body, and much re-
sembles a short piece of stick.

The CATERPILLAR is described by Guen e"e. It
is of a brown colour like the bark of trees, and
having the spiracular stripe dirty white, and
the medio-dorsal stripe very slender, of a
yellowish colour, and marked with a yellow
dot, and two white dots on each segment ; the
fifth and sixth segments have also a dark
green triangular spot ; the head is of the same
colour as the body ; the spiracles are white,
encircled with black ; the twelfth segment is
raised into a dorsal hump almost like that of
Mamestra Persicarice. It feeds in August on
low plants.

The MOTH appears in June It is common
in most of our English, Irish, and Scotch
counties. (The scientific name is Axylia
putris.)

475. The Clouded-bordered Brindle (Xylophasia

rurea) .

475. THE CLOUDED-BORDERED BRINDLE. —
The palpi are rather long and porrected, the

terminal joint long and slender ; the antenna?
are slightly ciliated in the male : the fore
wings are slightly arched on the costa, more
especially towards the tip, which is blunt, the
hind margin is waved ; their ground-col our is
various, and necessitates the describing of three
varieties.

The first variety is wainscot-brown, with
a dark blotch of the costal margin passing
between the discoidal spots and extending
below them ; there are two similarly coloured
blotches on the hind margin, both of them
pointing towards the middle of the wing, and
a large whitish space on the inner margin ;
a double series of small and indistinct dark
dots crosses the wing between the reniform
and the hind margin; all these dots are seated
on the wing-rays : on the extreme hind mar-
gin is a series of crescentic spots, each seated
between the extremities of two wing-rays; the
fringe is pale at the base, the pale bases of the
scales forming a delicate line almost white ;
the exterior border of the fringe is spotted
with two shades of brown ; the hind wings
are smoky brown, paler at the base, and
having an indistinct crescentic discoidal spot :
the head and collar are wainscot-brown, the
thorax umber-brown, the body gray-brown and
crested : the tips of the crests are dark smoky
brown. This is, without doubt, the Rurea of
Fabricius, but it is the Hepatica of Haworth ;
whence a confusion of names.

The second variety differs in having the
fore wings of a uniform red-brown, the reniform
spot being indicated by a pale line, and a few
other darker and paler dots being scattered
over the wing. This is Guenee's variety A :
he describes it as the Alopecurus of Esper :
it is represented in the second figure.

The third variety has the fore wings dark
brown, with very little clouding or marbling,
but having the discoidal spots mapped out in
white. This appears to me to be Haworth's
Combusta, but I believe that name is usually
assigned to the preceding variety : my opinion
is founded on Haworth's expressions fucco-
brunneus and stigmata ordiiiaria a1 bide margi-
nata, neither of which terms is applicable to
the second variety.

284

BRITISH MOTHS.

In all three varieties the reniform spot is
of the usual form, the orbicular oblong and
oblique.

The CATERPILLAR is obese, cylindrical, shin-
ing, and of a reddish colour, the second seg-
ment having a darker tint than the rest,
and being adorned with three longitudinal
streaks, which serve as the commencement of
three stripes, one of which is medio-dorsal,
dingy white, and bordered on each side with
brown ; the others are lateral and bordered
on the upper side with brick- dust red : it
feeds on the species of Primula, Rumex, and
several grasses, and when full fed buries
itself just below the surface of the earth, and
there forms a very fragile earthen cocoon, in
which it changes to a CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
is common in most of our English counties ; it
has also been taken in Scotland by Dr. Gordon,
and it is said by Mr. Birchall to be common
and widely distributed in Ireland. (The
scientific name is Xylophasia rurea.)

476. The Light Arches (Xylophasia lithoxylea).

476. THE LIGHT ARCHES. — The palpi are
curved and very slightly porrected, and the
terminal joint is slender; the antennae are
slightly ciliated : the fore wings are narrow,
nearly straight on the costa, blunt at the tip,
and waved on the hind margin ; their colour is
very pale wainscot-brown or whitey-brown :
they have on them three darker but very
imperfectly defined blotches, the first near the
middle of the costal margin, the second below
the middle of the wing, and the third at the
anal angle ; I do not trace the discoidal spots,
but there is a transverse series of dark dots
beyond the middle of the wing, and each is
seated on a wing-ray : the hind wings are very

pale and thinly clothed with scales, so as to
appear semi-transparent, but they have a
rather darker though indistinct crescentic dis-
coidal spot, and an equally indistinct bar
parallel with the hind margin : the hea^,
thorax, and body are of the same pale colour
as the wings ; the thorax and body are crested ;
the body has a large spreading tuft at the
extremity.

The CATERPILLAR has been described in
the Entomologists' Weekly Intelligencer by
Mr. Robsou, who says, " I have bred Xylo-
phasia lithoxylea this summer from a cater-
pillar found at the roots of grass : it was of
large size ; the colour dirty white, with
bluish tinge below; head and tail black, with
two rows of black shining spots on each seg-
ment, one hair in each spot. I found it on
the 8th of May : it seemed then nearly full
fed. The perfect insect appeared on the 8th
of July."

The MOTH appears on the wing in June,
usually about midsummer : it is very common
in England ; has be^n taken in Scotland, and
is common and widely distributed in Ireland.
(The scientific name is Xylophasia lithoxylea.)

477. The Eeddieh Light Arches (Xylophasia

sublustris) .

477. THE REDDISH LIGHT ARCHES. — The-
palpi are short, curved, and scarcely porrected ;
the antennae are slightly ciliated in the male :
the fore wings are nearly straight on the costa,
blunt at the tip, and waved on the hind mar-
gin ; their colour is wainscot -brown, tinged
with the reddish hue of raw sienna ; there is a
darker transverse median blotch, almost con-
tinued into a band, but ceasing before the inner
margin ; there are two other blotches of ex-
actly the same tint on the hind margin, the
first rather above the middle of the wing, the

NOCTUAS.

285

iecond near the anal angle; the fringe is
spotted ; the hind wings are pale dull gray-
brown, with a darker crescentic discoidal spot,
and a darker transverse line between this spot
and the hind margin ; the fringe is pale ; the
head and thorax are of the same colour as the
fure wings, the body rather paler and slightly
crested.

The MOTH appears on the wing at Midsum-
mer, and has been fouudin most of our English
counties, as far north as Yorkshire. Mr.
Birchall says it is very abundant near Galway,
and that it has been taken near Dublin by Mr.
Barrett. (The scientific name is Xylophasia
sublustris.)

Obs. — My predecessor does not mention this
common species as distinct from Lithoxylea,
probably including the two species under that
flame : the words " mayis ferruginea," as
applied in reference to Lithoxylea, when com-
pared with Hiibner's figure of that insect,
induces me to query whether he had not
this species before him. Guen6e expresses a
doubt as to their distinctness, but appears
satisfied to leave them as species, in which
view I entirely concur.

478. The Dark Arches (Xylophasia polyodori) .

478. THE DARK ARCHES. — The palpi are
porrected, the terminal joint slender ; the an-
tennae are slightly ciliated ; the fore wings are
«iearly straight onthecosta, blunt at the tip, and

waved on the hind margin ; their colour is a
mixture of several shades of brown ; the orbi-
cular and reniform spots are very clearly de-
fined by a double circumscription, the interior
border being nearly white, the exterior dark
umber-brown ; the costal margin has a number
of oblique dark spots, and three pale ones near
the tip ; there is a dark, almost black streak
at the middle of the base, a dark brown space
below the discoidal spots, bounded by a very
dark, almost black, streak, and a dark brown
hind marginal band, very irregular and bor-
dered towards the middle of the wing by a pale
transverse zigzag line, which forms a distinct
letter W just below the middle ; the inner
marginal area is pale, becoming almost white
beyond the middle : the hind wings are gray-
brown, with a darker crescentic discoidal spot,
and a darker broad marginal band ; the margin
is waved, the fringe pale : the head, thorax,
and body are pale brown ; the body crested on
the back, and tufted at the extremity.

The CATERPILLAR is figured by Hiibner as
of a dull putty-colour, with the dorsal area of
the second and twelfth segments considerably
darker, and all the segments have shining
black warts : it feeds exclusively on the roots
of grasses and other herbage.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June and
July, and is very common in England, Ireland,
and Scotland. (The scientific name is Xylo-
phaiia polyodon.}

Obs. — Through the kindness of Mr. Birchall
I have specimens of this common moth from
Scotland that are really almost black, but I
am not certain that this case of melanism is
either constant in Scotland, or confined to
that country. The black variety is represented
by the lower figure.

479. The Clouded Brindle (Xylophasia hepitics}.

479. THE CLOUDED BRINDLE. — The palpi

286

BRITISH MOTHS.

are curved and porrected, the terminal joint
small and almost bare of scales ; the antennae
are slightly ciliated in the male, simple in the
female ; the fore wings are slightly arched on
the costa, especially towards the tip, which is
blunt ; the hind margin is waved ; their colour
is ochreous brown, with umber-brown mark-
ings ; the chief of these i a suffused blotch
between the discoidal spots, a move clearly de-
fined blotch at the base of the inner margin,
having its exterior border deeply notched, and
a hind marginal band, having its interior
border very irregular, and being intersected
throughout by a curved and indented pale
transverse line, exterior to which is a second
pale line, regularly zigzag ; the orbicular is
long and oblique ; the reniform of its usual
shape ; a double series of dark brown dots
crosses the wing exterior to the reniform : the
hind wings are dull dingy brown, with a
paler and iridescent costal margin, and a dark
crescentic discoidal *pot ; the head and thorax
are variegated with the two shades of orown
which prevail on the fore wings ; the body is
dorsally crested, of a dingy brown colour, with
the tips of the cre*b darker brown.

The Rev. H. Harpur Crewe has thus
described the CATERPILLAR, in the Zoologist
for 1861 : — "Back, dark brown : medio-dorsal
stripe, whitish, bordered on either .side of each
segment by two black spots : sub-dorsal stripes
slender, indistinct, whitish : the head and
second segment are dark brown, the head
rather the paler of the two, and traversed by
two black lines : the sides are pinkish drab,
marked on each side with a black spot : the
ventral surface is pale drab ; the back and
sides are thinly clothed with slender hairs.
This caterpillar hybernates in the autumn,
when nearly full fed, and begins to feed again
on grass, chick weed (Stellaria media), &c., in
February, and is full fed at the end of March,
or beginning of April : it then forms a neat
cocoon of earth or moss, and therein changes
to a dark red CHRYSALIS, the thorax and upper
part of the body being darker than the rest.

The MOTH appears on the wing towards the
end of June, and has been taken in most of
our English counties. It has also been taken

in Scotland by Mr. Lennon, and at Powers-
court, in Ireland, by Mr. Birchall. (The
scientific name is Xylophasia hepatica.)

480. The Slender Clouded Brindle (Xylophasia

scolopacina) .

480. THE SLENDER CLOUDED BRINDLE. —
The palpi are porrected and curved upwards,
the terminal joint very pointed ; the wings
are slightly arched on the costa, and scarcely
waved on the hind margin, the upper half of
which is nearly straight, while the lower
slopes rather abruptly to the anal angle ; their
colou1- 's dingy ochreous, but the markings are
generally very distinct. The reniform has a
distinct white circumscription, the orbicular
is indistinct; the space between them is dark
bistre-brown, in many specimens prolonged in
an indistinct manner to the inner margin,
which has also a very dark, distinct, and
somewhat linear blotch near its base ; beyond
the reniform is a sharply zigzag and elbowed
transverse line, the extremity of its lobes or
teeth being very dark, and often forming a
transverse series of dots ; the hind margin is
occupied by an umber-brown shade, intersected
throughout by a paler line, which terminates
at the tip of the wing in an ochreous blotch ;
the fringe is spotted ; the hind wings are
pale dingy brown, with a still paler fringe; the
head is ochreous brown ; the thorax ochreous
brown, with a posterior crest tipped with dark
brown ; the body is dingy brown, with a
medio-dorsal series of dark brown crests.

Mr. Buckler has thus described the CATER-
PILLARS in the Entomologists' Monthly Maga-
zine for 1864 : — " They feed on coarse
grasses, and a species of wood-rush (Luxul(i) ;
their bodies are uniformly cylindrical and
slender. The head, and plate on the second
segment, are of a translucent greenish tint,
and there is a black mark on each side of the

NOCTUAS.

287

mouth. The ground-colour of the body is
olive-green above ; on the back there is a fine
thread-like line of yellowish or pale grayish,
enclosed by two others of dark gray, which
form the dorsal line, and run through a series
of elliptic marks of slate-colour. The sub-
dorsal stripe is narrow and slate-colour, begin-
ning at the third segment, and after the fifth
merging into a broad lateral stripe (which
commences on the second segment) of dark,
slaty gray, most intense at its lower edge,
just above which, on each segment, is a large
blackish shining tubercle, furnished with a
bristle ; the ordinary dorsal tubercular spots
are small, with minute hairs. The spiracular
region is bright sulphur-yellow, and the belly
greenish."

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
has been taken in Buckinghamshire, Suffolk,
Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, and Lancashire.
Mr. Birchall says it has also been taken at
Powerscourt, in Ireland. (The scientific name
is Xylophasia scolopacina.)

481. The Bird's-wing (Dipterygia Pinastri).

481. THE BIRD'S-WING. — The palpi are
rather long, curved, porrected, and naked at
the tip; the antennae are simple in both sexes;
the fore wings are ample, nearly straight on
the costa, blunt at the tip, and scalloped on the
hind margin; their colour is dull black, with a
dull ochreous mark on the inner margin, which
expands at the anal angle into a large blotch,
representing with remarkable fidelity the ex-
panded wing of an eagle, — whence the name
of "Bird's-wing;" there are two or three
pale streaks between this bird's wing and the
costa, and seven pale streaks in the black
fringe. The hind wings are smoky black, with
still darker rays, and a crescentic discoidal
spot ; the fringe is rather paler ; the palpi and
head are black; the antennje dark brown, with

a small pale button at the base in front ; the
thorax is crested, the front and sides being
black ; and the disk dark ochreous brown ;
the body is smoky brown, and very slightly
crested.

The CATERPILLAR has a small head, narrower
than the second segment ; the body is cylin-
drical, smooth, rather attenuated at the
anterior, and rather iucrassated at the pos-
terior extremity, the twelfth segment having
a slight medio-dorsal elevation ; the head is
chocolate-brown, with four lines down the
face; the body is of the same colour and has a
darker medio-dorsal stripe, which is intersected
throughout by a pale line ; on each side is a
lateral stripe less distinct ; below this a spira-
cular stripe very distinct, broad, continuous,
and of a dirty white colour ; the dorsal dots
are small and black, each of the posterior ones
is attached to a small round white spot, parti-
cularly conspicuous on the fifth and sixth seg-
ments. It feeds in autumn on the different
species of dock (Rumex), and when full fed
spins a cocoon on the surface of the earth, and
therein changes to a stout, cylindrical, blunt
CHKYSALIS, the wing-cases of which are some-
what swollen.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June. It
is abundant in Epping Forest, near Loughton,
and also near Lewes, and in other parts of
Essex and Sussex, and it has been taken in
Surrey, Kent, and Suffolk. (The scientific
name is Dipterygia Pinastri.}

Obs. — This is one of those moths which
are constant in the arrangement and tint of
their colours. I am unable to select from
among the numerous specimens which have
reached my hands, a single individual to
which I can possihly allude as a variety.
In this respect there is a great discrepancy
among the Noctuas ; some, as we shall have
to observe in the genus A gratis,, being so
variable that it is almost impossible to find
two alike ; others, as in the present instance,
so similar, that it is equally difficult to find a
variety.

"BRITISH MOTHS.

482. The Silver Cloud (Xylomiges conspicillaris) .

482. THE SILVER CLOUD. — The palpi are
short, straight, and scarcely projecting, the
terminal joint is short, blunt, and scaly ; the
antennae are slightly ciliated in the male,
simple in the female : the fore wings are rather
narrow, the costal margin almost straight, the
hind margin slightly scalloped ; their colour is
dark smoky gray, with a pale gray inner
margin tinged with ochreous, and two bands
obscurely indicated near the hind margin ;
the usual discoidal markings are not conspi-
cuous in our English specimens.

Although this description will do very well
for the more usual form of the species, it
seems desirable to say that the distribution of
colour in the fore wings is excessively various.
Three marked varieties occur in the series of
Continental specimens kindly lent me by Mr.
Doubleday.

The first variety may be described as having
the dark colour suffused over the whole costal
and median areas ; a pale oblique streak
descends from the tip and ceases before reach-
ing the middle of the wing ; but is nearly
joined by a second oblique streak proceeding

from a large pale blotch near the anal angia
(See the upper figure.)

The second variety has the dark colour
much more limited ; it occupies the middle of
the wing, and, leaving a large oblong space at
the tip, ascends to the costa between the dis-
coidal spots. (See the middle figure.)

The third variety is almost without the
dark colour, being of a confused and some-
what ash-coloured tint, variously clouded
with different shades of brown. (See the
lower figure.)

In all three varieties there is a radiated
appearance more or less conspicuous in the
fore wings, arising from the blackness of the
wing-rays : the fringe seems always to be
dark, and there is a small linear tuft of pale
scales at the extremity of each wing-ray : the
hind wings are white or whitish, with a pale
brown discoidal spot, margin, and wing-rays ;
the fringe is white ; the head and thorax are
gray, the latter decorated with a dark dis-
coidal blotch, and darker borders, especially on
the sides ; the body is obese, crested at the
base, and squai'ely truncate at the extremity ;
its colour is grayish brown.

The CATEKPILLAR is described by Guenee as
being of a brown culour, tinged with brick-
red, and marbled with brown and white ; the
spiracular stripe is broad and continuous, paler
than the ground-colour, and bordered above by
a dark stripe ; the subdorsal stripe is indicated
by a dorsal series of darker lozenges, the
" trapezoidals " are white, each with a black
dot, the head is concolorous with the body,
and has two dark streaks on the face. It feeds
in July on bird's-foot trefoil (Lotus comicu-
latus) and other plants.

When full fed it buries itself below the
surface of the earth, and changes to an obese

blunt CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May, and
is exceedingly rare in Great Britain. A few
specimens have been taken in Kent, Surrey,
and Worcestershire. (The scientific name is
Xylomige* conspicittaris.)

NOCTUAS.

289

483. The Feathered Brindle (Aporophyla australis) .

483. THE FEATHERED BRINDLE. — The palpi
are short but porrected, scarcely curved ; the
antennae of the male are stout and pectinated,
the pectinations being very short, those of
the female are simple : the fore wings are
rather narrow, nearly straight on the costa,
blunt at the tip, and somewhat scalloped on
the hind margin ; their colour is pale gray,
with a cloud of brown-gray about the middle
of the costa and extending round the reni-
form spot, which it includes ; the reniform
is of the visual form and clearly denned ;
the orbicular is oblique and oblong ; at the
base of the wing, about its middle, is a black
streak, extending about a fifth of the length
of the wing ; on the inner margin near its
base is a small but conspicuous linear blotch ;
on the costa beyond the middle are four small
white spots ; beyond the middle of the wing
there is a zigzag and sharply angled black
line, and between these and the base of the
wing there are sereral other black lines
angled and variously inclined ; the hind-mar-
ginal area has the wing-rays black, and being
on a pale gray ground they are very conspi-
cuous ; the black ceases before the transverse
zigzag line ; in each interspace between the
black wing-rays is an elongate club-shaped
black spot, which emanates from a small but
very distinct black crescent, situated on the
margin ; the fringe is long, its outline waved,
its colour gray-brown, interrupted by a few
long H'ldtt! scales issuing from the end of each
wing-ray . the hind wings are white in the
male, wi'.h grav-b«">~«^ •»""- g-rays, and a mar-

ginal series of linear marks of the same colour,
and frequently with a slight hind-marginal
cloud in the female : in the female they are
dull brown, with a pale fringe ; the hind
margin of the hind wings is indistinctly scal-
loped : the head is gray -brown with a black
transverse line behind the collar ; on eacn side
of the thorax is a white patch, and at the
middle of the posterior border is a black spot :
the body is gray-brown, the basal segment
having some longer scales, more especially
observable in the male ; the sides are fringed
with similar scales.

Guenee describes the CATERPILLAR as cylin-
drical and smooth, and as having the dorsal
area yellowish-red with a paler medio-dorsal
stripe ; ike spiracular line is shaded with
brown dots, and bordered on its upper side
with black streaks : there is a short black
mark originating in the " anterior incision,"
and resting on an oval brown blotch, whici«
occupies the entire width of the segment ; the
head is testaceous-red, reticulated with a
darker tint, and having a darker streak ; the
ventral area is greenish-yellow. In France it
feeds on the endive (Cichorium), smdAsphodelia
microcarpus, not recorded as a British plan*.

The MOTH appears on the wing in August.
It was first taken at Yarmouth in Norfolk,
and was described and figured by Mr. Curtia
under the name of A gratis pascuea, but Mr.
Doubleday took one of the specimens to Parisj
and found that it was the Australia of Bois-
duval ; it has since been taken in Devonshire,
Dorsetshire, Isle of Wight, Sussex, and Kent,
but I believe nowhere north of these counties ;
neither is it recorded from Scotland or Ire-
land. (The scientific name is Aporophyla
austral'^.}

484. The Sinal'-'t.ottled Willow (Laphyymaexigua).

484. THE SMALL-MOTTLED WILLOW.— The
palpi are very inconspicuous ; they are curved

BRITISH MOTHS.

and ascending, very close together, and rather
ap pressed to the face than porrected j the
terminal joint is pointed ; the antennse are
simple or nearly so in both sexes, those of the
male are very slightly ciliated, and thus have
an appearance of being rather stouter than
those of the female : the fore wings have the
basal portion nearly straight, the apical portion
slightly arched, the tip blunt, and the hind
margin slightly waved ; their colour is gray-
brown, with fulvous, pale gray, and dark
brown markings ; the orbicular has a fulvous
area, with whitish border and a dark brown
surrounding ; between this and the base of the
wing is a club-shaped mark with the same
colouring, that is, the median area is fulvous,
with white b -rders and dark surroundings ;
the reniform is dull fulvous, approaching to
smoky-brown, but still having small portions
of pure fulvous ; it has pale borders ; beyond
the reniform is an interrupted zigzag line pale
gray, almost white, and in spots pure white,
but bordered interiorly with very dark brown ;
midway between this and the hind margin is
a second pale lino, very slender and zigzag ;
the costal margin is distinctly spotted, the
pale gray and dark brown tints alternating
with some regularity ; on the hind margin are
six crescentic spots very dark coloured, but
bordered with pale gray on the interior side ;
there are other dark and pale markings on the
disk and inner margin of the wing : the hind
wings are very pale, semi-transparent, and
slightly iridescent, the wing-rays and hind
margin being decidedly darker ; the outline of
the hind wings is irregular and the fringe
very long : the head, thorax, and body are of
the same colour as the fore wings ; the legs
are sparingly clothed with scales, and of a
pale gray colour with black rings.

At the meeting of the Entomological Society
held on the 2nd March, 1859, Dr. Wallace,
who took the female moth in the Isle of
Wight, exhibited specimens which he had
reared from the egg, and read the following
description of the CATERPILLAR : " Pinkish-
brown on the back, pinkish-yellow beneath ; a
row of oiack dots down the back ; two rows
OB each side, between whien aro ^h" white

spiracles on rather a darker ground than that
outside the rows of black spots : head and tail
greenish ; length when full-grown about an
inch : it feeds on plantain, remaining during
the day rolled up in the leaves or roots : the
EGGS were laid about the 18th July, and
hatched in about three weeks ; the caterpillars
were full-fed about the 12th of September,
and the moths exhibited emerged about the
20th of October.

This very rare little Noctua was first taken
at sugar at Ventnor, by Mr. A. Maitland,
about eighteen years ago, and next by Mr. H.
Cooke, near Brighton ; after that near Worth-
ing ; and then three or four specimens by
Dr. Wallace at Berubridge, in the Isle of
Wight ; three by Mr. Bond at Freshwater ;
and one or two by Mr. Rogers in the same
locality ; and, lastly, one by Mr. Fenn at
Lewisham, near London. 1 am indebted to
Mr. Bond for this list of localities, as well as
for the loan of the moth to figure. (The
scientific name is Laphygma exigua.)

485. Th Bordered Gothic (Neuria Saponwrice).

485. THE BORDERED GOTHIC. — The palpi
are slightly porrected in front of the head,
the basal joints are very hairy, the terminal
joint is short, naked, and truncate at the ex-
tremity ; the antenna? are slightly ciliated in
both sexes, but most so in the male ; the eyes
are very hairy ; the fore wings have the costa
straight, the tip blunt, the hind margin
slightly scalloped ; their colour is rich umber-
brown, with very decided darker and lighter
markings, the darker markings are almost
black, the light ones pale wainscot-brown ;
the orbicular spot has a pale outline, the i-oui-
form a pale outline, and a pale central )\ue ;
all the wing-rays are pale except a portion u2'
each of the parallel rays near the hind margin 3
there are four pale transverse lines : the first

JSTOCTUAS.

291

gbert, very crooked, and sharply angled, is
almost close to the base ; the second, which is
curved, precedes the orbicular ; the third is
much bent and situated outside the reniform ;
the fourth is irregular bub very distinct and
parallel with the hind margin ; the interior
border of this last emits a series of black
wedge-shaped spots, the tips of which point
towards the middle of the wing ; on the mar-
gin itself are seven black lunules with pale
interior borders ; the fringe is of two colours,
pale inside, dark brown outside ; the decided
chara«ter of the markings give the fore wings
a very beautiful appearance : the hind wings
are dingy-brown, approaching to gray at the
base, and having a crescentic discoidal spot
and a broad but ill-defined marginal band
darker ; the rays passing through this band
are very dark, and there is a marginal series
of crescentic dark lines : the head and thorax
are variegated with the two colours ^f the
fore wings ; the body is gray-brown.

Guenee describes the CATERPILLAR as short,
stout, cylindrical, and smooth : it has •
corneous plate on the second and twelfth
segments ; the head is moderately large, sphe-
rical, and dull in colour ; the body is grayish-
yellow or reddish (green when young), dis-
tinctly striated with brown, and having a
medio-dorsal stripe slightly paler : the spira-
cular stripe and the ventral surface are pale
gray without marking : the head and corneous
plates are brown. It feeds on low plants, and
particularly on the species of catchfly (SUene),
and when full-fed turns to a CHRYSALIS beneath
the surface of the ground.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
has been taken occasionally in most of the
English counties south of Yorkshire. (The
scientific name is Neuria Saponarice.}

Obs. — Saponarice is a moth of great beauty :
its markings are very similar to those of
I'opidaris ; but the very distinct pale trans-
verse lines which add so greatly to the beauty
of ^(ipoiiaritK are wanting in Popularis, and
this difference serves at once to distinguish
the two.

486. The Feathered Gothic (Heliophobuspopularis).

486. THE FEATHERED GOTHIC. — The palpi
are porrected and scarcely curved, the ter-
minal joint is slender and naked; the an-
tennae are strongly pectinated in the male,
quite simple in the female ; the eyes are very
hairy : the maxillae are slender, short, and
altogether insignificant : the four wings are
straight 011 the costa, blunt at the tip, and
waved on the hind margin ; their colour is
brown, with very pale wing-rays ; the dis-
coidal spots are very distinct ; the orbicular
is strongly outlined with pale wainscot-brown;
the reniform is also strongly outlined, and is
intersected by the white curved ray which
closes the median cell ; two double trans-
verse lines of a very dark colour cross the
wing, one of them before the orbicular, the
other beyond the reniform ; both of these are
intercepted by the pale wing-ray ; parallel
with the hind margins a series of eight pale
crescents ; and on the hind margin itself is a
series of very dark, almost black, crescentic
lines ; in the interspaces between the parallel
wing-rays is a double series of dark brown
spots, the interior series wedge-shaped, fcb."
exterior nearly round ; they are separated by
the intervention of the pale crescents already
noticed : the hind- wings are brown-gray,
paler at the base, with a crescentic discoidal
spot and a pale fringe ; the thorax is .brown,
with paler and darker lines, both on the
front and sides ; the body, which is very
stout in the female, is ringed with two shades
of brown.

(riinuV describes the CATERPILLAR as obese,
smooth, and almost cylindrical, but attenuated
at both extremities, and having a spherical
head ; the colour of the head is gray, with

BRITISH MOTHS.

two black streaks ; that of the body is a
metallic bronze-brown, the dorsal being much
deeper in colour than the ventral ai'ea ; all »he
usual stripes are broad, well defined, of a dull
white colour, and continuous, except where
interrupted by dots of a rosy-brown colour ;
there are corneous plates of a shining black
on the second and twelfth segments ; the
spiracles are entirely black. It feeds in
April and May on grasses, and lives generally
underground ; it is a very pretty caterpillar,
although .t- colours are dull, and delights to
roll itself in a compact ring : it changes to a
CHRYSALIS beneath the surface of the earth.
The MOTH appears on the wing at the end
of August or beginning of September, and has
been taken occasionally in most of our English
counties and as far north as Perthshire ; Mr.
Birchall says it is common and generally dis-
t.ibuted in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Heliophobus populwis.)

487. The Beautiful Gothic (Heliophobus hispidus).

487. THE BEAUTIFUL GOTHIC. — The palpi
are small and inconspicuous, the terminal
joint naked ; the antennae are pectinated in
the male, simple in the female : the fore
wings are straight on the costa, rather pointed
at the tip, and waved on the hind margin ;
their colour is umber-brown, with four trans-
verse pale lines ; the first is short, zigzag,
and very near the base ; the second is
nearly direct, and situated before the or-
bicular ; the third is much bent, and situated
beyond the reniform ; near the costa it bends
towards the base of the wing ; the fourth is
very distinct, oblique, and parallel with the
hind margin ; the discoidal spots are pale and
very distinct, and immediately below them is
a forked wing-ray quite white, and there is a
second white wing-ray parallel with the inner
margin ; there is a Arery dark slender waved

line on the hind margin, and almost close to it
a second slender line rather paler : the hind
wings of the Male are pale gray with a trans-
verse median line darker, and the fringe
paler : in the female the hind wings are
darker ; the head, thorax, and body are gray,
the front and sides of the thorax lined with
dai-ker.

The CATERPILLAR is gray dotted with black,
the medio-dorsal and sub-dorsal stripes more
distinctly dotted (Dup.) (Stainton's Mamial,
vti" i., p. 204.) Mr. Doubleday has reared
these caterpillars, and found they invariably
feed on grass.

The MOTH appears in September, and has
been taken, but not abundantly, in Devon-
shire and the Isle of Wight, but nowhere
north of those counties. (The scientific name
is Heliopliobus kispldus.)

488. The Antler (Charceas Oraminis).

488. THE ANTLER. — The palpi are slightly
porrected, the terminal joint naked but not
exceeding in length the hair- like scales of the
preceding joint ; the antenna? are pectinated
! in the males, t::e pectinations decreasing in
length to the tip, which is very pointed ;
those of the female notched or serrated, each
joint bearing a single hair : the fore wings are
small and short, straight on the costa, and
simple on the hind margin ; their colour is
red dish-brown, the orbicular spot is small and
ovoid ; the reniform is pale, and united at its
lower extremity with a forked whitish in-
crassated wing-ray, which is continued to the
base, where it unites with a second whitish
wing -ray that passes above the orbicular ; a
third wing-ray of the same pale colour runs
parallel with the inner margin ; a pale brown
transverse bar crosses the wing haK \vuv
between the reniform and the hind margin ;
beyond this is a series of obscurely wedjje-

NOCTUAS.

293

shaped dark brown spots : the hind -wings are
pale at the base, and smoky-brown towards the
margin ; the discoidal spot is very small and
usually circular : the fringe is pale : the head,
thorax, and body are brown ; the body having
a tinge of rufous towards the extremity ; the
sides and extremity of the body are clothed
with long hair-like scales. The female is
usually considerably larger than the male.

The CATF.RPILLAR lives almost entirely be-
neath the surface of the ground, in grass
pastures, and its mode of life can only be
inferred from this circumstance : the head is
nearly equal in width to the second segment,
it is very glabrous : the body is almost uni-
formly cylindrical ; the colour of the head is
testaceous-brown; of the body dingy gray-
brown, with a medio-dorsal as well as a
lateral stripe on each side yellowish ; on the
second and thirteenth segments, respectively,
is a glabrous plate, somewhat darker than the
ground colour. It feeds on the roots of grass,
and changes to a CHRYSALIS beneath the sur-
face of the ground.

The MOTH appears on the wing at the end
of August, or early in September, and is found
more or less abundantly on commons, moun-
tains, and meadows naturally clothed with
grass. (The scientific name is Gharceas Gra-
minis.)

Obs. 1. — The caterpillar has always been
notorious for the injuries it causes in grass
lands. Linnaeus emphatically says, " This is
the most destructive of our Swedish cater-
pillars, laying waste our meadows and annihi-
lating the crop of hay." In the years 1741
and 1778 its ravages were so great as to
amount to a national calamity. Guen6e ob-
serves that, although met with throughout
Europe, including France, it has nowhere
caused such a panic as in Sweden. Some
authors have asserted that it spares the species
of the genus Alopecurus, and others those of
the genus Trifolium, but these assertions are
not published on authority sufficiently reliable,
since there is no evidence of care in the
observation on which they are founded.

Obs. 2. — In the first volume of the Entomo-
logical Magazine, Mr. Wailes has published

some remarks on this moth, which I consider
of such general interest that I think no
apology is needed for quoting them entire : —
" Though the devastations committed by
the caterpillars of this moth in our island do
not in general appear to bear any comparison
with its ravages in the Swedish pastures,
yet when, from the failure of some of the
checks appointed for keeping it within
proper bounds, the species is left to increase
unmolested its effects are very apparent, as
the following instance will show. Some
years ago, during the spring and early sum-
mer, the herbage of a large portion of the
level part of the mountain of Skiddaw, near
the well which most tourists visit on the
ascent, previous to climbing to the summit of
the first man, comprising at least fifty acres,
and extending some distance down the west-
ern side of the mountain, was obwwved, even
from the town ox Keswick, to assume a dry
and parched appearance ; and so marked was
the line, that the progress made by the
caterpillars down the mountain could be dis-
tinctly noted. Nor was the change of colour
of the herbage the only thing that attracted
the attention of the good folks of Keswick ;
large flocks of rooks, attracted, no doubt, by
the abundance of food which these caterpillars
afforded them, were every morning seen
wending their way to the spot, both from
the rookeries at Lord's Island and other
places in the vale of Keswick, and also
from those of distant ultramontane parts of
the neighbourhood ; and, after spending the
day in preying upon the unfortunate cater-
pillars, on the approach of night, rising in
one dense cloud, and dispersing to their
respective homes. Though the number of
caterpillars must in this manner have been
greatly reduced, yet 1 was informed, by a
very intelligent friend residing at the foot of
the mountain, that in August the moths
literally swarmed throughout the neighbour-
hood. So completely was vegetation de-
stroyed, that, on a visit to the spot in 1830,
the extent of their ravages was distinctly
visible, being very similar to the effect pro-
duced by the burning of heather, which is so

294

MOTHS.

much practised on all our hills. Of course
the quality of the newly-grown herbage was
materially improved ; thus affording another
instance of indirect advantages derived from
insects.

" Another very remarkable fact, illustrative
of the natural habits of this moth, fell be-
neath my observation in the beginning of
August, 1831. L was staying at Meldon
Park on an entomological excursion, and, by
chance, one morning visited some old pas-
tures about a mile from that place — this was
about eight o'clock — and my astonishment
was very great to find the fields swarming
with moths upon the wing. I managed to
capture one with my hat, having neglected to
take out my net, and was delighted to find it
was a specimen ofCharceas Graminis, of which
I had only captured an occasional one or two,
flying amongst thistles in the middle of the
day. I returned to breakfast, fully calcu-
lating on getting an ample supply during the
forenoon. Accordingly, big with expectation,
and completely prepared for the onslaught, I
reached the spot about ten o'clock ; and if my
first surprise on beholding the countless my-
riads in my morning walk was great, it was
not less on my return to find that in the
same place where, not three hours before, I
could scarce step without treading on them,
a single specimen was all that rewarded my
incessant search for some hours, over the space
of at least one hundred and fifty acres. Cha-
grined at my ill luck, I determined that the
peep of the morrow's dawn should find me
prepared to profit by the experience of that
day ; and, accordingly, taking an assistant
with me, we reached the place early ; but not
a moth was to be seen. The wind had
changed to the east, and the drifting mist
threatened to end in rain ; and having fixed
that day for my return to Newcastle, I felt
somewhat disappointed, and wandered over
the ground in the hopes that some single
specimen might venture forth, but in vain ;
not a solitary moth was to be seen. Despair-
ing of success, and wet and uncomfortable,
from the heavy dew on the grass, and moist
fog overhead, about half-past seven I was

about to return, when suddenly the whole
field, as far as the eye could reach, was once
more the scene of their gambols. Struck
with the suddenness of their reappearance,
and rejoicing at their unexpected return, I put
Horace's truly entomological recommendation,

' Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero,'

into force. And now the difficulty was, not
where to find a moth, but which one of the
numberless thousands on the wing to select
for an object of capture, as their flight was so
rapid and irregular that the eye became
bewildered with their motions, and, like the
Gyrinl, they were lost in the mazes of their
evolutions. After securing what specimens I
wanted, I could not help watching the scene
before me ; and, as in the study of all nature's
works, the trouble, or rather the time spent,
was more than amply repaid ; for sudden as
their appearance had been, their disappear-
ance was equally so, when, as with one
general consent, about half-past eight, they
again settled ; and their flight for the morning
being over, scarcely a solitary specimen was
anywhere to be made. The moths flew about
three or four inches from the ground, and
apparently very seldom alighted, but threaded
their way most dexterously amongs the long
culms of the grasses. I reached home, not
only pleased with my capture, but infinitely
more so with the interesting habits of this
insect ; and I regret that I have not had an
opportunity of again witnessing them. The
species, though common hereabouts, has been
considered rare in the south of England, pro-
bably from entomologists being unacquainted
with its habits."

\

489. The F athered Ear (Pachetra leucophcea) .

489. THE FEATHERED EAR. — The palpi are
straight, and very slightly projecting ; the

NOCTUAS.

295

terminal joint is small and short ; the antenmw
are long, pointed, and sti-ongly pectinated in
the male, but simple in the female : the fore
wings are ample, very nearly straight on the
costal, and scalloped on the hind margin ;
their colour is gray, slightly tinged with
ochreous, and clouded and variegated with
brown ; the discoidal spots are very con-
spicuous ; they are of the same clouded gray
colour as the rest of the wing, but their cir-
cumscription is white, and the ground colour
surrounding it very dark ; below the orbicular
is a very dark and obtusely wedge - shaped
spot pointing towards the hind margin ; there
are four double transverse lines, the first near
tlie base, very short, bent, and imperfect to-
wards the inner margin ; the second before
the orbicular, and united to the wedge-shaped
spot ; the third, which is much interrupted
and oblique, beyond the reniform ; and the
fourth, which is very zigzag, and very pale,
parallel with the hind margin ; on this last
are seated six or seven distinct and acutely
wedge-shaped dark spots, all of them point-
ing towards middle of the wing ; the costal
margin is spotted with darker and lighter :
the hind wings are cloudy gray, with the
wing-rays, a crescentic discoidal spot, and a
marginal line decidedly darker ; their outline
is waved ; there is also an indistinct clouded
band pai'allel with the hind margin, more
particularly observable in the female; the
fringe is spotted ; the head and thorax are
varied with gray and brown ; the body is
grayish-brown, with a medio-dorsal series of
darker crests.

The CATERPILLAR has not been found in
this country, but Guenee describes it as obese,
velvety, and swollen posteriorly, and having
small and short clampers, and a large and gla-
brous head of a light brown colour ; the body
is yellowish-gray, and striated, with a very
conspicuous medio-dorsal stripe of a nankeen-
yellow colour ; the sub-dorsal stripe is less
distinct, and the spiracular stripe melts
gradually into the paler area beneath ; the
usual dots are extremely small and scarcely
perceptible : the spiracles are strongly out-
iined with black : there is a shining brown

plate on the second segment. It feeds in
those tufts of grass which grow on commons
and in dry woods, and lives through the
winter from October till the following April.
When full-fed, it makes a soft cocoon
among mosses on the surface of the ground,
and therein changes to a short, big-bellied
CHRYSALIS, with the anterior part of each
segment chagreened, and the extremity of
the abdomen very blunt.

The MOTH appears on the wing at the end
of June, and continues flying until the mid-
dle of July : the only British locality in
which it has been known to occur is Mickle-
ham, in Surrey, and here it has not been taken
during the last seven years. Mr. Stevens has
kindly sent me the following information foP
publication in this work : — " Whilst mothing
on Mickleham Downs, early in July, about
fifteen years ago, I boxed several moths that
were flying round flowers then in bloom, and
the next morning, when pinning my captures,
I found amongst them a specimen ofPachetra
leucopJicea. For several years afterwards,
during the same month of July, I succeeded
in capturing a few more specimens, not more
than fourteen or fifteen in all. For the last
seven or eight years I have tried in vain. I
have only heard of three more specimens be-
sides those mentioned above : the last was
taken about seven years ago." (The scientific
name is Pac/ietra leucophcea.}

490. The Straw Under-wing (Oerigo Cytherea).

490. THE STRAW UNDER-WING. — The palpi
are slightly curved and porrected, the terminal
joint naked and pointed ; the antennae of the
male are serrated, of the female simple ; the
fore wings are ample, very slightly arched on
the costa, blunt at the tip, and waved on the
hind margin ; their colour is various, most

296

BRITISH MOTHS.

commonly bistre-brown of several shades, yet
sometimes tinged with brick-dust red, and
always having four transverse lines and the
two discoidal spots mapped out, or, at least,
indicated in pale brown, gray, or white ; the
first transverse line is close to the base, short
and imperfect ; the second, much angled, pre-
cedes the orbicular; the third follows the
reniform, and is the most distinct ; the fourth
is parallel with the hind margin, vague,
waved, brokeu, and often indistinct ; the hind
wings are straw-coloured, with a broad smoke-
coloured marginal band ; the margin is waved ;
the hind margin of all the wings has a deli-
cately slender black line : the head and
thorax are gray-brown, the tint produced by
a diversity of colour in the scales ; the body
is gray-brown, the scales concolorous.

The CATERPILLAR is described by Guen6e as
elongate and cylindrical, smooth and shining ;
the head is pale, with two black lines down
the face ; the body is of a grayish yellow
colour, excepting the three thoracic segments
and the lateral area, which are wood-brown ;
all the stripes are conspicuous and blackish,
the medio-dorsal is the most distinct, double,
crowded with black dots, and velvety on the
anterior part of each segment ; the sub-dorsal
stripe also is double, the spiracular stripe is
bordered with black above. It feeds on the
grasses which grow on dry and stony hills,
and lives through the winter from September
until the following April : the CHRYSALIS is
subterranean.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July,
and has been taken in most of our counties
%s far north as Kirkcudbrightshire ; Mr.
Birchall says it is common, and generally dis-
tributed in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Cerigo Cytlierea.)

491. The Flounced Rui-tic (Luperina testaced).

49? THE FLOUNCED RUSTIC. — The palpi

are short and scarcely projecting; the
antennae are ciliated in the male, simple in
the female : the fore wings are rather narrow
very straight on the costa, blunt at the tip,
and slightly waved on the hind margin ; their
colour is testaceous, with several dark umber-
brown markings, the most conspicuous of
which is below the two discoidal spots, and has
some resemblance to a capital letter I placed
longitudinally ; the disk of the reniform
is paler than the ground colour of the wing,
there is a series of crescentic dark brown
spots beyond the renifoim arid the concavity
of each crescent is occupied by a paler crescent;
these markings are followed by a broad trans-
verse paler band, and a darker and indented
hind-marginal band : the hind wings are deli-
cately pale, and exhibit the most slender trace
of a darker discoidal spot, and a linear inter-
rupted border : the head and thorax are
testaceous brown, the body gray-brown.

" The caterpillar is dull flesh-colour, the
head and the corneous plate on tl>e second
segment pale yellowish brown (Treitschke) : on
the lower parts of the stems of grass." (Stain-
toris Manual, vol. i. p. 206.)

The MOTH appears on the wing throughout
August and September, and is common in
England, Scotland, and Ireland. (The scien-
tific name is Luperina testacea.)

492. Dumeril's Luperina (Luperina Dumerilii).

492. DUMERIL'S LUPERINA. — The palpi are
short and scarcely projecting, the antennae are
ciliated in the male, simple in the female, tl it-
fore wings are rather narrow, very straight on
the costa, and scarcely waved on the hind
margin ; their colour is testaceous brown,
with a darker median band, and a darker but
narrow hind-marginal band : the discoidal
spots are very distinct and very pale; the

NOCTUAS.

297

orbicular is oblong and oblique, the median
wing-ray on which they rest is quite white,
and emits two white branches, there is also a
perfectly white wing-ray parallel with the
hind margin : the hind wings are extremely
pale wainscot-brown, slightly clouded towards
the hind margin in the female : the head and
thorax are testaceous brown ; the body pale
wainscot-brown.

Two specimens of the MOTH are said to have
been taken in the Isle of Portland by Mr.
Seeley ; one of them is in Mr. Bond's collec-
tion. (The scientific name is Luperina Du-
merilii.)

Obs. — The specimen figured and described
is one of a fine and valuable series from the
Continent, kindly lent me by Mr. Doubleday.

493. GUENEE'S LUPERINA. — " Thorax pale
griseous, mixed with white : body very pale :
fore wings pale testaceous, irrorated with black
and white atoms — an indistinct interrupted
pale striga before the middle — then a second
arcuated striga composed of black lunules,
edged externally with whitish ; the first striga
terminates in a rather conspicuous black dot
on the inner margin of the wing, the ordi-
nary discoidal spots are placed between these
strigse, the reniform one being distinctly edged
with white. Between the black dots on the
inner margin of the wing and the thorax is a
slender black line. Hind margin pale testa-
ceous, with an indistinct undulating pale line, [
commencing at a pale patch on the costa near j
the apex. A distinct row of black marginal
lunules ; fringe spotted with deep and pale
fuscous : on the costa near the apex are two
oblique white spots : hind wings pure white
in both sexes, with black marginal lunules ;
antennae of the male rather strongly ciliated

" Three specimens of this insect were taken
in Wales in the autumn of 1862 ; it is closely
allied to Luperina testacea, L. Nickerlii, and
L. Desyttesi, but is apparently distinct from
either. The Rev. Henry Burney most kii.dly
sent me his pair for examination, and allowed
me to forward one of them to my valued
friend, M. Guenee, who informs me that it is
identical with a specimen in his cabinet taken

in France, which is described in his works as
'Luperina testacea, var. A,' accompanied by
a remark that it will probably prove a dis-
tinct species. In this remark I coincide, and
with the consent of Mr. Barney, I propose to
name it after my friend.

" It differs from L. testacea in the thorax
and abdomen, being slenderer, in the peculiar
mottled appearance of the fore wings, and in
the absence of the three round white dots on
the costa, near the apex, which are so dis-
tinct in L. testacea and L. Nickerlii, The
hind wings in both sexes are of a much
purer white than in L. testacea."

Of this species I have no knowledge whaT-
ever be}ond what is conveyed in Mr. Double-
day's original description, which I have copied
from the Entomologists? Manual for 1864, p.
123. (The scientific name is Luperina Gueneei.)

494. The Hedge Rustic (Luperina Cespitis).

494. THE HEDGE RUSTIC. — The palpi are
inconspicuous, they scarcely project beyond
the head ; the antennae are ciliated in the
male, simple in the female ; the eyes are
very hairy : the fore wings are ample,
straight on the costa, and blunt at the tip ;
their colour is opaque bistre-brown, the
discoidal spot clearly mapped out in white,
and there are three distinct transverse lines,
the first is before the orbicular; the second
beyond the reniform ; and the third, which is
broken up into crescentic spots, is parallel
with the hind margin ; each of these lines is
double, that is, consists of two portions, the
one darker, the other paler than the ground
colour ; the first has the pale portion towards
the base, the second and third towards the
hind margin ; the hind wings of the male are
very pale, almost white, sometimes with one.

298

BRITISH MOTHS.

sometimes two darker bars, parallel with the j
iiind margin : in some specimens I find
scarcely any trace of these bars; but there
is always a slender dark brown line on the
extreme margin : the hind wings of the
female are clouded with smoky brown : the
head and thorax have exactly the same colour
as the fore wings; the body is pale dingy- i
brown.

" The EGG is at first pale straw-colour, soon
turning pale purplish brown, and again
becoming dingy-gray a long time before the
caterpillars appear : this is singular, for the
last change of colour usually precedes the
hatching of the caterpillar but a few days
or hours at the outside. The c^ YERPILLAR at
first is a little dingy fellow, but after a moult
or two, puts on the gayest dress worn in ail
its existence, becoming of a clear full green,
with white medio-dorsal, sub-dorsal, and
broader spiracular Hues." Thus writes the
Rev. John Hellins, one of our very best
observers, in the Entomologists' Monthly Ma-
gazine, vol. iii. p. 212. In June, 1866, I
received some of the full-grown caterpillars
from a friend who dug them up in a meadow
which had been completely laid waste by the
ravages of caterpillars, and had assumed the
appearance of a scorched desert : the cater-
pillars of an Agroti hereafter to be described
were the main age .fcs in this devastation, but
they were intermixed with others more at-
tractive in appearance, which subsequently
proved to be those of Luperina Cespitis. The
head of these was rather narrower than the
second segment, the face flat, and the whole
glabrous; the body is almost uniformly cylin-
drical, but slightly decreases in bulk towards
each extremity ; on the second segment is a
semi-circular glabrous plate, and there is
another on the thirteenth segment ; the
colour of the head is dingy-brown, and that
of the two dorsal plates is darker brown, the
rest of the dorsal surface has a metallic
bronze-like lustre with five dingy-white
stripes, one of them medio-dorsal, the others
lateral ; the ventral surface and claspers have
a semi-transparent greenish tint; the legs are
corneous as usual, and of a rather darker

colour. It feeds on grass, and exclusively by
night, either burying itself in the earth or
hiding at the roots of the grass by day; about
midsummer my specimens finally entered the
earth and formed themselves earthen cells,
without any perceptible admixture of silk or
gui , and in these they changed to shining
red-brown CHRYSALIDS, having an anal spike
1'orked, or, perhaps, more properly speaking,
bearing two sharp bristles at the extremity.

The MOTH appears on the wing in August,
and, although never abundant, has been oc-
casionally met with in many of our English
counties, Hampshire, Sussex, Kent, Surrey,
Essex, Suffolk, Worcester, Lancashire, York.
Mr. Birchall informs us it is abundant on the
Irish coast near Dublin. (The scientific name
is Luperina Cespitis.}

495. The Crescent-striped (Mamestra abjecta).

495. THE CRESCENT-STRIPED. — The an-
tennae are rather long, and almost simple in
both sexes; the palpi are curved upwards,
naked, and widely-separated- at the tips: the
fore wings are rather long, rather narrow, and
slightly waved on the hind margin ; their
colour is dingy brown ; the orbicular spot is
oblong and oblique, its border whitish, and
rendered more conspicuous by the dark, but
narrow, area immediately around it ; the
reniform is irregular, its colours the same as
those of the orbicular, except that it has two
white dots at its lower exterior extremity ;
beyond this are two oblique transverse paler
lines, the outer of which is zigzag, and the
inner is accompanied by several dark lunules,
and there are three, as is usual in this tribe,
rather conspicuous pale dots on the costal
margin near the tip ; the hind wings are pale
grayish-brown, with darker wing-rays and
hind margin, and paler base ; the head and

NOCTUAS.

299

•$notfax are of the colour of the fore wings,
the body of the hind wings.

Tht> MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
is said to occur in several of our English
counties ; but it seems to be very local and
so imperfectly known that the recorded
habitats must be received with great doubt ;
it is certainly abundant on the banks of the
Thames near Gravesend, and also on the
Irish coast near Waterford. (The scientific
name is Mamestra abjecta.)

Obs. — This obscurely-marked insect is the
Noctua lunulina of Haworth (Lap. Brit. p.
192, No. 92).

496. The Large Nutmeg (Mamestra anceps).

496. THE LARGE NUTMEG. — The antennae
are rather long, and almost simple in both
»exes ; the palpi are short, the tips naked and
distant : the colour of the four wings is pale
dingy-brown, tinged with ochreous ; the
ground coloxir of the orbicular and reniform
spots is scarcely different from that of the
rest of the wing, but the border of the reni-
foim i.5 almost white ; there is an irregular
paler band, parallel with the hind margin,
accompanied on the outside by a slender
zigzag line of the same colour, which, below
the middle, projects two teeth or angles to
the hind margin itself : the hind wings are
pale gray-brown, with a darker hind-marginal
band and darker wing-rays : the head and
thorax are exactly of the same colour as the
fore wings, the body of the same colour as
the hind wings.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June,
and is common in most of our English coun-
ties, it is also reported from Scotland, and
Mr. Birchall says it is common on the Irish
coast near Dublin. (The scientific name is
Mamestra anceps )

The CATERPILLAR of this moth is very im-
pei-fectly known. Mr. Stainton, citing Bork-
hausen, says it is " pale brown, with three
faintly darker streaks ; the spots black, the
second and anal segment black;' food un-
known. (Stainton' 's Manual, vol. i. p. 208.)

Obs. This species is certainly the Noctua
contigua of Haworth (Lep. Brit. No. 91);
but that name will occur farther on applied
to another species.

497. The White Colon (Mamesira albicolori).

497. THE WHITE COLON.— The antenna)
are rather long and nearly simple in both
sexes ; the palpi are inconspicuous : the fore
wings are rather ample, their colour is dark
gray-brown, mottled and marbled with darker
colours ; the markings being generally sharp
and well-defined; the orbicular spot is nearly
circular, and of the ground colour ; the reni-
form is rather elongate, and has two white
dots at its lower outer extremity; these are
placed one above the other, and resemble the
colon (:) used in printing: parallel with the
hind margin is an irregular transverse series
of whitish or ochreous spots : the hind wings
are gray-brown ; darker towards the hind
margin and apical angle ; the wing-rays also
are conspicuously darker : the head and
thorax are of the same colour as the fore
wings, as are also the tips of the crests on
the body ; the rest of the body is of the same
colour as the hind wings.

The EGGS are laid in June, in waste places,
on various species of A triplex and Cheitoj.'O-
dium, and in gardens on lettuce and other
esculents : the CATERPILLAR is full-fed about
the end of July, when it falls from its food-
plant and rolls itself in a compact ring if dis-
turbed. The head is rather narrower than the
second segment ; and the body is almost uni-

BRITISH MOTHS.

formly cylindrical, very smooth and velvety,
and slightly decreasing towards either extre-
mity : the colour of the head is pale semi-trans-
parent green, and glabrous : the second seg-
ment has on its anterior margin a crescentic
glabrous plate, resembling the head in colour ;
die body is grass-green, with a rnedio-<lorsal
stripe slightly darker, and intersected by an
extremely narrow paler stripe on each side just
below the spiracles, and, touching all of them
except the first and ninth, is a pale stripe,
intersected by a darker stripe ; the claspers
and legs are concolorous with the body.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May and
June, and has been 'taken in Devonshire by
Mr. Matthew, in Somersetshire by Mr. Crotch,
in Cheshire and Lancashire by Mr. Birchall,
in Northumberland, Durham, and the Lake
District ; it is also exceedingly common on
the Irish coast near Dublin. (The scientific
name is Mamestra albicolon.)

498. Th(- Confused (Mamestra furva).

498. THE CONFUSED. — The antennae are
slightly ciliated in the male, and of a tes-
taceous brown colour ; the palpi are very
inconspicuous : the colour of the fore wings
is dark gray-brown, obscurely mottled and
marbled with darker markings; the reniform
and orbicular spots are confused, and have no
white or light borders ; parallel with the hind
margin is a pale interrupted line, or rather a
series of pale linear spots : the hind wings are
dingy gray-brown, paler at the base, and
having darker wing-rays : the head and
thorax are of the same colour as the fore
wings ; the body of the same colour as the
hind wings.

The CATERPILLAR is thus described by
Guen£e — " Vermiform, shining, transparent,
and of a dull violet-brown colour, with the

usual somewhat wart-like spots, as well as the
heap, the plates of the neck and twelfth seg-
ment, and the spiracles shining black. It
lives in June concealed at the root of grasses,
especially Aira canescens in the manner of
Xyloyhasia polyodon and X. lateritia, botli
of which it much resembles."

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
is said to have been taken in Devonshire.
Somersetshire, Kent, Berkshire, Suffolk, Wor-
cestershire, Shropshire, Derbyshire, York-
shire, the Lake District, Scotland, and Ire-
land : it is certainly very local, and is imper-
fectly known, one of the varieties of Apamfa
gemina hereafter to be described, being con-
stantly sent under the name of Furva : on tlii*
account I receive all reports of its capture wi;h
distrust unless accompanied with specimens.
(The scientific name is Mamestra, furva)

Obs. This confused and obscurely-coloured
moth is not noticed by Haworth or Stephens,
and, therefore, I believe has . received no
English name prior to that now given.

499. Thu Cabbage Moth (Mamestra Brassicce).

499. THE CABBAGE MOTH. — The antennae
are rather long and slender, and scarcely
ciliated in either sex : the fore wings are dark
smoky gray-brown, mottled and marbled with
confused markings, both darker and paler ;
the orbicular spot is inconspicuous, but de-
cidedly to be traced; the reniform is delicately
outlined with white or whitish gray, and has
a pale interior disk, in which the same pale
gray colour predominates : the hind wings are
dark smoky-brown, with rather pale base, and
rather darker crescentic discoidal spot and
wing-rays : the head, thorax, and body ha\ e
the same colour as the fore and hind wings.

The EGG is laid on the cultivated varieties
ofBrassica, as summer cabbage, brocoli, cauli-

NOCTUAS.

flower, seakale, <fec., and the young CATER-
PILLAR emerges in a few days, and imme-
diately commences its destructive career. T
am unable to give a precise date for ovipo-
idtion, or for the emergence of the caterpillar,
having observed them feeding throughout the
summer and autumn. Tn a perfectly natural
state this caterpillar devours the leaves of
almost every herb, particularly the various
species of CJienopodium and Rumex : in the
garden it is excessively destructive, having an
insatiable appetite, which it seeks to indulge,
without intermission, day and night; it spoils
even more than it devours, gnawing its way
into the very heart of our cabbages, and filling
its galleries with watery and disgusting excre-
ment ; it is next to impossible to rid the
cabbages of their unwelcome tenant, which
continually escapes the vigilant eyes of the
cook, and, boiled to death in the midst of its
noxious career, is served up as an almost in-
evitable concomitant of summer cabbage. It
is, however, by no means confined to the in-
terior, but may be found feeding exposed on
cabbages, dahlias, geraniums, marygolds, and
almost every plant, useful or ornamental, that
the garden produces. When full-fed, it rolls
itself into a compact ring if annoyed, and re-
mains in that position for a considerable time;
when crawling, the head is somewhat por-
rected. The head is scarcely so broad as the
body, and is partially received into the second
segment, the body is cylindrical, smooth, and
velvety ; the twelfth segment is slightly in-
crassated dorsally. The head is very glabrous,
testaceous, reticulated, or marbled with darker-
brown ; the body usually divided longitudi-
nally into two equal regions as regards colour ;
the dorsal region, including the spiracles, is
olive-brown ; the ventral region dingy yellow ;
the division between the two colours is usually
abrupt and clearly defined, and extends
throughout the length of the caterpillar from
the hoacl to the end claspcrs ; on the back of
every segment is a somewhatobscnre triangular
mark pointing backwards, and rendered more
conspicuous by being bounded bv a lighter
shade ; in each triangle are two white dots
placed transversely ; the spiracles are also

white ; the legs and claspers are of the same
colour as the ventral surface. Such is a de-
scription of the normal and more marked
colouring of this ubiquitous caterpillar, but it
varies infinitely ; in some examples there are
evident black dorsal markings on each side of
each segment, except the twelfth, and on tlu.t
a large square black patch, of which the hinder
and lateral margins are well defined, but not
the anterior margin ; in others the olive hue
of the back is replaced by a clear brown, and
again in others the entire body is of a pale and
perfectly uniform dingy-green. The cater-
pillar changes to a brown and glossy CHRYSALIS
in the earth, and remains in that state through-
out the winter. During the autumnal and
winter garden-digging, the chrysalids are
turned up by hundreds, and might then be
readily collected; they are a favourite food of
all kinds of poultry — fowls, guinea-fowls, pea-
fowls, and pheasants devour them with the
greatest avidity.

The MOTH appears on the wing continuously
during the summer and is common in England,
Scotland, and Ireland. (The scientific name
is Maniestra Brassicce.)

500. The Dot (Maniestra Persicaria}).

500. THE DOT. — The antennae are long, and
very slender towards the tip, those of the male
are very slightly ciliated ; the fore wings are
ample, rather pointed at the tip, and slightly
waved on the hind margin, their colour is very
rich dark bistre-brown, frequently variegated
with rich chestnut ; the orbicular spot is
circular, but very indistinct, its outline is
sometimes indicated by a few white scales ;
the reniform is very bright and conspicuous ;
it is of a pure white, excepting a cloud in the
centre, which takes the form of the exterior
outline, and varies in tint from a dingy smoke-

302

BRITISH MOTHS.

colour to a rich chestnut-brown ; there is a
conspicuous but small pale spot on the costa
immediately above the reniforrn, and other
smaller ones nearer the tip ; there is also an
irregular series of yellowish dots on the disk
of the wing parallel with its hind margin : the
hind wings are pale towards the base, very
dark smoky-brown towards the hind margin,
tliis colour forming a broad band ; thecrescentic
discoidal spot and wing-rays in the pale portion
of the wings are darker : the thorax, which
has a double crest in front, is dark bistre-
brown ; the body is smoky gray-brown, with
a ferruginous tuft at the base ; the tip has a
triple tuft in the male, the median lobe being
erected, the lateral lobes arched.

The EG« is laid in June and July, and the
young CATERPILLAR emerges toward the end
of the latter month ; when full-fed it r-'lls it-
self in a tight ring if disturbed, and falls to
the ground ; the head is rather small, and
partially withdrawn into the second segment
when at rest , the body is smooth, very stout,
and somewhat attenuated anteriorly ; the
twelfth segment is the largest, tumid and
obtusely humped : the colour is various,
bright green, dingy green, rosy brown, or
dark brown ; as in many other cases where
this difference of colour prevails, the brown
specimens generally produce males, the green
ones females ; in the following definition I
describe only the intensity, not the colour of
the markings. The head shining, pale, mottled
with darker; the second segment has a nearly
square dark velvety patch on the back,
bounded on each side by a longitudinal white
line, and being intersected in the middle by a
third longitudinal white line ; a pale narrow
median stripe commences at the terminationof
this short white line, and terminates on the
twelfth segment ; on each side are two series
of oblique dark markings; those of the upper
series commence on the fifth segment; and are
continued to the twelfth segment, each com-
mencing about the middle of the side, pass
obliquely upwards and backwards to the
median stripe, and there meet a corresponding
marking on the opposite sside, thus forming
a series of V-shaped markings, the points of

the V's directed backwards; those V's on the
fifth and sixth segments have the greatest in-
tensity ; the twelfth segment is also much
darker than the rest, but the dark portion has
lost the V-shape ; there is a slender dark
rivulet stripe on each side below the V-shaped
markings, and from this descend five other
oblique markings, taking an opposite direction
to the upper ones, and terminating in the
claspers ; in the upper part of each of these
is situated a white spiracle ; the twelfth seg-
ment has a pale squarish patch behind ; the
anterior part of the body is dark beneath. It
feeds on a great variety of plants, and is pai*-
ticularly fond of elder ; is full-fed at the end
of September, and buries itself in the earth
in order to undergo the change to a CHRYSALIS.
The MOTH appears at the end of June, and
is common throughout July in most of our
English counties, and extends also into
Scotland ; but Mr. Birchall did not meet with
it in Ireland. (The scientific name is Ma-
mestra Persicarice. )

501. The Rustic Shonlder-Knot (Apamea basilinea).

501. THE EUSTIC SHOULDER-KNOT. — The
antennae are slightly ciliated in the male ; the
palpi are porrected and prominent, the second
joint densely clothed with scales, the terminal
joint very distinct and almost naked : the fore
wings have the hind margin slightly waved ;
their colour is pale ochreous-brown, marbled
with shades of greater or less intensity ; the
orbicular is ra! her oblique and very indistinct ;
the renifonn is more cleai'ly defined, its border
outlined in dingy white, and the lower half of
its area filled with smoky-brown ; there is a
short black line at the base directed towards,
but not nearly reaching, the middle of the
winer : this black line is slightly elbowed in
the middle, and often emits at the elbotv a

NOCTUAS.

303

very short branch : the hind wings ai*e more
dingy than the fore wings, but of very similar
tint : the head and thorax are ochreous-brown ;
the body rather pale.

The EGGS are laid on the ears of wheat in
little clusters, generally in sufficient number to
supply one or more CATERPI LLARS when hatched
to every grain in the ear ; then they penetrate
the grains, and consume the contained flour
as soon as it has commenced to become solid,
leaving the cuticle of the grain, as well as the
chaffy husks with which it is enveloped, per-
fectly intact, with the exception of the very
small aperture through which it escapes. As
soon as the caterpillar is too large for the grain
to contain, it introduces itself between the
husk and the beard of the ear, in which situa-
tion it cannot be detected withoiit difficulty,
being exactly similar in colour : this occurs at
harvest-time. It then allows itself to be
hidden in the sheaves, and is housed with the
corn : if we examine the floor of the barn
where the wheat is threshed, we find these
caterpillars, then about the thickness of a
straw, expelled by the stroke of the flail,
crawling about in multitudes. The time has
now arrived when its destructive propensities
have ceased : the grains have acquired the re-
quired hardness, and the lower temperature of
approaching winter serving to benumb the
caterpillars, each constructs a little cocoon in
which to pass the cold season. No sooner has
the spring arrived, bringing with it a rapid
vegetation, than they change their manner of
life altogether ; they forsake the granaries and
barns, and, wandering into the fields and
hedge-rows, attack and devour the roots and
lower leaves of many herbaceous plants ; they
still grow somewhat slowly, aud now assume
the usual habits and appearance of the other
Apameas ; for up to this perod they have pos-
sessed all the characteristics of the caterpillars
Leucanias or of young I)ia)ill<>.i-!«K : so true it
is that the food and economy of caterpillars
exercise a yreat influence on their forms as
well as colours. They now attain their full
size, and are to all appearance, genuine
Apam^as ; they feed almost entirely by night,
concealing themselves in or near the ground

by day ; they rest in a straight position, but
roll themselves in a compact ring when dis-
turbed or annoyed. The head is shining, and
rather narrower than the second segment into
which it is partially withdrawn when at rest ;
the body is obese and almost uniformly cylin-
drical. The colour of the head is pale semi-
transparent brown, slightly reticulated with
darker brown : there is a rather narrow medio-
dorsal sti'ipe of a dull yellow colour, and a
similarly-coloured lateral stripe on each side,
the interspace being occupied by a darker
ground-colour, interrupted by a longitudinal
series of black spots ; the spiracles are black,
and situated in a palish stripe of a dingy white,
the ventral area and claspers being nearly of
the same colour. In this state the caterpillar
finally buries itself in the ground in the month
of March, and forming an earthen cell rather
than cocoon, changes to a brown shining

CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH appears on the wing at the end of
May and during June : the females may then
be seen flying over the wheat-fields and com-
mencing the work of destruction by depositing
their eggs in the ears. It is but too common
everywhere, and is one of the most destructive
of all our Noctuas. (The scientific name is
Apamea basilinea.)

502. The Union Rustic (Apamea connexd).

502. THE UNION RUSTIC.— The antennae
are simple in both sexes, but rather stouter in
the male ; the palpi are porrected and very
slender at the tips : the colour of the fore
wings is gray, with a median band which is
altogether darker than the ground colour, but
more especially so towards the inner margin
where the bands are contracted, and the dark
colour forms a decided blotch ; the costal
portion of the band includes the two disooidal
spots ; the orbicular is clearly defined, it has a
gray circumscription and a clouded median

304

BRITISH MOTHS.

area ; the reniform is gray and very imperfecly
defined : the hind wings are dark gray-brown,
rather paler towards the base, and have an in-
distinct crescentic discoidal spot ; the h^ad is
gray ; the thorax gray, often with a reddish
median tuft ; the body gray, with a reddish
tuft at the base.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June and
July ; it has been taken in some abundance in
Yorkshire, and is recorded as occurring in
other English counties. Mr. Douglas Robinson
mentions it as a native of Kirkcudbrightshire,
but Mr. Birchall omits it in his Irish list.
(The scientific name is Apamea connexa.)

503. The Dusk j Brocade (Apame'j, yemin a.)

503. THE DUSK f BROCADE. — The antennae
are almost simple Sn both sexes ; the palpi are
porrected, but not prominently so, they are
naked at the tip : the colour of the fore wings
is so different that it is necessay to describe two
varieties ; the first (represented in the upper
figure) has two very different shades of
colour ; there is a large blotch at the base,
not reaching the costa or inner margin ; a
second blotch on the costa descending between
the discoidal spots, and abruptly terminated
below these spots by a blackish and straight
streak, and a hind marginal band dark bistre-
brown ; the remainder of the wing being pale
ochreous-brown ; both disc>.idal spots are of
tiie same pale colour, and have a pale gray cir-
cumscription : the second variety (represented
in the lower figure) is of a smoky bistre-brown

colour, almost uniform throughout ; the dis-
coidal spots scarcely perceptible ; and the only
distinct and constant marking being a pale
angled line, parallel with the hind mar-
gin : the hind wings are smoky gray-brown,
paler at the base, with darker wing-rays and
crescentic discoidal spot ; the fringe is p»3e;
the outer portion almost white : in both
varieties the head and front of thorax are pale,
the disk of the thorax is dark brown, and has
a short bifid crest in front; the body is paler,
slightly crested, the crests being slightly
darker.

The EGGS are laid in July and probably also
in August on the culms of grasses of various
species, and the young CATERPILLARS emerge in
August and September ; they hybernate at the
roots of grasses when very small, and feed
again in April, becoming full-fed in May ;
they eat mostly by night, concealing them-
selves by day ; when disturbed, they fall to
he ground rolled in a compact ling : the head
is shining, and narrower than the second seg-
ment, into which it is partially received ; the
body is obese and soft, it is of a dark smoke-
colour, with a paler medio-dorsal stripe, and a
paler lateral stripe, the space between which
two stripes has a series of black spots ; in the
region of the spiracles is a still paler and rather
ochreous stripe, in which are the black spiracles,
above each of which is a black spot.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June and
July, and occurs almost everywhere in the
United Kingdom. (The scientific name is
Apamea gemina.)

Ols. I believe that my predecessor has given
three English and three scientific names to
this variable species. The Brown-Pinioned
Brocade (Noctua oblong a, Lep. Brit. No. 78);
the Gothic Brocade (Noctnaremissa, No. 79);
and the Dingy Brocade (Noctua obscura, No.
80) Mr. Stephens has called it the Dusky
Brocade (Hamafurva). This is one of those
cases in which there seem to be two distinct
types of ornamentation, which in their ex-
tremes must pass for species, but which seem
connected by intermediates of' less frequent
occurrence than either of the types.

NQCTtfAS.

305

504. The Small Clouded Brindle (Apamet

unanimis) .

504. THE SMALL CLOUDED BRINDLE. — The
palpi are parrected and conspicuous, the
second joint densely clothed with scales, the
apical joint rather long and naked ; the
antennse are simple and slender ; the colour of
the wings is umber-brown, marbled with a few
waved transverse lines of darker brown and a
few pale bent lines exterior to thereniform; the
orbicular is rather oblique, and very difficult
to make out ; the reniform very clearly de-
fined, and having a white circumscription,
which is particularly conspicuous on its outer
border ; the hind wings are gray-brown, paler
at the base, and having a distinct crescentic
discoidal spot : the head and thorax have ex-
actly the colours of the fore wings ; the body
that of the hind wings.

The CATERPILLAR of this moth is unknown
to me. Mr. Stainton gives Freyer as his
authority for the following description : —
" Dull gray ; white dorsal line ; a row of black
dots between it and the whitish sub-dorsal
line ; spiracular line whitish. Feeds on grass."
(^Stainton's Manual, vol. i. p. 211.)

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
lias been taken in Devonsnire, Somersetshire,
Sussex, Surrey, Essex, and occasionally in more
northern counties, extending even into Scot-
land ; and Mr. Birchall has taken it in the
counties of Dublin and Wicklow, in Ireland.
(The scientific name is Apamea unanimis.}

Obs. — It must be admitted that this
insect very closely resembles the preceding.
It may, however, be distinguished by its larger
size, and much greater constancy of colour-
ing.

505. The Double-lobed (Apamea ophiogramma) .

505. THE DOUBLE-LOBED. — The palpi
rather long and porrected, slender at the
base, then swollen, and again slender and
naked at the tip ; the antennse are slender
a-nd simple : the fore wings are dark brown
on the costa ; this colour descends in a kind
of festoon below the middle of the wing, and
enclosing both the discoidal spote, which are
rather obscurely indicated, again ascends, ter-
minating in a point on the costa very near
the tip of the wing : below this large dark
area the inner-marginal area is pale gray :
there is a brown shade about the middle of
the hind margin, and a brown dash at the
anal angle, which approaches the inferior bor-
der of the dark brown area first described :
the hind wings are dingy gray-brown, as well
as the head, thorax, and body.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, in
the gardens of Kent and Surrey, Essex and
Middlesex, in the immediate neighbourhood of
London. Mr. Douglas Robinson informs me
that it has been taken in Kirkcudbrightshire ;
and Mr. Birchall says that there is one speci-
men in the collection of Trinity College,
Dublin, captured by Mr. Tardy. (The scientific
name is Apamea ophiogramma. )

Obs. — In this, as in many other instances,
the number and perseverance of entomologists
resident in London has given to this species
the reputation of being a London insect par ex-
cellence, a reputation which will, in all proba-
bility, be shaken as entomologists increase
in number at a distance from the metropolis :
in London, supposing the number of indus-
trious entomologists only keeps pace with
the population, our records ought to exceed
tenfold that of any other city in the empire.

M 20

806

BRITISH MOTHS.

606. The Orescent (Apamea fibrosa) .

506. THE ORESCENT. — The antennae are
nearly simple in both sexes ; the palpi are
porrected and naked at the tip : the fore
wings are rather pointed at the tip, and rather
concave below the tip ; as regards colour,
there are two very distinct varieties of this
insect ; in the first (represented in the upper
figure) the inner margin and a broader band
parallel with the hind margin, are pale gray
brown, the hind margin itself, and all the
basal area of the wing being umber-brown ;
somewhat marbled with other tints : in the
second variety (represented in the lower figure)
the fore wings are uniform umber-brown ; the
orbicular spot is very obscure, the reniform
very distinct, sometimes altogether of a «nowy
whiteness ; sometimes its circumscription and
a central line only are white ; but I almost
invariably find that the wing-rays proceeding
from its lower extremity are pure white for a
short distance : the hind wings are gray-
brown : the head, thorax, and body are of the
colour of the wings.

The CATERPILLAR is an internal feeder, living
concealed in the flowering stems of the common
yellow flag (Iris pseudacorus), and devouring
the pith : it has a brown shining head, and a
whitish maggot-like body, with a dark brown
dorsal plate on the second segment.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July. All
my specimens came from the fena of Cam-
bridgeshire, where it appears to be abundant ;

it has also been taken in Sussex, Surrey,
Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, and Yorkshire. (The
scientific name is Apamea Jibrosa.)

607. The Common Enstio (Apamea oculea).

507. THE COMMON RUSTIC. — The antennae
are slender and simple, those of the male
scarcely different from those of the female ; the
palpi are porrected, and the tips naked : the
fore wings have the tips blunt, and the outline
of the fringe scalloped; their colour is re-
markably inconstant, it has not a single cha-
racter by which the species can be with cer-
tainty distinguished; the most common
colouring appears to be umber-brown, with a
darker median band more or less distinct ; but
in many specimens there is not the slightest
traceof this band; another very distinct variety
has the whole of the inner margin of the wing
ochreous-brown, which colour, passing under
the reniform, ascends obliquely to tip of

NOCTUAS.

307

the wing, leaving a broad dark brown costal
area, and a dark brown hind margin ; the
orbicular gpot is very seldom clearly defined,
often entirely imperceptible ; the reniform is
generally well defined, its circumscription pale,
and its disk occupied by a crescentic pure
white spot ; sometimes, however, this con-
spicuous character is wanting, the white being
confined to a mere line, and sometimes it is
replaced by an ochreous spot : the hind wings
are dark smoky-brown : the colour of the
head and thorax varies as much as that of the
fore wings : in some specimens there is a
median elongate pale blotch on the thorax,
in others a ferruginous tuft at the base ;
the body is slightly crested, and is almost
invariably of the same dull colour as the hind
wings.

I am by no means certain that I know the
CATERPILLAR of this ubiquitous insect. Three
years back I possessed a number of caterpillars
which I supposed to be this species, but after
feeding upon sods of grass, they finally
entered the earth, turned to CHRYSALIDS, and
so died : they were putty-coloured, with a
black glossy plate on the second, and a smaller
one on the twelfth segment ; there was a very
indistinct medio-dorsal and another lateral
stripe. (See Staintons Manual, vol. i. p. 211,
where the description is rather different. The
scientific name is Apamea oculea).

Obs. My predecessor divides this protean
species into five — the Flame Furbelow
(Noctua furca, Lep. Brit., No. 136); the
Russet (^V. rava, Lep. Brit., No. 137); the
Letter I (N. I-niger, Lep. Brit., No. 140) ;
the Common Rustic (N. oculea, Lep. Brit.,
No. 141) ; and the Rustic Mourner (N.
lugens, Lep. £rit., No. 142) ; in addition to
which he describes thirteen varieties, designa-
ting them by letters of the Greek alphabet :
our collections are now so much more exten-
sive than in the time of Mr. Haworth, that
these species and varieties are shown to be
connected by intermediates, thus rendering the
descriptions useless : it were a hopeless task,
the endeavour to describe every individual of
the species which differed from the rest

508. Tiie Marbled .Minor (Miana strigilis).

508. THE MARBLED MINOR. — The palpi
are porrected and curved upwards ; the an-
tennae are rather stout in the males, slender
in the females : the fore wings are slightly
prolonged but not pointed at the tip ; their
colour is usually dark brown, marbled with
white, but the variation in colouring is so great
that it may truly be said that two specimens
cannot be found alike ; a conspicuous whitish
bar usually crosses the wiug parallel with the
hind margin ; this is elbowed below the mid-
dle, irregular and toothed ; this white bar is
particularly bright near the inner margin, and
on the said inner margin, half way between
this bar and the base, are two white linear
marks, which indicate the commencement of
two irregularly elbowed and approximate
white lines, which in some specimens ascend
to the costa, and in others are entirely want-
ing ; in the specimens possessing these white
markings the discoidal spots are also outlined
in white, but in others no markings are dis-
tinctly visible, the entire wing being suffused
with black more or less shaded and tinted
with ferruginous-brown : the hind wings are
always dark smoky-brown : the body has a
medio-dorsal series of very distinct crests.

The CATERPILLAR has a small shining head,
narrower than the second segment ; the body
is stout, smooth, and i*ests in a bent position
in the interior of the stems of the larger
grasses ; it is attenuated at both extremities :

308

BRITISH MOTHS.

there is a corneous dorsal plate on the second
and twelfth segments. The colour of the
head and of these dorsal plates is dingy-red ;
of the body pale grayish-green, but varying to
different tints in different specimens ; there
are traces of five longitudinal stripes paler
than the ground colour, but these are very
indistinct ; these stripes are studded with
minute warts, each of which emits a short
stiff black hair ; the spiracles are black and
connected by a dark stripe ; the ventral is
paler than the dorsal area, its colour is in-
clining to dingy ochreous-green. When fuli-
fed it leaves the grass on which it has been
feeding, and descending to the earth forms an
oval cell in the ground, and in this changes
to a small and reddish CHRYSALIS of rather
slender form : these may frequently be dug
up in gardens, especially those in which weeds
have been allowed to get too much ahead.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June and
July, and is abundant in most of our English
counties : in South "Wales, Monmouthshire,
Herefordshire, it flies in the day-time over the
ripe grass when ready to cut, and is accom-
panied by the following species, Fasciuncula.
(The scientific name is Miana strigilis.)

Obs. Four of Haworth's species are here
included under the name of strigilis : the
Marbled Minor (Noctua prceduncula, Lep.
Brit., No. 145), represented in the upper
figure ; the Minor Beauty (Noctua strigilis,
Lep. Brit., No. 146) ; the Tawny Marbled
(Noctua latruncula, Lep. Brit., No. 147),
represented in the third figure ; and the
Blackamoor (Noctua sEthiops, Lep. Brit.,
No. 148), represented in the last figure.

509. The Middle-barred Minor (Miana fasciuncula) .

509. THE MIDDLE'- BARRED MINOR. — The
palpi are porrected and curved upwards ;
the antennae are rather stout in the male,
sleude* in the female ; the colour of the fore

wing is reddish-brown, with a darker central
band, in which are situated the paler discoidal
spots : the hind wings are dark smoky-brown ;
the body is slightly crested.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June,
flying over the standing grass : it occurs in
all our counties from the North of Scotland
to the Land's End, but is not very abundant.
(The scientific name is Miana fasciuncula.}

Obs. I have followed Haworth and Double-
day in treating this as a distinct species :
Guenee makes it a variety of Strigilis, from
which it differs principally in the red tinge
which pervades the wings and in the smaller
size : the CATERPILLAR and economy are un-
known.

610. The Rosy Minor (Miana lit&rosa).

610. THE ROSY MINOR. — The palpi are
ourved, porrected, and slightly ascending ;
the antennae are very slender in both sexes :
the fore wings are gray-brown and suffused
with a beautiful tinge of vinous-red ; the
wing is almost equally divided in two areas
by a straight whitish transverse line ; the
area within this divisional line is darker than
the area without,, which has a pearly-gray
tinge, shading, however, into the vinous-red
towai'ds the hind margin ; in the pearly-gray
space is situated the reniform, in the darker
or basal area is situated the orbicular : the
hind wings are pearly gray-brown : the thorax
is slightly crested, the front pearly gray,
transversely traversed by a black line ; the
square disk of the thorax is vinous-red ; the
body is pearly-gray.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June and
July, and occurs in most of our English coun-
ties, but is particularly abundant in Devon-
shire, Cornwall, and the South "Western
Coxmties. (The scientific name is Miana
liter osa.)

NOCTUAS.

309

Obs. This species is the Erraticula of
Hubner, the Suffuruncula of Treitschke, the
Literosa of Haworth, and the Latruncula of
Fryer. Guenee adopts the first of these
names ; Doubleday, whom I follow, the third.

611. The Cloaked Minor (Miana furuncula).

511. THE CLOAKED MINOR. — The palpi
are pointed, porrected, and slightly ascending ;
the antennae are very slender in both sexes ;
the wings are nearly equally divided into a
dark basal and pale outer area, the division
between these areas being marked by a
straight whitish line ; the dark area includes
the orbicular, the pale area the reniform
spot ; the hind margin has a dark band
bordered towards the middle of the wing by
a sinuous outline : the hind wings are pale
gray-brown, aid somewhat iridescent.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July,
and is abundant in our English, Irish, and
Scotch counties. (The scientific name is
Miana furunou la. )

Obs. There are three very distinct varieties
comprehended, and I believe very correctly
BO, under one specific name ; the first repre-
sented by the upper figure, is the Cloaked
Minor (Noctua humeralis), of Haworth (Lep.
Brit., No. 149) ; the second, represented by
the middle figure, is the Flounced Minor
(Noctua terminaiis), of Haworth (Lep. Brit.,
No. 150) ; and the third, represented by the
lower figure, is the Plain Red Minor (Noctua
rujuucula], of Haworth (Lep. JJri(.,'No. 152);

of this last Mr. Birchall writes : — " The
variety Rufuncula, of Haworth, occurs com-
monly at Howth. The wings are uniformly
clay -coloured, without lines or spots, and the
insect has a strong resemblance to Nonagria
concolor." I am indebted to Mr. Birchall for
specimens. The name of Furuncula in the
Vienna Catalogue has the priority.

512. The Least Minor (Photedes captiuncula).

512. THE LEAST MINOR. — The palpi are
porrected, pointed, and generally rather
widely separated ; the antennae are slender in
both sexes : the fore wings are rather ample
for so small an insect, and rather pointed at
the tip ; their colour is dull bistre-brown,
with a somewhat darker median band, which
is sometimes bounded exteriorly by a sinuous
white line ; the discoidal spots can scarcely
be traced : in some specimens the colouring
is much broken up and more variegated, and
then a second transverse and sinuous white
line, and the two discoidal spots are percept-
ible : the hind wings are smoky-gray, with
pale fringes : the head, thorax, and body are
umber-brown, and remarkably slender.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July,
and I believe has only been taken in one
locality in England, the neighbourhood of
Darlington ; Mr. Birchall informs us that it
is common near Galway, and that the Irish
specimens are smaller and much more brightly
coloured than English ones. (The s«ientific
name is Photedes captiuncula.}

Obs. This insect is the Miana captiuncula
of continental authors ; Herrich-Schteffer's
figures 173 and 174 resemble the Irish, rather
than the English, specimens, but are more
variegated than any 1 possess. Haworth
was unacquainted with the insect-

310

BRITISH MOTHS.

618. Haworth's Minor (Celaena Haworthii').

513. HAWORTH'S MINOR. — The palpi are
porrected and somewhat ascending ; the an-
tennae are slightly ciliated in the male, simple
in the female : the fore wings are straight on
the costa, and blunt but not rounded at the
tip ; their colour is bright rich umber-brown,
often with a reddish tinge, and always having
an oblique paler bar extending from the tip
to the inner margin, and also a hind-marginal
compound paler bar, which includes a series
of crescentic marginal black spots ; the orbi-
cular spot is small, often inconspicuous, and
sometimes wanting ; it is variously formed,
but generally appears as a small circular
white mark ; the reniform is very conspicu-
ous, often brilliantly white ; a conspicuously
white wing-ray proceeds from the middle of
the base of the wing, and unites with the
lower extremity of the reniform, where it
branches, the two branches, still white, ex-
tending almost to the hind margin ; the fringe
is spotted alternately light and dark brown :
the hind wings are dark smoky-brown, with
the base and fringe paler : the thorax is
densely clothed with longish scales of a rich
red-brown colour ; the body is s^oky-brown,
and without dorsal crests, but tufted at the
extremity in the male.

The CATERPILLAR, according to Mr. Stain-
ton, feeds on the cotton grass (Eriophorwn),
but I do not find that it has been seen, much
less described.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
continues fly ing over the peaty heaths during
August; it has been taken in Hampshire,
Sussex, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Lancashire,
Yorkshire, Durham, and in several Scotch
localities, and Mr. Birchall says it is com-
mon on the Dublin and Wicklow mountains,
(The scientific name is Celcena Haworthii.}

614. The Treble Lines (Grammesia trilinea).

514. THE TREBLE LINES. — The palpi aro
short, inconspicuous, and almost straight ; the
antennae are rather long, slightly pectinated
in the males, pubescent in the females : the
fore wings are ample, and rather pointed at
the tip ; their colour is dingy -gray, in some
specimens inclining to ochreous, in others to
smoky ; both the discoidal spots are wanting,
but there are usually four slender transverse
lines, darker than the ground colour ; the first
of these is very short, abbreviated, and near
the base of the wing; the second is almost
direct, and situated at a third of the distance
between the base and tip ; the third, generally
the broadest, but sometimes absent, crosses
the middle of the wing somewhat obliquely ;
and the fourth is rather curved, and parallel
with the hind margin : the hind wings are
gray-brown, almost invariably darker than
the fore wings, the hind margin is sinuous,
and their fringe paler : the thorax is woolly,
and always takes the tint of the fore wings,

NOCTUAS.

81.

whatever that may be ; the body has the
same tint as the hind wings.

The Rev. John Hellins has described the
CATERPILLAR of this moth as short and thick in
form, and very •wrinkled He says : — " The
head is small and retracted, the thirteenth
segment also very small, the segmental folds
deeply cut, ground colour variable; sometimes
dark gray; then the dorsal line is pale gray,
edged with black at the segmental folds. The
subdorsal line is a series of pale gray wedges
on the several segments, the thin end of each
wedge pointing forwards, and its upper side
bordered by a short oblique black stripe, and
its bigger end inclosing a black dot : below
again comes a rather broad dark-brown stripe,
and below that a narrow one of gray ; spiracles
black, each placed on a little swelling ; belly
pale gray. Sometimes the ground colour is a
dirty reddish-brown, with the dorsal line par-
taking of the same tint, but paler, edged with
black, as before, most distinctly at the folds ;
the subdorsal row of stripes of the same colour
as the dorsal line, but of uniform width, and
showing distinctly only on the anterior part of
each segment, where also appear a pair of black
dots ; the spiraculax brown stripe tinged with
ochreous. There is another variety of dirty
flesh-colour, with the markings but faintly
visible."

The MOTH appears on the wing in June : it
has been taken in all our southern and midland
counties, and occasionally in the northern also,
extending as far north as Kirkcudbrightshire ;
and Mr. Birchall says it is common in most
parts of Ireland. (The scientific name is
Orammuia trilinea.}

Obs. 1. I always take the descriptions of
Mr. Hellins or Mr. Buckler, when these gentle-
men have published them, in preference to my
own unpublished descriptions ; first, because
th»y are generally so excellent, and, secondly,
aa a just tribute of thanks to entomologists
who, by publishing these descriptions in the
Entomologists' Monthly Magazine, have saved
me infinite labour, and thus laid me under an
obligation I can never otherwise repay or ac-
knowledge, in the present instance, I would,
however, venture to suggest that Mr. Hellins

has hardly given an exact idea of the form of
this caterpillar, which 1 should rather describe
as somewhat onisciform, the extremities nar-
rowed, the middle of the body broad, and the
belly flattened. The colour of the head is
testaceous, and the front of the second segment
of the same colour, or even more inclining to
red. It feeds on the great plaintain (Plantago
major).

Obs. 2. Four supposed species are here in-
cluded under the name Trilinea. First, the
Equal Treble-lines (Noctua trilinea) of Ha-
worth (Lep. Brit., No. 262), represented in
the upper figure ; second, the Iiiequal Treble-
lines (Noctva approximans) of Ha worth (Lep.
Brit., No. 263), represented in the second
figure; third, the Clouded Treble-lines (Noctua
semi/u»ca) of Haworth (Lep. Brit., No. 264),
represented in the third figure ; and, fourth,
the Dark Treble-lines (Noctua bilinea) of
Haworth (Lep. Brit., No. 265), represented
in the lowest figure.

615. The Marsh Moth (Hydrilla palustris), female.

515. THE MARSH MOTH. — " The palpi are
slender and straight or bent downwards, and so
densely clothed with long scales, which add
greatly to their apparent size, as entirely to con-
ceal the apical j oint : the antennae are short and
moniliform : the fore wings of the male are ob-
long, and rounded at the tip, they are of a violet
gray-brown colour, with the two discoidal
spots, and two approximate and parallel trans-
verse lines (the elbowed and the subterminal)
darker, but all the markings are very obscure,
and composed of dark scales : the hind wings
are silky and whitish-gray, with the wing-raya
and a line (trait) occupying the whole cellule
darker. The female is much smaller than the
male, and has the fore wings narrower and
darker-coloured, and the markings less distinct ;
the hind wings are also darker and narrower-

312

BRITISH MOTHS.

"The CATERPILLAR is fusiform, and of a
brown colour, with darker chevroned mark-
ings, terminating in black points ; the medio-
dorsal stripe is white, and interrupted with
two large white dots on each side : the head
and spiracles are black. It feeds, in July and
August, on plantain (Plantago) and other low
plants : the CHRYSALIS is subterranean.

" The MOTH appears on the wing in May
and July." A single specimen is said to have
been taken in Cambridgeshire, and another
"at Compton's wood, near York, flying over
grass in a damp place." (The scientific name
is Hydrilla palustris.}

Obs. My description is copied from Gruenee.
I do not possess the insect. The figure is from
a female specimen in the British Museum.

516. The Reddish Buff (Acosmetia caligvnoso).

516. THE REDDISH BUFF. — The palpi are
porrected and curved ; their joints very dis-
tinct, the second joint is scaly, and the terminal
joint filiform and naked ; the antennae are
short and pubescent in the male, slender, and
furnished with scattered hairs in the female :
the fore wings are very ample, and square at
the tip, the hind margin is slightly waved ;
the colour is gray-brown, with three inter-
rupted and indistinct transverse lines ; between
the first and second of which is an indistinct
cloudy spot, probably representing the reni-
form; between the second and third trans
verse lines there is a transverse series of nine
black dots, always indistinct, and sometimes
scarcely to be traced : the hind wings are very
ample, with a waved margin ; their colour is
gray, powdered with gray-brown scales : the
head, thorax, and body are gray-brown ; the
body is remarkably slender.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June.
My specimens were taken by the late Charles

Turner, in Hampshire, flying by day; they
are in a very imperfect condition. (The
scientific name is Acosmetta caliginosa.\

Obs. 1. In this species, as in the preceding,
the females are smaller than the males.

Obs. 2. This is the Reddish Buff (Noctua
lutescens) of Haworth (Lep. Brit., No. 15);
Mr. Stephens seems to have made some mis-
take (Haustett. in. 122) in giving Caliginosa
and Lutescens as distinct species (a mistake
which is not entirely rectified in the Museum
Catalogue, where the name Lutescens is still
retained as a variety). Mr. Stainton very
properly drops this fictitious species altogether.

517. The Mottled Eustic (Coradraia Morpheus).

517. THE MOTTLED RUSTIC. — The palpi
are slightly porrected, slightly curved up-
wards, and rather distant ; the antennae are
almost simple in the male, quite so in the
female : the fore wings are rather square at
the tip and straight on the costa ; their colour
is dingy gray-brown, with the discoidal spots
and sereral transverse linear markings darker
brown; there is also a distinct bar of the
same darker colour, parallel with the hind
margin : the hind wings are whitish -gray,
with a darker shade at the tip, and a marginal
series of linear spots, which often form an
almost continuous line ; the wing-rays and
discoidal spots are also darker : the head and
thorax have the darker colour of the fore
wings, the body the paler colour of the hind
wings.

The EGGS are laid in July and August on
ducks and other low plants, and the young
CATERPILLARS, hatched in about a fortnight,
feed on the leaves and continue feeding
throughout the autumn and winter, and until
the following May, when they are full grown;
they are throughout their lives excessively

NOCTtTAS.

313

sluggish, concealing themselves on the under-
side of leaves close to the ground, or even
under the surface of the earth, coming out to
eat when they find the temperature agreeable.
The head is rather narrower than the second
segment, the body stout and full ; its colour
is gray-brown with a series of darker wedge-
shaped markings on each side, and a pale
stripe in the region of the spiracles : there
are short bristles or hairs scattered over every
part of the body : it makes a cell rather than
a cocoon just under the surface, of the earth
in May, and therein changes to a CHRYSALIS.
The MOTH appears on the wing in June,
July, and August, and is common in most
parts of England. Mr. Douglas Robinson
reports it from Scotland, but Mr. Birchall did
not meet with it in Ireland. (The scientific
name is Caradrina

518. The Uncertain (Carad/rina Alsines).

518. THE UNCERTAIN. — The palpi are
slightly porrected, curved upwards, and very
distant ; the antennfe are almost simple in
the male, quite so in the female : the fore
wings are very straight on the costa, and
blunt at the tip ; their colour is pale dingy-
brown tinged with ochreous ; the discoidal
spots are darker than the ground colour, very
distinct, and very regularly and distinctly
outlined with pale brown ; two transverse
zigzag lines cross the wing, the first before
the orbicular, the second beyond the reniform ;
between these two is a transverse median
darker shade or obscure band; parallel with
the hind margin is a pale whitish line with a
dark brown interior border : the hind wings
arc pale gray-brown tinged with ochreous ;
the head and thorax are ochreous gray-brown,
the body paler.

Mr. Harpur Crewe has given a very careful
description of the CATERPILLAR in the Zoologist
for August, 1861 ; it is as follows: — "Before
last moult : back and sub-dorsal parts dusky
purplish-brown; sides and belly yellowish-
gray ; central doi'sal line whitish ; sub-dorsal
line edged with black ; central line bordered
on either side of each segment by a large
black tubercular spot ; spiracular line waved,
blackish ; between sub-dorsal and spiracular
lines a row of blackish tubercular spots,
smaller than the dorsal ones. Both dorsal
and lateral tubercles surmounted by a longish
white hair; head dusky yellowish-brown ;
belly mottled on the sides with «lusky
markings. After last moult : ground colour
pale reddish-drab or buff ; back more or less
tinged with purplish-brown ; medio- dorsal
line whitish, bordered with black at the centre
of each segmental division ; tubercular spots
as before ; sub-dorsal lines yellowish-white,
edged, on the upper side narrowly, and on the
lower side broadly, with black, and dotted on
the former, on each segment, with a yellow
tubercle having a black centre ; spiracles en-
closed in a dusky space between two black
lines; tubercular hairs yellowish ; when very
young the groiind colour is a uniform pale
yellowish-gray ; central dorsal and sub-dorsal
lines white, the latter indistinct ; spiracular
line blackish ; dorsal and lateral tubercles
very small and indistinct The caterpillars
from which the foregoing description was
taken, were reared from eggs laid by moths
taken by myself in August; they were hatched
in about six weeks, and fed throughout the
autumn and winter on chickweed (Alsine
media). They were full-fed in March ; CHRY-
SALIS bright red, short and stout, enclosed in
a tightly spun earthen cocoon."

The MOTH appears on the wing in July ; it
has been taken in our southern and midland
counties, and even as far north as the Mersey,
but I think has not been reported from Scot-
land or Ireland. (The scientific name is
Curadrina Alsities.)

314

BRITISH MOTHS.

519. The Rustic (Caradrina blanda).

519. THE RUSTIC. — The palpi are slightly
porrected, curved upwards, and distant ; the
antennae are almost simple in the male, quite
so in the female : the wings are straight on
the costa and blunt at the tip ; their colour is
gray-brown with a slight rosy tinge, and
powdered with white scales ; the discoidal
spots are darker than the ground colour, very
distinct, and very regularly outlined with
pale brown ; there are two transverse lines
of a darker tint, the first inside the orbicular,
the second outside the reniform, and broken
up into dots ; between these two is a trans-
verse median shade or obscure band ; parallel
with the hind margin is a pale whitish line
with a dark brown interior border : the hind
wings are gray-brown, and slightly iridescent;
the head and thorn x are of the same colour as
the fore wings, the body of the same colour
as the hind wings.

Mr. Harpur Crewe has given the following
careful description of the CATERPILLAR in the
Zoologist for August, 1861 : — "When quite
young this caterpillar is not distinguishable
from that of C. Alsines, but after a few moults
they may be separated with the greatest ease.
Before last moult : ground colour, reddish-
gray, or buff'. Down the centre of the back
a series of fig or mush room -shaped dusky
blotches, intersected by a whitish central line
edged with black on the lower side ; space
between sub-dorsal lines and spiracles dusky;
spiracles and spiracular line black, the lower
edge of the latter buff; dorsal, sub-dorsal,
and spiracular lines studded with very small
scarcely perceptible tubercles, each surmounted
by a whitish hair ; head buff ; belly destitute
of markings. After last moult : groundcolour,
yellowish buff, or drab; back slightly marbled

with black ; central dorsal line yellowieh,
edged with black, and entirely black at the
centre of each segmental division ; sub-dorsal
lines very slender and faint, black or dusky-
brown ; immediately below the latter a broad,
distinct, dusky line ; spiracular line black-
ish ; spiracles black, in a white ring ; space be-
tween sub-dorsal and spiracular lines dusky ;
belly greenish-yellow; tubercles and tubercu-
lar hairs as before. These caterpillars were
hatched in September from eggs laid in
August, and fed all through the winter on
chick weed (Alsine media), being full-fed in
April. CHRYSALIS bright red, similar to that
of C. Alsines, enclosed in a tightly spun earthen
cocoon."

The MOTH appears on the wing in June and
July, and is not uncommon in our English
counties, and extends northwards even into
Scotland. Mr. Birchall informs us it is com-
mon in most parts of Ireland. (The scientific
name is Caradrina blanda.)

Obs. — Few entomologists distinguish ac-
curately between this and the preceding, and,
therefore, the published localities for the two
species are not trustworthy : they are ex-
ceedingly similar, the principal distinction
being in the tint of colour, Alsines having a
tendency to ochreous, blanda to obscure purple
and rosy : nevertheless, there can be no doubt
as to their distinctness, the caterpillars being
so different.

520. The Pale Mottled Willow (Caradrina
c-ubicularis) .

520. THE PALE MOTTLED WILLOW. — The
palpi are porrected, slightly ascending, and
rather distant ; the antennae are simple in
both sexes ; the fore wings are straight on the
costa, and blunt at the tip ; their colour is that
of putty, sometimes slightly approaching to

NOCTUAS.

315

ochreous ; the orbicular is very small and cir-
cular, the reniform is elongate ; both are dis-
tinct ; the costa is pale, with four conspicuous
and equidistant black spots, the last of which
is civer the reniforrn ; there are several dark
transverse lines, all of them interrupted and
indistinct, and there is a dark bar on the hind
margin : the hind wings are whito, with
pale brown wing-rays and hind margin ; the
head, thorax, and body are of the same colour
M the fore wings.

The CATERPILLAR has a shining head, rather
narrower than the second segment, into which
it can be partially withdrawn ; the body is
short and stout, slightly narrower towards the
extremities, and having a few hairs scattered
over all parts of the body, and each emanating
from a minute wart j the colour of the head
is black ; there is a broad dorsal area of an
obscure greenish-gray colour, with a broad
lateral area smoky-gray : the ventral area is
paler, and the claspers are concolorous with
the ventral area. The EGGS seem to be laid on
various kinds of farinaceous and leguminous
crops, on which the young caterpillar feeds,
and, being very small at the time of harvest,
gets housed with the corn and pulse, and then
forms a little cubiciilum among the stalks of the
corn in which to reside throughout the winter,
changing to a CHRYSALIS in May : in wheat
ricks they sometimes swarm to a fearful extent,
doing great injury ; but I was not aware that
they attacked also the field-peas, until I read
the following passage from the pen of Mr.
Buckler, in the ninth number of the Ento-
mologists' Monthly Magazine : — "During the
past summer, some field- peas grown in this
neighbourhood were observed by the owner
and his men to be very much blighted, and
constantly visited by flocks of starlings,
especially just before they were harvested :
when the peas were taken into the barn, on
the 12th of December, to be threshed, an im-
mense number of the caterpillars oiCaradrina
tubicularis, from half to full-grown, were dis-
lodged from the haulm. Having previously
only known this species to infest wheat-stacks,
and seeing these caterpillars to be rather
greener than usual, I resolved to rear some of

them, in the hope of obtaining some varieties
of the moths ; and, accordingly, secured eighty
specimens, most of which are nearly full-
grown, and inhabit cocoons, formed of their
food, and fragments of peas and earth spun
together."

The MOTH appeal's on the wing about mid-
summer, or rather earlier, and is common
throughout England, Scotland, and Ireland.
(The scientific name is Caradrina cubiculnris,
a name which the authors of the "Accentuated
List" attribute to its "belonging to abed-
chamber ; occurring in out-houses." Is it not
more probable that the observant authors of
the " Vienna Catalogue" imposed this most
appropriate name in allusion to the familiar
habit of the caterpillar residing in a little
cubiculum or lodging-room of its i,ivn con-
struction 1)

521. The Brown Hustle (Rusina t&nebrosa).

521. THE BROWN RUSTIC. — The palpi are
flattened, porrected, and ascending ; the an-
tonnse are pectinated in the male, simple, but
rather stout in the female : the fore wings are
rather ample, and square at the tip, their
colour is rich lustrous-brown, with two trans-
verse zigzag black lines, between which is a
transverse darker shade ; outside of this shade
the reniform is perceptible, but rather indis-
tinct ; it is slightly paler than the rest of the
wing ; the orbicular is scarcely to be traced ;
on the costa are five pale spots, the first and
second larger and more distinct than the other
three which are near the tip : the hind wings
are smoky-brown, ample, and with a sinuous
outline : the head and thorax are umber-
brown ; the body smoky-brown.

316

BRITISH MOTHS.

The head of the CATERPILLAR is narrower
than the second segment, and susceptible of
being partially withdrawn thereinto; it is very
glabrous, with a few scattered bristles : the
body is nearly cylindrical, very gradually
attenuated towards the anterior margin of the
twelfth segment, thence suddenly sloping to
the anal extremity ; it has a manifest lateral
skinfold, and a velvety surface. The colour of
the head is dark brown ; the antennal papillae
pale at the base ; the body is rich umber-
brown, with a very narrow pale medio-dorsal
stripe on the second, third, and fourth seg-
ments ; also a series of pale subdorsal markings
on each side, and each of these is bounded
below by a darker oblique mark ; the lateral
skinfold is paler; the ventral surface, legs, and
claspers are reddish-brown. It feeds on several
low plants which preserve their green leaves
throughout the winter, more especially on the
species of violet ( Viola) ; it continues to feed
during the winter ; in confinement it will eat
the common knot-grass (Polygonumaviculare}.
When full-fed it retires just below, or on the
surface of the earth, and there spins a silken
cocoon, attaching particles of earth to the ex-
terior, and in this it changes to a short dumpy
CHRYSALIS, resembling those of the Cuspidates.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
occurs in some abundance in most of our
English counties, and also in Scotland, and
Mr. Birchall informs us it is common in most
places in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Rueina tenebrosa.)

Obs. — The male is the Feathered Rustic
(Bombyx phceus) of Haworth (Lep. Brit, No.
94), and the female the Brown Rustic (Noctua
obsoletissima) of Haworth (Lep. Brit., No.
129).

522. The Archer's Dart (Agrotis valUgera).

522. The Archer's Dart (Agrotis valUgera).

522. THE ARCHER'S DART. — The antennae
of the male are decidedly ciliated, those of the
female simple : the fore wings have the costal
margin straight, the tip rather blunt, but not
rounded ; their ground colour is pale bistre-
brown, varied with dark bistre-brown mark-
ings ; the orbicular spot is small, compressed,
and ocellated, its figure elongate-oval, its
colour very pale, and it almost invariably has
a dark brown dot in the centre ; it is usually
placed in a dark brown wedge-shaped mark,
the point of which is directed towards the
base of the wing, while its own base rests on
the reniform spot, which is large and con-
spicuous, with a dark centre, pale circum-
scription, and very dark surroundings ; near
the base of the wing is a third oval spot, with
very pale circumscription and light brown
centre, and on this rests a very dark and
distinct oblong spot called the claviform : th«?
costal margin has three rather conspicuous
pale narrow spots, the third opposite the

NOCTUAS.

317

reniibrm, and beyond the third, that is nearer
the tip, are three pale dots : the hind margin
is dark brown, bounded, towards the disk of
the wing, by a pale zigzag line, on which
rest six or seven wedge-shaped spots, their
points being directed towards the base of the
wing; the fringe is pale on the inside, dark on
the outside : the fore wings of the female are
usually darker than those of the male, and
less distinctly variegated : the hind wings are
very pale in the male, smoky-brown in the
female ; they have a crescentic discoidal spot,
a darker but indistinct marginal band, darker
rays, and a pale fringe : the thorax is varie-
gated with the two tints of brown, which
adorn the fore wings ; the body is pale gray
at the base, pale brown at the tip.

"The CATERPILLAR is dull greenish-gray,
with paler dorsal and darker sub-dorsal stripes;
two rows of black dots between them, and a
row of short white streaks on each side of the
spiracles (Freyer). It feeds at the roots of
grasses." — Staintoris Manual, vol. i. p. 223.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
seems rather a coast than an inland species :
it has been taken rather plentifully in the
localities where it occurs, as at Penzance,
Whitsand Bay, Slapton Ley, Budleigh-Salter-
ton, Torquay, Braunton-Burrows, Poole, Isle
of Wight, Brighton ; Essex, Norfolk, and
Suffolk coasts, coasts of Pembroke, Caermar-
then, Glamorgan, Cardigan, Flint, Cheshire,
and Yorkshire : it also occurs in Scotland,
and Mr. Birchall says it is abundant on the
coast of Ireland. (The scientific name is
Agrotis valligera.)

Obs. — In our British Lepidoptera many of
those groups of individuals now regarded as
" species" are excessively variable in the tint
of colour, and in the character of the mark-
ings : this is more particularly the case in the
genus Agrotis, and my illustrious predecessor
Haworth, who has been justly styled the
Father of British Lepidopterology, founded
numerous species on these very obvious
differences. Much as I value the labours of
Haworth, and greatly as I treasure his
" Lepidoptera Britannica," I need hardly
say that I entirely agree with those later

observers v.ho have regarded such differences
as of less importance than specific rank ; and
who have found, by breeding from the egg,
that progeny the most diversified, in these
particulars, often claim a common parentage ;
and, therefore, that it is each group of such
diversely ornamented individuals, and not
each form of variation, that is entitled to
rank as a "species:" all the descendants of
one parent or one pair of parents thus consti-
tute a "species." This principle was always
admitted, but it is only of later years that
tiie wide extent of variation in a species has
been thoroughly appreciated and understood.
It has therefore become desirable under each
of our modern species of these variable moths,
to associate the names given by Haworth,
whether under the impression that they were
species, or from any reason previously unde-
scribed. The present species is the Archer's
Dart (Bambyx sayittiferus) of Haworth (Lep.
£rit., No. 66).

523. The Shuttle-shaped Dart (Agrotis puta) .

523. THE SHUTTLE-SHAPED DART. — The
antennae are veiy slightly ciliated in the male,
simple in the female ; the fore wings are
nearly straight on the costa, and rather blunt
at the tip ; their colour in the male is wain-
scot-brown with a dark brown shade at the
base, and another surrounding and incorpo-
rating the concolorons reniform spot ; in the
female they are dark bistre-brown with a
medium pale shade, which includes the orbi-
cular spot, reduced to a short dark brown line
bordered with pale brown : the hind wings
are white in the male, pale smoky-brown in
the female ; the head is pale gray, tne front
of the collar dark brown, tne rest ot tne

318

BRITISH MOTHS.

thorax pale gray ; the body is pale dingy-
brown.

Mr. Buckler has described the CATERPILLAR
in the Entomologists' Monthly Magazine for
February, 1868. Some EGGS, obtained by Mr.
Hellins, hatched on the 2nd of September,
1867, and the young caterpillars were placed
in a large pot with a quantity of sea sand, and
growing plants of dandelion and knot-grass,
leaves of lettuce and slices of carrot being
provided as food : the lettuce appeared to be
preferred. Most of the caterpillars obtained
their full growth about the end of the year.
The head is then small, the body plump and
cylindrical, with a semicircular inflation in
the region of each spiracle ; the segmental
divisions deeply cut ; the legs and claspers
small in proportion. The colour of the back
is at first dark ochreous-brown, but changes
gradually with its growth to brownish-ochre-
ous or dull ochreous ; this tint is bounded on
either side by the dark brown edge of the
sub-dorsal line ; there is a delicate mottling
of rather darker brown of a pear-shape on
each segment, its broad end in front, through
which runs the dorsal line, which is of the
brown colour (pale when the caterpillar is
quite full-grown), and is very thin at the
beginning, but expands almost into an elon-
gated diamond form at the end of each seg-
ment, and is distinctly edged with darker
brown, particularly at its widest part. The
sub-dorsal line Is dark brown, having close
beneath it a mere thread of very pale green-
ish-gray ; and from this to the spiracles, the
sides are grayish-brown; another pale thread,
much interrupted, running a little above the
spiracles. Below the spiracles is a very faint
trace of a double dirty whitish line ; all the
rest of the lower and under surface being a
pale greenish-gray tint and semi-translucent.
The head is brown, the lobes and mouth
marked wifh darker brown, and very gla-
brous. There is a dark brown plate on the
second segment, having three pale longitudi-
nal lines. The spiracles are black, and the
tubercular warty dots very dark brown, each
furnished with a very minute short hair.

The MOTH appears on the wing in August,

and Is by no means abundant : the only speci-
mens I have ever taken were in my owu
garden at Peckham ; indeed, it seems gene-
rally distributed round the metropolis. It
occurs at Brighton, Lewes, Dover, Cambridge,
Bristol, <fec., but not frequently in the north.
1 do not recollect having seen it reported from
Scotland or Ireland. (The scientific name is
Ay/otis puta. )

Obs. — This is the Shuttle-shaped Dart
(Bombyjc radius] of Haworth (Lep. Brit.,
No. C7), who described it as a novelty, but
it is now universally admitted to be the
Noctua puta of Hiibner.

524. The Dark Sword-grass (Agrotis suffasa).

524. THE DARK SWORD-GRASS. — The an-
tennae are slightly ciliated in the male, simple
in the female : the fore wings have the costal
margin nearly straight, and the tip blunt; the
colotvr in the male is pale umber-brown, with a
dark umber-brown shade along the costal and
hind margins ; in the females the dark costal
shade extends to the inner margin, and occu-
pies two-thirds of the wing; there is a clearly-
defined dark brown linear mark resting on the

NOCTUAS.

819

outer edge of the reniform spot, and pointing
to the hind margin ; but between this dark
mark and the hind margin there are two
acutely wedge-shaped spots pointing towards
the middle of the wing : the hind wings are
delicate pearly-gray, glossed with pink rrflec-
tions, and having darker wing-rays, more es-
pecially towards the hind margin, which is
also clouded with brown ; the head and thorax
are umber-brown, the body rather paler.

Some EGGS of this moth, procured from a
female captured on sallow blossoms on the
24th March, were laid on 7th of April, and
were hatched on the 30th of the same month.
The CATERPILLARS appear to lead a subter-
ranean life, invariably remaining buried in
the earth during the hours of daylight, and
only coming out to feed by night. The head
is smaller than the second segment, and very
glabrous ; the body is cylindrical, and having
the warts common in these subterranean cater-
pillars very small and inconspicuous, and each
emits a short and very fine bristle : there is
a glabrous plate on the second segment. The
colour of the head is pale semi-transparent
brown, mottled with darker brown ; of the
body, dull lead-colour, slightly metallic, and
somewhat shining ; there is a very narrow
medio-dorsal stripe rather paler, and two
stripes on each side rather darker than the
ground colour, and all of these are rendered
more visible from having darker borders ; but
all these markings are extremely indistinct.
It feeds on the roots and leaves of eudive,
spinach, sea-kale, lettuce, radishes, and pro-
bably other cultivated vegetables. When
full-fed it forms an oval cell in the earth,
polishing the inside with care, and in this
changes to a red-brown CHRYSALIS with a
sharp spine-like caudal extremity. — See No. 47
of the Entomologists' Monthly Magazine.

The MOTH appears on the wing in Sep-
tember, and occurs in most of our English
counties ; it is reported by Mr. Douglas
Robinson from Scotland, and by Mr. Birchall
from Ireland. (The scientific name is Agro-
tis suffu&a.)

Obs. — This is the Small Sword-grass (Bom-
tyx spinifenu) of Haworth (Lep. Erit.,

No. 51), and Noctua spinifera (Lep. £rit.%
No. 154), and also the Dark Sword-graae
(Noriua tujfiisa, L«p. Srit., No. 15? ).

625. The Pearly Underwing (Agrotis saucia).

525. THE PEARLY UNDERWING. — The an-
tennae are very slightly ciliated in the male,
making them appear stouter than those of
the female ; the fore wings are straight on
the costa, blunt at the tip, and- slightly waved
on the hind margin ; their colour is generally
dull-brown, with a strong tendency to become
vinous-red on the costa and sometimes this
colour pervades the whole <>f the wing; but
these shades are very inconstant — indeed, the
distribution and tint of ground colour seems
vei v capricious ; in some specimens the costal
area is almost black, as in the second figure,
in others it is pale wainscot-brown, as in the
third figure ; both the disooidal spots ar? t c

320

BRITISH MOTHS.

be traced, but are not very conspicuous ; the
reniform has usually a dark central area with
a few very pale scales on its outer edge ; the
costal margin of the wing is spotted, having
seven black and three very small pale spots ;
the black markings are thus arranged : two
approximate and transversely linear near the
base ; then two also approximate before the
oi-bicular ; then a single one opposite the
orbicular ; and then two opposite the reni-
form ; between these and the tip are three
very small equidistant pale spots ; every part
of the wing is more or less thickly marked
with short transverse black lines : the hind
wings are pearly-gray, clouded, especially
towards the hind margin, with smoky brown,
and having the principal wing-rays and a
rather indistinct crescentic discoidal spot
dark brown : the head and thorax are very
nearly of the same colour as the fore wings,
the vinous-red generally prevailing ; the body
is dingy gray-brown.

The CATERPILLAR is stout, and almost uni-
formly cylindrical : it is of a grayish-red
colour, having the same tinge of colour as the
moth ; there is a paler but narrow medio-
doreal stripe which passes through a series of
dorsal lozenges of a darker brown : on each
side is a lateral stripe, also of darker brown :
it feeds on grass, clover, dock, plantain, and
probably many other low plants, concealing
itself by day, and eating only at night.

The MOTH appears in May and October, and
Mr. Doubleday considers it regulurly double-
brooded ; Mr. Hellins records the capture of
three full-fed caterpillars — one in July, the
moth appearing on the 22nd of September ; a
second on the 2nd of August, the moth appear-
ing on the 14th of September; and a third on
the 4th of August, the moth appearing on the
5th of October. This careful observer adds,
"I think we must conclude there are t»o
broods, one on the wing in May and June,
the other in August, September, and Octo-
ber." This species is very capricious in its
appearance, some years being plentiful, others
extremely scarce : it seems to be very gene-
rally distributed in England and Scotland,
and Mr, Birchall informs us that it was taken

at Dublin in 1865. (The scientific name is
Agrotis saucia.)

Obs. — This is the Pearly Underwing (/Voc-
tua margarito«a) of Haworth (Lap. Brit.,
No. 156), and the Dark Pearl Underwing
Noctua majuscula) of Haworth (Lep. Brit.,
No. 157)

526. The Turnip Moth (Agrotis Segetum),

526. THE TURNIP MOTH. — The antennae
are strongly ciliated in the male, simple in the
female ; the fore wings are nearly straight on
the costa, and nearly square, but rather blunt
at the tip ; their colour is pale gray-brown,
approaching to putty-colour in the male, dark
umber-brown in the female ; the discoidal
spots are clearly defined in the male, less dis-
tinct in the female, their circumscription or
boundary line is very dark, and the central
area rather dark, the intervening space being
pale ; between the orbicular and the base of
the wing a double and rather sinuous dark
line crosses the wing, and outside the reniform
is a second double transverse line ; the costal
and hind margins are spotted and varied with
two shades of brown ; near the hind margin,
and parallel therewith, is a row of eight pale
spots : these different markings are nearly
always traceable, but very inconstant and
various as regards their distinctness : the hi.ad
wings are pearly white, cloxided in the female

NOCTUAS.

321

towards the hind margin ; the principal wing-
rays are also dark ; the thorax varies in colour
with the fore wings, being generally pale in

the males and dark in the females : tne noay
is putty-coloured in the males, gray-Di-owum
the females.

Caterpillars of the Turnip Moth (A gratia Segetuni), feeding in the interior of a Turnip

The EGG is laid in June, either on the ground
or on some plant, generally a seedling, close to
the ground; hatched in this position, the young

caterpillar is enabled to attack the young
turnips, carrots, cabbage-plants, charlock, man-
gold-wurzel, radish, and a number of the

M 21

322

BRITISH MOTHS.

common weeds. Having tried the CATERPILLAR
with a great variety of provender, I can vouch
for its feeding on any plant sufficiently suc-
culent ; but when young its depredations are
mostly above the surface of the ground, and it
seems to delight in that particular part of a
plant which lies between root and stem, as I
have found numbers of young turnips and
carrotsdivided exactly at this spot, the upper
part being left to perish on the surface of the
ground. It also visits our flower-gardens.
Very often in a bed of China Asters —
that favourite flower with all old-fashioned
gardeners — the leaves of a plant here and there
will be found withering and curling up, and
you become aware that it is dying, and can't
tell why : just examine the stem where it
enters the ground, and you will find it com-
pletely decorticated ; the rind has been
gnawed off all round, and, the circulation of
sap being prevented, life is destroyed. This
is the work of the caterpillar of A gratis
Segetum : you pull up the aster to find the
enemy, but fail ; his depredations were com-
mitted in the night, and before daybreak he
has wandered far away, several inches, or
perhaps feet, and has burrowed like a mole
in the light friable earth that gardeners love.
It is tedious work looking for the mischief-
maker at night with a candle and lantern, and
picking up every caterpillar you may chance
to find ; and it is destructive to dig between
the plants : some gardeners sprinkle lime on
the ground, others sawdust, others soot, others
ashes, others salt, and others ammoniacal
water from gas-works ; but the result is far
from certain, and, therefore, unsatisfactory. In
August and September the caterpillar, which
has selected a turnip or a swede for its
food, goes further down : its operations are
now almost entirely subterranean, and its
chosen site is the very base of the turnip bulb
around the tap root which descends into the
earth. Here it excavates large and almost
spherical cavities, in which it resides hence-
forward, except during severe frost, not re-
turning to the surface unless its food fails :
when full-grown it is an inch and three-
quarters, or even two inches, in length,

extremely stout, and its skintightand shining:
when forcibly unearthed, it rolls itself in a
loose ring, but almost immediately afterwards
unrolls, and, if placed on the surface of the
earth, instantly buries itself with the activity
and skill of a mole. The head of the full-fed
caterpillar is stretched out on a plane with the
body, and is much narrower than the second
segment, flattened, and not notched on the
crown ; the body is cylindrical, the back
slightly wrinkled transversely ; the colour of
the head is pale dingy brown, with two longi-
tudinal patches of dai K brown on the face ; the
labrura and antennal papillce are white ; the
body is pale smoke-colour, sometimes slightly
tinged with pink, or purplish-brown, and
always striped, although sometimes very
indistinctly ; the second segment has on its
back a dark and semicircular shining plate ;
and each of the other segments has ten cir-
cular, shining, dot-like spots, slightly raised
above the surface of the skin, and slightly
darker than the ground colour ; each of these
spots emits a small central bristle, and
each, also, is surrounded by a paler area ; on
the third and fourth segments these spots form
a pretty regular transverse series, but on the
fifth and following segments four of them are
ranged in a square or trapezoid ; one spot is
situated just above each spiracle, one below it,
and two others on each side of each spiracle ;
the spiracles themselves are very small and in-
tensely black ; the ventral area is the colour
of putty ; the legs are pale, and the claspers
putty-coloured and very small, not spreading
at the ends. These caterpillars turn to smooth
brown CHRYSALIDS in the ground, some in
October, but the greater number not until the
following May. Those which become chry-
salids in October emerge as perfect moths in
the course of a few days ; they rarely, if ever, i
pass the winter in the chrysalis state, and it is
a very remarkable and hitherto unexplained
fact, but one which I have dwelt on at some
length in a paper read before the Entomological
Society, that the female moths which are dis-
closed in October and do not hybernate, are
almost invailably barren : I say almost, be-
cause I do not desire to press this theory

NOCTUAS.

328

unduly; as far as my observations have ex tended
they are always barren and therefore entirely
useless as regards the continuance of their
kind. This is by no means an isolated case
of the superabundant supply of life provided
by Nature; the autumnal production of drones
in bee-hives — not one in a thousand of which
ever serves j,ny useful purpose, as far as apia-
rians have ascertained — is a similar instance
of the lavish abundance Nature supplies ; and
the destruction of these drones by the workers
exhibits the mode in which she disposes of
this superabundance. These barren moths
are not merely unproductive, but their bodies
are perfectly empty, mere hollow cavities
without eggs or any perceptible ovary. If the
\vinter prove severe the caterpillars retire
cLeeper, beyond the reach of frost, returning
towards the surface again as soon as the ther-
mometer rises.

The bulk of the MOTHS emerge in June, and
then the sexes are in equal numbers, and the
females are invariably fertile, their bodies
being filled with eggs. The species is only
too common everywhere. (The scientific name
is Agrotis Segetum.)

Obs. 1. The hybernatioa of caterpillars is a
fact very familiar to entomologists ; but they
live through the winter in a quiescent state, as
th~ugh slumbering, and do not eat, simply be-
<\.^c their usual supply of food has failed ;
the leaves have fallen, and they are compelled
t > wait until spring has produced a fresh sup-
ply. But in the case of these turnip-grubs it is
very different : their food, being roots, is to be
found at all seasons, and the work of destruc-
tion goes on incessantly, and is only limited
by the supply ; indeed the various agricultural
roots are often harvested with the enemy con-
cealed in the interior.

Obs. 2. I believe I should rather understate
the fact if I were to say that during the spring
and summer of 1864 I received, through her
Majesty's Post-office, one hundred consign-
ments of this most inj urious insect, together
with details of its ravages, and demands for a
remedy. It is taken for granted, from my
long course of observation, and frequent com-
munications to public papers on the subject of

insect pests, that I possess a sort of omni-
science in these matters, whereas, the truth is,
however we may seek to disguise it, that the
most learned and most observant of entomo-
logists knows but little, very, very little ; and
when he ventures on advice, instead of being
couched in the cabalistic figures of a prescrij)-
tion, or a recommendation to purchase some
nostrum of which he, the entomologist, may
be supposed the proprietor, is generally a
simple recommendation to the querist to allow
Nature to take her course. Thus, all my own
observations tend to show that Nature is her
own physician, and that neither allopaths nor
homoeopaths can do anything better or wiser
than allow Nature to work out her own cure.
In our own bodies we find that almost every
disease can be traced, more or less directly,
to some interference with the course of
Nature : we eat too much, or drink too nv ch,
or interfere in some way with Nature's laws ;
inconvenience follows, and we demand a,
second interference to balance the first. It is
exactly thus with the world of animals.
Birds, insects, all living things, have their ap-
pointed food : this is a law with which it is
dangerous to interfere : the present instance is
as good an illustration of this as can possibly
be given. Nature supplies roots as the food
for the turnip-grub. Man increases the supply
of food prodigiously; Nature increases the
number of devourers prodigiously. The farmer
does everything in his power, and very
properly so, to increase the crop of swedes,
turnips, mangold-wurzel, potatoes, and so
forth; Nature does all in her power to increase
the number of the grubs so abundantly supplied
with food ; these grubs are the especial and
favourite food of certain birds — the partridge,
the rook, the starling. Following up the in-
variable law, Nature multiplies the birds
because of this superabundant supply of grubs ;
man thwarts Nature, destroys the birds, and
gives immunity to the grubs. Thus we allow
the grubs to increase — in fact, give them every
encouragement ; they revel in the abundance
we have provided for them, and we wonder at
their voracity, and demand a remedy for the
injury we have caused. This principle of

324

BRITISH MOTHS.

interference is carried on by man in very many
other instances, in a manner highly detrimental
to his own interest : he pays the price of a sack
of grain for every owl nailed to his barn-door,
because that owl would destroy mice every
night ; and these mice being relieved of their
oppressive enemy would, in a very short time,
consume a sack of wheat, peas, or beans. The
kestrel, in like manner, kills mice, and the
death of a kestrel may fairly be reckoned a
loss of five pounds. A sparrow-hawk left to
himself, even by scaring the sparrows from the
ripening grain, will save the wages of at least
three boys. In Scotland the incessant warfare
against birds of prey, and the near accom-
plishment of their extermination, has allowed
such an increase of the ring-dove as to threaten,
by their insatiable voracity, a dearth of cereals
for the food of man. Associations are formed,
officers appointed, speeches made, rewards
offered : the object being solely and exclusively
to remedy the evil which the speech-maKers
have, by their supposed sagacity, induced.
Fifty such instances might be given, but let
us take the particular instance of the turnip-
grub. Two birds make it their special and
favourite food ; these are the partridge and the
rook : it is very interesting to watch with a
pocket-glass the instantaneous movement with
which they seize on the caterpillar directly
they have brought him to the surface, the
rook delving for him with its beak, — a habit
that might have obtained for this invaluable
bird the name oSfodiens rather than frugilegus,
— and the partridge turning him out by the
simple expedient of scratching, after the
method practised by all birds of the poultry
order. Neither of these birds is favoured with
a place in that " gamekeeper's museum," the
bole of an oak or the door of a barn ; but,
nevertheless, they are persecuted for sport, or \
destroyed by poison, and, whatever the pre-
text for the slaughter, the effect is the same.
Partridges and rooks alike grace our tables —
partridges under their own name, rooks,
nomine mutato, as the chief ingredient of pigeon

pies.

Obs. 3. The first author who noticed the
of this caterpillar was " Rusti«"R," of

Godalming, in 1832 ; the second, Mr. Le Keux
in the " Transactions of the Entomological
Society," in 1840; and the third, Mr. Curtis,
in his "Farm Insects," in 1860.

Obs. 4. This is the Brindled Heart and
Club (Bombyx catenata) of Haworth (Lep.
Brit., No 54), and also the Pectinated Dart
( Bumbyx pectinatus, Lep. Brit., No 55); the
Necklace Dart (Bomhyx monileus, Lep. Brit.,
No. 56) ; the Brindled Dart (Bombyx spinulus,
Lep. Brit., No. 57); the Dark Dart (Bombyx
subatratus, Lep. Brit., No. 6 1 ); and the Black
Dart (Bombyx niyricornutus, Lep. Brit.,
No. 62) ; all these are subsequently placed
in the genus Noctua at p. 218-9 of the same
work.

527. Eversman's Rustic (Ayrot is fennica.)

527. EVERSMAN'S RUSTIC. — The palpi are
rather porrected, and slightly arched, the
apical joint sparingly clothed with scales, and
very distinct ; the antennae are simple in both
sexes, those of the males are slightly incras-
sated : the fore wings are very narrow, their
colour is dingy bistre-brown, with the inner
margin ochreous; the ochreous area, extending
from the base to the third double transverse
line, is rather broad, reaching nearly to the
discoidal spots ; there are three very distinct
double transverse lines, or rather pairs of lines;
the first short, and very near the base of the
wing ; the second just before the orbicular ;
the third just beyond the reniform ; the fourth
is parallel with the hind margin, and emits a
number of wedge-shaped markings, pointing
towards the base of the wing ; the discoidal
spots are very distinct and conspicuous ; the
orbicular is rather small, oblique, and oblong;
its circumscription is ochreous- white, its
median area dark brown ; the reniform is large,
its circumscription ochreous- white, its median.

NOCTTJAS.

325

area trtaekis^ at both extremities, more par-
tici'larlv the lower : the hind wings are very
ample, their colour is pale gray-brown at the
base, darker brown towards the hind margin;
there is a crescentic discoidal spot, which with
the wing-rays is also darker : the head and
thorax are of the same colour as the fore
wings ; the body as the, hind wings.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July and
August ; it has occurred on the Continent of
Europe, and also in the State of New York ;
and Mr. Stainton says, " One specimen has
occurred in Derbyshire." (The scientific name
is Ayroti* fennica.)

528. The Crescent Dart (Agrotis lunigera).

528. THE CKESCENT DART. — The antennae
are ciliated in the male, simple in the female :
the fore wings are straight on the costa and
rather blunt at the tip ; their ground-colour is
gray in the males, with a slight tinge of sepia-
brown, and they have vai'ious markings of a
dark sepia-brown ; they are almost entirely
dark sepia-brown in the females ; the claviform
spot is black, or nearly so ; the orbicular is

very round and very conspicuous, pale gray,
\> vth a black, or nearly black, circumscription,
and a central dot ; the reniform is partially
obscured by a transverse cloud-like bar ; the
hind margin is occupied by a broad sepia-
brown band : the hind wings are white in
the males, smoky-brown in the females, the
base of the wing being paler and the wing-
rays darker ; there is also a row of linear
spots on the hind margin, and a crescentic
discoidal spot is just discernible in both
sexes : the thorax is varied with two shades
of bi'own in the males ; it is uniform dark
brown in the females ; the body is gray -brown.

The CATERPILLAR has been bred by Mr.
Buckler, from eggs obtained by Mr. W. Far-
ren. Its medio-dorsal stripe is conspicuously
sulphur-yellow on the black shining plate of
the second segment only, while on all the
other segments scarcely noticeable, and chiefly
ai the commencement of each a rather paler
brown than the mottled portions it runs
through. The anal segment is buff colour,
forming a conspicuous pale mark above the
flap. The sides are blackish-green, bounded
above by the sub-dorsal line of rather darker
hue, and below by the black spiracles and
usual warty tubercles ; the sub-dorsal line is
edged below by a fine thread of dirty whitish-
green, and another such fine line, but undu-
lating and interrupted, runs between it and
the spiracles. Above the legs is a pale thin
dirty-whitish line ; the belly and legs slightly
darker, of a greenish-drab tint ; the ventral
legs are more beneath the body than usual; all
the tubercular warts are blackish, large, and
shining. The head is mottled-brownish, with
a large black blotch on each side of the crown.

The MOTH appears on the wing in August,
but is by no means generally distributed. It
is reported from Cornwall, Devonshire, Isle of
Wight, Pembrokeshire, Flintshire, and Scot-
land ; and Mr. Birchall says it is common at
Howth, and has occurred at Cork. All my
specimens have been taken in the Isle of
Wight, where it is attracted by sugar
sprinkled on the heads of thistles and knob-
weed growing on the chalk-downs. (The
scientific name is Agrotis lunigera.)

326

BRITISH MOTHS.

529. The Heart and Dart (Agrotis exclamatioms).

529. THE HEART AND DART. —The antennae
are ciliated in the male, simple in the female :
the fore wings are nearly straight on the costa
and blunt at the tip ; their colour is umber-
brown, the ground-colour rather pale, the
spots dark ; the claviform is almost black, and
is united to, or rather seated on, a slender
transverse dark line ; the orbicular is less dis-
tinct; the reniform is large, distinct, and uni-
colorous ; immediately beyond it, is a curved
and zigzag dark line crossing the wing : the
Hind wings of the male are pale, with darker
wing-rays, and a dark but slender hind-mar-
ginal line ; the hind wings of the female are
smoke-coloured ; the head, thorax, and body
are of the same ground-colour as the fore
wings ; the collar is very erect, and has a
deep brown mark, which, as you look at the
face of the moth full in front, has a great
resemblance to the conventional representa-
tion of a flying bird.

The EGG is laid in June, either on the ground,
or on the young leaves of turnips, rape, radishes,
or other vegetables, or perhaps o n those of dande-
lions, docks, or other weeds, the young CATER-
PILLAR at first feeding entirely above ground
and on green leaves, but I think this habit
only lasts until the second month, when it
burrows beneath the surface, and becomes
either an entirely subterranean feeder, or a
subterranean resident during the day, some-
times ascending plants or garden vegetables

by night, and feeding on the leaves, 'ihus I
have ufteu found it on either autumnal or win-
ter greens by night, making copious mines in
some of the more solid heads in company with
the caterpillar of Mamestra Brassicce already
described. It also feeds on the roots of tur-
nips, parsnips, carrots, and mangold wurzel,
particularly about the crown and round the
base of the tap root : it thus does an almost
incredible amount of damage, in this respect
vieing with its congener, Agrotis Segetum,
emphatically known as the " turnip-grub." J
have found it at the approach of winter appa-
rently full-fed, although I have ascertained
that it continues its destructive operations
throughout the winter, so long as it finds roots
that it can devour. It shows a decided pre-
ference for those turnips commonly known as
" white rounds," and should these be sown in
the same field with swedes or mango'd wurzel,
it will exhibit its taste by confining its ravages
to the white rounds. The caterpillar is full-
fed in September and October, and is then
about an inch and a half long, stout, fleshy,
and cylindrical ; it rolls in a ring when an-
noyed. The head is slightly narrower than
the second segment, into which it can be
partially withdrawn. It is glabi-ous, and of a
pale brown colour, with two dark brown marks
down the face. The colour of the body is pale
dingy -bi-own, with a double, but slender,
medio- dorsal stripe, which appears to be
united at the interstices of the segments, but
opens, and encloses a small linear space on
the disk of each ; on each side of the medio-
dorsal is a slender and slightly waved stripe,
and between this and the medio-dorsal is a
series of black dots, one on each side of the
first and second segments, two each on the
others as far as the twelfth inclusive ; on each
side of each segment, and below the lateral
stripe, are three dots, excepting the first and
second, which have but two, and every dot
emits a minute bristle : the legs and clampers
are concolorous with the body. When full-fed
it forms an earthen cocoon, three or four inches
below the surface of the ground, and therein
changes to a smooth brown shining CHRYSALIS,
with a stout body and a sharp anal pomu

NOCTUAS.

The MOTH appears in June, and continues on
the wing throughout the summer. It is com-
mon everywhere. (The scientific name is
Agrotis exclamationis.}

Obs. 1. — I have followed my usual plan of
describing the caterpillar of this most destruc-
tive insect without comparing it with that of
the closely-allied Agrotis Seyetum, and have
brought out certain characters in each descrip-
tion not mentioned in the other ; but there is
so great a difficulty in distinguishing the two
species when in the eater-pillar state, that I
have often found the moths of both emerge
from the same turnip, when I supposed it con-
tained only the caterpillar of one.

Obs. 2. — The male of this species is the
Heart and Dart (Noctua exclamationis) of
Ha worth (Lep. Brit., No. 169), and the female
the Pitchy Dart (Noctua picea, Lep. Brit.,
No. 170).

Obs. 3 — Owing to an inadvertence, the
ordinary form of this abundant moth has not
been figured ; the varieties represented have
been kindly lent for this work by Mr. Bond
and Mr. C. Fenn : the spots are usually more
separate and distinct.

530. The Heart and Club (Agrotis corticea). Males.

530. The Heart and Club (Agrotis corticea). Females.

530. THE HEART AND CLUB.— The antennse
are decidedly ciliated in the male, simple in
the female : the costal margin of the fore
wings is straight, the tip blunt, their colour is
smoky gray-brown, with darker blotches and
numerous minute transverse lines; the princi-
pal blotches are two ; the first seems to com-
bine and include the claviform and orbicular,
the second the reniform sjjot ; a slender but
double transverse line adjoins the first of these
on the side nearest the base, and a similar
double line adjoins the second blotch on the
side nearest the hind margin : the costal
margin is spotted with pale and dark ; short
and slender dark fines and dots are scattered
or sprinkled over the entire surface of the
wings ; in some specimens these are rather
crowded, in others distant from each other :
the hind wings are pale gray-brown with a
very inconspicuous crescentic discoid al spot :
the head and thorax are very much the same
colour as the fore wings ; the body the same
colour as the hind wings.

M. Guenee says that he has often met with
the CATERPILLAR of this species, but has un-
fortunately neglected to describe it. I am
still more unfortunate in never having seen
the caterpillar.

The MOTH appears on the wing at the end
of June and beginning of July, and often
swarms at the blossoms of the lime, a tree
that offers a banquet to bees by day, and to
inoths by night. It seems very generally

328

BRITISH MOTHS.

distributed in England, Scotland, and Ireland.
(The scientific name is Agrotis corticea.}

Obs. This is the Heart and Club (^cr.-Jbyx
clavigerus), of Ha worth (Lep. Brit., No. 52);
the Chain-Shot Dart (Bombyx connexus, Lep.
Brit., No. 58) ; the Pointed Dart (Bombyx
corticeus, Lep. Brit., No. 59) ; the Broad-
Veined Dart (Bombyx venosus, Lep Brit , No.
60) : These are subsequently placed in the
Genus Noctua, at p. 218 of the same work.

531. The Light-Feathered Rustic {Agrotis cinerea).

531. THE LIGHT-FEATHERED RUSTIC. — The
antennte are ciliated in the male, simple in
tl.e female : the fore wings are very straight
on the costal margin, but r ded at the tip ;
their colour is pale gray with, three slender
transverse lines, and two transverse shades ;
the first transverse line is very short and very
near the base, the second is zigzag, and pre-
cedes the orbicular spot, which is represented
by a mere aot ; then follows the first trans-
verse shade vhic" includes the reniform spot,
and beyond this is the third transverse line,
bent a^d zigzag : the second transverse shade
is parallel with the hind margin ; in some
specimens especially females, the entire ground
colour of the wing is darker, in others only
the space between the second and third trans-
verse lines : the hind wings are almost white
with darker wing-rays, and a very indistinct
crescentic discoidal spot ; the head, thorax,
and body arc pale gray.

" The CATERPILLAR is shining greenish-
brown ; dorsal and sub dorsal lines darker :
between them are small oblique dark streaks
(Treitschke). On roots of various low pi; its."
iStainton's Manual, vol. ii., p. 225.

The MOTH appears on the winy in June, and
has been taken in the Isle of Wight, at Brigh-

ton, 'Lewes, and in Gloucestershire, Hereford-
shire, Pembrokeshire, and Carnarvonshire.
(The scientific name is Agrotis cinerea.1)

532. The Sand Dart (Agrotis Ripce).

532. THE SAND DART. — The antennae are
ciliated in the male, simple in the female : the
fore wings are rather long and rather narrow,
straight on the costa, and rounded at the tip ;
their colour is pale gray with a very slight
tinge of ochreous ; the claviform spot is >re-
sent, but not strongly marked, the orbicular is
small and round, defined by its darker outline
only, the reniform is almost square and its
disk dark ; there are two irregular and inter-
rupted transverse lines, both of them semi-
double, and both broken up into spots: the
hind wings ->f the male are white, those of the
female slightly clouded, especially on the
wing- rays and towards the hind margin : the
head, thorax, and body are gray, the body
rather the palest.

The Rev. John Hellins has described the
CATERPILLAR in the Zoologist as having the
ground colour varying from a light pea-green
to a yellowish-gray (in one instance the cater-
pillar was green half its length and gray the
other half) having a medio-dorsal stripe of a
darker shade of the ground colour, but inter-
sected throughout by a very slender pale
stripe ; there are three slender waved Literal
lines on each side ; these are placed clo.~e
together just above the spiracles, and are
slightly paler than i ie medio-dorsal stripe;
.they are followed by a stripe rather darker
than the ground colour, and containing tho

NOCTUAS.

329

spiracles which are black ; the head, and u
dorsal plate on the second segment are pale
brown. These caterpillars were found feeding
on hound's-tongue (Cynoglossum officinal e),
which grows on sand-hills by the sea coast, and
were fed on the same plant in confinement :
they are very fond of burrowing in the sand,
and Mr. Hellins thinks some of them hyber-
nate in the sand at a depth of several inches :
they always leave off feeding in October.

'I he MOTH appears on the wing in June and
July, and has been taken in Cornwall, Devon-
shire (at Instow Sand-hill-, and Brauuton
Burrows, Dawlish, and Ex mouth), Somerset-
shire, and Glamorganshire, but I believe
always on the sea coast. (The scientific name
is Agrotis Ripce.}

Obs. I am indebted to Mr. Vaughan for
the use of a beautiful variety.

533. The Coast Dart (Agrotis cursoria).

533. THE COAST DART. — The antennae are
very slightly pectinated in the male : the fore
wings are rather long and narrow, straight on
the costa, and blunt at the tip ; their colour is
pale gray tinged with ochreous or brown, and
presenting in different specimens almost every
shade of colour from pale ochreous gray to
dark brown ; there are evident indications of
three darker transverse lines, all of them
double ; the first is short and indistinct, it is
almost close to the base of the wing, and does
not reach the inner margin ; the second crosses
the wing just before the orbicular spot, and is
almost straight ; and the third is bent and
situated beyond the reniform spot : the orbi-
cular spot is almost round and rather paler
gray than the rest of the wing ; the reniform
is larger and conspicuous, it has a pale circum-
scription; the inclosed iirea is of two shades,
the upper portion paler, the lower darker than
the general ground colour : the hind wings

are pale gray with a slightly darker marginal
cloud, especially towards the tip, and an
indistinct crescentic discoidal spot ; in the
females the wing-rays also are darker : the
head and thorax vary in tint with the fore
wings : the body is gray in the males, brown-
gray in the females.

" The CATERPILLAR is pale ochreous with
dark brown dorsal line; spiracular line whitish,
edged above with brown : ordinary spots
black (Frey&r) on spurge (Euphorbia esula)."
Staintoris Manual, vol. i., p. 225.

The .MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
has occurred in Cornwall, Devonshire, Dorset-
shire, Kent, Suffolk, N« Hoik, Glamorganshire,
Denl ighshire, Cheshire, and Lancashire ; it is
also reported from Scotland, and Mr. Birchall
says it is very abundant on the Irish coast.
(The scientific name is Ayrctis cursoria.)

Obs. I am indebted to Mr. Bond for the
use of an unusually tine series of specimens.

534. The Garden Dart (Agrotis nigricans).

534. THE GARDEN DART — The antennae
are very slightly ciliated in the male, but are
evidently stouter than those of the female ;
the costal margin of the fore wings is slightly
arched, and the tip blunt ; their colour is
dark umber-brown, sometimes slightly tinged
with 7-eddish-brown ; the claviform spot is
connected with the base of the wing by a
mixed longitudinal streak which presents an
appearance of having had the scales scraped
off with a penknife ; the orbicular spot is
rather depressed, in some specimens a goot
deal flattened ; it has a dark circumscription
and a pale disk ; the reniform is more
perfectly kidney-shaped than in any other of
lie genus, its circumscription is very dark,
its disk rather dark towards the bii.se of the
wing, rather pale gray towards the hind

330

BRITISH MOTHS.

margin; there is a waved series of pale spots
six to eight in number parallel with the hind
margin ; the hind wings are pale at the base,
darker and smoky towards the hind margin ;
they have a crescentic discoidal spot, and
some of the wing-rays rather darker.

The CATERPILLAR of this moth has been
found by Mr. Doubleday, in the neighbour-
hood of Epping, and has been carefully
described by Mr. Buckler in the Entomolo-
gists' Monthly Magazine: the egg is laid in
July on clover and other plants ; the cater-
pillar when full-grown, is an inch and a-half
long, smooth and cylindrical ; the colour of
the back ochreous-brown, and in some indi-
viduals very bright ochreous ; a thin gray
dorsal line, margined with blackish, and
running through a series of blackish-brown
triangular and diamond shapes, well defined
in some individuals, though obscure in others;
sub-dorsal line greenish-black, in some varie-
ties quite black, and edged below with a
narrow line of dirty whitish-green, then a
broad stripe of blackish-green, followed by
another dirty whitish - green, narrow and
slightly interrupted, line, and then another
darker broad stripe of blackish-green, along
the lower edge of which are the black spi-
racles ; a double whitish stripe follows, ex-
tending down the sides of the anal claspers,
which is made by a line of pale dirty grayish-
green, being the colour of the belly and clas-
pers, running through the middle of the white;
the ordinary shining warty spots black ; the
head grayish-brown, mottled, and streaked
with black ; a dark brown shining plate on
the back of the second segment, with three
paler grayish lines; some of these caterpillars
presented great resemblance to several of the
varieties of Ayrotis Tritici, but the double
white stripe above the feet, and black warty
dots, give distinct characters to the caterpillars
of Nigricans.

Obs. This is another most destructive cater-
pillar, and Mr. Doubleday has communicated
to me some interesting particulars of its
ravages in 1865, near Epping. In one in-
stance, a field often acres, sown with wheat in
the autumu and with clover in the spring,

was attacked so vigorously that by the 17th
of May not a clover leaf was to be seen : it
is not a little remarkable that the wheat re-
mained entirely uninjured, and that when
the clover and weeds too commonly sown with
clover seed had been utterly consumed, the
caterpillars betook themselves to the hedges
and devoured every green leaf they could find;
every kind of weed, even the large umbellifers
were entirely stripped, but grasses of every
kind were spared. I am indebted to Mr. Last
as well as Mr. Doubleday for specimens of
these caterpillars, and have described them for
publication, but prefer quoting Mr. Buckler's
description as a just compliment to one who
has done so much to elucidate the natural
history of our British Lepidoptera.

The MOTH appears on the wing throughout
July, and is only too common throughout the
country. (The scientific name is A gratis
nigricans. )

Obs. This is the Dark Rustic (Noctua
fwnosa) of Haworth (Lep. Brit., No. 173);
the Garden Dart (Noctua nigricans, Lep. Brit.,
No. 1 74) ; the Rufous Dart (Noctua ruris,
Lep. Brit* No. 175) ; the White Line (Noctua
dubia, Lep. Brit., No. 176) ; and the Square
Spot Dart (Noctua obeliscata, Lep. Brit., No.
177).

535. The White-lino Dart (Agrotis Tritici).

iVOCTUAS.

331

535. THE WHITE-LINE DAKT. — -The palpi
are porreoted, slightly ascending, and rather
distant ; the antennae of the male are slightly
serrated, those of the female simple : the
fore wings are straight on the costa, blunt at
the tip, and rather rounded on the hind mar-
gin ; their colour is dark bistre-brown, more
or less varied with pale wainscot-brown ; of
this latter colour there is generally but not
always a rather conspicuous dash beneath the
costa, extending from the base to the reni-
form ; the discoidal spots are generally very
distinctly outlined with the paler colour, and
have a darker central area ; the orbicular is
small, oval, and oblique ; some of the wing-
rays are often pale, and there is generally a
simious line or interrupted series of linear
spots parallel with the hind margin, from
which emanate three, four, or live elongate
wedge-shaped spots, the tips of which point
towards the middle of the wing : the hind
wings are pale at the base, the wing-rays and
hind margin being smoky-brown ; the fringe
is paler : the head and thorax are bistre-
brown, freckled with gray scales; the body is
uniform smoky-brown.

The CATERPILLAR of this very common spe-
cies has a rather small and porrecbed head,
and an obese cylindrical and shining body, in
which the usual minute warts are not conspi-
cuous, and each emits a short hair : the head
is shining, of a pale brown colour mottled
with darker brown : the second segment has
a dark brown glabrous plate; the dorsal area
of the body is gi'ay-brown, with a narrow
medic-dorsal stripe considerably paler ; there
is a narrow lateral stripe on each side, not
far from the medio-dorsal, and of the same
pale hue, and all these three stripes pass
through the dorsal plate of the second seg-
ment, and come close to the head ; the sides
of the caterpillar are dingy green, inter-
sected throughout by a narrow grayish stripe ;
the spiracles are black ; the ventral is paler
than the dorsal area, and the claspers are
concolorous. It feeds at the root of all kinds
of garden weeds and vegetables, and changes
to a CHRYSALIS beneath the surface of the
ground.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July,
and appears very generally distributed ov. r
England : it is also reported from Scotland,
and Mr. Birchall says it is common every-
where on the coast of Ireland. (The scien-
tific name is Agrotis Tritici.)

Obs. — This is the White-line Dart (Noctua
albilmea) of Haworth (Lep. Brit., No. 180) ;
the Lineolated Dart (Noctun lineolata, Lep.
Brit., No. 181); the Pupilh'd Dart (Noctua
jmpillata, Lep. Brit., No. 183); and the
Gothic Dart, (Noctua subyothica, Lep. Brit.,
No. 185.)

536. The Streaked Dart (Agrotis aquilina).

536. THE STREAKED DART. — The palpi are
porrected, slightly ascending, and rather dis-
tant ; the antennae of the male are stout and
slightly separated, those of the female more
slender and quite simple : the fore wings
are straight on the costa, and blunt at the
tip; their colour is umber-brown, sometimes
with a paler dash under the costa ; the dis-
coidal spots are well defined, outlined with
pale brown, and having darker centres ;
there is generally a pale sinuous line or inter-
rupted series of pale linear spots parallel with
the hind margin, from which emanate three,
four, or five elongate wedge-shaped spots, the
tips of which point towards the middle of the
wing : the hind wings are pale at the base,
with darker crescent-shaped discoidal spot,
wing-rays, and hind margin : the head and
thorax are umber-brown; the body snioky-
brown.

The CATERPILLARS of this moth have been
discovered by Mr. Last, of Ipswich, at the
roots of various vegetables, especially where
growing among weeds; they feed on chick-
weed, cabbage, broccoli, onions, poppies,
plantain. &c. The caterpillar, when full-
grown, is thus describe'd by Mr. Buckler, in

3S2

BRITISH MOTHS.

No. 18 of the Entomologists' Monthly Maga-
zine : —

" It is an inch and a half long, cylindrical,
and rather shining. The head gray-brown,
mottled with blackish; the back dingy-brown,
a dorsal line of rather paler gray-brown, the
sub-dorsal line black, edged below with a thin
line of gray-brown, and which, like the dorsal
line, runs through the blackish plate on the
second segment ; to this succeeds a broad
stripe of dingy blackish-green, then another
thin line of gray-brown, followed by another
broad stripe of dingy blackish-green, the black
spiracles being situated along its lower edge ;
the belly and legs gray-brown, the warty
spots dark brown and not very conspicuous ;
the general aspect of the caterpillar very dark
and dingy."

The MOTH appears on the wing in July and
August, and occurs not uncommonly in our
English counties, but it is so imperfectly
known, and so rarely distinguished from the
preceding, that no confidence whatever can be
placed in the recorded habitats. Mr. Birchall
informs us that it has been taken at Malahide
Sand-hills in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Agrotis aqu.il ina.)

537. The Square Spot Dart (Agrotis obeUsca).

537. THE SQUARE SPOT DART. — The palpi
are porrected and prominent ; the antennae are
very stout and slightly serrated in the male,
rather slender and simple in the female : the
colour of the fore wings is sepia-brown ; there
is a gray shade beneath the costa ; the dis-
coidal spots are distinct, and rendered more so
by the space between them being intensely
dark brown or almost black ; a similarly
coloured wedge-shaped spot adjoins the orbi-
cular pointing towards the base, and below

the orbicular and extending nearly to the base
of the wing, is a compound mark of the same
colour ; there are also two itermpted trans-
verse lines or rather irregular series of dark
marks, the first before the orbicular, the
second beyond the reniform : the hind wings
are very pale in the males with darker wing-
rays and hind margin, smoky brown in the
females : the head and thorax are dark brown ;
the body paler, and with a slight appearance
of still paler rings.

The CATERPILLAR rests in a nearly straight
position on the slender stems of its food-plant,
when anoyed it falls to the ground in a com-
pact ring : the head has a rather flat face, and
is considerably narrower than the second seg-
ment, into which it is partially received :
the body is very stout, smooth, and almost
uniformly cylindrical ; its colour is pale testa-
ceous-brown, with a slender white medio-
dorsal stripe, which is bordered on each side
by a still more slender and threadlike black
stripe ; there is a similar white stripe, deli-
cately black -bordered on each side of the cate
pillar, and, connecting the medio-dorsal with
the lateral stripes; there is also a short oblique
stripe on each side of each segment, each pair
of oblique stripes forming a letter V, the apex
of which is directed towards the anal extre-
mity ; below these, and in the region of the
spiracles, is a series of round dots, ten on each
segment, and also a short oblique line : the
ventral is concolorous with the dorsal area, and
the claspers are also of the same colour, and
just above eaeh is a black dot. It feeds on the
ladies' bedstraw (Galium verum).

The MOTH appears on the wing in August,
and occurs pretty abundantly in the Isle of
Wight, whence I received the series in my
possession ; it has also been taken at Brighton ;
it is reported by the Rev. Harpur Crewe from
Derbyshire, and from Lancashire by Mr.
Birchall, who has also taken it in Ireland :
this indefatigable entomologist writes of the
species thus : " Abundant at Howth ; fre-
quents the higher slopes of the hill, where it
may be taken freely from the rag-wort flowers
in August iu company with Lutwjera. Alt hough
Tritici swarms at the foot of the hill and a long

NOCTUAS.

333

the shore, it rarely intrudes on the more aris-
tocratic society of the higher levels." (The
scientific name is Agrotis obelisca.)

538. The Heath Eustic (Ayrotis agatliina).

538. THE HEATH RUSTIC. — The palpi are
porrected, slightly ascending, and rather dis-
tant ; the antennae are slender in both sexes,
but rather stouter in the male, and slightly
serrated ; the fore wings are straight on the
costa, obtuse at the tip, and waved on the
hind margin ; their colour is brown glossed
and tinged with a rich vinous red ; there is a
pale dash on the costa, extending from the
base to two-thirds of its length ; the orbicular
is pale, clearly denned, and very conspicuous ;
the reniform is outlined in pale gray, but not
so conspicuous as the orbicular ; its exterior
border is indistinct, the space between the
discoidal spots is very dark brown, and there
is a triangular mark of the same colour on the
basal side of the orbicular, and pointing to-
wards the base of the wing; below this are two
whitish marks; a broken series of pale mark-
ings crosses the wing just beyond the middle,
and of this the reniform forms a part, and a
second broken series is parallel with the hind
margin, and terminates in a rather conspicuous
pale blotch near the anal angle : the hind
wings are waved on the hind margin, very
pale brown with crescentic discoidal spots, a
transverse median line, a broadish marginal
bar darker brown; the thorax and b^y are
reddish-brown.

The CATERPILLAR does not roll itself in a
ring when touched, but falls off its food, and,
bending its body slightly at both extremities,
remains motionless a short time, feigning
death. In form it is almost uniformly cyliu-
drical, but slightly decreases in size at either
end, it is smooth and velvety : the head is
rather small and very shining, of a pale dull
green or dull brown, with two obscure longi-
tudinal darker markings : the body is of
different ground colour in different indivi-
duals, the prevailing hues are green and
brown, in all instances adorned with five
longitudinal white stripes, all. of which are
more or less interrupted by folds in the skin,
especially at the interstices of the segments :
three of these are brighter and more distinct
than the remaining two, and may be called
dorsal, the remaining two are lateral, and are
tinged more or less with the ground colour of
the body : the medio-dorsal stripe is found on
close examination to be composed of a series
of shuttle-shaped markings, placed end to
end : the next stripe on each side is bordered
on its upper or dorsal margin with velvety
black, massed on each segment into a conspi^
cuous blotch : the lower margin is also bor-
dered, but less conspicuously, with black :
the lateral stripe is broader and more diffused,
as well as less conspicuous, than the others :
it encloses the spiracles, which are ranged
just within its upper margin, excepting the
last and last but one, which are placed above
the stripe ; by these five stripes the dorsal
surface of the body is divided into four nearly
equal compartments, all of which are alike in
ground colour, whatever its tint, and are
delicately mottled with velvety black : the
under surface bordering the lateral stripe
partakes of the same colour, but the ventral
area, legs and claspers, are paler, having a
semi-transparent appearance. It feeds on the
common ling (Calluna vulgaris) principally at
night, when it is swept off the food-plant in
early spring by collectors who are acquainted
with its habits ; it is full-fed about the end
of May.

The MOTH appears on the wing in August,
as soon as the heaths are in full flower, when

334

BRITISH MOTHS.

it frequents the blossoms more particularly of
those which grow under the shade of trees.
It has occurred a Lyndhurst, in the New
Forest; at Wey bridge and West Wickham, in
Surrey ; and also in Lancashire and York-
shire. Mr. Birchall has taken it riot uncom-
monly at Howth, and in the county Wicklow,
in Ireland, by sweeping heath at night in
Atigust and September. (The scientific name
is Agrotis agathina).

539. The True Lovers' Knot (Agrotis porphyrea).

539. THE TRUE LOVERS' KNOT.— The palpi
are porrected and slightly ascending; the scales
on the second joint extend to the tip of the
apical joint, making each palpus look bind;
the antennae are slightly serrated in the male :
the fore wings are nearly straight on the costa,
blunt at the tip, and entire on the hind
margin : their colour is brickdust red, with
numerous nearly white markings ; the dis-
coidal spots are outlined in white, but each
has a darker area ; the parts between and
around them are also darker — indeed, very
dark brown ; there are seven white spots on
the costa, four rather large ones at equal dis-
tances, the second and fourth of which seem
to originate transverse zigzag white lines, the
tirst before the orbicular, the second beyond
the reniform ; the seventh costal spot is near
the tip, and extends a considerable distance
into the wing, and is followed by a series of
white dots irregularly parallel with the hind
margin; most of the wing-rays are also white
for the whole or the greater part of their
length ; most of the white markings are accom-
panied by darker blotches, which make them
nadre conspicuous : the hind wings are pale
grayish-brown, darker towards the hind mar-
gin : the thorax is variegated with the colours
of the fore wings, the body has the more
uniform colour of the bind wings.

The CATERPILLAR is uniformly cylindrical ;
the head is very shining, and of a pale brown
colour ; the body is umber-brown, paler be-
tween the segments : on the back are three
series of linear clearly-defined whitish marks
placod end to end ; the first series is median,
an' . extends from the third to the tenth seg-
ment, both inclusive, and consisting, therefore,
of nine spots ; the first of these, that on the
third segment, is circular; th«t on the fourth
oval ; the rest are linear ; on each side of this
series is a lateral series of similar whitish
linear spot, and these commence on the fifth
segment, and extend to the thirteenth ; below
these lateral series of whitish spots there is a
whitish stripe which includes the spiracles,
which are black ; the legs are very shining,
pale brown, spotted with black ; the claspers
are pale. It feeds on the common ling
(Calluna vulyaris) only in the night. The EGGS
are laid and hatched in the autumn, and the
caterpillar hybernates : in April it begins to
feed again, and is full-fed in May : it then spins
a slight cocoon on the surface of the ground,
and therein changes to a CHRYSALIS.

Thf MOTH appears on the wing in June and
July, and occurs in every locality I have
visited where the common ling grows abun-
dantly, hiding among the branches of that
plant until disturbed by the entomologist.
Mr. Birchall says it is very common at
Howth, in Ireland, secreting itself by day
among the broken limestone shale. (The
scientific name is Agrotis porphyrea.}

540. The Portland Moth (Agrotis pracox).

540. THE PORTLAND MOTH. — The palpi are
short and inconspicuous, and the antennae
slender in both sexes ; the fore wings are
straight on the costa and blunt at the tip; they

NOCTUAS.

835

are decidedly narrow, the costal and hind
margins being neai-ly parallel ; their colour is
pale obscure green, with numerous very dis-
tinct markings, most of them black ; the orbi-
cular and reniform are outlined in black, the
area enclosed by the black outline is light
gray, with a median darker shade, which in
the orbicular is indistinctly circular, and in
the reniform has somewhat the shape of an
hour-glass; there are three zigzag black lines,
the first short and near the base, the second is
before the orbicular, and the third beyond the
reniform ; beyond the third is an elbowed
reddish bar parallel with the hind margin, but
not quite reaching the'costa, and on the hind
margin itself is a linear series of elongate
black spots : the hind wings are smoky-brown,
paler at the base, having an obscurely crescent-
shaped discoidal spot, and a black marginal
line : the thorax is pale greenish-gray, dotted
with black : the body is of the same colour as
the hind wings.

The head of the CATERPILLAR is very pale
brown, broadly notched on the crown, and
there is a dark V-shaped mark pointing back-
wards on the face : the colour of the body is
very various : a medio-dorsal series of longi-
tudinal gray markings, each extending almost
the length of a segment and dilated posteriorly;
these markings are mai'gined on each side by
others of a smoky-brown, which are narrowed
to mere lines in front, but dilated posteriorly:
on each side of the narrowed portion is a spot
of the same colour ; all the aforesaid markings
constitute a variegated median stripe ; on each
side of this is a ferruginous stripe, interrupted
at the segmental divisions, and below this on
each side is a narrow stripe extending to the
spiracles, which are black ; there is a gray
stripe below the spiracles; the belly is dingy
gray : it feeds on chick weed (Alsine media),
and is full-fed at midsummer, when it
changes to a CHRYSALIS just below the surface
of the earth.

The MOTH appears on the wing in August;
it has been takeu both on the noi-th and south
coasts of Devonshire by Mr. Reading, in Dor-
setshire by Mr. Dale, in Kent, Norfolk, Suffolk,
v» South "Wales, Cheshire, and Lancashire.

Mr. Douglas Robinson reports it from Scot-
land, and Mr. Birchall says it is common on
the sand-hills of the Dublin coast. (The
scientific name is Agrotift jjrcfcox.)

541. The Stout Dart (Agrotis ravida).

541. THE STOUT DART. — The palpi are por-
rected and slightly ascending ; the second joint
is cup-shaped, the third very small and scarcely
perceptible: the antennfe are simple and
slender : the colour of the fore wings is dingy
brown with very obscure and inconspicuous
markings : the orbicular is longitudinally
elongate and oblique ; it is outlined in black,
but the median ai-ea is concolorous with the
general ground colour of the wing ; the reni-
form is incomplete, being oui lined in black on
its interior border only ; the hind wings are
pale gray-brown, the wing-rays and hind
margin rather darker : the head and thorax
are the same colour as the fore wings, the
body the same colour as the hind wings.

The CATERPILLARS were found by Mr.
Doubleday just below the siirface of the
ground, at the roots of thistles and dandelions;
they feed greedily on the leaves of the latter.
Mr. Buckler has described three varieties in
No. 17 of the Entomologists' Monthly Magar
•zine, as under : —

Var. 1. Caterpillar yellowish-brown, slightly
tapering near the head, but almost of uniform
thickness, and cylindrical; a thin dorsal line
slightly paler than the ground colour, and
running through a dusky V-like streak at the
end of each segment after the fourth. At the
commencement of the fourth segment, on each
side, and close to the division, is a sub-dorsai
ochreous-yellow spot, which, on the fifth to

336

BRITISH MOTHS.

the eleventh, inclusive, has an almost con-
fluent yellow waving curved streak, extending
along two-thirds of each segment, becoming
Las curved towards the twelfth, on which
they are straight, and slightly converging at
the end of that segment, where they are
margined above with dusky brown wedge-
shaped streaks pointing forwards, and a dusky
edging a^ve to the curved yellow streaks,
but gradually less intense towards the head
on the other segments.

The sides and belly, with legs, brownish-
gray ; a paler grayish stripe freckled with
dusky atoms above the the feet ; immediately
above that are the spiracles, minute and dirty
white in a dusky blotch, which emits an
oblique dusky streak, extending to the sub-
dorsal marking of the segment in advance.
Head gray, mottled and streaked on the lobes
and face with dusky brown ; a dull brown
plate on the second segment, with slight indi-
cations of dorsal and sub-dorsal faint lines
through it.

Looking on the back of this caterpillar, the
yellow marks on each side are suggestive of a
series of incomplete horse-shoe shapes.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July ; it
occurs in Devonshire, having been taken by
Mr. Dorville at Alphington, and by other
entomologists at Torquay ; also in Dorset-
shire by Mr. Dale ; in Kent, Essex, and
Norfolk, and Suffolk, in nearly all the midland
and northern counties, extending even into
Scotland. (The scientific name is Agrotis
ravida.)

y&2. The Dotted Rustic (Agrotis pyrophild).

542. THE DOTTED RUSTIC. — The palpi are
short but ascending, approximate, and very
Inconspicuous ; the antennae are slender and
simple : the colour of the fore wing is gray-
brown ; the discoidal spots are very indistinct

and very near together ; beyond the reniform
is a transverse series of black dots, and on the
hind margin itself a similar series ; the hind
wings, head, thorax, and body, are also
grayish-brown.

" The CATERPILLAR is dull gray-brown
(Treitschke) on grasses and low plants"
(Staintoris Manual, vol. i., p. 228).

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
seems to be local, rare, and most imperfectly
known ; it lias been reported from Dorsetshire,
Hampshire, Berkshire, Gloucestershire, Wor-
cestershire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Lanca-
shire, Yorkshire, Cumberland, and Scotland
(The scientific name is Agrotis pyropliila?)

543. Tli;' Northern Rustic (Agrotis lucernea).

543. THE NORTHERN RUSTIC. — The palpi
are porrected and slightly ascending, the ter-
minal joint projects slightly beyond the scales
of the second ; the antennae are long and
simple in both sexes, but rather stouter in the
male ; the fore wings are slightly arched on
the costa, blunt at the tip, and rather broad ;
their colour is smoky-gray, suffused in some
specimens with a decidedly ochreous tint, and
having three very indistinct and irregular
darker lines, the first of which is very short
and almost close to the base; it scarcely reaches
half- way across the wing; the second is before
the usual site of the orbicular ; the third
beyond fhe usual site of the reniform, hut i

NOCTUAS.

337

can discover no trace of the former, and a
mere cloud indicates the usual position of the
latter; between the second and third trans-
verse lines there is a transverse shade which
includes the reniform, and beyond the third
transverse line is a dark band rendered rather
more conspicuous by a lighter line which
melts into the hind marginal area : the hind
wings are smoky, and paler at the base; the
fringe is very pale, almost white : the head,
thorax, and body are smoky-gray.

The CATERPILLAR rolls in a ring when
touched, feigning death, and falling off its
food-plant; in shape it is almost uniformly
cylindrical : the surface is smooth and velvety;
the head is shining, its triangular plate in-
tensely black; its hemispheres mottled with
black and gray-brown : the colour of the body
is a mottled mixture of gray-brown and black-
brown, the darker colour assuming somewhat
the form of a double medio -dorsal series of V-
shaped markings, the tips of the Vs directed
towards the head ; the space within each V is
only a shade paler than the V itself, but
terminates at its tip in a very decided pale
spot, which has a black dot in the middle, the
dot emitting a black bristle ; the legs are
black and shining ; the claspers pale ; the
spiracles almost white, but surrounded by a
black space. In a state of nature it feeds on
the common yellow-flowered stone-crop, and
occasionally also on grasses. In confinement
the caterpillars fed voraciously by night on the
leaves of the common harebell (Campanula
rolundifolia), but concealed themselves in
peat-earth by day ; they were full-fed and
finally buried themselves on the 1st of May.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July : it
is rather abundant in Cornwall and Devon-
shire, particularly about Whitsand Cliffs,
Bovisand, and Torquay. Mr. Reading, who
has paid so much attention to the Lepidoptera
of this district, says it has the habit of flying
from flower to flower in the sunshine; it has
also been taken in the Isle of Wight, on the
coast of Kent, in South Wales, and in several
•Scotch localities : Mr. Birchall informs us it
is very common at Howth, in Ireland. (The
scientific name is Agrotis lucemea.)

544. Ashworth's Rustic (Agrotis Ashivorthii).

544. ASHWORTH'S RUSTIC. — The palpi are
porrected and slightly ascending; the basal
joint is black, the second joint black at the
base, and white and very scaly at the tip; the
third or apical joint is very small and short,
and is received into the second jointand almost
hidden like an egg in its nest : the fore wings
are very slightly curved on the costa and
blunt at the tip: their colour is the most
delicate blue-gray approaching to dove-colour,
with three very narrow transverse black lines;
the first of these is at the base and very short,
beginning at the costa and scarcely reaching
half across the wing; the second is before the
orbicular and waved, but pretty direct; and
the third is beyond the reniform, very much
bent and very zigzag; between the second and
third is a transverse smoky shade, and in this
the orbicular and reniform may be traced, but
are very inconspicuous; parallel with the
hind margin there is, in some specimens, a
narrow, waved, darker bar, but this is by no
means constant; the hind wings are smoky-
gray, paler at the base, and having darker
wing-rays; the head and thorax are gray, the
body pale gray, and very downy at the base,
rather darker towards the tip.

The CATERPILLAR rolls in a compact ring,
feigning death and falling off its food-plant
when touched. In shape it is almost uniformly
cylindrical, quite smooth and velvety: the
head is bright red and shining ; the body is

M 22

338

BRITISH MOTHS.

uniformly coloured, generally smoky-green;
in some specimens olive-green, in others
smoke-coloured, with scarcely a perceptible
shade of green : on the dorsal surface of each
segment are two somewhat distant conspicuous
markings of an intense velvety black: the
figure of each of these markings is that of a
longitudinally elongated square or parallelo-
pipedon, its limits always clearly denned but
not very regular ; near the head these markings
become narrower or more linear, and the pair
on the twelfth segment are also narrow and
placed obliquely; the legs are red-brown and
very shining.

These caterpillars feed on the fescue-grass
(Festuca ovina), several species of hawk-weed
(Hleracium), sun cistus (Cistus helianthemum),
wild thyme (Thymus SetrpyU/um\ devil's bit
scabious (Scabiosasuccisa), golden rod(Solidago
Virgaurea), burnet (Poterium Sanguisorba),
&c. ; and in confinement revel on sallow (Salix
caprea), especially the catkins. They feed by
night only, and bury themselves in the earth
by day ; they were full-fed and finally dis-
appeared beneath the earth on the 8th of May.

The MOTH appears on the wing in August,
and hitherto has only been taken in the neigh-
bourhood of Llangollen, in North Wales.
(The scientific name is Agrotis Ashworthii}.

545. The Lesser Broad-Border (Tryphcena ianthina) .

545. THE LESSEE BROAD-BORDER. — In all
the " yellow underwings " the palpi are in-
conspicuous; theantennse in both sexes simple,
and the fore wings rather narrow and rather
elongate ; the hind wings are very ample ; in
the Lesser Broad-Border the colour of the fore
wings is rich brown, glossed and tinted with
purple reflections ; the costa is very pale at
the base, the pale portion being confined to a

mere marginal line : there are three delicate
clouds of a gray tint descending from the costa
obliquely towards the middle of the wing, and
nearer the tip of the wing is a transverse
series of pale spots parallel with the hind
margin ; these are generally not more than
three or four in number, and are confined to
the costal portion of the wing ; the discoidal
spots are imperfectly indicated by portions of
a gray outline: the hind wings are bright
orange in the middle, and on the hind margin,
and black at the base ; they have also a broad
waved band of intense black parallel with the
hind margin : the head and collar are very
pale, the thorax and body are rich brown, with
a vinous tint.

The CATERPILLAR is byno means common ; it
occurs sometimes at the roots of polyanthuses
and other garden plants, concealing itself by
day and feeding by night; it eats into th-
crown, and also feeds on the leaves of these
and other garden plants : the head is smaller
than the second segment, and very shining ;
the body obese, smooth, and velvety ; the
colour of the head is dull testaceous-brown,
of the body dingy ochreous, with a paler
narrow medio-dorsal stripe on each side of each
segment after the seventh, and there are two
conspicuous black spots on each side of the
ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth segments ,
the ventral is paler than the dorsal surface,
and the legs and claspers are concolorous. The
egg is hatched in the autumn, and the cater-
pillar feeds through the winter, and is full-fed
in April and May, when it buries itself just
below the surface of the earth, and changes to
a smooth red-brown CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
occurs in most of our English, Scotch, and
Irish counties. Mr. Reading says it is com-
mon throughout Cornwall and Devonshire ;
and going thence northward and eastward, I
find the name in almost every local list. (The
scientific name is Tryphcena ianthina.)

Obs. — The colour of the fore wings is
remarkably rich and attractive, and is less
liable to vary than in any other species of tiie
genus Tryphcena,

NOCTUAS.

339

546. The Broad-Bordered Yellow Underwing

(Tryphcena fimbria) .

546. THE BROAD - BORDERED YELLOW
UNDERWING. — The antennae are white at the
base : the colour of the fore wings is pale wain-
scot-brown, or rich mahogany-brown, or rich
olive-green; the specimens of the mahogany-
brown colour are comparatively rare, those with
the wainscot-brown and olive-green colour are
equally common ; the two discoidal spots are
very clo.se together, and sometimes, although
rarely, united ; they are clearly marked by a
pale and very fine outline, but the enclosed
area differs little from the general ground-
colour ; there is a pale transverse bent line
beyond the discoidal spots, and another pale
line nearly straight, parallel with the hind
margin : the area enclosed between these two
lines is paler than the rest of the wing, and
has a darker blotch on the costal margin ; the
hind wings are dark orange at the base and
on the hind margin, between which parts
intervenes a broad band of the most intense

black : the head and thorax are of the game
colour as the fore wings ; the body is dark
orange.

The CATERPILLAR rolls in a ring when
touched, feigning death and falling off its food-
plant : it is smooth, cylindrical, gradually
diminishing in size from the twelfth segment
towards the head, which is remarkably small
for the size of the caterpillar : the colour of
the head is shining clay-brown, mottled and
reticulated with darker brown; the body is
clay-brown, mottled, and velvety ; the second
segment has three narrow longitudinal pale
lines ; on each side of each segment there is
an indistinct oblique pale stripe; along the
back is a median series of obscure darker
marks, seated in the interstices of the seg-
ments; the spiracles are pale and each seated
in a dark brown mark ; on the twelfth segment
is a pale and a dark transverse mark; the
belly, legs, and claspers. are paler than the
back. The egg of this beautiful moth is
laid on birch (Betula alba), sallow (Salix
caprea), and several other trees early in the
autumn, and the yo\mg caterpillar remains on
the tree until the approach of winter, when it
descends to the ground and hybernates : in
the spring it ascends the trunk every night as
soon as it is dark, and devours the newly-ex-
panded leaves, then very small, again retiring
to the ground before the approach of daylight.
It is generally full-fed before the middle of
May, when it finally changes to a CHRYSALIS
on the surface of the ground. When full-fed
it is very conspicuous on the almost naked
twigs of the birch, and is readily procured by
collectors who seek it by lamp-light.

The MOTH appears on the wing from June
to September, and occurs not unfrequently
in most of our English, Scotch, and Irish
counties. (The scientific name is Tryphcena
jimbria.)

Obs. — Like the last, this species is remark-
ably rich in colour and attractive in appear-
ance, but differs from that in being subject to
three very marked varieties of colour : those
of the mahogany-brown tint are very un-
common.

340

BRITISH MOTHS.

647. The Least Yellow Underwing (Tryphama

interjecta) .

547. THE LEAST YELLOW UNDERWING. —
The colour of the fore wings is rusty-brown,
sometimes inclining to brick dust-red, and
having a broad but imperfectly defined band
of smoky-brown on the hind margin : this
band is intei-sected throughout by a pale line ;
the discoidal spots are indistinctly outlined in
dark brown, and there are several other short
and narrow transverse darker markings : the
hind wings are yellow in the middle and on
the hind margin ; smoky-black on the costal
margin, and having a broad smoky-black band
before the hind margin ; the inner margin is
clouded with the same smoky-black ; there is
a crescentic discoidal spot of the same black
tint united with the black on the costal mar-
gin ; the head and thorax are of the same
rusty colour as the fore wings ; the body is
gray-brown.

The CATERPILLAR rests in a straight position
on the stems of its food-plant, and when
shaken or annoyed it falls to the ground rolled
in a ring, but very soon resumes the straight
position and crawls with rapidity : the head
is narrower than the second segment, into
•which it is partially received ; it is porrected,
flat, rather glabrous, and not notched on the
crown; the body is obese and rather velvety,
and has the divisions of the segments strongly
marked ; it is somewhat attenuated at the
anterior extremity, and has the twelfth seg-
ment dorsally slightly swollen : the prevailing
colour of both head and body is putty-colour ;
the head has two dark brown marks down the
face, and outside of each of these is a pale
mark ; the body has a narrow rnedio-dorsal
white stripe, bordered on each side by brown
slightly darkc-r than the ground colour ; near

the medio-dorsal on each side is another nar-
row white stripe similarly bordered, and dif-
fering only in being somewhat less distinct ;
on each side in the region of the spiracles, but
just above them, is a broader and triple stripe,
the outer portion on each side being whitish,
the middle reddish ; and this compound stripe
is also bordex-ed with brown, particularly on
its upper margin ; the dorsal area is orna-
mented with a number of intensely black dots;
on the second segment these are very minute
and apparently without much arrangement;
on the third they form a straight transverse
series and are eight in number ; on the fourth
they also form a straight series and are six in
number; on the following segments, the fifth
to the eleventh, both inclusive, they are also
six in number on each segment, but no longer
form a straight series ; two near the anterior
margin of the segment are larger than the
rest, the next on each side stands back about
the middle on the dorsal area of the segment,
and the third on each side is nearer the an-
terior margin ; the twelfth segment has four
of these black dots arranged in a perfect
square ; the ventral is slightly darker than
the dorsal area, and has a double series of
black dots below the compound lateral stripe :
the legs are pale, semitrausparent, and shining;
the claspers are semitransparent, and each has
a distinct black dot and a crescentic black
mark above it : in the interspaces between
the stripes which I have described there is a
further indication of stripes, but these are
very inconspicuous : it feeds on dock, mallow,
grass, &c. &c.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
occurs occasionally in most of our English
counties as far north as Yorkshire, and also
very generally in Ireland ; but I do not re-
collect seeing any Scotch localities re-
corded. (The scientific name is Tryphcena
interjecta.}

Obs. — Like Tryphcena iam.thina,ih\s species
is very uniform in tint and constant in its
markings ; but compared with either ianthina
wfimbria, it is very unattractive in appear-
ance.

NOCTUAS.

341

insect by its narrower wings and the constant
presence of the black mark on the costa.

548. The Lunar Yellow Underwing (Tryphcena
subsequa).

548. THE LUNAR YELLOW UNDERWING. —
The fore wings are narrow, the costal and
inner margins being almost parallel; their
colour is rather various, generally gray-brown;
the discoidal spots are clearly outlined with
pale wainscot-brown; on the costal margin,
towards the tip, is a transverse black spot very
conspicuous; the other markings are incon-
stant: the hind wings are yellow, with a
smoky cloud along the costal margin, and
somewhat radiating from the base; there is a
distinct crescentic discoidal spot, and a waved
black band parallel with the hind margin :
the head, thorax, and body are gray-brown.

The CATERPILLAR is only known to me
through Mr. Stainton's description, which is
as follows: — " Brownish-gray with a slight
greenish tinge ; the second segment dark
brown; dorsal and sub-dorsal lines paler ;
above the latter is a row of quadrangular
blackish spots (Freyer}. On various low
plants." (Stainton's Manual, vol. i. p. 230.)

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, but
is either very rare in this country, or from
its great similarity to Orbona, very seldom
noticed ; it is recorded from Dorsetshire, and
the New Forest in Hampshire, from Suffolk,
Derbyshire, and Nottinghamshire, and I have
taken it at Peckham. (The scientific name
is Tryphcena subsequa.}

Obs. — This species, so frequently spoken of
as doubtfully distinct, is, in my opinion, as
good a species as either of the others, although
its superficial resemblance to Orbona is cer-
tainly very striking : it may he distinguished
on comparison with that much commoner

519. The Lesser Yellow Underwing (Tryphcena
orbona).

549. THE LESSER YELLOW UNDERWING. — -
The fore wings are rather broad, and very
various in tint, varying from pale gray-brown
to dark umber-brown ; some again have a very
uniform colour, while others are a good deal
variegated, and there is a striking variety
with two transverse zigzag lines across the
wings ; the discoidal spots are distinctly out-
lined with pale wainscot-brown, the median
area of each being of a darker shade than the
general area of the wing : the hind wings are
yellow, with a smoky cloud along the costal
margin, a distinct black crescentie discoidal
spot, and a waved black band parallel with the

342

BRITISH MOTHS.

hind margin ; the head, thorax, and body
have the same variation in general tint as the
fore wings.

The EGG is laid in July, on a number of low
plants, on which the young CATERPILLARS feed ;
one of those very commonly selected is the
common chickweed (Alsine media)', they are
hatched in August, and hybernate early : as
soon as the buds of the sallow and whitethorn
open, they ascend the stems and feed on the
young leaves. The caterpillar is full-fed in
May, when it rolls into a compact ring if dis-
turbed. The head when moving is porrected,
and is rather narrower than the body ; the
body is velvety, nearly uniformly cylindrical,
but increasing almost imperceptibly to the
twelfth segment, which is the largest ; the
colour of the head and body is dingy umber-
brown, the head being slightly variegated
with darker shades of the same colour ; the
dorsal region of the body is uniformly brown ;
the anterior segments from the second to the
fifth, both inclusive, are interrupted by a
median very narrow and very indistinct line ;
the eleventh and twelfth segments have each
two very conspicuous velvety dorsal markings
almost black ; on the eleventh segment these
are distant, narrow, longitudinal, and waved;
those on the twelfth segment are decidedly more
approximate, broader, and larger; their figure
is irregular, but their anterior extremity is
pointed, the posterior extremity square; the
spiracles are white, and are situated at the
extreme edge of the brown dorsal area ; below
them is a broad pale wainscot-brown stripe
extending the entire length of the caterpillar,
and this, from the second to the seventh seg-
ment, is tinged along the middle with brick-
red ; the belly is smoky-brown, and the legs
and claspers are of the same colour. It
changes to a smooth brown CHRYSALIS on the
surface of the earth.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
.'is common everywhere. (The scientific name
is Tryphcena orbona.)

Obs. — I am indebted to Mr. Bond for the
variety represented in the third figure, and to
Mr. Wellman for the richly-marked variety
represented in the fourth figure.

550. The Large Yellow Underwmg (Tryphoena
pron \iba) .

550. THE LARGE YELLOW UNDERWING. — In
different specimens the fore wings vary iu
general colour, from pale wainscot-brown to
rich umber-brown, and occur with almost
every intermediate shade ; the discoidal spots
are generally clearly defined, the circumscrip-
tion being paler than the ground-colour ; in
some specimens the orbicular is entirely pale ;
thei-e are many transverse lines, some darker
and some paler; but these are very variable
and inconstant; there is, however, a pale line
parallel with the hind margin, almost invari-
ably present, and adjoining the upper or costal
extremity of this is a double black spot : the
hind wings are orange-yellow without a dis-
coidal spot, but having a narrow waved black
band parallel with the hind margin ; the head
and thorax are of the same colour as the fore
wings; the body paler, and inclining to
reddish-yellow towards the tip : 011 the last
segment but one is a transverse black spot.

NOCTUAS.

343

In a beautiful variety, in which the fore wings
are much variegated, the head and collar are
pale brown.

The EGGS are laid in July on almost every
kind of vegetable or plant grown in gardens,
and the young CATERPILLAR feeds throughout
the autumn, winter, and spring on the stem
or heart — hence the French name of ver du
cceur. It conceals itself almost entirely during
the day beneath the surface of the ground,
emerging at night : I have frequently found it
concealed about the roots of lettuces, and
brought to light when they are pulled up for
the table : when thus exposed it rolls itself in
a very compact ring. The head is glabrous,
and small in comparison with the size of the
body, which is full, obese, and velvety. The
colour of the head is reddish-brown, of the
body very various : it is of all shades,
from pale sickly yellowish-green to a dark
dingy brown : there is generally a narrow
yellowish medio-dorsal stripe, on both sides of
which is a brownish stripe, making the medio-
dorsal more conspicuous ; and below this is a
longitudinal series of seven or eight linear
black or very dark marks, one on each side of
each segment, generally commencing with the
fifth, but sometimes with the sixth segment ;
below these is aiiother pale and yellowish, but
very indistinct stripe, and again below this a
darker stripe also indistinct, and containing
the white spiracles, each surrounded with
black ; the ventral is usually paler than the
Jorsal area ; and the legs and claspers arc
3oncolorous. I have found it full-fed in
March, April, May, and June, when it
changes to a stout, smooth red-brown CHRYSA-
LIS, just below the surface of the earth, in
an oval cell or cavity of its own making.

The MOTit appears on the wing in June,
and is common everywhere. (The scientific
.lame is Tryphcena pronuba.)

Obs. — The beautiful, but not uncommon
variety represented in the lower figure, I have
been used to call Innuba, and it is described
under that name by Stephens, but this seems
to be an error, for Guenee describes that
variety as having the costal margin and collar
concolorous with the upper wings, whereas in

the Innuba of English entomologists these
parts are so much paler as to present a
striking contrast.

551. The Autumnal Kustic (Noctua glareosei).

551. THE AUTUMNAL RUSTIC. — The palpi
are porrected, but not very prominent ; the
antennae are slightly serrated in the male,
simple in the female : the colour of the fore
wings is dove- coloured gray, with three rich
brown markings ; the first double and almost
at the base of the wing, the second precedes
the orbicular spot, and the third precedes
the reniform ; but neither of these discoidal
spots is conspicuous : the three dark mark-
ings approach, but do not touch, the costal
margin : the hind wings are white in the
male, gray in the female ; the head, thorax,
and body are dove-coloured.

The CATERPILLAR is stout and velvety ; the
head is small and glabrous. The colour of
the head is testaceous-brown, with two darker
lines down the face ; that of the body wainscot-
brown, with a narrow medio-dorsal stripe,
slightly paler, and bordered on each side with
a rather darker tint ; there are many black
dots on the dorsal surface, four of these being
ranged in a transverse series on the second,
third, and fourth segments respectively ; on
the fifth and following segments they form a
quadrangle ; in the young caterpillar there is
a lateral stripe of bright yellow, just below
the spiracles, which are black, but this yellow
stripe becomes gradually indistinct as the
caterpillar grows, until when full-fed it has
almost disappeared : the ventral is paler than
the dorsal surface ; the claspers are small and
concolorous. ]t feeds principally on the
common broom (Spartium], but sometimes
eats dock and sorrel (Rumex).
The MOTH appeal's on the wing in September,

344

BRITISH MOTHS.

and occurs in most of our English and Scotch
counties, beginning in Cornwall and Devon-
shire, and extending northwards, even to
Sutherland and Caithness, and Mr. Birchall
says it is widely distributed and common
in Ireland. (The scientific name is Noctua
glareosa.)

552. The Plain Clay (Noctua depuncta).

552. THE PLAIN CLAY. — The palpi are dis-
tant, porrected and spreading ; the antennae
are very slightly incrassated in the male, ex -
tremely slender and thread-like in the female :
the colour of the fore wings is ochreous-gray,
with two dark brown markings, the first
double and near the base of the wing ; the
second triple, its three component parts being
arranged transversely ; the usual discoidal
spots have a very slender pale circumscrip-
tion, but are generally quite distinct, and
between them is a darker shade , beyond the
reniform is a slender double line, then a series
of dots, and then a broader waved line,
parallel with the hind margin : the hind
wings are grayish-brown, paler at the base :
the head, thorax, and body are ochreous-gray.

" The CATERPILLAR is grayish-brown ; the
sub-dorsal line whitish, with a row of black
dots ; the spiracles are white in black rings
(Hub.}. On sorrel and other low plants."
(Staintons Manual, vol. i. p. 234.)

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
may be described as local and rare. Mr. Read-
ing gives Yealmpton, Harford Bridge, Exeter,
and Alphington as western localities ; Mr.
Horton has taken it at Worcester ; it has also
been obtained in the northern English counties,
and in Kirkcudbrightshire in Scotland, but not
hitherto in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Noctua depuncta )

553. The Double Dart (Noctua augur).

553. THE DOUBLE DART. — The palpi are
curved, projecting, and ascending; the antennae
are stout in the male, slender in the female :
the fore wings are gray-brown and very dull ;
the orbicular has the lower border, the reni-
form the interior and exterior borders strongly
outlined with black ; there are two transverse
zigzag black lines, the first befoi-e the orbicu-
lar, the second beyond the reniform : the hind
wings, head, thorax, and body are gray-brown.

The EGG is laid in June, and hatched in June
or July. The CATERPILLAR hy be mates early.
In the spring it again begins to feed on white-
thorn (Cratcegus oxyacantha), sallow (Salix
cajyrea), and other shrubs. When full-fed,
which is usually at the end of May, it rests in
a straight position, but falls off its food-plant
and rolls in a ring when disturbed. The head
is of much less circumference than the body,
semi-porrected, and slightly notched on the
crown : in moving, the head is stretched for-
ward, and moves about in a very leech-like
manner. The body is cylindrical, slightly
attenuated towards the head, and slightly in-
crassated dorsally on the twelfth segment.
The head is very shining, pale pellucid brown,
reticulated and variegated with darker. The
body is excessively smooth, dull purplish-
brown, with several darker markings, more
particularly a narrow waved rich brown stripe
along each side, including the spiracles ; there
is a transverse mark of the same colour, dilated
at each extremity, on the twelfth segment; on
various parts of the back there are also small
round white spots, two on the anterior part
of each segment, beginning with the third,
and two rather less distinct on the posterior
part ; the belly, claspers, and legs are pale

NOCTtTAS.

345

and semi-transparent. It changes to a CHRY-
SALIS on or near the surface of the ground.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
is common in England, Sc tland, and Ireland.
(The scientific name is Noctua augur.)

554. The Flame Shoulder (Noctua plect«).

554. THE FLAME SHOULDER. — The palpi are
porrected and conspicuous, the third joint
small, and received into the second as into a
cup ; the antenna? of the male are delicately
ciliated, those of the female simple : the colour
of the fore wings is vinous-brown, with the
costal margin broadly white from the base to
beyond the reniform spot ; the white colour is
impure ; there is a dash of the same colour at
the base of the inner margin; both the dis-
coidal spots are distinctly outlined in gray, and
both are united with the costal white ; a streak
of purer white extends from the base of the
wing to the oi-bicular, and below this, imme-
diately adjoining it, is a blackish shade: the
hind wings are white ; the head and collar are
pale, the square disk of the thorax is vinous-
brown ; the body pale wainscot-brown.

The EGGS, kindly given me by Mr. Moncreaff,
were laid in a chip box, and were hatched in
June ; and the CATERPILLARS, which fed on
ladies' bed-straw (Galium verimi) and sweet
woodruff" (Asperula odorata), were full-fed on
the 26th of July. The caterpillar rolls itself
in a compact ring when annoyed. The head
is glabrous, very shining, narrower than the
second segment, and especially narrower than
the rest of the body, porrected in crawling,
and not notched on the crown ; the body is
smooth and velvety, gradually but slightly in-
creasing in width from the second to the
eleventh segment, whic-li is wider. The twelfth
is rather abruptly truncate : the colour of the
head is umber-brown, with a pale longitudinal

patch on each cheek; the dorsal surface of the
body is umber-brown; the medio-dorsal stripe
rather darker, narrow, and intersected by a
slender interrupted white line; there is an
upper lateral stripe, darker, half-way between
the medio-dorsal stripe and the spiracles ; this
is also intersected by a slender interrupted
whitish line ; the lower margin of the dorsal
surface is darker; the ventral is paler than the
dorsal area, particularly at the junction of the
two areas, where it may be called a pale
lateral stripe ; all parts of the body are reticu-
lated and dotted with dark brown; the legs,
feet, and claspers are of the same dingy colour
as the body.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
is generally common throughout England,
Scotland, and Ireland. ( The scientific name
is Noctua plecta.)

555. The Blaok Collar (Noctua flammatra) .

555. THE BLACK COLLAR. — The palpi are
porrected, rather connivent towards the tip,
and blunt; the antennae are rather long and
slightly serrated : the fore wings are rather
narrow, the costa very straight, the hind
margin rather rounded, and slightly waved;
their colour is grayish-brown with a somewhat
silky appearance, and having a black linear
mark issuing from the middle of the base, and
extendingrather more thanasixth of thelength
of the wing ; beyond this, and rather higher
on the wing, is a second black mark almost
linear, and yet obscurely and obtusely pyra-
midal in outline; there are other markings on
the f. -re wings both darker and paler than the
groun 1 colour, but these are so obscure — the
specimen being somewhat wasted — that I
cannot describe them with any certainty : the

346

BRITISH MOTHS.

hind wings are slightly pciler, 1><it of the same
prevailing tint as the fore wmgs : the head,
thoi'ax, and body are grayish-brown, with a
tendency to dove-colour ; and there is a most
conspicuous transverse black mark on the front
of the thorax immediately behind the neck : this
very striking mark is convex in front, nearly
straight behind., very pointed at the two ex-
tremities, and divided by a slender median
line.

" The CATERPILLAR is unknown except
through Treitschke's very unsatisfactory de-
scription."— Guenee.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
is only known as British through the capture
of a single specimen by Mr. Bond in the Isle
of Wight. With his usual kindness, Mr.
Bond has lent me this specimen for figuring
and describing in this work. (The scientific
name is Noctua flammatra.)

556. The Setaceous Hebrew Character (Noctua,
C-nigrum) .

556. TH K SETACEOUS HE BREW CHARACTER. —
The pal[)i are porrected and prominent ; the
antennae are simple : the colour of the fore
wings is a rich bistre-brown, the orbicular spot
large, conspicuous, whitish, and obscurely tri-
angular, the base or broadest side of the triangle
being towards the costal margin ; the reniform
is less in size and less distinct; it is of the
usual form ; on the costa, near the tip, is a
blackish spot, and the tip itself is rather gray :
the hind wings are pale gray-brown : the head
and thorax are dark brown, the body pale
brown.

The CATERPILLAR is greenish-gray, with a
yellowish dorsal stripe, pale green sub-dorsal
stripe, and white spiracular stripe, the space
oetween the two last stripes being dark green

(Hubner). On various low plants. (Stainton's
Manual, vol. i. p. 234.)

This species is double-brooded, the MOTHS of
the first brood appearing on the wing in May
and June, and those of the second brood in
August and September. It is generally dis-
tributed in England, Ireland, and Scotland.
(The scientific name is Noctua, C-nigrum.)

557. The Triple-Spotted Clay (Noctua ditrapexium).

557. THE TRIPLE-SPOTTED CLAY. — The
antennae are simple in both sexes : the fore
wings are rather narrow ; their colour is rich
umber-brown, tinged with red; a very dark
shade extends from the base to beyond the
reniform, ascending to the sub-costal ray on
both sides of the orbicular ; there is a distinct
dark brown, almost black, spot seated on the
costa, near the tip of the wing : the hind
wings and body are gray-brown tinged with
saffron reflections ; the head and thorax are
darker.

The CATERPILLAR is grayish-ochreous, with
a slight reddish tinge, with darker marks
along the back, most conspicuous on the
eleventh and twelfth segments. (Hubner.)
On various low plants. (Staintoris Manual,
vol. i. p. 235.)

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
has been taken in Cornwall ; in Devonshire,
between Plymbridge and Bickleigh, at Barn-
staple, Devonport, Torquay, and Lee Moor ;
in Dorsetshire; in Hampshire, in the New
Forest; in the Isle of Wight, Sussex, and at
Birch Wood, in Kent, but I think not in
Scotland : Mr. Birchall informs us he took a
pair at sugar, near Galway, in July, 1857.
(The scientific name is Noctua ditrapezium.)

NOCTUAS.

347

558. The Double-Spotted Square. Spot (Noctva.
triangulum).

558. THE DOUBLE-SPOTTED SQUARE-SPOT. —
The palpi are porrected, the scales of the
second joint projecting beyond the first,
which is small and short ; the antennae are
simple : the colour of the fore wings is
grayish-brown, with several dark and well-
defined markings; there is a short transverse
line at the base, with a dark spot at its lower
extremity ; the orbicular and renitbrm are
outlined with pale gray, but have lost their
characteristic form ; the orbicular is pale, and
ascends to the costal margin, and, except on
the margin, is surrounded with dark brown,
which forms a square spot between the orbi-
cular and reniform ; there is a very strongly
pronounced dark brown spot on the costa near
the tip of the wing : the hind wings, head,
thorax, and body are gray-brown.

The CATERPILLAR rolls in a ring when
annoyed; the head is narrower than the
second segment, into which it is partially
received ; the body is attenuated anteriorly ;
the twelfth segment is slightly elevated, the
thirteenth rounded, the anal claspers extended
beyond it ; the colour of the head and body
is pale dingy -brown, delicately reticulated
with black ; there are two dorsal series of
oblique oblong markings, commencing on the
fifth segment and extending to the twelfth ;
those on the twelfth segment are almost
united posteriorly ; the others are perfectly
distinct ; each marking is accompanied and
almost surrounded by a paler area , there is
also a thread-like medio-dorsal paler stripe ;
on each segment is a transverse series of black
dots, and the spiracles are of a deeper black ;
the legs and claspers are concolorous with the
body. Early in May the caterpillars bury

themselves in the ground, and there turn to

CHRYSALIDS.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
has been taken freely in most of our English
counties, from Cornwall to York ; Mr. Douglas
Robinson reports it from Kirkcudbrightshire,
and Mr. Birchall says it is common in most
localities in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Noctua triangulum.)

559. The Square-Spotted Clay (Noctua rhomboidea).

559. THE SQUARE-SPOTTED CLAY. — The
palpi are porrected, the second joint being
rather long and rather slender ; the antennae
are 'simple : tho colour of the fore wings is
very dark brown, all the markings being
obscure from their general similarity to the
ground- colour; the orbicular and reniform are
delicately outlined with ochreous gray ; the
space before and beyond the orbicular is in-
tensely dark; there is an obscure darker band
parallel with the hind margin, the outer
boundary of which is waved and delicately
outlined with ochreous gray : the hind wings
are gray-brown with a slight gloss; the head
and thorax are dark brown ; the body gray-
brown.

The EGG is laid on chickweed (Stellaria
media) and other low plants, at the roots of
which tne CATERPILLAR hybernates when
small ; in the spring it feeds on chickweed,
dock, &c., but also ascends sallows (Salix,
caprea), and feeds on the young leave* ; it is
very generally full-fed about the end of May
or beginning of June : the head is almost
prone, rather small, generally half-concealed
in the second segment ; the body is smooth,
velvety, almost unifoimly cylindrical, but
having the second, third, and fourth segments
more slender than those which follow ; the

348

BRITISH MOTHS.

crown of the head is brown and shining ; the
body has the dorsal area as far as the spiracles
brown, but the tint of the brown is different
in different individuals, approaching some-
times to sepia, sometimes to sienna-brown :
this brown area is divided by three equidistant
narrow stripes, of a pale greenish hue, and
these three equidistant narrow stripes are
connected on the twelfth segment by a trans-
verse bar of the same colour ; the back has
several black markings, almost taking the
character of dots; the belly below the spiracles
is pale olive-green.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
seems to be confined to the Southern counties
of England, as Darent Wood in Kent, West
Wickham in Surrey, Essex, Hertfordshire,
Isle of Wight, Berkshire, and Oxfordshire.
(The scientific name is (Noctuarhomboidea.)

560. The Purple Clay (Noctua brunnea).

560. THE PURPLE CLAY. — The palpi are
porrected, pointed, distant, and of a rich red-
brown colour ; the antennae are simple ; the
colour of the fore wings is richly marbled with
several shades of brown ; the reniform is
ocbreous-white, and very conspicuous : the
orbicular is purplish-gray, subtriangular, and
very indistinct ; there is an indication of two
transverse bands, rather darker than the
ground colour ; the first is between the dis-
coidal spots, the second beyond the reniform ;
both these are rather dark towards the costal
but very faint towards the inner margin ;
there are several ochreous spots on the costa:
the hind wings are dull gray-brown, a cres-
centic discoidal spot, the wing-rays, and the
extreme hind margin being darker, and the
fringe testaceous-brown ; the head and thorax
are rich dark brown ; the body is dingy brov^u,
its extremity tufted and testaceous-brown.

The CATERPILLAR feeds on sallow, and is full-
fed at the end of April. It rolls in a com-
pact ring when annoyed. The head is very
much narrower than the body ; the body is
velvety, attenuated anteriorly ; the twelfth
segment is very stout; the thirteenth rounded;
the colour of the head is pale brown, shining,
with a dark longitudinal line on each side the
commissure ; the body is dingy olive-brown,
with two transversely placed, and somewhat
triangular, marks on the back of the eleventh
and twelfth segments, the apex of the
triangles pointing forwards, and much atte-
nuated ; there is a darker stripe along each
side, enclosing the white spiracles, and behind
each spiracle is a black spot ; each segment
has a transverse series of minute black dots ;
the legs and claspers are concolorous ; it
changes to a glabrous brown CHRYSALIS be-
neath the surface of the ground, and enclosed
in a very slight web.

The MOTH appears on the wing the first
week in July, and occurs throughout England,
Scotland, and Ireland. (The scientific name
is Noctua brunnea.)

";'|J': t, j ;
561. The Ingrailcd Clay (Noctua festiva).

561. THE INGRAILKD CLAY.— The palpi are
rather long and distant, the terminal joint long
and slender, but rarely exceeding the scales oi
the second in length ; the antennae are simple :

NOCTUAS.

349

the fore wings are rather squarely pointed at
tne tip, their colour is obscure ochreous-gray,
clouded with various shades of brown ; the
orbicular is gray, the reniform only outlined
with gray, and its median area of the same
colour as the general area of the wing ; adjoin-
ing the orbicular is a dark brown triangular
spot, the apex of which points to the base of
the wing, and between the two discoidal spots
is a dark brown square spot ; on the extreme
hind margin is a series of minute black spots,
each situated at the extremity of a wing-ray :
the hind wings are gray-brown, with a darker
crescentic discoidal spot and a pale testaceous
fringe : the head and collar are pale wainscot-
brown, the thorax testaceous-brown ; the body
gray at the base, gray-brown in the middle,
and bright testaceous-brown at the extremity.
The CATERPILLAR rolls in a lax ring if an-
noyed, the head being brought into contact
with the ventralclaspers : the head is glabrous,
of about the same width as the second seg-
ment, and prone, the cheeks rounded, and
there is scarcely any notch on the crown ; the
body is uniformly cylindrical, smooth, and vel-
vety ; the colour of the head is pale ferrugi-
nous, reticulated with darker brown, and hav-
ing black ocelli and several other black dots;
the colour of the body is dull ferruginous,
reticulated and dotted with darker brown ; ail
the markings are very minute ; there is a very
narrow medio-dorsal thread-like stripe extend-
ing from behind the head to the anal extremity,
a transverse line on the twelfth, and another
on the thirtaenth segment ; the anterior por-
tion of these is dark brown, the posterior por-
tion nearly white ; on each side of the niedio-
dorsal stripe is a series of whitish spots ; the
spiracles are nearly white, with a small black
blotch behind each ; the ventral sm-face, ex-
tending to the spiracles, is paler than the
dorsal surface, and there is an appearance of a
still paler lateral stripe, which partially in-
cludes the spiracles, but is chiefly below them;
the legs and claspers are very pale. It feeds
on sallow, and my specimens were full-fed on
the 6th of May, and retired beneath the sur-
face of the earth to undergo pupation.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and

is common in England, Scotland, and Ireland.
(The scientific name is Noctua j 'estiva.)

Obs. — This MOTH is exceedingly variable.
Through the kindness of friends I have at
times possessed hundreds of specimens, of
which I can truly say that no two were exactly
j-like. The figures represent some of the more
common varieties.

562. The Lessor Ingrailed (Noct-ua conflua).

562. THE LESSER ING RAILED. — The palpi are
rather long and distant; the terminal joint is
long and slender, but rarely exceeding the
scales of the second in length; the antennae
are simple : the fore wings are rather squarely
pointed at the tip ; their colour is dingy gray,
with scarcely any tint of ochreous, but clouted
with various tints of gray and brown ; the
orbicular is gray, the reniform only outlined
with gray ; between these two discoidal spots
is a very dark square spot or space ; and on
the extreme hind margin is a series of small
linear black marks ; the hind wings are gray-
brown, much darker towards! the margin, and
having a crescentic discoidal spot and a pale
fringe of a testaceous-red colour : the head,
thorax, and body are dingy brown, the last
paler at the base and tip.

The EGGS are laid in July on various low
plants. The CATERPILLAR is polyphagous, but
prefers the leaves of the moss campion (ISilene

?50

BRITISH MOTHS.

acaidis). The head is small and almost spheri-
cal ; the body rather obese, smooth, and hav-
;ng the twelfth segment slightly tumid dor-
jally. The colour of the head is pale brown,
rhe face having two conspicuous cresceutic
':>lack markings placed back to back, that is,
with the convexity of each towards the median
suture : the colour of the dorsal area of the
body is greenish-yellow, delicately striated
with brown. Like the caterpillars of many
other true Noctuce, it is marked from the fourth
segment to the tenth, both inclusive, with a
sub-dorsal atripe surmonted on each segment
with a wedge-shaped black spot, the apex of
which points towards the head of the cater-
pillar ; the medio-dorsal stripe is straight,
nearly white, and delicately bordered on each
side with brown : it is scarcely perceptible on
the middle segments. The spiracular stripe is
indicated by a series of straight brown mark-
ings : the spiracles are oval, black, and encir-
cled with white : the ventral is paler than the
dorsal area, and has no markings : the feet are
testaceous, the extremities black : the claspers
are concolorous with the ventral area, except
at the extremities, which are brown. In the
autumn this caterpillar hybernates towardsthe
roots of herbage, feeding again in May for a
short time; when full-fed it again descends
towards theground,and, secreting itself among
fragments of its food-plant, spins a cocoon of
these materials, mixed with particles of earth:
in this it almost immediately changes to a
CHRYSALIS, which is of moderate length and
ordinary form, and rather glabrous brown,
with a black tip to the body, which is fur-
nished with four straight, but rather spreading,
spine-like bristles : of these the outer one ou
each side is only half the length of the other.
The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
is abundant on the heaths or mosses near Dar-
lington, as also in similar localities in Perth-
shire, and Mr. C. Buxton has taken it in the
north of Scotland, but it is evidently very
local. (The scientific name is Noctua confaia.)
Obs. 1. — This pretty little species strikes me
as very like Festiva in miniature, but our best
continentallepidopterists have not noticed this
similarity. I am indebted to Mr. Backhoxiae,

of Wolsingham, for my own series, and for
a hundred specimens for distribution, none of
them exceeding in size the three which I have
figured. The total difference of the two cater-
pillars proves the two species to be perfectly
distinct.

Obs. 2. — I am indebted to M. Milliere's beau-
tiful work fur a description of the caterpillar
and chrysalis.

563. The Barred Chestnut (Nectua Dalilii) .

563. THE BARRED CHESTNUT. — The palpi
are porrected and rather long ; the second
joint has very long scales, particularly on the
under side, and these project as far as the
naked apical joint; the antennae are slightly
ciliated in the male, simple in the female :
the costal margin of the fore wings is arched,
their colour is dull chestnut-brown, lined and
clouted with darker brown; the discoidal
spots are scarcely distinguishable from the
ground colour, but are always traceable ; there
is always a small oblique black spot below
the orbicular; a median shade crosses the
wing between the discoidal spots, but this is
neither very conspicuous nor very constant :
the hind wings are gray -brown, paler at the
base; the fringe is pale, and inclining to rosy.
The CATERPILLAR is reddish mixed with
gray, with paler dorsal and subdorsal lines ;
above the latter is a row of black dots in
white rings (Hubner). On various low plants.
(Staintoris Manual, vol. i, p. 236.)

The MOTH appears on the wing in July and
August. It has been taken both in the north
and south of England ; Mr. Reading reports it
from various localities in Devonshire, as
Plymbridge, Shaugh Woods, Radford Wood,
Torquay, Exeter, and Stoke Wood ; he says
it frequents open places in woods, where at
dusk it is easily captured on the wing ; it also

NOCTUAS.

351

occurs in the New Forest in Hampshire, in
the Isle of Wight, in Sussex, Kent, Surrey,
Derbyshire, Lancashire, and Yorkshire ; also
at Howth and Killarney, in Ireland. (The
•cientific name is Noctua DaJdii.}

564. The Rosy Marsh (Noctua subrosea).

564. THE KOSY MAKSH.— The palpi are
porrected and rather long ; the antennae are
strongly pectinated in the male, simple in the
female : the fore wings are slightly arched on
the costal margin ; their colour is gray with a
tint of red, and very glossy ; Loth the discoidal
spots are paler, and the space between them
darker than the general area ; there are also
a darker cloud before the orbicular, a zigzag
line beyond this, and a narrow bar again
beyond this ; there are three black spots on
the costa ; that nearest the tip commences the
dark bar : the hind wings are whitish wains-
cot brown, with a strongly marked discoidal
spot, a transverse bar near the hind margin,
and the wing-rays darker : the head and
thorax are of the same colour as the fore
wings, the body the same colour as the hind
wings.

The CATERPILLAR is very beautiful, of a
bright reddish-gray colour, lined and marbled
with brown, and having broad medio-dorsal
and sub-dorsal stripes, clearly denned, con-
tinuous and straight, of a citron-yellow
bordered with brown; there is another very
broad stripe in the neighbourhood of the
spiracles of a sulphur-yellow, and this pre-
cedes a ventral band of dark brown; the
spiracles are brown ; the head has two brown
lines : it feeds on the sweet gale (Myrica, yale),
in May and June.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
has occurred in Huntingdonshire and Cam-
bridgeshire. It has not been taken in Britain

for many years. (The scientific name is
Noctua subrosea.)

Obs. — I am indebted to Guenee's work for a
description of the caterpillar, for although my
kind friend Mr. Doubleday once possessed
the caterpillars in abundance. I did not avail
myself of the opportunity of describing them.

565. The Small Sqnare-Spot (Noctua Rubi).

565. THE SMALL SQUARE-SPOT. — The palpi
are porrected and scaly ; the antennae nearly
simple in the male, quite so in the female :
the costal margin of the fore wings is nearly
straight : their colour is reddish-brown, with
several transverse darker lines ; the discoidal
spots are distinct! T outlined in gray, the reni-
form being particu larly conspicuous; there is
a distinct black spot below the orbicular, and
a dark cloxid between the discoidal spots ;
beyond the reniform, and parallel with the
hind margin, are two distinct transverse lines,
the outer portion of each being dark, the inner
portion pale : the hind wings are pale gray-
brown, tinged with reddish, and having a
pale reddish fringe ; the discoidal spot is
darker : the head, thorax, and body are red-
dish-brown.

"The CATERPILLAR is greenish-gray, with
darker-edged white dorsal line ; spiracular
line pale greenish-ocbreous, edged above with
darker, with faint indication of lateral
oblique stripes along the sub-dorsal line. On
various low plants." (Staintoris Manual,
vol. i. p. 236.)

This species is regularly double-brooded, the
MOTH appearing on the wing in May and
August : it is generally distributed over
England; it has been taken in Scotland ; and
Mr. Birchall says it is common at Howth, in
Ireland. (The scientific name is
Rubi.}

352

BRITISH MOTHS.

566. The Six-Striped Rustic (Noctua umbrosa).

566. THE SIX-STRIPED KUSTIC. — The palpi
are porrected, the second joint sqxiare at the
tip, and the small naked apical joint standing
out distinct ; the antennae are slightly serrated
in the male ; the colour of the fore wings is
reddish-gray, with three dark transverse lines,
the first is very short and close to the base of
the wing ; the second is zigzag, and precedes
the orbicular; the third is beyond the reni-
form ; both discoidal spots are clearly defined
in outline, but their median area is concolovous
with the rest of the wing ; a dark shade
crosses the wing between the orbicular and
reniform, and another beyond the third line
and parallel with the hind margin : the hind
wings are gray-brown, the fringe paler, and
tinged with red : the head and thorax are
reddish-gray ; the body paler.

The CATERPILLAR is very imperfectly known,
as Guenee well observes ; it is said to feed on
grass ; but Guene"e thinks it probable that col-
lectors have confounded it with that of Noctua
xanthographa. Mr. Stainton, on the authority
of Treitschke, says it is whitish-gray, with
black sub-dorsal lines.

The MOTH appears on the wing in August, and
has been taken in most of our English coun-
ties, and also in Scotland, and Mr. Birchall
says it is common in most places in Ireland.
(The scientific name is Noctua umbrosa.)

567. The Dotted Clay (Noctua ba/ja).

567. THE DOTTED CLAY. — The palpi are
porreeted, the summit of the second joint cut

off obliquely, and its scales extending beyond
the third, which is small and naked, the basal
portion of the palpi, extending almost to the
tip of the second joint, is rich umber-brown,
but the tip of that joint, as well as the whole
of the apical joint, is pale brown; the antennae
are very slightly serrated in the male, simple
in the female: the colour of the fore wings is
reddish-brown ; the orbicular is outlined in
gray, its median area being concolorous with
the ground colour ; the reniform is also out-
lined in gray, but its median area is not
entirely of the ground colour, the lower half
being dark gray-brown ; there is a transverse
median shade passing between the discoidal
spots, and a transversely elongate dark brown
spot on the costa near the tip ; these are the
more obvious markings : the hind wings are
reddish-brown, inclining to gray on the di.sk,
and to gray-brown on the hind margin ; the
fringe is pale testaceous-brown ; the head is
pale gray-brown ; the front of the thorax
testaceous-brown, its disk darker brown ; the
body is ferruginous-brown, reddish towards
the extremity.

The CATERPILLAR isyellow-ochreous, marbled
with brownish, with yellowish dorsal line
edged with black : yellowish sub-dorsal line,
from which, on the fifth to the twelfth seg-
ment, an oblique yellow streak proceeds to the
middle of the back (Hubner). On various
low plants. (Stainton's Manual, vol. i.
p 237.)

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
is generally common in England, Scotland,
and Ireland. (The scientific name is Noctua
baja.)

568. The Cousin. German (Noctua sobrina).

568. THE COUSIN-GERMAN. — The palpi are
but slightly porrected ; the terminal joint
is naked and pointed ; the antenna) are very

NOCTUAS.

slightly serrated in the male, quite simple in
the female : the colour of the fore wings is
grayish-brown, with a tinge of purple ; the
orbicular is outlined with pale gray, it is
rather oblique and somewhat reniform ; the
I eniform is very indistinct ; there is a short
and incomplete transverse line near the base,
a complete line before the orbicular, a trans-
verse shade before the reniform, a transverse
zigzag dark line beyond the reniform, and a
pale gray transverse line parallel with the
hind margin : the hind wings are gray-brown,
paler at the base, and exhibiting a trace of
the crescentic discoidal spot : the head,
thorax, and body are purplish-brown.

The CATERPILLAR, according to Guenee, a
good deal resembles those of Cerastis Vacc'mii
and C, erythrocephala ; it is of a violet or
vinous-gray colour, delicately marbled with
yellowish white, and having the medio-dorsal
and sub-dorsal stripes very conspicuous, but
broken up into spots of a dull ochreous-yellow
colour ; there is a side stripe in the region of
the spiracles, rather paler than the ground
colour, this is abruptly bounded on its upper
border, but on its lower border is fused with
the colour of the ventral area ; above this are
the spiracles, each situated in a very conspicu-
ous black dot : the head and legs are concolor-
ous ; the caterpillar, in its younger stages,
very much resembles that of Xoctua baja; it is
of a dark blackish-brown colour, and is marked
at each division of the segment with a white
spot : its food-plant is entirely unknown.

_The MOTH has been taken in July at
Rannoch, in Perthshire, but I know of no
other British locality. (The scientific name
is Noctua sobrina.)

Obs. With regard to this and other rarities,
the attempt to collect them all with one's own
hand is quite hopeless : a perfect collection
can only be obtained by an extensive corre-
spondence with those of similar pursuits ; and
this can only be attained through the medium
of the Entomologist, where long lists of dupli-
cates are published every month for exchange
or gratuitous distribution. The Entomologist
is published by Messrs. Simpkin, Mai-shall,
<fr Co., at sixpence.

569. The Gray Rustic (Noctua neglecta).

569. THE GRAY RUSTIC. — The palpi are

porrected, the second joint obliquely truncate,

the terminal joint small and naked, and not

extending so far as the scales of the second ;

the antemue are very slightly serrated in the

male, quite simple in the female : the colour

of the fore wings varies from ochreous-gray to

brickdust-red ; the circumscription of the dis-

coidal spots is most delicately outlined with

testaceous brown ; the median area of the

orbicular is concolorous with the general area

of the wing, but in the reniform it is smoky

at the lower extremity ; the other markings

are extremely indistinct : the hind wings are

gray-brown, pale at the base, and having a

paler fringe inclining to red ; the head and

thorax are of the same colour as the fore

wings, the body of the same colour as the

hind wings.

The CATERPILLAR rolls in a ring and falls
off its food-plant, feigning death, when dis-
turbed. 1 1 crawls very actively, often moving
the anterior part of the body in the manner
of a leech. The head is rather small, and
shining ; the body uniformly cylindrical, and
velvety. The colour, inchiding the head, is
uniform dull brown or uniform pale green, in
both instances having a very slender and very
obscure pale medio-dorsal stripe, and a very
distinct broader white stripe on each side
immediately below the spiracles. The dorsal
region is thickly dotted or reticulated with a
darker colour. It feeds in. the night-time on
the common ling (Calluna vulgaris), and
is full fed at the end of May; it then

23

354

BRITISH MOTHS.

enters the earth to undergo its change to a

CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH appears on the wing in August,
always frequenting heaths. In such situations
it is common in Cornwall and Devonshire, in
which county Mr. Reading gives Ivybridge,
Ugborough Beacon, Shaugh Downs, St. Clear
Downs, Whitsand Heights, Torquay, and
Exeter, as localities ; Somerset, Wilts, Dorset,
Hampshire (in the New Forest), Sussex,
Kent, and Surrey, at West Wickham ; and
is also reported from two northern counties,
Lancashire and Yorkshire ; it is common at
Rannoch, in Scotland; and Mr. Birchall
found it at Galway. (The scientific name is
Noctua neglecta.^

670. The Square-spot Rustic (Noctua mnthographa) .

§70. THE SQUARE-SPOT RUSTIC. — The palpi
are porrected, the apical joint naked and dis-
tinct ; the antennae are slightly serrated in
the male, quite simple in the female ; the fore
wings are short, the hind margin unusually
rounded ; their colour is gray-brown, tinged
either with ochreous-brown, brickdust-red, or
umber-brown ; the discoidal spots are generally
very distinct and decidedly paler, being of an
ochreous-gray tint ; in some their median
area is exactly concolorous with the general
area of the wing : the hind wings are pale
gray-brown, with a dark brown hind-marginal
band ; the fringe is paler ; the head and
thorax are of the same colour as the fore
wings, the base of the body is pale gray-
brown, but beyond the middle it is darker
brown.

The EGGS are laid in August and September,
on various species of grass, which constitute
the food of the CATERPILLAR ; it retires to
wards the roots when very small, secreting
itself under any covering that will protect it
from the weather : at this season, and again

in the spring, after it has recommenced feed-
ing, it is very fond of hiding on the under
surface of stones, if such occur near its dwel-
ling-place. The full-fed caterpillar drops from
its food-plant when annoyed, and rolls itself
into a very tight and compact ring, but
quickly unrolls when the danger is passed, and
crawls with considerable activity. The head
is manifestly narrower than the second seg-
ment ; the body is obese, almost uniformly
cylindrical, but still increasing very gradually
from the second to the twelfth segment ; the
colour of the head is pale semi-transparent
brown, very glabrous, with two slightly
curved longitudinal dai'k stripes on the face,
and the cheeks are slightly reticulated with
the same colour ; the body is pale velvety-
brown, with a narrow medio-dorsal stripe still
paler, and margined on each side with black,
which shades off externally into the pale-
brown ground-colour ; this black, however,
consists of innumerable minute specks, which
are crowded when in close proximity to the
pale medio-dorsal stripe, b\it become scattered
as they recede from it ; just above the spira-
cles is a rather broad lateral stripe, somewhat
darker than the ground-colour, and having a
dark but ill-defined upper margin, and a uni-
colorous and clearly defined lower margin ;
exactly intermediate between the medio-
dorsal stripe and this lateral stripe, is a parti-
coloured stripe, scarcely so wide as the latter ;
it is divided longitudinally into two equal
parts, the upper part very dark brown, almost
black, and somewhat interrupted at the inter-
stices of the segments (thus forming a series
of eleven elongate blotches), the lower part
pale, and throwing the series of blotches into
bold relief; three pale stripes are also to be
traced on the second segment ; the legs,
claspers, and belly are pale, and have a semi-
transparent appearance. It enters the ground
in May, but never changes to a CHRYSALIS I
until the middle of July, and sometimes not
before August. The chrysalis is shining and
brown : that state generally lasts about three
weeks.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July and
August, and is equally abundant in England,

NOCTUAS.

355

bcotiand, and Ireland. (The scientific name
is Noctua xanthograp/M.)

Obs. This moth is sometimes a perfect
nuisance to the collector who adopts the
sugaring mode of capture. Guenee observes
that a great number of individuals die in the
chrysalis state, — a conclusion at which he
arrives from the fact that in France the
caterpillars are much more abundant than the
moth. Mr. Doubleday informs me he thinks
this is also the case in England.

571. The Pine Bcaut-y (Trachea piniperda).

571. THE PINE BEAUTY. — The palpi are
small, shoi-t and inconspicuous ; they are
clothed with longisli scales, which conceal
their form : the antennae of the male are ser-
rated, the teeth being very short ; those of
the female are simple ; the head is very small
and almost hidden by the clothing of the
thorax : the fore wings are rather long and
narrow, and of a bright reddish-brown colour,
mixed with orange ; the orbicular is small,
the reniform large and oblique ; both are out-
lined in white, and both are cut off at the
lower extremity by a white wing-ray, which
emits a branch below the orbicular ; the hind
marginal area is occupied by a broad band of
ochreous-yellow, which contains eight oblong
and closely approximate red spots : the hind
wings are gray-brown, the inner margin paler ;
the fringe is yellowish-red : the head is yel-
lowish, the thorax gaily ornamented with
red, orange, and white ; the body is brown
at the base, reddish towards the tip.

The CATERPILLAR rests in a straight position
on the twigs of fir-trees, but when knocked
off" rolls in a compact ring ; the head is i-ather
narrower than the second segment ; the body
is obese, but decidedly tapering to the anal
extremity : the colour of the head is pale
wainscot-brown, of the body clear pale brown,

or dark olive-green, or rich oil-green, varying
in different specimens, and has five longitudi-
nal white stripes, one of which is medio-dorsal ;
the next is lateral, and accompanied, or rather
bordered, on each side by a very delicate jet-
black line ; the next is in the region of the
| spiracles, and is accompanied by a bright
I orange stripe ; the ventral is rather paler than
the dorsal area, and the claspers are con-
colorous ; on all parts of the body are scat-
tered black dots, but I find no order in their
arrangement ; the legs, like the head, are
wainscot- brown. It feeds on the needles of
the Scotch fir, beginning at the tip and eating
slowly and systematically to the base ; it is
full fed during the first or second week in
July, when it forms a very flimsy cocoon in
the crevices of the bark, and therein turns to
a slender and sharp -tailed reddish CHRYSALIS.
The MOTH appears in April, when it may be
found ju>t emerged from the chrysalis case
and sticking close to the back of the fir, with
which, although so variegated, it strikingly
assimilates in coloui-. It is found only in pine
plantations, but is generally present both in
England and Scotland where these occur : it
has not been observed in Ireland. (The
scientific name is Trachea piniperda.)

Obs. M. Guenee describes the chrysalis as
enterres, and I have no doubt this is correct
as a rule, but it is contrary to my very
limited experience.

572. The Mountain Rustic (Pachnobia comica).

572. THE MOUNTAIN RUSTIC. — The palpi
are short and porrected, the second joint
rather slender, the apical joint distinct and
naked ; the antennae are serrated in the male,
the serratures being short and inconspicuous,
simple in the female ; the fore wings are
rather pointed at the tip ; their colour is
dingy gray, the exterior portion of the wing

356

BRITISH MOTHS.

beiag more inclined to brown ; the orbicular
spot is very indistinctly defined, and unites
with a costal blotch similar in its gray tint ;
the reniform is distinct, its outline well de-
fined and pale, its median area rather dark
brown ; the space between the discoidal spots
is dark brown, and between the orbicular and
the base of the wing there is a conspicuous
brown mark, which encloses a square pale
costal spot ; there is a dark but vague spot
near the base of the wing, an angled line be-
tween the orbicular and the inner margin,
and a zigzag line beyond the reniform ; the
hind-marginal area is pale, interrupted by a
series of six or seven dark oblong spots ; on
the hind margin itself is a series of linear
black spots : the hind wings are grayish-
brown, paler at the base, and having a hind-
marginal series of dark linear spots ; the head,
thorax, and body are gray-brown.

The MOTH appears on the wing in August.
Mr. Douglas took a single specimen on Cairn
Gower, in Perthshire, and the late James
Foxcroft a second, also in Scotland ; the
latter is in the rich cabinet of Mr. Bond, and
has been most kindly lent me to describe and
figure in this work. (The scientific name is
Pachnobia carnica.)

573. The Hebrew Character (Tazniocampa gothica).

573. THE HEBREW CHARACTER. — The palpi
are small, slightly porrected, and very in-
conspicuous ; the second joint is slender, and
•?ery dark brown below; the third short,
slender, and very pale ; the antennae are
pectinated in the male, simple in the female :
the colour of the fore wings is purple-brown,
more or less tinged with gray ; the scales
seem to stand erect ; the orbicular spot is in-
complete at the k>p, and the reniform at the

bottom ; both are circumscribed, where com-
plete, with a slender pale line, and the in-
closed area is gray ; the space between the
discoidal spots, and around the orbicular, ex-
cept on its upper side, is dark brown ; half
way between the reniform and the inner
margin is a short, dark line ; near the base of
the wing, and extending half-way across it, is
a narrow transverse line, and thei'e are three
other narro -v transverse lines, the first nearly
direct, and situated before the orbicular ; the
second much curved, and situated beyond the
reniform ; and the third oblique, and parallel
with the hind margin : just within this last
is a transverse pale cloud, in general very
conspicuous, but not reaching either the
costal or inner margin: the hind wings are
brownish-gray, with a slight indication of a
crescentic discoidal spot ; their fringe is pale
and tinged with pink : the head, thorax, and
body are gray-brown, often inclining to red,
the scales are long, giving the thorax and
body a woolly appearance.

The EGG is laid in the spring, and the
CATKRPILLAR feeds on sallow (Salix caprea),
white- thorn (Cratcegus <jxyactmtha)yQ$k. (Quer-
cus -Kobur), and many other trees and shrubs.
Mr. Doubleday has observed it feeding on
laurel in his own garden. When full-fed,
which is usually in June, it falls off the food-
plant if annoyed, and feigns death, rolling itself
into a compact ring, with the head on one side.
The head is glabrous, and narrower than the
body; the body is obese, uniformly cylindrical,
and quite smooth. The colour of the head
is pale transparent apple green, with black
ocelli ; of the body delicate apple-green, with
a borad and very conspicuous stripe on each
side, of a pale glaucous-green, approaching to
white ; this stripe commences immediately
behind the head, and terminates in the anal
claspers ; it passes below the first and ninth
spiracles, but includes all the rest, and is gra-
dually attenuated towards both extremities :
there is a very narrow pale yellow medio-
dorsal stripe ; and exactly intermediate be-
tween this and the broad lateral stripe is
anothervery narrow pale yellow stripe, less con-
tinuous and less distinct; there are numerous

NOCTUAS.

357

minute yellow markings throughout the dorsal
surface, in addition to the three narrow
stripes I have mentioned ; and along the upper
margin of the brown lateral stripe the green
is tinged with smoky-black. The belly, legs,
and claspers are pale semi-transparent green.
It buries itself in the earth, arid changes to a
CHRYSALIS about the middle of June.

The MOTH appears on the wing in March
and April, frequenting the catkins of the
sallow. It is generally distributed through-
out the kingdom. (The scientific name is
Tceniocampa gothica.)

574. The White-marked (Tccniocampa, leucegrapha).

574. THE WHITE-MARKED. —The palpi are
short, and slightly porrected, reddish-brown,
tipped with pale brown ; the antennae are
pectinated in the male, simple in the female ;
the fore wings are brickdust-red, inclining to
gray -brown ; the orbicular spot is pale gray, in
some specimens almost white ; the reniform is
rather darker gray ; two transverse series of
dots, rather darker than the ground colour,
cross the wing, the first befoi'e the orbicular,
the second parallel with the hind margin ;
none of the markings, except the pale dis-
coidal spots, are at all conspicuous : the hind
wings are pale reddish brown, and have a
slightly transparent appearance ; the fringe is
inclined to pink ; the head, thorax, and tip of
the body are brickdust-red ; the base of the
body is gray.

" The CATERPILLAR is at present unknown,
except through a description given by Treit-
schke after Rincken-Sommer, on the fidelity
of which it would not do to place too
much reliance. It is, therefore, much to be
desired that our entomologists residing on the
banks of the Rhine would supply us with
exact figures and descriptions, which would

decide whether I am right or wrong in placing
the species in this genus." — Guenee.

The MOTH appears on the wing in March
and April, frequenting the catkins of the
sallow. It is rare and local, and has been
taken at Lee Moor, Exeter, and Barnstaple,
in Devonshire ; in Somersetshire, by Mr.
Crotch ; in the Isle of Wight, Sussex, Suffolk,
Yorkshire, and the Lake District. I have no
records from Scotland or Ireland. (The scien-
tific name is Tceniocampa leucographa.)

576. The Red Chestnut (Tceniocampa rubricota).

575. THE RED CHESTNUT. — The palpi are
very inconspicuous ; the antennae very slightly
serrated in the male, simple in the female :
the fore wings are brick-red, inclining to
gray-brown ; the discoidal spots are indistinct,
the orbicular pale gray, the reniform outlined
in pale gray, but filled up with gray-brown ;
three transverse pale gray lines cross the wing;
the first, which is interrupted, is before the
orbicular ; the second, which is much bent,
is beyond the reniform ; and the third, which
is broader and more conspicuous than the
other, is parallel with the hind margin ; the
costal margin has several darker as well as
lighter spots, all of them small but distinct :
the hind wings are gray-brown, the costal
margin and fringe paler, and inclining to red :
the head and thorax are red-brown, and
densely clothed with scales ; the body gray-
brown, inclining to red at the tip.

The EGGS are laid about the middle of April,
on dock (Rumex), and are hatched in a few
days : theyoungCATERPiLLARscontinuefeeding
until the first or second week in June. When
full-fed, the caterpillar rests in a straight
position on the leaves or leaf-stalks of the
dock, but rolls itself in a compact ring and

353

BRITISH MOTHS.

falls to the ground when annoyed ; the head
is small but exserted ; it is narrower than the
second segment, but is never received into
it ; the body is velvety and obese ; it is rather
attenuated at the anterior extremity; the
colour of the head prior to the last moult is
dull brown, with a paler reticulated line down
the middle of the face, and another on each
cheek; the body is umber-brown of two
shades, which form bands across the back, the
paler bands being at the interstices of the
segments ; the entire surface is delicately

O *

reticulated ; there is a short white or yellow
linear mark on each side of each segment ;
this is always in the dark bands, and above
each of these marks are two round white dots ;
there is a continuous bright yellow stripe just
below the spiracles, which are black, and
which touch and seem to rest on this yellow
stripe ; the colour of the spiracles is always
black ; the ventral is rather paler than the
dorsal area, and the legs and claspers are of
the same colour. After the last moult con-
siderable change takes place in the colouring ;
the bright yellow stripe in the region of the
spiracles disappears, and its position is only to
be traced by searching with a lens along the
side, when a very indistinct stripe will be
found just below the spiracles, except on the
second segment close to the head, where an
ochreous-yellow line clearly marks the site
where the bright yellow stripe commenced ;
the white or yellow linear spots on each side
of the back remain very distinct ; and in the
space between each of these is a circular white
spot ; immediately above it is of an intensely
dark velvety brown, almost black ; the ground
colour below each linear spot is also very
dark, so that these markings are rendered
very conspicuous ; the dark colour of the back
assumes somewhat the appearance of a series
of inverted pyramids, the apices of which
point towards the anal extremity.

The MOTH appears on the wing in March
and April, frequenting the catkins of the
sallow : it is very generally distributed in
England, and has been taken rather abun-
dantly in Scotland. Mr. Birchall reports it
from the county Wicklow, in Ireland, on the

authority of Mr. Bristow. (The scientific
name is Tceniocampa rubricosa.)

576. The Clouded Drab ( Twniocampa instabilis).

576. THE CLOUDED DRAB. — The palpi are
very inconspicuous ; the antennse slightly
serrated in the male, quite simple in the
female : the wings are very different in colour
and markings, the ground colour varying to
almost every shade of ferruginous brown and
gray-brown, sometimes plain and almost uni-
colorous. at others mottled and marbled ; the
discoidal spots are \isually entire, their cir-
cumscription clearly denned in pale gray,
almost white ; and there is also usually a very
distinct pale line parallel with the hind mar-
gin ; this is slightly irregular, scarcely so
much so as to be called zigzag : the costal
margin is usually paler, and interrupted vritti

NOCTTJAS.

359

darker spots ; and there is generally a median
transverse cloud. Notwithstanding the gene-
ral occurrence of these markings, in some of
my specimens they are scarcely perceptible,
and in others entirely absent : the hind wings
are gray-brown, tlie discoidal spot being dis-
tinctly darker and of a crescentic form ; the
fringe is paler : the head and thorax vary in
colour with the fore wings ; they are densely
clothed with scales ; the body is gray-brown.

The CATERPILLAR rolls in a ring when
touched. The head is green, shining, and
unspotted : the body bright pea-green, with a
•whitish ring immediately behind the head, a
narrow whitish medio-dorsal stripe, another
on each side supra-spiracular; intermediate be-
tween the dorsal and supra-spiracular stripes
is another indistinct stripe, composed of a
series of whitish dots : every part of the
caterpillar is sprinkled with whitish dots,
except the belly, which is sprinkled with
black dots ; the disks of the claspers are also
intensely black ; occasionally black dots of
uniform size, but at irregular distances, appear
on the back and sides. It feeds on sallow
(Salix caprea), oak (Quercus Robur), and also
on dock and many other plants, and is full fed
about the 10th of July : it buries itself in the
earth to assume the CHRYSALIS state.

The MOTH appears on the wing in March
and April, and is plentiful and generally
distributed throughout the kingdom. (The
scientific name is Tceniocampa instabilis.)

677. The Northern Drab (Tceniocampa opima).
577. THE NORTHERN DRAB. —The palpi are
almost hidden; the antennae are slightly

pectinated in the males, simple in the female :
the fore wings are slightly pointed at the tip ;
their colour is various ; there are two principal
varieties, the first, pale gray-brown, with a
median darker shade ; the second, uniform
darker brown, without a median darker shade ;
in both instances the discoidal spots are dis-
tinctly outlined in pale gray, and there are
usually three pale transverse lines ; the first
bent or waved, and situated before the orbi-
cular ; the second, oblique and waved, beyond
the reniform ; and the third more distinct
than the others, oblique and parallel with the
hind margin : the hind wings are gray-brown,
with a paler fringe ; the head and thorax are
plain gray-brown, and densely clothed with
scales ; the body is slightly paler.

The head of the CATERPILLAR is of a brick-
red colour, reticulated with brown ; the
dorsal area of the body is purplish -brown,
reticulated or rather delicately striated with
a paler tint ; there is a very distinct and paler
medio-dorsal stripe, and a lateral stripe also
paler ; the ventral surface, as far as the spira-
cles, is of a bright yellow-green ; the spiracles
are white in black rings ; the legs and
claspers are dingy semi-transparent yellow-
green, slightly tinged at the extremities with
rosy brown : it feeds on sallow (Salix caprea).

The MOTH appears on the wing in March
and April. It is by no means generally dis-
tributed, but has been taken freely in Sussex,
Herefordshire', Radnorshire, on both the
Cheshire and Lancashire sides of the Mersey,
and in the Lake District. (The scientific
name is Tceniocampa opima.)

Obs. There seems to be a constant differ-
ence between this species and the preceding,
in the third pale line being more direct in
Opima than in Instabilis, in which I have
described it as slightly irregular : In other
respects they are very similar; but I have
always observed that Opima is far more
constant in colouring. The two varieties
noticed above are the only ones which are at
all of frequent occurrence.

360

BRITISH MOTHS.

vpv

578. The Lead-colourod Drab (TceniocampaPopuleti).

578. THE LEAD -COLOURED DRAB. — The
palpi are very inconspicuous ; they are pale at
the tips, but nearly black on the outside ; the
antennae of the male are rather strongly pec-
tinated, those of the female quite simple : the
colour of the fore wings is gray-brown, with
a purple or violet tinge, inclining to dove-
colour; the discoidal spots are distinctly out-
lined in pale gray, and the median area of
each is rather darker than the ground colour ;
there is but one manifest transverse line, and
that is parallel with the hind margin, irregu-
lar, interrupted, and slender ; it is preceded
by, and almost united with, a darker line, also
irregular and interrupted : the hind wings are
very dingy gray-brown, the crescentic dia-
coidal spot being scarcely visible ; the fringe
is rather paler : the head and thorax are of
the same colour as the fore wings, the body
slightly redder.

The EGGS are laid in little clusters on the
twigs of poplar and aspen trees, just below
the axils of the leaves, before the leaves have
expanded in the spring ; and the young CATER-
PILLARS emerging in May, or sometimes even at
the end of April, attack the newly-expanded
leaves, spinning two or three together and
living between them : in the young caterpillar
the head is almost black, but when older
becomes of a paler colour, almost buff : the
ground-colour of the dorsal area of the body
is dingy white, as is so commonly the case
with caterpillars that live, during any portion
of their existence, concealed : there is a broad
and very distinct medio-dorsal stripe, almost
white, and a narrower one on each side of it
less distinct : the whule surface of the body is
sparingly clothed with whitish hairs : the
spiracles are encircled by slender waved

whitish lines : during the whole of its cater-
pillar life it continues to feed between united
leaves of various species of poplar, preferring
that known as the black Italian, and may be
found full fed throughout the month of June ;
it then descends to the ground, and penetrates
deeper than the other species of the same
genus : throughout life it is fond of company,
and Mr. Greene found a " nest" of thirteen
chrysalids altogether at the roots of a poplar.

The MOTH appears on the wing in March
and April, and is widely, although perhaps not
generally, distributed. Mr. Reading records
its having been taken at gas-lamps at Wood-
side, Plymouth ; it has also occurred in all the
metropolitan and eastern counties, and again
in Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Warwick-
shire, Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire, the
Lake District, and Yorkshire ; and Mr. Bir-
chall reports it from Wicklow and Killarney,
in Ireland. (The scientific name is Tcenio-
campa Populeti.}

Obs. This species seems to me best dis-
tinguished from the two which precede it by
its more pectinated antennas.

579. The Common Quaker (Tceniocampa stabilis).

579. THECOMMON QUAKER. — The palpi are
i porrected and rather conspicuous, the apical
joint naked ; the antennae are rather strongly
pectinated in the male, slightly serrated in
the female : the colour of the fore wings is
wainscot-brown, inclining to ochreous-red, and
very uniform ; the discoidal spots are near
together, and distinctly but delicately outlined
with pale ochreous, the enclosed area being
concolorous with the general area of the wing ;
there is a distinct and conspicuous pale line
parallel with the hind margin, and the parallel
wing rays which pass through this to the
hind margin are pale ; there are also three
transverse series of black dots, the first situated

NOCTUAS.

861

before the orbicular, and often forming an
irregular but nearly continuous line ; the
second consisting of six or eight dots, and
situated beyond the reniform, and the third
also consisting of six or eight black dots, being
just within the hind-marginal fringe ; there is
frequently, but not invariably, a black dot at
the base of the wing : the hind wings are
gray-brown, their hind margin waved, and the
fringe long arid pale : the head and thorax
are wainscot brown, inclining to ochreous
red ; the body is gray -brown.

The CATERPILLAR does not roll itself in a
ring when touched, but falls off its food plant
and twists itself violently, bringing head and
tail toother alternately on each side. The
head is rather large, the body uniformly
cylindrical, and quite smooth. The colour of
the head is pellucid, shining glaucous-green ;
of the body delicate, clear bright green, and
velvety, with a slender pale medio-dorsal
stripe, very indistinct, but rendered percep-
tible by the action of the dorsal canal ; a
narrow transverse yellowish band crosses the
back of the twelfth segment : the dorsal sur-
face is mottled with indistinct paler dots ; the
ventral surface is glaucous-green, and un-
spotted. It feeds on oak (Quercits JKobur), is
full-fed in the beginning of July, when it
changes to a CHRYSALIS on the surface of the
earth, perhaps spinning a few silken threads,
but making nothing that can be properly
called a cocoon.

The MOTH appears on the wing in March
and April, and is universally distributed and
abundant throughout the kingdom. I know
of no species of which the chrysalis is to be
obtained more plentifully by digging at the
roots of trees, as so strenuously recommended
by Mr. Greene : I have known a collector
obtain more than two thousand chrysalids of
this species in the course of a week's pupa-
digging : they may be found throughout the
autumn at the foot of every oak. (The scien-
tific name is Tceniooampa stabilis.)

580. The Powdered Quaker (Tasniocampa gracilAs),

580. THE POWDERED QUAKER. — The palpi
are very inconspicuous, their naked tips
scarcely projecting beyond the head ; the
antennae are serrated in the male, simple in
the female : the fore wings are rather pointed
at the tip ; their colour is gray, with an
ochreous, or, in some specimens, an indistinctly
reddish tint ; the discoidal spots are outlined,
but not always very distinctly, with a slender
paler line ; their median area is darker than
the general area of the wing, more especially
the lower portion of the reniform ; there is a
pale transverse line parallel with the hind
margin, and also two transverse series of
black dots, the first beyond the reniform, and
wlways seated on the wing-rays, which are
paler than the general area of the wing^ the
second just within the hind-marginal fringe,
and never on the wing-rays ; there are also
minute black dots scattered sparingly over
every part of the wing : the hind wings are
pale gray at the base, gradually deepening
in shade until they become smoke-coloured
at the hind margin; the discoidal spot is
crescentic and rather distinct ; the fringe
very pale.

The CATERPILLAR rolls in a ring when
touched. The dorsal area of the body is dull
green, with three paler narrow stripes, and
between these paler stripes is a series of pale
dots ; the broad green portion of the back is
bordered on each aide by a smoke-coloured
stripe, the upper margin of which is suffused
and indistinct, the lower margin sharply de-
fined and very distinct ; on each side below
the smoke-colour is a pale green stripe, paler
still at both its upper and lower margins.
The belly and clagpers are pellucid green.

862

BRITISH MOTHS.

It feeds on sallow (Salix caprea), and is
full-fed in the beginning of July. An un-
usual variety of the caterpillar is described
by Mr. Hellins in No. 12 of the Entomologists'
Monthly Magazine. The ground colour of
this variety was deep brown, tinged with
pink, the slender medio-dorsal and sub-dorsal
stripes of the same, but becoming rather
paler ; along the region of the spiracles and
reaching half way down the anal claspers,
is a broad stripe of pale dingy pink, sharply
edged above with a fine black if-h line , the
belly and legs are concolorous with the
ground colour ; the usual dots were present,
but of a dark brown colour, and enclosed in
paler rings, and the dorsal area was slightly
freckled with the paler tint.

The MOTH appears on the wing in April
and May, and is widely distributed in our
English counties, and Mr. Birchall obtained
it at Killarney, in Ireland. (The scientific
name is Tceniocampa gracilis.)

581. The Blossom Underwing (Tccniocampaminiosa).

581. THE BLOSSOM"UNDERWING. — The palpi
are porrected rather conspicuously : their tips
very slender ; the antennae are pectinated in
the male, simple in the female ; the fore
wings are gray, strongly tinged with red, and
having a median band of a brighter red, ap-
proaching to orange • this band in many speci-
mens does not reach either' the costal or the
inner margin ; the circumscription of discoidal
spots is very vague and imperfect, but the
median area of the reniform is inclined to
smoky brown and rather conspicuous : the
hind wings are pale gray, with pink opalescent
reflection, and having a small but rather con-
spicuous discoidal spot, and two indistinct
transverse waved lines, slightly darker than
the general area : the head and thorax are
densely clothed with scales, and are of the

same colour as the fore wings ; the body is
paler.

The impregnated female performs the
duties of oviposition during the first week in
April, and sometimes even at the end of
March ; she settles on a twig of oak (Quercua
Robur), and deposits from sixteen to twenty-
five eggs in a cluster just below the leaf-bud,
and of course before there is any symptom of
vernal vitality. The young CATERPILLARS do
not emerge for a month or more, and then
unite their labours in constructing a silken
web, c*mpletely enclosing the terminal twig,
and residing constantly beneath the shelter of
their tent ; as soon as the oak-buds are suffi-
ciently expanded to afford an abundant supply
of food — a period of from ten or twelve to
twenty days, according to the temperature — the
caterpillars separate and distribute themselves
over the food-plant ; they usually select the
lower branches or frequently the shrub-like
oaks in hedges, and from these they wander to
bushes of white-thorn (Cratcegus oxyacantha),
and even to the low herbaceous plants in the
hedge-rows and on the hedge-banks : after the
social or gregarious propensity of these cater-
pillars has deserted them, and their solitary
walk through life has begun, they feed greedily
and increase in stature very rapidly ; some-
times the social life endures for ten days, and.
the solitary life for ten more ; in other in-
stances the caterpillar existence is extended
to twenty-six days ; the full-fed caterpillar
rests in a straight position, but falls from
its food-plant if annoyed, forming a loose
ring, with the head on one side ; the head
is rather narrower than the body, which
is almost uniformly cylindrical, the anal
claspers projecting behind and spreading ; the
head is lead-coloured, with • black blotches ;
the body variegated ; a bright yellow medio-
dorsal stripe extends the entire length ; this
is irregular in breadth and interrupted at the
incisions of the segments ; on each side of this
medio-dorsal stripe is a broad lead-coloured
space, often tinged with pink, and always
irrorated and variegated with intense velvety
black ; this is bounded below by a narrow and
interrupted pale yellow stripe, and this again

NOCTUAg.

363

by a narrow space or stripe of intense velvety
black ; then follows a pale stripe, which in-
cludes the spiracles: this is varied with yellow
and white, and spotted with black ; the ven-
tral area, legs, and clampers are smoky-pink,
sprinkled with black spots. At the end of
May these caterpillars descend to the ground,
and change to smooth, pale-brown CHRYSALIDS,
among fallen leaves and other rubbish.

This delicately-coloured MOTH appears on the
wing in March and April ; it is widely, but
not generally, distributed in England. It has
been taken in Cornwall, Devonshire, Somerset,
Wilts, Dorset, Isle of Wight, Sussex, Surrey,
Kent, Essex, Berks, Gloucester, Herefordshire,
and Yorkshire, but is not reported in the
Scotch and Irish lists. (The scientific name
is Tceniocampa miniosa.)

582. The Twin-Spotted Quaker (Tceniocampa munda).

582. THE TWIN-SPOTTED QUAKER.— The
palpi are inconspicuous ; the antennae are
pectinated in the male, serrated in the female ;
the colour of the fore wings is gray, strongly
suffused with ochreous, saffron or wainscot-
brown, and always freckled, and more or less
clouded with other shades of brown ; the or-
bicular spot is very indistinct, often imper-
ceptible; its ci"cumscription is pale, its median
area exactly of the same tint as the general
ground-colour of the wing ; the reniform is
distinct ; and its circumscription pale, its
median area dark, more especially at the
lower extremity ; there are two closely
approximate and very conspicuous black
spots on the disk of the wing nearly equi-
distant from the costa, hind margin, and
reniform spot : the hind wings are smoky-gray,
and almost invariably conspicuously darker
than the fore wings, and having a still darker
crescentic discoidal spot.

The CATERPILLAR falls off its food, rolls in a

ring, and feigns death when touched or dis-
turbed ; it is smooth and uniformly cylindrical.
The head is nearly equal to the body in dia-
meter, and is of a pale, very shining wainscot-
brown, mottled with black in the middle of the
face and reticulated onthecheeks. Theground-
colour of the dorsal surface is putty-white,
mottled or sprinkled and reticulated with
velvety black, and having an extremely narrow
pale medio-dorsal stripe ; and on each side of
the pale dorsal area is a series of small, circular,
pure white spots ; these are three in number
on each segment, and are not arranged in a
direct line, the middle one of each three being
slightly near a median line of the back than
either of the others ; an intensely black,
but not very clearly defined, waved stripe
extends the whole length of each side, and
immediately below this is a pale area, and in
this area are small white patches on the fourth,
fifth, and sixth of the segments ; the dorsal
surface of the twelfth segment is very dark,
except on its posterior margin, which is pale ;
the legs and claspers are pale : the anal pair of
claspers is spreading; the belly is smoky-gray.
It feeds on oak (Quercus Robur) and plum,
and is full-fed at the end of May.

The MOTH appears on the wing in March
and April, and has been taken in most of our
English counties; it is common in some parts
of Scotland, and Mr. Birchall has taken it at
Killarney, in Ireland ; Mr. Greene has found
thechrysalidsat the roots of oaks in Gloucester-
shire, in October. (The scientific name is
Tceniocampa munda.)

583. The Small Quaker ( Tcsniocampa cruda).

583. THE SMALL QUAKER.— The terminal
joint of the palpi is rather long and slender ;
the antenna} are strongly serrated in the male,
simple in the female : the fore wings are very
black at the tip, their colour is dingy ochreous-
gray, often interspersed with brighter ochreous

364

BRITISH MOTHS.

markings, and these brighter markings gene-
rally surround the discoidal spots ; these are
rather obscure, but manifestly darker than the
general area of the wing, which always has a
freckled or mottled appearance; beyond the
reniform is a transverse series of black spots,
veiy small and indistinct ; and there is a
second series on the extreme hind margin : the
hind wings are gray-brown, and darker than
the fore wings ; their fringe is paler : the head
and thorax are gray, tinged with dingy ochre-
ous ; the body is pale gray.

The CATERPILLAR is pale green, sometimes
grayish or br. -wnish; the medio-dorsal and
sub-dorsal stripes are whitish-green, and be-
tween them is a row of dark green dots ; the
spiracular stripe and incisions of the segments
are yellowish (Frey&r). It feeds on oak
(Quercus Robur}. — Staintoris Manual, vol. i.,
p. 245.

The MOTH appears on the wing in March and
April, and is com mon in all parts of the United
Kingdom, sometimes frequenting the catkins
of the sallow in great numbers. Mr. Greene
Mays that the chrysalids of Stabilis, Instabilis,
Gothica, and Gruda are extremely abundant
at the roots of various trees in October : he
remarks of the species of Tceniocampa, they
may easily be found by simply shaking the
sod, or loosening the earth (at the roots of
trees) ; and by taking a large number (once he
had a thousand chrysalids of histabilis) of the
common species, some curious and beautiful
varieties may be obtained without trouble.
(The scientific name is Tceniocampa cruda.)

584. The Suspected (Orthosia suspecta).

584. THE SUSPECTED. — The palpi are por-
rected and slender, the terminal joint un-
usually slender and pointed ; the antennae are
simple in both sexes : the fore wings are
rather narrow ; their colour is red-brown,
mottled and freckled with rarious tints; both

the discoidal spots are outlined in pale gray,
the median area of each being concolorous
with the general colour of the wing ; half-way
between the reniform and the hind margin is
a transverse series of compound spots, all of
them seated on wing-rays ; each of these spots
has a darker and a lighter portion, the darker
portion being nearest the base : the hind wings
are gray-brown ; the head and thorax are of
the same colour as the fore wings, the body
being dingy gray.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, but
is rare and local ; it has been taken almost
exclusively in the North, Lancashire, the
Lake District, and Yorkshire : my specimens
came from Huddersfield. (The scientific name
is Orthosia suspecta.)

585 The Dismal (Orthosia Upsilori).

585. THE DISMAL. — The palpi are incon-
spicuous, the terminal joint being almost con-
cealed by scales ; the antennae are simple in
both sexes : the fore wings are ample ; their
colour is bistre-brown ; the orbicular stigma
is oblique and oval, and outlined in paler
brown; the reniform is scarcely perceptible;
between them is the figure of a Greek upsilon
Y, very distinctly denned in most specimens ;
parallel with the hind margin is a transverse
zigzag line, of a pale ochreous-brown colour :
t he -head and thorax are bistre-brown: the
hind wings and body are dingy gray -brown.

The CATERPILLAR rolls itself into a lax ring
when disturbed, and falls off its food-plant,
but very soon abandons this posture, and
crawls with great vigour and almost in-
credible activity : the head is small and
shining, the body uniformly cylindrical,
smooth, and velvety. The colour of the head
is pale brown, reticulated with darker brown ;
the body is brown, with a medio-dorsal series

NOCTUAS.

366

ef somewhat shuttle-shaped pale markings,
placed end to end, and forming an almost
continuous stripe : there is a slightly paler
mark on each side, including the spiracles,
which are situated just within its upper
margin; the dorsal area, as far as this lateral
stripe, is variegated or marked with velvety
black : the belly and claspers are paler. It
feeds by night on the common willow (Salix
fragilis), and other narrow-leaved species of
the same genus, descending in the morning to
the ground, or concealing itself in a crevice of
the bark ; on the approach of night these
caterpillars leave their hiding-places, and
crawl up the trunks of the willows, travelling
at a great rate, and in windy weather in-
variably keeping on the lee side of the trunk.
They are full fed at the end of May, when
they finally descend to the ground, and change
to CHRYSALIDS in a slight cocoon on the sur-
face of the earth.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July,
and may sometimes be observed by hundreds
•porting in the evening overthe tops of willows,
always those of narrow-leaved species : it
occurs in all our English counties ; but Mr.
Reading says it is rare and local in Cornwall
and Devonshire, except as regards the neigh-
bourhood of Exeter, where Mr. Parfitt has
found it commonly. Mr. Birchall met with
it in the county Wicklow, in Ireland. Mr.
Greene says the caterpillars may be found in
profusion under loose moss and bark of willows
and poplars, but they must be fed : the CHRY-
SALIS may be found at the beginning of July in
the same situations, or spun up at the roots.
(The scientific name is Orthosia Uptrilon.)

586. The Red-Line (Quaker (Orthosia lota).

586 THE RED-LINE QUAKER. — The palpi
are porrected and pointed ; they aro clothed
beneath with black bristly scales ; the an -
tennie are simple in both sexe* : the fore

wings are pointed at the tip ; their colour is
dull leaden-brown, or dull ochreous- brown,
the two shades being equally common ; and
there are also other intermediates of less
frequent occurrence ; the discoidal spots have
a very slender pale circumscription, and out-
side of this a slender brick -red circumscrip-
tion ; the lower half of the reniform is almost
black ; parallel with the hind margin is an
oblique compound line, the inner portion of
which is brick-red, the outer portion ochreous-
gray ; both colours are sharply defined and
very distinct : the hind wings, head, thorax,
and body are leaden gray-brown.

The CATERPILLAR is dull dingy -brown, with
a slight tint of purple, and is powdered over
with minute white dots ; it has a narrow
inedio-dorsal stripe of almost pure white,
interrupted at the incisions of the segments.
It feeds on the common willow (Salix fragiliis]
or sallow (Salix caprea), and secretes its* If
during the day in the cracks of the bark,
ascending the tree only at night. It generally
changes to a CHKYSALIS between the leaves of
the sallow or willow, but sometimes on or
near the surface of the ground in a slight
web.

The MOTH appears on the wing in Septem-
ber and October, and comes freely to sugar
and to ivy bloom, and to the luscious muci-
laginous berries of the yew : it occurs in all
our English counties, and has also been taken
in Scotland : Mr. Birchall informs us it is
common and widely distributed in Ireland.
(The scientific name is Orthosia lota.)

587. The Yellow- Line Quaker (Orthosia macilenta).

587. THE YELLOW- LINE QUAKER. — The
palpi are porrected, pointed, and very pale
in colour ; the antennae are ciliated in the
male, simple in the female : the fore wings
are rather narrow, their colour is yellow-
ochre ; the orbioular is scarcely perceptible, f w

366

BRITISH MOTHS.

most specimens it is entirely absent ; the reni-
form is indistinct, but the lower half of its
median area is dark, forming a rather con-
spicuous spot ; parallel with the linear margin
is an oblique compound line, the inner portion
of which is slightly darker, the outer portion
slightly paler than the general area of the
wing : the hind wings are smoke-coloured and
much darker thau the fore wings, having au
indistinct crescentic discoidal spot and a broad
pchreous fringe : the head and thorax, and a
tuft at the extremity of the body in the male,
are yellow - ochre ; the body itself smoke-
coloured.

The CATERPILLAR is very beautiful ; it is of a
testaceous brown colour, powdered with minute
dots, and having five very distinct white
stripes, one being medio-dorsal, one on each
side lateral or sub-dorsal, and another in the
region of the spiracles. It feeds on beech
(Fagus sylvatica).

The MOTH appears on the wing in September
and October, and is especially partial to the
luscious mucilaginous berries of the yew, and
also frequents the ivy bloom, and comes to
sugar. Mr. Greene says of the chrysalis, "of
this species, so difficult to obtain good in the
perfect state, I have found only three : the
chrysalis, which is extremely delicate, is
enclosed in a weak cocoon ; " it may be found
at the roots of birch in September. It is com-
mon and generally distributed in England,
Scotland, and Ireland. (The scientific name
is Orthosia macilenta.)

588. The Flounced Chestnut (Anchocelis rufina).

588. THE FLOUNCED CHESTNUT.— The palpi
are pointed and very slightly porrected ; the
antennae are almost simple in the male, quite
so in the female : the colour of the fore wings
is reddish -brown, inclining to fulvous, and
having two darker transverse bands, in which

there is no tinge of fulvous ; the first of these
is short and near the base j the second is
beyond the reniform spot, and is interrupted
by a series of acutely wedge-shaped marks
running into it from the middle of the wing;
the two discoidal spots are delicately outlined
in a paler colour, and between them is an
indistinct transverse bar rather sharply angled
in the middle : the hind wings are smoky-
gray, bordered with rosy-gray on the costal
and hind margins : the head and thorax are
reddish-brown tinged with fulvous ; the body
is pale gray at the base, reddish-gray towards
the extremity.

The beautiful CATERPILLAR of this species
is represented by Hiibuer as of a bright
orange-colour, with a yellow i>h- white medio-
dorsal stripe, and a series of whitish spots on
each side of it ; there is a broad white stripe
in the region of the spiracles. It feeds on oak
(Quercus Robur).

The MOTH appears on the wing in September
and October, and occurs, but not generally, in
most of our English counties, extending north-
wards over the whole of Scotland, so far as
hitherto examined ; and Mr. Birchall says it
is common and widely distributed in Ireland :
it comes freely to sugar. (The scientific name
is Anchocelis rufina.)

589. The Beaded Chestnut (Anchocelis pistacina).

589. THE BEADED CHESTNUT. — The palpi
are very inconspicuous ; the antenna? almost
simple in the male, quite so in the female :
the fore wings are so various in colour that it
is impossible to define any particular colour as

NOCTTJAS.

367

peculiar to the species ; the prevailing tint is
orange or ochreous gray, sometimes inclining
to brick-red, at others to gray-brown, and
again at other times to simple ochreous ;
the discoidal spots are generally present, but
in some specimens I find no trace of them ;
the reniform is long and rather narrow ; it is
outlined in pale yellowish-gray, and the
median area is gray-brown ; the orbicular is
extremely narrow, and very oblique ; its
obliquity is in a contrary direction to that of
the reniform ; the wing-rays are sometimes
much paler than the general area, and when
this is the case, slender transverse lines cross
them, giving the entire surface of the wing a
reticulated appearance ; the costal margin is
spotted, the spots being both darker and
lighter than the ground colour ; there are also
several transverse series of darker spots or
markings : the hind wings are very dark
smoke-colour, with pale fringe ; the head and
thorax generally take the colour of the fore
wings, but the body is paler than the hind
wings, and tipped with rosy.

The EGGS are laid in the autumn, on the
herbage in meadows after the hay-crop has been
harvested, more especially on the flowering
stems of various species of Ranunculus (butter-
cup), on the leaves of which the CATERPILLAR
feeds. The caterpillars do not emerge until
the spring, when they ascend the stalks of the
food-plants, which are probably very various,
including many grasses ; they are full-fed at
the end of May and beginning of June, and
then may be readily obtained by sweeping
standing grass morning and evening, but not^
so abundantly in the middle of the day. When
a caterpillar is disturbed it forms itself into a
ring, and rolls to the bottom of the sweeping-
net; but on being removed from the debris
there collected, a strangely heterogeneous
mass, it soon finds the use of its legs, and
crawls with considerable rapidity. The head
is of nearly the same width as the body, semi-
porrected in crawling ; the body velvety, of
uniform substance throughout, and perfectly
without humps : the colour of the head is dull
green, of the body delicate apple-green, with
an extremely slender medio- dorsal stripe

almost white, and a somewhat broader and
much more distinct lateral stripe, also nearly
white ; there are, besides, a few white dots
on the dorsal surface, each emitting a short
and slender hair ; on the second and third
segments six of these dots form a straight
transverse series ; on each of the following
segments, namely, the fifth to the twelfth,
both inclusive, are four of these dots, forming
somewhat of a quadrangle : as the caterpillar
moves, a transverse «k infold becomes con-
spicuous at the interstices of the segments,
and these skinfolds assume the appearance of
evanescent yellow rings ; the spiracles are
very pale, almost white, and each is sur-
rounded by a black margin ; behind each
spiracle there is often a jet-black spot ; the
whole of the dorsal surface is moreover
freckled with minute amorphous markings,
scarcely differing from the general ground-
colour ; the ventral surface and claspers are
apple-green ; the legs paler. It spins a
very tight, neat, earthen cocoon, in which it
remains some weeks before assuming the
CHRYSALIS state : the cocoon, wheu kept dry,
becomes exceedingly brittle.

The MOTH appears on the wing in September
and October; it is common in most of our
English counties, andis found also in Scotland.
Mr. Birchall says it is common and widely
distributed in Ireland. It comes freely to
sugar, to ivy, and to the berries of the yew.
(The scientific name is Anchocelis pistacitia.}

Obs. I will here quote at length the in-
structions given by Mr. Walton for capturing
moths while feeding on the berries of the
yew, this species having been taken on that
tree in especial abundance : — " I will now
describe, in as few words as possible, consist-
ent with clearness, the method of capturing
the moth at the berries of the j ew.. I use a
bull's-eye lantern, with a powerful lens, the
larger the better ; a pair of forceps, such as
are generally used by entomologists, having
the sides and bottom covered with white
gauze, and about six inches wide at the mouth
when opened. Also I use a portable slid ing-
rod, or one with two lengths, jointed like a
fishing-rod, from six to nine feet long, and a

BRITISH MOTHS.

small round net, made of white gauze or
muslin, screwed or fixed on at the end, of
about five or six inches diameter, and the
same in depth. I then direct the rays of light
upon the insect. If it is within reach I use
the forceps, and take it very deliberately ; if
out of reach, but within the length of the rod,
they are easily jarred into the small bag at the
end of your rod, lowered down, and transferred
into the forceps. In this way they are cap-
tured with certainty, and the most surprising
facility, principally in consequence of that
singular instinctive faculty which many in-
sects possess, in a greater or leis degree, of
feigning death when alarmed. 1'or example,
Orthosia pistacina and 0. litura contract their
legs and wings, and fall into the bag-net or
forceps immediately when touched, tumbling
and rolling about without evincing the least
signs of life ; and so do many others. On th«
contrary, 0. macilenta and others, under the
same circumstances, exhibit very little, if any,
of that predisposition for feigning death.
They will try to creep away when disturbed,
having no inclination to use their wings, but
are easily jarred off the berries or leaves into
the bag-net, or induced to creep upon somo
part of it, until they are finally secured with
the forceps. If they happen to miss the net
in the act of falling, they invariably drop
lightly to the ground, and maybe taken from
the grass with the forceps. The above obser-
vations only apply to the Noctuas, which carry
their wings horizontally; the Geometers, which
carry their wings ere<3t, invariably fly away
when touched or disturbed. It requires a little
patience and address, when beyond the reach
of the forceps, to secure any of this family ;
however, they affect death in some degree, and
will fall a short distance as if shot when the
rays of light are directed upon them, and the
small bag-net held just under them. It is
necessary to wait patiently a few seconds, and
gently to touch the twig with the ring of your
net, until they feel inclined to exercise that
shamming propensity; it must then be lowered
with care, otherwise, if alarmed or disturbed,
the insect will fly out of the bag before you
£an place orer the top the flat side of your

forceps. Take the bag-net to aorae convenient
place, and the insect will be seen adhering to
the bottom or sides, with it« wings erect;
then place the mouth of the forceps in a
vertical position over the circle of the bag-net,
and lower it to the ground. This operation
will raise up the bottom of the net, and with
it the insect, which will fly up into the forceps,
and these being closed at the side*, as before
directed, it cannot escape. The yew tree
seems to flourish best in chalky districts.
Few persons are aware of the great age and
gigantic mize of many of these magnificent trees
in Norbury Park. They seem common in the
woods and hedgerows on the chalk in Kent
and Surrey. Those in Norbury Park are really
a natural curiosity. I invite entomologists to
examine them, more particularly, of course,
when the fruit is ripe. I am convinced they
will be rewarded by new discoveries."

590. The Lunar Underwing (Anchocelis lunosa).

590. THE LUNAR UNDERWING. — The palpi
are porrected, their terminal joint naked ; the
antennae are very nearly simple in the male,
quite so in the female : the outline of the
costal margin of the fore wings is slightly
produced before the tip ; their colour is
various, sometimes rich bistre-brown, at others
pale olive -brown, or pale ochreous- brown;
the discoidal spots have a pale circumscription
and a dark median area ; the wing-rays are
generally decidedly paler than the general
area of the wing ; and a pale transverse band,
always, accompanied by a series of very dark
spots, crosses the wing parallel with the hind

NOCTUAS.

369

margin : the hind wings are pale with a con-
spicuous dark discoidal spot, and an interrupted
dark bar parallel with the hind margin : the
head and thorax are of the same colour aa the
tore wings, the body is darker than the hind
wings.

The CATERPILLAR is described by Guen6e as
stout, rather monUiform, and somewhat flat-
tened below ; the head is small and of a
brown colour, with two darker lines on the
face : the body is of a dull gray-green, and
sometimes of a brighter green, with a white
inedio-dorsal stripe and a white sub-dorsal
stripe ; there is also a white lateral stripe in
the region of the spiracles, and this is deli-
cately bordered above with a black line ; the
usual dots are large, very observable, wart-
like, black, and shining ; there ia a distinct
and very observable plate on the second, and
another on the thirteenth segment. It feeds
on grasses, particularly in elevated and dry
situations, and is fond of concealing itself by
day under stones.

The MOTH appears on the wing in Septem-
ber, and ia generally distributed in England,
Scotland, and Ireland. (The scientific name
is Anchocelis lunosa.)

591. The Brown-spot Pinion (Anchocelis Litwra).

591. THE BROWN-SPOT PINION. — The palpi
are porrected and pointed, the points naked :
the colour of the fore wings is pale reddish-
brown, strongly inclined to gray in the basal
half: the discoidal spots are distinct ; they
have a pale circumscription and a dark median
area ; there are four dark spots on the costal
margin; the first, almost close to the base,
reaches half-way across the wing; the second
is rather oblique, pointing towards the anal
angle; the third, also oblique, is situated just
about the reniform, and points in an opposite

direction to the second; the fourth ia much
the largest and most conspicuous, and situated
very near the tip of the wing ; it serves a*
the commencement of a straggling series of
dark spots, which vanish before reaching the
inner margin : the hind wings are smoky,
with paler fringe: the head, thorax, and
body are of the same colour as the fore
wings.

The CATERPILLAR is stout and smooth, and
varies in the tint of the ground-colour, in the
way so common among the caterpillars of
Noctiuis, some specimens being green and
others brown ; the medio-dorsal stripe is dull
dingy white, inclining to green or brown, in
accordance with the* ground-colour ; there is
also a lateral stripe of the same pale colour :
it feeds on a variety of low-growing plants,
perhaps most commonly on meadow-sweet
(Spircca ulmaria).

The MOTH appears on the wing in Septem-
ber and October, and is common and generally
distributed in England, Scotland, and Ireland,
(The scientific name is Anckocclis Litura.)

Obs. — This species comes to sugar when
spread on the trunks of trees, and has thus been
taken freely near Catford Bridge, in my own
neighbourhood.

592. The Chestnut (Cerastis Vaccinif)

692. THE CHESTNUT. — The palpi are rarely
porrected beyond the scales on the head : the
antennae are almost simple in both sexes : the
fore wings are broad and short, almost square
at the apical angle, but the apex itself is
blunt; their colour is wainscot-brown, inclin-
ing to red-brown, indistinctly divided by
waved transverse darker lines ; the discoidal
spots are distinctly perceptible ; their circum-
scription is pale ; the lower half of the median
area in the reniform is almost black ; the
orbicular in oblong and oblique ; its median

M 24

370

BRITISH MOiHb.

area is concolorous with the disk of the wing :
the hind wings are smoky-gray, with a reddish
fringe, and having a pale transverse waved
line, sometimes very indistinct, rather below
the middle : the head and thorax are of the
same colour as the fore-wings ; the body is
gray at the base, but reddish beneath and
towards the tip.

When full-fed the CATERPILLAR rests in a
straight position, but falls off its food-plant
and feigns death when disturbed, lying on its
back with the entire ventral surface exposed,
and the head bent round on one side until it
touches the fourth pair of ventral claspers ;
the head is shining, porrected in crawling,
otherwise prone, nmch narrower than the body,
and partially received into the second seg-
ment: the body is very obese, velvety, slightly
increasing in size from the second to the
twelfth segment ; the second segment has a
semi-circular dorsal plate, the truncate diameter
of which is towards the head. The colour of
the head is light brown, reticulated with darker
brown : the second segment has the dorsal
plate dark brown, the anterior and lateral
margins darker, and the disk traversed by
three pale longitudinal lines ; the dorsal sur-
face of the body is purplish brown, irrorated
with indistinct pale markings, some of which
are so arranged as to form three very narrow
pale dorsal stripes, all of them indistinct, but
the medio-dorsal one especially so ; the spira-
cles are intensely black ; the ventral is paler
than the dorsal surface, semi-transpareut and
tinged with green ; the legs are greenish
brown, tipped with pale brown ; the claspers
concolorous with the ventral surface. It feeds
on the elm (Ulmus campestris), oak (Quercus
Robur), and Sallow (Salix caprea.)

The MOTH appears on the wing in October,
November, and even December if mild ; it
Survives the winter and reappears in the
spring, not unfrequently being observed on the
catkins of the sallow, but then generally in a
worn condition : in October it sometimes comes
to sugar in such abundance as to be a positive
annoyance to the collector. It is found every-
where in England, Scotland, and Ireland.
(The scientific name is Ctrastie Vaccinii.)

if*

593. The Dark Chestnut (Oerastis spadicea).

593. THE DARK CHESTNUT. — The fore wings
are square and pointed at the tip ; their colour
is chestnut-brown, rich and dark, with no
conspicuous markings ; the discoidal spots are
to be traced with a lens, and the lower half of
the median area of the reniform appears filled
up with black: the hind wings are smoky
gray, the fringe is reddish-brown: the head
and thorax are of the same colour as the fore
wings; the body is pale gray at the base,
brown-gray in the middle, and reddish to-
wards the tip.

The CATERPILLAR, according to Guene"e, much
resembles that of Orthosia lota; the head is
red, with two black lines down the face j the
colour of the body is dark -brown, marked
with lighter; there is a very indistinct medio-
dorsal stripe, broadly clouded with brown;
the spiracular stripe is reddish flesh-colour,
dotted with paler, and surmounted by a broad
band darker than the general ground-colour ;
there is a corneous plate on the second and
thirteenth segments as in Cerastis Vaccinii.
When young this caterpillar is found on black-
thorn and honeysuckle, and is then of a gray-
green colour ; later in life it descends from
these trees and feeds on low plants.

The MOTH appears on the wing in October,
and is of common occurrence in England and
Scotland, and Mr. Birchall reports it from
Ireland on the authority of Mr. Bristow.
(The scientific name is Cerastis spadicea.)

£94. The Redheaded (Cerastis erythrocephdla).
594. THE REDHEADED.— The palpi *re

NOCTUAS.

concealed by the Dejecting scales of the head ;
the antennae are almost simple in both sexes ;
the fore wings are reddish-gray ; the discoidal
spots are distinct ; the reniform is pale, with
five or si x black spots in the lower and outer
portion of its median area ; the orbicular is
round and pale, but has a slightly darker
cloud in its centre ; a double transverse pale
bar crosses the wing parallel with the hind
margin ; and between this and the reniforrn is
a single and much waved pale Hue : the hind
wings are gray-brown. ; the head, thorax, and
body are reddish-gray.

The CATERPILLAR is gray-brown with a
white stripe in the region of the spiracles ;
this character, however, is uncertain, as some
authors suppose there are two species com-
prised under the single name, namely —
Glabra, the caterpillar of which possesses this
white stripe, and Erythroce^hala, which is
without it ; but M. Guenee says he has reared
both of these supposed species from the same
caterpillars.

The MOTH appears on the wing in November,
and is very rare : a single specimen was
taken at Ivybridge, in Devonshire., in 1856 ; a
second in Somersetshire, by Mr. Crotch. The
principal locality, however, is the Sussex
coast, in the vicinity of Brighton, where Mr.
Wright has obtained it by sugaring for several
years. (The scientific name is Cerastis erytkro-

695. The Satellite (Scopelosoma tatellitia).

595. THE SATELLIIE. — The palpi are con-
cealed by the projecting scales of the head; the

antennae are rather .stout in the male, slender
in the female : the fore wings are rather long
and very decidedly scalloped on the hind
margin ; their colour is reddish-brown, with
several transverse darker lines ; the orbicular
spot is absent ; the reniform is difficult
to trace, but its situation is generally indi-
cated by the presence of a very conspicuous
white spot of considerable magnitude, and
accompanied both at the outer upper and
outer lower extremity by a smaller white
spot ; these three spots are sometimes bright
orange, and sometimes entirely absent : the
hind wings are smoke-coloured, with a paler
and rather rosy fringe : the antennae, head,
and thorax are of the same colour as the fore
wings ; the base of the body is gray-brown
shading to rosy red towards the extremity.

The EGG is laid in March, on twigs of oak
(Querciis Robur], by females which have hyber-
nated;the CATERPILLAR makes itsappearance in
May, and spins together the leaves of the oak,
forming a retreat from which it sallies forth in
quest of its living prey, the caterpillar of any
other Lf.pidoptera which may happen to have
the misfortune to be located in its vicinity: to
the entomologist who, like myself, indulges
in the rearing of caterpillars, these cater-
pillars often prove most determined enemies
Mr. Buckler writes pathetically on the sub-
ject : — " It happens s< unetimes that in gather-
ing food for other things, one of these wretches,
then quite small, lurks among the leaves, and
is unconsciously introduced to his prey : an
instance of this kind occurred to me a few
years ago, when I had reared tifty-seven cater-
pillars of Tceniticampa Popuktifrom the egg;
they were about half-grown, had spun the
leaves of poplar together, and were feeding
between them : all went well for a time, but
at length T observed spots of moisture between
the withered leaves, and being puzzled at not
finding any caterpillars in the food that was
removed, an investigation took place, when I
could discover no Populeti caterpillars, but an
ill-looking monster of a Satellitii coiled up at
the bottom of the jar. This monster had
actually murdered fifty-seven of his fellow-
prisoners, and devoured their bodies." I

372

BRITISH MOTHS.

could not find that my own captives ate
any of the oak-leaves provided for them, but
feasted on juvenile Urumatas and such small
deer, until I expelled them from the breeding-
cage. These caterpillars are so decidedly
cannibalistic in their propensities, that in
default of aliens they will devour their own
species. When half or three-quarters grown
this caterpillar is excessively active, and very
persistent in its endeavours to escape ob-
servation, crawling with great activity, and
often wriggling backwards out of its retreat,
after the manner of a Tortrix : the head is
porrected in crawling, rounded on the crown,
and decidedly narrower than the body : the
body is nearly cylindrical, but the anterior
segments are attenuated. The colour of the
head is clear bright brown on the crown,
black-brown about the mouth ; that of the
body rich velvety-brown ; the second segment
has three paler longitudinal lines on the back ;
of these the middle one is less distinctly
pronounced than the other two : these appear
like the anterior extremities of three dorsal
stripes, the remaining portion of which has
been obliterated in the great number of spe-
cimens, but they are slightly indicated in some
throughout the entire length of the body : on
a line with the spiracles there is present, be-
tween the second and third segments, and
again between the third and fourth segments,
a somewhat linear but inconstant snow-white
spot ; a linear white spot on the fifth and
another on the eleventh segment; these seem
like broken portions of a spiracular line which
is very evident in some specimens, but scarcely
perceptible in others ; the ventral surface, legs,
and claspers are paler, and less velvety than
the dorsal surface ; the legs are variegated
with black. From Gueuee we learn that this
caterpillar, when approaching its full size,
descends from its exalted station amongst the
branches of forest trees, and feeds on humble
herbs, like the Orthosidce. It changes to a
CHRYSALIS beneath the surface of the earth.

The MOTH appears on the wing in October,
and again in the spring after hybernation ; it is
common in England, Scotland, and Ireland.
(The scientific name is Scopelosoma satelliting

696. The Dotted Chestnut (Dasycampa rubiginea).

596. THE DOTTED CHESTNUT.— The palpi
are slightly porrected, the tips pointed and
naked ; the antennae are almost simple and
almost alike in both sexes : the fore wings are
rather broad and somewhat square; the hind
margin straight, the tip obtuse ; their colour
is fulvous chestnut ; the discoidal spots are
present, but scarcely distinguishable from the
general ground-colour ; the orbicular has a
central dot, and the lower half of the reniform
is represented by a dark spot ; the general
area of the wiug is clouded with darker brown,
and sprinkled with blackish spots, giving the
insect a marked and beautiful appearance :
the hind wings are smoke-coloured, with a
pink fringe : the head and thorax are fulvous
chestnut; the body grayish smoke-colour, in-
clining to red towards the tip.

The head of the CATERPILLAR, according to
Guenee, is narrower than the second segment,
black and shining; the body is cylindrical,
moniliform, and covered with numerous fasci-
culated hairs; its colour is sepia-brown, the
second segment being darker, and each of the
following segments having * medio-dorsal
black spot ; the legs and cla jpers are con-
colorous with the body ; the hairs are reddish-
brown. It feeds in July on the apple, and
also on the dandelion and other low plants ;
and changes to a CHRYSALIS in a cocoon com-
posed of silk and earth.

The MOTH appears on the wing in October,
and again in the early spring after hyberna-
tion. It is a species of considerable rarity,
but not so rare as formerly. We learn from
Mr. Reading that it has been taken at Ply-
mouth, Bickleigh, Torquay, Teignmouth, Exe-
ter, Alphington, and Barnstaple, all in Devon-
shire ; near Weston, in Somersetshire ; in the
New Forest, Hampshire ; at Worcester ; at
Brighton, in Suisex ; and Norbury, in Surrey,

NOCTITAS.

373

•where it was discovered by Mr. "Walton
feeding on the yew-berries. He writes : " I
was extremely fortunate in detecting the
locality for this insect, as it is stated to be
unknown ; there were previously only two
specimens reputed to be British, one in the
British Museum, and the other in the cabinet
of Mr. Dale. I captured mine at intervals
from the 10th of October to the 6th of Novem-
ber, all equally perfect and beautiful." Mr.
Birchall informs us that in Ireland it is widely
distributed ; he had taken it at Dublin,
Tullamore, and Killarney. The scientific
name is Dasycampa rubiginea. )

597. The Orange Upper- Wing (Hoporina croceagd).

597. THE ORANGE UPPER-WING.— The
palpi are decidedly porrected, connivant, and
forming a kind of beak with closely approxi-
mate points ; the antennse are almost simple
in both sexes : the fore wings are very
straight on the costa, and nearly square at the
tip ; their colour is reddish fulvous with five
or six elongate and pure white spots on the
costal margin ; the two discoidal spots are
present but very indistinct ; the wings are
sprinkled over with black markings which
form indistinct obliquely transverse series,
and in two instances almost continuous lines :
the hind wings are very pale, almost white,
but just stained with saffron, and having a
slender transverse median line very indistinct,
and a marginal orange line equally slender
and indistinct : the head and thorax are
reddish fulvous; the body is very depressed,
white at the base, and pale gray-brown in the
middle and at the extremity.

Mr. Pristo has given us in the "Entomolo-
gist" a most interesting life-history of this
specie*, which I have extracted entire, inter-
polating my own description of tJve CATER-

PILLAR. " On the 1 1th of November, 1864,"
says Mr. Pristo, "I happened to take an oak-
branch, covered with dry leaves, from a hedge,
and to my astonishment two specimens of
Hoporina croceaga crawled out from beneath
the leaves. Having a couple of boxes in my
pocket, I quickly secured them : they were
taken home and put into a cage in an out-
house, with a portion of the resting-place they
had chosen. Being anxious to know as much
of their habits as possible, I visited them nearly
every evening, and with great satisfaction.
They were supplied with sugar in a sponge, but
although they generally came out from their
hiding place on mild evenings, I could not
see them touch the sugar till the 5th of April,
1865. They rested by day among the leaves,
and could scarcely be detected, BO well does
their colour match with the leaves. I had
often wondered if my two insects were a pair;
fortunately they were: on the 16th of March
I had the pleasure of seeing them m cop. at
8 p.m. The EGGS were deposited singly, on
the cage and on the oak-leaves, from the 7th
io the 20th of April. These began hatching
on the 26th of the same month, and the
young caterpillars were supplied with oak,
fed well, and grew remarkably fast. When
full-grown the caterpillar rolls in a compact
ring if disturbed : its colour is wainscot-
brown, tinged with orange, and most delicately
mottled with the same colour of a rather darker
hue ; this darker colour is very apparent in a
V-shaped mark on the back of every seg-
ment, the apex of the V pointing towards the
hinder extremity of the caterpillar : it feeds
on oak. The caterpillars began going down
on the 5th of June, and had all disappeared
by the 12th of the same month. They spun
a slight cocoon just beneath the surface of the
soil, and remained till the 25th of Auguat
before changing to CHRYSALIDS. The first moth
appeared on the 9th of September, the last on
the 6th of October ; the greatest number in
one day, six — on the 26th of September. The
produce of the pair was thirty -three perfect
specimens."

The MOTH appears on the wing throughout
September and October, and has been found

374

BRITISH MOTHS.

principally in Devonshire, especially at Ply-
mouth, Ivybridge, Bickleigh, Devonport,
Exeter, and Barnstaple ; also in Somersetshire,
Wiltshire, Isle of Wight, New Forest, Wor-
cestershire, &c. (The scientific name is
Hoporma croceago.)

698. The Orange Sallow (Xanthia eitrago).

598. THE ORANGE SALLOW.— The palpi
are rather long, straight, and very sharp-
pointed ; the antennae are simple in both
sexes : the fore wings are slightly arched and
pointed at the tip ; their colour is saffron-
yellow ; the discoidal spots have a very
siender but perceptible circumscription some-
what darker than the general area of the
wing; the reniform has its median area also
darker; three darker transverse lines cross the
wing, dividing it- into four nearly equal por-
tions ; the first of these is very slender ; it
originates on the costa, tends for a short dis-
tance towards the anal angle, and then is sud-
denly elbowed ; turning towards the base of
the inner margin, before it reaches which it is
again elbowed, and finally meets the second
transverse line on the inner margin ; the
second is oblique, and rather diffuse, but
much the most conspicuous of the three ; the
third is very slender, but very distinct ; it is
situated half-way between the second and the
hind margin : the hind wings are slightly
tinged with saffron, but very pale ; the head
and thorax are of the same colour as the fore
wings; the body as the hind wings.

The CATERPILLAR, according to Freyer, is
gray, with paler medio-dorsal and sub dorsal
stripes ; the latter is surmounted on each
segment with a black spot and three or four
white dots: there is a lateral stripe in the
region of the spiracles, edged above with black.
It feeds on the, lower leaves of the lime (Tilia
europcea), eating the green portion, and leaving
the veins like a network.

The MOTH appears on the wing in September,
and is not uncommon in most of the English
counties, principally in the south, but extend-
ing as far north as Northumberland. I am
not aware that it has been taken in Scotland
but Mr. Birchall reports it from the County
Wicklow in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Xanthia citrago.)

699. The Sallow (Xanthia cerago).

&J9. THE SALLOW. — The palpi are almost
concealed by the scales on the head, the
terminal joint being small and naked : the
fore wings are very slightly arched, and very
indistinctly pointed at the tip; their colour is
canary-yellow; the orbicular spot is indis-
tinguishable ; the reniform almost so, it is
only rendered perceptible by its lower half
being dark smoky-brown, and forming a spot
in the very centre of the wing; the wing ia
transversely traversed by many cloudy mak-
ings of sienna-brown, inclining to purple,
all of whirh are strongly pronounced on the
costal margin, but vanish before reaching the
inner margin ; the position and direction of
these will be seen in the upper figure : the
hind wings are almost white : the head is
pale canary yellow ; the thorax is bright
yellow and crested, it is slightly paler in
front ; the body is pale. The variety Fla-
vescnis of Esper, represented in the lower
figure, is pale yellow without any of the
cloudy transverse markings, but having the
central spot, which — from the absence of
other markings — is rendered very conspi-

NOCTTJAS.

375

The head of the CATERPILLAR is shining and
of a ferruginous- brown colour : the second
segment has a dorsal shining corneous plate
nearly black with three white lines, the
middle one of which is rather obscure, the
outer ones very distinct ; the colour of the
body is violet brown, and with a medio-dorsal
stripe bordered by two pale thread-like lines ;
there is a lateral line, of pearl-gray colour, in
the region of the spiracles : it is found in early
spring feeding on the catkins of the sallow
(Saiix caprea), but as it approaches its full
growth it leaves the sallows, and feeds on the
plants which grow near the ground.

The MOTH appears on the wing in September,
and occurs in all our English counties, and
occasionally also in Scotland. Mr. Birchall
says it is common in the County Wicklow in
Ireland. (The scientific name is Xanthia
cerago.)

600. The Pink -barred Sallow (Xanthia silago).

600. THE PINK-BARRED SALLOW. —The palpi
are rather long, porrected, and sharp-pointed :
the antennae are simple in both sexes : the
fore wings are very slightly arched on the
costa and incompletely pointed at the tip :
their colour is orange-yellow : the discoidal
spots are scarcely to be recognized ; there are
several ferruginous-purple markings on the
wing ; first there is a conspicuous blotch on
the costa near its base, beyond which are
four small sjx)ts on the costa ; then a broad
but broken band extending from the costa
obliquely to the middle of the inner margin ;
there are other small spots between this band
and the base of the wing, and a semi-double
transverse series of similarly-coloiired spots
between the band and the hind margin : the
hind wings are very pale, but the hind margin
is decidedly tinged with yellow ; the head
and front of the thorax are deep ferruginous-

purple ; the hind part of the thorax is yellow ;
the body grayish yellow.

The CATERPILLAR is reddish-brown with
numerous brown, red, yellow, and white dots,
by which a paler lateral stripe is formed
(Freyer). (Staintoris Manual, vol. i., p. 253,
under the name of Flavago.) It feeds on the
sallow (Salix caprea).

The MOTH appears on the wing in Sep-
tember, and has occurred in all our English
counties, and also in Scotland. Mr. Birchall
has taken it not uncommonly in the counties
Wicklow and Dublin, in Ireland. (The
scientific name is Xanthia silago.)

601. The Bwred Sallow (Xanthia aurago).

601. THE BARRED SALLOW. — The palpi are
conspicuously porrected ; the antennae are
simple : the fore wings have the costal margin
very slightly arched, and the tip pointed ;
their colour is yellow, with a ferruginous-
purple band at the base, and another broadly
occupying the whole of the hind margin, but
interrupted throughout by a transverse waved
yellow line which expands into a blotch at the
tip of the wing ; the discoidal spots are repre-
sented by two small and imperfectly defined
ferruginous-purple marks, the orbicular being
the larger and somewhat reniform, the reni-
form the smaller and somewhat orbicular ; the
hind wings are pale fulvous-yellow, with an
indistinct crescentic discoidal spot, and °
double bar, also indistinct, on thehind margin ;
the head is yellow tinged with pink; the
thorax yellow, variegated with ferruginov.s-
purple, inclining to pink ; the body is of the
same colour as the hind wings.

Although there is something like a descrip-
tion of the CATERPILLAR I cannot trust to it.
M. Guenee says " it is imperfectly known.
It feeds on birch (Fagus sylvatica).

The MOTH appears on the wing in September,

376

BRITISH MOTHS.

and is rather local ; its principal localities
are Torquay and Teignmouth in Devonshire,
Weston in Somersetshire, Isle of Wight,
Brighton and Lewes in Sussex, Kent, Essex,
Norfolk, Suffolk, Gloucestershire, and Wor-
cestershire. It is said to have been taken by
Mr. Haughton in Ireland, but the locality is
unknown. (The scientific name is Xanthia
aurago.)

602. Th« Dusky-lemon Sallow (Xanthia gilvago).

602. THE DUSKY-LEMON SALLOW. — The
palpi are inconspicuous but sharp-pointed ;
the antennae are simple : the fore wings are
blunt at the tip and of a pale ferruginous
colour with smoky clouds ; the discoidal spots
are clearly defined, the lower half of the
median area of the reniform being filled with
gmoke-colour : the smoky clouds on the
general area of the wing are chiefly confined
to two irregular and indistinctly defined
bands, the first nearer the base than the
orbicular, the second beyond the orbicular,
and including the reniforra ; the second band
is interrupted by a transverse zigzag pale
ferruginous line ; beyond the band there is
frequently, but not invariably, a transverse
series of black dots, and beyond the black
dots, parallel with the hind margin, a smoke-
coloured bar often broken up into black spots :
the hind wings are very pale ochreous : the
head and front of the thorax are pale ferrugi-
nous ; the disk of the thorax is smoky ; the
body is of the same colour as the hind wings.

The head of the CATERPILLAR is very de-
cidedly narrower than the second segment ; it
is porreoted in crawling, and not notched on
the crown ; the second segment is smaller and
narrower than the following ones : the body
is smooth and almost uniformly cylindrical,
Vmt very gradually increasing to the twelfth

segment, which is the largest ; it is velvety,
and with the segmental divisions very clearly
marked ; the anal claspers are small, closely
approximate, and not spreading ; the head is
umber-brown, shading to paler brown on the
cheeks, and very glabrous ; the dorsal area of
the body is dingy-brown, the second segment
having a semicircular patch of darker brown,
the convex margin of which is directed back-
wards, and the disk of which is interrupted
by three pale longitudinal lines, with an in-
tervening pale spot on the convex margin ;
between each two there is a dorsal series of
subtriangular markings, all darker than the
ground-colour, the apex of each pointing
backward ; the ventral is paler than the
dorsal area, and is slightly tinged with olive-
green, the division between the dorsal and
ventral areas being abruptly marked, at the
region of the spiracles, which are intensely
black ; the dorsal area and triangles are varied
with linear markings, which disappear to wards
the period of pupation : it feeds on elm
(Ulmus campestris).

The moth appears on the wing in Septem-
ber, but seems by no means generally dis-
tributed. It has been taken in some plenty
in the Isle of Wight, in Worcestershire, and
Staffordshire, abundantly in Derbyshire, and
also in Yorkshire. (The scientific name is
Xanthia gilvago.)

603. The Brick (Xanthia ferruginea) .

603 THE BRICK. — The palpi are porrect ed
but short ; the terminal joint naked ; the
antennae are simple : the fore wings are nearly
straight on the costa, blunt at the tip, and
slightly scalloped on the hind margin ; their
colour is ferruginous gray : the discoidal spots
have a slender dark circumscription, except at
the upper extremity, where it is occasionally
wanting : the orbicular is more perfect than

NOCTUAS.

377

the reniform in this respect ; the lower portion
of the area of the reniform is nearly black, but
interspersed with gray scales, and has an
appearance of being burnt ; several irregular,
interrupted, and inconspicuous trans verse dark
lines croBS the wing ; there is also a broad
band of slightly darker brown on the hind
margin, and this is traversed throughout by a
very narrow pale waved line : the hind wings
are paleochreous, along the costal margin, and
have a broad fringe of the same colour the
median area is smoky : the head and thorax
are of the same colour as the fore wings ; the
body is smoky, with the sides and extremity
paler.

The head of the CATERPILLAR is narrower
than the second segment, porrected in crawling,
and not notched on the crown ; the body is
smooth and almost uniformly cylindrical, but
gradually increases in size to the twelfth
segment, which ia the largest ; the anal
claapers are small and closely approximate ;
the colour of the head is umber-brown and
very glabrous, the body is brown, with a
medio-dorsal series of triangular markings, the
points of which are directed backwards : it
feeds on the buds of the sallow (Salix cnprea)
and aspen (Popu&M tremula)in April and May.

The MOTH appears on the wing in September,
and is the most universally distributed of the
genus ; it occurs in all the English, Scotch,
and Irish counties that have been investigated
by entomologists. (The scientific name is
Xanthiaferruginea. )

604. The Centre -barred Sallow (Cirrhcedia mora/m.
petina).

604. THI CENTRE-BARRED SALLOW. — The
palpi are inconspicuous, the terminal joints
very small and naked ; the antennae are
simple : the fore wings are slightly arched
towards the tip and pointed, and *-.b<» *"nd

margin distinctly scalloped ; their colour is
orange-yellow, with a median band, and a
hind marginal band ferruginous-purple ; there
is also a dot of the same colour near the base
of the wing ; the median band scarcely reaches
the costal margin ; its inner border is broadly
excavated near the top, its outer border very
oblique ; the orbicular is wamting ; the reni-
form only indicated in the median band ; both
borders of the median band are delicately
pale-margined : the hind wings are very pale
and slightly iridescent, they are rather darker
and inclined to rosy-ferruginous towards the
hind margin : the head and thorax are of the
same colour as the fore wings ; the body of
the same colour as the hind wings.

The CATERPILLAR has been described by
Guenee, and more recently and fully by Mr.
Buckler in the 42nd number of the Entomo-
logists' Monthly Magazine. Mr. Buckler re-
ceived two caterpillars, one from Mr. Greene,
in April, 1866, and the other from Mr.
Hutchinson, in May, 1867. I quote Mr.
Buckler's description : —

" The first caterpillar was found before the
ash-trees had put forth blossoms, and ash-buds
were given it for food, into which the cater-
pillar ate round holes, burrowed, and devoured
the interior. The second and full-grown
caterpillar came after the a*h had assumed its
foliage, and it partook of young shoots for a
few days before spinning. The caterpillar,
had then attained nearly one inch and a
quarter in length, and was rather broad in
proportion, the head rather smaller than the
next segment. Viewed sideways, it appeared
tapering gradually towards the head, and
from the eleventh segment to the anal extre-
mity ; but even on the back it looked- of
almost uniform width, excepting just at each
end. The divisons deeply cut, giving each
segment a plump appearance. The caterpillar,
when two-thirds grown, is very suggestive of
lichen, and of a lichen-feeder. Its head is
shining dark gray-brown, mottled and streaked
with darker blackish-brown ; a black shining
plate on the second segment, having two rather
broad angulated whitish stripes. The back
and sides are brownish-gray, delicately mottled

378

BUITISH MOTHS.

with a darker tint of the same. The dorsal
stripe is dirty whitibli, edged with hlack, and
is on the third and fourth segments con-
tinuous but contracted and expanded, while
on the others it is only visible, and expanded
towards the end of each segment, excepting
the twelfth and thirteenth, where it is
widened into a broad blotch, extending to the
sub-dorsal region, and strongly margined with
black ; from its base on the middle segments
is a brownish-gray streak on either side,
curved obliquely forward to the middle of the
sub-dorsal line. The tubercular dots are
whitish, delicately ringed with black, and
with minute black centres, each with a short
and very fine hair. The sub-dorsal line is a
very thin thread of dirty whitish, delicately
and interruptedly edged with black ; the space
between it and the spiracular region is grayish-
brown, darker than the back, and having a
paler bloi.sh in the middle of each segment.
The spiracular stripe is a pale freckled
brownish-gray, edged above by a bl*ck line ;
the spiracles dirty whitish, outlined with
gray, and inconspicuous. The belly and legs
are a slightly mottled greenish-gray. Of the
CHRYSALIS, Mr. Greene says : — " I took forty-
seven in 1855, in 1856 I only met with
eight. It is, perhaps, the most difficult of all
chrysalids to find, and when found the most
liable to be injured. The following directions
may be found useful : — They are to be sought
for at roots of ash ; trees of good growth need
only to be tried ; those on the borders of
streams and damp ditches will be found most
productive. This insect forms a hard egg-
shaped cocoon. Turn up the loose dry earth,
rubbish, or moss, about or adhering to that
side of the tree which faces the stream, and
crumble it very carefully with the hand ;
should you see something resembling a cocoon
of a dark muddy c< >lour, take it up and try
whether you have obtained a prize ; but in
this trying lies the danger. Though hard, the
cocoon is extremely brittle, and almost the
slightest pressure crushes it. The best way,
therefore, when you think you have a cocoon,
is to pare one end with a pen-knife as gently
as possible ; if, after scraping it in thio man-

ner, you find it is a cocoon, you have found
Xerampdina, and may congratulate yourself.
You may look for it as early as the beginning
of August, certainly not later than the first
week of September. I may add that Mr.
Doubleday informs me that the caterpillar
feeds on the seeds of ash-trees. Subsequent
experience leads me somewhat to modify the
above. I find it is by no means the fact that
the chrysalis case is always brittle. It cer-
tainly was so in Suffolk ; this may have been
due to the soil. In Hampshire and Derby-
shire, however, where I have taken it not
uncommonly, the cocoon is soft and leathery.
I am decidedly wrong in giving September as
one of the months in which to find it : this is
much too late. This insect, Croceago, and, I
believe, all the species of the genus Xanthia,
are full-fed in June. I can speak from actual
knowledge of all except Croceago and Aurago;
but they do not turn to the chrysalis state for
four or five weeks. This presents a double
difficulty to the digger : first, that of hitting
the precise time when to dig, and secondly,
the great danger of injuring the caterpillar if
not turned, or the chrysalis if only just turned.
As a rule I should recommend the last week
in July as the time in which to begin.
You may go on till the middle and end of
August, about which time, if fortunate, you
may sometimes see the insect itself, drying its
wings on the trunks of the trees, about a foot
from the ground. This takes place generally
from about two to four p.m. Subsequent
experience, however, by no means leads me to
altrr my opinion as to the difficulty of finding
the chrysalis. I must acknowledge that it is
hard, and sometimes disheartening work, but
you are repaid when y»u see a magnificent
fellow drying his wings in the breeding cage :
some of the caterpillars barely enter the earth,
and the most likely place for the chrysalis is
among the loose rubbish, composed of bits of
stick, dry roots, &c., collected round the
trunks. All this should be most carefully
and completely separated and examined. 1
may remark here that the chrysalis of all these
species most closely resemble each other, and
it has often been a marvel to me how such

NOOTUAS.

large insects can be contained in so small a
compass."

The MOTH appeal's on the wing in Septem-
ber, and has occurred in several of our English
counties ; between Bickleigh and Plympton
station, and at Torquay in Devonshire ; in
Somerset, Dorset, Essex, Berkshire, Suilblk,
Cambridge, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, and the
Lake District : but I think not in Scotland or
Ireland. (The scientific name is Cirrhoedia
soerampelina.)

605. The Olira (Telhea, sultusa).

605. THE OLIVE. — The palpi are rather
long, porrected, and sharp - pointed ; the
antennae are simple in both sexes : the costal
margin of the fore wings is slightly arched,
the tip scarcely produced, and not very sharp-
pointed ; the hind margin is slightly w^ved;
their colour is olive-gray, the discoidal spots
being delicately outlined in paler olive-gray :
there are three slender transverse lines of the
same colour as the circumscription of the
discoidal spots, and two of these are nearer
the base of the wing than the orbicular; they
are almost straight, but are nearer the base of
the wing at the costal than at the inner-
marginal extremity ; the third transverse line
is very nearly straight, and is situated beyond
the reniform : the hind wings, head, thorax,
and body aro nearly of the same colour as the
fore wings, but perhaps slightly less olive,
and tending to gray -brown ; the fringe of the
hind wings is paler.

The CATERPILLAR of this moth has been very
carefully described by the Rev. Joseph Greene,
who says: — " The EGGS are probably laid at
the end of July and throughout August on
the young twigs of poplar. The caterpillar
hatches in the following spring, as soon jus the
young buds burst into leaf ; it immediately

spins two leaves together, and continues this
practice during the whole of the larval state.
Like some other species it effects the various
changes of skin in the same situation. In
confinement it appears to feed only at night.
The following is a description of the full-grown
caterpillar, which is not at all variable either
in colour or markings : pale yellowish-green,
rather glossy, not unlike the caterpillar of
Notodonta dictcea. The dorsal stripe is broad
pale yellow, much more so than the ground-
colour. Spiracular line the same; along this
latter is a row of black rings, somewhat oval,
having a pale yellow centre. There is one
such ring in the seoond and ten following seg-
ments ; just midway between the dorsal and
spiracular lines is another slender, clear yellow
stripe, slightly interrupted by the segmental
divisions. Head chrome -yellow, bordered
with black ; mouth and claspers black,
slightly mottled with yellow. The caterpillar
lies curled up between two leaves spun
together, and in this position — when in a
state of nature — may be easily detected by
looking up at the leaves. CHRYSALIS subter-
ranean, ciuysalis-case weak. The caterpillar
is full-grown about the end of May.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
has been taken now and then in most of our
English counties, but I think not in Ireland.
(The scientific name is Tithea subttisa.)

606. The Donble Kidney (Tethea retusa).

606. THE DOUBLE KIDNEY. — The palpi are
rather long, porrected, and sharp-pointed ;
the antennae are simple : the costal margin
of the fore wings is nearly straight, the tip
produced and very sharp-pointed ; the hind
margin is sinuous and concave just below the
tip ; indeed, the tip may be described as
slightly falcate ; their colour is dark olive-
gray, the discoidal spots being very distinctly

880

BRITISH MOTHS.

but delicately outlined in paler olive-gray,
and the median area of each being very
slightly darker than the general ground-
colour of the wings ; there are three slender
transverse lines of the same colour as the
circumscription of the discoidal spots; all of
these are oblique, two of them are nearer the
base of the wing than the orbicular, and both
these are farther from the body at the costal
than at the inner-marginal extremity ; the
third transverse line is situated beyond the
reniform : the hind wings, head, thorax, and
body are very nearly of the same colour as
the fore wings; the hind wings have a paler
fringe.

Mr. Hellins, who has described the CATER-
PILLAR in the Entomologist J Monthly Magazine
for January, 1868, says that when full-grown
it is about an inch in length, slightly tapering
towards both extremities, and flat beneath;
the head is small, rounded, and rather flat ;
the skin is very delicate and thin, so that the
stripes on it show as if ribbed or raised, and
the internal organs are partially seen through
it : the colour is pale dull green, with a
yellow tinge towards both extremities; there
is a broad whitish dorsal stripe, and the
slender lateral stripes of the same colour, the
latter in the region of the spiracles is waved ;
the head is rather yellowish-green or blackish-
brown, and occasionally there is a dark collar
on the second segment ; the young cater-
pillars have the usual dots very visible and
black, but lose all trace of them as they grow
larger : it folds and spins together the leaves
and shoots of the sallow (Salix caprea), and
resides in the domicile thus formed ; it may
be found by opening these retreats at the end
of May and beginning of June.

The MOTH appears on the wing in August,
and occurs sparingly in some of our English
counties; at Exeter and Alphington, in Devon-
shire ; at Glanville's Wootton, in Dorsetshire ;
in the "Weald of Sussex, the Isle of Wight,
Birch and Darent Wood, in Kent; Essex,
Cambridgeshire; at Leominster, in Hereford-
shire, "Worcestershire, and Yorkshire, but I
believe neither in Scotland nor Ireland. (The
scientific name is Tethea retusa.)

607. The Angle -striped Sallow (Eu/peria fulvago) .

607. THE ANGLE -STRIPED SALLOW. — The
palpi are very slightly porrected, the second
joint very stout, the terminal joint small and
pointed; the antennae are very slightly ciliated
in the male, quite simple in the female : the
fore wings are scarcely arched, but decidedly
pointed at the tip; their colour is ochreous;
the discoidal spots and two transverse lines
being clearly but very delicately denned in
brown ; the median area of the orbicular is
uniformly ochreous, that of the reniform has a
darker blotch at its lower extremity : the first of
the transverse lines is bent or elbowed towards
the middle, it is considerably nearer the base
than the orbicular; the second is much bent,
but scarcely elbowed ; there is a very short
line going half-way across the wing at its
base; the lower part of the renifonn is
occupied by a dark spot, and from this to the
middle of the inner margin is a slightly darker
shade : the hind wings are very pale ochreous :
the head and body are of the same colour as
the fore wings, the body of the same colour as
the hind wings ; the body of the female ter-
minates in a sharp-pointed ovipositor.

Guene"e has described the CATERPILLAR as
having the head fulvous-red, and the body
pale green or grayish, with a medio-dorsal and
sub-dorsal stripe white and continuous ; there
is also a whitish lateral stripe in the region of
the spiracles ; the warty spots are white also :
the CHRYSALIS is covered with'a violet-coloured
bloom : the caterpillar feeds on the oak
(Quercus fiobur) and birch (Betula alba).

The MOTH appears oa the wing in August,
but is very local, having only been taken in
Derbyshire, Westmoreland, and Lancashire.
It occurs in Mr. Greene's List of the Lepi-
doptera of Ireland. (The scientific name is
Euperia .fulvayo.}

NOCTUAS.

881

608. Tho Heart Moth (Dicijcla Oo).

608. THE HEART MOTH. — The palpi are
curved upwards, the terminal joint being
small and pointed ; the antennae are slightly
ciliated : the fore -wings are ample, straight
on the costa, and blunt at the tip ; their
colour is pale ochreous-gray, with darker
markings ; there are two orbicular and one
reniform discoidal spot ; the two orbiculars are
placed transversely, that is, one below the
other, the lower one is flattened; all three
are clearly denned in outline; there are five
transverse lines, the first very short and near
the base ; the second zigzag and before the
orbicular ; the third is near the middle of the
wing, is interrupted by the reniform, and is
much bent ; the fourth is beyond the reniform,
and is also much bent; and the fifth is near
the hind margin, and parallel therewith; the
hind margin itself is delicately margined with
the same darker colour, and the parallel wing-
rays being also of that colour, the wing has
a very elegant reticulated appearance; there
is a smoky cloud near the base, half-way be-
tween the costal and inner margin : the hind
wings are delicately pale, almost white : the
head is almost white; the thorax ochreous-
gray; the body is paler, and in the female
terminates in a very sharp-pointed ovipositor.

The CATERPILLAR is described by Guenee as
having a large head and a smooth, elongate,
and rather depressed body, of a blackish-brown
or reddish-brown colour, with a medio-dorsal,
Bub-dorsal, and lateral stripe pure white ; the
medio-dorsal is narrowest in the middle of
each segment ; the lateral stripe is tinged with
brimstone-yellow, and is intersected by a black
streak near each spiracle ; the spiracles them-
selves are encircled with brown : it feeds on
the young unexpanded leaves of the oak
(Quercus Robur], which it spins together at the
extremity of the twigs, and thu» r^rms a

dwelling-place, which it only leaves to under-
go its transformation to a CHRYSALIS, which is
enclosed in an oval cocoon on the surface of
the earth.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
has occurred in the New Forest, Hampshire, in
Kent, Essex, Cambridgeshire, and Wiltshire.
(The scientific name is Dicycla Oo.}

609. The Dun-bar (Cosmia, tra/pezina').

609. THE DUN-BAR. — The palpi are por-
rected, curved upwards, and approximating,
the terminal joint being pointed; the antennae
are simple: the fore wings are ample, the
costal margin slightly arched, the tip pointed,
but not acutely so ; their colour is various :
pale gray, bright rust - colour, and dingy
brown are the commoner colours, but there is
almost every intermediate shade between
them; the discoidal spots are generally dis-
tinctly outlined, and the lower portion of the
median area in the reniform is usually occu-
pied by a dark spot; there are three trans-
verse dark lines, the first short and near the
base ; the second very oblique, and having a
white or very pale interior border; the third
much bent, and having a white or very pale
exterior border; beyond this, and parallel
with the hind margin, is a pale line with a
series of rather coarse dark spots on its interior
border, and terminating on the costa in a dark
shade : the hind wings are gray-brown, -with
a pale fringe ; the head and thorax are of the
same colour as the fore wings; the body of

382

BRITISH MOTHS.

the same colour as the hind wings, and tufted
at the extremity in the males.

The female lays her EGGS on oak (Quercus
Robur) in August, and less commonly on horn-
beam (Carpinus betulus) ; the CATERPILLARS
abound in the following May, particularly
from the middle to the end of the month, and
beginning of June. Although, doubtless,
occasionally feeding on leaves, they seem to
prefer animal food, devouring with great
greediness the caterpillars of other Lepidop-
tera, particulai-ly those of the winter moth
(Cheimatobia brumata), which absolutely
swarm in our woods, forests, and gardens
during the entire month of May and the
beginning of June. It neither feigns death
nor rolls in a ring when rudely dislodged by
the beating-stick, but falls at full length into
the umbrella, amid a shower of the other
caterpillars which the same stroke has also
dislodged: in this predicament it instantly
catches sight of the first caterpillar that
ventures to crawl, and starts in immediate
pursuit, and an exciting race ensxies, in which
the Cosmia is not always the victor, the Chei-
matobia sometimes escaping through sheer
superiority of sperd : the carnivorous cater-
pillar, however, generally gains the day, and
it is curious to observe that he does not seize
the leaf-feeder by the hinder part of the body,
but never slackens his pace until his head is
abreast of the other's neck, which he then
seizes with savage eagerness, reminding one
strongly of a deerhound pulling down a stag,
or at least of the representations of this cruel
feat by the inimitable Landseer. When the
first paralysing grip is given, it is all over
with the leaf- feeder ; there is scarcely a
struggle ; the Cheimatobia submits to its fate,
and the Cosmia continues his repast, until one
wonders at his power of consumption : when
introduced into the collecting-box with* any
other caterpillars, a somewhat similar scene
ensues, but the chance of escape for the leaf-
feeder is gone, and his destruction is inevit-
able : I have rarely, if ever, opened a box in
which a Cosmia antl Cheimatobia have been
enclosed together, without finding that the
latter has falleii a prey to the former. The

head of the Cosmia caterpillar is manifestly
narrower than the body, very glabrous, and
porrected in crawling ; the body is obese,
slightly narrowed at the anterior extremity,
and slightly swollen on the back of the
twelfth segment. The colour of the head is
dusky semihyaline green ; the body is pale dull
green, with numerous small warts, and five
equidistant pale, almost white, stripes ex-
tending its entire length ; these stripes are
often tinged with yellow or yellow-green, and
the outer or lateral stripe is often bordered
with dark smoke-colour along its upper
margin ; the warts are jet-black and each
is surrounded by a ring of pure white, and
emits a rather conspicuous bristle ; on each
segment there are usually eight of these
warts ; on the second, third, said fourth seg-
ments they are arranged in a straight trans-
verse series, but on the following segments,
namely, the fifth to the twelfth inclusive,
four of them are arranged almost in a square
on the back, and two below them on each side;
the medio-dorsal stripe is narrow, but very
distinct ; the next on each side is still
narrower, irregular, and interrupted ; the
exterior or lateral stripe is much wider than
the others, and very distinct ; it includes all
the spiracles, except the first and ninth ; the
upper margin of this wide stripe is sometimes
bordered with black, which merges abruptly
in the general ground-colour : the ventral
surface, including the legs and claspers, is
delicate apple-green, with a semitransparent
appearance. It changes to a CHRYSALIS in a
slight web on the surface of the earth : the
chrysalis is of a brown colour, covered with
a beautiful bloom like that on a ripe Orleans
plum.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
occurs in all the English, Scotch, and Irish
counties that have been investigated by en-
tomologists. (The scientific name is Cosmia
trapezina. )

Obs. — The presence or absence of the deli-
cate bloom on the chrysalids of this family of
moths is very interesting, andnotunfrequently
forms an excellent character by which to sepa-
rate nearly allied species from each other.

NOCTUAS.

383

oiO. The Lunar-spotted Pinion (Cosmia pyralina).

610. THE LUNAR-SPOTTED PINION. — The
palpi are porrected and curved upwards, the
terminal joints being slender and pointed; the
antennae are simple : the fore wings are
scarcely at all arched on the costa, and square
at the tip ; their colour is rich reddish-brown,
the discoidal spots being scarcely perceptible,
but there is a white crescent on the costal
margin near its apical angle, its cusps point-
ing towards the hind margin ; nearer the
middle of the wing is a transverse and much
elbowed white line; and nearer the base, a
transverse waved pale line; parallel with the
hind margin is a compound transverse line,
uniting with the crescentic mark already
described : the hind wings are smoky-gray
with a somewhat rosy fringe : the head and
thorax are of the same colour as the fore
wings, the body as the hind wings.

The CATERPILLAR is pale green, the medio-
dorsal and sub-dorsal stripes being paler green ;
the spiracular line is yellowish, edged above
with black ; the spots yellowish-greec ; the
head dark green (Freyer}. It feeds on plum
and pear (Staintons Manual, vol. ii. p. 258).

The MOTH appears on the wing in August,
but is very local; Mr. G. C. Green found it
very abundant at Modbury, in Devonshire ;
it has also been taken in Dorsetshire, Wilt-
shire, Sussex, Kent, Suffolk, \Yorcestershire,
and Derbyshire. (The scientific name is
Cosmia pyralina.)

€11. The White-spotted Pinion (Cosmia diffinis).
$11. TH» WHITE-SPOTTED PINIOK. — The

palpi are porrected and curved upwards, the
terminal joint being slender and pointed ; the
antennae are simple : the costal margin of the
fore wings is almost straight, the tip blunt;
their colour is red-brown, the discoidal spots
being scarcely perceptible ; there are four
white marks on the costa ; the first is near
the base of the wing and linear ; the second
is triangular at its commencement, then bends
slightly towards the body, and then unites
with a pale line which descends to the middle
of the inner margin ; the third is large and
triangular at the costa, and unites at its apex
with a pale transverse line which at first bends
towards the hind margin, and then rather
abruptly descends to the inner margin ; the
fourth is linear, or slightly crescentic, and
combines with a' third pale transverse line
parallel with the hind margin : the hind
wings are gray-brown with pale fringe : the
head and thorax are of the same red-brown
colour as the fore wings, the body of the same
gray-brown colour as the hind wings.

The head of the CATERPILLAR is black and
shining ; the body is nearly cylindrical, but
the anterior extremity is more slender, a
character very evident when this part of the
body is stretched out to its full extent : its
colour is pale apple-green, with medio-dorsal
and lateral stripes ding v -white ; there is a
second stripe on each side in the region of the
spiracles of a pale yt-llow ; it feeds on elm
( (Jlmus campestris), and is full-fed the begin-
ning of June, when it spins a slight cocoon
either on the trunk of the elm or between two
leaves.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
occurs rather commonly in the southern coun-
ties of England, in Worcestershire, Derbyshire,
and Yorkshire. (The scientific name is Oosmia
dijfinis.)

612. The Lesser-spotted Pinion (Cosmia affinis).
612. THE LESSER-SPOTTED PINION. — The

884

BRITISH MOTHS.

palpi are very decidedly curved upwards, the
terminal joint small and pointed ; the antennae
are simple: the fore wings are very slightly
arched on the costa, blunt at the tip, and
scalloped at the anal angle ; their colour is
cinnamon-brown, mottled and marbled with
. darker brown ; the discoidal spots are pale
cinnamon-brown, the reniform assuming the
appearance of a figure of eight, the two median
areas thereof being black spots ; the orbicular
has one such black spot, and there is a very
similar cinnamon-brown and black central
mark between the orbicular and the costal
margin ; there are four gray transverse lines,
all of which are inconspicuous ; the first is
short and very slender, and it is situated near
the base of the wing ; the second is also slender,
and situated before the orbicular; the third is
beyond the orbicular, is much bent outwards
in the middle, and expands into a gray cloud
on the costal margin ; the fourth is parallel with
the hind margin, and expands into a gray cloud
on the costal margin : the hind wings are black,
but slightly paler towards the base, and the
pale portion contains a dark crescentic discoidal
spot j the fringe is orange : the head and
thorax are dull orange-brown ; the body *t
blackish-brown, with delicate orange rings :
the disk of the under surface of all the wings
is black, with a broad orange margin.

The CATERPILLAR is described by Guenee
as having the head of a pale green-colour,
the body much attenuated anteriorly and
flattened below ; the segments distinctly
divided and somewhat rhomboidal in form :
the colour is a beautiful glaucous-green, with
a broad and continuous medio-dorsal stripe of
a pure white ; there is also a sub-dorsal and a
lateral stripe, both of which are narrower
than the medio-dorsal, but like that, unin-
terrupted and pure white ; the lateral stripe is
below the spiracles, which are black, but
encircled with white : the legs and claspers
are pale green: it feeds on the elm (Ulmus
campestris), the leaves of which it binds care-
lessly together with a few silken threads : the
CHRYSALIS is short and covered with a violet-
coloured bloom.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and

has occurred In several English counties. Mr.
Reading gives a number of Devonshire loca-
lities, and it seems not to be uncommon in
Somersetshire, Dorsetshire, Isle of Wight,
Kent, Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Hereford,
Worcester, Shropshire, Derbyshire, and York-
shir*, and Mr. Birchall, met with it at Powers-
court, in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Cosmia affinis.)

613. The Dusky Sallow (Eremolia ochroleuca).

613. THE DUSKY SALLOW. — The palpi are
porrected, the second' joint slender but scaly,
the scales almost entirely concealing the
very small terminal joint; the antennae of the
male are ciliated with short hairs, each sepa-
rate hair being recurved, those of the female
are simple : the fore wings are straight on the
costa, rounded at the tip, and waved on the
hind margin ; their colour is dull ochreous-
brown with darker brown markings ; the
discoidal spots are scarcely to be distinguished :
the reniform is contained in, and confused
with, a pale costal blotch ; the orbicular is
contained in, and confused with, a larger and
darker costal blotch nearer the base of the
wing; opposite this latter is a smaller dark
blotch near the middle of the inner margin ;
there is a series of dark crescentic spots on
the waved hind margin of the wing, and the
fringe contains two series of corresponding
spots : the hind wings have much the same
colour as the fore wings, but the paler tint is
confined to the base and fringe, the darker
tint forming a broad but vague hind-marginal
band: the head, thorax, and body are pale
ochreous-brown, the head and front of the
thorax being very pale ochreous.

The CATERPILLAR is described by Guene"e as
having a large head of a pale red-colour, and
an elongate cylindrical body, with the usual

JSOCTUAS.

385

'vartlike spots prominent, and each bearing
:i hair or bristle on its summit ; the colour is
yellowish-green, with a lateral stripe in the
region of the spiracles of a bright yellow;
the warts and their accompanying hairs are
black : the claspers are pale red : it feeds
011 grasses in dry places, and turns to a
CHRYSALIS in the ground.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July ;
it is a very local species, occurring only at
Brighton and Lewes, in Sussex ; *tt Bristol ;
in Suffolk, and in Yorkshire. (The scientific
name is Eremobia ochroleuca.)

6J4. The Tawny Sheers (Diamthoeeia carpopliaga).

614. THE TAWNY SHEERS.— The palpi are
porrected, the second joint being clothed with
rou<*h unequal scales, which frequently conceal
the small terminal joint ; the antennae are

almost simple in both sexes : the fore wings
are very straight on the costa, and rather
blunt at the tip ; their colour is various, in
some specimens pale ochreous-brown, often
approaching to white, in others dark bistre-
brown ; in all, the discoidal spots are con-
spicuous and well defined ; in one specimen
in my possession there is a very obvious
median darker band, and this contains the
two discoidal spots ; parallel with the hind
margin is a zigzag pale line, adjoining which
and pointing towards the base of the wing
are two or three wedge-shaped dark-brown
spots : the hind wings are pale dingy brown
at the base, and have a broad dark band on
the hind margin ; this is frequently preceded
by a slen ler transverse line : the head, thorax,
and body partake of the general tint of the
wings.

The EGGS of this variable species are laid on the
calyx or corolla of the bladder campion (Silene
inflata), and the young CATERPILLAR emerging
in about a week, gnaws a minute hole in the
capsule, and, entering through the aperture,
takes up its abode in the interior until it has
consumed the whole of the seed, and then
emerging, seeks another capsule and empties
that of its contents in the same manner ; when
grown so large as to be unable to conceal itself
in one of the capsules, it generally descends
to the ground during the day, ascending to
the flower-heads only during the night. On
examining the flower-heads with a lantern
at night, the caterpillars may frequently be
found with the head and anterior segments
concealed in the capsule, and the remainder of
the body very obviously exposed to sight : when
full grown, the head is exserted, the face rather
flat, glabrous, and of a reddish -brown colour,
with four darker longitudinal lines; the
body is cylindrical, smooth, and plump, the
divisions of the segments being very clearly
marked ; its colour is greenish-gray, with a
broad medio-dorsal, and narrower sub-dorsal
and lateral stripes dingy white : when full-fed
it descends finally to the ground, and burying
itself in the earth, and there forming a very
slight cocoon, changes to a CHRYSALIS of a
reddish-browp colour, the case containing

M 25

3S6

BEJTTSH MOTHS.

the legs and antennae being prolonged below
those containing the wings.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June : it
occurs in most of our English counties, and
the name occurs in the Irish lists. (The
scientific name is Dianthcecia carpophaga.)

615. The Pod -lover (Dianthcecia capsophila).

615. THE POD-LOVER. — The palpi are por-
rected, the second joint being clothed with
bristly scales, which conceal the small ter-
minal joint ; the antennae are almost simple in
both sexes : the fore wings are rather ample,
very straight on the costa, and rather blunt
at the tip ; their colour is dark bistre-brown,
with numerous pale and clearly-defined mark-
ings ; the two discoidal spots are very distinct;
each has a very pale circumscription and a
dark median area ; there are four pale trans-
verse lines, the first very near the base, and
very short ; the second before the orbicular,
oblique and waved ; the third beyond the
reniform, and much bent; and the fourth
parallel with the hind margin, and zigzag.
These pale lines have black borders, which
make them very conspicuous ; all the markings
are sharp and clearly defined ; the hind wings
are light dingy brown at the base, and have a
broad dark brown marginal band, preceded by
a slender waved line : the head and thorax
are richly varied with different shades of gray
and brown ; the body is gray-brown.

The EGG is laid on the seed-pods of the sea
campion (Silene maritima], and the young
CATERPILLAR enters the capsule and feeds on
the seed ; as it increases in size it devours the
walls of the capsules, and even the calyx.
When full-fed it rolls itself into a ring, and
feigns death if removed from its food. The
head is small, porrected in crawling, glabrous,
and beset with scattered hairs. The body is
obese, smooth, and cylindrical. It, is slightly

attenuated to wards each extremity. The head
is pale, semi-transparent brown, and has a few
hairs ; the ocelli are black, and there is a
black dot at the base of each hair ; the body
is pale wainscot-brown, with five paler longi-
tudinal stripes : the most conspicuous of these
is medio-dorsal ; the widest is lateral, and
includes the spiracles, which are pale in the
centre, but bordered with black. Exactly
intermediate between the medio-dorsal and
the spiracular lateral stripe is one less con-
spicuous and rather narrower than either.
The dorsal surface of the second segment is
glabrous, subcorneous, and darker brown ;
but the medio-dorsal stripe passes distinctly
through this darker portion. The belly, legs,
and claspei s are very pale. These caterpillars
were full-fed on Midsummer-day. I am in-
debted to Mr. Birchall for a supply, which I
fed on the bladder campion (Silene inflata) in
the absence of their proper food-plant. They
became pale brown CHRYSALIDS on the llth
of July.

The MOTH appears on the wing early in June,
and has hitherto only been found in Ireland on
the Hill of Howth and at Waterford, and in the
Isle of Man. (The scientific name as adopted
in England is Dianthcecia capsophila.}

Obs. — Mr. Birchall, in his " List of Irish
Lepidoptera," appends this note to his mention
of Dianthcecia capsophila : — " There has been
much discussion as to the claims of this insect
to be considered a species distinct from Car-
pophaga, some of the darker varieties of which
from Scotland approach Capsophila both in
form and colour. The caterpillars of Carpo-
phaga and Capsophila, like the perfect insects,
differ principally in colour : Capsophilain both
cases being darker. The caterpillars of Cap-
sincola and Conspersa are, however, equally
difficult to separate ; and these slight variations
in the caterpillar state seem to be characteristic
ofiheDianthoscice, and alone are insufficient to
enable us to discriminate the species. So we
may suppose that the common origin of vile
various species of the genus is indicated by
these slight differences in the caterpillar state;
but for the purpose of classification Carpophaga
and Capsophila seem to me abundantly distinct,

NOCTUAS.

387

and must be so recorded." But subsequently
— writing to me on the 24th of this present
October — Mr. Birchall adds: " This insect k
the Irish representative of D. carpophaga, and
in my opinion only a variety of that species,
and reaches its extreme point of divergence
from the English and continental type iu the
Isle of Man. The difference between Capso-
phila and Carpophaga is wholly one of colour,
and only exists in the perfect insect, the
caterpillars and chrysalids presenting no
difference. As we travel northward in Great
Britain there is a gradual deepening of the
shade of colour from the clay-coloured almost
immaculate Carpophaga of the southern coun-
ties to the rich brown specimens obtained in
Argyleshire. Amongst the Irish Capsophila
an occasional dark brown specimen occurs, but
the colour of the majority is dark gray, and
the Manx specimens are usually still darker,
sometimes almost entirely black. The expla-
nation seems to be that the species has reached
Ireland by way of Scotland, and that the
effect of insular conditions has been still
further to increase the divergence from the
original type of the mainland. As respects
its natural history, the Isle of Man is certainly
an outlying province of Ireland, in many
respects Hibernior Hibernicis. Capsophila
occurs on the Irish coast from Belfast to
Waterford, but I have not seen or heard of it
on the Western coast, or in the interior of
Ireland. There have been records of its
capture in North Wales, but I have not seen
the specimens, and cannot say whether they
ought to be referred to Carpophaga or Capso-
phila" This species was first discovered by
Anderegg, in Switzerland. Guenee gives
" Alpsof the Yalais, neighbourhood of Digne,"
and "Spain," as the continental habitats ; and
he describes the Spanish form " as much
darker than the Swiss, and almost black, with
the transverse lines very white and slender,
the wing-rays powdered with white, and the
underside very dark." This seems to militate
against the opinion expressed above by Mr.
Birchall ; and it is a remarkable fact that the
most northern and most southern examples of
the species are the darkest.

616. The Lychnis (Dianthcecia copstncola).

616. THE LYCHNIS. — The palpi are por-
rected, the terminal joint very small and in-
conspicuous ; the antennae are simple in both
sexes : the fore wings are nearly straight on
the costa, blunt at the tip, and slightly waved
on the margin ; their colour is umber- brown
with sharply-defined paler markings; the
discoidal spots have a distinct pale circum-
scription, and they are connected at the lower
extremity by a pale wing-ray ; there is a very
irregular but very distinct pale line parallel
with the hind margin : the hind wings are
smoky-gray, the basal area being much paler
with the exception of the wing-rays : there is
a white spot near the hind margin, and nearer
the anal than the apical angle : the head and
thorax are variegated like the fore wings ; the
body is dorsal ly crested, and is tufted at the
extremity in the male ; in the female it is
conical, and terminates in a long and sharp-
pointed ovipositor.

The CATERPILLAR rolls in a ring when
touched : the head is rather small ; the body
is smooth and attenuated at both ends : the
colour of the head is pale brown, and very
shining : of the body dingy brown, and
opaque, with a very slight indicat:on of a
medio-dorsal stripe, and having each segment
marked on the back with a somewhat obscure
smoke-coloured V-shaped mark, the apex of
which points towards the posterior extremity ;
near its apex each V encloses a small trans-
verse bar of its own colour, and at each ex-
tremity of each bar is a nearly circular dot,

388

BRITISH MOTHS.

still of the same colour ; the spiracles are
black, and immediately above each is a slight
swelling. It feeds on the seeds of the white
campion (Lychnis vespertina), and makes a per-
fectly round hole in the capsule, and usually
feeds with half its body hanging out of the
hole : it is full-fed in the beginning of October.

The MOTH appears on the wing in August,
and is widely distributed in England, Scot-
land, and Ireland. (The scientific name is
Dianthcecia capsincola.)

Obs. — The extraordiuary specimen repre-
sented in the lower figure was kindly lent me
for this work by Mr. Bond.

617. The Campion (Dianthoecia Cucubali).

617. THE CAMPION. — The palpi are por-
rected, the terminal joint small and inconspi-
cuous ; the antennae are simple in both sexes :
the fore wings are ample, nearly straight on
the costa, blunt at the tip, and slightly waved
on the hind margin ; their colour is umber-
brown, beautifully overlaid with purple re-
flections ; the discoidal spots have a distinct
pale circumscription ; both of them are oblique,
and the obliquity is in different directions —
thus they recede from each other at the
upper, and approach at the lower, extremity,
so much so, indeed, as in some instances to
be united : there is a pale zigzag and inter-
rupted but well-defined line parallel with the
hind margin ; the hind wings are gray -brown,
rather paler at the base ; the head and thorax
are variegated like the fore wings ; the body
plain gray-brown like the hind wings ; the
body is crested, but neither conspicuously
tufted in the male nor conspicuously pointed
in the female.

ThecATERPiLLAuhasaflattenedandglabrous
head, and a smooth cylindrical body, which
has the divisions of the segments very dis-
tinctly marked. The colour of the head is
greeui>h-gray, with four slender dark lines

down the face ; the body is greenish-gray,
tinged with reddish-orange, especially on the
anterior segments. There are three dark
dorsal stripes on the second, third, and fourth
segments, after which the middle one alone
appears, and the lateral ones are replaced by
an oblique brown line on every segment, as
far as the eleventh inclusive. Every segment
has, moreover, a number of ocellated white
dots. The ventral is greener than the dorsal
area. It feeds on the flowers and seed-pods
of the bladder campion (Silene inflata), and
is full-fed in August, when it descends to
the ground, and spinning a very slight cocoon,
changes to a CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June. It
is found in nearly all our English counties,
extending even into Scotland ; and Mr.
Birchall says it occurs not uncommonly
at Howth and Killarney in Ireland. (The
scientific name it Dianthcecia Cucubali.)

618. The White Spot (Dianthcecia alUmacula).

618. THE WHITE SPOT. — The palpi are very
inconspicuous, scarcely projecting beyond the
tuft of scales which covers the crown of the
head ; the antennae are simple in both sexes :
the fore wings are straight on the costa, and
rounded at the tip ; their colour is smoky-
black, tinged with olive, and they have sharply-
defined black and white markings ; the dis-
coidal spots are conspicuous, but rather small ;
both of them have a broad white circum-
scription, and a transverse central shade of
the ground-colour ; beneath the orbicular is
a pure white square spot, and from this there
projects a lobe towards the lower extremity
of the reniform : there are four white spots in
two pairs at the base of the costal margin,
and several others on the costa itself, par-
ticularly two just above the orbicular; three
transverse lines conspicuously black and
white cross the wing ; the first is about half

NOCTUAS.

389

way between the base and the orbicular; this
is almost direct ; its white portion is on the
inner, its black portion on the outer side ; the
second is much elbowed and zigzag ; it is
situated beyond the reniform, and has the
white portion outside, the black inside ; the
third is very zigzag, and very sharply denned ;
the white portion is outside, the black inside ;
the fringe is spotted with black aud white :
the hind wings are smoky-black, with paler
base, and a white spot near the anal angle ;
the fringe is pale : the head and thorax are
variegated like the fore wings ; the body is
smoke-coloured, the basal segments crested,
the crests tipped with black. .

The CATERPILLAR is ochreous-yellow ; the
medio-dorsal line dark gray, with oblique
lines proceeding from it on each segment ; a
row of black spots on each side ; subdorsal
line pale gray (Gu.). It feeds on the
Nottingham catchfly (Silene nutans). /Stain-
ton's Manual, vol. i. p. 262.

The MOTH appears in June. There is a
specimen in the late Mr. Stephens' collection,
said to have been taken in Birch Wood, Kent,
in 1816, and from this my description is
made ; a second is reported in the Entomo-
logists Monthly Magazine for 1865, p. 237,
as having been taken at Gosport. Its occur-
rence in these localities is very remarkable
from the entire absence of the food-plant.
(The scientific name isDiantfweciaalbimacula.)

619. The Marbled Coronet (Dianthcecia conspersa).

619. The MARBLED CORONET. — The palpi
w»3 scarcely porrected, the second joint very

scaly, the terminal joint scarcely perceptible ;
the antennae are very slightly serrated in the
males, quite simple in the females : the fore
wings have the costal margin almost straight,
the tip blunt, the hind margin slightly waved ;
tl.eir colour is smoky-black, with creamy-
white and sharply-defined markings; the
orbicular is creamy-white, and in some speci-
mens has a slight smoky cloud in its median
area ; in other specimens this cloud is entirely
wanting. This orbicular spot is often con-
tinued to the costal margin, and is frequently
united to a pure white blotch in the middle
of the wing. The reniform is white, with a
smoky cloud in its median area ; there are
several white spots at the base of the wing,
and several others on the inner margin, par-
ticularly a large one opposite the reniform ;
there is also a transverse zigzag and inter-
rupted white line parallel with the hind
margin, which terminates in a white blotch
on the costal margin ; there is a scalloped
black line on the hind margin ; the fringe is
whitish, with a double series of smoky or
blackish markings ; the hind wings are smoke-
coloured, the base and fringe being rather
paler; the wing-rays and discoidal spot rather
darker ; and there is a small pale spot near
the hind margin, and nearer the anal than
the apical angle : the head is white, with two
dark lines on the crown, the thorax is varie-
gated with black and white like the fore
wings ; the body is smoky-gray like the hind
wings.

The EGGS are laid on the flowers or calyces
of the ragged Robin (Lychnis Flos-Cuculi), and
the young CATERPILLAR feeds on the seeds.
For a while it is concealed entirely within the
seed-pod ; but as it grows larger it is com-
pelled to leave this very limited residence,
and may afterwai-ds be generally found with
its head and anterior segments in the capsule,
and the rest of the body exposed. When full-
fed the head is narrower than the second seg-
ment and very glabrous, the face rather
flattened, the crown not perceptibly notched;
the body is smooth and almost uniformly
cylindrical, but gradually and very slightly
increasing in size from the second to the tenth

390

BRITISH MOTHS.

segment ; the colour of the head is pale wains-
cot-brown, with four slender and rather darker
lines down the face ; the body is also wainscot-
brown, with a dorsal series of ten darker V-
shaped markings ; the apices of the V's point-
ing towards the anal extremity; a very narrow
pale medio-dorsal stripe passes through all
these, intersecting each V at its apex ; there is
also a black dot on each side of each V near
its apex: it has two lateral stripes rather
darker than the ground-colour, but still very
pale; and below the lowermost of these is a
third stripe paler than the ground-colour — in-
deed almost white; this contains the spi-
racles, which are pink encircled with black ;
the ventral surface is pale flesh-colour,
tinged more or less with yellow; the legs and
claspers are of the same colour as the ventral
area : when full-fed it finally descends to the
ground, and constructs a rather imperfect
cocoon of silk and earth just below the sur-
face, and in this changes to a CHRYSALIS, which
is rather long and slender, the wing-cases
being detached and projecting at their ex-
tremity, the body conical and terminating in
two sharp diverging spines; its colour is
bright reddish-brown, the tip and spines being
black.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June ; it
is by no means an abundant species, but has
nevertheless been obtained in most of our
English and Scotch counties, and Mr. Birchall
informs me it occurs at Howth in Ireland.
(The scientific name is Dianthcscia copper sa.}

Obs. — The so-called " black " Compersa,
taken in Ireland in company with the usual
form by_the late Mr. Weaver, and sold for so
high a price, would probably now be referred
to the next species: I thought the late Mr.
Stephens was a purchaser of these, but do not
find them in the British Museum. The beau-
tiful specimen represented in the lower figure
was kindly lent me for this work by Mr. C.
Fenn. It seems highly desirable, now that a
question has been raised as to the identity of
this and the next species, that entomologists
should endeavour to procure an extensive
series whenever practicable.

620. Barrett's Marbled Coronet (Dianthcecia
Bcvrrettii) .

620. BARRETT'S MARBLED CORONET. — The
palpi are scarcely porrected ; the second joint
is very scaly, the scales unequal and having a
rough appearance, the terminal joint is
scarcely perceptible; the antennae appear
rather incrassated in the male, quite simple in
the female : the fore wings have the costal
margin almost straight, the tip blunt, and the
hind margin slightly waved ; their colour is
dingy brown with a somewhat metallic tinge
of ochreous-olive ; there are many markings
both darker and lighter, but all of them are
obscure; both discoidal spots are to be traced
without difficulty, both of them are slightly
paler than the ground-colour, and both have a
median shade ; the orbicular is rather oblong
and rather oblique; they are apparently almost
connected at the lower extremity by a blotch
of their own colour, occupying nearly the
middle of the wing; there are several pale
markings at the base of the wing, and others
on the inner margin, more particularly a large
one nearly opposite the reniform ; there is
also a paler blotch at the tip of the wing, and
these two blotches are connected by a trans-
verse, bent, and interrupted zigzag line which
is parallel with the hind margin ; the fringe
is spotted with the shades of the ground-
colour : the hind wings are smoke-coloured,
the base and fringe being rather paler ; the
wing-rays and two narrow transverse waved
lines are rather darker, and there is a small
linear whitish spot near the hind margin, and

NOCTUAS.

391

nearer the anal than the apical angle : the head
and thorax are dingy olive-brown, the latter
sprinkled with a few gray scales ; the body is
dull gray-brown.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June and
July ; it was fii-st taken in the neighbourhood
of Dublin by Mr. Barrett, and subsequently
by Mr. Birchall and other entomologists.
(The scientific name is Dianthoscia Barrettli. )

Obs. — This moth was first described by Mr.
Doubleday, at p. 124 of the Entomologist's
Annual for 1864. That excellent lepidopterist
concludes the description with these words :
" It cannot possibly be confounded with any
other British species;" and I know from recent
correspondence, that he still entertains the
same view. Had it not been for my friend's
very decided opinion, I should have supposed
Barrettii to be a suffused, darker, and local
(Irish) type of Conspersa, from which it widely
differs in the tint of colour and in the ob-
scurity of its markings, but neither in the
form, size, or number of those mai-kings. Mr.
Birchall, who is more thoroughly acquainted
with the species than any other entomologist,
writes thus respecting it : — " Until the early
states of this insect are known, I hesitate to
express an opinion as to whether it is specifi-
cally distinct from Conspersa, or only a melanic
form of that insect. Beyond the difference of
colouring, the generally somewhat larger size
and rougher aspect, and the occurrence of a
dark spot in the centre of the orbicular stigma
of Barrettii, I am unable to point out any
character by which the two insects (so unlike
at fii*st glance) can be distinguished. The
under-surface of the wings is alike in both
species, even in colour. Irish specimens of
Conspersa are somewhat darker than English,
but I have not seen any that very closely
connect it with Barrettii in general aspect.
Barrettii has hitherto only been observed at
Howth, where also Conspersa occurs, but more
rarely. Oct. 21, 1868.— EDWIN BIRCHALL."

On the same subject, Mr. Bond, in com-
pliance with my request, gives me his
opinion thus : — " I am hardly prepared to
say that B irrettii is a species ; if I had
only seen the figure in the Annual for 1864,

I should have said it was only Consperw, with-
out doubt. In the two fine specimens you
showed me, I quite failed in finding the Gen-
ista-like marks which Mr. Doubleday men-
tions in his original description; and had I
only seen the female specimen in your pos-
session, I should have said it was a dark
variety of Conspersa. I well recollect, some
years ago, the late Mr. Weaver bringing over
from Ireland three or four very dark specimens
of Conspersa, but who had them, I do not
know, and, at present, I have failed to trace
them; I have four specimens of his taking,
which are much darker than any other speci-
mens I have ever seen. October 22, 1868.
— FREDERICK BOND."

I have thus brought together the rather
conflicting opinions of our three English macro-
lepidopterists. It may be noted that the
differences hitherto observed between Barrettii
and Conspersa are, first, the slightly stouter
antennae of the male in Barrettii; secondly,
the rather broader fore wings ; thirdly, the
obliquity of the orbicular; and, fourthly,
the more obscure coloration : it remains to be
seen whether the first, second, and third of
these differences will hold good in a long
series of each; if that prove to be the case,
Barrettii must, I think, be admitted as a
distinct species.

621. The Gray (Dianthcecia cassia).

621. THE GRAY. — The palpi are porrected
and very scaly, the terminal joint is very small;
the antennae are simple : the fore wings are
rather narrow, the costa very straight, the tip
rather produced but blunt; their colour is
uniform dull bluish-gray, the various mark-
ings — as discoidal spots and transverse lines
— being slightly indicated but nnver defined :
the hind wings are smoky : the head and
thorax are dull bluish-gray, the fcody smoky-
black.

392

BEIT1SH MOTHS.

Mr. Gregson having watched a female of
this moth depositing her eggs on the flowers
of the bladder campion (S'dene injlata), in
the Isle of Man, gathered the flowers, and
has succeeded in obtaining caterpillars, which,
being full-fed on the 6th of July, he has most
kindly transmitted to me for description. The
usual position of the caterpillar is with the
head and anterior extremity of the body con-
cealed within the capsule or inflated calyx,
and the anal claspers tenaciously holding the
slender footstalk of the flower. The head is of
nearly the same width as the second segment,
somewhat glabrous, and emits about twenty
minute bristle-like hairs : the body is almost
uniformly cylindrical and velvety ; it has a few
short and slender bristle-like hairs along each
side, but these are so few and inconspicuous as
only to be observed under a lens of considerable
power. The colour of the head is pale
wainscot-brown, slightly reticulated with
darker brown markings, in one specimen so
slightly as only to be observable under a lens ;
there is a blackish dot at the insertion of each
hair, and the ocelli are also dark : the body is
pale brown, and very minutely and densely
irroratcd with umber-brown; these irrorations
are crowded in some parts, but more distant
in others, leaving a doubled longitudinal series
of irregular pale patches, which form two in-
distinct stripes ; the ventral surface, including
legs and claspers, is pale smoky-brown slightly
tinged with pink.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
has been taken somewhat abundantly in the
Isle of Man, and a single specimen in Ireland.
(The scientific name is Dianthc&cia ccesia.)

622. Thf> Small Ranunculus (Hecateradysodea).

622. THE SMALL RANUNCULUS.— The palpi
project very slightly, their terminal joint is
imperceptible ; the antennae are very slightly
ciliated in the male, quite simple in the
female : the fore wings have the costal margin

very straight, the tip blunt, the hind margin
slightly waved ; their colour is smoky-gray,
mottled with bothdarkerandlightermarkings,
and having a rather darker median band, not
very clearly defined, and in which are situated
the discoidal spots, which are also indistinct ;
each wing is adorned with numerous orange
spots, six or seven of which form a transverse
series parallel with the hind margin ; there is
one on each side of the reniform, one on the
outside of the orbicular, two at the base of
the wing, and two on the inner margin : the
hind wings are blackish-gray, with the basal
area and fringe paler, the wing-rays and dis-
coidal spots rather darker; there is also a
whitish longitudinal streak near the anal
angle : the antennae are testaceous, approach-
ing 1 o ochre-colour ; the head is gray ; the
thorax is gray, with two conspicuous approxi-
mate orange spots, rather behind the middle,
and two smaller and more distant orange
spots behind these ; the body is gray.

The CATERPILLAR feeds on the blossoms and
seed of the common lettuce : it rests in a
straight position on its food-plant, but falls to
the ground when disturbed, and, tucking the
head under its body, embraces it with the
ventral claspers, the anal extremity, together
with the anal claspers, remaining extended ;
the head is glabrous, scarcely notched on the
crown, narrower than the second segment, into
which it is partially received : the body i«
cylindrical, but slightly attenuated towards
both extremities; the anal claspers are spread-
ing ; the colour of the head is pale dull olive-
green, inconspicuously reticulated with darker
lines : the body is pale dull olive-green,
sometimes exhibiting a shade of gamboge-
yellow; the dorsal and ventral areas are
abruptly divided on a level with the spiracles,
which are intensely black ; the dorsal is slightly
darker than the ventral area, and having also
three darker, but nevertheless very incon-
spicuous, stripes; one of these is medio-dorsal,
and intersected throughout by a slender paler
stripe ; the others are lateral and immediately
above the spiracles : the legs and claspers are
concolorous with the ventral area When full-
fed it descends to the ground, and changes to a

NOCTUAS.

393

CHRYSALIS just beneath the surface of the
earth.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
although abundant in certain localities, can by
no means be regarded as generally common :
it has been taken in Somersetshire, Dorset-
shire, Sussex, Kent, Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk,
and Cambridgeshire. (The scientific name
is Hecatera dysodea. )

623. The Broad-barred White (Hecatera serena).

623. THE BROAD-BARRED WHITE. — The
palpi are very slightly porrected, the terminal
joint concealed ; the antennae are slightly
ciliated in the male, simple in the female ; the
fore wings are very slightly arched on the
costa, blunt at the tip, and slightly waved on
the hind margin ; their colour is white ; the
costal margin conspicuously spotted with black,
and they have a dark median band, so much
broader at the costal than at, the inner margin
as to appear almost triangular ; this band
includes both the discoidal spots, which are
white, with a darker central shade ; there
are several black spots at the base of the wing :
the hind wings are pale at the base, the pale
area being traversed by dark wing-rays, and
there is a broad band of smoky-brown along
the hind margin, and in this bar are two
whitish spots, one near the apical, the other
near the anal angle : the head and thorax are
gray, mottled with black ; the body gray.

The CATERPILLAR rests in a straight position
on its food-plant, but falls to the ground when
disturbed, and, tucking its head under the
body, embraces it with the ventral claspers,
the anal extremity, together with the anal
claspers, remaining extended : the head is
glabrous, scarcely notched on the crown, nar-
rower than the second segment, into which it
is partially received ; it emits a few slender
bristles : the body is cylindrical, but slightly
attenuated towards both extremities; the anal

claspers are spreading ; there are a few
minute warts, each of which emits a fine
bristle, scattered about the body ; the colour of
the head is dull pale greenish-brown ; of the
body, dingy yellow -green, the dorsal and
ventral areas being divided by a very distinct
yellow-green stripe, extending from the head
to the anal claspers; this stripe is immediately
below the spiracles, which are testaceous-
brown, surrounded by a very delicate black
ring ; the second segment has a quadrate
smoky -black dorsal patch, longitudinally
intersected by a pale line ; it is also bounded
on both sides by a similar pale line ; the
dorsal area of the other segments is sprinkled
with smoky-black, which forms itself into a
kind of dorsal ornamentation, consisting of a
medio-dorsal and two lateral series of blotches;
all these markings are very obscure, but there
are two dorsal dots placed transversely on the
back of each segment, which are distinct and
constant ; the ventral area is sprinkled above
the claspers, but is perfectly unicolorous, and
of a more decided green below them ; the legs
and claspers are concolorous with the ventral
surface : it feeds on the blossoms of the corn
sow-thistle (Sonchus arvensis), the common
sow-thistle (S. oleraceus), and the wild
lettuce (Lactuca virosa), and in confinement it
feeds freely on the flowers of the cultivated
lettuce. When full-fed the caterpillar de-
scends to the ground and changes to a
CHRYSALIS just below the surface of the earth :
this change takes place at the end of August.

The MOTH appeal's on the wing in June and
July, and is not uncommon in the southern
counties of England, particularly in Kent, in
which county I once found forty, or perhaps
fifty specimens at rest on the trunk of a pollard
ash, in the lane leading to Darent Wood. Mr.
Birchall took it in the county Wicklbw, and at
Howth in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Hecatera serena.}

Obs. — The broad dark median band from
which this species has been named, gives it a
remarkable and beautiful appearance when at
rest : it would form a valuable feature in a
cabinet if one of each species could be pre-
served in this natural position of test.

394

BRITISH MOTHS.

624. The Gray Chi (Folia Chi).

624. THE GRAY CHI. — The palpi are scarcer
porrected beyond the head, and the terminal
joint is extremely small and inconspicuous :
the antennae of the male are slightly ciliated,
those of the female simple ; the fore wings have
the costal margin nearly straight, but slightly
curved towards the tip ; their colour is white
or whitish-gray, with numerous darker mark-
ings ; the discoidal spots have a dark circum-
scription, b\it a whitish median area, with a
slightly darker shade in the centre ; below
the discoidal spots and equidistant from both,
is a black mark in the shape of a Greek chi ^»
which gives its name to the species : the hind
wings of the male are pure white, with a
delicate marginal black line ; those of the
female are clouded with smoke-colour, es-
pecially near the hind margin, and on the
wing-rays : the head, thorax, and body are
pale gray, almost white. There is a beautiful
local variety, in which the ground-colour of
the fore wings is a delicate olive-green, inter-
rupted by four transverse series of pure white
spots, the first very short and close to the
base ; the second nearly direct, but zigzag ; it
is situated before the middle of the wing ; the
third very much bent, and situated beyond
the middle of the wing ; and the fourth is

oblique and parallel with the hind margin.
The discoidal spots are rather obscure.

The EGGS are laid in the autumn, and
hatched in the spring, from the 17th to the
3 1 st of March. When the CATERPILLAR is full-
fed its head is slightly porrected, and about
equal in width to the second segment ; the
body is smooth and almost uniformly cylin-
drical, but slightly decreasing in size towards
both extremities : the colour of both the
head and body is glaucous-green ; the dorsal
paler than the ventral area, and interrupted
by three slender white stripes, the medio-
dorsal stripe being the least distinct of the
three ; the dorsal area is bounded, on a line
with the spiracles, by a narrow black stripe,
•the upper margin of which melts, through
delicate gradations of olive-green, into the
pale glaucous-green of the back, but its lower
margin is bounded by a very distinct and
rather broad pure white stripe ; the belly,
legs, and claspers are glaucous-green ; the
spiracles are pure white, surrounded by a
black ring on the third and fourth segments :
in an exquisite drawing by Mr. Buckler,
kindly lent me by Mr. Hellins, are repre-
sented black dots exactly in the place occu-
pied by spiracles in the spiracle-bearing seg-
ments. In reference to these abnormal
markings, which may be called false spiracles,
Mr. Buckler observes : — " I have seen simi-
lar markings on the larvae of other Noctuce,
but very rarely; and I may here mention
that in some of the more dingy -coloured
y~octuce I have had varieties in which the
spiracles have not been visible by any dis-
tinction of colour or markings, while in other
individuals of the same species they will be
most distinct; these aberrant markings on the
third and fourth segments are remarkably
large on some of the CucuHice, when they do
occur." Since Mr. Buckler wrote this he
has had the kindness to send me a caterpillar of
Anchoscelis pistadna, in which this peculiarity
is very apparent. The caterpillar of Polio,
Chi feeds on the whitethorn (Cratcegus
oxyacantlia) and sallow (Salix caprea), and
when full-fed, which is about the middle
of May, it de^^ends to the ground, and

tfOCTUAS.

395

undergoes pupation beneath the surface of
the earth.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July,
August, and September; it is decidedly a
local insect : in Devonshire it occurs at
Plymouth, Torquay, Teignmouth, and Mod-
bury ; in Herefordshire, at Leominster, where
the caterpillar feeds on that familiar plant the
tea-tree (Lycium barbarum), frequently com-
pletely stripping it of its leaves. Mr. Stainton
reports it from Stowmarket, in Suffolk ; Mr.
Horton from Worcester ; several entomologists
have taken it in Staffordshire, Derbyshire,
Cheshire, and thence northwards to nearly
all parts of Scotland ; and Mr. Birchall says
it is common and generally distributed in
Ireland. (The scientific name is Polia Chi.}

Obs. — The beautiful variety mentioned
above is described as a species by Mr. Stephens
(Illus. Haust., vol. iii. p. 325), under the
name of Olivacea ; but I scarcely incline to
consider it distinct.

625. The Black-banded (Polia nigro-cinctd) .

625. THE BLACK-BANDED. — The palpi are
but slightly porrected and the terminal joint
almost concealed; the antennae of the male
are very slightly ciliated, those of the female
simple : the fore wings are slightly arched
on the costa, blunt at the tip, and slightly
waved on the hind border; their colour is
whitish-gray, with a median but somewhat
interrupted black band, which includes both
the discoidal spots ; these are of the pale gray
ground-colour, with a darker transverse shade
in the centre, but neither of them is clearly
defined ; the rest of the general area of the
wing is thickly sprinkled with black dots and
markings, interspersed with a few minute
orange dots: the hind wings are pure white

in the male, with a very slender black margi-
nal line ; they are very dark in the female :
the head is nearly white : the thorax mottled-
gray, with black dots : the body very pale
gray, almost white.

The CATERPILLAR has been found by Mr.
Greening, feeding on the campions (Silene), the
sea pink (Statice Armeria), violet, and common
harebell (Campanula rotundifolia) : when
nearly full-fed, and in confinement, it will eat
almost anything. In appearance the cater-
pillar is very similar to that of Epunda lichenea,
and would at once be taken for that species
by anyone who was not thoroughly acquainted
with LicJienea. It is full-fed about the
middle of July : it then goes down and spins a
tolerably compact cocoon, in which it changes

to a CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH appears on the wing at the end
of August or beginning of September, and is
very common in some parts of Hungary and
France ; but very few specimens have been
recorded as British : the first is mentioned by
Mr. Doubleday, at p. 349 of the third volume
of the Entomologist, as having been taken in the
caterpillar state by Mr. Greening, in the Isle
of Man, feeding on the bladder campion ; the
second specimen is recorded by Mr. Hopley, in
the forty -second number of the Entomologist's
Monthly Magazine ; this specimen was taken
during daylight, by Mrs. Fisher, from off the
window of a lighthouse, near Padstow, in
Cornwall, about the middle of August, 1862;
and several caterpillars and one moth have
been taken by Mr. Greening in the Isle of
Man, during the present year (1868). Mr.
Greening, who has kindly furnished me with
all the information I possess respecting this
species, says : " It is very sluggish in the day-
time, but when on the wing in the evening it
flies quick and strong. I sugared for three
nights, but did not take a specimen ; and I
think it just possible that it will not come to
sugar, but I have scarcely had a fair chance,
as the wind was blowing a gale the whole
time." (The scientific name is Polia nigro-
cincta.)

Obs. — It is much to be regretted Mr. Green-
ing did not describe the caterpillar.

396

BRITISH MOTHS.

626. The Largo Ranunculus (Folia flavocincta) .

626. THE LARGE RANUNCULUS. — The palpi
are slightly porrected, the terminal joint being
slender, but very perceptible ; the antennae are
almost simple in both sexes ; the fore wings
are very slightly arched on the costa, blunt at
the tip, slightly waved on the hind margin,
and very slightly scalloped at the anal
angle; their colour is smoky -gray, marbled
and mottled with darker markings ; there is
a series of six or seven orange spots parallel
with the hind margin, and on each of these
rests a black arrow-head pointing towards the
base of the wing ; there are also four trans-
verse orange marks in the median area of the
wing, one on each side of each discoidal spot,
and the two innermost of these orange mark-
ings are united at the base : the hind wings
are dingy smoke-colour in the male, darker
in the female ; in both sexes they have two
transverse bars of a darker shade parallel with
the hind margin : the head and thorax are
gray, the body more inclined to smoke-
colour.

The EGGS are laid in October and hatch in
the spring ; the ca erpillars feed on chickweed
(Stellaria media), groundsel (Senecio vulgaris),
«>n various species of mint, and many other
herbs ; they are full-fed in June and July.
The full-fed caterpillar rests inalmost a straight
position, with the head slightly tucked in, but
falls off its food-plant «nd forms a rather loose
ring when annoyed. The head is mani-
festly narrower than the body, and partially
retractile within the second segment ; the
body is uniformly cylindrical, smooth, and
velvety ; the colour of the head is pale opaque-
green, with black ocelli : the body is pale

apple-green, inclining to glaucous, and
sprinkled with minute white dots ; there is a
narrow median stripe on the back, slightly
darker than the ground-colour, but very in-
distinct ; along each side is a very slender
white stripe passing below the spiracles, but
just touching them ; this is bordered above by
a very narrow and interrupted black stripe,
particularly observable between the first and
second spiracles, and having a conspicuous
black dot behind the second, third, fourth,
fifth, and sixth spiracles : the spiracles are
dingy-yellow, bordered with black : the legs
are almost colourless ; the claspers pale trans-
parent green. When full-fed the caterpillars
enter the earth to change to CHRYSALIDS.

The MOTH appears on the wing in Septem-
ber : it is common near London, and is gene-
rally distributed in the southern counties, but
has not been met with in the north. It occurs
in the county Wicklow, in Ireland. (The
scientific name is Poliaflavocincta).

627. The Deep-brown Dart (Epunda, lutulenta).

627. THE DEEP-BROWN DART. — The palpi
are very short and inconspicuous; the antenna
pectinated in the male, simple in the female;
the fore wings are straight on the costa; their
colour is smoky black-brown, the discoidal
spots being scarcely distinguishable from the
ground-colour1: in many of the females there
is a distinctly darker broad median band; the
hind wings are pure silvery white in the males,
smoky-brown in the females ; the head ami
thorax are of the same colour as the fore

NOOTUAS.

307

wings; the body smoky-gray, paler at the
base.

TheheadofthecATERPiLLABisalmostexactly
of the same width as the second segment, very
smooth and shining ; the body is smooth
and almost uniformly cylindrical, but tapers
slightly towards either extremity ; the colour
of the head is green ; the second segment of
the body has a semicircular dorsal green plate,
the remainder of this segment, as well as the
entire dorsal surface of the third and fourth
segments, being rosy red ; the dorsal area of
the remaining segment is apple-green, inter-
rupted by a narrow medio-dorsal stripe of a
pale brown, which deepens to a dark brown
at the interstices of the segments ; there is a
broad rosy lateral stripe, the lower border of
which is bounded by a narrow stripe of pure
white, and below this a narrow rosy stripe ;
the ventral surface is pale green, with the
legs and claspers concolorous. it feeds on
gromwell (Lithospermum arvense), and several
other plants, more especially in woods. The
EGGS are laid in October, and the young CATER-
PILLARS hybernate very small, and feeding
again in the spring, are full-fed at the end of
April, when they spin rather slight cocoons
just under the surface of the earth. The
cocoon is composed of silk and grains of earth.
The CHRYSALIS is dark red-brown and very
shining, the wing-cases being of yellowish-
green colour ; and the extremity of the body
is furnished with two long and closely ap-
proximate spines.

The MOTH appears on the wing in Septem-
ber; some specimens, taken about the middle
of September, and kindly brought me by the
Rev. P. H. Jennings, were quite worn, and
appeared to have been out some time. It
seems to be abundant in Devonshire, in which
county Mr. Reading records Plymouth, VV hit-
sands, Stadden Heights, Devon port, Torquay,
Teignmouth and Alphington as localities. It
also occurs in the New Forest, and Isle of Wight,
Brighton, Lewes, Darent Wood in Kent, Cam-
bridgeshire, Gloucestershire. Worcestershire,
and Cheshire ; aud Mr. Birchall, since the
publication of his list, has taken it in Ireland.
'The scientific name is JSpwnda

628. The Black Rustic (Ejnmda nigra).

628. THE BLACK RUSTIC. — The palpi are
slightly porrected, and rather blunt at the
tip ; the antennae are rather long, slightly
thickened in the male, simple and slender in
the female : the fore wings are slightly arched
towards the tip, and slightly scalloped on the
hind-margin ; their colour is rich dark sepia-
brown, slightly clouded ; the discoidal spots
are indicated, and there is a transverse series
of whitish scales on the exterior border of the
reniform ; with this exception, both spots are
of the same colour as the general area of the
wing: the hind wings are silvery white in
the male, with a slightly clouded hiud mar-
gin in the female ; the hind wings are con-
spicuously clouded with smoke-colour, except
at the base : the antennae, head, and thorax
are almost pure black ; the body smoke-colour,
but paler on the sides at the base.

In No. 7 of the Entomologist Mr. Hammond
gives a short description of the CATERPILLAR.
When full-grown they were about an inch
and a half in length, cylindrical, of nearly
uniform thickness, with the head rounded
and but little smaller than the second seg-
ment ; the anal segment was tapering.

Mr. Buckler subsequently described four
varieties in the Entomologists' Monthly Maga-
zine, as follows : —

Var. 1. — The ground-colour is a brilliant
pale yellow-green, sometimes a very bright
grass-green, others of a bright olive-green,
deepest in tint at the extremities, and often

308

BRITISH MOTHS.

suffused with pink anteriorly, the dorsal
broad stripe in some being faintly blackish, in
others reddish, but intensely black or red
forming a dark mark just at the beginning of
each segment ; in others this dark spot is
confluent with the two anterior tubercular
large black dots, thus forming blunt arrow-
head marks pointing forwards; the sub- dorsal
stripe of red or blackish is sometimes com-
plete, but oftener interrupted in the middle of
each segment ; the skin-folds at the incisions
are bright yellow ; the spiracles in all varie-
ties are white, placed in semicircular black
marks, and immediately beneath them is a
narrow stripe of pale sulphur-yellow or of
greenish-yellow ; the belly and legs are pale
green, tipped with red at their extremities ;
the tubercular dots are sometimes absent, but
when visible are black, and the anterior pair
very much larger than the pair behind them :
the head is green, suffused with pink ; a dull
pinkish plate on the second segment. One
olive-green caterpillar had the plate dark red,
and a large crimson spot on the top of each
lobe of the head.

Var. 2. — The ground-colour is cinnamon-
brown ; a narrow pale greenish stripe beneath
the spiracles ; the folds of the skin at the
segmental divisions grayish ; the dorsal stripe
faintly indicated by a dusky spot at the
beginning of each segment ; the sub-dorsal
stripes more distinct and faintly blackish.

Var. 3.— Deep dingy crimson on the back
and sides ; below the spiracles is a greenish-
yellow stripe ; the belly and legs, with the
head, and dull plate on the second segment,
rather paler than the back ; a broad dorsal
and narrow sub-dorsal stripe of faint blackish,
but just at the beginning of each segment
quite black.

Far. 4. — The whole of the back between
he subdorsal lines a brilliant deep citron-
yellow, the sides from the sub-dorsal to the
lines of spiracles of the same ground-colour,
but almost entirely suffused with dark red :
the head and thoracic segments, with the anal
extremity, also suffused with red ; the dorsal
stripe composed of two red confluent lines
forming a broad stripe, with blunt arrow-head

shapes of red at the beginning and end of
each segment, and anteriorly margined with
short black streaks; the tubercular dots black,
the anterior pairs being much the largest ;
sub-dorsal line black, and interrupted in the
middle of each segment ; the spiracles are
white in semi-linear blotches of black, and
edged below by a pale greenish-yellow stripe ;
belly greenish, with a large red blotch along
the sides above the legs, the latter being
orange-red.

It feeds upon the great hedge bedstraw
(G'alium mollugo), and is full-fed at the end of
.May and beginning of June.

The MOTHS do not appear on the wing until
September and October, and the species
seem to be very local ; in Devonshire it
occurs at Ply in bridge, Ivy bridge, Totnes,
Kingsbridge, St. German's, Sal tash, Torquay,
Teignmouth, and Alphington; in Somerset-
shire, in the Isle of Wight, New Forest, Lewes,
and in the Lake District; it is also recorded
from Banff, in Scotland, but not from Ireland.
(The scientific name is Epunda nigra.)

629. The Minor Shoulder-knot (Epunda viminalis).

629. THE MINOR SHOULDEK-KNOT. — The
palpi are slightly porrected and pointed ; the
antennae are slightly pectinated in the male,
simple in the female; the fore wings are
straight on the costa and rather produced at
the tip; their colour is silvery gray, clouded
with darker gray ; there is an almost square
costal blotch of the paler colour at the base
of the wing, and this is bordered below by a
black line ; the discoidal spots are also pale,

NOCTUAS.

899

but eaeli has a dark centre : in many speci-
mens I have received from the North of
England, the darker colour is diffused over
the whole wing, as represented in the lower
figure : the hind wings are pale gray in the
male, smoky-gray in the female: the body is
of nearly the same colour as the wings.

The EGGS are laid in August, but are not
1 latched until the spring : the plants usually
selected by the female are two species ofSalix,
S.caprea&nd S. cinerca, both familiarly known
by the name of sallow : on both these species
the CATERPILLARS feed, previously spinning
together the edges of some of the leaves, and
constructing a kind of imperfect tent, in which
they are concealed from birds. The cater-
pillar is full-grown at the beginning of June ;
it then rests in a tolerably straight position,
and if disturbed falls from its food-plant, curled
up into a very lax and imperfect ring, and
remains motionless for many minutes; the
head is rather small, decidedly narrower than
the body, and porrected in rrawling : the
body is smooth and velvety, almost uniformly
cylindrical, but evidently attenuated towards
both extremities, and having the ventral flatter
than the dorsal surface ; the colour of the
head is almost white, having an extremely
slight tint of green, aud being finely reticu-
lated on the cheeks with a darker colour ; it
also has black mandibles, a straight black
transverse line just above the mandibles and
labrum, and a black margin where received
into the second segment ; this black margin is
only observable when the caterpillar is cra~wl-
ing : the body is pale glaucous-green, with five
still paler but scarcely white equidistant dorsal
stripes ; the broadest of these is medio-dor.-al,
and, together with the next on each side,
extends from the head to the extremity of the
anal flap ; the exterior stripe on each side
passes just below the spiracles, touching all of
them except the ninth ; the spiracles are
perfectly white, encircled with a black ring ;
between the medio-dorsal and the next stripe
is a series of about thirty small circular spots,
or rather dats, of exactly the same colour;
there are three on each segment, the middle
one being nearest the medio-dorsal stripe :

each has a minute black dot in the centre, and
from the black dot emanates a very slender
bristle : the ventral surface and claspers are
concolorous with the back ; tile legs paler and
almost transparent, and encircling the base of
each in a black ring, which emits two spread-
ing branches anteriorly. The caterpillars in
my possession were full-fed the first week in
June, when they spun up in leaves that had
fallen on the earth at the bottom of the
breeding cage.

The MOTH appears on the wing at the end
of June and during the whole of July, and
has been taken in most of our English counties,
and also in the Highlands of Scotland : Mr.
Birchall reports itfrom Belfast andKillarney,
in Ireland. (The scientific name is Epunda
viminalis.)

630. The Feathered Ranunculus (Epunda Liehenea).

630. THE FEATHERED KANUNCULUS. — The
palpi are porrected, their acutely-pointed tips
projecting veiy slightly . beyond the head ;
the antennae are decidedly pectinated in the
male, simple in the female ; the fore wings
ai-e straight on the costa almost to the tip,
very slightly scalloped on the hind margin :
their colour is a mottled mixture of green,
gi'ay, and ochreous ; the discoidal spots are
perceptible, but not conspicuous; both partake
of the mixed colours which surround them ;
the orbicular is generally small and circular,
and has a dark centre and pale circumscrip-
tion ; the wings have tnree transverse zigzag
lines, or rather zigzag series of pale spots, each

400

BRITISH MOTHS.

pale spot being often accompanied by a darker
one ; the first of these series is before the
orbicular, the second and third beyond the
reniform ; the hind wings of the male are
very pale gray, with a crescentic discoidal spot,
a transverse interrupted median line, and an
interrupted hind-marginal series of linear
spots, all darker ; the wings of the female
are smoky-gray, with faint indications of the
same markings as in the male ; the head,
thorax, and body are nearly of the same
colour as the fore wings.

The EGGS, which are laid about the begin-
ning of ( )ctober, hatch early in November ;
the CATERPILLARS remain very small during the
winter, and are mostly hidden amongst roots
of grass. About the beginning of January
they begin to exhibit themselves at night, and
soon feed very ravenously on groundsel, &c.,
and grow rapidly. They are of a green
colour, with a whitish stripe along the
spiracles ; they retain the green colour
after several moults, when they appear in
a mottled olive suit. When young they
repose in the position of the privet hawk-
moth (Sphinx Ligustri), with their head and
fore legs erect, on the stems of dry grass. As
the spring advances they will feed on chick-
weed, dock, dandelion, scabious, burnet, &c.,
until May, when they assume the CHRYSALIS
state. Mr. Dell, who has paid great attention
to rearing the species, says : " I never had any
remain in the caterpillar state until June ; out
of many dozens during two or three years' ex
perience of rearing them, I never saw any
above the surface after May. I do not by any
means think them a tender caterpillar to rear;
I have during the last two or three years
reared about three-fifths of them on an
average. They form a cocoon of a web-like
texture, mixed with the earth ; the chrysalids
are rather blunt at the ends ; they generally
lie in that state for about four months. My
method of rearing them is this ; in a clear
wide-mouthed glass bottle I put the eggs, also
a piece of white paper, and cover over the top
of the bottle with a fine piece of gauze, so
that when the caterpillars hatch I can see
them creep on the paper ; I then put in some

dry stems of fine grass and a small leaf of
groundsel, so that there should not be too
much refuse left ; they soon leave their food
and creep on the fine grass to repose, and I
then remove the refuse ; every evening I put
in fresh food, and always remove what they
leave ; but after awhile, when they improve
in size, I remove them to a medium-sized
flower-pot, half filled with loose mould and
pieces of turfy grass, under which they
generally hide by day, and at night they come
out to feed, when I put in some fresh L aves :
in clearing out the refuse care must be taken
not to throw away any of the caterpillars
which may be hid in it. By following these
instructions I think there would be no diffi-
culty in rearing these caterpillars."

To this I must add a description of the
full-fed caterpillar. The head is obviously
narrower than the body, extremely shining,
but emitting several slender hairs ; the body
is uniformly cylindrical, obese, and smooth,
but emitting a very few, very distant, short
and h'ne hairs ; these are only discernible
under a lens. The head is olive-brown, tes-
selated with paler markings. The body is
dull olive-brown on the back, pale transparent
olive-green on the belly, and having a paler
stripe dividing the two colours, and including
the spiracles ; the back has a series of some-
what lozenge-shaped oblique paler marks, the
whole of these markings being obscure and
indistinct, yet, viewed together, constituting
a dark median stripe, with a paler and inter-
rupted stripe on each side ; the legs are
shining, the claspers opaque, both pellucid,
and of a yellow-green colour.

The MOTH appears on the wing in August,
but seems to be a very local species ; it is
plentiful in Devonshire, where Mr. Reading
records its occurrence in gardens and on street
lamps at Woodside, North Hill, Plymouth
Hoe, Crabtree, Plymbridge, Tavistock, Tor-
quay, Teignmouth, and Alphington ; it occurs
in Dorsetshire, in the New Forest, and Isle of
Wight, and at Birkenhead in Cheshire ; and
Mr. Birchall informs us it is common at
Howth, in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Epunda Lichenea.)

NOOTUA8.

6i>i. The Grecn-brindlcd Dot (Valeria oleaqma).

631. THE GREEN-BRINDLED DOT. - The
palpi are porrected and rather ascending, very
scaly, with the exception of the terminal joint,
which is almost naked, slender, and pointed;
the antenna? are decidedly pectinated in the
male, slightly so in the female : the fore
wings are straight on the costa, blunt at the
tip, and scalloped on the hind margin ; their
colour is olive-brown, interspersed with scales
of bright metallic green, which impart a
greenish lustre to the whole wing ; both the
discoidJ. spots are distinct, the reniform re-
markably so, being large and pure white,
with the exception of a few scattered brown
scales near each extremity; the orbicular,
which is much smaller, is outlined in white,
and has a brown median area ; parallel with
the hind margin is a zigzag line, almost white
and not very distinct ; on the margin itself is
a series of seven black crescents ; and in the
fringe, alternating with these crescents, are
seven short white lines : the hind wings are
pale gray at the base, and have a broad smoke-
coloured band occupying the hind margin ;
and this band is interrupted throughout by a
compound bar, the interior portion of which is
white, the exterior black : above the marginal
band, but rather below the middle of the
wing, is a waved transverse black line : the
antenna? are pale testaceous-brown; the head
and thorax are densely scaly, and of the same
confused olive-brown colour as the fore wings ;
the body is crested, and of a smoky-brown
colour, with paler sides.

The head of the CATERPILLAR is garnished
with haii-s ; it is very large, and yet seems
almost buried in the second segment, which
projects beyond it on all sides ; the second,
third, and fourth segments are all very stout,
and appear particularly so when the cater-
pillar is in a state of repese, from their being

crowded together, when the divisions between
them entirely disappear; the segments follow,
ing the fourth are much narrower; the wart-
like spots are rather prominent, and each
emits a bristle from its summit; the warts on
the twelfth segment are very prominent and
conical : the colour of the head is bluish-gray,
its hairs white; the body is gray or brown,
with an orange-coloured neck, which is
adorned with a transverse series of black dots ;
there is a broad dorsal black spot, becoming
white at its extremity, on the fourth and fifth
segments; there is also a blackish and inter-
rupted medio-dorsal stripe ; the wart-like dots
are generally black, and connected with each
other by waved blackish lines ; some of these,
however, on the sides of the caterpillar, are
orange : it feeds on the black-thorn (Prunus
spinosa), principally in shady places, and on
the skirts of woods : when full-fed it descends
to the ground, and forms an irregular cocoon
of silk and earth, in which it changes to a

CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH appears on the wing in March and
A pril ; it seems to be a very rare species in
this country. Ha worth says, in Anglia
rarissima, etiam in Wallia. I know of no
capture since the publication of the " Lepi-
doptera Britannica," in 1803. (The scientific
name is Valeria oleagina.) The description of
the caterpillar is copied from the French of
M. Guenee.

Obs. — I believe there is no ground for
doubting the capture of this beautiful moth
in Wales : several specimens occur in the
older British collections which from time to
time come under the hammer, and they are
always set in the customary English fashion,
and with English pins; at that early period,
the setting-boards which are now so commonly
used by beginners, and which flatten out the
partially folded character of the hind wings,
had not been invented. Few of our English
entomologists adopt the old fashion of setting
insects with card braces beneath the wings,
but Mr. Doubleday is one of them, and
his specimens are always distinguishable for
the perfectly natural elegance of the shape.
The specimen of thia moth in the coiici, i>r>n

402

BRITISH MOTHS.

under my care is from the late Mr. Haworth's
cabinet.

632. The Green-brindled Crescent (Miselia

Oxyacanthce) .

632. THE GREEN-BRINDLED CRESCENT.
palpi are densely scaly at the base, the ter-
minal joint slender and pointed ; the antennae
are slightly thickened in the male, simple in
the female : the fore wings are rather arched,
their hind margin rather scalloped, their
colour dull-brown, somewhat inclining to
reddish-brown, marbled and sprinkled with
metallic-green scales ; the discoidal spots are
denned, but so nearly of the same colour as
the general area as to be inconspicuous ;
the reniform is placed longitudinally ; at the
base of the wing is a black longitudinal streak,
which passes through a black transverse line,
and then ceases; parallel with the hind mar-
gin is a broadish pale band, and the interior
border of this is accompanied by a delicate
waved white line, which expands into a con-
spicuous white mark before it reaches the
inner margin : in a variety of frequent occur-
rence, which I have represented in the lower
figure, the fore wings are of a nearly uniform
dark-brown colour, the white mark being thus
rendered very conspicuous : this is called
the "dark crescent" by Ha worth; the hind
wings are smoky-gray : the head and thorax
are gray-brown; the body of nearly the same
colour, and crested, the crests being darker.

Ine CATERPILLAR neither feigns death nor
roils in a ring when disturbed; the head is

exserted, rather wider than the second seg-
ment, and slightly notched on the crown ; the
body is cylindrical, and exhibits the divisions
of the segments plainly ; the twelfth segment
is elevated, but scarcely humped dorsally ; it
bears two pairs of small warts, the posterior
pair rather larger and rather wider apart than
the anterior pair : the colour of the dorsal
surface is either brownish-gray or red-brown,
very dull, and has four white dots on each
segment; the medio-dorsal and lateral stripes
are scarcely perceptible ; the ventral surface
is gray-green, with a conspicuous medio-
ventral dark stripe ; the legs and claspers are
green : it feeds on black-thorn (Prumisspinoad),
w\atethorn(Crat(egusoxi/acant/ia), and is full-
fed at the end of May, when it spins a thick
cocoon on the surface of the earth, in which it
changes to a CHRYSALIS : the eyes of the
chrysalis shine very brightly for the last
fourteen days of its remaining in that state.

The MOTH appears on the Aving in Septem-
ber, and is of very frequent occurrence in
England, Scotland, and Ireland. (The
scientific name is Miselia OxyacantJm.)

i * • ~* • . -v / 4. A Vt^ty 4^ J \ 5"*J»fr-~
•yV>,

633. The Marvel-da- Jour (Agriopis Aprilina).

633. THE MAKVEL-DU- JOUR. — The palpi are
pointed at the tips; the antennae simple, but
rather stouter in the male ; the fore wings are
pale green, ornamented with black and white
markings, the black markings often forming
something like a median band ; the diseoioal

NOCTUAS.

408

spots are distinct, and always white, with
green, centres, bounded by black : the hind
wings are smoky black, with a darker discoidal
spot, a lighter median transverse line, and a
hind-marginal white line ; the fringe is smoke-
colour, with six white spots : the head and
thorax have the same colour as the fore wings ;
the body is smoke-colour, slightly paler at the
base.

The head of the CATERPILLAR is shining, and
of a greenish-gray colour, with a black cross,
resembling the letter X, on the face, the body
stout, cylindrical, and of a greenish-gray
colour, sometimes tinged with red ; the dorsal
area is dark, and interrupted by a series of
lozenge-shaped markings of the same pale
green gray, which is the general ground
colour, there is a pale stripe in the region of
the spiracles, bounded above by a somewhat
waved darker stripe. It feeds on oak
(Quercus Robur), and is full-fed in June, when
it descends the trunk, and entering the earth,
constructs an earthen cocoon a considerable
depth beneath the surface, and therein changes
to a CHRYSALIS, of which Mr. Greene says it
occurs " in the utmost profusion. I have
taken as many as twenty at one tree. This
will be one of the first chrysalids found by the
beginner; nothing can be easier; merely turn
up the earth and break it, and they will
tumble out of their brittle cocoons in plenty."

This extremely beautiful MOTH appears on
the wing in October, and is very common in
England and Scotland, also in the counties of
Dublin and Wick low, in Ii-eland. (The scien-
tific name is Agriopis Aprilina.)

634. The Angle Shades (Phlogophora meticulosa).

634. THE ANGLE SHADES. — The palpi are
slight lyporrected and connivent at the extre-
mity ; the second joint is cup-shaped and

contains the very small terminal joint; the
form of the united palpi reminds one of the
mandibles of some coleopterous insect ; the
antennae are very slightly ciliated in the male,
simple in the female : the fore wings are
arched towards the tip, and very deeply
scalloped on the hind margin, particularly on
the lower half thereof; they are folded longitu-
dinally in repose ; their colour is ochreous or
wainscot-brown, often tinged with olive-green ;
the two discoidal spots are very similar in
shape ; both are oblique but in different direc-
tions, separating at the upper, and approaching
and actually connivent at the lower extre-
mity, they are separated by a dark V-shaped
mark, the apex of which is directed towards
the inner margin of the wing; all these mark-
ings are enclosed in a larger V, the base
whereof occupies the middle third of the costal
margin, and the apex thereof touches the middle
of the inner margin : the hind margin of the
hind wings is also scalloped and produced into
a decided tooth at the apical angle; their
colour is ochreous-gray, tinged with pink
towards the hind margin, and having two
darker waved transverse and parallel bars :
the head, antennae, thorax, and body are pale
wainscot-bvown .

The CATERPILLAR when touched or annoyed
feigns death, turning its head on one side of
the body, and I have sometimes seen it form a
complete ring ; the form is somewhat leech-
like, the head small, the second, third, and
fourth segments are gradually larger, those
following much larger, the twelfth gibbose,
but not humped on the back ; smooth, velvety;
the colour of the head is pale obscure green,
semihyaline, and reticulated with darker lines ;
the colour of the body is apple-green or olive-
brown ; in either case it is densely sprinkled
with very obscure whitish dots ; there is an
interrupted very narrow median white line
on the back, and a broader, obscure whitish
line on each side just below the spiracles,
better defined on the twelfth and thirteenth
segments, and terminating in the anal claspers;
the spiracles are whitish, surrounded by ft
delicate black line; the legs and ciaspers
semihyaline-green ; it feeds throughout th*>

404

BRITISH MOTHS.

winter months on groundsel (Senedovulgaris),
the cultivated chrysanthemums, prim rose, and
a variety of low-growing herbs ; it spins a
slight web on the ground in April or May,
and changes to a smooth brown CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH appears in May or June, and a
second brood is out in September ; it is com-
mon everywhere. (The scientific
Phlogophora meticulosa.)

name is

635. The Flame Brocade (Trigonophra empyrea).

635. THE FLAME BROCADE. — The palpi are
slightly porrected and pointed, they are dis-
tinctly separated ; the antennae are very
slightly ciliated in the male, quite simple in
the female ; the fore wings are nearly straight
on the costal margin, scalloped on the hind
margin, and reflected on the inner margin ;
their colour is rich umber-brown, with a
purplish gloss suffused over the basal and
median areas ; the orbicular spot is small, it is
indicated in outline, and the median area
frequently contains a second smaller circle in
outline, but both are inconspicuous ; the reni-
form,on the contrary, is large, slightly oblique,
almost white, and very conspicuous ; it con-
tains two parallel slender brown lines, which
are generally united at both extremities ; the
lower extremity of the reniform emits a wedge-
shaped dash of its own white colour, and
directed towards the base of the wing; parallel
with the hind margin of the wing is a broad
pale band ; the reflexed inner margin is almost
white : the hind wings are smoky-brown, paler
at the base, and have a darker crescentic clis-
coidal spot : the head and thorax are dark
brown, the body smoky-brown, reddish towards
the extremity.

The EGGS are laid in September and October
on the leaf stalks of pile- wort (Ranunculus
Ficaria), on the shining leaves of which the
CATERPILLAR feeds : they are not generally

hatched for two or three weeks, and then eat
but little, making very small holes in the
leaves of the pile-wort ; I cannot, however,
find that there is anything like hybernation,
except, perhaps, during hard frost, when most
caterpillars become torpid : the caterpillars
are full grown in April and May. It rests in
a nearly straight position on the leaf-stalks of
the pile-wort, but falls off, and rolls in a ring
on being disturbed : the head is smooth,
shining, and narrower than the second seg-
ment ; the body is velvety, nearly uniformly
cylindrical, but with the dorsal surface of the
twelfth segment rather swollen. The colour
of the head is fulvous-yellow, reticulated with
brown, and there are two longitudinal streaks
of brown on the face. The body in some
specimens is grayish-yellow, in others grayish-
dove-coloured, and again in others green, or
blue-green. The first of these is the most
common, and has the markings most distinct;
but in each of the others the markings are to
be traced, although they are very incon-
spicuous ; there is a medio-dorsal series of
rather darker lozenge-shaped markings, plaoed
point to point, and connected by a rather
paler slender medio-dorsal stripe, which passes
through the entire series. On each side the
series of lozenges is a slender stripe just
touching their lateral points ; each of the
dorsal lozenges has four white dots, and each
dot has a black anterior margin ; one of these
white dots is situated at each outer angle of
the lozenge, and another halfway between this
and the anterior point ; the lateral narrow
stripe which touches the lateral angles of the
lozenge is succeeded by a broad stripe, and
this has two white dots on its lower border
in each segment ; the spiracles are yellow,
delicately surrounded with black : the legs
are pale, dingy flesh-colour, with brown tips ;
the claspers are of the came colour, with
brown disks. When full-fed, it makes a loose
cocoon of grains of earth and silk, and therein
changes to a CHRYSALIS of a deep shining red
colour, and having a projection at the tip,
which is armed with two slender spines, which
are rather distant at the base, but curve
slightly inwards, and approach at the tips.

NOCTUAS.

405

The MOTH appears on the wing in September
and October, and seems to be common in one
or two localities on the south coast of Sussex,
as near Brighton and near Lewes, but has not
been taken elsewhere. (The scientific name
is Trigonophra empyrea.)

Obs. 1. — The prior name of this species is
Flammea: it is the Noctua flammea of Esper,
Borkhausen, and Engramel : it has been
changed to avoid conflicting with another
Noctua of the same name. I am indebted to
Boisduval's " Collection des Chenilles" for my
description of the caterpillar.

Obs. 2. — I can find no affinity between this
species and Meticulosa, with which it has been
associated ; both the caterpillar and perfect
insect agree better with the genus Hadena :
when placed between Meticulosa and Lucipara
it seems to dissever a very natural alliance.

636. The Small Angle -Shades (Euplexia lucipara).

636. THE SMALL ANGLE-SHADES. — The
palpi are rather long, decidedly porrected, and
widely separated ; the antennae are slightly
ciliated in the male, quite simple in the
female : the fore wings are nearly straight on
the costa, and scalloped on the hind margin ;
their colour is rich umber-brown, with a paler
transverse band between the reniform and the
hind margin, and this band is intersected
throughout by a slender brown line ; the orbi-
cular is scarcely to be traced ; it is large,
nearly devoid of outline, and nearly of the
same colour as the general area ; the reniform
is large, conspicuous, and almost white, with
a darker linear shade in the middle : the hind
wings are smoke-coloured, rather paler at the
base, and having the rays and a discoidal spot
rather darker; they have several waved lines
parallel with the hind margin, which is dis-
tinctly scalloped : the head and thorax are

dark brown, the body smoky-brown, and very
decidedly crested.

The CATERPILLAR rolls in a very rigid ring
when touched. The head is shining, pale,
pellucid-green ; the body gradually tapers
towards the head, but increases in size
towards the anal extremity, rising almost
into a hump on the twelfth segment; its
colour is opaque, but delicate green on the
back, gradually paler on the sides until this
colour merges in a white stripe below the
spiracles ; the belly below this white stripe
is of a more intense green than the back ; on
each side is a series of rather darker oblique
lines than the rest of the back, these are
very indistinct ; meeting on the back they
combine to form indistinctly-pronounced V-
shaped markings, pointing backwards, and
their apices meeting on a central very narrow
paler stripe : there are two conspicuous white
dots on the twelfth segment, and other less
observable on various parts of the body. It
feeds on the common brakes (Pteris aquilina),
and sometimes on the male fern (Dryopteris
Filix-mas). Mr. Doubleday has occasionally
found it on nettles.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June and
July, and is universally distributed in Great
Britain and Ireland. (The scientific name is
Euplexia lucipara.}

637. The Green Arches (Aplecta herbida).

637. THE GREEN ARCHES. — The palpi are
porrected and scarcely at all curved upwards ;
the second joint is densely scaly, the third
somewhat pointed ; the antennaB are almost
simple in both sexes : the fore wings are
slightly curved on the costal, and slightly
waved on the hind margin ; their colour is
gray-green interspersed with numerous sharply
defined black markings and a few white ones,

408

BRITISH MOTHS.

which give it a variegated appearance ; the
discoidal spots are outlined in pure black, but
their median area is so nearly filled up with
the ground-colour as to render them incon-
spicuous : there is a large pale blotch outside
the reniforrn, a white dot at the base of the
wing, another near the base of the inner
margin, and a series of four white spots seated
on the wing-rays and parallel with the lower
half of the hind margin ; several zigzag trans-
verse lines cross the wing, but are inconstant
in colour and intensity : the hind wings are
dark smoky-brown with a pale fringe : the
antennae are white at the base; the head and
front of the thorax are pale gray; the disk of
the thorax is darker, and the body smoke-
colour.

The CATERPILLAR rests in a nearly straight
position, but falls from its food-plant, rolled in
a compact ring, when annoyed ; the head is
porrected, rather flattened, obscurely trian-
gular, and not notched on the crown ; it is
narrower than the second segment, into which
it can be partially withdrawn ; the body is
obese and velvety, rather narrowed towards
the head, and rather swollen and dorsally
elevated on the twelfth segment ; the head
is very glabrous, of a testaceous-red colour,
and having two very dark, almost black lines
down the face; the body is plum-coloured
with a double series of large dark spots
occupying a great portion of the dorsal area ;
each pair of these spots forms a kind of semi-
circle, the convexity of which is posterior,
the straight portion anterior, and a pale and
narrow medio-dorsal stripe divides each semi-
circle ; there is a rather dark stripe on each
side including the spiracles which are pale ;
the legs are testaceous-red like the head and

O

the ventral area and claspers, and rather paler
than the dorsal area : the general colour of
the body may be described as plum-colour or
violet-brown. It feeds on dock (Rumex) and
other low-growing plants.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June and
July, and has occurred in most of our English
counties north and south, extending its range
into Scotland. Mr. Birchall says it is widely
distributed, and common in many places in

Ireland.

lierbida.}

(The scientific name is Avlecta

638. The Great Brocade (Aplecta occulta).

638. THE GREAT BROCADE. — The palpi are
slightly incurved, and sometimes almost con-
nivent at the tips ; the second joint is very
slender at the base ; the fore wings are almost
straight on the costal margin, and scalloped on
the hind margin ; their colour is very dark
smoky-gray almost black, with two transverse
pale gray zigzag lines, the first nearly straight
and situated before the orbicular, the second
much bent and beyond the reniform ; the
orbicular is oblique, it has a pale gray circum-
scription and darker median area ; the reni-
form is less distinct, its circumscription is also
pale gray, and its median area dark smoke-
colour : the hind wings are smoky with a
white fringe : the head, thorax, the body are
very dark.

The CATERPILLAR rests in a straight position,
but falls to the ground rolled in a compact
ring if annoyed : the head is narrower than
the second segment, and the face is rather
flattened; the body is almost uniformly cylin-
drical, but there is a slight diminution in
circumference towards the head : the anal
claspers are rather long, stretched out behind,
and spreading ; the colour of both head and
body is a rich bistre-brown, the head shining

NOCTUAS.

407

and having a median pale line, and a pale
patch on each cheek ; the body is adorned
with five pale stripes extending the entire
length of the caterpillar; one of these is
narrow and medio-dorsal ; this is followed by
a pale lateral stripe which in each segment
emits a short oblique branch directed back-
wards ; then follows on each side a white
stripe in the immediate region of the spiracles ;
on the dorsal area of each segment are two
distinct white spots on each side of the narrow
medio-dorsal stripe ; the ventral area, legs,
and claspers are rather paler thau the dorsal
area. The CHRYSALIS is subterranean, of a dull
dead black colour, with a very conical body
and two sharp bristles like spines directed
backwards from the thirteenth segment. It
feeds on primrose (Primula acaulis) and other
low-growing plants.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
has occasionally been taken in the Isle of
Wight, Hampshire, Sussex, Surrey, Cheshire,
Lancashire, Yorkshire, and in Scotland, but I
cannot find that it has been met with in
Ireland. (The scientific name is Aplecta
occulta.)

Obs. — The northern specimens are remark-
able for their dark colour, some of them being
almost black.

639. The Gray Arches (Aplecta nebulosa).

639. The Gray Arches (Aplecta nebulosa).

639. THE GRAY ARCHES. — The palpi are
porrected ; the second joint is rather slender
at the base and stouter at the tip, which gives
it a clavate form ; the antennae are almost
simple in both sexes ; the costal margin of the
fore wings is veiy slightly arched, the margin
very slightly scalloped ; their colour is either
pale whitish-gray, or dark smoky-gray; in
both cases they are marbled and mottled with
darker shades; the discoidal spots are distinct;
the orbicular is nearly circular, generally of a
pale gray, with a central dark spot ; the reni-
form has a dark circumscription, and a reni-
form figure outlined in its median area : the
hind wings are smoky-gray and pale at the
base ; the thorax is crested and variegated
with two shades of gray ; the body is crested
and smoky-gray.

The head of the CATERPILLAR is porrected
and somewhat exserted, although rather nar-
rower than the second segment ; it is almost
triangular in shape and very glabrous ; the
body is obese, and the segments are very
strongly marked, each being somewhat swollen
in the middle ; it tapers gradually at the
anterior extremity, and rapidly and suddenly
at the posterior extremity ; the surface is seft
and velvety : the colour of both the head and
body is wainscot-brown on the dorsal surface,
shaded to pale, sickly, and semi-transparent
olive-brown on the belly; thare is a dark

408

BBITISH MOTHS.

brown mark on the head, single at the mouth,
but divided towards the crown ; the second
segment has a shining plate and a somewhat
kite-shaped mark, the apex pointing back-
wards ; the third and fourth segments have
each a narrow median dark mark, single and
united in front, but forked and spreading
behind, and each prong of the fork terminates
in a circular black dot ; the following segments
(the fifth to the eleventh inclush j) have each
a dorsal lozengp, the anterior half of which is
pale, and contains two circular black dots, the
posterior half is dark ; a delicately slender
pale medio-dorsal stripe passes through the
entire series of these lozenges ; on each side
of the caterpillar is a darker shade just above
the spiracles, but not amounting to a stripe ;
its ventral boundary is rather abruptly defined,
but it is without a dorsal boundary ; within
this shade there is a single dot on the fifth
segment, two spots on the sixth, and two
oblique lines pointing backwards on the re-
mainder. It probably feeds on low-growing
plants in the autumn, but is rarely met with
before hybernation, which frequently takes
place in the stems of thistles : in early spring
it ascends the stems of sallows (Salix caprea),
white-thorn (Cratcegus oxyacantha), birch
(Betula alba}, &c., and devours the young buds
and opening leaves, and is full-fed in April and
May, after hybernation ; it then changes to a
CHRYSALIS beneath the surface of the earth :
the chrysalis is rich dark brown with a rather
long cylindrical body, and has two strong
straight bristles at the tip around which there
are several short hooks.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June and
July, and is very commonly found resting on
park-palings and similar fences : it is abun-
dant in the South of England, and is widely
distributed in the North and in Scotland; and
Mr. Birchall informs us it is also widely dis-
tributed in Ireland, and common in many
places. (The scientific name is Aplecta nebu-
losa. )

Obs. — I am indebted to Mr. Bond for the
loan of the extraordinary specimens repre-
sented in the right-hand column of the
preceding page.

640. The Silvery Arches {Aplecta tincta).

640. THE SILVERY ARCHES. — The palpi are
connivent or curved towards each other, the
terminal joint being rendered inconspicuous
by the scaliness of the second ; the antennae
are nearly simple in both sexes : the fore
wings are slightly arched beyond the middle
of the costal margin ; their colour is pearly-
gray, very glossy, and somewhat silvery,
which tint predominates in a broad band
parallel with the hind mai'gin, and bounded
by a waved dark brown line ; the upper
median area of the wing is clouded with
brown ; the discoidal spots are present, but
very inconspicuous, the orbicular is generally
filled up with silvery gray : the hind wings
are smoke-coloured, the rays being rather
darker, and they have a waved white line
parallel with the anal portion of the hind
margin ; the fringe is also white : the palpi
and face are brown ; the crown of the head
and front qf the thorax are very pale gray ;
the disk of the thorax is pale brown ; the
body is crested and smoky-brown.

The CATERPILLAR falls off its food-plant,
feigns death, and rolls in a ring when touched
or disturbed ; its head is small in proportion
to the body ; its body soft and fleshy, the
divisions of the segments being very distinctly
marked by depressed rings : on the segments
themselves are numerous depressions ; and
along the sides, in the region of the spiracles,
are various conspicuous skin-folds. The colour
of the head is shining testaceous-brown ; of
the body, pale raw sienna-brown, sprinkled
with both white and black markings, so small
as to be scarcely perceptible to the naked eye,
and having also a very inconspicuous double
medio-dorsal stripe composed of black dots,
the intervening very narrow space being

NOCTUAS.

409

nearly white ; the spiracles are black ; the
legs and claspers of the same colour as the
body. It feeds on birch (Bvtula alba), and
those in confinement seemed to be nearly
full-grown at the end of October, when they
hybernate.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June and
July, but cannot be called common ; it has
occurred at Plymouth, in the New Forest,
Hampshire, in Sussex, Surrey, Kent, Essex,
Berkshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire,
Shropshire, and also in Scotland, so that its
geographical range in Great Britain is ex-
tensive, but I do not find it recorded for
Ireland. (The scientific na.nje is Aplecta
tincta.)

641. The Pale-shining Brown (Aplecta advena).

641. THE PALE-SHINING BROWN. — The
palpi are very slightly porrected, and some-
what connivent at the tip ; the antennae are
nearly simple, but those of the male are mani-
festly stouter than those of the female; the
fore wings are scalloped on the hind margin ;
their colour is pale wainscot-brown, with the
slightest possible tinge of red ; the discoidal
spots are very indistinct ; the reniform has a
white outer border, more particularly apparent
at the lower extremity; parallel with the hind
margin is a darker, but interrupted and un-
certain line, which dilates into a kind of blotch
near the anal angle : the hind wings, head,
thorax, and body are dingy gray-brown.

The CATERPILLAR feeds by night, on lettuce,
knotgrass (Polygonum aviculare), and many
other plants, but buries itself during the day
just below the surface of the earth ; when an-
noyed it rolls itself in a ring, generally lying
on its side, the legs and claspers being visible,
it if full-fed at the beginning of September,
and is then very obese ; t''e head is generally

porrected in crawling, glabrous, narrower than
the second segment, into which it is partially
withdrawn at the will of the insect; the
second segment is narrower than the others,
and has on its back a semicircular glabrous
plate, the convex margin of which is directed
backwards ; the body is almost uniformly
cylindrical ; the thirteenth segment is very
small; the anal claspers are very approximate
and inconspicuous ; the colour of the head is
pale semi-transparent brown, that of the
dorsal surface of the body very pale brown,
tinged with smoky brown ; there is a narrow
medio-dorsal stripe of darker brown, tinged
with olive-brown, and on each side of this is a
broader testaceous stripe ; the spiracles are
bright sienna-brown, margined with black ;
the ventral surface, legs, and claspers very
pale semi-transparent olive-brown; all the
colours and every part of the body have
smoke-coloured reticulations variously ar-
ranged : some of these assume the form of
four dorsal dots on each segment, but all the
colours and markings are confused and obscure.
The MOTH appeal's on the wing in June and
July, and has occurred in most of our English
counties and also in Scotland, but, I think,
not in Ireland. (The scientific name is Aplecta
advena.)

642. The Bcsmtiful Brocade (Hadena satura).

642. THE BEAUTIFUL BROCADE. — The palpi
are rather long and very decidedly porrected ;
the second joint is not very scaly, it is un-
usually slender towards the base, but stouter
towards the tip, the terminal joint is small
and short ; the antennae are rather stout in the
male, but simple in both sexes : the fore wings
are ample, the costal margin is rather arched
towards the tip, the hind margin is scalloped
rat'ier slightly throughout the principal part
of its length, but very deeply at the anal angle;

410

BRITISH MOTHS.

there is a slight prominence almost amounting
to a tooth, on the inner margin rather before
its middle, reminding one of the appendage
so generally observable in the genus Notodontn,;
the colour of the fore wings is rich umber-
brown, a good deal marbled and mottled with
browns of other shades ; the two discoidal
spots are conspicuous, and have an unusually
indented and irregular circumscription ; their
colour is testaceous-brown, but the reniform
has a long dark cloud extending parallel with
its interior border, and the orbicular has also
a dark central cloud ; a large blotch of tes-
taceous-brown is situated within the anal
angle of the wing ; there is a series of pale
dots on the hind margin, one at the point of
each tooth of the scalloped margin, and a
series of corresponding black dots, one in each
hollow of the scalloped margin ; within these,
but still parallel with the hind margin, is a
pale brown and interrupted zigzag line ;
below the discoidal spots, and parallel with
the inner margin, is a large and diffused, but
very dark blotch : the hind wings have an
irregular outline ; they are of a gray -brown
colour, slightly glossed and iridescent, paler
towards the base, and havinga vague crescentic
discoidal spot in the middle, and a series of
very slender crescentic markings on the ex-
treme margin : the head and thorax have the
same colour as the fore wings, the body the
same colour as the hind wings.

I believe Freyer is the only entomologist
who has obtained the caterpillar of this
species ; the head is represented as of nearly
the same width as the second segment, rather
gibbous in the cheeks, and very slightly
notched on the crown; the body is uniformly
cylindrical, as far as and including the
twelfth segment, the thirteenth very much
narrower and smaller ; the anal claspers are
stretched out behind, and rather spreading, the
colour of the head and dorsal area is pale
testaceous-brown, each side of each segment
having an oblique darker line, each pair of
these lines forming the letter V, the point of
which is directed backwards ; an interrupted
medio- dorsal series of black spots passes
throu h each of these V's, and the first and

second of these dorsal spots is accompanied by
a smaller white spot : the ventral area is pale
ochreous-green, and the legs and claspers par-
take of the same colour ; a very narrow but
distinct white stripe separates the dorsal from
the ventral area.

The MOTH appears on the wing in August,
and two specimens are said to have been taken
in England — one in Oxfordshire, the other in
Cambridgeshire — and one in the county Wick-
low, in Ireland, by Mr. Bristow. (The scien-
tific name is Hadena safara.)

643. The Northern Arches (Hadena assimilis).

643. THE NORTHERN ARCHES. — The palpi
are porrected, distant at the base, extremely
sharp-pointed, and rather incurved or approxi-
mating towards the tips ; the antennae are
perfectly simple in both sexes : the fore wings
are ample and densely clothed with scales ;
their colour is the richest umber-brown, almost
black, and glossed with purple ; the discoidal
spots are distinctly outlined in ochreous-
white, but there is a solution of continuity,
or almost so, on the inner side of each ; at the
base of the wing is a pale spot, and the disk
of the wing is traversed by two transverse
zigzag pale brown lines, one within the
orbicular, the other without the reniform ;
the hind marginal area between this second
transverse line and the hind margin itself is
traversed by eight pale parallel wing-rays,
and each joins a slender pale marginal line;
a minute white spot appearing at each junc-
tion : the hind wings are smoky towards the
hind margin, but paler at the base, and
having a distinct crescentic discoidal spot ;
the fringe is rather paler than the disk of the
wing, and there is a delicate pale line on the
hind margin itself, similar to that on.the fore
wings : the head and thorax are exactly of

NOCTUAS.

411

the same colour as the fore wings; the thorax
is very stoat and densely clothed with scales;
the body has more the colour of the hind wings.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June.
Mr. Doubleday has a pair of this insect
taken at Bannock ; Mr. Shepherd also has a
specimen taken in Scotland by the late Mr.
Weaver, and Mr. Stain ton one taken by
himself at rest, also in Scotland. (The scien-
tific name is Hadena assimilis).

Obs. it seems desirable here to say a few
words concerning Crymodes exulis, a species
to which the present insect, Hadena assimilis,
has been referred by Dr. Staudinger. In the
first place I would remai'k that, supposing
Crymodes exulis and Hadeu:;, assimilis to be
identical, it is a remarkable instance of one
genus assuming the character of another, for
I can in no respect distinguish genetically the
two insects under consideration, and yet the
caterpillar of Exulis, as described and figured
by Milliere, seems to have little or no re-
semblance to the caterpillar of an Hadena.
Seeing that the name of Crymodts exulis
(should it not rather be Crymodis Exul]
has been introduced into our list, it seems
desirable to give figures and a description of
authentic continental specimens of that insect
kindly lent me by Mr. Doubleday, and quote,
from Milliere's inestimable works, a description
of the caterpillar.

The Exile (Crymodes exulis).
The palpi are inconspicuous, almost hidden

beneath the very slightly projecting scales of
the head ; the fore wings are dark brown,
tinged with ochreous or saffron, the discoidal
spots being paler ; the reniform is large and
amorphous, the outer border being strongly
toothed or divided into points ; there is a
darker band across the midd'.e of the wing,
including the orbicular, but only touching the
reniform ; this band is interrupted longitudi-
nally by two paler wing-rays ; the hind mar-
ginal area is also darker, and is interrupted by
eight paler parallel rays ; very near the tip of
the wing is a rather conspicuous transversely-
placed pale spot on the costa; the hind wings are
saffron-brown towards the base, smoky-brown
towards the hind margin ; there is a slightly
darker median transverse line, and a paler
fringe tinged with saffron : the head, thorax,
and body are very nearly the same colour as
the fore wings.

The EGG is deposited by the provident
parent on the stem of a grass, generally on
some species of Poa, and the young CATER-
PILLAR emerges after a few days, and then at
once introduces itself into the stem by gnaw-
ing a small hole just below the first septum;
it feeds on the interior, making its way gra-
dually downwards, head foremost, until it has
arrived at the root. Winter, always so early
in the north of Europe, is still more prompt
in making its appearance in Iceland, the native
country of this species, which is then in the
caterpillar state : at its approaches these
caterpillars hasten to shelter themselves from
the severity of the cold, under that dense bed
of moss or lichen with which almost the whole
surface of the island is covered : in this vege-
table bed they form long galleries, or mines,
and in these they remain in a state of tor-
pidity for many months. On the arrival of
spring the caterpillar attains its full size,
and if sought for at that season will readily be
found, the long galleries which it has formed
among the lichens revealing its presence to the
entomologist. About the middle of June —
that is to say, seven or eight months after
burying itself in the lichen, it appears to be
full-fed.

In its mysterious economy the caterpillar

412

BRITISH MOTHS.

of this species resembles those of the great
genus Agrotis, which generally live concealed
near the roots of low plants, or even among
the roots themselves ; it possesses, moreover,
the maggot-like appearance and the obscure
colouring of the greater number of these sub-
terranean caterpillars : it is elongate, stout,
cylindrical, and transversely wrinkled, and
has a horny dorsal plate on the second and
thirteenth segments, which are more wrinkled
than the others, slightly tinged with yellow
above, and exhibit certain indistinct indica-
tions of a medio-dorsal and lateral stripes; the
head is of moderate size, spherical and notched
on the crown ; it is very shining and of a red-
dish colour, with brown mandibles and ocelli ;
the legs are of the same colour as the head,
but black at the extremities ; the claspers are
of the same colour as the body, with the ex-
ception of the terminal disks, which are brown :
the spiracles are oval and black, and are ren-
dered very conspicuous by their contrast with
the pale ground colour ; the corneous plate of
the second segment, occupying its entire dorsal
surface, is of a reddish-yellow colour, but
paler than the head ; the corneous plate of the
thirteenth segment is also brown, and cor-
responds in colour with that on the second ;
the trapezoidal warts are not larger than the
other bristle-bearing warts, and in like manner
emit short black hairs.

It spins itself a slight cocoon in the lichen,
and in this changes to a CHRYSALIS, which is
smooth, shining, rather elongate, and of a red-
dish-brown colour, and has absolutely no
character by which it can be distinguished
from the general run of Noctua chrysalids,
unless it be that the last segment of the body,
which is browner, is square at the extremity,
and ends in four short points, of which the
two in the middle are rather longer than
those on the outside.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
has been brought in great numbers from Ice-
land. It flies during the day, and may some-
times be seen flying in crowds about the
flowers scattered sparingly over the surface of
the ground. The species has also been found
in Labrador, Kamtschatka, Lapland, and the

Arctic regions of North America,. (The scien-
tific name is Crymodes exulis.}

There can be no doubt that the natural situ-
ation of this species is between Dasypolia
Templi and the genus Xylophasia.

644. The Dark Brocade (Hadena adusta).

644. THE DARK BROCADE. — The palpi are
slightly porrected, the second joint clothed
with long bristly scales, the terminal joint is
comparatively slender, and square at the tip;
the antennae are slightly pectinated in the
male, simple in the female : the fore wings
are waved on the hind margin, but scarcely
scalloped ; their colour is rich dark umber-
brown, the discoid al spots being perceptible,
but indistinct ; their central area is of the
same colour as the general area of the wing ;
the circumscription of the orbicular is black
and very slender ; the reniform is narro\v, its
outer border zigzag and pale ochreous ; parallel
with the hind margin of the wing is a pale
zigzag line, on the interior border of which
rest a series of very dark wedge-shaped marks,
the tips of which point towards the base of the
wing ; the entire area of the wing is mottled
and marbled with darker and paler patches
and lines, none of them very conspicuous : the
hind wings are pale gray at the base, gradu-
ally shading to smoky-brown towards the hind
margin, the discoidal spot and wing-rays being
dark and very distinct ; the fringe is pale,
intersected throughout by a waved darker
line : the head and thorax are dark umber-
brown, the latter crested at the base ; the
body is slightly crested on the back and tufted
along the sides ; it is gray-brown with long
paler scales at the base.

The EGG is laid in June on the leaves
of many garden plants, and the CATERPILLAR
emerges in August ; at first it is a dingy
" <»t\oiir and without markings : it attains

NOGTUAS.

413

its full growth before the end of Septem-
ber, and then rests in nearly a straight
position on the twigs of the sallow, but when
annoyed it falls to the ground rolled in a
compact ring and feigns death ; in this posture
it remains but a few seconds, and then re-
ascends the stems of the sallow with great
activity. At this period it nearly abandons
the leaves of the sallow as food, and feeds
almost exclusively on those swollen flower-
buds which contain the male catkins of the
ensuing year : the head is semi-porrect, sub-
globose, highly glabrous, and scarcely narrower
than the second segment : the body is almost
imperceptibly attenuated at the anterior ex-
tremity, otherwise uniformly cylindrical ; the
dorsal surface transversely wrinkled ; the
colour of the head is dingy green, reticulated
with brown ; the dorsal surface of the body is
pale purple-brown, inclining to pink on the
second, third, and fourth segments, and ob-
scurely reticulated throughout with smoky-
brown ; the spiracles are very pale wainscot-
brown, almost white, and are surrounded with
jet-black rings ; the ventral surface is pale
olive-green, sprinkled with dingy white, many
of the white markings emitting pale hairs;
the claspers are concolorous with the ventral
surface ; the legs are pale transparent green,
tipped with pink. During October these
caterpillars may be found at night feeding
on low-growing plants, but in the daytime
they invariably secrete themselves in the
ground or under leaves : when full-fed they
enter the ground, each forming a hybernacu-
lum, in which it remains until A pril, and then
assumes the CHRYSALIS state.

Mr. Buckler has described two varieties of
the caterpillar as under : —

Var. \. — The ground colour is a brilliant
yellow, the upper surface suffused with deep
rose pink ; the dorsal stripe composed of two
darker pink lines, confluent at the beginning
of each segment, forming a spot ; the sub-
dorsal stripe bright yellow, only visible on the
anterior halves of the segments; the tubercular
spots and two transverse streaks near the end
of each segment also of the bright yellow
ground colour.

Var. 2. — A dull pale yellowish-green, the
dorsal stripe faintly outlined with orange-red,
with a spot at the segmental divisions ; sub-
dorsal line of the same colour, but interrupted
on the hinder half of each segment; tubercular
dots red, and situated ou the taint reddish
outlines of diamonds, which are very delicately
freckled within ; spiracles white ringed with
black.

The MOTH appears on the wing towards the
end of May, and has been taken in most of
our English and Scotch counties, and Mr.
Birchall informs us that in Ireland it is com-
mon and widely distributed. (The scientific
name is Hadena adusta.)

645. The Brindled Green (Hadena Proteus).

' i. THE BRINDLED GREEN. — The palpi are
slightly porrected, the second joint clothed
with bristly scales, the terminal joint also
rather scaly ; the antennae are nearly simple
in both sexes ; the fore wings are waved on
their hind margin, their colour is a variegated
mixture of black, white, and green, the
boundary of each colour being sharply de-
nned ; the orbicular is almost wholly white,
the median area having a few scattered black
and green scales ; the reniform is oblique and
indistinct ; below the discoidal spots, and
often united with the orbicular, is a pale

414

BRITISH MOTHS.

blotch of about the same size, but this is
inconstant in. form, size, and colour ; it
sometimes forms an obscure triangle in con-
junction with the two discoidal spots ; parallel
with the hind margin is a bent transverse
series of white dots ; .the hind wings are
smoky-brown, rather paler at the base ; the
hind margin is waved, the fringe is paler than
the general area, and is intersected through-
out by a slender darker line ; the head and
thorax are richly mottled like the fore wings,
the body smoky-brown.

The CATERPILLAR rests in a nearly straight
position, but falls from its food-plant rolled in
a compact ring when annoyed : the head is of
nearly the same width as the second segment,
the body is almost uniformly cylindrical, soft
and velvety : the head is gray, tinged with
testaceous-brown, and having a very slender
darker median line, and a rather broader dark
stripe down each cheek ; the body is pale
gray or putty-coloured, with a treble medio-
dorsal stripe, the interior division being almost
white, the exterior divisions nearly black, and
each projecting a decided lateral lobe into the
middle of each segment; on each side there is
a less distinct stripe of a smoky-brown colour;
this stripe emits a rather slender branch,
directed obliquely backwards and upwards;
the ventral surface is nearly of the same
colour as the dorsal area, but has a tendency
to green between the claspers and between
the legs.

The MOTH appears on the wing in Sep-
tember, and seems to be very generally dis-
tributed in England and Scotland, and Mr.
Birchall says it is common in the county
Wicklow in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Hadena, Proteus.}

Obs. 1. — The beautiful varieties represented
in the second and third figures are kindly lent
me by Mr. Bond and Mz\ Wenman, purposely
to illustrate this work.

Ofa 2. — It will be observed that I have
restored the proper name " Proteus " to this
species, it having been previously changed to
" Protea " in order to make it agree with the
genus Hadena. Entomologists have rather
peculiar views about the construction of Latin,

but I do not consider myself under any obli-
gation to depart from the ordinary rules of the
language as we find it in the classics.

646. The Glaucous Shears (Hadena glauca).

646. THE GLAUCOUS SHEARS. — The palpi
are porrected and rather distant, the scales
rough and haii'-like ; the antennae are simple :
the coloxtr of the fore wings is smoky-black,
much variegated with gray, and having the
discoidal spots of a chalky w lateness, with a
slight median shade ; the reniform is very
conspicuous, the orbicular less so, and there is
an oblong pale spot below the oi'bicular, also
less distinct ; the other markings are sharply
defined, but of the same colours — smoky-
black and gray; the fringe Is spotted; the
hind wings are gray-brown, with a small
black discoidal spot and a whitish fringe : the
head and thorax are variegated like the fore
wings, the body plain gray-brown, like the
hind wings ; it is crested, the tips of the
crests being darker.

The CATERPILLAR, when full-fed, rests in
a nearly straight position, but falls off its food-
plant and rolls in a compact ring when dis-
turbed ; the head is narrower than the second
segment, and very shining; its colour is pale
testaceous-brown, reticulated with darker
brown ; the body is smooth and cylindrical ;
its colour is umber-brown, and reticulated,
like the head, with a dai'ker tint ; there is a
narrow and somewhat interrupted medio-dorsal
stripe, and a double series of oblique markings
on each side of this stripe ; each mark has a
portion darker and a portion lighter than the
general ground colour; there is a rather
broad and very distinctly defined side-stripe of
a dingy white colour, extending from the head
to the extremity of the anal claspers ; the
spiracles are white ; the belly is dingy brown
and the claspers concolorous. It feeds on

NOCTUAS.

the sailow (Salix caprea), and will eat let-
tuce freely in confinement. At the beginning
of August my specimens, for which I am in-
debted to Mr. W. Johnson, of Liverpool,
changed to CHRYSALIDS on the surface of the
earth : these were dark brown and shining,
and had two very distinct incurved spines
seated on the broad wrinkled tip of the body ;
each segment of the body had also a ring of
short spines, like those of the goat-moth
chrysalis.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June,
and seems to be a northern species ; it is, how-
ever, said to have occurred in Worcestershire,
Shropshire, Lancashire, Cheshire, the Lake
District, and Yorkshire ; it is reported to be
common also in Scotland. (The scientific
name is Hadena Glauca.)

647. The Shears (Hadena dentina).

647. THE SHEARS. — The palpi are very in-
conspicuous, scarcely porrected, and almost
connivent ; the antenna? are simple : the fore
wings are gray with the slightest possible
tinge of wainscot-brown ; they have a darker
median band, broad on the costa, and narrow
on the inner margin : this band contains both
the discoidal spots ; these are clearly defined,
pale gray with a darker median cloud; the
wing-rays passing through this band are also
pale gray: the hind margin is chiefly occupied
by a darker band-like shade, which is inter-
sected throughout by a pale zigzag line : the
hind wings are gray-brown with slightly
darker rays, and a pale fringe : the head,
thorax, and body are dark gray, variegated
with paler gray ; the body is crested, the tips
of the crests being darker.

The head of the CATERPILLAR is narrower
than the second segment, into which it is
partially received ; the body is almost uni-
formly cylindrical and smooth, but emitting a

few scattered hairs from each segment ; it is
of a dull opaque ground-colour, and has a
medio-dorsal series of lozenge-shaped markings
placed end to end, and forming a continuous
chain ; this chain has a white border on each
side following the outline of the lozenge ; each
side of the caterpillar has three parallel stripes
in the region ot the spiracles, the middle on*
darker than the others ; the legs and claspers
are concolorous with the body. It feeds on the
roots of dandelion, and when full-fed changes
to an opaqu* dark brown CHRYSALIS, emitting
singular spines from the body, the posterior
of which, those on the twelfth segment, are
the largest and most conspicuous.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June and
July, and is of general occurrence throughout
England and Scotland. Mr. Birchall says it
is widely distributed, and often very common
in Ireland. (The scientific name is Haaena
clentina.)

648. The Stranger (Hadena peregrina) .

648. THE STRANGER. — The palpi are por-
rected and connivent, the terminal joint conical
and nearly naked ; the antennae are simple, the
fore wings are nearly straight on the costa,
blunt at the tip and slightly scalloped on the
hind margin ; their colour is gray, tinged with
pale wainscot-brown, and having certain in-
distinct and confused markings, both paler
and darker than the ground colour ; the
orbicular spot is large, oblong, oblique and
pale ; the reniform very indistinct, but having
a darker central area ; parallel with the hind
margin is a pale zigzag line, which projects
two sharp teeth to the extreme margin, rather
below its middle : the hind wings are very
pale, almost white, with darker wing-rays,
but the darker portion of the wing-rays neither
reaches the base nor the margin, which is
slightly scalloped and accompanied by a
slender brown line ; the head and thorax axe

4 16

BRITISH MOTHS.

of ihe same colour as the fore wings, the body
c£ the same colour as the hind wings.

The CATERPILLAR is figured and described
with evident care in Boisduval's " Collection
des Chenilles : " the head is greenish : the
body is sometimes of a reddish-brown colour,
sometimes of a violet-brown; it has, on
the back of every segment, four small black
dots, arranged in pairs between two darker
stripes, and is also covered with crowded
white dots below the spiracles ; the spiracles
are white and are rendered conspicuous by
being placed each in the middle of a long
narrow black spot, and these black spots form
a very regxilar series, below which there is an.
orange-red stripe, bordered both above and
below with a very narrow stripe of pure
white ; and again, below this compound stripe
of white and red there are on each segment
two black dots placed obliquely ; the vertical
surface is generally of a pale yellow or green ;
the legs and claspers are concolorous with
the ventral surface. It feeds on the prickly
saltwort (Salsola Kali] and various species of
goosefoot (Chenopodium) from the middle of
May to the beginning of July, when it is full-
fed and spins on the surface of the ground a
very flimsy and imperfect cocoon, in which it
changes to a CHRYSALIS in about a week.

The MOTH appears on the wing continuously
from the last week in July to the beginning
of September, and is common on the shores
of the Mediterranean ; but as regards Britain,
two specimens only have been taken, both in
the Isle of Wight; one of them is in the
possession of Mr. Bond, who has most kindly
brought it to me for figuring and description
;n this work. (The scientific name is Hadena

.regrina.)

649. The Nutmeg (Hadena Chenopodii) .

"54-9. THE NUTMEG. — The palpi are por-
reoted, the second joint slender and not very

scaly; the antennae are simple; the h?nd
margin of the fore wings is very sligLtly
waved ; their colour is gray-brown, obscurely
mottled and lined with darker and paler
brown ; both discoidal spots are traceable, but
inconspicuous ; their circumscription is black
and very slender, and within this is a second
paler circumscription ; three paler transverse
lines cross the wing : the first is short, near the
base, and waved, and both sides are delicately
bordei'ed with black ; the second is before the
orbicular, also waved, and bordered on both
sides with black ; the third is beyond the
reniform, zigzag, and bordered on the inside
only with black : parallel with the hind mar-
gin is a bent and zigzag pale line ; the hind
wings ai*e gray-brown, a crescentic discoidal
spot and the wing-rays being darker ; the
fringe is pale ; the head, thorax, and bod" are
gray-brown.

The EGGS are laid about Midsummer, on
the stalks and leaves of several species of
goosefoot (Chenopodium), on which the cater-
pillars appear almost exclusively to feed ; they
are full-fed about the end of August, and then
fall of their food-plant and roll into a compact
ring if annoyed. The head is narrower than
the body, and porrected in crawling ; the body
is obese, uniformly cylindrical, very smooth
and velvety, the anterior extremity sometimes
extended in a leech-like manner. The head
is glabrous, opaque green, and reticulated on
the sides of the cheeks with paler markings ;
the body is olive-green, delicately reticulated
with black, and having two parti-coloured
stripes on each side, the upper imperfectly de-
fined, white or pinky white, or more rarely
yellow ; it extends from the head completely
round the anal flap, and is bordered above
with a series of amorphous patches of intense
velvety black ; the lower stripe is narrow, but
very distinct and clearly defined ; it passes,
just below the spiracles, from the head to the
anal claspers ; its colour is pink, narrowly
bordered above and below with pure white ;
the spiracles are also pure white, delicately
bordered with black ; the belly, legs, and
claspers are pure olive-green. Such is a
description of the more usual or norma)

NOCTUAS.

417

colouring of this pretty caterpillar, but neither
of the colours seems absolutely constant, and
the dorsal surface varies from the usual
opaque green to bright apple-green, to pink,
to clear brown, and to deep olive-brown ; it
is full-fed at the end of August, and changes
to a smooth brown CHRYSALIS below the
surface of the gi-ound.

The MOTH appears on the wing about Mid-
summer, stragglers being met with throughout
July. The caterpillar is much more abundant
than the moth, since it absolutely swarms on
the various species of Clienopodium which in-
variably spring up in waste places round Lon-
don. It also occurs in all the southern
counties of England, but does not extend far
north, Shropshire being its utmost limit so far
as hitherto ascertained. The name appears in
Mr. Green's list of Irish Lepidoptera. (The
scientific name is Hadena Chenopodii.)

650. The Orache Moth (Hadena Atriplicis).

650. THE ORACHE MOTH. — The palpi a;e
porrected, the second joint stout and scaly,
the third slender, very distinctly exserted, and
almost naked : the antennae are simple in both
sexes : the fore wings are very straight on the
costal, slightly waved on the hind margin, and
almost rounded at the tip ; their ground-colour
is gray-brown ; the discoidal spots are green,
the orbicular having a pale, almost white,
circumscription, the reniform having the inner
border white, and a waved white line as well
as a gray-brown shade on the median area ;
there are several other green blotches, one at
the base of the wing, another between the base
and the orbicular, but lower than either ; a
third, the largest, near the anal angle, and
several others : there is also a very conspicuous
white blotch almost in the middle of the wing,
it originates at the lower outer extremity

of the orbicular, and passing obliquely below
the reniform, points towards the anal angle ;
parallel with the hind margin is a much bent,
very clearly-defined whitish line, which termi-
nates at the anal angle : the hind wings are
smoky-brown, with the base and fringe pale,
and the discoidal spot darker : the head and
thorax are vai-iegated like the fore wings, the
body plain gray-brown like the hind wings.

The head of the CATERPILLAR is porrected in
crawling, but semi-prone when at rest ; it is
scarcely narrower than the second segment ;
the face is flat, and the crown without a
notch ; the body is obese and rather velvety,
cylindrical, and having the dorsal surface of
the twelfth segment gibbous ; it falls from its
food-plant rolled in a very compact ring when
disturbed : the colour of the head is pale tes-
taceous-brown, approaching to red, and having
a slightly darker mark down each cheek ; the
dorsal surface of the body is green, but the tint
is very various, sometimes approaching to olive,
at others to yellow-green, and sometimes it is
even dark olive-green : there is a very dark
but narrow medio-dorsal stripe, and a sub-
dorsal stripe of the same width and colour,
but less clearly defined ; each of these three
stripes contains a series of pale dots, and on the
back of each segment are the usual four black
dots, of which the anterior pair are nearest
together : below the dark sub-dorsal stripe is
a bright stripe, sometimes inclining to yellow,
but generally to pink, and both the borders
of this bright stripe, which extends from the
head to the very extremity of the anal
claspers, are almost white, which makes the
stripe itself peculiarly conspicuous : this stripe
contains the spiracles, which are white ; on
each side of the dorsal area of each segment is
an oblique dark streak ; the ventral is rather
paler than the dorsal area ; the legs and
claspers are pink, but rather dingy : it feeds
on various species of orache (A triplex), goose
foot (Chenopodium), persicaria (Polygonum\
dock (Rumex), and many other low plants,
but only in the night, concealing itself by day
under stones or clods of earth, often at a very
considerable distance from its food-plant ;
when full-fed it changes to a CHRYSALIS beneath

M 27

BRITISH MOTHS.

the surface of the ground, enclosed in a very
singular cocoon, half silk and half earth ;
these the dealers collect in great numbers and
sell at a very moderate price, and from them
are procured those fine series of moths which
appear in most of our collections : the CHRY-
SALIS is of a reddish-brown colour, and shining ;
the body is conical, and terminates in a very
sharp point.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
lias occurred at Hampstead in Middlesex,
Buckinghamshire, Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk,
and Cambridgeshire. (The scientific name is
Hadena Atriplicis.)

651. The Dog's-tooth (Hadena suasa).

651. THE DOG'S-TOOTH. — The palpi are
manifestly porrected, the terminal joint con-
cealed among the scales of the second ; the
antennae in both sexes are simple : the colour
of the fore wings is pale dingy-brown, th«
discoidal spots having a median area of the
same colour; the orbicxvlar has generally a
complete but very narrow black circumscrip-
tion ; it is oblong and oblique ; the reniform
has a less perfect circumscription, and the
lower portion of its median area is darker
than the upper portion , there is a dark line
at the middle of the base of the wing pointing
towards the middle of tb% wing ; parallel with
the hind margin is \ very distinct but narrow
zigzag yellow line, which projects a W-shaped
mark to the hind margin, and on which rest
several dark wedge-shaped marks, the points
of which are directed towards the base of the
wing ; the hind margin is usually darker than
any other part of the wing : the hind wings
are gray-brown ; the head and thorax are of
the same colour as the fore wings ; the body is
crested and of the same colour as the hind
wings.

in confinement the CATERPILLAR feeds

vigorously on the common knotgrass (Poly-
gonum aviculare), and is full-fed about the
third week in July. It eats principally by
night, resting by day in a straight position on
those stems of its food-plant which are pro-
strate on the ground ; but, when disturbed, it
elevates the anterior part of its body, tucks
its head in tightly, and assumes an elegant
and most Sphinx-like attitude, even more
striking than that of Sphinx Ligustri. If the
food-plant be shaken, it falls to the ground in
a tight compact ring : the head is narrower
than the second segment, into which it is
partially received when at rest : the body is
almost uniformly cylindrical, but slightly
attenuated at both extremities, the divisions
of the segments being decidedly but not deeply
marked ; the surface is smooth and velvety,
but exhibiting under a lens a few minute
short hairs : the colour is various ; that of the
head and body of the same hue ; the prevailing
varieties are obscure grass-green and olive-
brown, as in so many other of our Noctuas, the
head sometimes plain, sometimes reticulated
with darker markings, the dorsal being always
darker than the ventral area of the body, and
divided immediately below the spiracles by
a bright and very conspicuous stripe which
extends from the head into the anal claspers;
this stripe is bright ochreous-yellow, narrowly
margined above by dark umber-brown in the
browner specimens, by black in the greener
ones, and margined below by a paler stripe,
which in some specimens has a tinge of brick-
red; the dorsal surface has three indistinct
narrow stripes darker than the ground-colour
and dividing the dorsal area into four equal
parts : these three stripes are scarcely per-
ceptible in the greener specimens, but in some
of the browner specimens are very conspicuous,
and interrupted at the divisions of the seg-
ments ; and each of the exterior ones LS thus
divided into a series of separate markings,
each of which is slightly oblique, and together
they constitute a tolerably regular series on
each side of the back : on each side of each
segment, equidistant between the medio-dorsal
and the interrupted stripe, is a double dot,
half black and half white ; and the entire

NOCTUAS.

surface is reticulated with smoky-black, and
dotted with white ; the ventral is not only
paler than the dorsal area, but is slightly
transparent, and, like the dorsal area, is
reticulated with darker and dotted with
lighter markings.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
has occurred in nearly all our English coun-
ties as far north as Yorkshire, and also in the
county \Vicklo\v, in Ireland, but is not com-
mon in any part of that island. (The scientific
name is Hadena suasa.}

652. The Bright-line Brown-eye (Hadena oleracea).

652. THE BRIGHT-LINE BROWN-EYE. — The
palpi are porrected and slightly incurved at
their tips ; the antennse are simple : the colour
of the fore wings is reddish-brown, the reni-
form, when perceptible, which is not always
the case, has a white circumscription, the me-
dian area being of the general ground-colour;
the reniform has an interrupted circumscrip-
tion, composed of white scales, but these are
occasionally wanting ; it has also a dull
ochreous blotch towards its costal extremity :
parallel with the hind margin is a bright snow-
white line, which near its middle projects a
white W to the hind margin ; the hind wings
are pale gray-brown at the base and darker
towards the hind margin, and have the fringe
again paler : the head and thorax are of the
same colour as the fore wings, the latter is
conspicuously crested; the body is gray-
brown, with long, pale, hair-like scales at the
base.

The CATERPILLAR rolls in a ring when dis-
turbed : its usual colour is pale delicate green,
less commonly clear transparent brown, always
having a narrow bright yellow stripe imme-
diately below the spiracles ; above the yellow
stripe is a less distinct smoke-coloured stripe,

which gradually vanishes into the green of
the back ; on the back of every segment are
several jet-black dots; on the second, third,
and fourth segments these dots form a direct
transverse series, but not on the following
segments; on each side of the caterpillar,
below the spiracles, are three or four more of
these black dots, and on the sixth, seventh,
eleventh, and twelfth segments there are
black dots on the belly; in addition to the
more conspicuous black dots, the back is
sprinkled with multitudes of ocellated and
very minute white dots : it feeds on a variety
of plants — the common nettle ( Urtica dioica),
elm ( Ulmus campestris), several species of dock
(Rumey), &c. &c., and is full-fed in Sep-
tember, when it buries itself in the earth to
assume the CHRYSALIS state.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
is very generally distributed in England, Scot-
land, and Ireland. (The scientific name is
Hadena oleracea.)

653. The Broom Moth (Hadena Pisi).

653. THE BROOM MOTH. — The palpi are
porrected, the second joint very scaly, the
scales projecting beyond the tips of the third ;
the antennae are simple : the colour of the
fore wings is reddish-brown, sometimes slightly
variegated, at others quite plain ; the dis-
coidal spots are inconspicuous ; parallel with
the hind margin Is an interrupted waved
transverse yellow line, which expands into a
blotch near the anal angle ; in the variegated
and darker specimens this line is white : the
hind wings are reddish gray-brown, rather
paler at the base : the thorax is crested and
of the same colour as the fore wings, the body
of the same colour as the hind wings.

The CATERPILLAR rolls in a ring when dis-
turbed. It is very beautiful ; the head is

420

BRITISH MOTHS.

shining, very pale green ; the body has a broad
medio-dorsal stripe olive-green and most
delicately irrorated and margined with black ;
on each side of this is a narrower stripe of
bright clear yellow; and again, below the
yellow stripe is a broader stripe of olive-green,
which, like the medio-dorsal stripe, is deli-
cately irrorated and margined with black ;
then follows on each side a narrow stripe, the
upper half of which is white, the lower half
yellow; this stripe includes the spiracles;
the belly is pale green sprinkled with black
along the spiracular line ; the legs and
claspers are pale green. After the last change
of skin, the green parts frequently become
rich purple-brown. It is said to feed on broom
and other shrubs, but I have invariably found
it on the common brake (Pteris aquilina).

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
seems to be very generally distributed in
England, Scotland, and Ireland. (The scien-
tific name is Hadena Pisi.)

654. The Pale-shouldered Brocade (Hadena

thalassina) .

654. THE PALE-SHOULDERED BROCADE. — The
palpi are scarcely porrected and inconspicuous,
the second joint being very scaly ; the antenna
are simple in both sexes : the colour of the

fore wings is reddish-brown, brightly varie-
gated with darker shades ; both the discoidal
spots are clearly defined by a slender black
circumscription ; the orbicular has also a
white circle within this black one : there is a
pale blotch at the base of the costal margin,
which gives its name to the species, and there
are three transverse pale lines, the first before
the orbicular and nearly direct ; the second
beyond the orbicular and much bent ; and the
third parallel with the hind margin, and near
its middle projecting a "W-mark towards the
hind margin; resting on this third pale line
are two or more acutely-pointed dark wedge-
shaped marks which point towards the base of
the wing ; in connection with the second of
these transverse lines, and between it and the
third, is a transverse series of six white dots,
all of them seated on the wing-rays, and each
preceded, as well as followed, by a black dot :
the hind wings are reddish gray-brown, the
wing-rays being slightly darker and the fringe
slightly paler : the thorax is crested, and, like
the fore wings, much variegated; the body is
also crested and gray-brown, and much redder
in the male at the extremity.

The CATERPILLAR feeds freely in confine-
ment on the common knotgrass (Polygonum
aviculare) by night, almost invariably retiring
just below the surface of the earth by day.
I once observed a specimen at rest, stretched
at full length on one of the stems of knotgrass
during the day, with its back downward^ and
its anal claspers stretched out behind, but
still grasping the food-plant; on being touched
it instantly rolled in a compact ring. The
head is rather narrower than the second
segment, porrected, and highly glabrous ; the
body is velvety and almost uniformly cylin-
drical, but slightly attenuated anteriorly; the
twelfth segment is slightly gibbose dorsally :
the colour of the head is pale dingy-brown,
delicately reticulated with darker brown; the
body is dull brown, tinged with pink, every
part beautifully and delicately reticulafed
with dark umber-brown, which colour iorms
a pair of oblique sub-dorsal markings; these
pairs are indistinct towards the head, but
increase in intensity to the twelfth segment,

NOCTUAS.

421

on the back of which they are united ; on
each side immediately below the spiracles,
which are almost white, is a well-defined
light stripe, conspicuously tinged with pink ;
the upper margin of this lateral stripe is
delicately bordered with white, the stripe
itself is reticulated, but not so conspicuously
as the dorsal surface ; the ventral surface,
legs, and claspers are slightly paler and more
serni-ti'ansparent than the back, dotted and
reticulated. It changes to a CHRYSALIS just
beneath the surface of the earth, at the end
of July.

Such is the general character and appear-
ance of the caterpillar ; but as Mr. Buckler
has described some varieties which were sent
him by my friend Mr. Doubleday, I can do
no less than copy his descriptions.

Vcur. 1. — Reddish-brown above as far as
the spiracles, a dull brown plate on the
second segment, through which the dorsal and
sub-dorsal lines are traced ; the dorsal line
pale ochreous on the anterior segments, V t
on the others much suffused with the groana
colour, except at the segmental divisions,
where it reappears as an ochreous spot. Ihe
sub-dorsal line is ochreous, and much suffused
with brown. On the fifth segment to the
twelfth, inclusive, a dorsal diamond-shape
of mottled brown, darker than the ground-
colour, and on each side a wedge-shape of
very dark brown pointing forwards, their
broad ends a little distance from the segmental
divisions, their sides edging the lower half of
the diamonds and the sub-dorsal lines. The
wedge-marks gradually increase in size towards
the twelfth segment, \vhere they are largest
and darkest, and most conspicuous, by the
sub-dorsal line being there suddenly paler
and united by a transverse pale line at the
base of the wedges. Spiracular line black, on
which are the white spiracles, and running
immediately beneath is a pale grayish stripe,
its upper edge whitish, belly and legs brown-
ish-gray, head pale brown.

Var. 2. — A rich cinnamon-brown mottled
with ochreous above ; belly and legs paler,
and greenish-ochreous ; dorsal and sub-dorsal
lines paler than the ground-colour, but not

very distinct, the diamond - marks hardly
visible ; the blackish wedge-marks strongly
defined, but with the addition of two or three
fine streaks of ground-colour cutting trans-
versely through them all ; the tubercular dots
black in the following order : a transverse row
of eight dots on the third and fourth segments,
and on the fifth to the twelfth, inclusive ; the
anterior dorsal pair distinct, the posterior pair
hardly visible by being placed in the broad
ends of the wedges, and a latei-al anterior dot
midway between the sub-dorsal and black
spiracular lines ; a dull brown plate on the
second segment ; head brownish - ochreous,
with a blackish stripe on each lobe from the
crown to the mouth.

Var. 3. — A dull grayish-brown ; the dorsal
and sub-dorsal lines, and penultimate trans-
verse mark, very little paler than the ground ;
the tubercular dots black, the wedge-marks
black, with a thin transverse line of ground-
colour cutting them through towards the
broad end.

The MOTH appears at the end of May and
beginning of June, and seems to occur very
generally in England, Scotland, and Ireland.
(The scientific name' is Hadena thalassina.)

655. The Beautiful Brocade (Hadena contigua).

655. THE BEAUTIFUL BROCADE. — The palpi
are inconspicuous, the antennse simple in both
sexes ; the fore wings are beautifully mottled
and marbled with delicate shades of brown
and gray, and in the region of the reniform
there is not uncommonly a saffron tint ; the
orbicular is roundish, and its median area
white ; the reniform has a slender black cir-
cumscription, its median area is gray ; adjoin-
ing the orbicular and passing obliquely below
the reniform is a lozenge-shaped pale gray
spot ; at the costal base of the wing there is

422

BRITISH MOTHS.

also a rnther large gray spot ; a transverse
waved line, not very distinct, crosses the
wing before the orbicular, and another beyond
the renifortn ; these two lines are connected
below the lozenge-shaped spot already noticed
by a longitudinal black line, somewhat resem-
bling the letter I ; at the middle of the base
of the wing is a second black line not so con-
spicuous as the first ; beyond the discoidal
spots is a gray band, very pale at its lowest
extremity, and between this and the hind
margin is a zigzag white line, resting on
which are several dark wedge-shaped marks,
having their points directed towards the base
of the wing ; the hind wings are pale gray,
slightly suffused with saffron : the head and
thorax have the same colour as the fore wings ;
the body is gray-brown, and crested, the tips
of the crests being dark brown.

The CATERPILLAR rolls in a ring when
touched, but soon unrolls itself and commences
crawling with great rapidity : the head is
shining, and of a dingy green colour reticulated
with rufous-brown ; the body is orange-ochre
coloured, inclining to rufous on the back, and
to dingy yellowish-green on the sides and
belly ; the rufous tint of the back is due to
reticulated markings, which are crowded and
clustered in certain parts, so as to form a
series of eleven Vs down the middle, the apex
of each V pointing towards the anal extremity ;
a narrow and interrupted rufous stripe on
each side includes the spiracles. It feeds
on the common birch (Betula alba) and oak
(Quercw Bobur), and is full-fed at the end of
September.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June,
and although by no means an abundant
species, seems to be widely, and I think I
may say generally, distributed in England,
Scotland, and Ireland. (The scientific name
is Hadena contigua.)

Obs.— The English names of the Hetdenas
are adapted for the sake of uniformity : I
cannot say that I regard them as either very
descriptive or appropriate : the present species
for instance is not distinguished from the rest
by its greater beauty.

656. The Light Brocade (Hadena Genista).

656. THE LIGHT BROCADE. — The palpi are
inconspicuous, the terminal joint small and
pointed ; the antenna? are simple : the fore
wings are beautifully mottled and marbled
with various tints of gray and brown ; the .
orbicular is round and has a slender black
circumscription ; the reniform has not so per-
fect a circumscription ; the median area is gray
in both ; immediately below them is a longi-
tudinal blotch of rich dark brown ; at the
costal base of the wing is a rather large gray
spot, and below this a very distinct linear
longitudinal black mark ; beyond the discoidal
spots is a broad pale gray band extending
entirely across the wing, and beyond this a
pale gray zigzag line accompanied by dark
margins and a few dark wedge-shaped marks
which point towards the base of the wing ;
the hind wings are gray-brown with darker
wing- rays and paler fringe : the head is gray :
the thorax is gray and crested ; it has a very
distinct transverse black line on the collar ;
the body is gray-brown and crested.

Mr. Buckler has described the CATERPILLAR
from specimens sent him by my friend Mr.
Doubleday. He says : " When young tho
colours of these caterpillars were brighter and
darker than they afterwards became, with dis-
tinct paler dorsal and sub-dorsal lines outlined
with darker and black spiracular lines. When
full-grown they were very plump creatures,
varying from an inch and five-eighths to an
inch and three-quarters in length, cylindrical
and tapering towards the head ; the back and
sides, as far as the row of spiracles, of very
mottled dull brown, brownish - gray, dull
greenish-gray, deep purplish-brown, or dirty
olive-greenish — for all these tints were found
in the brood. The dorsal and sub-dorsal
stripes are outlined with darker brown, in
many instances only visible on the anterior

JSfOCTUAS.

segments, and in others also at the segmental
divisions. A series of darker brown diamond
met wedge-shaped marks down the middle of
the back, on the fifth to the twelfth segment,
inclusive ; namely, on each side of these seg-
ments a diamond united to a wedge-shape on
either side, the broad ends of the wedges
extending to the end of the twelfth segment
only, and to about one-third from the ends of
the other segments, each wedge pointing
forwards reaching a third into the segment
in advance. The tubercular dots blackish,
the upper pair placed on the edges of the
diamonds, the lower pair on the broad ends of
the wedges ; in the purplish-brown variety
the dots and lines are paler than the ground-
colour, and in some instances not visible. The
whitish spiracles edged with blackish are
placed along the terminal line of the above
brown colouring, and the remaining surface
below, including the legs, is of a dirty whitish
or pale drab-colour, the legs tipped with
brown. Head with two central black streaks
across the face ; a dark brown plate on the
second segment, sometimes marked with one
pair, and in others two pairs, of pale spots."
It feeds freely in confinement on chick weed
(Alsine media), and persicaria (Polygonum],
and is full-fed by the second week in August,
when it retires just beneath the surface of the
earth to undergo pupation.

The MOTH appears on the wing at the end
of May, and occurs not unfrequently in our
southern counties, and as far north as Worces-
ter, but I think not in Scotland : Mr. Birchall
says that it occurs in the county Wicklow,
but is not common in Ireland. (The scientific
name is Hadena Genistce.)

'->57. The Saxon (Hadena rectilinea).

THE SAXON. — The palpi are slightly por-
rected, and have a small naked white terminal

joint ; the antennae are simple ; the colour of
the lore wings is a mixture of pale gray almost
white, and rich sepia-brown ; the lighter colour
occupies the base of the wing, more particularly
the costal half of the base, and also the hind-
marginal area ; the median area of the wing
is occupied by the sepia-brown, and includes
the discoidal spots : the orbicular is small,
obscure, and flattened longitudinally, some-
times reduced to a mere line ; it varies also in
colour, sometimes being pale gray, at others
concolorous with the brown area by which it
is surrounded ; in some instances it is a dark
line united to the reniform, of which it ap-
pears a mere appendage ; the reniform is more
distinct but narrow, its usual colour is gray
with a slender median shade of brown ; the
hind-marginal area contains cloudy brown
marks and darker wedge-shaped marks, the
points of which are directed towards the base
of the wing; the outer lower angle of the
gray blotch which occupies the costal portion
of the base of the wing is often prolonged into
a kind of hook, the point of which is directed
towards the base of the wing ; it must, how-
ever, be admitted that the markings of the
wings ai*e far too inconstant to afford any
reliable characters : the hind wings are gray-
brown ; the head is gray ; the thorax is gray,
with the sides and a transverse line in front
rich brown ; the body is gray-brown and
crested.

The EGG is laid in June, on the leaves of
sallow (Salix caprea), and the young CATER-
PILLAR emerges in July ; it feeds with great
voracity, and grows very rapidly, attaining
its full size before it retires for the winter,
which is usually about the end of October,
but sometimes earlier ; in a state of nature
these caterpillars probably hy be mate on the
surface of the ground, under the fallen leaves
of the sallow ; but in confinement they have a
diversity of practice, sometimes concealing
themselves in the debris covering the earth in
the breeding-cage, sometimes ascending the
sides of the cage, and adhering to the sides
or top : they also differ in another respect,
sometimes covering themselves with a slight
web, at other times being perfectly exnosed :

424

BEITISH MOTHS.

towards the end of March they appear to
become more lively, and crawl about the cage ;
they are, however, much reduced in size by
the winter's abstinence ; if supplied with
twigs of sallow, they do not appear to eat the
opening leaves, but prepare for pupation. The
caterpillar now rests with its head frequently
turned on one side until it touches the ninth
segment; if annoyed, it falls to the ground
rolled in a compact ring, feigning death, and
remains in that posture several minutes : the
head is semi-porrect, sub-globose, highly
glabrous, slightly narrower than the second
segment : the body is nearly uniformly cylin-
drical, but slightly attenuated towards the
anterior extremity ; the twelfth segment is
transversely dorsally elevated, but not very
conspicuously so ; the surface is velvety and
iridescent, the iridescence resulting from the
light falling on the delicate soft short pile
with which it is covered ; the anal claspers
are spreading : the colour of the head is dark
brown, and, like the body, iridescent : the
dorsal surface of the body is dark rich umber-
brown, clouded and variegated with lighter
and darker shades ; a darker shade forms an
obscurely-defined medio-dorsal stripe, which
emits at the posterior margin of each segment
a branch, extending obliquely downwards and
forwards, until it reaches a broad dark lateral
stripe that terminates abruptly on a level with
the spiracles, which are wainscot-brown :
ventral surface extending upwards towards
the spiracles, purple-brown, with a bloom like
that of a ripe plum, and delicately reticulated ;
twelfth segment crowned with two dorsal
yellow spots placed transversely ; dorsal and
ventral surfaces separated on the second, third,
twelfth, and thirteenth segments by a yellow
line; legs and claspers reddish-brown. It
descends to the ground and undergoes pupa-
tion just below the surface of the earth.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
seems to be entirely a northern species, oc-
curring only in Yorkshire and Scotland : Mr.
Birchall took it at Killarney, in Ireland, but
did not find it common. (The scientific name
is Hadena rectUinea.)

658. The Early Gray (Xylocampa lithorhiza).

658. THE EARLY GRAY. — The palpi are
short and clothed with bristle-like scales, the
terminal joint is slightly porrected and naked ;
the antenna are perfectly simple in both sexes,
but slightly stouter in the males than in the
females : the fore wings are rather narrow,
straight on the costa, and very slightly
scalloped on their hind margin ; their colour is
gray with smoky markings ; the discoidal
spots have their median area gray, their cir-
cumscription dark, but very incomplete ; in
fact, the pale gray colour of the median area
is continued below them, so that they are
united at the lower extremity ; there is a
black longitudinal streak at the base of the
wing, and there are seven or eight very dark
wedge-shaped marks on the hind margin, and
pointing towards the base of the wing ; each
of these appears attached to a very slender
crescentic line on the margin itself; the
fringe is very long and of a pale gray colour
slightly spotted with darker gray : the hind
wings are gray and slightly tinted with
ochreous iridescence ; they have a darker dis-
coidal spot, a darker transverse median line,
and a very slender dark line on the hind
margin : the head, thorax, and body are gray,
the latter is rather unusually long, and has
the basal segments crested. Mr. Doubleday
observes that, when fresh out of the chrysalis,
the whole insect is suffused with a beautiful
rose tint.

The EGO is laid in April on the slender
stems of the honeysuckle (Lonicera pericly-
menuni), and the CATERPILLAR feeds on the
leaves of this favourite and familiar climber
in June, July, a,nd August ; in the last-named
month I have found it full-grown and ready
to descend to the ground ; it then rests in a
perfectly straight position with the head por-
rected, and a twig of the food-plant held

NOCTUAS.

425

firmly by its legs and claspers; the thirteenth
segment is porrected, and at its extremity the
anal claspers are still farther extended : when
touched or otherwise annoyed, it relaxes its
hold and falls rolled in a ring ; the head is
narrower than the second segment, and the
body altogether is gradually attenuated an-
teriorly, but the divisions of the segments
are well defined. The colour of both the head
and body is ochreous-gray, the head having
two blackish lines on the face, and the .body
having a still paler medio-dorsal stripe, inter-
sected throughout by a slender and much
interrupted darker stripe : there is an ill-
defined dark brown blotch on the back of the
eighth segment, and an indication of a similar
blotch on the ninth segment : the medio-dorsal
stripe passes through the blotch on the ninth,
but not through that on the eighth segment ;
there are moreover on each side of the cater-
pillar several extremely delicate stripes both
dark and light, but these are so fine as to re-
quire alens for their definition. The CHRYSALIS
has on each segment a bent line which appears
as though artificially sculptured, and its anal
extremity is wrinkled and squarely truncate.

The MOTH appears on the wing in March
and April : it is one of the earliest Noctuas met
with in the spring; it is common in our
English, Welsh, and Scotch counties, and Mr.
Birchall says it is also common in the county
Wicklow in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Xylocampa lithorhiza.}

659. The Purple Cloud (Clocmtha perspicillaris) .

659. THE PURPLE CLOUD. — The palpi are
but slightly porrected, the second joint being
clothed with bristly scales, and the terminal
joint short and almost concealed ; the an-
tennae are slightly pilose, and alike in both
sexes : the fore wings are moderately wide,
nearly straight on the costal margin, rather

pointed at the tip, and slightly scalloped on
the hind margin ; their colour is purplish-
brown, in some specimens approaching to rosy
brown ; the reniform spot is present, but not
very clearly defined ; the orbisular is not
perceptible ; a long dark streak runs from the
base nearly to the middle of the wing ; there
is a transverse series of rather small wedge-
shaped spots parallel with the hind margin :
the hind wings have the median area ochreous-
gray, the hind border being rather darker:
the head, thorax, and body are gray-brown.

M. Guenee has described the CATERPILLAR
as of a reddish-brown colour, dotted with
darker brown, au'd as having a narrow unin-
terrupted medio-dorsal yellow stripe and a
dorsal series of indistinct brownish chevrons :
the spiracular stripe is broad, clearly define'd,
continuous, and bright yellow, bordered with
darker yellow; the head and legs are con-
colorous. It feeds in July and August on
several species of St. John's wort (Hypericum).

There are two records of the occurrence of
this MOTH in England — one at Yarmouth, and
the second, a wing only, at Ashford, in Kent;
the latter is said to have been found in a
spider's web. (The scientific name is Cloantha
persiricttlaris) .

660. The Golden-rod Brindle (Cloantha Solidayinis).

660. THE GOLDEN-ROD BRINDLE.— • The
second joint of the palpi is porrected and not
very bristly, the terminal joint is short,
slender, and naked; the antennae are very
slightly pubescent in both sexes : the fore
wings are long and narrow, the costal margin
almost straight, the tip neither pointed nor
rounded, and the hind margin waved ; their
colour is gray, with a darker median band,
which, however, is very indistinct ; it con-
tains the discoidal spots ; the orbiculars are
three in number — two of them very small

BRITISH MOTHS.

and circular ; the reniform is large and dis-
tinct, and has a white circumscription and a
white centi-e separated from the circumscrip-
tion by a smoky margin, which completely
encloses it ; there is a zigzag white line
parallel with the hind margin, and on this
rest two very distinct and acutely-pointed
wedge-shaped spots, pointing towards the base
of the wing; the hind wings are smoky gray;
the head, thorax, and body are also dingy
gray.

The CATERPILLAR is dark reddish-brown,
with the slender dorsal broad spiracular line
(bordered with blackish-brown) and dorsal
spots pale yellow, the latter pi ced on a row of
blackish blotches (Hub.}. On bilberry (Vac-
cinium). (Stainton's Manual, vol. i. p. 281.)

The MOTH appears on the wing in August,
and is exceedingly local. We are informed
by Mr. Reading that Lieutenant Reed, of the
12th Regiment, took a specimen on sugar at
Torquay, but its favourite counties are Lan-
cashire, Cheshire, and Yorkshire. It is not
mentioned in Mr. Birchall's Irish list. (The
scientific name is Cloantha Solidaginis.)

661. The Red Sword-grass (Calocamgia vetusta,).

661. THE RED SWORD-GRASS. — The palpi
are scai-cely porrected beyond the head, their
terminal joint being hardly distinguishable
from the second joint; the antennae are almost
simple in both sexes, and rather unusually
long : the fore wings are long and narrow,
the costal margin nearly straight, the tip
obtuse, the hind margin waved ; their colour
is wainscot-brown throughout the costal half,
rich umber-brown throughout the hind mar-
ginal half; the reniform somewhat interrupts
the division between these distinct shades;
ike orbicular is scarcely to be traced : the

hind wings are smoky-brown with an ochreous
iridescence : the head and collar are wainscot-
brown; the disk of the thorax is very square,
and entirely dark rich umber-brown ; the
body is pale reddish-brown.

The EGGS are laid in March and April, but the
CATERPILLAR does not attain its full size until
July, and then rests in a nearly straight position
on the stems of scabious and other field plants,
but rolls in a ring and falls to the ground
if annoyed : the head is narrower than the
second segment, smooth and somewhat trian-
gular; the body is stout and uniformly cylin-
drical : the colour of the head is dull apple-
green, the second segment has a dorsal plate
of nearly the same colour ; the rest of the
body is also dull green, with a medio-dorsal
and two lateral yellow stripes on each side ;
between the medio-dorsal and upper lateral
stripe is a series of circular white dots, each
of which is delicately bordered with black ;
the second segment is without these dots, the
third and fourth have but two each, and the
following segments as far as the eleventh have
each three; the lower lateral stripe is deeper
yellow, inclining to orange, and is bordered
above by a very fine dark brown stripe ; the
spiracles are orange encircled with black ; the
legs are tinged with red ; the claspers dull
green; the belly glaucous. It feeds on sedge,
dock, and various species of trefoil and scabious.
When full-fed it constructs a cocoon of silk and
particles of earth on the surface of the ground,
and changes to a dark-bro wn shining CHRYSALIS,
armed with a black obtuse anal point, and
two approximate spines of the same colour.

The MOTH appears on the wing in Septem-
ber and October, coming freely to sugar, and
also to the blossoms of the ivy. Mr. Reading
gives a number of Devonshire localities, and
going thence-northwards it has been found in
most of the English counties, and still further
north in the Highlands of Scotland, and in
the Scottish Isles. Mr. Birchall says it is
common in the counties Wicklow and Dublin,
in Ireland. (The scientific n a rue is Oalorampa
vetusta.)

NOCTUAS.

427

662. The Sword-grass (Calocampa exoleta).

662. THE SWORD-GRASS. — The palpi are
scarcely porrected beyond the head, th«ir ter-
minal joint being hardly distinguishable from
the second joint ; the antennae are nearly
simple in both sexes, and rather unusually
long : the fore wings are long and narrow,
very straight on the costa, blunt at the tip,
and waved on the hind margin ; their colour
is ashy-gray ; the discoidal spots are distinct,
and nearly of the same shape, both being
transversely elongate, and both also have a
double and distinct dark circumscription and
a paler central area except at the lower part
of the orbicular, which is sienna-brown;
there is an indistinct pale zigzag line parallel
with the hind margin, and on this rests a
single very sharp-pointed wedge-shaped spot,
the tip of which is directed towards the reni-
forni : the hind wings are smoky-gray with
paler fringe : the head and collar are ashy-
gray ; the disk of the thorax is square and
dark brown ; the body is pale dingy brown.

The CATERPILLAR feeds throughout May and
June, and in July, when full-fed, it rests in
a nearly straight position on a stalk of its food-
plant, but falls to the ground rolled in a ring
if annoyed. The head is narrower than the
second segment, and somewhat triangular ;
the body is stout and uniformly cylindrical ;
the colour of the head is dull apple-green,
sometimes approaching to brown ; that of the
body is either dull apple-green or bright ver-
digris-green with two stripes on each side,
the upper of which is bright yellow, and
surmounted on each segment by a short black
line, at each extremity of which is a circular
pure white spot surrounded with black ; the

second segment has two black spots instead of
white ones, and the twelfth segment has but
one white spot. In the region of the spiracles
is the second lateral stripe of an intense blight
vermilion colour, and usually bordered both
above and below with a delicate white stripe:
on each segment, and resting on this white
stripe, is the spiracle, also white, and accom-
panied on each segment from the fifth to the
eleventh inclusive, with three circular white
spots very similar to the spiracle ; the second
segment has but one such white spot, the
third and fourth two each, and the twelfth
none ; the belly is glaucous-green ; the legs
reddish-green ; the claspers apple-green. It
feeds in meadows on a variety of plants, the
most singular of which appears to me the
creeping plume-thistle of the fields (Carduus
arvensis}. The way in which the delicate
velvety body of the caterpillar escapes injury
from the sharp thorns of the thistle is really
miraculous. I have watched it for hours, and
never saw it receive the slightest damage. The
devil's bit scabious (Scabiosa succisa), the
bladder campion (Silene iiiflata), and the rest-
harrow (Ononis arvensis), are also favourite
food-plants. The CHRYSALIS is reddish-brown
and shining. I have found it on the surface
of the earth in the breeding-cage without any
cocoon.

The MOTH appears on the wing in September
and October, and comes freely to sugar. It
also reappears in the early spring, after hyber-
nation; it is common in England, Scotland,
and Ireland. (The scientific name is Calo-
campa exoleta.)

663. The Conformist (Xylina con/o»rnw).

663. THE CONFORMIST. —The palpi are
porrected, and the terminal joint almost

428

BRITISH MOTHS.

naked; the antennae are nearly simple in both
sexes: the fore wings are narrow, the costal
margin very straight, the fore and inner
margins almost parallel ; their colour is a
beautiful purplish-gray with a mixture of
reddish-brown, more particularly apparent in
the reniform, and occasionally observable in a
transverse waved series of small spots parallel
with the hind margin ; the inner margin of
the wings is slightly reflexed, and inclined to
red-brown : the hind wings are gray-brown,
inclining to cinnamon-brown at the base : the
head and thorax are of the same purple-gray
colour as the fore wings ; the outline of the
thorax is very square ; the body is flat, and of
the same colour as the hind wings, but rather
paler at the base.

The CATERPILLAR is figured by Hiibner, and
is said by Freyer to feed on alder (Alnus gluti-
nosa), and birch (Betula alba).

The MOTH appears on the wing in September
and October, and is common in those months
in Austria and Germany : all that I know of
it, as a British species, is contained in a report
of the March meeting of the Entomological
Society, published in the Zoologist for 1861,
p. 7452, in these words : "Mr. Stain ton ex-
hibited two beautiful specimens of Xylina
conformis, taken near Cardiff on ivy blossoms
in October, 1859. The species had not
hitherto been captured in Britain." There
appears to have been no discussion on this
subject : one would like to know why so
extraordinary a capture was not made known
for two years, and whether the name is given
on the authority of Mr. E. Shepherd, who
writes the report, or of Mr. Stainton, who
makes the exhibition : it would also be
pleasant to know where the specimens are
deposited. I would recommend the captor
or possessor of any very great rarity to submit
it to Mr. Doubleday's inspection, in order that
it may receive the proper name, or, at least,
have the supposed name properly authenti-
cated. (The scientific name is Xylina con-
formis.)

664 The Nonconformist (Xylina Zinckenii).

664. THE NONCONFORMIST. — The palpi are
slightly porrected: the antenna are almost
simple in both sexes: the fore wings are
rather narrow, their colour is bluish-gray in
some specimens, prettily varied with darker
and lighter gray in others, the colour being
very confused and almost uniform : there is,
however, almost invariably at the middle of
the base, a curved black line which is bifur-
cate at the extremity, and a second short but
decided black line beneath the reniform spot,
and between this and the hind margin are a
pair of white dots placed transversely ; the
discoidal spots are more or less distinct, always
partaking of the colour of the general area :
the hind wings are smoky-brown, rather paler
at the base ; the fringe is paler and intersected
throughout by a median darker line : the
head and thorax are of the same colour as the
fore wings, the body as the hind wings.

The MOTH appears in September, and has
been taken in Sweden and the north of
Germany ; a single specimen was reported to
have been taken at New Cross, in the Enio-
moligist, vol. iii. p. 203, and almost immedi-
ately afterwards Mr. Cooke, the well-known
and energetic naturalist of Oxford-street,
received another unnamed among some insects
recently collected at Guildford. (The scien-
tific name is Xylina Zinckenii.)

Obs. — The figures are copied from Herrich-
SchaafFer.

NOCTUAS.

429

665. The Gray Shoulder-knot (Xylina rhizolitha) .

665. THE GRAY SHOULDER -KNOT. — The
palpi ar« straight and porrected, the terminal
joint rather long and almost square at the
extremity; the antennae are nearly simple in
both sexes ; the frontal tuft at their base is
four-lobed, the lobes forming a kind of square,
two of which are above and two below the
insertion of the antennae : the fore wings are
long and narrow, both the costal and inner
margins are straight and almost parallel with
each other ; their colour is gray with a few
darker markings ; there is a short curved
black line at the base, which is bifid at the
extremity ; and it has moreover a very short
branch on the lower side half way between
the base and the bifurcation; the two dis-
coid al spots are indicated, but often rather
obscurely ; there is a series of eight or nine
oblique dark spots on the costa, and another
series of seven or eight black dots on the hind
margin : the hind wings are dull ochreous-
gray : the head and thorax are whitish-gray;
the thorax is very square ; the body brown-
ish-gray and very flat.

The head of the CATERPILLAR is almost
exactly the same width as the second segment ;
it is obtusely triangular and not conspicuously
notched on the crown ; the body is uniformly
cylindrical, the divisions of the segments
rather indistinctly marked, and the whole
surface emitting scattered hairs : the colour of
both the head and body is a pale glaucous-
green, the body having five narrow stripes of
a dingy-white colour, and between each two
of these stripes is a series of wart-like dots of
the same dingy- white colour and each emitting
a bristle. The spiracles are very small and
inconspicuous, they are white in black rings :
the ventral is paler than the dorsal surface, it

has a tinge of glaucous but very nearly ap-
proaches the same dingy-white which charac-
terises the stripes of the dorsal surface. When
full-fed at the end of May, it descends to the
ground and then changes, amongst fallen leaves
or grass, to a reddish-brown CHRYSALIS, whichi
has two rather long hooked bristles at the anal
extremity. I have found nothing that can
with propriety be called a cocoon.

The MOTH appears on the wing in October,
and in our southern counties is very commonly
found at rest in the day-time on park palings
and the trunks of trees ; it also comes to sugar
by night : it occurs in most of the English
counties, but is most abundant in the western
and south-western. Mr. Birchall says it is com-
mon at Killarney, and also occurs, although
more rarely, in the county Wicklow, in Ireland.
(The scientific name is Xylina rhizolitha.)

666. The Tawny Pinion (Xylina ismilrunnea) .

666. THE TAWNY PINION.— The palpi are
porrected and straight, the terminal joint is
rather long and naked ; the antennae are
almost simple in both sexes : the bead has a
four-lobed tuft, the four lobes forming a square,
two being above and two below the insertion
of the antennae, and all being directed for-
wards ; the fore wings are straight and nar-
row, the hind margin slightly scalloped and
decidedly notched at the anal angle ; their
colour, as regards the costal half, is wainscot-
brown, longitudinally streaked with sepia-
brown, the inner marginal half being almost
entirely of ths darker colour : the hind wings
are gray-brown, the costal margin and fringe
inclining to red, and the wing- rays being
conspicuously darker ; the upper lobes of the
frontal tuft are sepia-brown ; the thorax has
three longitudinal crests or rather ridges, the
middle one partially projecting over the haed,

430

BRITISH MOTHS.

and all of them very dark sepia-brown : the
body is decidedly crested on the second, and
less so on the third and fourth segments, and
is dark gray-brown, the crests being darker.

The MOTH appears on the wing in September
and October, and comes freely to sugar, it is
also attracted by ivy blossom ; it occurs
principally in our southern and midland
counties. The name does not occur in the
Irish list. (The scientific name is Xylina
semibrunnea.)

667. The Pale Pinion (Xylina petrificata).

667. THE PALE PINION. — The palpi are
porrected, and have the terminal joint almost
naked ; the antenna? are almost simple in both
sexes ; the frontal tuft is four-lobed, the
lobes forming a square, two points being above
and two below the insertion of the antennfe :
the fore wings are long and narrow, the
costal and inner-marginal borders being almost
parallel ; theircolour is wainscot-brown, varied
with a number of zigzag markings parallel to
the hind margin : the hind wings are gray-
brown, the head and thorax are wainscot-
brown, the latter is almost square, and has
three longitudinal crests or rather ridges, the
middle slightly projecting over the head at its
anterior extremity : the body is gray-brown,
with a medio-dorsal series of small crests
which are darker at the tips.

The CATERPILLAR is pale green, with white
dorsal and lateral stripes : the head and legs
are black, the claspers green (Parfitt in litt.}.
It feeds on oak (Quercus robur), lime (Tilia
J£uropoea),&c. (Stainton's Manual, vol. i. 283.)

The MOTH appears on the wing in September
and October, and again, after hybernation, in
March and April ; it is very abundant in the
south-western counties, and as far north as
Herefordshire. In Ireland it is widely dis-
tribiited and frequently abundant. Mr. Birch-

all says : " I once saw an ivy bush near Tulla-
more, the flowers of which were ewarming
with this insect." (The scientific name is
Xylina petrificata.}

668. The Mullein (Cucullia Vcrbasci).

668. THE MULLEIN. — Thepalpiare slightly
porrected and form a conspicuous tuft beneath
the head, the second joint being so densely
clothed with bristle-like scales as almost tohide
the terminal joint, which is short and very
nearly naked ; the antenna? are quite simple in
both sexes ; the fore wings are narrow, very
straight on the costa until towards the tip,
where it is finely arched ; the hind margin is
regularly scalloped, the notched border of the
fringe making the scallops still more conspi-
cuous ; their colour is rich umber-brown along
the costal margin, delicately shaded to pale
wainscot-brown along the middle of the wing,
the inner margin again being dark umber-
brown, interrupted about the middle by two
pale crescents : the hind wings are smoky-
brown, paler at the base, and having the
fringe also paler and intersected throughout
by a darker line : the head is darkish brown,
the collar delicate wainscot-brown, and raised
into a very distinct crest, which is bordered
behind by darker brown ; the sides of the
thorax are pale wainscot-brown ; the body ft
crested and dingy -brown, with a very dark
medio dorsal stripe which is broadest imme-
diately behind the collar, and gradually de-
creases into a series of points.

The head of the CATERPILLAR is slightly
narrower than the second segment, and sub-
spherical in shape ; the body is very stout,
slightly wrinkled transversely, and uniformly
cylindrical : the colour of the head is yellowish
with a few black spots, of the body pale o*

NOCTUAS.

whitish-green, with various yellow as well as
l>lack marks which give it a very gay appear-
ance ; on every segment is a bright yellow
band extending on each siile below the spira-
cles ; this yellow band is interrupted by pure
black markings which are inconstant both in
their outlines and extent ; they consist princi-
pally of a double dorsal series or rather two
series, each composed of two marks, the
anterior rather short and oval, the posterior
larger, longer, and slightly bent : there are
several small black marks on the sides, but I
find so great difference in the extent and
number of these smaller spots in different
individuals, that I forego the pleasure of
describing them rather than induce confu-
sion by laying stress on characters which are
certainly inconstant. It feeds principally on
the woolly mullein ( Verbascum TJiapsus], and
being so abundant and so conspicuous is a
great favourite with all beginners in ento-
mology : it also eats the leaves of the water-
figwort (Scrophularia aquatica) : when full-
fed it descends to the ground, and binding
together particles of earth with silk, forms a
tough cocoon, in which it changes to a gi-eenish-
brown CHRYSALIS, of wbioh the case containing
the legs is much elongated, and that which
contains the wings is almost colourless, but
appears greenish in consequence of being so
transparent.

The MOTH appears on the wing in April, and
is common in the south-western and southern
counties of England, but rarely occurs north-
wards. I have known the time when I could
readily have obtained a qivart of its beautiful
caterpillar from the mulleins in the hedge-
rows about Darenth and Green-street Green ;
and Mr. Mathew, in Mr. Reading's " List of
the Lepidoptera of Cornwall and Devonshire,"
says : " The extreme abundance of the cater-
pillar of this species on Eraunton Burrows, in
the summers of 1858, '59, and 'GO, is worth
mentioning. Every plant of Verbascum
Thapsus was completely covered with them ;
the caterpillars in July varying in size from
the juvenile just hatched to the full-fed indi-
vidual ready to burrow in the sand. I am
positive that had anyone desired to have taken

ten or twenty thousand, it might easily have
been done." It is common in the counties of
Dublin and Wicklow, in Ireland. (The
scientific name is CucuUia Verbasci.)

669. The Water Betony (Cucullia Scrophulcurice) .

669. mHE WATER BETONY. — The palpi are
slightly porrected and form a rather conspi-
cuous tuft beneath the head, the second joint
being so densely clothed with bristle-like
scales as almost to hide the terminal joint,
which is short and very nearly naked ; the
antennae are quite simple in both sexes : the
fore wings are narrow and the costa very
straight until near the tip, where it is finely
arched; the hind margin is regularly scal-
loped and the fringe notched, adding thereby
to the scalloped appearance ; their colour is
umber-brown along the costal margin, deli-
cately shaded to wainscot-brown along the
middle of the wing ; the hind margin is dark
brown, interrupted about the middle by two
pale approximate crescents : the hind wings
are gray-brown, much paler towards the base,
and with the wing-rays darker ; the hind
margin is scalloped ; the fringe is pale and
intersected throughout by a darker line : the
head is dark brown, the collar very delicate
wainscot-brown and raised inlo a crest, the
sides of the thorax ai*e also wainscot-brown ;
the body is pale brown and crested with a
medio-dorsal stripe of darker brown, this is
broadest at the base, and gradually decreases
in breadth as well as in intensity towards the
tip.

The head of the CATERPILLAR is narrower
than the second segment, sub-spherical, and
slightly porrected ; the body is cylindrical and
slightly wrinkled transversely ; the divisions
of the segments are clearly defined ; the
colour of the head is pale greenish-yellow,

432

BRITISH MOTHS.

with a few black markings ; of the body pale
or whitish-green, with bright yellow and
black markings, which give it a very gay
appearance : on the back of each segment is a
yellow band interrupted by a black mark,
which consists of two oval spots and a trans-
verse band, each black spot is united to the
band by a very slender black line, so that the
oval spots, the transverse band, and the con-
necting lines unite in forming a compound
ornamentation on the back of each segment.
It feeds on figwort (ticrophularia nodosa and
8. aguatica), and on the moth mullein
( Verbascum Blattaria), anJ is full-fed in July,
when it descends to the ground forming a
tough cocoon of silk and earth, in which it
changes to a greenish-brown CHRYSALIS, with
semi-transparent and almost colourless wing-
cases.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May, and
seems to be confined to the southern and
western counties of England. It is extremely
difficult to distinguish this from the preceding
species when in the perfect state, and, there-
fore, I refrain from giving localities : the
caterpillars of the two seem equally difficult
to separate, but I have trusted for my descrip-
tion of the present species to the exquisite
figures and minute description in Boiscl aval's
"Collection des Chenilles." (The scientific
name is Cucullia Scrophularice.)

670. The Striped Lychnis (Cucullia Lychnitis).

670. THE STRIPED LYCHNIS.— The palpi are
slightly porrected, the second joint being scaly
but not very densely so, the terminal joint is
scarcely perceptible; the antennae are per-
fectly simple in both sexes ; the fore wings
are very straight on the costa until near the
tip, and then slightly arched ; the hind margin

is scalloped ; their colour is wainscot-brown
with a black-brown costal margin and a black-
brown inner margin, interrupted in the middle
by two minute pale crescents, and towards
the anal angle by several pale lines ; the hind
wings are very pale at the base, often almost
white, but darker and smoke-coloured towards
the hind margin ; the collar is very pale and
raised in the form of a crest ; the hinder pare
of the thorax and body are very pale brown,
the latter having a medio-dorsal stripe almost
black; this is broad at the base, and very
narrow and indistinct towards the tip.

The head of the CATERPILLAR is rather nar-
rower than the second segment, slightly por-
rected, and somewhat triangular ; the body is
stout, cylindrical, and slightly wrinkled trans-
versely ; the colour of the head is greenish-
yellow, with five or six black dots on each
cheek ; of the body, dingy white with a slight
tendency to glaucous-green, each segment has
a transverse yellowish band, and a compound
black mark which consists of a transverse
band slightly indented in the middle and bent
forward at both extremities ; and anterior to
this are two oval black spots joined to the
band by connecting lines ; the second segment
has a double series of small black spots in the
place of the ornamentation I have attempted
to describe; the third segment has the
ornamentation divided into spots, and the
twelfth segment has only a transverse series
of black spots : it feeds on the flowers and
seed-pods of the white mullein (Verbcuoun
Lychnitis), and the black mullein ( V, nigrum),
and is full-fed in July and August, when it
spins its tough cocoon on the surface of the
ground, and in this changes to a smooth
brown CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June and
July, and appears confined to the southern
districts of England ; the neighbourhood of
Arundel seems to be the principal locality.
It is at present entirely unknown in Scotland
or Ireland. (The scientific name is Cucullia
Lychnitis.)

Obs. — In this species I have relied on Bois-
duval's "Collection des Chenilles" for the
description of the caterpillar.

NOGTUAS.

433

671. The Star .wort (Cucullia Asteris).

671. THE STAR-WORT. — The palpi form an
obtuse tuft in front of the head, and the
terminal joint seems emerging from the
surrounding scales ; the antennae are perfectly
simple in both sexes : the fore wings are
narrow and nearly straight along the costa,
but gradually arched towards the tip, which
is blunt ; the hind margin is entire ; their
colour is umber-brown on the costal margin,
gradually shading to slate-colour towards the
middle of the wing ; there is an indistinct
indication of both discoidal spots ; the inner
margin is dark brown, this colour being very
narrow from the base to beyond the middle,
then expanding and containing a distinct
whitish crescent : the hind wings are gray-
brown with paler fringe : the head, thorax,
and body are slaty gray-brown with a rather
darker but not very distinct medio-dorsal
stripe.

The CATERPILLAR has a rather small and
somewhat triangular head, and a long cylin-
drical body, attenuated towards both extre-
mities, very different from that of those obese
caterpillars I have been describing ; the colour
of the head is pale or glaucous-green, the
prevailing colour of the body is olive-green
with a narrow medio-dorsal stripe bright
yellow ; then follow on each side two narrow
bluish stripes, and lastly, in the region of the
spiracles another stripe, which is sometimes
partly yellow and partly white, and sometimes
entirely yellow ; the spiracles are yellow deli-
cately margined with black : it feeds on the
golden rod (Solidago Virgaurea), on the sea
star-wort (Aster Tripolium), and on China
asters in gardens.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June : it
{0 common at Darenth wood, and in Tilgate

forest, and has occurred at Brighton and
Lewes, and occasionally at West Wickham,
(The scientific name is Cueullia Asteris.)

672. The Cudweed (Cucullia Ghwphalii).

672. THE CUDWEED. — The palpi are in-
conspicuous, the tip only of the terminal
joint appearing in front of the head : the
antennse are simple in both sexes : the fore
wings are rather narrow, the costa straight
for three-quarters of its length, and then bent
towards the tip, which is pointed ; their
colour is grayish-ash, with the median area
brownish ; this colour forms a kind of median
band in some specimens, but in others a cloudy
ash- colour pervades the whole wing j the
discoidal spots are defined but of irregular
form ; the orbicular has a slender black cir-
cumscription ; the reniform is of irregular
form and colour, and its median area is divided
into five, six, or even seven compartments ;
in the dark suffused specimens there is a
defined and acutely-angled white mark between
the reniform and the inner margin : the hind
wings are smoky-brown, inclining to testaceous-
brown at the base, the wing-rays being darker
and the fringe paler : the head and thorax are
gray-brown, the latter somewhat crested ; the
body is brown with a darker medio-dorsal
stripe, which forms a crest on the first, second,
and third segments.

I am indebted to Boisduval's beautiful
" Collection des Chenilles " for the following
particulars of the CATERPILLAR, which I have
never seen. It lives singly on the golden rod
(Solidago Virgaurea), throughout the month of
July and in the beginning of August, and
rests with its belly closely appressed to a twig
of that plant, with its head downwards, and
sometimes even resting on another plant ; ki

434

BRITISH MOTHS.

this singular position it is by no means easy
to detect, because the colour of its medio-
dorsal stripe much resembles that of a stem
of the food-plant. It is extremely active, and
when touched throws itself on the ground, and
continues to twist itself about with great
energy : the head is rather narrower than the
second segment ; the body is attenuated
towards both extremities, and the divisions of
the segments are not very clearly defined ;
from every part of the head and body spring
a few very slender and very inconspicuous
scattered hairs : the colour of the head is
apple-green, with a reddish band on the hind
part of the crown, which is often concealed by
the anterior margin of the second segment;
the colour of the body is apple- green with a
broad medio-dorsal red or violet compound
stripe, rather narrowed at both ends and
bordered by a brown line; the spiracles are
yellow, delicately circled with black, and
each is situated in an oblique shuttle-
shaped mark of the same colour as the medio-
dorsal stripe ; all the mai'kings are delicately
outlined in black; the ventral area is blue or
glaucous-green, with five approximate, narrow,
and rather indistinct white stripes ; the legs
and claspers are of the same colour as the
body. It feeds on the golden-rod, and when
full-fed descends to the ground, and there
constructs an oval cocoon of considerable
strength and solidity by the intermixture of
silk and earth, and in this cocoon changes to
a CHRYSALIS of a pale yellowish-green colour,
with red-brown incisions ; the cases of the
wings and thorax are also yello\T-green and
very transparent ; the anal extremity is dark
Drown, dilated, and spatulate.

The MOTH appears 011 the wing in June : Mr.
Doubleday has three Bi'itish examples of this
insect, which were raised from caterpillars
found feeding on the golden-rod in Darenth
wood. This species was described by the
late Mr. Stephens in his " Illustrations of
British Entomology," vol. iii. p. 87, under
the name ofCucullia thapaiphaga, in 1829, and
figured in the " Transactions of the Entomo-
logical Society of London," vol. ii., pi. iii.,
2j4 7, under the name of Cucul{ia Solldaginis,

in 1837. (It is without doubt the Cucullia
Gnaphalii of continental authors, j

673. The Wormwood (Cucullia Absynthii).

673. THE WORMWOOD. — The palpi are in-
conspicuous, the terminal joints only just
appearing in front of the frontal tuft ; the
antennae are simple in both sexes : the fore
wings are narrow at the base, but considerably
wider opposite the anal angle ; the costa is
straight for three-quarters of its length, and
then bends gradually towards the tip ; their
colour is ashy-gray tinged with pale purple,
and having numerous dark markings both
tnaisverse and longitudinal ; these are princi-
pally noticeable, first, as forming a trans-
verse band before the orbicular, and this band
is interrupted by a pale zigzag line ; and
secondly, occupying the space between the
discoidal spots, but connected with this, is a
cloud on the hind margin below the reniform ;
the usual discoidal spots are singularly dis-
torted and divided, each appearing as an
assemblage of four or five squarish black spots;
on the hind margin is a row of eight blaek
spots : the hind wings are pale gray, slightly
suffused with saffron, and also slightly clouded
towards the fringe, which is pale : the head is
adorned with two pale transverse lines before
the antennae ; the crown, eyes, and collar are
almost black ; then follows a band of almost
pearly whiteness; the body is silvery-gray
with a medic-dorsal series of small dark
crests.

The head of the CATERPILLAR is narrower
than the second segment ; it is somewhat
triangular ; the body is rather short and obese
with the segmental divisions clearly defined ;
the colour of the head, and also of the second
segment, is dull pale reddish-gray; the ground-
colour exhibited chiefly at the incisionii oat

NOGTUAS.

435

the segments is green : the figure in Bois-
duval's " Collection des Chenilles " has a
purple-brown back interrupted by eight
whitish dots on each segment, and three or
more oblique white lines ; there appears to be
rather an unusual number of bristle-like
haii*s : the ventral surface is green with many
longitudinal streaks ; it is found from July to
the end cf September feeding on the common
wormwood (Artemisia Absynthium), and its
mixed colours so exactly correspond with
those of the blossoms that it is extremely
difficult to detect except after rain, when the
plant assumes a more vivid green, which
contrasts with the colour of the caterpillar.
When full-fed it constructs a tough oval
cocoon of mixed silk and earth, and in this
changes to a CHRYSALIS of a yellowish-green
colour, with a brown case inclosing the legs.

The MOTH, according to Boisduval, appears
in June and September, according to Guenee
and Mr. Reading, in July. In this country it
seems confined to the southern counties of
England, particularly Cornwall. Mr. Reading
says : " For this rare and very distinct insect
there are in Cornwall and Devon three widely
separated districts in which it is found. In
1855-6 the caterpillar was found near Wem-
bury feeding on. wormwood ; Dr. Cocks
records it as occurring at Falmouth ; and Mr.
Dorville, by cultivating the food-plant, has
been able to procure the insect it Alphington,
near Exeter." Mr. Dalr has taken it in Dor-
setshire, and Mr. Harpur Crewe in Berkshire.
(The scientific name is Cucullia Absynthii.)

f>74. The Chamomile Shark (Cucullia Chamomillce) .

674. THE CHAMOMILE SHARK. — The palpi
form a conspicuous tuft beneath the head, and
fiomthis the tips of the terminal joints slightly

project ; the antennae are simple in both sexes ;
the wings are narrow, nearly straight on the
costa, but curved and pointed at the tip ; their
colour is smoky-gray, with a very sharply-
defined but slender line from the base to the
middle of the wing ; the wing-rays are also
dark, and opposite the extremity of each is a
corresponding black line in the fringe : the
hind wings are grav-brown with paler base
and darker wing-rays ; the head, thorax, and
body are gray, the thorax having a sharp keel-
like crest in some specimens porrected over
the head ; the body has three smaller crests
each tipped with darker brown.

The EGG is laid at the end of April or
beginning of May, on the stems of the wild
chamomile or feverfew (Anthemis Cotula) :
the young CATERPILLAR emerges at the end of
May or during the first week in June : when
first hatched it is light green, and is generally
to be found coiled round the unexpanded
flower-bud ; it grows with great rapidity, and
scarcely three weeks elapse from its being
found in this diminutive state to its acquiring
its full size, which is generally at the end of
June, although stragglers may be occasionally
found as late as the third week in July ; from
the 12th to the 20th of June may, however,
be regarded as the best season for collecting
these caterpillars : they are extremely partial
to waste places, such as shipwrights' yards and
amongst old timber, and are very local, often
occuning abundantly in one spot, and being
entirely absent from another apparently simi-
lar. They do not hide during the day, as is
so frequently the case with the larvae of Noc-
tuas, but bask in the sunshine, and continue
feeding, more especially on the flowers of their
food-plant, amongst which they make great
Lavoc. When full-fed the head is rather
narrower than the second segment ; the body
is uniformly cylindrical and some what shining;
the twelfth segment has its dorsal surface
prominent, yet scarcely elevated above the
plane of the back : the colour both of head
and body is either pale olive-green or pale
pinkish-brown ; in either case the body in
adorned with six nearly equidistant wrvec"
stripes of the same colour, but of a darkei

436

BRITISH MOTHS.

shade : these waved stripes are invariably
bordered throughout by a delicate waved
marginal line of a still darker hue, and are
also intersected on each segment by a trans-
verse interrupted band, in which reddish-pink
is the predominant colour : the ventral sur-
face, legs, and claspers are less variegated,
having a dull homogeneous tint of obscure
pink and green. When full-fed the cater-
pillar buries itself very deep in the earth or
rubbish, and forms a tough cocoon, in which
particles of earth or sand, or even fragments
of leaves or little sticks, are intermixed and
interwoven : sometimes when a considerable
number of these caterpillars have b«en con-
fined together, they will bury themselves in
company, and their cocoons will be connected
together, adhering after the fashion of a bunch
of grapes.

The MOTH appears on the wing in April and
May ; it is generally but not plentifully dis-
tributed in our English and Irish counties.
Mr. Reading says : "The caterpillar in Corn-
wall and Devonshire is found abundantly on
Pyrethrum inodorum and maritimum, but not
on Anthemis or Matricaria." (The scientific
name is GucuLlia Chamomillce.)

675. The Shark (Cucullia umlratica).

675. THE SHARK. — The palpi form a con-
spicuous tuft beneath the head, the tips of
the terminal joints being scarcely perceptible ;
the antennae are simple in both sexes : the
fore wings are narrow, nearly straight on the
costa, but slightly arched towards the tip ;
their colour is smoky-gray with a slender but
very distinct black line from the middle of the
base to the middle of the wing ; the wing-
rays are also black, but I find that fr" -Wk

colour is not continued into the fringe : the
hind wings are smoky-gray, with the wing-
rays darker and the base paler : the head is
smoky-black, the thorax is gray and crested,
the body is smoky-gray and scarcely crested.

The EGG is laid on the leaves of lettuce
(Lactuca virosa), and on several species of
sowthistle (Sonchus arvensis, S. oleraceus, and
S. palustris], in June and July, and the CATER-
PILLAR, which emerges in July, devours the
leaves of these species, as well as those of the
garden lettuce, sometimes doing great injury
to the latter : it eats only by night, and
secretes itself by day under those lower leaves
which lie prostrate on the ground, or are so
bent over as to afford perfect concealment.
When full-fed it may be readily found in this
situation, reposing in a straight position on
the under surface of a leaf, with its back
downwards ; when annoyed it falls from its
food-plant, and twists its head right and left
in an angry manner, sometimes stretching it
out in a leech-like fashion ; but I have not
observed it feign death or roll in a ring. The
head is considerably narrower than the body :
the body is cylindrical, and of nearly uniform
size throughout, the dorsal surface being trans-
versely wrinkled and delicately shagreened.
The colour of the head is black, but not shin-
ing ; the body dark brown or nearly black,
delicately reticulated with pale smoke-colour,
the reticulations being depressed, the darker
warts raised ; the dorsal surface of the second
segment is darker than the rest, and its mar-
gin is adorned with seven orange spots, which
appear somewhat as the anterior extremities
of stripes which have become almost obsolete,
but are to be traced along the back and in the
region of the spiracles, and three of which
appear conspicuously on the twelfth segment,
and converge at the extremity of the anal flap ;
the ventral surface is paler than the dorsal ;
the legs are black and shining ; the claspers
black at the base and white at the extremities,
their hooks black. The CHRYSALIS is subter-
ranean.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
may frequently be observed resting on park
palings, which it exactly resembles in colour.

NOCTUAS.

It is generally distributed in England, Scot-
land, and Ireland. (The scientific name is
Cucullia umbratica.)

676. The Bordered Sallow (Heliothis marginatus).

676. THE BORDERED SALLOW. — The palpi
are slightly porrected and ascending, the tips
are incurved on approaching the summit; the
antennae are simple in both sexes : the fore
wings are ample, straight on the costa and
pointed at the tip ; their colour is orange-
brown with a broad purplish hind-marginal
band ; the discoidal spots have a slender but
distinct circumscription of darker brown, and
there are six transverse lines ; the first very
short and close to the base ; the second zig-
zag and before the orbicular; the third
elbowed and beyond the orbicular ; the fourth
oblique and beyond the reniform ; the fifth
zigzag and intersecting the purple hind-
marginal band ; the sixth on the margin : the
hind wings are cloudy at the base with a
smoke-coloured discoidal spot, then ochreous
with a brown smoky hind-marginal band and
a pale fringe : the head and thorax are rich
orange-brown, the body testaceous-brown.

The CATERPILLAR feeds on the common
rest-harrow (Ononis arvensis), and is full-fed
towards the end of August, when it rests with
the anterior segments slightly elevated and
arched, and the head tucked in, the attitude
being somewhat Sphinx-like ; when annoyed
it falls off its food-plant, rolling itself in a ring
and feigning death ; in confinement, like &o
many other caterpillars, it feeds greedily on
knot-grass (Polygvnum aviculare). The head
is porrected in crawling and narrower than
the second segment, into which it is partially
received : the body is almost uniformly cylin-
drical, but has the twelfth and thirteenth
segments rather attenuated and depressed ;
the skin is densely covered with a velvety

pile of very short bristles, intermixed with
longer hairs. The colour of the head is pale
apple -green and shining ; of the body dull
apple-green, the dorsal darker than the ventral
surface, and sprinkled with white spots,
certain of which form four longitudinal series;
it also has numerous black dots, each of which
culminates in an acute point; these black
dots are particularly crowded along each
lateral margin of the dorsal surface : the
dorsal surface is bounded by a narrow white
lateral stripe, extending from the head to the
anal claspers ; on the upper margin of this
are seated the spiracles, which are nearly-
circular, of a testaceous-brown coloxir, and
surrounded by a black ring : the inferior
margin of the white lateral stripe is shaded
off into green ; the ventral surface is spotted
with white.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May and
June, and seems to be widely distributed in
our English counties, from Cornwall to the
Lake District. It seems particularly common
in Cornwall and Devonshire, the caterpillar
having been found in great abundance on the
rest-harrow. Mr. Douglas Robinson reports
it from Scotland, but we have at present no
record for Ireland. (The scientific name is
Heliothis marginatus.^

677. The Bordered Straw (Heliothis peltiger).

677. THE BORDERED STRAW. — The palpi
are porrected and connivent at the tips, which
are almost without scales ; the antennae are
almost simple, and very slender in both sexes :
the fore wings are ample, almost straight on
the costa, produced and rather pointed at the
tip ; their colour is ochreous-gray ; the or-
bicular is absent ; the reniform is smoky-
black, and connected with the costal margin
by a blotch of somewhat similar colour ; near
the apex is another darkish blotch on the costa,

438

BRITISH MOTHS.

which forms the commencement of a dark
transverse line parallel with the hind margin ;
there is also a small black spot near the anal
angle ; the hind wings are very pale, with a
crescentic discoidal spot and a broad smoky
hind margin, which contains a pale median
blotch : the head, thorax, and body are of the
same colour as the fore wings.

The CATERPILLAR rests in a perfectly straight
position on the leaves, especially selecting the
ribs, of the common henbane (Hyotcyamus
niger) ; it eats both the leaves and ribs, and
some of the smaller caterpillars bury themselves
in excavations which they make in the latter;
they roll themselves in a lax ring when an-
noyed. The head is narrower and smaller
than the second segment, in which it is par-
tially concealed ; the segmented divisions are
strongly marked, and each has four dorsal and
four lateral warts, each wart emitting a rather
long bristle, so that every segment has twelve
of these bristles, which being white are rat her
conspicuous ; there are other smaller bristles
on the belly ; with these exceptions the bod)
is uniformly cylindrical ; there are ten claspers,
fully and uniformly developed ; the colour of
the head and body is pale dull green, sprinkled
with white dots, and having three darker
dorsal stripes not very distinctly pronounced ;
after the last change a tawny patch occupies
the dorsal area of each segment, near the ex-
treme margin of which are situated the
spiracles, which are white surrounded by a
slender black ring, and this again by a whitish
ring : the legs and claspers are nearly con-
colorous with the body, but more transparent.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
is very uncertain in its occurrence. Of this
species Mr. Reading says : — " More frequent
on the coast than inland. Has a wide range
coastwise in the two westernmost counties.
So uncertain, however, are the seasons of its
occurrence, that it might with propriety be
termed either very common or very rare. In the
years 1853 and 4 the caterpillars of this insect
were found in great abundance in most of the
bays that skirt the coast from Looe Island to
Berryhead — many patches of Ononis, var.
tfpinosa, covering an area of not more than

two feet superficial, yielding as many as 300
caterpillars. More that two thousand were
collected, and many left, in all likelihood to
the number of thousands. It appeared thus
plentifully during the two seasons mentioned ;
but since those periods the insect, in any stage,
has not been observed in numbers that would
warrant its being considered common. Indeed,
throughout whole seasons not one specimen
falls to the share of even the industrious
lepidopterist. The caterpillars vary consider-
ably in colour. As many variations are to !«
seen in this as are met with in its congener
H. marginatus. The two forms described
below are those usually found.

"No. 1. — Deep green, scattered short bristly
hairs ; dorsal, sub-dorsal, longitudinal, and
transverse lines deeper ; spiracles, spiracular
line, and scattered spots, white.

" No. 2. — Same markings as in No. 1 ; but
the whole gi-ound-colour is chromish-red,
inclining to pink.

" The caterpillar of No. 2 is found feeding
upon the bright petals of Ononis spinosa, the
hue of which is shed through the transparent
skin of the caterpillar, whilst No. 2 feeds on
the leaves and seeds of one or more of its
food-plants. The food-plants of the caterpillar
are : Ononis spinosa and arvensis (merely two
forms of one species ; occurs commonly along
the coast as well as inland) ; Arenaria rubra,
a common rock-plant ; Hyoscyamus niger,
Whitsand-cliffs ; Pyrethrwn inodorum and
nwritimum (both being forms of one plant);
common on the coast and near thereto —
caterpillars feed on the anthers of this plant,
| like those of Polia serena on a similar part of
! a Sonchus. The caterpillars on Pyrethrum are
yellowish-green, the yellow anthers imparting
! some of the colouring matter with which they
are charged, to the caterpillar ; whilst the
pollen gives a stronger tinge of the same to
the external covering, by adhering to the
hairs of the insect. Full-grown caterpillars
are found in the beginning of August, but
partially-grown are to be obtained from as
early as May.

" The moth flies in September, and in spring
and summer, not double-brooded, but semir

NOCTUAS.

439

br< >oded twice ayear ; one pi rtion coming forth
soon after the completion of the chrysalis con-
dition, and the other portion, or part of it,
remaining in the chrysalis state till the next
season ; whilst sometimes it happens that a
few keep to the chrysalis covering for one,
two, and even three years."

This species has also occurred in the
counties of Somerset, Gloucester, Dorset,
Hant<s, Sussex, Surrey, Kent, Cambridge,
and Cheshire, and in Wales. (The scientific
name is Heliothis pdtiger.}

678. The Scarce-bordered Straw (Heliothis cirmiger).

678. THE SCARCE-BORDERED STRAW.— Tlu
palpi are porrected andconnivent, the termin0
joint almost naked ; the antennse are sin^
or nearly so ; the fore wings are straight on
the costa, produced, and almost pointed at the
tip ; their colour is dingy ochreous-brown,
the orbicular being visible as a small dot, the
reniform conspicuous and dark brown ; there
is a transverse narrow band of dingy brown
parallel with the hind margin : the hind
wings are paler, with a crescentic discoidal
spot and a broadish smoke-coloured hind-
marginal band, interrupted by a median paler
blotch : the head, thorax, and body are dingy
drown.

The CATERPILLAR has a smooth and shining
porrected head, about equal in width to the
second segment of the body, which is rather
slender, cylindrical, attenuated behind, and
sparingly covered with scattered hairs ; the
colour of the head is smoky-brown, as also that
of the second segment of the body, which is
covered by a leathery plate ; the general
colour of the body is dingy brown ; with a
medio-dorsal stripe darker brown ; there is a
yellow lateral line which includes the spiracles,
which are black, and encircled first with a
yellowish, and then with a black ring, both of
them very delicate ; between the medio-dorsal

and spiracular stripes the body is pale greenish-
brown, with numerous slender streaks both
paler and darke" than the ground-colour, and
on each segment are two wart-like dots. I
have never possessed this caterpillar, and
have been obliged to describe it from con-
tinental figures.

A local and very uncertain species ; the
MOTH flies generally by day, in September
and October, but also comes to sugar ; it has
been taken at Hoe, Plymouth, Teignmouth,
Alphington near Exeter, Barnstaple, &c., in
Devonshire ; also in Somerset, Dorset, Hamp-
shire, Sussex, Surrey, Kent, Essex, Cam-
bridge, and, according to Mr. Stainton, in the
Lake District ; but I think not in Scotland
or Ireland. (The scientific name is Hdiothis
armiger.)

Obs. — This insect is truly cosmopolitan. I
have seen specimens from the United States,
South America, and almost every part of con-
tinental Europe ; and to-day Mr. Bond has
shown me others from Australia and India.
Dr. Horsfield records it as an inhabitant of
Java, and figures the caterpillar and chrysalis.
The caterpillar is supposed by many to be the
army- worm so destructive in the United States
to the cotton crop ; but this is a matter of
grave doubt, and I would particularly refer
the reader to papers by Mr. Birchall and Mr.
MulU-ron this subject, at pp. 166 and 213 of
the third volume of the Entomologist.

679. The Marbled Clover (Heliothis dipsaceus).

679. THE MARBLED CLOVER. — The palpi are
decidedly porrected and slightly ascending,
the tips pointed ; the antennae are simple in
both sexes ; the fore wings have the costal
margin almost straight, the tip scarcely pointed,
and the hind margin oblique ; their colour is
dingy pale olive-brown ; the orbicular is a
mere spot ; the reniform is large and conspi-
cuous, and forms part of an indistinct and

440

BRITISH MOTHS.

sometim es interrupted median transverse band ;
halfway between this and the hind margin
Li a second band still less dietinct and paler ;
on the hind margin is a series of dark dots :
the hind wings are very pale ochreous-white
with a large black discoidal spot and a broad
black hind-marginal band, which is interrupted
by a pale ochreous spot about the middle ; the
fringe is pale : the head, thorax, and body are
of the same colour as the fore wings.

The CATERPILLAR is described by Guenee as
straw-colour, strongly striated with reddish-
brown, and having a broad continuous medio-
dorsal stripe of a violet-brown colour ; the
spiracular stripe is concolorous and margined
below with brown ; on every segment there
is a broad transverse reddish spot which
reaches from one spiracular stripe to the
other ; the spiracles are black ; the head is
very pale, the crown covered with black dots :
it feeds on a great number of low-growing
plants, especially the common yellow snap-
dragon (Linaria vulgaris).

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
has been taken in Dorsetshire, Hampshire,
Surrey, Kent, Suffolk, and also, it is said, in
Yorkshire. (The scientific name is Hdiothis
dipsaceus.)

680. The Broad-bordered White Underwing (Anarta
melanopa).

680. THE BROAD-BORDERED WHITE UNDER-
WING.— The palpi are porrected and clothed
with bristle-like scales, the terminal joint
having the same character ; the antennae are
slender and simple in both sexes : the fore
wings are nearly straight on the costa, pro-
duced at the tip, and obliquely convex on the
hind margin; their colour is smoky-gray,
clouded, and transversely lined with black ;
the discoidal spots are inconspicuous, but still
readily to be traced ; the fringe is spotted
black and white : the hind wings have a
broad band of smoky-black on the hind and

inner margins, and a black crescentic discoidal
spot ; the median disk and fringe are white :
the head, thorax, and body are smoky-black,
the last a little varied with gray.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
so far as Great Britain is concerned, it was
first discovered by Mr. Hewitson, in the
Shetland Islands, and subsequently by Mr.
Weaver, at Ran nock, in Perthshire. (The
scientific name is Anarta, melanopa.')

681. The Small Dark Yellow Underwing
(Anarta cordigera).

681. THE SMALL DARK YELLOW UNDER-
WING.— The palpi are porrected and rather
conspicuous ; the second joint is clothed with
bristly scales but is very slender at the base;
the terminal joint is also very scaly ; the an-
tennse are simple in both sexes; the fore-
wings are straight on the costa and blunt at
the tip, their colour is smoky-black ; the reni-
form is white and very conspicuous, the
orbicular obsolete ; there are two slender zig-
zag gray lines, one before the usual site of the
orbicular, the other beyond the reniform ; the
fringe is spotted with black and white ; the
hind wings are yellow, with a black marginal
band and a white fringe ; the head is black,
the thorax black, with two minute discoidal
white dots, and a larger one in the situation of
the scutellum ; the body is black and hirsute.

The CATERPILLAR is reddish-ochreous, the
medio-dorsal stripe is brownish-ochreous, with
an oblique brownish streak meeting it on each
segment; the spiracular line is whitish an-
teriorly, the spots and spiracles are white
(Nub.). It feeds on Vaccinium. (Staintoris
Manual, vol. i., 293.)

The MOTH appears on the wing in May, and,
so far as Great Britain is concerned, has only
been taken at Rannoch, in Perthshire. (The
scientific name is Anarta cordigera.')

tfOCTUAS.

441

682. The Beautiful Yellow Underwing (Anarta

Myrtilli) .

682. THE BEAUTIFUL YELLOW UNDERWING.
— The palpi are rather porrected and ough
with bristle-like scales ; the antennae are
simple in both sexes : the fore wings are
straight on the costa, and produced but
scarcely pointed at the tip ; their colour is
bright red-brown with a very conspicuous and
somewhat triangular median white spot, this
spot usually projects an acutely wedge-shaped
lobe towards the base of the wing ; there are
several transverse gray lines either waved or
zigzag : the hind wings are bright yellow at
the base and have a broad black hind-marginal
band : the head and thorax are of the same
colour as the fore wings ; the body smoky-
black delicately ringed with gray.

The CATERPILLAR, when full-fed, rests with
the second, third, and fourth pairs of ventral
claspers, as well as the anal claspers, firmly
attached to the food-plant, the anterior part of
the body raised, and the head bent under,
sphinx-like ; the first pair of claspers are
held free : when disturbed it falls from its
food-plant and rolls into a compact ring, but
does not long retain that position, soon un-
rolling itself and crawling with considerable
activity. The head is of the same width as
the second segment, the cheeks rounded, the
crown not conspicuously notched, the whole
extremely glabrous, yet emitting several
bristles: the body is uniformly cylindrical.
The colour of the head is pale transparent
green, with a number of dark brown dots; the
second segment of the body has a dull green
plate occupying its entire dorsal surface ; the

remain Jer of the body is olive-green, decora ted
with numerous pale markings; there is a
medio-dorsal series of eleven spots, all of them
guttiform or elongate-oval ; on each side is a
series of eleven spots, almost semicircular, but.
not perfectly so ; and each of these is divided
at the junction of the segments: there is still
another series in the region of the spiracles,
and these are more united, forming a zigzag
line ; the spiracles themselves are white ; each
is surrounded by a black ring ; the ventral
surface has achain-like series of pale markings,
extending to all the segments except the
second, third, fourth, and thirteenth : the legs
and claspers are of the ground-colour, but
each has a pale streak at the base, and on all
parts of the body are numerous smaller
markings intervening between those I have
described: these various markings are far
from constant in form, number, or colour ;
their ordinary colour is an impure white, but
sometimes they are pure white, and sometimes
tinged with yellow ; in one specimen I find
the lateral series alternately pure white and
dingy white ; the dorsal area also varies in
tint, bright green, olive-green, olive-brown,
and bottle-green ; and the lateral ornamenta-
tion is sometimes varied with a darker ground-
colour, encroaching on and almost eclipsing
the paler markings. It feeds on heath (Erica
vidgaris), and when full-fed spins a cocoon
on the surface of the earth, mixing grains of
sand with its silk.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
is common on the heaths of most of our southern
and south-eastern counties. Mr. Reading says
it is local and scarce in Cornwall and Devon-
shire, but he gives several localities where it
has been taken, as Bickleigh Down ; Brent-
hill, near j/avistock ; St. Clear Down, Fat-
mouth, Torquay, and Haldon. Tracing its
progress northwards, it seems to occur here
and there in all the north-English and Scotch
counties, and Mr. Birchall says it is generally
distributed and common in Ireland. (The
scientific name is Anarta Myrlilli.}

Obs. — The upper figure represents the
insect in its natural position when at rest.

442

BRITISH MOTHS.

683. The Small Yellow Underwing (Heliodes
Arbuti) .

683. THE SMALL YELLOW UNDERWING. —
The palpi are rarely porrected beyond the
frontal tuft ; the antennae are slender and
simple in both sexes ; the fore wings are
rather ample, they have a nearly straight
costal margin and a pointed, but not acutely
pointed, tip ; their colour is rich mahogany-
brown sprinkled with a few white scales, and
having a median as well as a hind-marginal
darker shade; the fringe is black at the two
extremities and in the middle, the rest being
rich orange-colour : the hind wings are black,
with a median transverse deep yellow blotch
and a pale fringe : the head and thorax are
dark brown ; the body is very slender and
smoky-black, with narrow gray belts.

The CATERPILLAR is described by Guenee as
having a pale green or gray-green head, body,
and legs; the medio-dorsal stripe deeper green
and bordered on both sides with white, the
sub-dorsal stripe lighter, and the spiracular
stripe white, bordered above with darker green
or gray. It feeds on field chick weed (Ceras-
tium a/rvense), and changes to a CHRYSALIS on
the surface of the earth.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May and
June ; it is generally distributed in Great
Britain, being very abundant in Cornwall, not
uncommon in Devonshire, and so on eastwards
and northwards, even extending into Scotland,
but I cannot learn that it has ever been
observed in Ii-eland. (The scientific name is
Heliodes Arbuti.)

Obs. — Engramelle, who calls this little in-
sect La Polynome, represents a variety with
the hind wings white, a very unusual circum-
stance ; it is very little subject to variation.
It is the Heliaca of the Vienna Catalogue,
Fasciola of Esper, Domestica of the Naturfors-
cher, and Policula of others ; so that Engra-
melle's French name is very appropriate.

684. The Spotted Sulphur (AgropMla sulphuraUt) .

684. THE SPOTTED SULPHUR. — The palpi
are decidedly porrected, very sharp-pointed,
and moderately distant from each other ; the
antennae are very slender and alike in both
sexes ; the fore wings are very nearly straight
on the eosta and scarcely pointed at the tip ;
their colour is sulphur-yellow, with two trans-
verse black bars parallt-1 with the hind mar-
gin, two longitudinal black stripes parallel
with the inner margin, and five black spots in
the area enclosed between the inner black
bar, which is often interrupted or broken up
into spots, and the upper black stripe : I find
no trace of the discoidal spots ; the fringe is
black, slightly interrupted at the costal end
with whitish-yellow ; the hind wings are
smoky-black ; the face is yellow, the crown of
the head black ; the thorax is black on the
median disk, yellow on the sides ; the body is
belted with black and yellow, but neither
colour very bright.

Thefollowing particulars of the CATERPILLAR
have been kindly handed me by Mr. Hellins,
at the request of Mr. Brown, of Cambridge, who
procured him the eggs : — " Unfortunately,
only one egg reached me uninjured, and the
solitary caterpillar died when it seemed just
about to change ; it was hatched June 25th
and died August 15th. The food which I
gave it, and which it seemed to eat readily,
was the field bindweed (Convolvulus arvcnsis),
and for the first half of its life two small
shoots, bearing five or six little leaves, suf-
ficed it both for food and resting-place. When
first hatched it was of a dingy gray colour,
with four black transverse humps on as many
of the middle segments ; but at each moult
Jiese humps became less and less prominent,

NOCTUAS.

441:

until they disappeared entirely. • When full-
grown, the caterpillar is about an inch long,
cylindrical, and having the segmental divisions
deeply indented; the claspers are six in
number, four ventral and two anal ; the body
is thickest at the fourth segment, and when
at rest is usually bent in a curve from the
middle. The colour is a rich chocolate-
brown; the medio-dorsal stripe is rather
darker, but edged with very fine paler lines ;
the sub- dorsal stripe is also darker, but very
faintly marked ; the sphacular stripe is broad,
of a pale yellow, with a fine brown thread
running through it ; after the last moult there
are some deep yellow and orange spots in it
also, but these soon disappear, as do the usual
dorsal dots, which at first are black and plainly
visible."

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, but
has only been taken in three of our English
counties, and neither in Wales, Scotland, nor
Ireland } the localities are in Cambridgeshire,
near Thetford in Norfolk, and near Brandon
in Suffolk. (The scientific name is Agrophila
sulphuralis.)

685. The Pale-shonlder (Acontia albicollis) .

685. THE PALE-SHOULDER. — The palpi are
porrected, approximate, small, and' very in-
conspicuous, the terminal conical joints just
appearing beneath the frontal tuft ; the an-
tennae are simple : the fore wings are straight
on the costa, and rounded at the tip, they are
creamy- white at the base, and have a square
creamy- white spot on the costa, rather beyond
the middle ; the basal white area has a black
dot near the base of the wing, and a curved
line above it, reminding one of an eye and eye-
brow ; the remainder of the wing is rich
purple-brown, mottled and marbled with
various shades and tints, and havinq; three

white crescents near the anal angle ; the
fringe is long, the apical half brown, the lower
half white : the hind wings have the basal
area brown, this colour projecting three dif-
ferently-shaped lobes into the median area,
which is creamy-white ; the hind margin is
occupied by a broad brown band, the fringe is
long and white : the head, thorax, and body
are white, the head and neck having the
faintest tinge of brown.

According to M. Guene"e, " The caterpillai-s
of the genus Acontia possess but two pairs of
claspers ; they are very long and very slender,
but rather incrassated towards the posterior
extrc nity ; they are smooth, but the dorsal
dots or tubercles are very visible, and each is
surmounted by a hair : they feed on low
plants, and turn to chrysalids in small earthen
cocoons."

The MOTH on the continent appears in July,
flying1 in the sunshine. I possess one spe-
cimen supposed to be British, but know
nothing of date or locality. (The scientific
name is Acontia albicollis.)

686. The Four-spotted (Dysthymia luctuosa).

686. THE FOUR-SPOTTED. — The palpi are
rather long and very slender, the terminal
joint being very fine-pointed ; the antennae
are simple in both sexes : the fore wings are
broad and- ample, the costal margin very
straight ; their colour is nearly black, but
slightly marbled with other shades ; the orbi-
cular is not to be traced ; the reniform, on the
contrary, is very large and conspicuous, and it

444

BRITISH MOTHS.

is either chalky-white or rosy-red, and at its
upper or costal extremity it actually touches
the costa, and has, moreover, a little lobe each
side of its costal extremity, which also touches
the costa : the hind wings are black with a
white median band, which is very vaiious in
size and form, and is sometimes interrupted
in the middle ; on the hind margin is a small
white spot, and the fringe is white with a
black spot in the middle.

The EGGS are laid in May, or early in June,
on the climbing stems and flower-buds of the
common bind weed, and the young caterpillars
emerge in about ten or twelve days : the head
is then much larger in proportion to the body
than in more advanced life, but not so large
as is generally the case in infant caterpillai-s :
both the head and body are furnished with a
considerable numberof hairs, whichare far more
conspicuous at this early period than a week
or ten days later : the body is of nearly equal
substance throughout, and the sides are nearly
parallel : they feed almost entirely by night,
and principally on the unexpanded flower-
buds of the bindweed, hiding themselves by
day near the surface of the ground, and re-
maining motionless during daylight. The
full-grown caterpillar rests in a perfectly
straight position, so far as the sinuosities of
the plant will allow, on the slender stems of
the common field bindweed (Convolvulus
arvensis), the legs holding the stem slightly,
but the claspers being more firmly attached,
except the anal pair, which are stretched out
behind : when annoyed, it falls to the ground,
rolled in a lax and imperfect ring, the head
turned on one side : the head is exserted and
porrected ; it is of almost exactly the same
width as the second segment, and emits a
considerable number of straight hairs : the
body is elongate and rather slender ; it is
attenuated towards the anal extremity ; on the
second segment is a glabrous shining plate of
a semicircular figure, the convex side being
posterior ; the remaining segments are dis-
tinctly marked, and each is slightly swollen in
the middle. The colour of the head is pale
rather shining brown, with eight irregular
longitudinal series of amorphous spots ; the

plate on the second segment is dingy brown,
intersected by three paler stripes ; the dorsal
area of the body is striped with brown of two
shades, there being three pale and four darker
stripes ; the paler stripes are medio-dorsal and
lateral, the darker stripes alternating with
them, and each darker stripe having in each
segment a paler wart-like spot, which emits
a hair ; the lower dark stripe on each side is
compound or composed of several minor
stripes ; the ventral is decidedly paler than
the dorsal area, and the division between the
two is abrupt and clearly defined ; there is a
medio- ventral series of black spots connected
by a slender and indistinct stripe of the same
colour ; the black spots are most conspicuous
on the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth seg-
ments : the legs are rather long, pale, semi-
transparent brown, with black rings ; the
claspers are nearly concolorous with the
ventral area. These caterpillars, which were
full-fed on the 14th of June, went down to
undergo pupation on or under the surface of
the earth.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May,
June, August, and September. It has been
taken in the utmost profusion by Dr. Bat-
tersby, in Torquay, asnd subsequently by all
collectors who have visited the locality ; also
near Exmouth by Dr. Jordan, in Hampshire,
Isle of Wight, Brighton, and Lewes, in
Sussex, and near Gravesend, in Kent. (The
scientific name is Dysthymia luctuosa.}

Obs. 1. — The caterpillars of the genus
A contia, with which this species has usually been
associated, have only six claspers, four of them
ventral and two anal, whereas Luctuosa has
invariably ten, eight of them ventral and two
anal : this extraordinary discrepancy was
pointed out by M. Guenee, who did not,
however, consider it desirable to separate the
species generically : I think I have no choice
but to propose a new generic name for
Luctuosa.

Obs. 2. — I am indebted to Mr. Vaughan
for the loan of the beautiful variety represented
in the lower figure.

NOOTUAS.

445

687. The Rosy Marbled (Erastria venustula).

687. THE ROSY MARBLED.— The palpi are
porrectecl, extending very considerably in
front of the head ; the second joint is very
sparingly clothed with scales, the terminal
joint sharp-pointed and almost entirely naked;
the antennae are very slender and simple in
both sexes ; the habit of the insect is that of
a Tortrix ; the costal margin of the fore wings
is curved, more especially at the base ; their
colour is creamy-gray, with a delicate rosy
tint on the basal portion of the costal area.
I find no trace of the orbicular; thereniform
is present, its median area being light brown,
and the circumscription of its minor lower
border white ; a waved transverse white line
crosses the wing beyond the reniform ; the
hind margin has a broad and somewhat
triangular brown blotch ; in the middle of
the inner margin is another large and some-
what triangular brown blotch ; this latter is
bordered with white and also intersected by
a white line near its basal extremity : the
hind wings are pale dingy brown : the head,
collar, and disk of the thorax are brown, the
sides and hind part of thorax almost white ;
the body is gray.

The CATERPILLAR when annoyed falls from
its food-plant, but does not roll itself in a
ring or feign death, being apparently satisfied
with the natural protection afforded by its
colour, for it is almost impossible to distinguish
it on the ground and among the grass : the
head is narrower than the second segment,
prone and shining : the body is smooth and
velvety, the fourth and fifth segments con-
siderably incrassated; the segments exhibit
a decided continuity, the interstices between
them being difficult to perceive : the colour
of both head and body is purplish-brown, with
a paler medio-dorsal stripe, which is indistinct
throughout, and nearly obliterated on the
third and fourth segments, and there is a

roundish spot of the same pale colour on each
side of the fifth segment : it feeds on the
yellow blossoms of the trailing tormentil
(Tormentilla reptans),&nd. when full-fed, about
the end of August, it conceals itself at the
roots of the plant, or the short grasses among
which the plant grows in the sides of forest
roads, and there spinning a slight cocoon
changes to a smooth brown CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH appears on the wing at the end
of June and during July. As far as regards
Great Britain, it has only been found in
Epping Forest, where it was discovered many
years back by Mr. Doubleday. (The scientific
name is Erastria venustula.}

Obs. — I think that neither Treitschke nor
any subsequent author can have really been
acquainted with the caterpillar of this species :
my description is from the life, the specimens
described having been kindly presented to me
for that purpose by Mr. C. J. Biggs.

688. The Marbled White-spot (Erastria fuscula).

688. THEMARBLED"WHITE-SPOT. — The palpi
are porrected, rather long, very slender,
and sharp-pointed ; the antennae are slender
and alike in both sexes : the fore wings are
rather arched on the costal margin ; their
colour is dark marbled bistre-brown ; the anal
angle is occupied by a large white blotch,
which is shaded with pale brown as it ap-
proaches the hind margin; the reniform and
orbicular are distinctly outlined in white, the
median area being brown; the fringe is
spotted : the hind wings are dingy gray-
brown : the head and thorax are brown ; the
body is gray-brown and crested, the crest on
the fourth and fifth segments being prominent;
all the crests are tipped with brown.

I have not seen the CATERPILLAR of Erastria
fuscula, but M. Guenee describes it as of a
yellowish-gray colour, with a broad brown
continuous medio-dorsal stripe, a narrow black

446

BRITISH MOTHS.

and interrupted sub-dorsal stripe, and a
spiracular stripe of the ground-colour between
two shades of a brick-red colour ; the head is
concolorous with the body, and has two black
spots ; the legs are reddish : it feeds in August
and September on different species of bramble
(Rubus fruticosiis, <fec.).

The MOTH appears on the wing in June and
July, and seems common in Cornwall and
Devonshire, and also in Monk's Wood among
brambles ; it is occasionally found by Mr.
Doubleday at Epping among brambles in dry
situations. Mr. Birchall informs us of this
species, also Bankia argentula and Hydrelia
unca,ihsit they occur in profusion at Killarney,
in Ireland ; he says : " Any one who has
traversed the bogs of the county Kerry in the
early part of June, will not soon forget the
astonishing numbers of tlie.se three insects,
which rise around him as he pushes his way
through the thick growth of sweet-gale (Myrica
gale).

689. The Silver-barred (Bankia argentula).

689. THE SILVER-BARRED. — The palpi are
porrected, rather long, very slender, and
sharp-pointed ; the antennae are slightly
pubescent in both sexes : the fore wings are
slightly arched on the costa, and sharply so at
the base ; their colour is olive-green with two
white bars ; 'the first commences near the
middle of the inner margin, and ascends
obliquely to the costal margin near its base,
it then proceeds along the costa until it touches
the thorax, and then curving downwards
ceases on the inner margin near its base ; the
second white bar commences near the anal
angle and ascends obliquely to near the middle
of the costal mat-gin; just beyond its middle

this bar projects a lobe towards the base of
the wing ; there is an oblique white line near
the tip of the wing, and a double whitish band
on the hind margin : the hind wings are gray :
the head is olive-green sprinkled with white
scales ; the collar olive-green in front, white
behind ; the body is gray and slightly crested,
its shape is linear, and its extremity tufted in
the male ; it is stouter, porrected, and pointed
in the female.

The CATERPILLAR, according to Guenee, is
green, the dorsal area and the incisions of the
segments being a little darker ; there are two
lateral stripes of a yellowish-white, both of
them surmounted and bordered with dark
green : the head and legs are also green : it
feeds on grasses. The CHRYSALIS is short and
enclosed in a small oval cocoon on the surface
of the earth.

The MOTH appears on the wing iu June, and
has been taken in profusion at Killarney. Mr.
Stainton also gives Beachamwell, in Norfolk,
and Whittlesea Mere, in Cambridgeshire, as
localities where it has occurred. (The scien-
tific name is Bankia argentula.)

690. The Silver Hook (Hydrelia unca).

690. THE SILVER HOOK. — The palpi are
porrected, slender, widely separated, and
pointed ; the antennae are short, slender, and
very slightly pubescent in both sexes : the
costal margin of the fore wings is straight ;
there is a costal stripe of dove-colour, some-
times tinged with ochreous, and this is bordered
below by another stripe almost white ; the
disk of the wing is wood-brown, excepting
the reniform, which is of the same white hue
as the sub-marginal stripe, of which it seems
to form an oblique projecting lobe ; the hind-
marginal band is most delicately lined with
different shades of brown, the extreme inRfl?
and extreme outer borders of this band being

NOCTUAS.

447

pure white ; the hind wings are dingy gray-
brown : the head, thorax, and body are
grayish dove-colour.

The CATERPILLAR, according to Treitschke,
is very similar to that of Bankia argentula ; it
is slender and of a green colour, with a white
lateral stripe.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June ;
it is common in Cornwall, and Mr. Reading
says : " It is most plentiful on Dartmoor, in
Devonshire, but the nature of the place pre-
cludes one from obtaining it easily ;" it has
also been taken in Somei-setshire, Suffolk,
Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Yorkshire, and the
Lake District : ic absolutely swarms in the
neighbourhood of Killarney, in Ireland, but I
think has not occurred in Scotland. (The
scientific name is Hydrelia unca.}

691. The Pnrple Marbled (Micra ostrina).

691. THE PURPLE MARBLED. — The palpi are
porrected, ascending, and curved, the terminal
joint being slender, distinct, and pointed ; the
antennae have a very short and fine pubescence
in the male, in the female they are quite
simple ; the fore wings are nearly straight on
the costa and pointed at the tip ; their colour
is nearly white ; there is an oblique median
orange band, and beyond this an oblique and
rather wide hind-marginal band generally
intersected by a waved white line ; the fringe
is pale brown : the hind wings are rather
small and almost white, with two or three
pate brown transverse bars ; the fringe is
inmost white : the head and thorax have the
mixed colours of the fore wings ; the body is
almost white.

The CATERPILLARS of the genus Micra have
only six claspers ; they have a small head and
a rather stout body, attenuated at both extre-
mities ; they are supposed to feed on the stems
*f low-growing plants, especially towards the
ends ; the CHRYSALIDS are short with promi-
neut segments, and are enclosed in lax oval '

cocoons spun among the leaves of the food-
plant.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, ana
has been taken in one English and one Welsh
county only, Devonshire and Glamorganshire.
Mr. Reading records the capture of a specimen
at Torquay, by Miss Battersby, and Mr.
Stainton says one specimen was taken at
Bideford, in June, 1825. The Welsh locality is
thus recorded in the Entomologist*! Monthly
Mayazine by Mr. .Llewelyn : " It was in the
month of July, a few years since, that I
captured, on the sand-hills at Pembrey, South
Wales, a pretty little insect whose identity I
have, until lately, been utterly unable to
establish. The spot at which I secured it was
rather barren and sandy, in a sheltered situa-
tion ; an abundance of dwarf sallow grew in
the vicinity, and also, as far as I remember,
thistles, bed-straw, wild thyme, and a short
kind of grass, from which latter I expect that
I disturbed it ; at any rate, the insect was
flying low overthe barren sand when I caught
it. The day was showery, with occasional
gleams of sunshine, during which H. Semele
and other butterflies were on the wing, and
during one of these gleams I took the insect,
and seeing that it was something I did not
know, boxed and pinned it at once. The
recollection of the capture is very fresh in my
mind, owing to the pleasure of the expedition
and the difficulty I have had in getting the
insect named." (The scientific name is Micra
ostrina.)

Obs. 1. — The figure is from a specimen
kindly lent me by Mr. Bond.

Obs. 2. — My knowledge of this genus and
the two supposed species is very slender and
derived almost exclusively from books.

692. The Small Marbled (Micra pwrva).

692. THE SMALL MARBLED.— The palpi are
porrected, ascending, and curved ; the terminal
joint is distinct and pointed ; the antenna? arc

443

BRITISH MOTHS

simple : the fore wings are nearly straight on
the costa and pointed at the tip ; their colour
is almo0* 'Trhite, with a median oblique pale
brown >ani which is exteriorly bordered with
white, and a broad hind-marginal band of the
same pale hue, and intersected throughout by
a nai'row waved white line ; there is a black
dot just within this white line near its costal
extremity, and a second near the apical angle ;
the fringe is delicately pale brown : the hind
wings are white, slightly cloudy at the base,
and I *ve a pale brown hind margin : the
palpi, \aad, thorax and body are almost
white.

The CATERPILLAR is said by Stainton to feed
on the steins of thistle.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June : it
was first taken in England, says Mr. Reading,
a*; Teiernmouth, in Devonshire, by Dr. Jordan,
who secured a specimen when flying about a
lamp. In 1858 Dr. Battersby found a good
nabitat for this species at Torquay, where he
obtained examples. (The scientific name is
Micro, parva.}

Obs. 1. — The figure is from a specimen
kindly lent me by Mr. Bond.

Obs. 2. — The following paragraph is copied
from the Entomologists' Annual for 1859. It
is written by Dr. Battersby, of Torquay : " My
daughter having found a specimen of Micro,
ostrina in June, I was induced to go with my
children the two following mornings and make
a close search along the coast wherever the
cliffs are accessible, and having a good many
little eyes at work we were fortunate enough
lj meet with five more; they occurred at
three places in an extent of about three miles,
and were met with half-way down the cliffs
to the water's edge. We found Micro, parva
only in one place, aud saw but two specimens,
both of which were captured ; they as well as
Ostrina lay very close among the grass and
brambles, and when disturbed did not fly
more than a yard or two, Ostrina settling on
the ground, and Parva on plants : this was
the only difference I observed in their habits ;
indeed, until I was able to examine both care-
fully at home, I considered that I had merely
taken the two sexes of Ostrina. We searched

the cliffs with great care for nearly a week
afterwards, but without seeing a trace of
more." From the figure which accompanies
the notice in the Annual, I should have sup-
posed this insect to be the female of Ostrina.
I observe that M. Guenee regards Micra parva
as a distinct species, but whether Dr. Batters-
by's insect belongs to that species or not,
we have no evidence. I incline to refer both
insects to the Phytometra minuta of Haworth,
p. 265, No. 30.

693. The Orange Underwing (Brephos Parlhenias).

693. THE ORANGE UNDERWING. — The palpi
are concealed in a beak-like tuft of hairy
scales ; the antennae of the male are thickened
and serrated, not pectinated : the wings are
ample, the costal margin of the fore wings
being straight almost to the tip, and then
slightly curved ; their colour is reddish-brown,
thickly sprinkled with paler scales ; about
the middle of the costa there is a more or less
conspicuous pale blotch, which serves as the
commencement of a very indistinct transverse
pale median bar ; this bar generally inc1.ud'Mi
the reniform ; half-way between the bar and.
the base of the wiug are two pale marks on
the costa : the hind wings are deep rich
orange with a large smoky-gray patch occu-
pying the inner margin, and projecting a sharp
angle into the very middle of the wing, where
it joins the dark discoidal spot : the head,
thorax, and body are black-brown and very
slender.

The CATERPILLAR has a smooth semi-por-
rected head, scarcely narrower than cne wr^*.;^

NOCTUAS.

449

segment ; the body is slightly hairy, rather
slender, and V\a3 the back always arched in
crawling, after the manner of a Geometer ;
although it has eight ventral claspers, it never
uses the two anterior pairs for prehension ;
when annoyed it does not feign death or roll
in a ring, but falls from its food-plant and
hangs by a thread : the colour of the head is
apple-green, of the body green, with a double
white or whitish-yellow medio-dorsal stripe,
and a lateral stripe of the same colour ;
there is also a more conspicuous yellowish
stripe below the spiracles, which are black ;
between the stripes there are two white dots
on each segment. It feeds on birch (Betula
alba), and when full-fed descends to the
ground, and spinning a slight cocoon either in
crevices of the birch-bark or on the ground,
changes to a smooth brown CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH appears on the wing with the
first bright sunny days of March, flying in
the sunshine, and has been taken in Sussex,
Surrey, Kent, Essex, Suffolk, Gloucestershire,
Herefordshire, Shropshire, Derbyshire, York-
shire, in the Lake District, and also in
Scotland, but I think not in Ireland. (The
scientific name is Brephos Partkenias.)

694. The Light Orange Under winsr (Brephos notJia) .

694. THE LIGHT ORANGE UNDERWING. — The
palpi are concealed in a beak-like tuft of bristly
scales ; the antennse of the male are distinctly
pectinated, those of the female simple : all
the wings are ample, the costal margin of the
lore wings is nearly straight, being slightly
curved only at the tip ; their colour is grayish-

brown, with an indistinct paler blotch near the
middle of the costal margin, and the entire
surface is sprinkled with paler scales : the
hind wings are deep rich orange, with a large
smoke-coloured blotch on the inner margin,
an angle or lobe of which is prolonged into
the very middle of the wing, where it joins a
discoidal spot of the same colour ; the hind mar-
gin is also smoke-coloured : the head, thorax,
and body are black-brown and very slender.
The CATERPILLAR has a smooth semi-porrected
head, almost triangular in shape, and rather
narrower than the second segment ; the body
is rather slender, and always arched in crawling,
after the manner of a Geometer, and although
it has eight ventral claspers, like the cater-
pillars of true Xoctuce, it never uses the two
anterior pairs for prehension. When annoyed
it does not feign death or roll in a ring, but
drops from its food-plant, suspended by a
thread ; the colour of the head is smoky
brown, with a darker patch in the middle of
each cheek ; the body is dull apple-green with
four brown spots on the back of the second
segment, and a narrow continuous medio-
dorsal stripe rather darker than the ground-
colour, and rendered more conspicuous by
being bordered with very pale green ; on each
side, in the region of the spiracles, is a broader
continuous stripe, almost black ; the belly and
claspers are green ; the legs tinged with brown.
It feeds on aspen (Populits tremula). The CHRY-
SALIS is reddish-brown, smooth and shining.

The MOTH appears on the wing in March and
April : it has been taken in Sussex, Surrey,
Kent, Essex, Berkshire, Suffolk, Gloucester-
shire, Worcestershire, Shropshire, and York-
shire. (The scientific name is Brephos notha.)

695. The Light Spectacle (Abrostola Urttcce).

695. THE LIGHT SPECTACLE. — The palpi are
long and slender, not directly porrected, but
obliquely ascending, the second joint is bent,

M 29

BRITISH MOTHS.

the terminal straight ; the scales on both are
short, so much so on the terminal joint as to
make it appear almost naked ; the anteiinse are
delicately pubescent but otherwise simple in
both sexes : the fore wings are straight along
the costa until near the tip, when they are
slightly curved and pointed; their colour is
inclined to gray both at the base and hind
margin, the median area being brown, and
being also bounded on both sides by a double
transverse line ; the discoidal spots are im-
perfectly outlined in brown, the orbicular is
the larger of the two, oblique and reniform ;
the tip of the wing is dark brown : the hind
wings are glossy black-brown, rather paler at
the base : the head, thorax, and body are
gray brown ; the thorax and body are crested.
The CATERPILLAR never rolls in a ring, but
sometimes feigns death and falls off its food-
plant when disturbed, assuming a bent pos-
ture : it is slender at the anterior extremity
— the second, third, and fourth segments being
particularly attenuated and stretched out
leech-like in crawling ; the fifth, sixth, and
seventh segments are tumid on the back, but
scarcely humped ; the eight, ninth, and
tenth segments are rather tumid and very
convex on the back ; the twelfth segment is
humped, and terminates in two sharp short
distant points directed backwards ; between
this bifid hump and the thirteenth segment
the body is slightly concave, and the hind
claspers are passed under the body in crawling ;
the prevailing colour is clear pale green, mixed
with white-green on the back, and not varied
with brown ; the clear green forms an inter-
rupted median stripe of shuttle-shaped mark-
ings down the back, one on each segment ;
also, two oblique marks of the same green on
each segment, distant in front but approxi-
mate behind, and forming something like
V-shaped markings pointing backwards ; there
is a narrow white stripe along the middle of
each side on the fifth, sixth, and seventh seg-
ments; this is connected by a very distinct
white line with the white on the back : it feeds
on the stinging-nettle ( Urtica dioica), and is
full-fed in September, when it spins up amongst
the leaves.

The MOTH appears on the wing twice in the
year, in June and August, and occurs in all
our English, Scotch, and Irish counties so
far as they have been investigated by ento-
mologists. (The scientific name is Abrostola
Urticce.)

696. The Dark Spectacle (Abrostola triplasia).

696. THE DARK SPECTACLE. — The palpi are
long and slender, not directly porrected, but
obliquely ascending : the second joint is bent,
the terminal joint straight, the scales on both
are shoi t, so much so on the terminal joint asto
make it appear almost naked ; the antennae are
delicately pubescent, otherwise simple in both
sexes : the fore wings are straight along the
costa, where they are slightly curved and
pointed, their hind margin is waved ; their
colour is chocolate-brown, the general area of
the wing is divided into three compartments
by two compound transverse lines ; the median
area is almost uniformly brown and contains
indications of the usual discoidal spots ; the
basal area is paler, being tinged with ochreous;
the apical area has a blackish cloud near the
tip, and an ochreous blotch near the anal angle;
a pale zigzag transverse line, parallel with the
hind margin, passing through both of these :
the hind wings are dark smoky-brown, paler
at the base; the outer portion of the fringe
is silvery-brown : the head, thorax, and body
are brown, the thorax and body crested.

The CATERPILLAR never rolls in a ring, but
feigns death when disturbed, and falls to the
ground, assuming somewhat the figure of a
pot-hook, or letter S. The body is attenuated
in front, the second, third, and fourth seg-
ments being elongated and stretched out leech-
like in crawling; the fifth and sixth segments
are humped and elevated in crawling ; the
claspers are ten in number, the anterior pair,
those on the seventh segment, being generally

NOCTUAS.

451

held clear of the ground in crawling ; the
twelfth segment is humped, and the hump is
concave, culminating in two lateral points ;
the outline of the caterpillar from this last
hump descends perpendicularly to the anal
pair of clampers, and these evidently pass under
the body whenever moved forward in walking.
The prevailing colour is olive-green or dingy
brown, very variable ; the second, third, and
fourth segments being deeper olive-brown,
with a whitish central dorsal stripe, and
generally also a short lateral stripe of the
.same pale hue; the fifth and sixth segments
have each a dark velvety patch on the middle
of the back, which I have already described
as humped ; on the fifth segment this patch is
triangular, the apex of the triangle being
anterior, and the triangle surrounded by a
whitish margin ; the patch on the sixth seg-
ment is rounded before and behind, and there
margined with white, but open and not dis-
tinctly margined on the sides ; the twelfth
segment has a transversely oblong dark velvet
patch, surrounded with a white line ; on all
the segments, from the fifth to the twelfth
inclusive, is a rather indistinct and narrow
white stripe just above the spiracles, which
are also white; above this lateral stripe is an
oblique line of the same colour on each seg-
ment. It feeds on the stinging-nettle ( Urtica
dioica) and hop (Humulus lupulinus), and is
full-fed about the end of September, when it
spins up amongst the leaves.

The MOTH appears on the wing twice in the
year, in June and August, and seems to have
been found in England, Scotland, and Ireland,
whereverinvestigated by entomologists. (The
scientific name is Abrostola triplasia.}

697. iTie Scarce Burnished Brass (Plusia orichalcea).
69T. THE SCARCE BURNISHED BRASS. — The

palpiarecurvedupwards in front of ths frontal
tuft; the second joint is scaly, the terminal
joint long, slender, pointed, and almost naked ;
the antennae are simple : the fore wings are
nearly straight on the costa, and slightly bent
and pointed at the tip; their colour is umber-
brown, suffused in recent specimens with a
purple glow ; they are transversed by two
transverse lines, the outer of which divides a
large gold coloured metallic blotch, which is
situated near the apical angle: the hind wings
are gray-brown : the head, thorax, and body
are brown : the body crested.

The CATERPILLAR is green, the medio-dorsal
line white, edged with a wavy streak, the
spiracular stripe broad and white, edged above
with dark green; spots white (Treitschke).
It feeds on hemp-agrimony (Eupatoriumcanna-
binum). — (Stainton's Manual, vol. i. p. 306).

The MOTH appears on the wing in August,
and is always regarded as a great rarity by
entomologists : Mr. Reading informs us it
has been taken by Mr. E. Lethbridge, near
Plymbridge, and under the Hoe, at Plymouth ;
the specimens were flying from flower to
flower in open daylight; Mr. Dale has taken
it in Dorsetshire ; Mr. Harding, near Deal, in
Kent ; and Mr. Jenner Fust reports it for his
thirteenth subprovince, which includes Glou-
cestershire and Monmouthshire. (The scientific
name is Plusia orichalcea.)

Obs. — I do not possess a specimen of this
beautiful moth, and have to acknowledge my
obligation to Mr. Bond for his kindness in
lending me one to figure and describe.

698. The Burnished Brasa (Plusia chrysitis).

698. THE BURNISHED BRASS. — The palpi
are curved upwards in front of the frontal
tuft, the second joint is scaly ; the terminal

BRITISH MOTHS.

;]6int long, slender, and naked ; the antennae
are simple : the fore wings are very straight
:in the costa, but decidedly curved, indeed
slightly hooked, and sharply pointed at the
tip ; their colour is metallic golden-green,
with a brown blotch at the base, another and
larger brown blotch at the middle of the costal
margin, and a third opposite this on the inner
margin; in some of my specimens the costal
and inner-marginal blotches unite in forming
a median band; the hind margin itself is occu-
pied by a semi-metallic band much less bright
than the other metallic portions of the wings :
the hind wings, head, thorax, and body are
gray-brown.

The CATERPILLAR rests in a bent posture on
the leaves or stems of its food-plant, the
anterior extremity being held up and not
touching the food-plant, to which the attach-

• ment is by the claspers only; these are six in
number, four ventral and two anal ; the head
is small and shining, the face rather flat ; the
•body is attenuated at the anterior extremity,
and stretched out leech-like; it gradually in-
creases in size to the twelfth segment, which
is swollen and rather humped; the colour of

• the head and body is apple-green without
stripes, but having a dorsal ornamentation on

' each segment consisting of six white marks ;
the two of these nearest the middle are V--
shaped, the angles of the V's pointing back-
wards; the others, two on each side, are linear
and slightly obliqvie ; on the second, third,

•and thirteenth segments the V's are wanting,
the lines only being present ; there is a very
slender lateral stripe also white, and imme-
diately below this are the spiracles, visible
only from their black circumscription ; beneath
the spiracles is a series of white dots. It feeds
on the white dead-nettle (Lamiwn a7bum),
burdock (Arctium Lappa), stinging-nettle,
(Urtica dioica), and a number of other low
plants, and is full-fed in June, when it spins a!
whitish cocoon among the leaves of its food- 1
plant, and therein changes to a black CHRYSALIS
with a pointed horn at its anal extremity.

The MOTH appears on the wing twice in1
the year, in June and August, and is of fre-

w-umt occurrence in our English, Scotch, mid

Irish counties.
chrysitis.)

(The scientific name is Plusia

699. The Gold Spangle (Plusia bractea).

699. THE GOLD SPANGLE. — The palpi are
curved upwards, the second joint being long
and slender and standing quite upright ; the
antennae are simple : the fore wings are nearly
straight on the costa, and scarcely bent at the
tip ; their colour is rich umber-brown below
the median blotch, which is of a most brilliant
metallic gold-colour; the shape of this blotch
will be best seen by a reference to the figure :
the hind wings are gray-brown towards the
margin and paler at the base, and the wing-
rays are dai'ker in this pale portion : the
palpi and front of the thorax are reddish-
brown ; the crown of the head and disk of
the thorax are umber-brown; the body is pale
gray, brown towards the base, red-brown to-
wards the tip ; the back is crested, the crest
on the fourth segment being the most con-
spicuous and very dark brown.

The CATERPILLAR has a small flat and por-
rected head, much narrower than the second
segment; the body has the segmental divisions
very clearly marked ; the anterior ones are
rather small, but those which follow are
stouter, and the posterior ones, from the ninth
to the twelfth, are very stout and tumid ; the
entire surface of the body is covered with fine
scattered hairs ; there are but six claspers, two
each on the ninth, tenth, and thirteenth seg-
ments : the head is pale green, with a narrow
brown line on each side : the body is apple-
green, with a narrow medio-dorsal white line;
and a narrow lateral white line on each side.
It feeds on the hemp-agrimony (Eupatoriurm
cannabinum) and, spinning a rather loose
cocoon neai\the roots of the plant, therein

NOCTUAS.

453' ^

changes to a CHRYSALIS. I am indebted to my
kind friend, Mr. Doubleday, for drawings of
the caterpillar.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
has been taken in Worcestershire, Shropshire,
Cheshire, Yorkshire, and Scotland. Mr.
Birchall took it in the county Wicklow in
Ireland. (The scientific name is Plusia,
bractea.)

700. The Gold Spot (Plusia Festucw).
700. THE GOLD SPOT. — The palpi are com-
pressed, porrected and ascending; the long
scales of the second joint projecting in front;
the terminal joint is erect and pointed ; the
antennae are simple : the fore wings are nearly
straight on the costal margin and scarcely at
all bent towards the tip ; their colour is brown,
washed here and there with gold, more par-
ticularly at the base of the costal margin,
near the apical end of the same, along the
hind margin, especially toward its anal angle,
and on the inner margin near its base ; there
are also three metallic spots, the colour of
which is somewhat between the white of
silver and the yellow of gold ; their brightness
is intense ; two of these are obscurely pear-
shaped, and placed lengthwise in the middle
of the wing ; the third is nearer the apical
angle and adjoins the golden wash at the
apical extremity of the costa : the hind wings
are gray-brown ; all the fringes are pale rosy-
brown ; the antennae, head, palpi, and thorax
are reddish-brown; the body gray-brown
tipped with reddish-brown.

The CATERPILLAR has rather a small head,
narrower than the second segment and
slightly porrected ; the body is cylindrical
and rather stout, it is sparingly covered with
short fine haira ; it has but four ventral
claspers, and arches its back in crawling after

the manner of Geometers : the colour of both
head and body is bottle-green, with six narrow
and equidistant white stripes on the back, and
a rather broader stripe on each side in the
region of the spiracles, bright yellow : it feeds
on several grasses in May and June, and is full-
fed the beginning of August, when it spins a
whitish cucoon among the leaves of grasses
and changes to a green CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH appears on the wing in August, !
and is generally distributed in our English
counties, commencing with Cornwall aud-
Devonshire and reaching not only Yorkshire
but entering Scotland. Mr. Birchall says 'it'
JB common and widely distributed in Ireland.
(The scientific name is Plusia Festucoe.)'

701. The Plain Golden Y (Plusia Iota).

701. THE PLAIN GOLDEN Y. — The palpi are
porrected, ascending, and, except the terminal
joint, which is errect and pointed, they are
completely muffled in scales ; the antennae are,
simple : the fore wings are straight on the.
costal margin, slightly bent to wards the pointed,
t;p, and somewhat produced at the anal angle
of the inner margin ; their colour is umber-
brown, washed with rosy-brown, except' as"
regards a large lozenge-shaped blotch, which
occupies the middle of the inner margin, and
ascends to the middle of the wing ; this blotch
contains two bright marks of burnished gold,
the lower and smaller of these is round, the
upper is V-shaped : in one of my specimens
these are united ; the brown tints of the wing
are softly blended together, and not sharply
divided : the hind wings are gray-brown, paler
at the base and having the wing-rays in the
paler area decidedly darker ; all the fringes
are rosy-brown, indistinctly alternated with
umber-brown : the head, thorax, and body are
rosy-brown ; the body is crested and the third

454

BRITISH MOTHS.

crest is very prominent, and tipped with darker
brown.

The CATERPILLAR rests in a bent position,
the anterior extremity being elevated and held
away from its food-plant ; it has but six clasp-
ers; the head is small, shining, and porrected;
the anterior part of the body is slender and
stretched out leech-like in crawling, when the
back is arched after the manner of a Geometer;
the body increases in thickness to the twelfth
segment, which is swollen and rather humped;
the colour of both the head and bo ly is apple-
green; there are three slender white lines on
each side of the medio-dorsal vessel, which is
scarcely visible ; and on each side just above
the spiracles is a slender yellow line perfectly
continuous from the mouth to the anal claspers,
this is bordered above by a darker stripe also
very slender; this dark or black border is
sometimes interrupted, and sometimes almost
absent ; on each side of this side-stripe is a
series of white dots, generally three on the dor-
sal surface of each segment, and four below the
stripe; the spiracles are whitish and scarcely
perceptible : it feeds on the white dead-nettle
(Lamium album), the stinging nettle (Urtica
dioica), and other low plants, and is full-fed at
the beginning of June, when it spins a whitish
cocoon among the leaves of its food-plant and
in this changes to a black CHRYSALIS, which has
the incisions of the ventral segments greenish-
brown, and the wing-case is prolonged beneath
the segments of the body; the body terminates
in a small black knob, which is rather pro-
minent and furnished with six short spines
placed side by side; the two middle ones are
longer than the rest, placed close together and
bent in the form of a hook ; the spiracles are
reddish.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June and
July, more plentifuly in the latter; it occurs in
all our English and Scotch counties, and Mr.
Birchall says it is common and widely distri-
buted in Ireland. (The scientific name is
Plusia lota.)

Obs. — My knowledge of the caterpillar and
chrysalis is derived from the " Collection des

702. The Beautiful Golden Y (Plusia pulcJirina).

702. THE BEAUTIFUL GOLDEN Y. — Thepalpi
are porrected and ascending, and, excepting
the terminal joint, which is erect and pointed,
they are completely muffled in scales; the
antennae are simple ; the fore wings are straight
on the costal margin, and slightly bent towards
the pointed tip ; their colour is rosy-brown,
blotched and variegated with dark rich umber-
brown ; there is a large lozenge-shaped blotch
near the middle of the inner margin, which
contains two bright marks of burnished gold ;
the lower and smaller of these is round, the
upper somewhat Y-shaped, and emitting a
thread-like line of glittering scales, which
meanders nearly to the base of tho inner
margin ; both the discoidal spots are pei'-
ceptible, and are always either partially or
entirely circumscribed with a thread-like
boundary of metallic scales : the hind wings
are gray-brown, paler towards the base,
the paler area having a darker median bar,
wing-rays, and discoidal spot ; the fringe of
all the wings is rosy-brown, alternating with
darker brown ; the head and thorax are varied
with the two shades of brown ; the body is
gray -brown, redder towards the extremity :
its back is crested, the crests being darker.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
has been taken in most of our English and
Scotch counties, and Mr. Birchall informs us
it is widely distributed and common in Ire-
land. (The scientific name is Plusia pul-
chrina.)

Obs. — Contrasted with the preceding species,
Pulchrina is more decidedly variegated than
Iota ; the boundaries of the shades being more
sharply defined.

NOCTUAS.

455

703. The Silver Y (Plusia Gamma),

703. THE SILVER Y. — The palpi are por-
rected and ascending, the second joint very
scaly, the terminal joint slender and erect ;
the antennae are simple : the costal margin of
the fore wings is straight nearly to the tip,
where it is very slightly hooked and pointed ;
their colour is glittering-gray, mottled and
marbled with sepia-brown; the darker colour
forms a large lozenge-shaped patch between
two pale transverse lines, and occupying the
middle of the inner margin ; in this patch is a
bright silvery mark, supposed to represent the
Greek gamma y and the English y, as written :
the hind wings are pale at the base, with
dark wing-rays, there is a broad black hind-
marginal band ; the fringe of all the wings is
gray interrupted with smoky-brown : the head,
thorax, and body are gray -brown, the last
crested.

The CATERPILLAR rests in a bent posture,
the back slightly arched: the head is small
and porrected in crawling, the body having
the action characteristic of a Geometer ; the
anterior extremity is attenuated, and the
remainder of the body gradually increases in
thickness to the twelfth segment, which is
thickened and slightly humped ; every part
emits short bristle-like hairs; like its congener
it has four ventral and two anal claspers; the
colour of both head and body is apple-green, or
glaucous-green, with six very n arrow and rather
inconspicuous white stripes; in the region of
the spiracles ia a yellow stripe, almost as
slender as the six dorsal stripes, but more
conspicuous, inasmuch as it has a decidedly
yellow tint; closely approximate to this last
are the spiracles of a whitish-green colour,
and very inconspicuous; the legs are reddish-
brown, the claspers green : it feeds on all

kinds of garden herbs and low plants; I find
it every year on a hop (Humulus lupulus) in
my own garden; when full-fed it spins a
whitish cocoon among the leaves of its food-
plant, and in this it changes to a black shining

CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH appears on the wing throughout
the summer and autumn, flying about flowers
morning, noon, and night; it comes freely to
light, and is equally attracted by sugar:
throughout Great Britain and Ireland it seems
ubiquitous. (The scientific name is Plusia
Gamma.)

704. The Ni Moth (Plusia Ni).

704. THE Ni MOTH. — The palpi are por-
rected, but scarcely ascending, the second
joint is scaly, but not densely so; the terminal
joint slender and pointed; the antennae are
simple : the costal margin of the fore wings is
straight nearly to the tip, when it is slightly
bent and somewhat pointed ; their colour is
gray, mottled and marbled with sepia-brown;
this darker colour occupying the median area
of the wing, and containing a dull silvery
mark supposed to bear a resemblance to the
Greek y or English?/: the hind wings are
gray-brown, rather paler at the base, where
they h-ive darker wing- rays : the head, thoi*ax,
and body are gray-brown, the latter with loflg
reddish scales at the sides near the tip.

The MOTH is an inhabitant of North America,
Italy, Sicily, and the South of Franc«j ; it
appears on the wing in June and August. A
single specimen is said to have been taken at
Alphington, near Exeter, by Mr. D'Orville, on
the 13th of August, 1868, flying over the
flowers of red valerian. I make use of the
qualified term " is said," because the details
given by Dr. Knaggs, in the Entomologists
Monthly Magazine, vol. v., p. 127, and in the

456

BRITISH MOTHS.

Annual for 1868, p. 125, do not agree with
the authentic examples of the species from the
continent of Europe kindly given me by Mr.
Doubleday and described above. (The scien-
tific name is Plusia Ni.)

705. The Scarce Silver Y (Plusia interrogationis).

705. THE SCARCE SILVER Y. — The palpi
are porrected and ascending, the second joint
very scaly, the terminal joint slender, short,
and erect ; the antennae are simple : the costal
margin of the fore wings is straight nearly to
the tip, then slightly bent and slightly pointed;
their colour is gray of various shades, beauti-
fully mottled and marbled, and having a rich
purplish-sepia tint ; in the middle of the wing
is a silvery mark which has been variously
described, sometimes compared to a note of
interrogation; its shape is inconstant, but its
more ordinary appearance is represented in the
engraving ; the fringe is gray spotted with
sepia-brown ; the hind wings are dark sepia-
brown with a pale median band and darker
wing-rays ; the fringe is gray spotted with
brown : the head and thorax are mottled like
the fore wings, the body is gray-brown.

CATERPILLAR green with white marking
( Treitschke}. Tt feeds on stinging-nettles ( Ur-
tica dioica). (Stainton's Manual, vol. i., 308.)
The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
has been taken by Lieut. Reed at Torquay,
and Mr. J. S. Dell near Cann Quarry, Bick-
leigh Vale ; these two captures, recorded by
Mr. Reading, are the only ones I have heard
of in the south of England, but other records
exist of its occurrence at Llangollen in Wales,
at Shrewsbury, in Derbyshire, Cheshire, York-
shire, Lancashire, Westmoreland, and the
Highlands of Scotland. It has not yet been
recorded as occurring in Ireland. (The scien-
tific name is Plusia interrogation'.*.}

706. The Herald (Gonoptera Libatrix).

706. THE HERALD. — The palpiare porrected
and obliquely ascending ; the second joint is
long and densely clothed with scales, the ter-
minal joint long and slender ; the antennae
are serrated; the fore wings are nearly straight
on the costa, hooked and pointed at the tip,
and strongly toothed on the hind margin ; their
colour is gray, thickly freckled with minute
transverse brown streaks, a little darker than
the ground colour ; the median and basal areas
are tinged with rufous-orange ; there is a white
dot at the middle of the base, and an indistinct
transverse gray line before the orbicular, which
is represented by a small white spot ; the reni-
form is not perceptible; but beyond the situa-
tion it usually occupies, is an oblique double
gray line ; a third gray line descends from
near the tip, and is lost in the hind-marginal
area : the hind wings are gray-brown : the head
and thorax are tinged with reddish-brown, the
body is gray-brown and flattened.

The CATERPILLAR rests in a nearly straight
position on its food-plant ; the head is smooth,
obviously narrower than the second segment;
the body is long, slender, and slightly attenu-
ated towards both extremities; it is smooth
and velvety, both in appearance and to the
touch ; the claspers are ten, but I have ob-
served that the first ventral pair are rarely
used in crawling; the anal pair are rather
widely separated and are stretched out behind ;
the colour of the head is pale apple-green, of
the body apple-green, with a narrow medio-
dorsal stripe, slightly darker, but very indis-
tinct ; the ventral area is glaucous-green,
but the division between the dorsal and
ventral areas is neither abrupt nor decided ;
there is a whitish and narrow lateral stripe,
which, however, seems rather to form part oi

NOCTUAS.

457

the dorsal area, than to divide the dorsal from
the ventral ; the legs and claspers are glaucous-
green ; the spiracles are yellowish. It feeds
on the sallow (Salix caprea), and when full-fed,
which is towards the end of June, it binds to-
gether the leaves at the end of one of the
twigs, and within the domicile thus formed it
spins abeautifully white, oval cocoon, in which
it turns to a black CHEYSALIS, which has a
sharp - pointed extremity furnished with
hooks.

The MOTH appears on the wing in August
and September, but is very fond of hybernat-
ing in the perfect state almost as soon as it
has left the chrysalis : common as it appears
to be throughout the kingdom, I have only
found it in stables, outhouses, and the dwell-
ings of man ; I have seen more than a dozen
in a thatched tool-house that was kept locked,
and into which they must have entered through
a small square aperture left for the admission of
light, and always closed unless when the tools
were required ; and they seemed to remain
quite stationary all the winter, each keeping
to the site it had originally selected. (The
scientific name is Gonoptera Libatrix.)

707. The Copper TJnderwiT\g(Amphipyra pyramided).

I~07. THE COPPER UNBERWING. — The palpi
are rather long, and ascend in front of the
frontal tuft ; the second joint issomewhatclub-
shaped, slender at the base, and gradually
thickened towards the tip ; they are scaly, but
the scales lie flat and are closely appressed;
'he terminal joint is rather long, naked and
pointed, and the points incline towards each
other, sometimes even meeting ; the antennse
are simple : the fore wings are broad, slightly
arched on the costal margin, rounded at. the
tip, and slightly scalloped on the hind margin,
t1 %ir colour is brown ; the orbicular is a mere

black dot in a pale ring, the reniform is indis-
tinguishable; there is an imperfect pale zigzag
line between the base and the orbicular, and a
more distinct zigzag line beyond the orbicular,
followed by a suffused pale bar and two
transverse series of white dots of diverse
forms : the hind wings are dull orange-brown
towards the costal margin : the head, body
and thorax are gray-brown.

The CATERPILLAR rests in nearly a straight
position ; it does not fall from its food-plant if
annoyed, unless compelled to do so, and it
never rolls in a ring. It is stout, obese, of
nearly uniform width throughout; the second,
third and fourth segments, however, are
rather more slender, and the twelfth rises in
a pyramidal form, and is surmounted with a
medio-dorsal horn-like point which is slightly
curved backwards. The colour of the head i.s
apple-green ; the body in some examples
apple-green, in others glaucoiis-green : in all
there is a narrow medio-dorsal stripe extend-
ing from the head to the anal flap, and inter-
rupted only by the horn-like summit of the
twelfth segment, which is red : a lateral
stripe passes along each side, just below the
spiracles, from the head to the extremity of
the anal flap, the spiracles themselves being
white and surrounded by a black ring on each
side ; exactly intermediate between the medio-
dorsal and lateral stripe is a waved and much
interrupted stripe which originates imme-
diately behind the head, and, after pursuing
its sinuous course along eleven segments,
ascends to the summit of the pyramidal pro-
tuberance on the twelfth, and again descenrh
in a curve, vanishing in the anal flap ; looking
down on the summit of the pyramidal pro-
tuberance, six stripes seem to radiate from it
in as many different directions : besides these
stripes there are several dots on every segment,
excepting the second ; on the third and fourth
segments these dots are eight in number, and
arranged in a transverse dorsal series ; on 4 ho
following segmen" ther~ are generally three
of these d. between the medio-dorsal stripe
and the interrupted stripe, and one between
the interrupted stripe and the lateral stripe :
the whole of these stripes and dote are of a

458

BRITISH MOTHS.

yellowish -white colour and are very distinct;
each dot emits a minute and delicate hair from
its centre ; the legs are green, spotted with
black, the black preponderating ; the ventral
surface and claspers are apple-green. It
feeds on oak (Quercus Robur) and other trees,
and is full-fed about the 1st of June, and then
changes to a CHRYSALIS in a cocoon on the
surface of the earth.

The MOTH appears on the wing in August,
and comes freely to sugar in our southern and
midland counties, extending, but less com-
monly, as far north as Yorkshire. Mr. Birchail
says it is common at Killarney in Ireland.
(The scientific name is Amphipyra pyramided,.)

708. The M use (Amphipyra Tragopogonis).

708. THE MOUSE. — The palpi are rather
long, and ascend in front of the frontal tuft ;
the second joint is rather club-shaped, the
scales being closely appressed and lying very
smooth; the terminal joint is naked and
I >ointed, the two points approaching and nearly
meeting. The antennae are simple, the fore-
wings are slightly arched on the costa and
rounded at the tip ; their colour is dull brown
but shining; the orbicular is simply a black dot;
the reniform two black dots placed one above
the other as in the printed colon : the hind
wings are gray-brown rather paler at the base :
the head and thorax are dull brown ; the body
gray-brown.

The CATERPILLAR rests with its back slightly
curved, the extremities being somewhat
elevated, but not so conspicuously as in the
Cuspidates : the head is narrower than the
second segment, into which it is partially
received : the body is smooth and velvety,
almost uniformly cylindrical, but with the
twelfth segment dorsally raised into an
angular protuberance. The colour of the

head and body in some specimens I examined
was glaucous-green, in others apule-green ;
in the glaucous specimens there were two
narrow and rather distant white stapes, which
commenced very faintly on the second segment,
and ascended making an obtuse angle oil the
twelfth and vanished on the thirteenth, in the
apple-green specimens these stripes were paie
yellow ; in both there was a lateral stripe,
equally narrow, just below the spiracles; this
also was white in the glaucous specimen,
yellow in the apple-green ones ; it commenced
on the second segment, and was continued the
entire length of the caterpillar and round its
anal flap ; this side-stripe ia margined above
with black, the black being sometimes inter
rupted, but generally running from spiracle
to spiracle, and surrounding each with a
narrow black t'ing ; the spiracles are oblong
and pure white : scattered over the body are
a few short and very slender bristles, only
visible under a lens of moderate power : the
legs are yellowish green : the claspers con-
colorous with the body. They were full-ted
on the 24th of May. My specimens fed on
the white thorn (Cratceyus oxy^.-jnth'i), but
in gardens the caterpillars are V3?~ partial to
larkspurs : they retired just beneath the sur-
face of the earth on the 25th, and there changed
to smooth CHRVSALIDS, without spinning any
web or cocoon.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July and
August, and is common and generally distri-
buted in England, Scotland and Ireland. (The
scientific name is Amphipyra Tragopogonis.}

709. The Gothic (Ncenia typica).

709. THE GOTHIC. — Thepalpiare porrected
and ascending, the second joint flattened and
very scaly, the scales forming a projecting lobe
in front, beneath the terminal joint, which is

NOCTTJAS.

459

rather long, slender, naked, and ascending ;
the antennae are simple : the fore wings are
ample, the costa very slightly arched, and the
tip scarcely pointed ; their colour is marbled
with darker brown, and ornamented with light
brown; the orbicular and reniformare distinct;
their circumscription is pale brown ; the wing-
rays are pale brown ; and there are three
transverse pale brown lines ; the first is rather
oblique, and situated before the orbicular, it
has dark edges ; the second is bent and is
situated beyond the orbicular; it consists
of eight or nine double crescents, each of
which is bordered by a dark crescent of
similar size and shape ; the cusps of all these
crescents point towards the hind margin ; the
third transverse line is parallel with the hind
margin : the hind wings are gray-brown : the
head, thorax, and body are gray-brown, the
thorax strongly crested.

The EGGS are laid in July and August in
clusters on the leaves of pear, plum, and very
many other trees ; I have always found them
on the upper surface of the leaf, and also
always in autumn, when the fruit has been ripe
or ripening ; they hatch in ten or twelve days,
the young CATERPILLAHS proceeding at once to
devour the upper cuticle and parenchyma of
the leaf, leaving the lower cuticle entire,
dry and brown ; they lie closely packed side by
side, and apparently motionless, the only in-
dication being that day after day, and hour
after hour, the rank move gradually but surely

onwards, leaving a larger brown space be-
hind ; in a few days, perhaps from ten to
fifteen, they abandon this arboreal life, and de-
scending scatter themselves over vegetables and
living plants of all kinds, obligingly selecting
dock where it can be found, but making
perfectly free with lettuce and autumnal
greens ; in October the caterpillar begins to
hybernate, concealing itself in gardens at the
bottom of box-edging, or under the leaves of
herbaceous plants lying on the ground, or
under stones, or the leaves of docks. In the
spring it feeds greedily, but always, I believe,
on herbaceous plants, never ascending trees.
The full-fed caterpillar has a shining head
rather narrower than the second segment, and
a smooth velvety body ; it rolls in a ring on
being annoyed ; its colour is a dull pale brown,
with a rather darker medio-dorsal, and a much
darker lateral stripe ; the latter has a blackish
border above ; a longitudinal series of oblique
white lines intersects the lateral stripe. It
changes to a CHRYSALIS beneath the surface of
the ground.

The MOTH appears in June, and is common
everywhere, so far as entomologists have ex-
plored. (The scientific name is Ncenia typica.}

Obs. Guenee, who has noticed in France the
little companies of caterpillars of this insect,
observes, "La chenille se rencontre souvent par
petite groupes dans le jeune age, au premier
iwintemps." In England I have only seen
these clusters in autumn.

The Old Lady (Mania Maura) Variety,

460

BRITISH MOTHS.

710. The Old Lady (Mania Maura).

710. THE OLD LADY. — The palpi are
moderately long, the second joint being
thickly clothed with scales, and slightly
ascending; the terminal joint is directed
straight forwards, and is slender, naked, and
pointed ; the antennae are also simple : the
fore wings are rather arched on the costa,
slightly excavated at the tip, and decidedly
scalloped on the hind margin ; their colour is
black-brown ; the reniforra and orbicular are
very distinct, and are contained in a dark
median band : the hind wings are black-brown,
with an oblique median pale line ; their hind
margin is regularly seal loped : thehead,thorax,
and body are black-brown ; the thorax and
body are crested ; all the wings have a mar-
ginal border slightly paler than the general
area; this is particularly observable at the
apical angle of the fore wings, and the anal
angle of the hind wings : on the underside
this border exactly resembles the pale border
of Vanessa A ntiopa.

The EGGS are laid on fruit trees, in the
autumn, and the young CATERPILLARS hyber-
nate early ; they feed agaiu in spring, as soon
as the leaves expand, and are full-grown in
May; the head is slightly porrected and
rather small : the body is smooth and velvety,
rather attenuate-! and leech-like anteriorly,
but stouter from the seventh to the eleventh
segment : the colour of the head and body is
dingy umber-hrown, with various darker and
paler markings ; the he.id is obscurely reticu-
lated ; the second, third, and fourth segments
hav • an interrupted pale medio-dorsal stripe ;

in some specimens this may be indistinctly
traced throughout every segment, except the
thirteenth ; on the back of each segment from
the fifth to the twelfth, both inclusive, the
brown colour is intensified in a lozenge-shaped
mass ; these lozenges are eight in number ;
the last is cut off posteriorly by a transverse
black bar extending on each side to the
spiracles : on the side of each segment, from
the fifth to the twelfth inclusive, are a variety
of paler and darker markings : the spiracles
are reddish, with a black margin, and above
each is a rather complicated marking, con-
sisting principally of a pale oblique bar,
boi-dered posteriorly by a dark brown or
black oblique bar, and having a black
marking united to it anteriorly; on the
twelfth segment is a narrow black bar
extending from spiracle to spiracle. I have
found this caterpillar feeding on strawberry
leaves, but this is, I think, uncommon.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July and
August, and is fond of resorting to summer-
houses, boat-houses, sheds, &c., in the interior
of which it may frequently be observed in the
day time, sitting on the inner surface of the
roof : I once counted twenty-eight in a boat-
house at Godalming. Mr. Reading says that
a marked specimen has returned to the same
house after being repeatedly ejected. (The
scientific name is Mania Maura.)

Obs. It appears to me that Mr. Stephens
wisely separated this species generically from
the foregoing : both the insects figured were
kindly lent me by Mr. Bond.

NOOTUAS.

461

77.1. T'-o Black Neck (Toxocampa Pnstinum).

711. THE BLACK N^CK. — The palpi are por-
reeted, th.( second joint stout and moderately
.ong, the terminal joint short, naked, and
|)oint«d ; the antennae are slightly ciliated ;
the fore wings are nearly straight on the costa,
bin no at the tip, and waved on the hind
iiiiirgin ; their colour is pale brownish-gray
freckled with minute transverse short lines ;
the orbicular is represented by a brown dot ;
the reniform is dark velvety brown, with one
or sometimes two short oblique lines of the
same colour ; the wing-rays are concolorous
with the general area, but there is a trans-
verse shade beyond the reniform slightly
darker1 than the general area: the hind wings,
face, thorax, and body are pale gray-brown ;
the crown of the head and collar are rich
velvety brown.

The CATERPILLAR has a small, rather po! 1
and rather porrected head, a long and leech
like body considerably attenuated at the an-
terior extremity ; the colour of the head is
smoky-gray; the body has seven distinct
stripes, all of them rather narrow ; the medio-
dorsal is ochreous-yellow, the next on each
side black, the next yellow, the next and last
on each side plumbeous-gray, and including
several black dots and spots ; all these stripes
are bordered with white; the ventral surface,
legs, and claspers are very dark smoke -coloured,
almost black. It feeds on the purple vetch
( Vicia cracca).

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
is by no means generally distributed in this
country; it occurs in Cornwall, Devon, Somer-
set, Dorset, Hampshire, Sussex, Surrey, Kent,
Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire,
and has been reported from the lake district
and Yorkshire. (The scientific name in Toxo-
campa Pastinum.)

712. The New Black Neck (Toxocampa Craccoe).

712. T-IE NEW BLACK NECK. — "! he palpi
are porre*. .eJ, the second joint being htout and
moderately long, the third shoi t, naked, and
pointed : the antennae are slightly ciliated : the
fore wings are straight on the costa, bluntatthe
tip, and slightly waved on the hind margin ;
their colour is pale brownish-gray suffused
with a purple tinge and freckled with minute
trans ve r e darker lines ; the reniform is re-
presented by a cluster of dark-brown spots;
the orbicular is scarcely perceptible; there
are four equidistant brown spots on the costa;
there is a transverse shade beyond the reni-
form, and the wing-rays, which are very pale,
are shown conspicuously in passing through
this : the hind wings are pale gray-brown ;
the face and disk of the thorax and body are
also pale gray-brown, but the crown of the
head and the collar are dark rich velvety
brown.

Mi . BucklerthusdescribesthecATERPiLLAR :
" When full grown it is an inch and a quarter
to an inch and a half in length. When viewed
from above it tapers towards the head, and
still more towards the posterior end ; but
when seen sideways it appears almost uni-
formly long and slender. Its manner of crawl-
ing is a partial looping of the fii-st six seg-
ments ; the first two ventral claspers are very
slightly shorter than the others, but to such
an extent as to be scarcely noticeably so, and
it generally assumes an undulating posture in
repose along the stem of its food-planf . Along
the back, commencing on its head, is a dark
brown, veiy finely mottled broad stripe, widest
along the middle segment, and with an addi-
tional widening on the eleventh segment ; in
the centre of this is a thin, rather pale stripe,
enclosing the very dark brown dorsal line.
The subdorsal stripes are double, brown, witi>

462

BRITISH MOTHS.

a paler ochreous-brown ground, followed by a
pale stripe of ochreous, enclosing a very thin
brown line; the lateral lines double, dark
brown, extending from the mouth to the anal
claspers ; this is edged above with black at
the anterior portion of each segment, the
upper one widening below in the middle, along
which are some black dots ; the belly and legs
are brown. Within the dark portion of the
back, on each segment are placed four black
dots in the usual order, and on the eleventh
segment there is an additional black dot on
each side, outside the dark region ; subdorsal
lines also, containing two black dots and a
minute ring. It feeds on the wood vetch
(Vicia sylvatica), and is full-fed about mid-
summer.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
has only occurred to entomologists in Devon-
shire, where it was discovered by the Kev. E.
Horton. (The scientific name is Toxocampa,
Craccce.)

713. The Anomalous (Stilbia anomala).

713. THE ANOMALOUS. — Thepalpi are short
and distant, they are porrected, and the
terminal joint is naked and porrected ; the
antennae are slightly pubescent in the male,
simple in the female : the fore wings are
narrow, scarcely arched on the costa, and
blunt at the tip ; their colour is smoky gray
and glossy ; both the discoidal spots are clearly
defined, and both are composed of the same
tints, first a black circumscription, then a
border of pale gray; within this a smoky
median area, and within the median area a
pale gray line ; the position of the orbicular is
very oblique, its shape very elongate; the hind
wings are ample, much folded, of a pale pearly-
gray colour, and very glossy ; the head, thorax
and body are gray -brown.

The CATERPILLAR, according to Graslin, is
obese and of a greenish-yellow colour, with

the medio-dorrfiil and subdorsal stripes slender
and yellowish- white ; the spiracular line is
broad and bluish- white, attenuated at both
extremities, and bordered above by a darker
tint ; the spiracles above are black er, and the
legs concolorous with the body ; the head is
pale reddish-green : it feeds entirely on grass
in the open parts of woods. The CHRYSALIS is
short and of a yellow-ochre colour, with a
darker stripe down the back.

The MOTH appears on the wing in August
and September and seems very local : in some
localities in Corn wallandDevonitisabundant,
bxit always confined to a small space : it has
occurred in Hampshire, Dorsetshire, Sussex,
Surrey, and Kent, it would seem that no ento-
mologist has observed it in the midland
counties of England, but it appears again in
the north, having been taken in Cheshire and
Lane ishire ; it has been found somewhat
abundantly in Scotland, my series having been
taken by the late James Foxcroft, at Kinloch
Rannoch, and Mr. Birchall says it is not
uncommon at Howth in Ireland. (The scien-
tific name is Stilbia anomcila.)

714. The Alchymist (Catephia Alchymista).

714. THE ALCHYMIST. — The palpi are rather
long and curved upwards, the second joint is
slender and bent, the third is slightly dilated
at the extremity ; the antennae are delicately
ciliated in the male, the ciliations white and
the shaft of the antenna black ; the fore
wings are of moderate size and proportions ;
the outline of the costa is slightly arched
both at the base and tip, but the middle
portion of the costa is nearly straight ; the
hind margin is cut off obliquely, and decidedly
but not deeply scalloped; their colour is
almost black, but marbled and lined with still
deeper black ; there is an indication of ths si to
where the reniform spot is usually placed;

NOCTUAS.

463

there are two white spots on the costa near
the tip, nnd the hind margin is occupied by a
l>road pale baud, the inner margin of which is
very irregular: the hind wings are smoky for
a very small space at the very base, and along
the inner margin there is a long somewhat
triangular snow-white space occupying the
basal portion of the wing to nearly one third
of itsarea: thisis followed byavery broad black
band which is interrupted at the apical angle,
and agiin at the anal angle, by a longish but
narrow snow-white mark, wh ch includes that
portion of the fringe that adjoins it. The
thorax is densely clothed with long erect
scales, and the body is crested in both sexes ;
the colour of the head, thorax, and body is
smoky black, the extremity of the body being
slightly paler.

Guenee observes, that Esper's figure of the
CATEKPILLAR in no respects resembles it : he
therefore describes it de novo : the colour is
gray mixed with reddish ; it has no distinct
stripes, but the border of the second segment

is bright yellow; the trapezoids are salient
and of a yellow colour surrounded with black,
those on the fifth and twelfth segments are
elevated in a some what pyramidal form, notched
at the summit, and crowned with a few hairs ;
a number of black dots are sprinkled without
order amongst them ; the ventral areaisbluish-
wh'te, with a black spot on those segments
which luve no legs or claspers ; the spiracles
are yellow in black rings : it feeds on oak
(Quercus Kobur) in August, and when full fed
spins a slight cocoon and therein changes to a
stout CHRYSALIS the anal extremity of which is
squarely truncate.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May: it
occurs, although very rarely, in central and
northern Europe, and a single specimen has
been taken at sugar by Dr. Wallace in the
Isle of Wight : this specimen is unique as
British, in the rich cabinet of Mr. Bond, to
whom I am indebted for the opportunity of
figuring and describing it for this work. (The
scientific name is Catephia Alchymista.)

715. The Clifden Nonpareil (Catocala Fraxint).

715. THE CLIFDEN NONPAREIL. — The palpi
are porrected and slightly curved upwards,
the terminal joint being slender, pointed, and
almost naked ; the antennae are long and
slender, piibescent in the male, and simple in
the female : the fore wings are somewhat
arched on the costa, the arch being gradual
from the base to the tip; they are regularly
scalloped on the hind margin; their colour is
gray with various transverse and longitudinal
darker markings; the reniform is distinct, the
orbicular apparently absent ; adjoining the

reniform on its inner side is a pale-gray blotch
without defined boundaries, and below the
reniform is another pale blotch with well-
defined boundaries ; beyond the middle is an
acutely zig-zag bar, its outer moiety pale
gray, its inner moiety black : the hind wings
are black, with a median blue-gray band, and
a marginal white band, which is narrow and
delicately bordered with a waved black line ;
the fringe is white; the head and thorax are
mottled-gray ; the body is smoky-black,
delicate blue-gray rings.

464

BRITISH MOTHS.

The CATERPILLAR rests with the ventral sur-
face closely appressed to a branch or twig of
the food-plant, and has no power of rolling in
a ring, and does not fall off or relinquish its
hold if annoyed, but seems to clasp the bark
all the more firmly, and to defy all at-
tempts at removal ; the head is placed trans-
versely, the position being prone and the face
flattened; it is much broader than the second,
third, or fourth segments ; the body is convex
above and flattened beneath, and appears to
have fourteen segments, the one which is ad-
ditional occurring after the thirteenth ; the
number of claspers is ten, situated, as usual,
on the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, and ter-
minal segments; after the fifth segment the
body is gradually incrassated to the ninth seg-
ment, which has a dorsal lump, and the fifth
and sixth segments have each a pair of small
lobes in the ventral surface somewhat resem-
bling false claspers, and along each side where
the convex dorsal and flattened ventral surface
meet, is a continuous series of pointed fleshy
appendages mixed with hairs exactly similar
to those I have described as possessed by
Metrocampa margaritata at page 53 : the use
of these curious appendages no one has been
able ^ i detect ; their resemblance to the
rootlets of ivy is very striking, and the imita-
tion of an ivy twig climbing on the branch of
the ash is absolutely perfect : the colour is
brownish-gray sprinkled with black ; the

underside is somewhat putty-coloured, with
a lai-ge black spot on each segment : it feeds on
ash (Fraxinus excelsior}, the poplar, and is full-
fed in July, when it spins a net-work of silk
among the leaves, and in this changes to a
smooth CHRYSALIS covered with amealy powder
or bloom of a bluish-gray colour.

The MOTH appears on the wing in August
and September, and is always esteemed a great
prize, and some supposed English specimens
are sold by dealers at a very high price, a
fact that holds out a perpetual premium to
fraud. I strongly recommend entomologists
never to buy an English specimen : if they
desire to place an example of this beautiful
insect in their cabinets, let them give a few
pence for a French or German specimen, and,
having labelled it with care, place it in its ap-
pointed station : it is an excess of folly to
give two or three pounds for an insect just
because it is supposed to be taken on the
English instead of the French side of the
C.iannel. This practice, however, prevails to
so great an extent as to render it next co im-
possible to unravel the history of every
reputed British specimen. Single specimens
have been occasionally reported as captured in
Somerset, Wilts, Dorset, Hants, Isle of Wight,
Sussex, Surrey, Kent, Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk,
Cambridge, Shropshire, Lancashire, and York-
shire. (The scientific name is Catocalu
Fraxini.)

716. The Bed Underwing (Catocala nupta).

716. THE RED UNDERWING. — The palpiare
porrected and slightly curved upwards, the

second joint being densely covered with scales,
the terminal joint erect and nearly nuked;

NOCTUAS.

465

the antennae are slightly pubescent in the
male, simple in the female : the costal margin
of the fore wings is nearly straight for about
two-thirds of its length, and then curved very
decidedly to the tip ; the hind margin is scal-
loped, but not deeply so ; their colour is dark
gray tinged with ochreous and marbled with
darker markings; the reniform is distinct and
dark ; the orbicular absent : the hind wings
are red, with a narrow median, and broad hind-
marginal black band ; the hind -marginal
fringe is white, the inner marginal fringe
light brown ; the head and thorax are marbled
with the same colour as the fore wings ; the
body is gray-brown and glossy.

The CATERPILLAR has all the peculiarities of
form described under Catocala Fraxini : the
head ia broader than the second, third, or
fourth segment ; the body is very flat below
and convex above ; its colour is ashy-gray,

and has two irregular, interrupted, and waved
dorsal stripes rather darker than the ground-
colour, but these are sometimes absent ; the
ventral surface is glaucous, with a black spot
on each segment : it feeds on the crack-willow
(Salix fragilis), and when closely adherent
to the bark is almost impossible to detect : I
have sometimes found it by passing my hand
gently over the surface of the bark about a
foot below the branches of a pollard willow,
when its cold, soft feel at once betrayed it.
It spins a network cocoon among the leaves
or in a crevice of the bark about midsummer,
ana changes to a smooth CHRYSALIS covered
with purple bloom.

The MOTH appears on the wing in August
and September, and has been taken in some
abundance in all the southern and south-
eastern counties of England. (The scientific
name is Catocala nupta.)

717. The Dark Crimson Underwing (Catocala sponsa).

717. THE DARK CRIMSON UNDERWING. —
The palpi are porrected and slightly curved
upwards, the second joint densely covered
with scales, the terminal joint erect and
nearly naked; the antennae are slightly
pubescent in the male, simple in the female ;
the fore wings are nearly straight along the
costal margin, but sightly arched towards
the tip, and scalloped on the hind margin;

their colour is a rich ochreous-gray with a
decidedly ochreous patch in the region of the
reniform, and including that spot, which is
clearly defined ; the orbicular is absent, but
there is a distinct and bright ochreous spot
immediately below the reniform, having a
black circumscription : the general area is
beautifully and richly marbled, the hind wings
are crimson with a narrow but sharply-angled

M 30

BRITISH MOTHS.

median black band, and a broad hind-marginal
black band : the head and thorax are marbled
with the colours of the fore wings, the body is
uniformly gray-brown.

The CATERPILLAR rests in a nearly straight
position on the branches of the oaks, on the
leaves of which it feeds, the ventral surface
being appressed to the bark ; the head is some-
what narrower than the second segment, but
distinctly exserted ; the face is flat and the
crown gibbose and notched : the body is convex
dorsally, and flattened ventrally; the ninth
segment has a transverse dorsal ridge, the
twelfth segment has also a ridge, but this
terminates at each extremity in a lateral
tubercle surmounted by a bristle ; the fifth,
sixth, seventh, eighth, tenth, and eleventh
segments have each two wart-like tubercles
r>Jaced transversely, each bearing a bristle ;
the claspers are long, dilated and divided at
the extremity : the colour of the head is
wainscot-brown, reticulated with darker

brown, and having a conspicuous black band
surrounding the face, except towards the
mouth ; within this, and very near the crown,
are two eye-like black spots : the dorsal sur-
face of the body is dull brown, reticulated
with pale wainscot-brown ; the tubercles, as
well as certain minor warts, are rufous-brown,
and very glabrous ; there is a pale transverse
dors-'1 mark on the fifth segment ; the ventral
surface is Vhitish, inclining to glaucous, with
a rufon pvtch between each pair of ventral
claspprg. It is lull-fed about the eighth of
June, when it spins a thin web among the
oak-leaves, without descending to the ground.
The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
has been found in Dorsetshire, Hampshire,
SUSE-X. Surrey, Kent, and Essex. I have seen
it, but i, L, obtained it, sitting on the trunks
of oaks in )arenth Wood, but the New Forest
in Hampohire is its most abundant locality.
(The scientific name is Catocala sponsa.)

718. The Light Crimson Underwing (Catocala prnmiasb)

NOCTUAS.

467

718. THE LIGHT CRIMSON UNDERWING. —
The palpi are porrected and slightly curved up-
ward », the terminal joint being slender, almost
naked and pointed, the costal margin is nearly
straight but slightly bent at the tip, and
scalloped on the hind margin ; their colour is
gray, mottled and marbled wioh darker gray,
and having not unfrequently a tinge of
ochreous; the reniform is readily to be made
out, but not situated in an ochreous patch as
in Sponsa : the hind wings are crimson with a
narrow median band, which is very slightly
waved, and is turned towards the body at its
lower extremity ; there is also a broad hind-
marginal black band and a gray fringe; the
head and thorax have the colours of the fore
wings, the body is uniformly gray-brown.

The full-grown CATERPILLAR is figured by
Hubner : it rests stretched at full length on a
tree, or trunk of its food-plant; the head is
prone, and broader and larger than the second
segment; it is scarcely notched on the crown :
the body is very much attenuated at the
anterior extremity, and the posterior portion is
large and inflated, each segment being smaller
in the middle, and the anal claspers extend-
ing backwards and being widely separated ;
the colour of the head and body is greenish-
gray with sundry black marks on the dorsal
surface of every segment ; there are no two
segments in which the black markings are
similar, but all of them are distinct and most
clearly defined ; on the eighth segment these
assume the appearance of two capital letters X
X. The ventral area is flattened, and there is
a fringe of bristles mixed with fleshy threads
extending the entire length of the body, at
the junction of the dorsal and ventral areas ;
the ventral surface and claspers are pale green.
The CHRYSALIS is slender, obtuse at the head,
and gradually tapering towards the anal
extremity, which is acutely pointed : its
whole surface is covered with a delicate purple
bloom like that on a ripe Orleans plum.

The MOTH appears on the wing in August,
and has been taken in the New Forest, Hamp-
shire, in Sussex, and in Berkshire. The
°Her»tif>, name is Catocata promissa.)

719. The Lunar Double Stripe (Ophiodes

719. THE LUNAR DOUBLE STRIPE. — The
palpi are porrected and rather distant, the
second joint slightly ascending, very long, and
densely clothed with short scales ; the ter-
minal joint is scarcely so long as the second :
it is directed straight forwards, slender, an«l
pointed ; the antennae are slightly serrated in
the male, simple in the female; the fore wings
are ample, the costal margin somewhat arched,
the tip blunt, the hind margin waved, and the
wing-rays prominent ; their colour is pale
dingy-brown ; the orbicular is a small dark
spot; the reniform has a distinct dark circum-
scription, and a median area corresponding
with the general area of the wing ; there are
two narrow transverse lines rather paler than
the ground- colour; the first of these is situ-
ated before the orbicular ; it is oblique, the
costal extremity being rather nearer the base
of the wing than the inner marginal extremity ;
the second is situated beyond the it-inform,
and is bent both above the middle and at t!io
lower extremity, where the bend is almost
close to the inner margin, when it suddenly
turns towards the base of the wing and follows
the hind margin until it meets the first trans-
verse line ; the broad hind-marginal area is
darker than the median and basal areas, and
is intersected by an indistinct waved line : the

468

BRITISH MOTHS.

hind wu?gs, head, thorax, and body are con-
colorons with the fore wings.

The CATERPILLAR is beautifully figured by
S«pp : ft h°s the head porrected, flattened,
not notched or. the crown, and rather narrower
than the second segment ; the body is rather
long and leech-like, and tapers slightly to-
wards the anal extremity ; it is arched in
crawling like the Geometers, the first pair of
claspers being raised and relaxing their hold
on the food-plant ; there is a small excrescence
on each side of the fifth segment, and there
are two dorsal papillae on the twelfth, and two
smaller ones on the thirteenth segment ; the
anal claspers are long, sleuder, pi-otruded back-
wards, and spreading ; the colour of the head
is light brown or greenish-brown, with two
darker or reddish-brown streaks down the
face, but united by a band above the mouth :
the body is bistre-brown, with a very narrow
chain-like stripe containing, as it were, two
beads in each segment ; on each side of this is
a broader stripe very dark-coloured, but inter-
sected throughout by a chain of pale spots ;
below this broader stripe are three line-like
stripes extending the entire length of the in-
sect.

Some specimens have a pale-yellow stripe
in the region of the spiracles. It feeds on
oak (QuercuA Robur).

The MOTH appears on the wing in May. A
specimen was taken in Hampshire by Captain
Chawner, another at West Wickham, in
Surrey, by Mr. Smith, and two at Killarney,
in Ireland, by the late Peter Bouchard. (The
scientific name is Ophiodes lunaris.')

720. The Mother Shipton (Euclidia Mi).

720. THE MOTHER SHIPTON. — The palpi are
short and curved upwards, the second joint
dotted with bristly scales, the terminal joint

naked ; the antennae are slightly pubescent in
the male, simple in the femol : the fore wings'
are slightly hollowed along the costa until
near the tip, then slightly arched; their colour
is sepia-brown with several dirty white lines ;
the orbicular is a round black spot, the reni-
form an oblique black spot, the space between
them being pale ; beyond the renifonn is a
short transverse whitish line, which may be
supposed to mark its outer border ; beyond
this is a curiously contorted white line : it
begins on the costa and descends nearly to the
anal angle, then turns upwards towards the
reniform, but before touching, it again descends
to the inner margin, where it is again
bent, and finally ascends to the costa near its
base : the hind wings are sepia-brown, with
numerous pale spots, a series of which form
an irregular transverse band ; the head, thorax,
and body are sepia-brown, the last with deli-
cate white rings.

The CATERPILLAR is figured by Hubner : it
rests with the anterior extremity elevated and
the back slightly arched : the head is about
equal in width to the second segment ; it is
semi-prone, and not conspicuously notched on
the crown : the body is slender and almost
uniformly cylindrical, but tapers towards the
posterior extremity ; there are but two pairs
of ventral claspers, and these are situated on
the ninth and tenth segments; the anal
claspers are rather long and spreading ; the
colour of the head and body is pale gray ap-
proaching to putty-coloured; the head has a
longitudinal stripe down the middle of the
face ; the body has four whitish stripes ex-
tending from the head to the anal claspers, all
of them having a delicate black margin ; the
legs and claspers are of the same colour as the
body ; it feeds on the common melilot trefoil
and changes to a smooth CHRYSALIS of a bright
red-brown colour, and having six or eight
sharp anal points.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
occurs almost everywhere in England, Scot-
land, and Ireland.' (The scientist; Huuie m
Euclidia Mi.)

NOCTUAS.

721. The Burnet Noctaa (Euclidta glyphica).

721. THE BURNET NOCTUA. — The palpi are
short and curved upwards, the second joint
being clothed with bristly scales ; the terminal
joints are short and naked ; the antennae are
simple: the fore wings are nearly straight
along the costa and slightly arched towards
the tip ; their colour is ochreous-brown, in
recent specimens glossed with purple ; the
reniform is represented by an obscure and
ill-defined cloud; the orbicular is indis-
tinguishable, the broad hind-marginal area
is paler and contains a large and distinct
square costal blotch of very dark brown : the
hind wings are smoky-brown at the base, and
dull orange towards the hind margin; the
orange-coloured area is intersected by a waved
brown bar, and an irregular hind-marginal
band ; the head, thorax, and body are dark
gray-brown.

The CATERPILLAR is figured by Hubner : it
rests with the anterior extremity eiovaiea.
and the back slightly arched; the head is
about equal in width to the second segment ;
it is semi-prone and not conspicuously notched
on the crown; the body is slender and almost
uniformly cylindrical, but tapers towards
the anal extremity; there are but two pairs
of ventral claspers, and these are on the ninth
and tenth segments : the anal claspers are
rather long and spreading. The colour of the
head is brown with a Y-shaped white mark
on the face ; the dorsal area of the body is
pale wainscot-brown with four paler stripes
extending from the head to the anal claspers;
all these are bordered by a delicate black line,
and those on each side are intersected by a
similar linv +>-e vertral is much darker than
the dorsal area; the legs and claspers are con-
colorous with the former. It feeds on Dutch
clover (Trifolium repens) and turns to a

CHRYSALIS, which is of a delicate violet colour,
and has six or eight short anai points.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and
occurs almost everywhere in England, Scot-
laud, and Ireland. (The scientific name is
Euclidia glyphica.)

722. The Small Purple-barred (Phytometra 'vnea).

722. THE SMALL PURPLE-BARRED. — 1'he
palpi are long, recurved, ascending and later-
ally compressed ; the second joint is flat and
densely scaly, the terminal slender and
pointed ; the antennoe are short and simple in
both sexes ; the fore wings have the costa very
straight, their colour is olive-green, with the
costal margin and two eblique bands of a
delicate rosy-purple colour ; the first of these
is median, the second (the broader one) hind-
marginal ; the hind wings are olive-brown, the
hind, margin slightly tinged with purple j the
head, thorax, and body are of the same colour

I as the hind wings. All the wings in some

i siftemiens are dingy olive-brown.

The CATERPILLAR feeds on thecommonmilk-
wort (Poly gala vulgaris), and has been de-
scribed by the Rev. John Hellins : its colour
is a velvety full green, scarcely paler on the
belly; the head mottled with faint brown; a
hasty inspection would scarcely detect any
lines, but on looking closely, the dorsal vessel
appears as a darker green thread, bordered
with paler lines, between which and the
spiracles come three pale sub-dorsal lines,
the spiracles yellowish; below them a broader
pale line, which on segments ten to thirteen
becomes whitish. The segmental folds yellow,
the usual dots very small, black, surrounded
with light rings, and emitting small bristles.
When full-fed their walk is semi-looping, and
they rest extended straight and flat on the
stems of their food-plant ; if disturbed they
drop off, and fling themselves about angrily.

470

BRITISH MOTHS.

About the 10th of September they begin to
contract in length and to grow pale, and in a
day or two spin themselves up in very tight-
fitting little cocoons of close- woven gray silk,
wrapped about with some of the leaves and
stems of their 'ood.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June and
July, and occurs occasionally almost every-
where in England, Scotland, and Ireland.
(The scientific name is Phytometra cenea.)

NOCTUAS.

SUPPLEMENT.

DURING the progress of this work through
the press, seven additional species of MOTH
have been discovered in Britain, and have been
fully described in the Entomologist or hisect-
Hunters' Year-book, periodicals instituted for
the express purpose of preserving a record
of every discovery and observation made in
British Entomology. These are now re-
described in this Supplement, and an unfortu-
nate transposition of two of the figures is also
pointed out and rectified.

23*. The Thrift Clearwing (Sesia Philanthiformis) .

23*. THE THRIFT CLEARWING. — The palpi
are distant, porrected, and very sharp-pointed,
the second joint is clothed with long scales,
the terminal joint is naked ; the fore wings
are long and narrow, their colour is black,
with two transparent spots, the first an elon-
gate triangle reaching from the base to the
middle of the wing, the second roundish and
beyond the middle ; this second spot is tra-
versed by three longitudinal wing-rays, and
beyond this second transpai'ent spot is a yel-
lowish blotch also traversed by three longi-
tudinal wing-rays, which are black but rather

indistinct ; hind wings transparent, with a
black discoidal spot, rays and fringe ; the
palpi are of two colours — black and gray ; in
the female the gray predominates ; the ter-
minal joint is naked, its colour is gray at the
base and black at the tip ; the antennae are
black, with a slight indication of a gray ring
near the tip; the face is silvery white, the
crown of the head and eyes black, the collar is
orange in front, black behind ; the thorax is
black, with three longitudinal, pale yellow
lines ; the body is black, with a medio-dorsal
series of gray spots and several narrow whitish
belts ; these are usually three in the male and
four in the female ; the caudal tuft is black,
largely interspersed with pale yellow scales,
which in the males occupy the sides, in the
females the middle ; the legs are alternately
dull black and gray.

The CATERPILLAR has a small shining
brownish head and a whitish maggot-like
body ; it feeds in the interior of clumps of
thrift^afa'ce armeria), selecting by preference
those which are isolated and starved, and is
very rarely found where the thrift is luxuriant
and the plants approximate : its presence may
readily be detected by the dried and dying
appearance of the centre of the tuft : when
full-fed, it changes to a CHRYSALIS in the heart
of its food-plant ; the chrysalis is pale brown
and very shining, and each segment has two
transverse rows of rather sharp-pointed dorsal
warts directed backwards; the warts in the
first row are more than double the size of
those in the second row.

The MOTH appears on the wing about Mid-
summer, and is common at Torquay in Devon-
shire, in the Isle of Man, and probably

472

BRITISH MOTHS.

wherever the thrift abounds. (The scientific
name is Sesia Philanthiformis.)

40*. The Cistus Forester (Procris Oeryon).

40*. THE CISTUS FORESTER. — The antennae
are slightly incrassated towards the tip in
l>oth sexes; those of the male are serrated,
those of the female simple : the colour of the
fore wings is shining green ; the hind wings
are smoky-black and transparent ; the head,
thorax, and body are golden green.

The EGOS, which are of a pale yellow colour,
are laid at the beginning of July in confine •
meut, and are scattered at intervals in the
box or cage in which the imago has been kept ;
the young CATERPILLARS emerge in a,few days ;
the full-fed caterpillars were found in April
by the Rev. E. Horton, to whom I am in-
debted for a supply : they were feeding on
the common sun cistus( tfelianthemum vulgar e),
on the Malvern Hills ; and the fact of their
feeding in July, and again in April, leads to
the conclusion that they hybernate. Unable
to supply my caterpillars with their proper
food-plant, I gave them sorrel (Runiex aceto-
sella), on which they fed freely and arrived at
maturity ; but Mr. Horton informs me that
although he offered them the sorrel they
would not touch it while the supply of cistus
lasted. The full-fed caterpillar, when dis-
turbed, falls off its food-plant, and lies on its
side in a crescentic form, the two extremities
approaching but not touching. The head is
very small, and entirely retractile within the
second segment ; the body is obese, almost
oniscitorm, gradually decreasing in size
towards both extremities ; the incisions be-
the segments are well marked, the

segments being distinctly divided ; on each
segment are six warts, none of them con-
spicuous, but each emitting a thin fascicle of
short radiating bristles, among which are
interspersed a few longer silky hairs : every
part of the dorsal surface, the warts alone
ex.cepted, is covered with minute papilliform
black dots. The head is black and shining ;
the second segment dingy yellow in front,
black and rather shining on the disk, and
purplish flesh-coloured beneath ; the medio-
dorsal stripe is dingy white, narrowly bordered
with very dark reddish-purple ; exterior to
these narrow borders is a broad dingy yellow
stripe on each side, swelling on each segment
into a rounded lobe ; the sinuous exterior
margin of the yellow stripes is bordered with
black, which is gradually shaded off into
reddish-purple in the spiracular region ; the
belly and claspers are dingy flesh-colour; the
legs black. The caterpillars were full-fed
early in May, and spun a thin white silken
cocoon among the leaves of the food-plant, in
which they turned to CHRYSALIDS, which were
brown, smooth, and obese, the anterior
extremity acute, the posterior remarkably
obtuse ; the dorsal surface incised at the
segments as in the caterpillar, and the pos-
terior margin of each projecting over the
anterior margin of the next ; the wing-cases
are ample and clearly defined ; the leg-cases
extending to the extremity of the body ; the
colour is brown, with longitudinal series of
darker dots, those in the middle approximate,
the others more distant.

The MOTH appears on the wing in May and
June, and is common in certain localities in
Sussex, Surrey, Herefordshire, Yorkshire, <fec.
(The scientific name is Procris Geryon.)

Obs. — I announced this as a new British
species in 1863, Mr. Doubleday having identi-
fied it with the Procris Geryon of Hubner. It
differs from Procris Statices, in the males and
females being of the same size, whereas in
that species the males are much larger : the
colour of the two is very similar ; the cater-
pillars are different, and the food-plant totally
so, that of the common Forester being the
sorrel (Rumex acetosella).

NOCTUAS.

473

45*. The Handmaid (NacUa Aneilla).

45*. THE HANDMAID. — The palpi are slender
and distinctly porrected ; the antennae are
strictly setaceous and of a dark brown colour ;
the eyes prominent and intensely black. The
fore wings are ample ; their colour is ochra-
ceous semi-transparent brown, with four nearly
circular white spots on each : two of these are
closely approximate, placed transversely, and
equidistant from the costa and anal angle, but
slightly nearer the hind margin ; the others
are much smaller, and eqnid'-stant from the
uppermost of the two spots already described
and the costa : the hind wings are smaller,
unspotted, and slightly darker than the fore
wings ; the crown of the head, collar, shoul-
ders, and body are rich oclireous-yellow ; the
last has a medio-dorsal series of six black
spots. In general appearance and habit it
closely resembls a Lithosia.

The CATERPiLLARrests on epidendric lichens,
on which it feeds, in any position suited to its
shape. The head is quite as wide as the
second segment ; the body is slightly de-
pressed and warty, each wart emitting a fas-
cicle of radiating black hairs. The colour of
the head is black, of the body black, with five
yellow stripes, the broadest medio-dorsal and
bright yellow, very conspicuous, the others
lateral, narrow, and very pale : its appearance
altogether is that of a LitJiosia caterpillar.
When full-fed it spins a white silken cocoon,
and therein changes to a CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June.
Mr. Wildman possesses the only British speci-
men yet obtained : he took it near the sea-
coast of Sussex, and has kindly placed it in
my hands for description and figuring in this
work. (The scientific name is Naclia An-
cilia.)

58*. The Hoary Footman (LitJiosia caniola).

58*. THE HOARY FOOTMAN. — The fore
wings are silky and whitish-gray, with a very
slender yellow costal margin and a narrow
whitish stripe below the costal margin, and
adjoining it : the hind wings are very pale
gray : the head is yellow, the eyes intensely
black, the collar very bright yellow : the
thorax and body dove-colour.

The female lays her EGGS in August, on the
Dutch clover (Trifolium repens), the Bird's-
foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), and other
Leguminosce) on the leaves of which the
CATERPILLAR feeds. The young caterpillars
emerge in about ten days, and are then of a
pale yellowish colour, semi-transparent, and
bristling all over with hairs : they feed for
about six weeks, changing their skins four or
five times before they hybernate, eating very
little, growing very slowly, and not attaining
a length of more than a third of an inch ;
about the middle or end of September they
retire towards the roots of the herbage, and
spinning a very slight web, remain concealed
during the winter ; in the spring they re-
ascend the food-plant, feeding principally by
night, and in damp weather retreating under
stones by day, but when the weather is warm
and the sun bright they mount on every
exposed stone and bask in its rays. The pro-
cess of changing the skin again goes on, and
really seems the chief occupation of life : nor
can I say that the number of moultings is by
any means constant; four or five changes
seem to be the allowance for the autumn, and
from five to eight for the vernal moulting :
at each moulting they seem to lose almost all
they had previously gained, crawling to the
top of their cage considerably increased in
size, and coming down again most disappoint-
ingly small : they seem to grow alternately
larger and smaller. These .caterpillars are

474

BRITISH MOTHS.

full-fed on or about the 15th of June, and
then roll in a ring and fall off their food-plant
if touched or annoyed : it is stony ground
where they principally occur, and a small
shell — a species of Planorbis ? — abounds in
the same locality, and has almost exactly the
appearance, in form, colour, and size, of a
rolled-up Caniola caterpillar, a circumstance
which greatly increases the difficulty of
finding them when thus feigning death. In
confinement, as at large, they feed exclusively
on Leguminoscv, and seek no change of diet,
pertinaciously refusing to touch, and indeed
appearing to avoid, the lichens that my solici-
tude for their well-being had provided. The
head is narrower than the body ; when per-
fectly at rest, it is partially concealed by the
second segment. The body is of nearly
uniform thickness, but slightly decreasing
towards the anal extremity ; the segmental
divisions are deeply incised ; the second seg-
ment has the dorsal surface scabrous behind
the head, the scabrous part emitting bristles
which project over the head ; this segment
has also two scabrous warts on each side ; the
other segments have twelve scabrous warts,
that is, six on each side, and each wart emits
a fascicle of radiating bristles ; four of these
warts are strictly dorsal ; two anterior
smaller and approximate ; two posterior,
larger and more distant ; the third on each
side is large and circular ; the fourth smaller
and linear ; and the fifth much smallei1, and
immediately above the claspers when these
occur. The colour of the head is black and
shining ; there is a white spot on each side at
the base of the mandibles. The body has a
very narrowblack medio-dorsal stripe, bounded
on each side by a still narrower and very
sinuous gray stripe ; this is followed by a
somewhat broader smoky-black stripe, and
this, again, by a sinuous and irregular orange
stripe ; this last contains, and is interrupted
by, the second row of scabrous warts ; next
on each side follows a broad stripe of smoky-
black, delicately tessellated with sinuous gray
markings; this lateral stripe contains the
third series of warts, and also the spiracles,
which are pale orange ; finally comes a narrow

sub-spiracular stripe of a dingy orange-colour,
and this contains a fourth series of warts.
The ventral surface is smoky flesh-colour ; the
legs and claspers rather less dingy. On or
about the 8th of July it spins a slight cocoon
at the roots of the clover, and changes to a
smooth brown CHRYSALIS.

The MOTH appears on the wing in August,
and has been taken at Torquay, and more
abundantly in the county Dublin, in Ireland,
by Mr. Birchall, to whose unremitting kind-
ness I am indebted for a most abundant
supply, both of the perfect insect and cater-
pillar, as also for the interesting details of
its life-history given above. (The scientific
name is Lithosia caniola.}

Obs. 1. — The males assemble freely, after
the manner of £ombyces, to seek the company
of the females.

Obs. 2. — Mr. Doubleday, with his usual
acumen, discovered this species in a collection
of insects brought by Mr. G. King from
Torquay.

59*. The Leaden Footman (fnthosia, molybdeola).

59*. THE LEADEN FOOTMAN. — "Is inter-
mediate between L. complana and L. pluni-
beola ; it has the figure of the former, the
colour of the latter, and is rather more shining
than either. It may be distinguished from
L. complana by its darker hue, and in having
the yellow costal stripe straighter, and ter-
minating in a point before arriving at the apex
as in L. plunibeola ; the hind wings are always
strongly tinged with gray along the inner
margin, this colour even extending, in some
specimens, over the whole surface, and leaving
none of the usual ochreons colour visible,
except a tolerably broad border, which forms
a notch between the median and internal ner-
vures : the head and neck are of a very bright
yellow; the thorax and abdomen lead-coloured,
this last not exhibiting any yellow except at

NOCTUAS.

the extremity, and the yellow even here is
generally mixed with gray. The female espe-
cially has scarcely any yellow at the anus ; it
is of the size of the male, or smaller. This
species may be still more readily distinguished
'from L. plumbeola by the form of the wings,
which altogether resemble those of L. com-
plana; the gray is equally shining, the costal
band straighter and more distinct, the cilia
tinged with gray, the neck unicolorous, the
hind wings lead-coloured, but especially by
the presence of the scaly fold of the costa of
the fore wings." — Gueiiee in Zool. for 1863.

The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and
has only been observed in Cheshire and Lanca-
shire. It inhabits low and marshy places,
and its CATERPILLAR in all probability feeds on
the lichens which grow on the EiteuTS oi the
heath, or which carpet the stones that are
scattered over the surface of the ground. (The
scientific name is Lithosia molybdeola.)

438*. The White-point (Leucania Albipuncta).

438*. THE WHITE-POINT. — The palpi are
slighty porrected and very inconspicuous, the
minute terminal joint scarcely extending be-
yond the second joint; the antennae are almost
simple in both sexes ; the fore wings are
nearly straight on the costa and obtuse, but
not rounded at the tip ; their colour is brick-
dust red, with a perfectly white spot at the
lower extremity of the reniform, which
would otherwise escape notice. This species
closely resembles Leucania litkargyria, but
Guenee thus differentiates them : — LitJiar-
gyria, confounded by many authors with
Albipuncta, is distinguished from that species
by its larger size, by the fore wings being less
ferruginous, by the white spot amalgamating
with a pale lunule situated above it, and, thus

united, constituting the reniform, by the
elbowed line being less conspicuous, and on
the other hand by the transverse series of dots
being much more so.

The MOTH appears on the wing in August.
A single specimen, captured at Folkestone on
the 15th of that month, at sugar, by Mr.
Briggs, was exhibited at the meeting of the
Entomological Society on the 2nd of Novem-
ber: a second specimen, much worn, was
taken in the second week in October, within
five yards of the same place. Mr. All is has
z. third specimen, which he obtained from one
of the Yaxley collectors. (The scientific
name is Leucania Albipuncta.)

613*. The Viper's Bugloss (Diamfhcecia Echti).

613*. THE VIPER'S BUGLOSS.— The palpi
are slightly porrected, the terminal joint very
small, and appearing as a little button amidst
the scales of the second ; the antennae are
nearly simple in both sexes ; the fore wings
are nearly straight on the costa, rounded at
the tip, and perfectly simple on the hind
margin ; their colour is ochreous, beautifully
imir-kod and marbled with darker and lighter
colours, some of the darker approaching
umber-brown, some of the latter being almost
white ; the orbicular spot is well defined,
white, with a slight central ochreous shade ;
the reniform is less perfect, its median area of
a darker tint ; there is a short transverse dark
mark near the base, a waved dark line before
the orbicular, a bent and zigzag dark line
beyond the reniform, and finally a compound
and zigzag transverse line parallel with the
hind margin ; the inner portion of this last is
dark, the other white; the hind margin itself
is occupied by a delicate fawn-coloured band ;
the fringe is brown, interrupted with seven
white streaks ; there are moreover four pah-
undefined clouds, the first near the base of the

476

BRITISH MOTHS.

wing, but exterior to the first short transverse
line ; the second on the costal margin, nearly
above the orbicular ; the third near the inner
margin and towards the anal angle, and the
fourth towards the apical angle and within
the compound transverse line.

The CATERPILLAR feeds on the Viper's
Bugloss (Echium vulyare), and also, according
to Guenee, on the flowers of Gypsophi'a )>ani-
culata, which grows on stony hills near
Vienna, but has not been found in England.

The MOTH appears on the wing in June.
The only known British specimen was taken
by the Rev. A. H. Wratislaw, at rest, on a
plant of Echium vulgare, as recorded in the

Bntomologist, vol. iv. p. 214. (The scientific
name is Diantkoecia Echii.)

This beautiful species stands at the head of
the genus Diantkceeia, and next to Ilarus
ochroleuca, which in colour, as well as the
distribution of markings, it closely resembles.

692. The Small Marbled.

The words at the end, which stand thus,
must be erased : — " I incline to refer both
insects to the Phytometra minula of Haworth."
I learn from Mr. Doublt-day that the species
in question is North American, and is tht
Acontia candffacta of authors.

INDEX,

Abbreviate, Eupithecia, 140
Abietaria, Boarmia, 64
Abjecta, Mamestra, 298
ABRAXAS, 98
ABROSTOLA, 449
Abruptaria, Hemerophila, 62
Abaynthiata, Eupithecia, 136
Absynthii, Cucullia, 434
Aceris, Acronycta, 251
ACHKRONTIA, 5
ACIDALIA, 76
ACONTIA, 443
ACOSMETIA, 312
ACRONYCTA, 248
Adusta, Hadena, 413
Aduetata, Ligdia, 101
Advena, Aplecta, 409
Advenaria, Epione, 51
<33nea, Phytometra, 469
^Escularia, Anisopteryx, 105
^Rsculi, Zeuzera, 18
Affinis, Cosmia, 383
Affinitata, Eramelesia, 113
Agathina, Agrotia, 333
AQRIOPIS, 402
AOROPHILA, 442
AOROTIS, 316

Albicillata, Melanthia, 156
Albicollis, Acontia, 443
Albicolon, Mamestra, 299
Albimacula, Dianthoecia, 388
Albipuncta, Leucania, 475
Albipunctata, Eupithecia, 129
Albulata, Emmelesia, 114
Alchemillata, Emmelesia, 113
Alchyinist, 462
Alchymista, Catephia, 462
Alder, 254
Alder Kitten, 210
ALEUCIS, 86
Algae, Bryophila, 247
Alni, Acronycta, 254
Alniaria, Ennomos, 56
Alsines, Caradrina, 313
Alternate, Macaria, 87
Amataria, Timandra, 84

American Wainscot, 261
AMPHIPYRA, 457
AMPHYDASIS, 61
Amulet, 68

Anachoreta, Clostera, 222
ANAITIS, 198
ANARTA, 440
ANCIIOSCKLIS, 366
Anceps, Mamestra, 299
Ancilla, Naclia, 473
Am 1 r on i form is, Sesia, 15
ANOERONA, 52
Angle Shades, 403
Angle-striped Sallow, 380
Angularia, Ennomos, 58
ANISOPTERYX, 105
Anomala, Stilbia, 462
Anomalous, 462
ANTICLKA, 164
Antler, £92
Antigua, Orgyia, 40
APAMEA, 302
Apiciaria, Epione, 51
ApiformLs, Sesia, 16
APLASTA, 89
APLECTA, 405
APOROPHYLA, 289
Aprilina, Agriopis, 402
Aquilina, Agrotis, 331
Arbuti, Heliodes, 442
Arceuthata, Eupithecia, 120
Archer's Dart, 316
ARCTIA, 35

Arcuosa, Chortodes, 276
Argent and Sable, 157
Argeutula, Bankia, 446
Armiger, Heliothis, 439
Arundineti, Nonagria, 271
Annul in is, Macrogaster, 17
Asellus, Limacodes, 21
Ash-tree Pug, 131
Ashworthii, Agrotis, 337
Ashworth's Rustic, 337
ASPILATES, 97
Assimilate, Eupithecia,. 138
Assimilis, Hadena, 410

Asteris, Cucullia, 433
ASTHENA, 74
Atomaria, Fidonia, 92
Atripliciit, Hadena, 417
Atropos, Acherontia, 5
Augur, Noctua, 344
August Thorn, 58
Aurago, Xanthia, 375
Aurantiaria, Hybernia, 103
Aureola, Lithosia, 28
Auricoma, Acronycta, 256
Auriflua, Liparis, 36
Auroraria, Hyria. 74
Australia, Aporophyla, 289
Autumn Green Carpet, 181
Autumnal Moth, 109
Autumnal Hustle, 343
Aversata, Acidalia, 82
AXYUA, 282

Badiata, Anticlea, 165

Baja, Noctua, 352

Bajularia, Phorodesma, 71

BANKIA, 446

Barberry Carpet, 167

Barred Carpet, 114

Barred Chestnut, 350

Barred Hooktip, 208

Barred Sallow, 375

Barred Straw, 192

Barred Red, 53

Barred Tooth-striped, 149

Barred Umber, 90

Barred Yellow, 192

Barrettii, Dianthoecia, 390

Barrett's Marbled Coronet, 390

Basilinea, Apamea, 302

Batis, Thyatira, 238

Beaded Chestnut, 366

Beautiful Brocade, 409

Beautiful Brocade, 421

Beautiful Carpet, 166

Beautiful Gothic, 292

Beautiful Golden Y, 454

Beautiful Yellow Underwing, 441

478

INDBX,

Bedstraw Hawk-moth, 8
Beech-green Carpet, 112
Belgiaria, Scodiona, 91
Belle, 196
Belted Beauty. 59
Bembeciformis, Sesia, 16
Berberata, Anticlea, 167
Betularia, Amphydasis, 61
Bicolor, Notodonta, 227
Bicuspis, Dicranura, 210
Bidentata, Odontopera, 56
Bifida, Dicranura, 212
Bilberry Pug, 145
Bilineata, Camptogramma, 171
Bipunctata, Eubolia, 197
Birch Mocha, 74
Bisetata, Acidalia, 77
Bird's-wing, 287
BISTON, 60

Biundularia, Tephrosia, 66
Black Arches, 38
Black-banded, 395
Black-collar, 345
Black Mountain Moth, 68
Black-neck, 461
Black Rustic,' 397
Black-veined, 94
Blanda, Caradrina, 314
Blandiata, Emmelesia, 116
Bleached Pug, 135
Blomer's Rivulet, 75
Blood Vein, 84
Blossom Underwing, 362
Blotched Emerald, 71
Blue-bordered Carpet, 154
BOARMIA, 63

BoLETOBIA, 69

Bombiliformis, Macroglossa, 12
BOMBYX, 42
Bondii, Chortodes, 276
Bond's Wainscot, 276
Bordered Beauty, 51
Bordered Gothic, 290
Bordered Gray, 91
Bordered Limespeck, 121
Bordered Sallow, 437
Bordered Straw, 437
Bordered White, 92
Boreata, Chimatobia, 108
Bractea, Plusia, 52
Brassicse, Mamestra, 300
BREPHOS, 448
Brevilinea, Nonagria, 271
Brick, 376

Bright-line Brown-eye, 419
Bright Wave, 76
Brighton Wainscot, 273
Brimstone Moth, 52
Brindled Beauty, 60
Brindled Green, 413
Brindled Ochre, 277
Brindled Pug, 140
Brindled White-spot, 67
Broad-barred White, 393
.Broad-bordered Bee Hawk-moth,
' 11

Broad -bordered Five -spotted
Burnet, 23

Broad-bordered White Under-
wing, 440

Broad-bordered Yellow Under-
wing, 339

Broom Moth, 419

Broom Tip, 201

Brown-line Bright-eye, 259

Brown Rustic, 315

Brown Scallop, 177

Browi: Silver Line, 90

Brown-spot Pinion. 3 IS

Brown-tail Moth, c,t

Brown-veined Wainscot, 271

Brum.ita, Chimatobia, 106

Brunnea, Noctua, 348

Brussels Lace, 63

BRYOPHILA, 244

Bucephala, Pygsera, 219

Buff Arches, 237

Buff Ermine, 35

Buff Footman, 28

Buff-tip, 21°

Bulrush. 2/'^

Burnet Noctua, 469

Burnished Brass, 451 (fig. 453)

Butter-bur, 281

Cabbage Moth, 300
CABRRA, 84

Czeruleocephala, Diloba, 234
Ca>sia Diantho3cia, 391
Caesiata, Larentia, 110
Caja, Chelonia, 33
CALAMIA, 272
Caliginosa, Acosmetia, 312
CALLIGENIA, 27
CALLTMORPHA, 31
CALOCAMPA, 426
Cambricaria, Venusia, 76
Camelina, Notodonta, 225
Campanula, Eupithecia, 133
Campanula Pug, 133
Campanulata, Eupithecia, 133
Campion, 388
CAMPTOGRAMMA, 171
Canary-shouldered Thorn, 57
Candidata, Asthena, 75
Caniola, Lithosia, 473
Cannae, Nonagria, 269
Capsincdla, Dianthoscia, 387
Capsophila, Dianthoecia, 386
Captiuncula, Photedes, 309
CARADRINA, 312
Carbonaria, Fidonia, 92
Carmelita, Notodonta, 227
Carnica, Pachnobia, 355
Carpini, Saturnia, 48
Carpophaga, Dianthrecia, 385
CARSIA, 198
Cassinea, Petasia, 217
Castigata, Eupithecia. 127
Castrensis, Bombyx, 42

CATEPHIA, 462
CATOCALA, 463
CEI^ENA, 310
Celerio, Choerocampa, 9
Centaureata, Eupithecia, 120
Centonalis, Nola, 25
Centre-barred Sallow, 377
Cerago, Xanthia, 374
CERASTIS, 369
CERIGO, 295
Certata, Scotosia, 178
Cervinaria, Eubolia, 194
Cespitis, Luperina, 297
Chserophyllata, Tanagra, 201
Chalk Carpet, 158, 197
Chamomile Shark, 435
Chamomillfe, Cucullia, 435
Chaonia, Notodonta, 233
( 'HAR.EAS, 292
CHELONIA, 32
Chenopodii, Hadena, 416
CHESIAS, 200
( hestnut, 369

Chestnut-coloured Carpet, 150
Chevron, 191
Chi, Polia, 394
CHIMATOBIA, 106
Chimney-sweeper, 201
Chinese Character, 209
Chocolate-tip, 221
CHCEROCAMPA, 9
CHORTODES, 276
Chrysidiformis, Sesia, 14
Chrysitis, Plusia, 451 (fig. 453)
Chrysorrhcea, Liparis, 36

ClDARTA, 180

CILIX, 209

Cinctaria, Boarmia, 64
Cineraria, Mniophila, 69
Cinerea, Agrotis, 328
Cinnabar, 31
Circellata, Acidalia, 79
Circellate, 79
CIRRHCEDIA, 376
Cistus Forester. 472
Citrago, Xanthia, 374
Citraria, Aspilates, 97
Clathrata, Strenia, 89
Clay, 261

Clay Triple-lines, 73
CLEORA, 62

Clifton, Nonpareil, 463
Cloaked Minor, 309
Cloaked Pug, 142
CLOANTHA, 425
CLOSTERA, 221
Clouded Border, 101
Clouded-bordered Brindle,

283

Clouded Brindle, 285
Clouded Buff, 32
Clouded Drab, 358
Clouded Magpie, 100
Clouded Silver, 85
C-nigrum, Noctua, 346
Coast Dart, 329

INDEX.

479

CCENOBIA, 269

Coenosa, Orgyia, 39
COLLIX, 146
Comitata, Pelurga, 194
Comma, Leucania, 264
Common Carpet, 160
Common Kincrald, 72
Common Footman, 28
Common Heath, 92
Common Marbled Carpet, 184
Common Pug, 135
Common Quaker, 360
Common Rustic, 306
Common Swift, 19
Common Vapourer, 40
Common Wainscot, 267
Common Wave, 85
Common White Wave,*84
Complana, Lithosia, 28
Complanula, Lithosia, 28
Concolor, Tapinostola, 274
Concolorous, 274
Conflua, Noctua, 349
Conformis, Xylina, 427
Conformist, 427
Confused, 300
Conigera, Leucania, 259
Cunjunctaria, Phibalapteryx,

175

Connexa, Apamea, 303
Consignata, Eupithecia, 118
Consonaria, Tephrosia, 66
Consortaria, Boarmia, 65
Conspersa, Dianthoecia, 389
Conspicillaris, Xylomiges, 288
Conspicuata, Fidonia, 93
Constrictata, Eupithecia, 133
Contigua, Hadena, 421
Contiguaria, Acidalia, 77
Convolvuli, Sphinx, 6
Convolvulus, Hawk-moth, 6
Copper Underwing, 457
Cordigera, Anarta, 440
COREMIA, 168
Coronata, Eupithecia, 143
Coronet. 255
Corticea, Agrotis, 327
CORYCIA, 85
Corylata, Cidaria, 182
Coryli, Demas, 40
COSMIA, 381
Cosmopolitan, 262
Cossus, 18
Cousin-German, 352
Coxcomb Prominent, 225
Craccae, Toxocampa, 462
Cratsegata, liumia, 52
Crataegi, Trichiura, 41
Cream-spot Tiger, 34
Cream Wave, 80
Crenata, Gluphisia, 224
Crepuscularia, Tephrosia, 66
Crescent, 306
Crescent Dart, 325
Crescent-striped, 298
Cribrum, Eulepia, 30

Crimson Speckled, 31
Cristulalis, Nola, 25
CROCALLIS, 56
Croceago, Hoporina, 373
Cruda, Tasniocampa, 363
CRYMODES, 411
Cubicularis, Caradrina, 314
Cucubali, Dianthoecia, 388
Cucullatella, Nola, 25
CUCULLIA, 430
Cucullina, Notodonta, 226
Cudweed, 433
Culiciformis, Sesia, 14
Currant Clearwing, 15
Currant Moth, 98
Currant Pug, 138
Cursoria, Agrotis, 329
Curtula, Clostera, 221

CUSPIDATKS, 203

CYMATOPHORA, 239
Cynipiformis, Sesia, '">
Cytherea, Cerigo, 295
Cytisaria, Pseudoterpnu, 69

Dahlii, Noctua, 350
Dark Arches, 285
Dark-barred Twin Spot, 169
Dark-bordered Beauty, 51
Dark Brocade, 412
I >ark Chestnut, 370
Dark Cream Wave, 78
Dark Crimson Underwing, 465
Dark Dagger, 248
Dark Spectacle, 450
Dark Spinach, 194
Dark Sword-grass, 318
Dark Tussock, 39
Dark Dr^er, i'/»
DASYCAMPA. 372
DASYDIA, 68
DASYPOLIA, 277
Dealbata, Scoria, 94
Death's-head Hawk-moth, 5
Debiliata, Eupithecia, 146
December Moth, 41
Decolorata, Emmelesia, 114
Deep-brown Dart, 396
Defoliaria, Hybernia, 104
Degeneraria, Acidalia, 8iJ
DEILEPHILA, 7
DEIOPEIA, 31
Delicate, 259
DEMAS, 40
Dentated Pug, 146
Dentina, Hndena, 415
Depuncta, Noctua, 344
Derasa, Gonophora, 237
Derivata, Anticlea, 166
Devonshire Wainscot, 265
Dew Moth, 27
DIANTHCECIA, 385, 475

DlCRANURA, 210

Dictsea, Notodonta, 228
Dictaeoides, Notodonta, 229

DICYCLA, 381
Didymata, Larentia, 109
Diffinis, Cosmia, 383
DILOBA, 234

Diluta, Cymatophora, 240
Dilutata, Oporabia, 108
Dingy Footman, 29
Dingy Mocha, 73
Dingy Shell, 75

DlPHTHERA, 247

Dipsaceus, Heliothis, 439

DlPTERYGIA, 287

Dismal, 364

1'ispar, Liparis, 37

1 litrapexium, Noctua, 347

Dodonea, Notodonta, 233

Dodoneata, Eupithe ia, 140

Jjog's-tooth, 418

Dolobraria, Eurymene, 53

Dominate, Callimorpha, 31

Dot, 301

Dotata, Cidaria, 193

Dotted Border, 104

Dotted-bordered Cream Wave,

80

Dotted Carpet, 63
Dotted Chestnut, 372
Dotted Clay, 352
Dotted Footman, 27
Dotted Rustic, 336
Double Dart, 344
Double Kidney, 379
Double Line, 260
Double-lobed, 303
Double-spotted Square Spot, 347
Double-striped Pug, 143
Drab Geometer, 94
Drinker, 45

Dromedarius, Notodonta, 229
Dubitata, Scotosia, 176
JDumerilii, Luperina, 296
Dumeril's Luperina, '296
Dun-bar, 381

Duplaris, Cymatophora, 239
Dusky Brocade, 304
Dusky Carpet, 69
Dusky Clearwing, 16
Dusky-lemon Sallow, 376
Dusky-marbled Brown, 224
Dusky Sallow, 384
Dusky Thorn, 57
Dwarf Pug, 130
Dysodea, Hecatera, 392
DYSTHYMIA, 443

Early Gray, 424
Early Moth, 102
Early Thorn, 55
Early Tooth-striped, 148
Ear Moth, 280
Echii, Dianthoecia, 475
Edinburgh Pug, 1 24
Elephant Hawk-moth, 10
Elinguaria, Crocallis, 56

480

INDEX.

ELLOPIA, 53

Elpenor, Chcerocampa, 10
Elutata, Ypsipetes, 153
Elymi, Tapinostola, 275
Emarginata, Acidalia, 84
EMMELESIA, 113
Emperor Moth, 48
Empyrea, Trigonophra, 404
Emutaria, Acidalia, 82
ENDROMIS, 46
Engrailed, 66
ENNOMOS, 56
EPHYRA, 72
EPIONE, 51
EPUNDA, 396
ERASTRIA, 445
EREMOBIA, 384
Ericetata, Emmelesia, 115
ERIOGASTER, 42
Erosaria, Eunomos, 57
Erythrocephala, Cerastis, 370
Essex Emerald, 70
EUBOLIA, 194
KUCHELIA, 31
EUCLIDIA, 468
EUCOSMIA, 179

hULEPIA, 30

EUPERIA, 380
Euphorbi*, Deilephila, 7
Kuphorbiata, Minoa, 94
ECPISTERIA, 75
EUPITHECIA, 116
EUPLEXIA, 405
EURYMENE, 53
ECTHEMONIA, 32
Eversman's Rustic, 324
Exanthemaria, Cabera, 85
Exclamationis, Agrotis, 326
Exigua, Laphygma, 289
Exiguata, Eupithecia, 141
Exile, 411

Exoleta, Calocampa, 427
Expallidata, Eupithecia, 135
Extersaria, Tephrosia, 67
Extranea, Leucania, 261
Exulis, Crymodes, 411
Eyed Hawk-moth, 4

Fagi, Stauropus, 216
Falcula, Platypteryx, 207
False Mocha, 72
Fascelina, Orgyia, 39
Fasciaria, Ellopia, 53
Fasciuncula, Miana, 308
Feathered Brindle, 289
Feathered Ear, 294
Feathered Footman, 30
Feathered Gothic, 291
Feathered Ranunculus, 399
Feathered Thorn, 58
Fennica, Agrotis, 324
Fenn's Nonagria, 271
Fen Wainscot. 272
Fern, 173

Ferrugata, Coremia, 168
Ferruginea, Xanthia, 376
Festiva, Noctua, 348
Festoon Moth, 21
Festucae, Plusia, 453 (fig. 451)
Fibrosa, Apamea, 306
FIDONIA, 92
Fiery Clearwing, 14
Figure-of-Eight Moth, 234
Figure of Eighty, 241
Filigrammaria, Oporabia, 109
Filipendulre, Zygsena, 24
Fimbria, Tryphaena, 339
Firmata, Thera, 152
Flame, 165
Flame, 282
Flame Brocade, 404
Flame Carpet, 168
Flame Shoulder, 345
Flame Wainscot, 268
Flammatra, Noctua, 345
Flammea, Meliana, 268
Flavago, Gortyna, 279
Flavicornis, Cymatophora, 242
Flavocinctn, Polia, 396
Flounced Chestnut, 366
Flounced Rustic, 296
Fluctuate, Melanippe, 164
Fluctuosa, Cymatophora, 239
Fluviata, Camptogramma, 172
Forester, 22

Formicseformis. Sesia, 14
Fortified Carpet, 195
Four-dotted Footman, 27
Four-spotted, 443
Four-spotted Footman, 29
Foxglove Pug, 119
Fox Moth, 43
Fraxinata, Eupithecia, 132
Fraxini, Catocala, 463
Freyer's Pug, 125
Frosted Green, 243
Frosted Orange, 279
Frosted Yellow, 93
Fuciformis, Macroglossa, 11
Fuliginaria, Boletobia, 69
Fuligiuosa, Arctia, 34
Fulva, Tapinostrla, 274
Fulvago, Euperia, 3oO
Fulvata, Cidaria, 192
Fumata, Acidalia, 81
Furcula, Dicranura, 211
Furuncula, Miana, 309
Furva, Mamestra, 300
Fuscantaria, Ennomos, 57
Fuscula, Eniiitria, 445

Galiata, Melanippe, 163
Galii, Deilephila, 8
Galium Carpet, 163
Gamma, Plusia, 455
Garden Carpet, 164
Garden Dart, 329
Gem, 172

Geminipuncta, Nonagria, 270
Gemina, Apamea, 304
Genistse, Hadena, 422
GEOMETRA, 70
GEOMETRY), 49
Geryon, Procris, 472
Ghost Swift, 20
Gilvago, Xanthia, 376
Gilvaria, Aspilates, 98
Gipsy, 37

Glabraria, Cleora, 63
Glandifera, Bryophila, 244
Glareosa, Noctua, 343
Glauca, Hadena, 414
Glaucous Shears, 414
Globularise, Procris, 22
GLUPHISJA, 224
Glyphica, Euclidia, 469
Gnaphalii, Cucullia, 433
GNOPHOS, 68
Goat Moth, 18
Golden-bordered Purple, 74
Golden-rod Pug, 127
Golden-rod Brindle, 425
Gold Spangle, 452
Gold Spot, 453 (fig. 451)
Gold Swift, 19
GONOPHORA, 237
GONOPTERA, 456
Gonostigma, Orgyia, 39
GORTYNA, 279
Gothic, 458

Gothica Tseniocampa, 356
Gracilis, Taeniocampa, 361
GRAMMES: A, 310
Grammica, Eulepia, 30
Graminis, Charaeas, 292
Grass Eggar, 44
Grass Emerald, 69
Grass Rivulet, 114
Grass Wave, 97
Gray, 391
Gray Arches, 407
Gray Birch, 67
Gray Chi. 394
Gray Dagger, 250
Gray Mountain Carpet, 1 1C
Gray Pug, 127
Gray Rustic, 3i3
Gray Scalloped Bar, 91
Gray Shoulder-knot, 429
Great Brocade, 406
Great Oak Beauty, 65
Great Prominent, 232
Green Arches, 405
Green-brindled Crescent, 402
Green-brindled Dot, 401
Green Carpet, 112
Green Pug, 144
Greening's Wave, 77
Griseata, Lithostege, 199
Griseola, Lithosia, 29
Grisette, 253

Grossulariata, Abraxas, 9f
Ground Lackey, 42
Guenee's Pug, 123

INDEX.

481

HADENA, 409
HALIA, 88

Hamula, Platypteryx, 208
Handmaid, 473
Hastata, Melanippe, 157
Haworthii, Celsena, 310
Haworth's Carpet, 115
Haworth's Minor, 310
Hawortb's Pug, 123
Hazel Carpet, 182
Heart and Club, 327
Heart and Dart, 326
Heart Moth, 381
Heath Rivulet, 115
Heath Rustic, 333
Hebrew Character, 356
HECATERA, 392
Hectus, Hepialus, 19
Hedge Rustic, 297
HELIODES, 442
HELIOPHOBUS, 291
HELIOTHIS, 437
Hellmanni, Tapinostola, 275
Helvola, Lithosia, 28
Helveticata, Eupithecia, 124
HEMEROPHILA, 62
HEMITHEA, 72
Heparata, Eupisteria, 75
Hepatica, Xylophasia, 285
HEPIALUS, 19
Herbida, Aplecta, 405
Herald, 456
Hexapterata, Lobophora, 147

HlMERA, 58

Hippocastanaria, Pachycnemia,

102

Hirtaria, Biston, 60
Hispidaria, Nyssia, 60
Hispidus, Heliophobus, 292
Hoary Footman, 473
Holosericata, Acidalia, 78
HOPORINA, 373
Hornet Clearwing of the Osier, 16
Hornet Clearwing of the Poplar,

16

Horse Chesnut, 102
Humming-Bird Hawk Moth, 11
Humuli, Hepialus, 20
HYBERNIA, 102
HYDR^CIA, 280
HTDRELIA, 446
HYDRILLA, 311
HYRIA, 74

lanthina, Tryphrena, 338
Ichneumoniformis, Sesia, 15
Ilicifolia, Lasiocampa, 46
Illunaria, Selenia, 55
Illustraria, Selenia, 55
Imbutata, Carsia, 198
Imitaria, Acidalia, 82
Iinmanata, Cidaria, 186
Immutata, Acidalia, 80
Impluviata, Ypsipetea, 153

Impura, Leucania, 266
Incaiiaria, Acidalia, 78
Indigata, Eupithecia, 132
Ingrailed Clay, 348
Inornata, Acidalia, 83
Instabilis, Tajniocainpa, 358
Interjecta, Tryplisena, 840
Interjectaria, Acidalia, 78
Interrogationis, Plusia, 456
IODIS, 71
Iota, Plusia, 453
Iron Prominent, 229
Irriguata, Eupithecia, 181
Irrorella, Setina, 27
Isogrammata, Eupithecia, 123

Jacobsese, Euchelia, 81
July Highflyer, 153
Juniper Carpet, 150
Juniperata, Thera, 150
Juniper Pug, 142

Kentish Glory, 48
Knot-Grass, 255

Lace Border, 79

Lacertula, Platypteryx, 206

Lackey, 42

Lactearia, lodis, 71

Lanestris, Eriogaster, 42

LAPHYGMA, 289

Lapidata, Phibalapteryx, 174

Lappet, 45

Larch Pug, 129

LARENTIA, 109

Large Emerald, 70

Large Nutmeg, 299

Large Ranunculus, 396

Large Red-belted Clearwing, 14

Large Thorn, 56

Large Twin-spot Carpet, 171

Large Wainscot, 272

Large Yellow Underwing, 342

Lariciata, Eupithecia, 130

LASIOCAMPA, 45

Latticed Heath, 89

Lead-coloured Drab, 360

Lead-coloured Pug, 123

Leaden Footman, 474

Least Black Arches, 25

Least Carpet, 77

Least Minor, 309

Least Yellow Underwing, 340

Leopard Moth, 18

Leporina, Acronycta, 251

Lesser Broad Border, 338

Lesser Cream Wave, 80

Lesser Ingrailed, 349

Lesser Lutestring, 240

Lesser Satin Moth, 239

Lesser-spotted Pinion, 383
Lesser Swallow Prominent, 229
Lesser Yellow Underwing, 341
LEUCANIA, 259, 475
Leucographa, Tseniocampa, :57
Leucophaea, Pachetra, 294
Leucophearia, Hybernia, 103
Libatrix, Gonoptera, 456
Lichenaria, Cleora, 63
Lichenea, Epunda, 399
LIGDIA, 101
Light Arches, 284
Light Brocade, 422
Light Crimson Underwing, 4CG
Light Emerald, 53
Light Feathered Rustic, 328
Light Knot-grass, 257
Light Orange Underwing, 449
Light Spectacle, 449
Lignata, Phibalapteryx, 174
Ligniperda, Cossus, 18
Ligustri, Acronycta, 255
Ligustri, Sphinx, 7
Lilac Beauty, 54
LIMACODES, 21
Lime Hawk-moth, 4
Lime Speck, 120
Linariata, Eupithecia, 119
Lineolata, Eubolia, 197
Ling Pug, 137
LJPARIS, 36
Literosa, Miana, 308
Lithargyria, Leucania, 261
Lithorhiza, Xylocampa, 424
LITHOSIA, 27, 473

LlTHOSTEGE, 199

Lithoxylea, Xylophasia, 284
Little Emerald, 71
Little Thorn, 51
Littoralis, Leucania, 263
Litura, Anchocelis, 369
Liturata, Macaria, 88
Livornica, Deilephila, 9
LOBOPHORA, 146
Lobster, 216

Lobulata, Lobophora, 148
LOMASPILIS, 101
Lonicerae, Zygsena, 24
Loreyi, Leucania, 262
Lota, Orthosia, 365
Lubricipeda, Arctia, 35
Lucernea, Agrotis, 336
Lucipara, Euplexia, 405
Luctuosa, Dysthymia, 443
Lunar Double Stripe, 467
Lunar Marbled Brown, 233
Lunar-Spotted Pinion, 38U
Lunar Thorn, 55
Lunar Underwing, 368
Lunar Yellow Underwing, 341
Lunaria, Selenia, 55
Lunaris, Ophiodes, 467
Lunigera, Agrotis, 325
Lunosa, Anchocelis, 868
LUPERINA, 296
Lupulinus, Hepialus, 1$

482

INDEX.

Luteata, Asthena, 74
Lutosa, Calamia, 272
Lutulenta, Epunda, 396
Lychnis, 387
Lychnitis, Cucullia, 432
Lyme Grass, 275
LYTHBIA, 95

MACARIA, 87
Macilenta, Orthosia, 865
MACROGASTER, 17
MACROGLOSSA, 11
Maculata, Vcnilia, 52
Maiden's Blush, 72
Mallow, 194
MAMESTRA, 298
Manchester Treble-bar, 198
MANIA, 460
Many-liiied, 175
Maple Prominent, 226
Maple Pug, 139
Marbled Beauty, 246
Marbled Brown, 233
Marbled Carpet, 185
Marbled Clover, 439
Marbled Coronet, 389
Marbled Green, 244
Marbled Minor, 307
Marbled Pug, 131
Marbled White-spot, 445
March Moth, 105
Margaritaria, Metrocatnpa, 53
Marginata, Lomaspilis, 101
Marginatus, Heliothis, 437
Maritima, Senta, 268
Marsh Carpet, 183
Marsh Moth, 311
Marsh Pug, 124
Marvel-du-Jour, 402
Maura, Mania, 460
May Highflyer, 153
Megacephala, Acronycta, 252
MELANIPPE, 157
Melanopa, Anarta, 440
MELANTHIA, 154
MELIANA, 268
Mendica, Arctia, 84
Mensuraria, Eubolia, 196
Menthastri, Arctia, 35
Menyanthidis, Acronycta, 257
Mere Wainscot, 275
Mesomella, Lithosia, 27
Meticulosa, Phlogophora, 403
METEOCAMPA, 53
Jtti, Euclidia, 468
iHiANA, 307
Miata, Cidaria, 181
Micacea, Hydrcecia, 282
MICRA, 447

Middle-barred Minor, 308
Miller, 251

Miniata, Calligenia, 27
Miniosa, Tseniocampa, 362
MINOA, 94
Minor Shoulder-knot, 398

Minos, Zygsena, 23
Minutata, Eupithecia, 187
MISELIA, 402

MlNOPHILA, 69

Mocha, 73

Moeniata, Eubolia, 195
Molybdeola, Lithosia, 474
Monacha, Liparis, 38
Montanata, Melauippe, 162
Morpheus, Caradrina, 312
Mother Shipton, 468
Mottled Beauty, 63
Mottled Gray, 110
Mottled Pug, 141
Mottled Rustic, 312
Mottled Umber, 104
Mountain Rustic, 355
Mouse, 458
Mullein, 430
Mullein Wave, 79
Multistrigata, Larentia, 110
Munda, Tseniocampa, 363
Mundana, Nudaria, 27
Munitata, Coremia, 168
Muscerda, Lithosia, 27
Musculosa, Synia, 273
Muslin, 27
Muslin Moth, 84
Myricw, Acronycta, 267
Myrtilli, Anarta, 441

Naclia, 473

Nsenia, 458

Nanata, Eupithecia, 184

Narrow-Bordered Bee Hawk-
moth, 12

Narrow-bordered Five-spotted
Burnet, 24

Narrow-winged Pug, 133

Nebulosa, Aplecta, 407

Neglecta, Noctua, 353

NEMORIA, 71

Nerii, Choerocampa, 10

Netted Carpet, 188

Netted Pug, 118

Netted Mountain Moth, 92

NEURIA, 290

Neustria, Bombyr, 42

New Black-neck, 461

Nictitans, Hydroecia, 280

Nigra, Epunda, 397

Nigricans, Agrotis, 329

Nigrocincta, Polia, 395

Ni Moth, 455

Ni, Plusia, 455

NOCTUA, 343

NOCTUAS, 235

NOCTURNI, 3

NOLA, 25

Nonconformist, 428

NONAGRIA, 269

Northern Arches, 410

Northern Drab, 359

Northern Rustic, 336

Northern Spinach Moth, 191

Northern Swift, 20
Northern Winter Moth, 108
Notata, Macaria, 37
Notha, Brephos, 449
NOTODONTA, 225
November Moth, 108
Nubeculosa, Petasia, 218
NUDARIA, 27

NUMERIA, 90

Nupta, Catocala, 464
Nutmeg, 416
Nut-tree Tussock, 40
NYSSIA, 59

Oak Beauty, 61
Oak Eggar, 43
Oak Hook-tip, 208
Oak-tree Pug, 139
Obelisca, Agrotis, 332
Obeliscata, Thera, 151
Obfuscata, Dasydia, 68
Obliquaria, Chesias, 201
Oblique Carpet, 174
Oblique-striped, 197
Obscurata, Gnophos, 68
Obscure Wainscot, 261
Obsoleta, Leucania, 261
Occuita, Aplecta, 406
Ocellata, Melanthia, 155
Ocellatus, Smerinthus, 4
Ochrata, Acidalia, 76
Ochreous Pug, 132
Ochroleuca, Eremobia, 384
Ocularis, Cymatophora, 241
Oculea, Apamea, 306
ODONESTIS, 45
ODONTOPERA, 56
Old Lady, 460
Oleagina, Valeria, 401
Oleander Hawk -moth, 10
Oleracea, Hadena, 419
Olivata, Larentia, 112
Olive, 379

Omicronaria, Ephyra, 73
Ononaria, Aplasta, 89
Oo, Dicycla, 381
OPHIODES, 467

Ophiogramma, Apamea, 305
Opima, Tasniocampa, 359
OPORABIA, 108
Or, Cymatophora, 241
Orache Moth, 417
Orange Footman, 28
Orange Moth, 52
Orange Sallow, 374
Orange-tailed Clearwing, 15
Orange Underwing, 448
Orange Upper- Wing, 373
Orbicularia, Ephyra, 73
Orbona, Tryphaena, 341
ORGYIA, 39

Orichalcia, Plusia. 451
Orion, Diphthera, 247
Ornata, Acidalia, 79
ORTHOSIA, 364

INDEX.

483

Ostrina, Micra, 447
Oxyacanth», Miselia, 402

PACHEIHA, 294
PACIINOBIA, 355
PACHYCNEMIA, 120
Tale Brindled Beauty, 59
Pale Footman, 29
Pale Gray Carpet, 199
Pale Mottled Willow, 314
Pale Oak Eggar, 41
Pale Oak Beauty, 65
Pale Pinion, 430
Pale Prominent, 224
Pale-shining Brown, 409
Pale-Shoulder, 44S
Pale-Shouldered Brocade, 420
Pale Tussock, 38
Pallens, Leucauia, 267
Palpina, Ptilodoiitis, 224
Palumbaria, Eubolia, 196
Palustris, llydrilla, 311
PANAGRA, 90

Papilionaria, Geometra, 70
Parthenias, Brephos, 448
Parva, Micra, 447
Pastinum, Toxocampa, 461
Peach-blossom, 238
Peacock, 87

Pearly Underwing, 319
Pebble Hook-tip, 207
Pebble Prominent, 231
Pectinitaria, Larentia, 112
Peltiger, Heliothis, 437
PELURGA, 194
Pendularia, Ephyra, 74
Pennaria, Himera, 58
Peppered Moth, 61
Peregrina, Hadena, 41f>
PEUICALLIA, 54
Perla, Bryophila, 246
Pernotata, Eupithecia, 123
Persicariae, Mamestra, 301
Perspicillaris, Cloantha, 425
PETASIA, 217
Petasitis, Hydraecia, 201
Petraria, Panagra, 90
Petrificata, Xylina, 430

PlIlKALAPTERYX, 173
PlIIGALIA, 59

Philanthiformis, Sesia, 471
PHLOGOPHORA, 403
Phoenix, 190

PlIORODESMA, 71
PlIOTCUES, 309

Phragoiitidis, Oalamia, 272

PllYTOMETRA, 469

Picata, Cidaria, 182
Pictaria, Aleucis, 86
Pigmy Footman, 28
Pilosaria, Phigalia, 59
Pinastri, Dipterygia, 287
Pine Beauty, 355
Pine Carpet, 152
Pinetaria, Fidonia, 93

Piniaria, Fidonia, 92
Pinion-Spotted Pug, 118
Piniperda, Trachea, 355
Pink-barred Sallow, 375
Pisi, Hadena, 419
Pistacina, Anchocelis, 366
Plagiata, Anaitis, 198
Plain Clay, 344
Plain Golden Y, 453
Plain Pug, 134
Plain Wave, 83
Plantaginis, Chelonia, 32
PLATYPTERYX, 206
Plecta, Noctua, 345
Plumaria, Selidosema, 91
Plumbeolata, Eupithecia, 122
Plumed Prominent, 224
Plumigera, Ptilophora; 224
PLUSIA, 451
Pod-lover, 386

PCECILOCAMPA, 41
POLIA, 394

Polycommata, Lobophora, 149
Polyodon, Xylophasia, 285
Poplar Gray, 252
Poplar Hawk-moth, 4
Poplar Kitten, 212
Poplar Lutestring, 241
Popularis, lieliophobus, 291
Populata, Cidaria, 191
Populeti, Tseniocampa, 860
Populi, Pceciloeampa, 41
Populi, Smerinthus, 4
Porata, Ephyra, 72
Porcellus, Chcerocampa, 10
Porphyrea, Agrotis, 334
Portland Moth, 334
Portland Riband Wave, 83
Potatoria, Odonestis, 45
Powdered Quaker, 361
Powdered Wainscot, 258
Praecox, Agrotis, 334
Prataria, Acidalia, 81
Pretty Pinion, 116
Privet Hawk-moth, 7
Procellata, Melanippe, 158
PROCKIS, 22, 472
Prodromaria, Amphydasis, 61
Progemniaria, Hybernia, 104
Pronissa, Catocala, 466
Promutata. Acidalia, 79
Pronuba, Tryphsena, 342
Propugnata, Coremia, 168
Proteus, Hadena, 413
Prunaria, Angerona, 52

PSEUDOTKUPNA, 69

Psi, Acronycta, 250
Psittacata, Cidaria, 180
PSODOS, 68
PTILOPIIORA, 224
PTILODONTIS, 224
Pudibunda, Orgyia, 38
Pudorina, Leucania, 264
Pulchella, Deiopeia, 31
Pulchellata, Eupithecia, 119
Pulchraria, Astheua, 75

Pulchrina, Plusia, 454
Pulveraria, Numeiia, 90
Pumilata, Eupithecia, 143
Punctaria, Ephyra, 72
Punctulata, Tephrosia, 67
Purple Bar, 155
Purple-barred Yellow, 95
Purple Clay, 348
Purple Cloud, 425
Purple Marbled, 447
Purple Thorn, 55
Purpuraria, Lythria, 95
Pusaria, Cabera, 84
Pusillata, Eupithecia, 131
Puss Moth, 214
Puta, Agrotia, 317
Putrescens, Leucania, 265
Putris, Axylia, 2tf2
PYG^RA, 219

Pygmaeata, Eupithecia, 124
Pygmaeola, Lithosia, 28
Pyraliata, Cidaria, 192
Pyralina, Cosmia, 383
Pyramidea, Amphipyra, 457
Pyrophila, Agrotis, 336

Quadra, Lithosia, 29
Quadrifasciata, Coreinia, 171
Quercifolia, Lasiocainpa, 45
Quercus, Bombyx, 43

Rannoch Geometer, 93
Rannoch Sprawler, 218
Raviua, Agrotis, 333
Reclusa, Clostera, 223
Rectan gulata, Eupithecia, 145
Rectilinea, Hadena, 423
Red Arches, 27
Red-Belted Clearwing, 14
Red Carpet, 168
Red Chesnut, 357
Reddish Buff, 312
Reddish Light Arches, 284
Red-green Carpet, 180
Redheaded, 370
Red-Line Quaker, 365
Red-necked Footman, 29
Red Sword-grass, 426
Red-Tipped Clearwing, 14
Red Twin-spot Carpet, 16<i
Red Underwing, 464
Reed Moth, 17
Reed Tussock, 39
Reed Wainscot, 269
Remutata, Acidalia, 80
Repandata, Boarmia, 63
Rest Harrow, 89
Reticulata, Cidaria, 188
Retusa, Tethea, 379
Rhamnata, Scotosia, 178
Rhizolitha, Xylina, 429
Rhomboidaria, Boarmia, 64
Rhomboidea, Noctua, 34?
Riband Wave, 82

484

Ribesiaria, Cidaria, 190
Ridens, Cymatophora, 243
Ringed Carpet, 64
Ripse, Agrotis, 328
Rivata, Melanippe, 159
Rivulet, 113
Roboraria, Boarmia, 65
Rosy Footman, 27
Rosy Marbled, 445
Rosy Marsh, 851
Rosy Minor, 308
Rosy Rustic, 282
Rosy Wave, 82
Rotundaria, Cabera, 85
Round-winged Muslin, 27
Round- winged White Wave, 85
Royal Mantle, 164
Ruberata, Ypsipetes, 152
Rubi, Bombyx, 43
Rubi, Noctua, 351
Rubidata, Anticlea, 165
Rubiginata, Melanthia, 154
Rubiginea, Dasycampa, 372
Rubricata, Acidalia, 76
Rubricollis, Lithosia, 29
Rubricosa, Tseniocampa, 357
Ruby Tiger, 34
Ruddy Highflyer, 152
Riifa, Coenobia, 269
Ruficinctata, Larentia, 111
Rufina, Anchocelis, 366
RUMIA, 52

Rumicis, Acronycta, 255
Rupicapraria, Hybernia, 102
Rurea, Xylophasia, 283
RUSINA, 315
Russata, Cidaria, 185
Russula, Euthemonia, 32
Rustic, 314

Rusticata, Acidalia, 77
Rustic Shoulder-Knot, 302

Sacraria, Sterrlia 96
Sagittata, Cidaria, 183
Salieata, Larentia, 111
Salicis, Liparis, 36
Sallow, 374
Sallow Kitten, 211
Sambucata, Uropteryx, 50
San* Dart, 328
Sandy Carpet, 114
Sapon arise, Neuria, 290
Satellite, 371

Satellitia, Scopelosoma, 371
Satin Carpet, 64
Satin Carpet, 239
Satin Moth, 36
Satin Wave, 80
Satura, Iladena, 409
SATUUNJA, 48
Satyr Pug, 126
Satyrata, Eupithecia, 126
Saucia, Agrotis, 931
Saxon, 423

Scalloped Hazel, 56

Scalloped I look- tip, 206

Scalloped Oak, 56

Scallop Shell, 179

Scarce Black Arches, 25

Scarce Bordered Straw, 439

Scarce Burnished Brass, 451

Scarce Chocolate Tip, 222

Scarce Dagger, 256

Scarce Footman, 28

Scarce Forester, 22

Scarce Ilook-tip, 207

Scarce Marveil-du-Jour, 247

Scarce Prominent, 227

Scarce Silver Y, 456

Scarce Tissue, 178

Scarce Umber, 103

Scarce Vapourer, 39

Scarlet Tiger, 31

SCODIONA, 91

Scoliaeformis, Sesia, 15

Scolopacina, Xylophasia, 28r

SCOPELOSOMA, 371

Scorched Carpet, 101

Scorched Wing, 53

SCORIA, 94

Scotch Amulet, 68

SCOTOSIA, 176

Scrophularise, Cucullia, 431

Scutulata, Acidalia, 76

Segetum, Agrotis, 320

SELENIA, 55

SELIDOSEMA, 91

Semibrunnea, Xylina, 429

Senex, Nudaria, 27

SENTA, 268

September Thorn, 57

Seraphim, 147

Serena, Hccatera, 393

SESIA, 14, 471

Setaceous Hebrew Character, 34 G

SETINA, 27

Sexalisata, Lobophora, 146

Shaded Broad Bar, 151

Slia led Pug, 122

Shark, 436

Sharp-Angled Carpet, 159

Sharp-Angled Peacock, 87

Shears, 415

Shore Wainscot, 263

Short-cloak Carpet, 182

Short-cloaked Moth, 25

Shoulder Stripe, 165

Shoulder-striped Wainscot, 264

Shuttle-shaped Dart, 317

Sicula, Platypteryx, 207

Silaceata, Cidaria, 189

Silago, Xanthia, 375

Silky Wainscot, 268

Silky Wave, 78

Silver-barred, 446

Silver Cloud 288

Silver-ground Carpet, 162

Silver Hook, 446

Silver-striped Hawk-moth, 9

Silvery Y, 455

Silver Arches, 408
Simulata, Thera, 150
SIIIYKA, 258
Sinuata, Anticlea, 164
Single-dotted Wave, 76
Six-belted Clearwing, 15
Six-spotted Burnet, 24
Six-striped Rustic, 352
Slender- clouded Brindle, 286
Slender Pug, 139
Slender-striped Rufous, 174-
Sloe Carpet, 86
Small Angle-Shades, 405
Small Argent and Sable, 157
Small Black Arches, 25
Small Blood-vein, 82
Small Brindled Beauty, 60
Small Chocolate-tip, 223
Small Clouded Brindle, 3Co
Small Dark Yellow Under wing,

440

Small Dotted Buff, 276
Small Dusty Wave, 78
Small Eggar, 42
Small Elephant Hawk-moth, 10
Small Emerald, 71
Small Engrailed, 66
' Small Fan-footed Wave, 77
Small Grass Emerald, 71
Small Lappet, 46
Small Mallow, 196
Small Mai -l.'-d, 447
Small Mottled Willow, 289
Small Phoauix Moth, 189
Small Purple-barred, 409
Small Quaker, 363
Small Ranunculus, 392
Small Rivulet, 1 13
Small Rufous, 2G9
Small Scallop, 84
Small Seraphim, 146
Small Square Spot, 351
Small Wainscot, 274
Small Waved Umber, 175
Small White Wave, 75
Small Yellow Underwing, -142
Small Yellow Wave, 74
Smaragdaria, Geometra, 70
SMERINTHUS, 4
Smoky Wainscot, 266
Smoky Wave, 81
Sobrina, .Noctua, 352
Sobrinata, Eupithecia, 142
Solidaginis, Cloantha, 425
Southern Wainscot, 266
Spadicea, Cerastis, 370
Sparsata, Collix, 146
Spartiata, Chesias, 200
Speckled Beauty, 62
Speckled Footman, 30
Speckled Yellow, 52
Sphegiformis, Sesia, 16
SPHINX, 6
Spinach, 193
Spiuula, Cilix, 209
Sponsa, Catocala, 465

INDEX.

485

Spotted Sulphur, 442
Sprawler, 217
Spring Usher, 103
Spurge Hawk-moth, 7
Square Spot, C6
Square Spot Dart, 332
Square-Spotted Clay, 347
Square-spot Rustic, 354
Stabilis, Taeuiocaiupa, 360
Star- wort, 433
Statices, Procris, 22
STAUROPUS, 216
Stcllatarum, Macroglossa, ] 1
STERRHA, 96
STILBIA, 462
Stout Dart, 335
Straminata, Acidalia, 80
Straminea, Leucania, 266
Stramineola, Lithosia, 29
Stranger, 415
Straw Belle, 98
Straw Underwing, 295
Streak, 200
Streaked Dart, 331
Streamer, 166
STKENIA, 89

Strigillaria, Aspilatcs, 97
Strigilis, Miana, 307
Strigosa, Acronycta, 253
Stiigula, Nola, 25
Slriped Hawk-moth, 9
Striped Lychnis, 432
Striped Twin-spot Carpet, 111
Striped Wainscot, 264
Suasa, Hadena, 41**
Subangled Wave, 81
Subfulvata, Eupithecia, 122
Subsericata, Acidalia, 80
Subciliata, Eupithecia, 139
Sublustris, Xylophasia, 284
Subnotata, Eupithecia, 134
Subrosea, Noctua, 351
Subsequa, Tryphsena, 341
Subtristata, Melanippe, 160
Subtusa, Tethea, 379
Subumbrata, Eupithecia, 122
Succenturiata, Eupithecia, 121
Suffuruata, Cidaria, 188
Suffusa, Agrotis, 318
Sulphuralis, Agrophila, 442
Suspecta, Orthosia, 364
Suspected, 364
Swallow Prominent, 228
Swallow-tailed Moth, 50
Sweet gale Moth, 257
Sword-grass, 427
Sycamore, 251
Sylvata, Asthena, 75
Sylvinus, Hepialus, 19
Synia, 273
Syringaria, Pericallia, 54

Tscniata, Emmelesia, 114

TjiNiOCAMPA, 356

Taminata, Corycia, 86
TANAGUA, 201
TAPINOSTOLA, 274
Tawny-barred Angle, 88
Tawny Pinion, 429
Tawny Sheers, 385
Tawny Speck, 122
Tawny Wave, 76
Temerata, Corycia, 85
Templi, Dasypolia, 277
Tenebrosa, Rusina, 315
Teuuiata, Eupithecia, 139
TEPHROSIA, 66
Tersata, Phibalapteryx, 173
Tcstacea, Luperina, 296
Testata, Cidaria, 191
Testudo, Limacodes, 21
TETHEA, 379
Thalassina, Hadena, 420
THEHA, 150
Three-humped, 230
Thrift Clearwing, 471
TIIYATIRA, 238
Thymiaria, Hemithea, 72
Tiger, 33

Tiliaria, Ennomos, 57
Tilise, Smerinthus, 4
TIMANDBA, 84
Tincta, Aplecta, 408
Tipuliformis, Scsia, 15
Tissue, 176
Toadflax Pug, 119
Togata, Eupithecia, 142
TOXOCAMPA, 46
TRACHEA, 35-5

Tragopogonis, Amphipyra, 458
Transparent Burnet, 23
Trapezina, Cosmia, 381
Treble-bar, 198
Treble Brown Spot, 77
Treble Lines, 310
Tree-lichen Beauty, 247
Trepida, Notodonta, 232
Trepidaria, Psodos, 68
Triangle Moth, 21
Triangulum, Noctua, 347
TRICHIURA, 41
Tridens, Acronycta, 248
Trifolii, Bombyx, 44
Trifolii, Zygccna, 23
Trigeminata, Acidalia, 77
TRIGONOPHORA, 404
Trilinea, Grammesia, 310
Trilinearia, Ephyra, 73
Trilophus, Notodonta, 230
Triplasia, Abrostola, 450
Triple Spot Pug, 130
Triple-spotted Clay, 346
Trisignata, Eupithecia, 130
Tristata, Melanippe, 157
Tritici, Agrotis, 330
True Lover's Knot, 334
TRYPHSENA, 338
Turca, Leucania, 260
Turnip Moth, 320
Twiu-spot Carpet, 109

Twin-spotted Quaker, 363
Twin-spotted Wainscot, 270
Typhae, Nonagria. 270
Typica, Nrenia, 458

Ulmata, Abraxas, 100
Umbratica, Cucullia, 436
Umbrosa, Noctua, 352
Unangulata, Melanippe, 15
Unanimis, Apamca, 305
Unca, llydrelia, 446
Uncertain, 313
Undulata, Eucosmia, 179
Unguicula, Platypteryx, 208
Unidentata, Coremia, 169
Unifasciata, Emmelesia, 11C
Union Rustic, 303
Upsilon, Orthosia, 364
UROPTERYX, 50
UrticsD, Abrostola, 149
Urticse, Arctia, 35

Vaccinii, Ccrastis, 369
VALERIA, 401

Valerianata, Eupithecia, 123
Valerian Pug, 129
Valligera, Agrotis, 316
Velleda, Hepialus, 20
VENILIA, 52
Venosa, Simyra, 258
Venosata, Eupithecia, 118
VENUSIA, 76

Venustula, Erastria, 445
Verbasci, Cucullia, 430
Vernaria, lodis, 71
Versicolor, Eudromis, 4.6
Vespertaria, Epione, 51
Vespiformis, Sesia, 16
Vestal, 96

Vetulata, Scotosia, 177
Vetusta, Calocampa, 426
Viduaria, Cleora, 62
Villica, Chelonia, 34
Viminalis, Epunda, 398
Vinula, Dicranura, 214
Viper's Bugloss, 475
Viretata, Lobophora, 1 17
Virgaureata, Eupithecia. "*2?
Viridata, Nemoria, 71
Vitalbata, Phibalapteryx, 111
Vitellina, Leucania, 259
V-Moth, 88
V-Pug, 143
Vulgata, Eupithecia, 135

Water Betony, 431
Water Carpet, 187
Water Ermine, 35
Wavaria, Halia, 88
Waved Black, 69

486

Waved Carpet, 75
Waved Umber, 62
"Welsh Clearwing, 15
Welsh Wave, 76
White-barred Clearwing, 16
White Colon, 299
White Ermine, 35
White -line Dart, 330
White-marked, 357
White-pinion Spotted, 86
White Point, 475
White Prominent, 227
White Spot, 388
White-spotted Pinion, 383
>Y Lite-spotted Pug, 128
Wild-Thyme Pug, 132

Willow Beauty, 64
Winter Moth, 106
Wood Carpet, 159
Wood Swift, 19
Wood Tiger, 32
Wormwood, 434
Wormwood Pug, 136

XANTIIIA, 374

Xanthographa, Noctua, 354
Xerampelina, Cirrhoadia, 377
XYLINA, 427
XYI \>CAMPA, 424
XYJ DMIGES, 288
XYI OPHASIA, 283

Yellow-barred Brindle, 147
Yellow Belle, 97
Yellow-Horned, 242
Yellow-Legged Clearwing, 15
Yellow-line Quaker, 365
Yellow-ringed Carpet, 111
Yellow Shell, 171
Yellow-tail Moth, 36
YPSIPETES, 152

ZEUZERA, 18
Ziczac, Notodonta, 231
Zinckenii, Xylina, 428
Zonaria, Nyssia, 59
ZYGJENA, 23

THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE
STAMPED BELOW

AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS

WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN
THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY
WILL INCREASE TO SO CENTS ON THE FOURTH
DAY AND TO $1.OO ON THE SEVENTH DAY
OVERDUE.

LD 21-100m-8,'34

Newaan

Illustrated nat, hiat.
butterflies * moths

tftt U

of G7N4

BIOLOGY
LIBRARY

2® 193(

W** »1948

7/1/4-

BJOLOGV
LIBRARY
THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY

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