is ^ j ^ J/. S'. j~/t. 3 ^ u oo^\i' T-t^lA 2 II &= V c f • 't'- I I- ■ £i5-ALr JEruprm-'f for theSnlririilLsts lihnm ' # ♦ f r r. . .'i n-'f! ^ 4 - -■’tj m « tm:e T£)2L/TO. BDINT^rRGH: W.H.LIZAKS. LONDON. BAMrBI. lltOULBY .12 FLBET {iTRKHT. DXTBllN.W.otTlBT.TFN» fc I'? THE NATURALIST’S LIBRARY. EDITED BY SIE WILLIAM JAEDIJSTE, BAET. F.R.S.B., P.L.S., ETC., ETC. VOL. XXX. ENTOMOLOGY. BRITISH MOTHS, SPHINXES, ETC. BY JAMES DUNCAN, M.W.S., ETC. EDINBURGH : W. II. LIZARS, 3, ST. JAMES’ SQUARE. LONDON : henry G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. CONTENTS. PAGK Memoir OP Maru SiBiLLA Merian . . . 17 Lepidoptbra Introduction .... 47 HESPBRIDiE 108 Grizzled Skipper. Thymele Alveolus. Plate!. Fig. 1, . . 110 The Dingy Skipper. Thymele Th^ S^vanus. Plate II. Fig. 1. . . 117 Pearl Skipper. Pamphila Comma. Plate II, Fig. 2. , , 119 Pamphila Actaeon 121 Lepidoptbra Crepuscularia . . . . 121 The Green Forester. Ino Staikes. Plate II. Fig. 3. . . , 123 Six-spotted Bumet-moth. Anthrocera Filipendula. Plate II. Fig. 4. . 124 Five-spotted Bumet-moth. Anthrocera Loti. Plate II. Fig. 5. 12G CONTENTS. JEyed Hawk-moth. PAGE Sjfierinthm Ocelhitus. Plate III. Fig, 1. , 127 Poplar Hawk-moth. Smerinthus Pctpuli, Plate III. Fig. 2. 129 Lime Hawk-moth. Smerinthus TUia, Plate IV. Fig. I. 131 Death’s-head Hawk-moth. Achcrontia Atropos. Plate V. . , 133 Genus Sphinx 139 Privet Hawk-moth. Spitinx Liffusiri, Plate IV. Fig. 2. . 140 Unicom Hawk-moth. Sphinx Convolvuli, Plate VI, , 142 Pine Hawk-moth. Sphinx Pinastri. Plate VII. Fig. 1. 144 Genus Dbilephila. ...... 146 The Madder Hawk-moth. DeUepitUa Golii, Plate VII. Fig. 2. 147 Spotted Elephant Hawk-moth. Deilephila Euphorbia. Plate VIII. . 149 Rayed Hawk-moth. Deilephila Lineata ..... 152 Genus Metopsilus 154 Oleander Hawk-moth. MetopsU&s Nerii. Plate IX. 156 Sharp-winged Hawk-moth. Metopsilus Ceierio. Plate X. . , . 159 Elephant Hawk-motli. A fetopsilus Etpenor. Plato XI. Fig. 1 . 161 Small Elephant Hawk-moth. Ateioprsilus Porcellus. Plate XI. Fig. 2. 163 Humming-bird Hawk-moth. ATacroglossa Stcllatarum. Plate XII. Fig. 1 . 164 Broad- bordered Bee Hawk-moth. Sesia Fuci/ormis. Plate XII. Fig. 3. 168 Narrow-bordered Bee Haw’k-moth. Sesia Bombyli/ormis, Plate XII. Fig 4. . 170 CONTE>TS* Bee Clear-wing. page Trochilium Ajn/orme, Plate XIII, Fig. ]. , 171 Breeze Clear-underwing. JEgeria AsUifonnis. Plato XIII. Fig. 2. . . 174 Black and Horned Clcar-wing. ^geria Spheci/ormis. Plate XIII. Fig. 3, . 175 Ruby-fly Clear-wing. Algeria Chrgddijormis. Plate XIII. Fig. 4, ^ 177 Lepidoptera Nocturna, or Moths . . 178 Orange Swift. Hypialus Sglvinm, Plate XIV. Fig. I. , . 179 Goat-moth. Cossus Ligntputrda. Plate XIV. Fig. 2. . . 182 Wood Leopard-moth. Zeuzera ^sadi. Plate XV. Fig. I. . . 185 Bxiff-tip Moth. Pgglloning plan, as de- scribed by Mr. Haworth, may fi-equently be followed with success when most others are unavailing. “ It is a frequent practice,” he says, “ with London AiueUans, when they breed a female of this and some other day-flying species (he speaks of Lasio- campa Qtterctis J, to take her, whUe yet a virgin, into the vicinity of woods, when, if the weather be favourable, she never fails to attract a numerous train of males, whose only business seems to be an incessant, rapid, and undulating flight in search of their unimpregnated females. One of which is no sooner perceived, than they become so much ena- moured of their fair and chaste relation, as absolutely to lose aU kind of ffejir for their own personal safety, which, at other times, is efiectually secured by the reiterated evolutions of their strong and rapid wings. So fearless indeed have I beheld them on these occasions, as to climb up and down the sides of the cage which contained the object of their eager pursuit, in exactly the same hurrying manner as honey-bees, which have lost themselves, climb up and do^vn the glasses of a window.” The Chinese likewise turn this ardour in pm-suit of the female 64 INTRODrCTION. to good account, I>y fixing individuals of that sex, pertaining to a species whose caterpillar produces valuable silk, by a thread to a tree in an exposed situation, where they are soon ■visited by numerous males to the great increase of the proprietor’s stock. The eggs produced by these insects present endless variations in their form, substance, and colour. The surface is often very beautifully carved, as was formerly described to be the case with those of butterflies, a circumstance, it has been justly re- marked, which distinguishes these tribes from all other oviparous animals. In general they are of one colour, the prevailing tints being white, yellow, grey, and bro-wn. Sometimes, however, they are speckled like the eggs of birds, and at other times encircled -with zones of different shades, a mode of distribution of which those of the feathered race afford no example. Thus, for example, the egg of the Brimstone-moth ( Rumia Cratcegata J, otherwise remarkable for being covered with hexagonal reti- culations, is yellow spotted •with bright red ; and that of the Lappet C Gastropacha Quercifolia ) is blue with three circular bands of brown. In some instances the colours undergo a succession of changes as the egg advances to maturity, an effect which may be produced either by the clumging condition of the embryo becoming manifest through the trans- parent integument, or the chemical action of air, moisture, and other influences on the substance of which the latter is composed. An example of this description is afforded by the eggs of a rare British INTRODUCTION. 65 moth, named hy the fancy the Glory of Kent ( Endromh versicolor), which are bright yellow on their first exclusion, and then become successirely green, rose-colour, and black. The profuse fertility of most insects is well knoivn, and the subjects of the present notice partake largely of this general attribute of their race. The Silk- worm-moth, for example, lays about 600 eggs, the Goat-moth 1000, and the Tiger-moth 1600. They are deposited either singly or in groups, and in the latter case are often arranged in a uniform symme- trical order by the parent moth, a process in which she manifests great ingenuity and prospective care, both for the preservation of the eggs and the welfare of the future young. The insoluble gum ^vith which they are usually covered, protects them from the in- fluence of the weather when they are left exposed. But in many cases they are placed under some kind of shelter, and several species cover them mth down, which they pluck from their ovra bodies by means of a pair of anal pincers 'with which they are pro- dded apparently for this express purpose. The caterpillars of moths arc much more varied in their general forms and in the structure of their parts than those of butterflies, and indeed they may be said to be formed on a greater variety of models than most other animals. Their clothing and ap- pendages are likewise extremely various ; every kind of the former found in butterfly-larvae being ob served among them, besides several others peculiar to themselves. One of their most important varia- Ji C6 INTEODUCTIOJf. tions is ill tte number of feet, a circumstance which necessarily gives rise to diflFerent modes of progres- sion, and occasions striking differences in habit and appearance. Before alluding, however, to the num- ber and arrangement of the feet, it will be proper to mention what peculiarities are observable in the structure of these members. In many instances there is no fleshy plate at the extremity of the pro- legs capable of being expanded and contracted to serve the purposes of a foot, the leg being simply a conical fleshy prominence, having the extremity surrounded by a complete coronet of hooks. Ex- amples frequently occur in which the prolcgs have very much the appearance of a rvoodm leg, the upper part being thick, succeeded by a slender cylindrical piece which terminates in a circular expansion sur- rounded with crotchets, and having a small nipple in the centre which holds the place of a foot. Although these small hooks are generally present, this does not seem to be universally the case, for the subcutaneous lai-va3 of a small moth of the Liimean genus Tinea, and a few others, are said to be without them. The true, or pectoral legs, are always six in number, and nearly uniform in figiue ; the most remarkable among the few exceptions to this, is to be foimd in the caterpillar of the Lobster- moth, which has the two posterior pairs greatly elongated and terminating in a land of claw. The amount of abdominal legs, however, is very variable in different groups, and in the anomalous caterpillars of two small bromiish-yellow moths ( Hetei'ogenea INTRODUCTION. 67 Asellus and Limaeodes Tesludo J, they are entirely wanting, their place being supplied by a number of small simple tubercles. The larrm of a great pro- portion of the largest and most conspicuous of oiir native moths are provided with ten prolegs, like those of butterflies, and placed in the same order. In many others there are only eight, either one of the abdominal pairs, or the anal one, being absent. When the latter is the case, the hinder extremity of the body sometimes bears two caudal appendages (as may be seen in the caterpillars of the Puss and Lobster moths), -vvith the free motions of which a pair of anal legs would probably interfere. Many lar\'£B possess only six prolegs, others four, and a few of the smaller kinds merely a single pair, attached to the anal segment. Such as have a considerable number of intermediate legs generally keep their body, when walking, parallel wth the plain of posi- tion, and advance by the rapid and successive motion of each segment, as if, as has been happily remarked, a wave were flowing over or pen-ading their bodies. But such a mode of locomotion evidently cannot take place when most or all of the abdominal segments are ndthout legs, as is the case with some of those just mentioned. These accordingly adopt a different method, by means of which they are enabled to move about with ease and celerity. They first fix their prolegs to the plain of position and stretch the body forward to its full extent ; then laying hold \\dth the anterior legs, the tail is let free and dra^vn towards the head, the intervening portion of the INTKODtrCTION. id and strongly con- trasted. Sometimes tliey are distributed in rays or longitudinal stripes, at other times in bands which follow the contour of the rings ; often in waves or spots of regular or irregular figure ; and not imfre- quently in insulated points, and numerous other forms too complex and varied to admit of being here particularised*. It frequently happens that the colours of larvae, before their first moult, are entirely different from those aftenvards assumed ; and in some instances they undergo a considerable alteration at every successive change of skin. Dif- ference of colour, in indi^dmils of the same species, sometimes indicates the respective sexes of the future moth ; thus, according to De Geer, the broivn caterpillars of a common species, the Yellow Un • derwing ( Triphama pronula ) produce males and the green ones females. Many of these caterpillars are distinguished by horns and protuberances of various sorts, which add greatly to the singularity of their aspect. The curious caudid ajipendages of those of the Puss and Lobster moths have been already alluded to, and will bo more particularly described hereafter. Several have a kind of horn on the hinder extremity, some- thing resembling that of Hawk-moth larv®, but it is never so long and acute as in the latter, at least among British species, but rather assumes the form of an elongated tubercle. An example of this * Reaumur, Memoirs pour servir a Vldstoire des Insectes^ torn. i. page 76. INTRODUCTION. 70 may be seen in the conspicuous caterpillar of the Lappet-moth, which is further deserving of notice under tliis head, from being provided ivith a lateral series of fleshy lobes, hanging one from each segment and giiing the creature the appearance of having twenty feet. It is from these appendages bearing some resemblance to lappets that the moth has obtained its English name. The larva of the Twin-spotted underwing (Miselia himaculosa), of the Coxcomb ( Lophopteryx Camelma ), and some others, have the penultimate segment armed with a pair of short horns ; and that of a geometer-moth, named the Lilac-beauty (Pericallia syrinffaria), has two long recurved ones on the back of the eighth segment. Others of these siuveyors have a variety of dorsal prominences, which contribute greatly to increase the remarkable resemblance many of them bear to a withered tndg, by representing the knots and other projections of the wood. The curiously formed caterpillar which produces one of the most lovely of our native moths, named, from the rosy spots on its upper wings, the Peach-blossom ( Thya- tira Baits J, bears a large tubercle near the head, divided at the top into two short horns. A still more remarkable projection is found in a prettily marked caterpillar occasionally met with in gardens throughout the country. It is an obtuse fleshy pyramid rising from the back of the fourth segment, of a black colour, fringed nith hairs, and incapable of motion ; the moth named the Dagger C Acronycta Psi J originates from this larva. Several have the INTRODUCTION. 71 power of eniitting a short retractile vesicle from some one of the abdominal segments ; and the caterpillar of the Emperor-moth has a perforated tubercle in front of the pectond legs, through which, when disturbed, it squirts a transparent fluid. This is evidently given for defence, but nith regard to most of the appendages previously mentioned, and others of a similar kind, we are wholly unacquainted with their use. Many of them are ahnost wholly free from hairs and pubescence, but in numerous instances these form one of the most striking characters belonging to them. Although much more varied in the clothing of their bodies than butterfly larvae, they are devoid of the strong spines formerly described as characterising many of the latter*. Tliese hairs are of diflerent kinds, and arr;vnged in a variety of methods. Sometimes they are soft and decumbent ; at other times, long, slender, and tortuous, investing the body as with a fleece of wool ; while in other instiuices they ai'e long and still' resembling bristles. Frequently they are all duected backwards, at other times they are turned towards the head, and in some eases they are nearly all pointed upwards or dorni- wards so as to cover the back or belly and leave the opposite half of the body almost bare. In some they are scattered promiscuously over the surface, * See vol. X. p. 65 . The above remark, however, must be understood as applying only to the eatcrpillars of British moths ; those of certain exotic species are armed with spines of such a size that Mr. Kirby describes them as “ tre- mendous.” INTRODUCTION. 72 and in others issue in tufts from rounded tubercles arranged in a certain order. These tufts sometimes assume a yeiy peculiar form, especially in the larva) of Tussock-moths C Orygia, Larta, &c.) and a few others. Two long fascicles stand out from behind the head and project forwards, the hairs of which are dilated at the jioint in such a manner as to make them resemble a painter’s brush. A similar fascicle springs from the hinder extremity and is directed backwards, and along the back there is a series of short wedged-shaped tufts of equal length foimed by thick-set parallel hairs. These elongated tufts are often rendered still more conspicuous by being of a different colour from the other hairs ; the latter also vary greatly in their tints, which are often mingled and diversified so as to produce a very omamenfcil effect. TNTien the hairs are long and thickly set, as is often the case, they form a very efficient clothing, and tend to save the larva from injury when it happens to fall ; they likeivise seem, at least in many cases, to be organs of touch, for the slightest impression upon them produces movements in the animal which indicate that it is felt. Lyonct has shown that those of the Goat- moth caterpillar are partly hollow, and set in a scaly ring somewhat elevated above the skin, through which the root communicates with a soft integu- ment upon which the nerves form a reticular tissue, a stmcture which renders it highly probable that they perform the function just alluded to. With so much difference in the form, members. INTRODUCTION. 73 and clothing of the body, the caterpillars of moths arc adapted to live in a great variety of situations and circumstances. By far the greater proportion are to be found on the foliage of plants ; many occur only in the interior of the stem or branches ; not a few burrow in the earth to consume roots ; and a small number are inhabitants of the waters. Neither are they less varied in the nature of their food. Few kinds of vegetable produce are exempted from their ravages, and imhappUy their taste both for these and various sorts of finits, often coincides with our own. Com is not only exposed to their depredations while in the blade, but even after it has been laid up in supposed security, the grain is sometimes converted into a tenement for a small worm, the offspring of a moth, which speedily con- sumes all but the outer covering. They eat uith avidity the most bitter plants which our fields produce, as well as those replete with a caustic and corrosive juice, which on that account are left uutouched by other animals. The stings of the nettle, and the prickles of various other plants, are so far from warding off their attack, that these plants seem to be the resort of a greater number of caterpillars than those that are without any such defence. "Wool, feathers, hair, and many other substances which set at defiance the digestive powers of other anhmJs, are well known to fomi a favourite repast to these anomalous creatures, and as if no limits were prescribed to their voracity, some of INTnoDTOTION. 74 tliem do not hesitate to devour each other whenever they have an opportunity. hlost of these caterpillars feed during the day, but many are as exclusively nocturnal in their habits as the moths that spring from them. The geometers especially may often he observed during the whole day perfectly motionless, either stretched flatly along a branch, or projecting from it like a broken twig ; but the gnawed leaves in their vicinity show that they are not always thus inactive. An example of this kind may he seen in a species of pretty large size, common in autumn on ehciTy-trees throughout the south of Scotland and many parts of England, which so closely resembles the hark, that it is detected with the utmost difficulty. The same circumstance accounts for a fact sometimes mentioned with smprise, that the extent of the injury done to our culinary vegetables is often quite disproportionate to the number of depredators seen upon them — the season of their greatest activity being that in which they are not exposed to observa- tion. Others take their food only in the morning and evening, the middle of the night and of the day being their seasons of repose. Although the enemies of caterpillars are numerous and destructive, consisting of birds, parasitical ich- neumons, &c. and although they are occasionally subject to a kind of epidemic disorder which destroys them in great numbers, yet they often increase to an imdue extent, and occasion considerable injury. INTRODUCTION. 7 £> Instances of tlieir depredations are indeed of such ordinary occurrence as to have fallen under the observation of almost every one, and absolve us from any necessity of giving many details on the subject. Perhaps the species which have proved most in- jurious to the produce of our fields in this country, are those of the Broivn-tail-motli C Porlhesia auri- Jlua, Steph., Bom. phoeorrhoea, Curtis. Don.), the Gamma-moth (Plusia gamma), the Antler-moth ( Charceas graminis ), the Lackey C Clisiocampa neustria ), the Buff-tip C Pygasra bucephala ), the Cabbage-moth (Mamestra Brassicce), the small Ermines ( Yponomeula ), and a few others. The first mentioned of these increased to an extraordinary degree in several parts of England in the summer of 178'2, and by completely defoliating the frees, occasioned such alarm that prayers were ordered to be read in the chmches to avert the calamity. It was apprehended, by those ignorant of their history, that these caterpillars would likewise destroy the growing com and grass ; but it was soon sho^vn that the leaves of trees and shrubs form their only food, and that these valuable productions would conse- quently escape their attack. So numerous were these creatures, that subscriptions were opened in many parishes, and poor people employed to cut off the webs at the rate of a shilling a bushel, which were burned under the inspection of the overseers of the parish ; and it is stated that no less than fourscore bushels were for a while collected daily in INTEODUCTIOX. 76 some of the parishes*. Tlie caterpillar of the Gamma-moth is common in all parts of the country, and as it feeds indiscriminately on a great variety of vegetables, it probably produces more damage than most of the indigenous species. The Imra of Charreas Graminis has sometimes done much mischief to the pastures in the south of Scotland and northern parts of England, but it is happily of rather rare occurrence in the south. In the conti- nental countries of Europe, the ravages of some of the caterpillars just mentioned are sometimes carried to an extent of which our own cormtrj', probably from its insular situation, affords no example. On one occasion those of the Gamma-moth overran great part of France, devouring almost every thing green, -with the fortunate exception of the different kinds of com. The peasantry of Alsace suffered so severely that they went to their priests and entreated them to try the effect of religious processions in ridding them of the plague ; and the people of Paris, under the idea that the creatures were poisonous, ceased for a time to use any kind of vegetable for food. Unhappily no effectual means of easy appli- cation has yet been found to guard vegetables from their attacks or speedily to diminish their numbers. Eeaiunur suggests that in times of scarcity they might be used as an article of food ! Of these caterpillars some are solitary during their whole life, appearing to hold no intercourse whatever * Hist, of Brown-tail-moth, by tV. Curtis, London 1782. INTRODUCTION. 77 uith the rest of their kind ; many live in societies for some time after they are hatched, hut separate as they grow up ; wliile others continue together all the time they are caterpiUms, even undergoing their metamorphoses in company, and not scattering till they acquire wings. The habitations which they construct, and many particulars in their economy, depend to a certain extent on their habits in this respect, and in noticing this branch of their history, perhaps the most interesting that belongs to it, we shall first describe some of the most remarkable structures of solitary caterpillars, and next advert to those formed by the combined exertions of several. The h.abitations of the former sort are either formed by the union of separate pieces, sometimes of different materials, or more simply by folding or rolling together the leaves of plants ; and they are designed either for the protection of the caterpillar during its lifetime, or the reception of the chrj’salis into which it is subsequently converted. Several form a covering for their bodies similar to that of the PliryganidoB, or Case-flies, with which they move about like a snail or any other of the shell-bearing molluscEe. Of these one of the most curious is the larvse of a small Tinea, which has not imaptly been n.amed the stone-mason caterpillar. It forms a sheath for its body, or a kind of moveable tent, by agglutinatinginto a compact structure, small particles of stone detached from the wall on which it lives. This miniature tent is of a conical shape, somewhat curved, open at both ends, and borne rather obliquely. INTRODUCTION. 78 The head and anterior part of the little iiunate project, ivlien it moves, from the opening at the widest end, imd when the moth is perfected it issues from the other, which has been preriously ividened to allow an easy passage. Previous to its change into a chrysalis, the caterpillar fixes its dwelling securely to a stone, by means of a strong mooring of silk. The gentleman who first described the proceedings of this creature, supposed that it used the particles of stone for food, hut more accurate observation soon proved tliat they are employed only for the purpose above described. Its real food seems to he lichens and minute mosses, which usually abound on old walls. The weight of such a covering may he supposed to impede materially the insect’s movements, for never, says Reaumur, was a Roman soldier charged with such a burden. Others accorduigly select a lighter material to cover the layer of silk which they invariably place next their bodies. Some kinds (such as Psyche radiella, Curtis B. E. fol. 3.32) may he said to thatch it, for they invest it with small pieces of withered grass of different lengths, which lie over each other and form a kind of imbricated coating. Others fabricate tliis outer vestment from fi-agments of leaves; and a small species described by Reaumur, which feeds on a kind of Astragalus, ornaments its covering with what he calls furbelows or flounces, resembling those used by ladies in former times*. Similar to these * Keaumur, vol. iii. PI. 11. fig. 1. INTBODUCTION. 79 are tlie coverings of the caterpillars of the Clothes- nioths, in the fabrication of which they show a degree of diligence and ingenuity, which it would he more pleasing to contemplate if less frequently exercised to otit disadvantage. Their mantle con- sists of a small somewhat cylindrical tube, open at both ends, and rather widest in the middle. The exterior of this tube is a tissue of wool and silk, but the interior is luied Avith pure silk, for the greater comfort of the little tenant, whose body is soft and tender. So indispensable to its welfare is a fabric of tliis kind, that the AA'orm begins to weave it soon after it issues from the egg. The growth of its body, however, renders it necessary that the do- micile should be frequently enlarged both in length and AA-idth. The former it readily accomplishes by putting out its head fi-om one end, cutting the filaments of the aa'ooI AAnth its scissor-like mandibles, and then, by turning its head backAA'ards, incoi-po- rating them Avith the rest of the tissue; it then turns itself in the opposite direction, Avhich the AAndeness of its tube in tlie centre enables it do Avith facility, and repeats the same operation at the other extremity. The AAidcning of the tube is a more difficult task, and the plan aaIucIi it adopts to ac- complish it is as ingenious as if it AA’ere the result of a process of reasoning. The most obvious me- thod, and that which we would probably adopt in such a case, Avould be to malce a rent the AA-hole length of the garment, and again fill it up by in- serting a ncAV piece sufficient to afford the extension 80 INTRODUCTION. required. But such a proceeding on the part of the n'orm would expose its body for a time with- out adequate protection, an accident of which it seems to have the utmost dread and guards against it with every precaution. It accordingly makes the rent extend only half way along, and when that fissure is filled up, forms another at the opposite end. There are generally two fissures made in each half, the one being opposite the other, so that the widening of the tube is effected by the insertion of four separate pieces. The colour of the garment is necessarily the same as that of the cloth which affords the raw material, and if the latter be party- coloured it exhibits a corresponding variety of hues. Tlie creature feeds on the same material with which it clothes itself. These may be called domestic moths, as they are found only in houses, where they live at the expense of the proprietor. Others, of more innoxious habits, frequent the ftiliage of trees, and fabricate, nnth still greater ingenuity, their little moveable tents from the thin membranes which form the outer coats of the leaves. Their proceedings were first accmntely described by Reaumur, whose accoimt we shall there- fore follow, using as nejirly as possible liis own words. One of the kinds which he mentions is found on the leaves of the ehn, and its method of working may be taken as an example of the plan followed by the whole tribe. It commences by mining its way into the substance of the leaf between the two enclosing membranes, consuming, as it proceeds, the INTRODUCTION. 81 parenchyma or pulp urhich constitutes its only food. In this way it excavates a portion of the leaf, leaving nothing but the thin superficial mem- branes, which it takes particular care not to injure, as they form the material from which the mantle is to he manufactured. The latter is composed of two equal and similar pieces, each forming one-half, shaped and united with as much regularity and precision as if executed by the most skilful artist. The difficulty of the task is increased by the pieces not being of regular figure, each of them being one-half wider at the one end than the other, and each side presenting a different curvature, the one slightly concave and the other convex. When the two pieces are cut into the requisite shape, they still continue to adhere to the leaf by means of the small crenatures left by the operator’s teeth, and it now remains only to sew the two portions together. For this purpose it employs the silken thread, which every caterpillar can spin, and attaches the two edges so firmly and neatly, that it is difficult, when the habit is completed, to discern the point of junction even by the aid of a lens. A rounded form is given to it by its being at first moulded, as it were, on the body of the insect itself, and its dimensions are easily increased by the walls being pushed outwards. The interior is freed from inequalities by the pressure of the insect’s head, and then lined and strengthened ndth a eoating of silk ; those parts being made strongest, which, from their prominence. F 82 INTHOBUCTIOX. are most exposed to friction. The little d>velling is now complete, but continues attached to the spot where it was formed. In order to disengage it, the insect puts out the anterior part of its body, and fixing its fore-legs to the leaf, drags the case for- wards, retaining its hold of it chiefly by the small hooks on the abdominal legs. It is now in a con- dition to transport itself fr'om one leaf to another, and select the portions best suited to its taste, without incurring the risk, which it seems so much to dread, of exposing itself to the air. Apparently with the view of saving themselves the labour of sewing up one of the sides of their domicile, some of these creatures have the sagacity to mine the leaf close to one of the edges, and thus preserve the membrane unbroken on three of its sides. “ Their proceedings,” says one of the authors of the Introduction to Entomology, “ I had the pleasure of rritnessing a short time since upon the alders in the Hull Botanic Garden. More ingenious than their brethren, and willing to save the labour of sending up two sides in their dwellings, they insinuate themselves near the edge of a leaf instead of in its middle. Here they form their excavation, mining into the very crenatures between the two surfaces of the leaf, which, being joined together at the edge, there form one seam of the case ; anvo tribes. Like butterflies, they have the antennae strongly clubbed at the siunmit (where they are generally furnished ■\vith a hook), and the anterior -Nvings are directed upwards in repose but diverge from each other, while the under pair are horizontal, and the hinder tibire furnished with two pair of spurs ; attributes which are common to them with moths and hawk- moths. The season of their flight is most commonly towards the evening, which led Fahricius to dis- tinguish them by a generic name hearing reference to that circumstance. But they are likewise ob- served on the wing during the whole day, and their mode of flight, which is only for a short distance at a time, and performed with frequent and sudden jerks, has caused them to he well knomi in this country by the name of Skijtpers. They are insects HESPERIDjE. 109 below tbe middle size, and no way distinguished for beauty of colouring or variety of markings. In these respects, indeed, such a general similarity prevails, that in several instances the greatest difiB- culty is experienced in determining the species, and much complexity and confusion is consequently to be found in their synonymy. They formed a part of the fifth great section into which Linne divided the diurnal lepidoptera, and were distin ' hed in his system by the appellation of Pleleii licolce. The head and thorax are very large and robust, and the wings are thick and strong. The caterpillars of many of the species are imperfectly knonm. Some of them protect themselves by rolling together the leaves on which they feed, in a manner similar to that practised by the leaf-rolling caterpillars of certain moths. The chrysalides are without any eminence except at the head, which is notched or acuminated, and they are enclosed in a web of loose texture. 110 GRIZZLED SKIPPER. Thymele Alveolus. PLATE I. Fig. 1. Pap. Alveolus, Hvbner. — ^Pap. Malva;, Lemn, PI. 46, figs. 8, 9. — Hesperia Malvse, Jermyn. 2d Editicm, 154. — The Grizzled Butterfly, Wilkes. — The Grizzle Butterfly, Harris' Aurel, PI. 32. — Thymele Alveolus, Fabr. Stepk Thymele is knotvn by having antenna) slightly elongate, the joints upwards of thirty in number, with the club curved, but not terminating in a hook. The palpi are rather longer than the head, _•» and thickly clothed with hair ; the anterior wings rather short, and rounded on the hinder edge. The Grizzled Skipper is a small species, seldom much exceeding an inch in the expansion of the wings. The ground colour of the surface is browmish- black, the anterior wings from before the middle to the apex marked with straw-coloured spots, most of them of a quadrangular shape ; the fringe the same colour as the spots, tind barred with browmish-black. The tmder wings have some straw'-coloured spots towards the middle anteriorly, and an irregular macular band not far from the hinder margin ; the % . 1 . V. S! ,iur- ■ • - i - '' 1 (hiTilrf! S}(Lp]n'.r. '1. i)inifii ■''ki)>hn\ ~.t. 'Jiri/!/tr> i/S'.i'i/Mr ,4.Sfiut/lShpptT. GRIZZLED SKIPPER. m latter liaving the whitish fiinge interrupted with narrow dusky spots. The under side is grey tinged with green, with spots nearly corresponding to those on the surface, but many of them somewhat en- larged. The Pap. Fritillum of Lewin and some other writers, according to the opinion of Mr. Stephens, is merely a variety of the above. It has an oblong whitish mark towards the middle of the upper wings not far from the anterior margin, and the other light-colom'ed spots are larger and of a more oblong shape than in the form already described. It has been occasionally regarded as a distinct species, and is thought to be synonymous ivith Hesperia Lavateraa of Fabricius. This insect is found in some plenty in many parts of England, and occasionally in the south of Scotland. It appears about the end of May. Woods and meadows in the neighbourhood of London. “ Hartley Wood, Essex,” Miss Jermyn. “ Fre- quent near Newcastle,” G. Wailes, Esq. “ Occa- sionally noticed near Durham,” Mr. Andrews. THE DINGY SKIPPER. Thymele Tages. PLATE I. Fig. 2. Pap. Tages, linn . ; Lexvin, PI. 54, figs. 3 and 4 Hesperia Tagefi, Leach, Jermyn . — The Dingy Skipper, Harris' Aurel. Pi. 34 Thymele Tagee, Sieph, Tms species is generally a good deal larger than the preceding ; the colour of the surface rather dark bromi faintly clouded with ash-grey, with a few scattered white points, and a continuous series along the margin of aU the nings. The fringe is grejnsh- broivn, indistinctly denticulated ; the under side tami3'-grey, with ill-defined -white spots, especially towards the hinder side of the inferior ndngs. The antennsB are black, ringed with grey. The caterpillar is bright green, -with a yellow stripe dotted nith black along the back, and others of a similar description on the sides; the head broAvn. It is said to feed on the Eryngium cam- pestre and birds’-foot trefoil (Lotus comiculatusj, the latter being probably its most ordinary food, as the insect is frequently found in districts where the THE DINGY SKIPPER. ]13 former plant does not grow. The butterfly first appears in May, and occurs not unfirequently on dry heaths, commons, &c. Near London, at Dart- moor in DeTonshire, in Suffolk, and Norfolk, it has been observed in plenty ; as well as in more north- ern localities, particularly heaths in the vicinity of Newcastle and York. We have likewise seen ex- amples which were taken in the south of Scotland ; and it occurred near Tain and Cromarty, in June 1834, in considerable abundance ; so that its range in Britain, from north to south, is -widely extended. H 114 CHEQUERED SKIPPER. PampUila Pamsous. PLATE I. Fig. 3. Hesperia Paniscus, Pahr. — ^Pap. Paniscus, Don. viii. PI. 254, fig. 1. — Pap. Brontes, Hvhner . — Chequered Skipper, //o- worih, Jermyn . — ^Pamphila Paniscus, Sieph. In Pamphila the palpi are short and compressed, covered with scales and hairs ; the antennas rather short, the joints not amounting to thirty ; the club straight, abrupt, and spindle-shaped, without a hook at the extremity in P. Panisem and Linea, but having an acute hook in P. Sylvamts and Comma. The anterior wings are somewhat longer than in the preceding genus, and the hinder pair have a slight projection at the anal angle, like a rudimentary tail. The head and thorax are equally robust as in Thymele, or rather more so ; and the males of some of the species are distinguished by having an oblique abbreviated black line on the disk of the anterior wings. The Chequered Skipper expands about an inch and two or three lines. The surface is brownish- black, marked with numerous bright fulvous spots. CHEQUERED SKIPPER. 115 those on the anterior wings consisting of a large patch before the middle, then an irregular curved band intersected by the black nervures, and lastly, a faint row of tawny dots parallel with the hinder margin. On each of the secondary wings are three discoidal spots, one of them larger than the others, and a posterior band of small dots. The fringe of all the wings is tawny at the tip. The under side is yellow, inclining to grey, the upper wings with several marks, and the extremity of the nervures black ; the imder pair with seven rounded yellowish- white spots, and a posterior macular band of the same colour. Antennae pale beneath, the tip of the club reddish yellow. The caterpillar, which feeds on the Greater Plan- tain, is described as being dark-brown on the back, with the sides lighter, and ornamented with two longitudinal yellow stripes ; the head black, and the segment behind it ivith an orange-coloured band. This prettily marked insect is regarded as very local, but its localities are pretty widely scattered, and many of them afford it in tolerable plenty. It frequents meadows and damp woods, usually ap- pearing in the end of May and June. It is found in Devonshire, near Bedford, in Northamptonshire, Oxford, &c. SMALL SKIPPER. Pamphila Linea* PLATE I. Fig. 4. Hesperia Linea, Fait*.— OPap. Linca, Don, vii. 236, fig. 2, (J.— Pap. Thaumas, Leuin^ H. 45, figs. 5, 7. — The Small Skip- per, Harris' Awrd, PI. 42. — Pamphila Linea, Steph, Ratheb of smaller size than the follo'wing, to which in general appearance it bears a good deal of resem- blance. The surface of the wings i§ fulTOUs, rather glossy, without spots; the hinder margin and the nervures black. The tmder side of the primary wings is paler than the surface, shading into grey at the tip and brown at the base ; of the secondary wings, ta'»vny ash-grey, the anal angle ■with a fulvous patch. The fringe is pale, and the antennm blackish, ringed with pale yellow. The male is distinguished by having a conspicuous black oblique line on the disk of each of the anterior 'wings. The caterpillar, according to Hubner, is deep green with a dark line along the back, and two whitish lines on the sides margined ■with black. It feeds on the mountain hair -grass ( Aira montana J I k ■■ t :V I \ \ t;:: '^*. ■ ,v-Cc itSv 1- . . r -.Zhof ‘..K^ - • ■ '{ 'W *■ PLATE. 2. ♦ 1 Shipper 2. Pearl . '''h/iper. ?>. Swu/:a>y/,/\ 4 Sis ^-jmttetl Hurnet Hath h. Five spotted Burnet Moth . SMALL SKIPPER. J17 and other graminem. The chrysalis is of a yel- lowish-green colour. The fly appears in July, and is frequent in many parts of the country, both in England and Scotland. LARGE SKIPPER. Pamphila Sylvanus. PLATE II. Fig. 1. Hesperia Sylvanus, Fair. — Pap. Sylvanus, Lewin^ PI. 46, figs. 1 — 3; Z)o«.viU. PI. 254, fig.2(J. — The Large Skipper, Harris' Aurd, PL 42, f. h.~Pamphila Sylvanus, Steph. Expansion of the wings from fourteen to sixteen lines ; the colour fulvous, with the nervurcs and the hinder extremity of the wings brown, the latter colour deepening into a blackish line round the outer edge. The anterior wings have a few small quadrate fulvous spots in the dusky ground towards the tip, and the hinder pair very indistinct fulvous spots or clouds posteriorly, the colour sometimes difiused over a considerable portion of the disk. On the under side the upper wings are yellow, inclining to green at the tip, and dusky black at the base ; the superficial spots towards the apex some- times appearing, but very faintly marked. The Linder wings are greenish-yellow, with a curved series of pale quadrate spets, emarginate posteriorly, 118 LARGE SKIPPER. varying in size and colour, and even at times in their relative situation. The fringe is fulvous, the antenna with the club thick and terminating in an acute curved point. As in P. linea, the male has an oblique black streak on each of the upper wings, hut it is larger than in that species. The most common of the Skippers, occurring in tolerable plenty apparently throughout Britain on the borders of woods, moorlands, &c., from May to August. 119 PEARL SKIPPER. PampMa Comma. PLATE IL Fig. 2. Pap. Comma, Xfon. ; ietajM, PI. 45, fig. 1,2; Don.\x. PI. 295 5?. — Hesperia Comma, Fo5r. — Tbe Pearl Skipper, Harris.—. Silver-spotted Slupper, J&rmyn . — Pamphila Comma, Steph. About the size of the preceding, sometimes rather less : the male fulvous above, more or less suffused with brown towards the hinder margin of the wings, the disk of the primary pair with a linear black mark, having silvery scales in the centre, and be- yond this, towards the apex, a series of quadrate whitish spots forming an irregular semicircle : the hinder wings with irregular fulvous spots posteriorly, and the disk more or less suffused with fulvous. Beneath, the anterior wings are greenish-grey, the centre pale yellow, the apex with a series of white spots, corresponding in their position to those on the surface; the hinder wings greenish-grey, with nine white quadrangular spots, three of them grouped towards the base, the others forming a curved transverse hand. The fringe of all the wings is pale, spotted with brown at the base on 120 PEARL SKIPPER. the under side. The female is usually larger than the male, and destitute of the discoidal black line which is invariably a sexual distinction. In this sex also the spots are whiter, and in the anterior wings they form an irregular band extending across the surface ; while in the hinder pair they are edged >vith black and somewhat notched behind. The caterpillar is obscure green mixed with rust red, and having a series of black dots on the back and sides. The head and neck are black, the latter with a white ring. On the continent it is said to feed on the Coronilla varta, but in this country probably has recourse to diadelphous plants or grasses. By no means so generally distributed as the pre- ceding, but found in some plenty in certain places. Miss Jermyn mentions chalky soils near Lewes in Sussex, as having afforded it plentifully ; it like- wise occurs near Dover, in the neighboiurhood of London, in "Wiltshire, in Eoxburgh and Drunfries- shire, &c. Besides the above species of Hesperidas, it is now ascertained that the Pamphila Actwon has occa- sionally been found in the south of England. Not having seen examples of this insect, we subjoin Godart’s account of it ; from the localities he cites for it in France, it seems no way improbable that it should inhabit some parts of Britain. 121 PAMPHILA ACTjEON. Curtis' B. E. X. PI. 442. Is nearly intermediate between P. Linea and P. SylTcmus ; the surface fiilyous-brown, with a longi- tudinal ray, and a transverse arch of seven small spots of a lighter yellow towards the anterior edge of the upper mngs. In the middle each of these wings is marked with a black oblique line in the male ; and on each of the inferior wings of the female there is a mark similar to that just men- tioned. The primary vrings are fulvous beneath in both sexes, with the apex greyish-green, and pre- ceded by an arch of small pale spots, which are merely the repetition of those on the surface. The body is reddisli on the back, and whitish beneath ; the antenmn blackish and ringed with yellow, hav- ing the club ferruginous at the tip. “ Found in plenty at Lulworth; and I have heard that it has been found also at the Burning Cliff, near Weymouth.” J. C. Dale, Esq. in Lou- don’s Mag. We now come to the second great primary division of the Lepidopterous order, the Crepuscu- LARIA of LatreUle, characterised by the prismatic 122 CREPUSCULARIA. form of the anteimsB, and other distinctive marks alre.'■ i'. . 'iy. ■ ■ '■-.■• •'•'■*- CtTVi willo'vs. !,:, M, ‘.-r.,:-., , >i v ,r; ! - ?-r .ji >■•='■ '-- - KJLiUi.,::: c. .:,. r; it h 'tbiui'i 6O0US. rud?i.\.'I'jjV£.eii j iri ■.•■ly.-jfi'ry . --' PLATE 4. 1 Limr Unwk-mt^. 2./Wrrt ffmk-motJi . ?) . fMferpi/kir of ' Mowk-motft 131 LIME HAWK-MOTH. Smerinihus TUub. PLATE IV. Fig. 1. Si'hinx TUiir, Linn . ; Donman, x. Ph 325. — Olive Shades, oi ■■ Lime Hawk-moth, Wilkes, Pi. 23. — Lime Hawk-moth, Harris' Aurd. PI. 20. A VERY variable insect both in colour and the form of the markings : the anterior tvings are usually gi-ejish, with an interrupted band of olive-green or olive-brown in the middle, formed by two spots, of which the anterior one is the largest ; the outer mai'gin has a broad band of the same colour, edged externally with ferruginous, and having a w'hite mark at the tip of the wing. The lunder wings are grey, with an ill-defined brown band running obliquely from the anterior edge to the anal angle, where the colour deepens and sometimes becomes greenish. The thorax is marked with three longi- tudinal bands of ohve green which unite in front, and the abdomen generally has a green tinge. — The colour of the surface is occasionally obscure red, 5vith the outer extremity of the anterior wings and the central spots deep rust-red : at other times the 132 LIME HAWK-MOTH. two central spots are united, and sometimes one of them is wanting. . The caterpillar feeds on the lime, elm, birch, &c. It is pale-green, with seven oblique whitish stripes on each side bordered anteriorly with red or yellow. The head is smaller than in others of the genus, the body more attenuated in front, and there is a granu- lar protuberance over the anus*. The rarest of the three, being foimd only occa- sionally ; but it seems to be pretty generally distri- buted throughout England. It occurs near London more frequently than in most other places ; also near Exeter, York, &c. It does not seem to be a Scotch insect. Godavt’g PapUloia de France, iu. 67. PLATE o Ihoths k JtU'fh . e'.'- ' . • 133 DEATH’S-HEAD HAWK-MOTH. AeheroyUia Atropos. PLATE V. Sphinx Atropos, Linn. ; Donomn, ix. PI. 289, 290.— Jasmine Hawk-moth, Wilies, PI. 19. — Death’s Head, Harris.— Aoherontia Atropos, Ocksen. — Bee-Tiger Moth, Curtis, iv. PI. 147 i Stephens. , The shortness of the proboscis and antennae, the latter terminating in a kind of hook supporting a long hairy seta, and the entire margin of the wings without indentation or sinuosity, suffice to distin- guish Aoherontia from the genera with which it has long been associated. Other subordinate dis- tinctions are to be found in several peculiarities of structure, and the caterpillar, besides presenting some other differences in character and aspect, has the caudal horn thickly tuherculated. The only British species is the striking and well known insect above referred to. The expansion of the wings varies from four to five inches, and females have occasionally been found not much short of six inches in extent : it must therefore he considered not only as the largest of om Indigenous lepidoptera, but with one exception, the Peacock-moth f Sa- turnia Pavonia major J, the largest insect inhabiting Europe. The surface of the primary wings is daik- 134 death’s-head hawk-moth. brown, or blackish, powdered with white, and marked with several waved transverse stripes of deep black, and others of rust-red, the latter colour forming a series of dashes on the nervures at the hinder margin of the wings. Near the centre of each wdng there is a small round whitish spot. The secondary wings are deep yellow or ochreous, with two dark bands nearly parallel with the hinder margin and at some distance from it. The head and thorax are nearly of 'the same colour as the dark portion of the upper mngs ; the thorax bearing on its surface a large grey or yellowish spot, not unaptly representing a front view of a human skull or “ Death’s Head.” The abdomen is blackish, bluish-ash down the back, with yellow transverse spots on the sides of the segments. The antennm are whitish at the tip, and the tarsi ringed with white. The caterpillar, which is sometimes five inches in length, is of a fine yellow, with seven oblique green bands on each side and a longitudinal series of blue spots on the back, which besides is spotted with black and granulated. It is generally found on the potato and common jasmine, but like^vise feeds on a variety of other plants of very dissimilar qualities. The insect w'as formerly very scarce in this country, but since the cultivation of the potato became general, it has increased considerably. The caterpillar, however, occurs much more frequently than the moth, and as it very often dies before completing its transformations, indigenous sped- death’s-head hawk-moth. 135 mens of the perfect ■ insect are still regarded by collectors as a desirable acquisition. The cater- pillars are usually full gro^vn about the middle of August, when they bury themselves in the earth and form an oval cell in which they imdergo their destined changes. Tire moth seldom appears before the end of September ; it conceals itself in some obscure place during the day, and appears on the wing only in the morning and evening tmlight. In the southern parts of England, a considerable number of specimens are found annu- ally ; and although it becomes yarer in the north, it has been observed not imfrequently both in the north of England and in Scotland. In the latter country we have seen examples from Ayrshire, Perthshire, the vicinity of Jedburgh, and Mid- lothian, and have heard of their occurrence in many other places. Over foreign lands the Death’s-head Hawk-moth has a wide range of distribution. It occurs in con- siderable abundance in all the southern countries of Europe, in the two extremities of Africa, and in the Isle of Fmnoe. In the latter country, according to St. Pierre, a belief prievails that the dust cast fi'ora its wings, in fljing through an apartment, produces blindness if it happen to fall upon the eyes. 'The great size of this creature, its remarkable appearance, the “ grim feature” stamped upon its thorax, together with the power it possesses of emitting a plaintive and mournful cry, have con- spired to render it an object of alarm to the 136 death’s-head hawk-moth. ignorant and superstitious. We are told by Reau- mur that they once appeared in great abundance in some districts of Bretagne, and produced great trepidation among the inhabitants, who considered them to he the forerunners and even the cause of epidemic diseases and other calamities. “ A letter is now before me,” says Mr. Knapp, “ from ' a correspondent in German Poland, where this insect is a common creature, and so abounded in 1824, that my informant collected fifty of them in the potato-fields of his village, where they call them the “ Death's-head Phantom,” the “ Wan- dering Death -bird,” &c. The markings on its back represent to these fertile imaginations the head of a perfect skeleton, uith the limh-hones crossed beneath; its cry becomes the voice of anguish, the moaning of a child, the signal of grief; it is regarded not as the creation of a benevolent being, but the device of evil spirits — spirits enemies to man, conceived and fabricated in the dark ; the very shining of its eyes is thought to represent the fiery element, whence it is supposed to have pro- ceeded. Flying into their apartments in the evening, it at times extinguishes the light, foretelling war, pestilence, hunger, death, to man and beast*.” The sound alluded to, which seems to be peculiar to this species among lepidopterous insects, has often attracted the notice of observers, but they have hitherto been unable to determine satisfactorily in what manner it is produced. As it is impos- * Journal of a Naturalist, page 327. DEAXn’S-nEAD aA-WTC-MOTH. 137 sible, from the nature of their organization, that any insect can he possessed of a genuine voice, it has been conjectured that the noise is occasioned hy the friction of one organ against another, as is well kno'wn to be the case ■with many beetles, grass- hoppers, &c. Reaumur and others accordingly ascribe it to the reciprocal action of the trunk and palpi ; but the sound having been found to continue after these organs were cut off, it must evidently have some other origin. Under the idea that it was connected with the motion of the wings, another observer was led to conceive that its source was two concave scales placed at the base of these appendages, against which the air is forcibly pro- pelled by their rapid motion. M. Lorey, a French physician, maintains that the stridulation in question is produced by the escape of air from a trachea placed on each side of the base of the abdomen, which, when the animal is in a state of repose, are closed by a fascicle of fine hairs. A more recent writer, M. Duponchel, controverts all these state- ments, and gives it as his opinion that the noise is emitted from the intenor of the head, in which there is a cavity communicating with the trunk, and near which are placed the muscles by which the latter is put in motion. As M. Lorey, however, affirms that he has heard the sound after the head was ampu- tated, and M. Duponchel makes the same assertion in relation to the abdomen, these various opinions must be considered as irreconcilable, and the matter left to be decided by future investigation. 138 death’s-head hawk-moth. The celebrated JI. Iliiber, and some other na- turalists, afifirm that this insect is in the habit of entering the hives of the common domestic bee, where it takes np its abode for a time, and regales itself on the honey. That it should be attracted by the smell of the honey, and even enter the hive in search of it, might have been expected from die predilection which most lepidopterous insects show for that kind of food ; but it is not easy to under- stand how a creature without offensive weapons, and unprotected by any hard covering, can either resist or survive the attacks of so many armed assailants. This difficulty is increased when we consider the result of one of M. Hiiber s experi- ments : on introducing a Death’s-head moth into a box where a colony of humble bees ( Bombtis Mus- corum ) had established themselves, it was imme- diately attacked, and so severely stung that it died shortly after ; yet the sting of this insect is by no means so formidable as that of the honey bee. There is very litde probability in M. Huber’s con- jectm'e, that the hostility of this irritable race may be disarmed by the stridulous sound emitted by die moth, wliich he supposes may possibly have an effect similar to that produced by the queen. In this countiy the moth is never likely to become so plentiful as to occasion much damage ; ^t any rate, an effectual remedy may be easily applied, by cover- ing the opening into the hive ivith a wre grating, having the apertures of such a size as to admit no larger object than the proper inmates. 139 Genus SPHINX. The above tenn, as has been already noticed, was long employed as the generic designation of all the Hawk-moths properly so called, but is now restricted to such as present the following characters : — An- tennae rather long, slightly increasing in thickness from before the middle nearly to the apex, but scarcely or not at all clavate ; the apex slender, hooked, and terminating in a long scaly seta; proboscis very long, slender, and convoluted ; abdomen elongate- conic, without any tuft at the apex. The palpi are three-jointed, very obtuse, the second joint being large and oval, and the third minute and depressed. The caterpillars are generally green or brownish, >vith oblique or longitudinal lateral stripes of yellow, and having the caudal horn long, acute, and curved. The pupa is subterranean; the abdomen of the perfect insect ornamented with transverse bands The first species we have to describe is that named 140 PRIVET HAWK-MOTH. Sphinx L^tistn. PLATE IV. Fig. 2. 3pliinx Ugustri, Lirm. ; Donovan, viii. PL 84.— .Privet Havrk- moth, Willxs, Harris, The Privet Hawk-moth generally measures from tliree and a half to four and a half inches across the wings ; the upper pair ash-grey, slightly tinged with rose-colour, and marked with irregular black veins; the hinder portion of the wings obscure brouTi, and the hinder margin bearing two whitish, flexuous lines, on a greyish ground, which unite near the apex. The surface of the hinder uings is of a fine rose-colour, traversed by three black bands, that next the base being short mid placed nearly at right angle ivith the others, which are parallel with the hinder margin ; the latter tinged with broivn. The fringe surrounding the wings is greyish, inc linin g to red. The thorax is dark brown, greyish posteriorly, and white with a rosy tinge on the sides ; the abdomen purple or deep rose-colour, nith black bands, interrupted in the middle by a PRIVET HAWK-MOTH. Ml broad longitudinal broivn stripe, having a narrow black Une down the middle. The caterpillar is one of the most beautiful be- longing to this tribe. It is of large size, and of a fine apple-green colour, ornamented with seven oblique stripes on each side of the body, purple anteriorly, and white behind. The stigmata are orange-yellow, and the caudal horn yellow on the under side and black above. Its ordinary food is the leaves of the common privet, but it likewise consumes the different kinds of lilac C Syringae ), the ash, the elder, and \axac\'( Daphne laureola). It generally changes into a chrysalis in the month of August, but occasionally at a much earlier period, as the moth has been sometimes observed on the wing in July. It constructs no cocoon properly so called, but merely forms an oval chamber in the earth, the sides of which it consolidates by the pressure of its body, and by uniting the particles by means of a glutinous secretion discharged fi’om the mouth. It is of not unfirequent occurrence in many parts of the south of England, especially in Cambridge- shire and the counties adjoining, but becomes rarer in the north, and is seldom noticed in Scotland although it occurs occasionally. It aboimds in many parts of the continent. 142 UNICORN HAWK-MOTa Sphi?a Convolvuli. PLATE VI. Bpliituc Convolvuli, Lion. ; Donovan, vii. PI. 228 and 229.— Unicorn or Bindweed Hawk-moth, Wittes . — Unicom or Convolvulus Hawk-moth, Harris . — Sphinx h comes d» Boeuf, Geoff., Godart. The surface of the primary tvings in this fine species is greyish-ash colour, clouded tvith brown and black, and marked with a few narrow lines or streaks of deep black. The secondary wmgs are also greyish, and traversed by three dark-coloured bands, the anterior one bent towards the body, the second oblique and somewhat double, the third widened externally and nearly parallel with the hinder margins. The fiinge surrounding the wings is wiiite interrupted with brown. The thorax is nearly of the same colour as the upper wings, marked with two dark indistinct lines, somewhat' in the shape of a horse-shoe, and having a bluish spot behind, with a red one adjoining. The abdomen is ringed alternately with black and red, inclining PLATE. 6. Utuami Hawk moth Ln/irs sc UNICOHN HAWK-MOTH. 143 to rose-colour, tlie red bands margined with wliite anteriorly, and there is a broad grejnsli stripe down the back divided in the middle by a black line. The antennsB are whitish, a.s well as the under side of the body, the latter haring two black spots in the middle of the belly. The expansion of the wings is about four inches and a half. The caterpillar is very variable in colour and markings. It is most commonly of a bright green, (as represented on PI. vi. fig. 2.), with black or brown spots on the back, and oblique yellow stripes on the sides ; the latter, however, are sometimes black, and examples are occasionally found in which the whole body is bron-n. The stigmata are usually of some colour contrasting with the rest of the body ; most commonly they are hlack or pink. It feeds on the indigenous species of convolvulus, particularly C. Septum, It generally assumes the pupa state about the end of July, the moth appear- ing in September ; but if the larva be not fuQ gro\vn till a later period, the perfect insect is not disclosed till the ensuing May or Jime. The Unicom or Bindweed Hawk-moth, termed by a French naturalist the Ox-homed Sphinx, on account of the thickness and rigidity of its antennm, is by no (means an insect of common occurrence in Britain, but it seems to be distributed over the whole island. It has been found in the northern extremity of Scotland, as w'ell as in several of the southern counties, and numerous localities have been cited for it in most parts of England. Godart PLATE 7. '*..\foihlrr Mawh muth I',.. i , I'wr Hawk moth UNIOOBN HA^VK-MOTH. 145 The caterpillar is at first yellowish-broTO, but afterwards becomes green, with two longitudinal stripes of lemon-yellow on each side, a brown dorsal band and numerous fine black lines across the back. The anterior legs are yellow, the membranous ones of a whitish colour, and the stigmata yellow sur- rounded by a black ring. The caudal horn is like- wise black. On the continent, in several parts of which it is a common insect, it feeds chiefly on the (Pinus pinaster). In this country it is said to frequent the spruce and Scotch fir. The moth is very rare in Britain, Colney Hatch "Wood and the neighbourhood of Esher being probably the only localities in which it has been observed. It certainly was never taken in Ravelston Wood, near Edinburgh, by Mr. Wilson of the College, as intimated by Dr. Leach, and it is probably through some inadvertence that he states it to have beeji taken there by himself. K ]46 Genus DEILEPHILA. The species included under tliis appellation, which is derived from the Greek, and means Lovers of Evening, were first dissevered from their associates by Hubner, chiefly on account of the form of the antenna?, which are rather short, thickening at the apex so as to fonn a distinct club, and having the terminal hook ending in a naked suhulated seta. The proboscis is long and spiral, hut in general it is shorter than in the preceding genus. The abdomen is comparatively short and of a conical shape. . The anterior wings are not very acute at the apex, the hinder margin slightly and regularly rounded, with- out any sinuosity. The caterpillars are similar in shape to those of the genus Sphinx, hut their colours are distributed in spots ; the anterior seg- ments are not retractile. The pupa is always more or less covered with soil. The abdomen of the perfect insects is banded transversely at the base, the other bands interrupted on the back and forming only lateral spots. THE MADDER HAWK-MOTH. DeUephila Galii, PLATE VII. Fig. 2. k Stephens' lUus. i. 125, PI. 12, fig. 2. — Spliinx Galii, Hvbmr, Godart . — Spotted Elephant Caterpillar, Harris' Aurel. Nearly the same size as X). Eupkorlice, to which it hears so much resemhlance in other respects, that Linnaeus supposed it to he a mere variety of that species. Tlie upper Mings are olive-brown or greenish, with the posterior border cinereous, and a yellowish band, irregular anteriorly and somewhat sinuated belund, extending from near the base to the apex. The hinder nings are dull red, Avith the base and a posterior band black, and there is a white spot on the anal angle. The colour of the thorax and the markings on the abdomen resemble those of D. Eup/iorlicB, with this difference that the breast and belly are tinged Avith green, and the abdomen has a series of small Avhite spots doAvn the back. The caterpillar is described as of a bronzed green colour, Avith a yellow hne along the back, and a roAV 14S THE MADDER HAMTC -MOTH. of oral yellow spots, bordered ^vith black on each side. The anterior legs are black, and the mem- branous legs of a delicate rose-colour. Its food consists of different kinds of Galium, particularly Galium vermn (yellow lady’s-bedstraw), and G. nwllugo (wild madder). This insect is found in most parts of Europe, but it seems to prefer a southern climate, as it is scarce in most northern countries, and becomes rare even in the latitude of Paris. In Britain it has been occasionally observed in the vicinity of London ; also in Kent, Devonsliire, and Cornwall. “ Isle of Wight, and the neighbourhood of Warwick,” Entom. Mag. Two specimens were taken in the garden at Tvvizel by Mr. Selby in the autumn of 1834 ; and it has likeAvise occurred at Cramond near Edin- burgh. .. /.f ;■ A' '■ ^patted EUjilumt. ffn»k molJi , I.hinr.1 sc PLATE 8. 149 SPOTTED ELEPHANT HAWK-MOTH. DeilepTula Eupharhue. PLATE VIII. Sphinx Eupliorhite, Linn.; Donovan, iii. PI. 91, 92 Deile- phila Euphorbiso, Curtis' Ji. E. i. PI. 3 Spotted Elephant Hawk-moth, Harris' Aurelian, PI. 44. The primary wings, wHch expand from two and a half to nearly three inches, are of a dusky-green colour, with a broad irregular rosy fascia running obliquely from the hinder margin near the base to the apex ; the posterior margin of a similar colour, but somewhat dusky; the iimer margin narrowly edged tvith white. The under tvings are red, in- clining to rose-colour, with a wltite mark on the anal angle, the base and a transverse band being black. The head and antennae are white, the thorax dusky or olive-green on the surface ; the abdomen likewise of the latter colour, >\ith the sides of the three first segments white, the two next the base with deep black spots, the remaining segments narrowly edged with white anteriorly at the sides. The whole of the imder side is rose-colour, somewhat clouded ] 50 SPOTTED ELEPHANT HA'WK MOTH. and obscured with dusky, and having a large dark- coloured spot near the middle of the upper wings. The caterpillar varies considerably in appearance, according to its age. In its mature state, when nearly ready to be transformed into a chrysalis, it is black, with numerous slightly elevated wliite or yellowish points disposed in transverse lines placed close to each other, and three longitudinal rows of rounded spots on each side, the spots in the central row, which are much smaller than the others, and those of the upper row, being cream-coloured, and the lower one bright red : the head, a line along the back, and the legs, are of the latter colour. The cypress-leaved spurge C Euphorhia cyparistias ) is the favourite plant of this beautiful caterpillar ; it likewise feeds on Euphorhia emla and E. Panra- k’ow (sea spurge), but seems to reject several other kinds, although the qualities of all may be presumed to be nearly the same. This must be regarded as a rare and local insect in Britain. The locality that has afforded the largest supply of specimens is in the vicinity of Barnstaple, in Devonshire, where it was procured in some plenty by Mr. Raddon. “ That gentle- man,” says Mr. Curtis, “ visited occasionally the extensive sand-hills at Appledore and Braunton Burrows near Barnstaple, where Euphorhia Para- lias grows in great abundance; and from the size and beauty of the caterpillar it would be imagined that it might readily be found ; but in the young state they are not easily discoverable; and when SPOTTED ELEPHANT HAWK-MOTH. 151 more adyanced, they become so conspicuous that their numbers are reduced by marine birds that feed upon them. Sometimes they may be traced by their soil, at other times they may be seen far from the spot where they fed, at the extremity of a tall rush. They are full gro^vn about the middle of September, when they descend into the sand and change into chrysalides, forming a loose case of earth around them, from which they emerge the beginning of the following June. Sometimes, how- ever, they remain in the pupa state two seasons, as many other Lepidoptera do ; — a wise provision of Nature to prevent any accident from destroying the whole brood. The sand-hills where the larva is found are of great extent and magnitude, and must have been collected by the winds and storms to which they are constantly ' exposed : during the winter the whole soil is frequently removed, so as completely to alter the surface of the country ; a great number of the pupa must consequently be destroyed or buried at a great depth below the surface, where probably they lie hid until they are brought to light and life by the influence of the elements*.’’ * Curtis’ British Ent. i. p. 3. J52 RAYED HAWK-MOTH. DeUepliUa Lineata, Steph. Ulus. Haus. i. 126, PI. 12, fig. 1.— Sphinx lineata, Fabru ciw5.— Sphinx Livornica, Hvbner and Esper. Larger than either of the preceding, but not strikingly dissimilar, the colours being distributed somewhat after the same manner. The upper wings are olive-brown, traversed by seven white nervures, and having an angular patch of the same colom in the centre of each : the hinder border is cinereous and somewhat shining, and a yellowish band com- mences at the origin of the internal border and runs obliquely along the wing to the apex. The hinder wings and the thorax are nearly as in D. Galii ; but the thorax bears two white rays in the centre, which are abbreviated and convergent in front. The abdomen is olive-brown, each of the segments with a white border anteriorly, which is spotted with black. The antennee are brown, with the tip white. The caterpillar, which seems not to have been hitherto noticed in this country, is described by the continental naturalists as yellow inclining to olive, RAYED HAWK-MOTH. 153 with the head, a dorsal line, and two rows of large points along the side, rose-colour. The caudal horn is of that colour on the upper side, and black beneath. The belly is white. It feeds on the yellow lady’s-bedstraw and a common kind of thistle, the Sonchus arvensis. It undergoes its first trans- formation towards the end of July, and the moth is usually disclosed in about thirty days. “ D. lineata is unquestionably rare in England,” says htr. Stephens, “ and few collectors can boast the possession of specimens ; it has, howerer, been captured in distant parts ; the Rev. T. Skrimshire possesses a specimen which I believe was caught in Norfolk, and Mr. Dale has one which he obtained from Dr. Abbott’s cabmet, also found eastward ; in June, 1824, a beautiful and perfect specimen was taken off the mast of the Ramsgate steam-vessel at Billingsgate, and last year a wasted one was foiuid near Bethnal-green ; in addition to the above, three specimens were formerly taken near Kingsbridge in Devonshire, one of which I possess through the kindness of Dr. Leach. The above are the only indigenous examples I have seen, all the remainder which are placed in collections for this species being D. Daucus, a native of North America*.” * Illustr. of British Ent. ( Haust.J, i. 127. 154 Genus METOPSILUS*. Tue characters presented by several species hitherto associated mth the preceding group, are sufficiently distinct to entitle them to he ranked at least as a separate sub-genus. The antenn® are hut slightly clavate, the anterior ivings very acute at the apex, ■with a slight sinuosity or emargination on the hinder margin just below the tip, which gives them a some- what falcate shape ; the inner margin like'wise deeply emarginate behind the middle. The larva offer several very distinctive marks, particularly that of having the anterior segments very much at- tenuated, and capable of being drawn within each other ; a peculiarity which has caused them, as was formerly noticed, to he named Chenillei Cochmnes by French naturalists, because the head and neck hear some resemblance to a pig’s snout. These caterpillars are not distinguished by great brilliancy or variety of colours, being chiefly brown and green, with a white lateral line extending from the anal horn to the third or fourth segment, and they have invariably two or three large eye-like spots on each side either of the second, third, fourth, or fifth * From fiiTurn the front, and attenuated, slender, referring to the form of the eaterpUlaj. METOPSILUS. 155 segments. The caudal liom is short, very slightly bent, sometimes almost obsolete. The chrysalis is enclosed in a loose cocoon formed of leaves, and is never hurled beneath the soil. The perfect insects are very heantiftdly coloured, and it is observable that the abdomen is alwayn longitudinally or obliquely striped, an arrangement different from what ob- tains in the two preceding genera, which have that part of the body ornamented with transverse bands sometimes of different colours. Viewed in relation to the form of the larvae, as well as to the appearance of the perfect insects, the species which we have placed together, under the above name, form a very natural group. OLEANDER HAWK-MOTH. Metopsilus Nerii. PLATE IX. Sphinx Nerii, Linn,~~-RoseVs Insecten-^helustigun^y vol. iii. tab. xv. larva xvi. imago.— Sphinx du Laurier-roae, Godart ; Fap, de France^ vol. iii., Crqf)u$ctdaires^ p. 12. The primary wings of this conspicuous and elegant species expand upwards of tour inches. The surface is of a fine deep olive-green, variously shaded with white and rose-colour, distributed in undulating lines and transverse streaks. At the orighi of each of the upper wings there is a whitish spot with a dot in the centre and a small transverse streak of olive-green; beyond this are three whitish waved lines running somewhat obliquely across the surface, dilated at the inner margin into a rose-colotned patch, succeeded by a broad oblique rosy band extending from one side of the wing to the otlier ; beyond this there is a broad patch of a violet-colour boimded anteriorly by a white zigzag line, and surmounted by tw'o whitish curved lines drawn to the anterior edge ; the apex bears a white figure having some resemblance to the letter Y reversed. - ' ■ ■■, ^ ■' I'-' ..'i-' j- -• - ii OLEANDER HAWK-AIOTH. 157 Tlie under mugs are dusky fi'ora tlie base nearly to the middle, and green on tbe binder border, the two colours separated by a white waved band, extending from the anal angle to the anterior edge. Tlie thorax is deep green, mth a pale cross line hi front ; the abdomen likewise green, whitish on the first and second segments, and liaving oblique olive- coloured streaks on the sides of tlie others. When the caterpillar is full groivn, it is green or greyish-green, viith the four anterior segments pale yellow ; a wHte line along each side, extending from the fourth segment to the anal horn and numerous white dots scattered over the surface. On each side of the third segment tliere is a large blue eye- shaped spot with a double white pupil and a black iris. Tlie anal horn, which is short and decumbent, is ochreous ; tlie anterior legs blue ; and the mem- branous ones green with the extremity yeUow. Tlie head is green, the stigmata black bordered ivith yellow. When immature the colour of this cater- pillar is sometimes a pretty uniform ochreous yellow, and in all cases, a few days before it becomes a pupa, the four anterior segments and the anal one assume the colour just mentioned, while the re- maining parts of the body become dusky black, the wliite lateral line, dots, and oceUated spots always, however, remaining unchanged. Its appropriate food is the leaves of the shrub named Nerium oleander, nor has it recourse to any other when that can be obtained. As that plant, however, is not a native of this country, nor of the north of Germany 158 OLEANDER HAWK-MOTH. and some other parts of the continent M’here the insect is found, it no douht feeds on others of more common occturence, perhaps, as has heen conjec- tured, the Vinca tnajor, V. minor, or some species of Cymnchum, all of which belong to the same natural family of Apocyncw* This magnificent moth, wliich we have now the pleasure to figure for the first time as a British species, has been taken at least on two dilferent occasions in this country; once in the vicinity of Dover, as intimated by Mr. Stephens in the Ento- mological Magazine for October 1832 ; and a second time, in the larva state, in a garden at Teignmouth, Devon, in the autumn of the same year.t As the insect is occasionally found in the neighbouring continental countries, extending as far northwards as the northern regions of Germany, the propriety of admitting it into our native Fauna cannot be attended ■with the same doubts that apply to such kinds as have their principal seat in the new world. It is strictly a European species, and from what we know of its occurrence elsewhere, it might reason- abl}' be inferred tliat the southern parts of England should fall ■within the range of its distribution. It is observed from time to time in tlie vicinity of Paris, but its principal resort seems to be the neighbour- hood of Genoa, Turin, and Nice, where it is said to be common. Loudon’s Mag. of Nat. Hist. v. 155, + Ent. Mag. ii. p. 116, Suijr.^'.iV. ■^haifi winji^u! Htink molh. 159 SHARP-WINGED HAWK-MOTH. Metopsilus Cderio, PLATE X. Sphinx Celerio, Linn , ; jDonouaw, vi. PI. 190 and 191.— Deile- phila Celerio, Stephens. Expansion of the -vnngs two inches eight lines in the male, about three inches in the female; the upper wings greyish inclining to broivn, marked with black hues and a few whitish streaks, and having a white hand commencing at the inner margin near the base and terminating in a point at the apex ; the outer margin is pale grey, and there is a small black spot on the disk near the centre. The surface of the hinder wings is deep rose-colour at the base, the rest greyish slightly tinged with red, with two oblique black hands, between which the nervures are black ; the hinder margin pale- grey. The body is brownish on the back, ivith two white streaks from the anterior part of the head along each side of the thorax ; the latter with tw'o additional longitudinal stripes of yellow towards the middle ; the abdomen having a silvery white line ICO SHARP- WINGED HAWK-MOTH. down tlie centre, and a row of small spots on each side of it from the third segment to the apex. The caterpillar varies in colour, but is most com- monly brown, with two yellow lines on each side, the lower one composed of crescent-shaped spots and passing over the stigmata, the other com- mencing on the sixth segment and extending to the hinder extremity. The fourth and fifth seg- ments are ornamented nith two large ocelli, having a white pupil and a yellow iris. The ordinary food of this larva is the common vine (Fith Vini- fera ), a circumstance winch, taken in connexion ■with its rare occurrence in Britain, has occasioned considerable doubts as to its being an aboriginal native of this countiy. On the continent, however, it is known likewise to feed on the yellow lady’s- bedstraw ( Galium wt'um ), and it is not improbable that it can subsist, like the majority of its tribe, on several other plants. At the same time it appears properly to belong to a southern latitude, as it is not found in any considerable numbers except in the south of Emope, and its chief residence is the island of Teneriffe and the Cape of Grood Hope. It has occurred near Oxford, Wisbeach, in the Isle of Ely, and a few other places. .vr PLATE 11 I . 2. ..W/ £l,-phn„tir,u,k -,ru:ri,. T>. 0„erpM,r of J) i 161 ELEPHANT HAWK-MOTH. Melopsihts Elpenor. PLATE XI. Fig. 1. Spliiivx Elpenor, Linn.; Doncmm, iv. PI. 122. — Deileph Elpe- nor, Curtis, Elephant, ffarris’ Aurel. PI. vil — The Lady’s-beitraw or Elephant-moth, WUkes, 26. In this species the ■wings expand from two inches to two and three-quarters ; the upper pair olive- brown inclining to olive-green, with the anterior edge, two oblique bands (the first abbreviated), and the hinder margin rose-red tinged with purple and somewhat shining ; the posterior edge is white, anc there is a minute dot of that colour on the disk of each. The liinder wings are dusky at the base and reddish-purple posteriorly, the fringe pure white, that of the anterior ■\vings being red. The body is olivaceous above, with numerous stripes of deep rose-colour ; one over each eye, four curved ones on the thorax, and another do-wn the back of the abdomen ; the sides of the latter and the belly are likewise rose-red with a series of whitish spots on each side of the segments. On each side of the abdomen, towards the origin of the secondary -wings L 162 ELEPHANT HAWK-MOTH. there is a rounded dusky spot, and a mark of the saihe colour is ohsen'ahle on the base of the primary wings. The legs are white, brownish internally. After the second change of skin the caterpillar is brown, with sis oblique rays and the sides of the breast greyish. The fourth and fifth segments have ^ a round black spot on each side, with a lunule in the centre, the edges of which are white inclining to violet, and the middle olive-brown. When young, the whole body is green, a colour which it occa- sionally retains throughout, and in such cases the ohUque rays are black instead of grey. It frequents different kinds of willow herb f Epildbium J, lady’s- bedstraw, the common vine, &c. (PI. xi. fig. 2.) Tliis is by far the most common species of Ilawk- moth inhabiting Britain, as it occurs in some plenty in most parts of England, especially in the south, and we once found numerous specimens at the base of Salisbury Craigs near Edinburgh, and have seen others from different quarters of Scotland. It is likewise a well knovra insect throughout the con- tinental parts of Eiuope. 1G3 SMALL ELEPHANT HAWK-MOTH. Metopsilus PorceUits. PLATE XI. Fig. 2. Sphinx Porcellus, Linn. ; Donovan^ ix. PL 314. — Small Ele- phant Hawk-moth, WUkes^ PL 16 ; Hanis. — Deileph. Por- ccllus, Curtis^ StepheTis, The smallest British species of the genus, the ex- pansion of the wings being usually about twenty lines. The upper nings are chiefly ochrey yellow, variegated with purple, the outer extremity with a purple band dentated on the inner side. The imder wings are blacki.sh anteriorly and purple behind, the intermediate space yellowish ; the fringe of aU the wings is white, with a few irregular purple spots. The body is entirely deep rose-colour or piuplish, the back occasionally tinged with greenish-yellow. The caterpillar resembles that of D. Elpenor, and feeds on similar plants, the yellow lady’s-bed- straw and narrow-leaved willow herb ( E. Angusti- folium ), being its favourite repast. It is sometimes greenish, but more commonly broAvn, with three ocelllfonn spots on each side, ha^ung a wliite pupil and a red iris. Tlie anal horn is very minute. The moth is not so plentiful as the preceding, but it has, 164 SMALL ELEPHANT HAWK- MOTH. occurred in so many difFerent localities, that it must be pretty generally distributed over England. Tbe neigbbourbood of Birmingbam, Salisbmy, and Lon- don, bave at times afforded it in some plenty. HUMMING-BIRD HAWK-MOTH. Macroyhssa SteUatarum, PLATE XII. Fig. 1. Sphinx Stellatanim, Xf««n . ; Donovan^y\\, PI. 155.— Humming- bird Sphinx, Harris^ Aurel. PI. 24.— Macro. SteUatarum, Ocksen., Stephens, The present genus and that immediately following, are at once distinguisbed from tbe other Ilawk- motbs by having a tuft of scaly hairs at tlie extre- mity of tbe abdomen. Macroglossa is fiu-ther cha- racterized by having the short abdomen strongly tufted on tbe sides, the wings opaque, and tbe suctorial trunk of great length, at least equal to that of tbe body, — a circumstance w'bich has sug- gested the generic name*. Tlie only species found in Europe is that represented on tbe adjoining plate. It measures from twenty to twenty-four lines between tbe tips of the anterior wings, which are of a dusky brown, with several tran.sverse waved bands, most of them obsolete, except two near tbe middle, which are of a deep black, with a dot of tbe same colour in tbe space between. The hinder * From long, and the tongue. I t' . nUJIMING-BIRD UAWK-MOTH. 165 wings are rust-yellow, sliglitly suffused with dusky before and behind. The body is nearly coniolorous with the upper ^vings, and the abdomen is variegated with tufts of black and wdiite at the sides of the segments, the anal tuft being black. The ground colour of the caterpillar is green, sprinkled with numerous white points, and having two w'hite rays along the sides. The anal horn is rather long and acute, perfectly straight, yellowish at the tip and blue at the base ; the membranous legs each marked with a sinning black lunule, the coronet of spines of a rosy tint. (PI. xii. fig. 2.) It feeds on verticillate or stellate plants (whence the specific name), and is most commonly found on lady’s-bedstraw and goosegrass C Galium verum and G. aparirwj. It sometimes enters the earth when about to be transformed, and at other times con- structs a cocoon on the surface, composed of par- ticles of earth, pieces of leaves, or portions of the stems of plants. This curious insect is of frequent occurrence in most parts of England, and is found occasionally in the southern and even the more northern counties of Scotland. It frequents gardens and cultivated grounds, appearing on the wing in the morning and afternoon, and concealing itself among the foliage during the heat of the day. It darts about from flow'er to flower with amazing rapidity, and poises itself, like a Humming-bird, over the blossoms, till it extracts their nectareous juices by means of its long spiral proboscis. While thus suspended, the 166 HUMMING-BIRD IIAIVK MOTH. vibration of the nings is so rapid as to occasion a considerable humming noise, whence it has been termed the Humming-bird Hawk-moth. The fol- lowing is an agreeable and accurate accoimt of its manners : — “ Tlie Humming-bird Hawk-moth visits us annually, and occasionally in some numbers, fi-isking about aU the summer long, and in very fine seasons continues with us as late as the second week in October. Tlie vigilance and animation of this creature are surprising, and seem to equal those of its namesake, the splendid meteoric bird of the tropics, ‘ that winged thought,’ as some one has called itj though our plain and dusky insect can boast none of its glorious hues. Our Uttle sphuix appears cliiefly in the mornings and evenings of the day, rather avoiding the heat of the mid-day sun, possibly aroused from its rest by the scent, that ‘ aromatic soul of flowers,' which is principally exhaled at these periods ; delighting in the jasmine, marvel of Peru, phlox, and such tubular flowers ; and it will even insert its long, flexible tube into every petal of the carnation, to extract the honey- like liquor it contains. It nnll visit our geraniums and greenhouse plants, and, w'hisking over part of them with contemptuous celerity, select some com- posite flower that takes its ftincy, and examine every tube with rapidity, hovering over its disk with quivering wings, wliile its fine hawk-Uke eyes survey all surrounding dangers. The least move- ment alarms it, and it darts away with the speed of an arrow ; yet returns, and with suspicious vigilance HUMMING-BIRO HAMTK-MOTH. 167 continues its employ, feeding always on the wing. Nature seems to have given this creature some essential requisites for its safety ; its activity, when on the wing, renders its capture difficult ; and when it rests, it is on a wall, the hark of a tree, or some dusky body, that assimilates so nearly to its own colour, as to render it almost invisible, though W'atched to its settlement : the larva is seldom found. "We sometimes see it enter our rooms, attracted by flowers in the open windows ; but it seems to be immediately aware of its danger, dis- appears in an instant, and is safe from capture. Wild and fearful as this creature is by nature, yet continued gentle treatment will remove much of its timidity and render it familiar to our presenee. Perfectly free from any annoyance as they are when ranging from sweet to sweet on my borders, and accustomed to a close inspection of aU their opera- tions, I have frequently touched their wings with my fingers, while hovering over a flower, and dip- ping their long tubes into the corolla of a geranium : they would retire a little, confused with such free- doms and interruptions, but, experiencing no harm, they would return and finish their meal, unmindiul of such petty annoyances. I Imve known this creature, like some other insects, counterfeit death when apprehensive of danger, fall on its back, and appear in all respects devoid of life when in a box ; and, as soon as a fit opportunity arrived, dart away with its usual celerity * Journal of a Naturalist, p. 284. 168 BROAD-BORDERED BEE HAWK-MOTH. Sesia Fudformis. PLATE XII. Fig. 3. Spliinx Fuciformis, Finn. ; Donovan, iii. PI. 87 Sesia Bom- bylifonnis, Stephens' lUus Clear-winged Humming-bird Sphinx, Harris. To the short and robust body of the preceding genus, Sesia adds the distinctive character of clear transparent -nings ; and is easily distinguished from the two following genera, with which it has tins property in common, by the ovate hairy abdomen and sphinx-like form, as well as by the caudal horn of the caterpillar. Tire antennre thicken from the base nearly to the apex, which terminates in an oblique two-jointed seta ; and the proboscis is very long and spiral. The species named fuciformis, from the resemblance of the body to that of a drone- bee, expands from eighteen to upwards of twenty lines. The colour of the body is yellowish or olive- green, the third and fourth segments of the abdo- men deep-red, and the two following yellow ; the tuft at the extremity black at the sides, and yellow in the middle. The wings are vitreous and irides- BEOAD-BOEDERED BEE HAWK-MOTH. 169 cent, with, the nerrures, a band round the outer margin, and a discoidal streak on the upper pair, purplish-bro^vn ; the base more or less tinged with green. The antennae are hlue-hlack. The caterpillar feeds on the honeysuckle and yellow bedstraw. It is pale green, with the legs, imder side of the body, and anal horn, reddish brorni; the stigmata black, with a white centre. The perfect insect is foimd occasionally in Kent, Surrey, Essex, and other southern cotmties, and was once taken, as mentioned by Mr Stephens, in con- siderable plenty near York, by W. C. Hewitson, Esq. This seems to be nearly its northern limit, as neither it nor the foUo'wing species, as far as we know, have hitherto been detected in Scotland. NARROW-BORDERED BEE HAWK-MOTH. Sesta Bonih^H/ormis, PLATE XII. Fig. 4. Seeia Bombyliformis, Fair, ; ffatcorth's Lep. Brit. p. G8.~ Curtis' B, E. i. 40.-~Sesia Fucifoimis, Stephens' Ulus . — Sphinx Fuciformis, Ochsen. In this species, which is about the same size as the foregoing, the body is tawny-olive inclining to green, the second and third segments of the abdo- men nearly black, and the two following bright orange, the anal tuft black at the sides and orange in the middle. The 'wings are narrowly edged with dark-brcmi, the rest of the surface 'vitreous and transparent, the anterior pair ■without any discoi- dal streak. The antennm are glossed with blue. When young, the caterpillars have a few branched spines on each segment, but as they increase in size these disappear. The colour varies much, but is most commonly green, with a pale line on each side surmounted by a purple one ; and most of the segments have an obhque purple stripe over the stigmata. It feeds on the devil’s-bit scabious C Sca- hiom mccka ) and some other plants. It is a rare PLATE 13. L.BtY Clt'tir-wuui o Blmk .V- whiff hunu'd CUar-wint/. 2 . Hreeif Clfrtr wiruf . ’^.lUjby-fbj C'/tuir nu^ • ; NARROW-BORDERED BEE HAWK-MOTH. 171 insect in this country, but has been found in some plenty in one or two places, and occasionally in others. Mr. Curtis mentions Enborne, near New- bury, Berlcsliire, as one of its localities, and it is said by Mr. Stephens to hare been taken in lire New Forest. BEE CLEAR-WING. TrochUium Apiforme, PLATE Xni. Fig. 1. Si)liinx Apiformis, Linn. ; Donovan, i. PI. 25 ; Linn, Tram. iii. PI. 3. figs. 1 — 5 .®geria Apiformis, Leach Hornet- moth, Harris' Expos. PI. 3, fig. 7 Trochilium Apiforme, Curtis' D. E. viii. 372. The two genera which next present themselves to our notice constitute the family of the JEgeridse. Their affinity to the Sesi® will at once be traced in the transparency and similar neuration of the ttings, while the absence of the anal horn in the caterpillar evinces a considerable aberration from that group, as well as from the typical structure of the Sphin- gidm. They possess a pair of simple eyes, or stem- mata, placed on the hinder part of the head, similar to what are observed in many Hymenoptera and Diptera. Other points of analogy to the insects just named may be discovered, and this general resemblance is attempted to be indicated by naming BEE CLEAB-WING. 172 tlie Agendas after tlie kinds to wliick they are thought to make the nearest approach. They fly during the heat of the day, many of them wth great rapidity, and alight upon the flowers from which they extract their nourishment. iUl of them are rather scarce insects in this country, with the exception of the little M. Tipuliformis, which is plentiful in gardens in many parts of England, but does not seem to come far north. The larvte, which are soft, fleshy, and of a pale colom, subsist on the pith and wood of trees and shrubs, in the interior of which they also undergo their metamorphosis. The cell is constructed so near the surface as to leave only a thin exterior covering, and when the chrysalis is matured, it pushes itself tlirough this frail barrier, chiefly by the aid of a series of fine spines on the abdomen inclining backwards, which serve, when the body is agitated, as a point of sup- port for advancing the head, which terminates in a point to make the perforation more easy. Trochi- lium is chiefly distinguished by the shortness of the proboscis and antennae, the latter being slightly serrated and termirmting in a tuft of hair ; by the transparency of the tip of the anterior wings, and the comparatively thick and robust body. ITie species named Apifm'tne (from its resembLanoe to a bee) is yellow on the head; the thorax brown, udth four yellow spots, the two anterior ones large and triangular, theposterior two smaller and rounded. The abdomen is yellow, ■with the first and fourth segments black and clothed ■with broivn pubescence, BEE CLEAR-WING. 173 the others edged with black, the fifth and the poste- rior two brown on the back and having a line of the same coloxir on the sides. AH the Avings are transparent, with the edges, the nerrures, and a transverse stripe on the primary pair rust-brown ; the fringe tawny -brown. The thighs are yellow on the outer side and dusky internally, the rest of the leg yellow. The caterpillar is pubescent and whitish, having a dusky line along the back and a dark-brown head. It lives in the stem and roots of willow and poplar trees. Its perfect insect likewise frequents these trees, and is not scarce in certain situations ; such as Epping Forest, Coombe Wood, &c. It is usually found in June and July. — Only one other species besides the above seems to inhabit Britain, viz. T. craironi/arme, Hornet Clear-wing, which has the head and thorax brorvn, the latter with a rust- brown spot on each side behind, and the abdomen cinctured with two black bands. 174 BREEZE CLEAR-UNDERWING. ^geria Asiliformis. PLATE Xlir, Pig. 2, Sphinx Asiliformis, Donovan^ xi. PI. 384. — Sesia CEstriformis, Kirby and Spence's Intro, i. PI. iii. fig. 2. — ^geria Asilifor- mis, Fabr.y StepJiCTiSy Curtis, ^GERiA has rather long antenna?, very slender at the base, and thickening gradually almost to the tip, which terminates in a minute joint hearing a tuft of hair. The suctorial trunk is ILkenise of considerable length ; and the palpi, which are tri- articulate and densely clothed with hairs and scales, stand out from the head and diverge from each other. The abdomen is slender and cyhndric, and terminates in a slightly trilobed anal tuft. Nearly a dozen different kinds are included in our indi- genous lists, of which one of the most oonspicuous is that of which the synonymy has been given above. It differs from all the rest, in having the superior wings opaque or ahuost entirely elothed with scales: tlic body is blue-black, somewhat shining, the head wth two white spots before the eyes and a yellow belt beliind ; the tliorax with a yellow mark on each side, and a point of the same colour at the origin of the prinnaiy wings ; the BREEZE CLEAR-UNDERWING. 175 abdomen ■tvith three yellow belts at equal distances from each other. The anal tuft is deep black ■with two yellow longitudinal lines ; the thighs dark blue, the rest of the leg yellow, the tibim having a black spot on the outer side. Hie above description appUes in part only to the female ; the male is dis- tinguished by having pectinate antennm, and four yellow belts on the abdomen. It is a scarce insect in northern countries. It has been occasionally taken in the vicinity of London, and several other places in the south of England. It frequents pophurs, both in its winged and reptile state. BLACK AND WHITE HORNED CLEAR- WING. ' JEgeria Spheciformis, PLATE XIIT. Fig. 3. Sphinx Spheciformis, Esper ; Hubner . — Sesia Sphegiformis, Fahr . — .®geria Spheciformis, Curtis^ Stephens^ &c. E.\pansion of the uings about thirteen or fourteen lines ; the general colour of the body glossj’-black, the thorax with a yellow longitudinal line on each side, and a spot of the same colour on the sides of the breast ; the abdomen with a yellow belt on the third ring above, and another on the fifth beneath ; there is likewise a yellow spot on the surface of the 176 BL \CK AND •R'HITE HORNED CLEAR-WING. basal segment. The ^^•ings are transparent; the upper pair with the nenrures, the margin, the apex, and a broad trans^'erse stripe not far from it, blue- black ; the posterior pair having the hinder edge, the nervures, and a cross mark near the middle of the anterior edge, likewise blue-black. The fringe of the wings is bro>vnish-ash. The thighs and tibiiB are blue-black, the former yellow externally in the fore-pair; the tarsi yellow, sprinkled with black ; antennm yellowish-white at the apex. Still rarer than the preceding, both in this coimtry and on the continent. The few British examples preserved in cabinets have been found chiefly in the neighbom-hood of London and in the Isle of Wight. It frequents birch-trees, on the wood of which the larvas probably feed. 177 RUBY-FLY CLEAR-WING. uEfferia Chrysidi/ormis, PLATE XIII. Fig. 4. Spliinx Clirysidiformis, Fiery Clear-wing, IJmvorth^ 69 ; Hulmcr, Considerably less than either of the preceding, the extent of the ivings seldom exceeding ten lines. The colour of the body is hluish-black, the forehead and collar yellowish- white, the thorax having a single white point at the insertion of the wings, and the abdomen two white belts, one on the fifth, the other on the terminal segment. Tlie anal tuft is black at the sides and reddish-yellow in the middle ; the thiglis hlue-hlack, whitish externally, except in the hinder pair, the rest of the leg yellow. The anterior edge, apex, and nervures of the upper wings, as well as a cross mark in the centre, are black ; a triangular area extending from the base to the central mark, and a rounded space beyond it, are clear hyaline, the remainder of the surface being bright yellowish-red; tlie hinder wings are also hyaline, -with a minute black spot bordered with red in the middle of the anterior edge. M RUBY-FLY CLEAR-WING. m Although an abundant species in the northern pai-ts of France and in Germany, only one instance is recorded of this insect having been taken in Britain ; it was found by a very indefatigable col- lector, and is now in the possession of Mr. Haworth. AVe now come to the extensive tribe named Lepidoftera Nocturna, or Moths, which fonn the third great division of the class. For an account of their distinctive properties and general history, which embraces many curious and interesting sub- jects of inquiry, reference may be made to the introductory portion of the volume, in which we save attempted to present what seems most de- serving of notice in relation to them. ' ■ . ..vXi PLATE 14. \. /Jr-rn:.'. Swift 2 Zcuuf.'C. ORANGE SWIFT. ITypialus Sylvinus. PLATE XIV. Fig. 1. Curtis^ iv. PI. 185. — Ph. Noc. Sylvina, lAnn. — Hop. Cmx. Fubr. — Hep. litipulinus, Orange or Evening Swift, Harris' Aurd. The group to which the above named species be- longs, distinguished by a tenn which Aristotle applied to some nocturnal insect*, may not impro- perly be regarded as a connecting linlc between tlie Sphingida) and moths properly so called. In the structure of the mouth, and of several other parts, they bear considerable resemblance to some of the preceding genera, and the manners and economy of the caterpillar are analogous to those of the Aigerim and ZygeensB ; while, on the other hand, the perfect insects do not differ materially in their habits from the tribes with which they are associated. About half a dozen distinct kinds inhabit Britain, of which the best knomi is that termed the Ghost-moth (H. Humuli). The male of this species is of a * rov Ttro/itvost Hist, Anilii, lib. 8, cap, *27. 100 ORANGE SWIFT. pure satiny wliite, having all die wings margined nitli yellow ; but die female is entu'ely of the latter colour, with various spots and strealis of deep brown on the anterior wings. The female is much less frequently observed on the wing than the opposite sex, and when the latter has discovered the place of her retreat, he hovers over it with a peculiar motion, not observable hi any other moth ; it is a very hregular kind of flight, consisting of alternate risings and fallhigs, accompanied with rapid zigzag movements from side to side, confined to a space not exceeding a few feet hi circumference. Tliis singular vacillating motion, restricted for a while to a limited spot, which it seems to haunt, together with its snow-white vestments and time of appearance, have no doubt been the cause of some fiuiciful ob- seiver denominating this creature the “ Ghost-moth.’’ It is found in all parts of the country, the caterpillar subsisting on the common Burdock, when its more favourite food the Hop is not to be obtained. All the species, when caterpillars, feed on the roots of plants. Previous to their change, they bury them- selves in the gi'ound, and construct an oval cell, the walls of which are composed of particles of earth and grains of sand, held together by an interlacement of silken threads. The female moth lays a great number of eggs, which are not for security aggluti- nated to some stable object, as among the greater number of Lepidoptera, but are ejected in rapid succession from the oviduct with a kind of elastic force wliich throws them to some distance. They OKANGE SWIFT. 181 are firy and unadhesivc, and though white when first discharged, they soon acquire a black colour which malces them exactly resemble grains of gunpowder. In some of the species a peculiarity is obsen’-able in the structure of the hinder legs. In the male of H. Humuli these members are ftlmished with a dense tuft of very long hairs which has been con- jectured with some appearance of probability to be partly the cause of its peculiar undulating flight. In the same sex of H. Hectiis, the entire tarsus is wanting in the hinder legs, and the tibia is tufted in a similar manner. These insects may be distin- guished generically by the shortness of the antennae, which ore usuallj' granulated (in some cases, how- ever, they are slightly serrated), and not so long as the thorax, and by the w■ •■ . . ... ■ ■• '. -j ''i' - - ,'i ur hl*sj,V!:(J a!: ' J.stjpa :ys. PLATE 16. r. 1. Wood Lrvpam ' Cx/^ rptUnr nt !>': o. Bt/ji Tip Moth GOAT-MOm. I So many from its large size, livid liue, and disagreeable smell, several authors are of opinion that it is the Cossits of Pliny, and consequently the worm regarded by the Romans as a delicious article of food. It may also be mentioned, that it is remarkable as having been the subject of a most elaborate and ac- curate anatomical examination by the celebrated Lyonet, the results of which were published under the title of Traite Anaiomiqm de la Chenille du Saule, a work that has advanced our acquaintance v\-ith the internal structure of insects more than any other that could be named. WOOD LEOPARD-MOTH. Zeuzera JEscvli. PLATE XV. Fig. 1. Latretlle^ Stephens' lUics. — Phal. Noct. .^sculi, Linn. ; Dono- van, V. PI. T52.— .Cossua .ffisculi, Fahr. — Wood Leopard- moth, Harris. This genus was first established by Latreille, who gives as its distinguishing characters the setaceous form of the antennae, which are not so long as the thorax, and pectinated at the base in the males, while in the female they are simple, with the base tomentose. The palpi are obsolete, the abdomen long and attenuated, and the tibiae without spius or spines. The beautiful species represented on the 186 WOOD LEOPARD-MOTn. adjoining plate is of a sno wy- white : the -wings veiy sparingly clothed ^dth scales, and the nervures yeUffnish ; the whole surface rather thicMy sprinkled with dark-blue spots, which are largest in the female. The posterior wings are Avhite at the inner angle and verj' faintly spotted at the base, but there is a distinct row of spots roimd the hinder margin. The abdomen is nearly covered with down, of a dark-blue colour. The -wings of the male usually expand about two inches, but those of the female frequently exceed two inches and three- quarters. The caterpillar lives in the interior of trees, and seems to frequent indiscriminately most of the kinds that grow in this coimtry. It is of a light 3'ellow colour, with a double series of black spots across each segment. The head is strong and wedge- shaped, well fitted to work its way through decom- posing wood, and the segment immediately suc- ceeding it is protected by a’ scaly plate of a black colour. (PI. XV. fig. 2 .) Preparatory to its be- coming a pupa, it encloses itself in a cell composed of triturated particles of wood, cemented by a kind of glutinous substance. The moth emerges in July. It is by no means of frequent occurrence in this country, although it has been found in many difierent places. In some seasons it lias been noticed rather plentifully in the vicinity of London, also in Cambridge, Norfolk, Surrey, Essex, &c. 187 BUFF-TIP MOTH. Pygeera Bucephala. PLATE XV. Fig. 3. Flial. Bom. Buecpliala, £inn , ; Donovan, i. PI. 3 $. — Pliateiia Ltmula, De Geer. — Buff-tip Moth, Wilkes, PI. 43 ; Harm' Aurel. PI. 39. In Pyg.®ra the antennae are rather long, appearing bipectinated in the male,' as each joint emits a double tuft of cilise on each side ; the apex, how- ever, is simple, as is the case with the whole an- tenna in the female. The palpi are short, consisting of only two joints ; and the thorax has a crest or strong ridge of hairs on the back. The liinder margin of the anterior ■wings is dentate. The only British example is named the Buff-tip Moth, on account of a large patch of that colour on the apex of the anterior wings. The latter expand about two inches and a half, and 'when the insect is at rest they are almost folded round the body. They are of a light bro4vn colour, thickly powdered, especially towards the base, ■with sUvery scales, and each of them having a large rounded yellow spot on the tip, slightly clouded ■with ochre-yellow exter- 188 BUFF-TIP MOTH. nally, and bounded on tbe inner side by two parallel rust-coloured lines, which are continued to the inner edge of the wing : before the middle there is likewise a double transverse rusty line, and a single blackish one near the base. The fringe is yellowish, variegated with rust-red, and preceded by a con- tinuons series of small crescent-shaped marks of the latter colour. The under wings are entirely yel- lowish-white above, with a faint dusky suffusion on the disk. The thorax, which is very uide and strong, is ochrey-yeUow, surrounded ■with two pa- rallel lines of dark rust-red. The abdomen is nearly of the same colour as the imder ■wings, and has a row of dusky marks, one on each segment, on both sides. The caterpillars are blackish when young, but ■^vhen full groAvn they are yellow, with numerous longitudinal black stripes on each segment inter- rupted at the incisures ; the head is likewise black, as well as the outer side of the legs. (PI. xv. fig. 4.) It is a gregarious larva, and consumes the leaves of the elm (particularly the W3xh elm), the beech, the oak, the hrae, and the willow. By thus feeding in company, they often strip a tree of a large portion of its foliage in a very short time. When newly excluded from the egg, they arrange themselves side by side, in considerable detachments, and com- mencing at one end of a leaf, eat their way to the other, consimiing the parenchyma or pulpy sub- stance only half-way through. Ha^ving attained their full gro^ivth, which is usually the case by I PLATE Ui. I^uss Moth. 'l.Cattt/piIJarofD'^ ~i .I\'nfish fjloiy. - I3UFP TIP MOXn. 189 September, tliey pennit tliemselres to drop to the ground, into ivMch they burrow, and change into a dark-bromi pujia. The insect is an abimdant one in the vicinity of London, and in many other parts of England, but it appears to be somewhat scarce in Scotland and other more northern places. “ Larva very common on the chestnut in Dumfrics-shire.” Sir TV. Jar dine, Bart. PUSS-MOTH. Ciriira Vintda. PLATE XVI. Fig. 1. Plial. Bomb. Vinula, Linn. ; Donoran, Hi. PI. 83. — Cenira Vinula, Shrank ; Stephens, &.O. — Puss-moth, Wilkes, PI. 29 ; Harris' Aarel. PI. 38. This well-defined genus may be readily recognized by its somewhat diaphanous wings, its bipectinated antemue, and the presence of four minute palpi. The tnmk is short and nearly straight. The anterior tibife are furnished with an unusual appendage, in the form of a long compressed lobe, attached to the inner side near the base. Nine British species have been described, of which that which we have figured is by far the most conspicuous. The expansion of the tvings is about three inches, the male usually some- 190 PUSS-.MOTII. what less. Tlie anterior brings are greyish white (f lie latter colour predominating in the male), somewhat naked and diaphanous, especially towards the tip, the nervures strongly marked and of a yellowish- hroivn. The costa is spotted with black ; near the base are two transrerse approximating rows of similar spots, beyond this a waved dusky band, fol- lowed by two other rows of spots, rather indistinctly marked : near the centre there is a series of arcuate streaks extending in an oblique line across the iving, the anterior one being largest and darkest, and the space beyond is occupied ivith two dusky zigzag lines, the hinder margin haring a longitudinal dusky streak between each nerimro. The hinder rrings are ashy-brown, whitish round the edge, especially in the male, having an obscure crescent on the disk and a few daik spots on the posterior margin. The thorax and abdomen are ashy-white, the former with a few scattered black spots, the latter with bhock marks at the base of tlie segments. Tlie region of the eyes is deep black, and the tarsi are likeirise of that colom- and prettily ringed with white. The caterpillar of this insect is one of the most remarkable found in this country, and its form and attitudes are so grotesque tliat it seldom fails to attract the notice even of the most indifferent ob- servers. When at rest, it holds its large and singular looking head somewhat elevated and drami back upon the anterior segments of the body, after the manner of a Sphinx caterpillar, and the double PUSS-MOTH. 191 tail is kept erect at the other extremity. Its threatening aspect has sometimes inspired most ludicrous notions of its power of doing mischief, as in the instance quoted by Dr. Shaw from a country newspaper, where it is described as a monster with a head like a lion, jaws like a shark, a hom like a imicom, and two tremendous stings in its tail. It is ornamented with very beautiful colours, which, however, vary considerably according to the age of the individual. The description of Isaac Walton is pretty nearly accurate : — “ The very colours of ca- terpillars,” says he, “ as one has observed, are elegant and beautiful. I shall, for a taste of the rest, describe one of them; which I will, some time the next month, shew you feeding on a willow tree ; and you shall fiud him punctually to answer this very description : his lips and mouth somewhat yellow; his eyes black as jet; his forehead pm-ple; his feet and hinder parts green ; his tail two-forked and black ; the tvhole body stained with a kind of red spots, which run along the neck and shoulder- blade, not unlike the form of St. Andrew’s cross, or the letter X made thus crosswise, and a white line drami down his hack to his tail ; all which add much beauty to his whole body. And it is to me observable, that at a fixed age this caterpillar gives over to eat, and towards winter comes to be covered over Math a strange shell or crust, called an aurelia ; and so lives a kind of dead life without eating all the winter. And as others of several kinds turn to be several kinds of flies and vermin the spring ]92 PUSS-MOTH. following, so tMs catcrpilUxr then turns to be a painted butterfly*.” (PI. xti. fig. 2.) The two- forked tail alluded to, which is peculiar to the Puss caterpillar and two or three others, is thus described by Kirby and Spence : — “ This hom-like appendage is composed of two distinct cylindrical diverging branches, each about four lines long, not imited at the base. Each of these is hoUow', and includes a smaller cylindiical piece, which can be protruded at pleasure, and withdrawn again, as a pencil within its case ; or, rather, as the horns of a snaU. Tlie two outer horns are tolerably firm, moveable at their base, and beset with black spines ; the interior tentacula are fleshy, moveable in every direction, and in full-growm larvae of a rose-colour. Tlie animal seldom protrudes them, unless in some way distm-bed ; and frequently it approximates the outer cases so closely that they resemble a single horn. It appears to use these inner horns, when protruded, as a kind of whip to drive away the flies, especially the Ichneumons, that alight upon its body. When touched in any place, it will unsheath one of them, and sometimes both, and with them strike the place w'here it is incoramodedt.” Tlie cocoon constructed by this caterpillar is remarkable for its strengtli and solidity, being composed of particles of w'ood united by a very adhesive kind of gum. To enable the moth to pierce the w'alls of this indurated case, it is said to be furnished with a bag of acid, the con- * Walton's Angler, cliap, v. + Introd. to Entom. iiu page 150, PUSS-MOTII. ]93 tents of v'hicli it pours on the case of the cocoon, and its solvent power soon loosens the cohesion of the particles and renders egress easy. The insect is not unfrequent, at least in the larva state, hoth throughout England and the south of Scotland. The food of the caterpillar consists of the leaves of the Willow and Poplar. THE KEiMTlSH GLORY. ETidromis versicolor. PLATE XVI. Fig. 3, Female. Phal. Bom. Versicolor, Linn. ; Don. v. PI. 158 ; Entomotogical Transactions, i. 323, PI. 9. — Glory of Kent, Wilkes, PI. 89. —Kentish Glory, Harris. The above name was conferred on this genus by Ochscnheimer, by whom it was first established, in consequence of the head of the only species it con- tains being garnished with long hairs somewhat after the manner of an ancient casque. One of its most remarkable characters is having the antennae bipectinated in both sexes as far as the tip, a pecu- liarity which distinguishes it from all the preceding genera. Tlie wings are large, entire at the edges, and somewhat diaphanous ; the fringe so short as to be scarcely perceptible. The head is densely clothed with long hairs which project forwards ; the N 194 THE KENTISH GLORY. thorax and abdomen ore likewise very pUpse. The male of E. versicolor measures about tivo inches four lines across the wings, but the female some- times exceeds three inches. In the fonner the coloui' of the upper wings is rusty-red inclining to grey, each of them with tivo transverse black bands, the anterior one bordered internally with white, and the other, which is angulated tow'ards the inner margin, bordered noth the same colour on the outer side. Tlie space between these bands is irregularly marked with white, and at the exti-emity of the discoidal cell there is a black crescent with the convexity turned towards the body. Towards the hinder margin there is a series of imequal white spots, the three upper ones largest and transparent, and each nervure is marked with a white streak w’hich is a little dilated at the margin. The hinder wings are taivny yellow, traversed by a wnved dusky line in the middle, and marked with a small crescent and a few white spots posteriorly. The body and base of the wings are very thickly covered with long yellowish-brown hair ; the anterior pait of the thorax w’hite. The antennas and tarsi are black. The mai'ldngs in the female are similar, but the colour is much lighter, the under wings and abdomen being almost entirely of a dull wiiite. The caterpillar bears some resemblance to those of certEun Sphingidm, both in its form and attitudes. It is somewhat attenuated in front, and has a py- ramidal elevation on that part of the anal segment which is occupied by a horn in the kinds just refen'cd ■ : i -■ l' r 1 .I ’>j'' ■■■ V. V-' ■ -.•i- t!*r I'^'-ior ‘ , .Vfv, t.- •';■ ' ■ '■ ' '; ■{ i'l\ • ■ : --.L'C.X . ■ .r:-; ; ;,■ h-^'- f'.' '■’ ■■ +!:*a..rt' bi.i' fliiu.'-: ■ “.iiigMf:. ■ - ''! :•■; 'r'.j, 'IJxr •r ^ly r.jv» . r. ,Vu!y ';rirOTf:vings with a broad brownish- white band. Besides this there are two' transverse bands on each wing, one towards the base, somewhat abbreviated, and consisting of a white, purplish, and dark-brown stripe, the other placed behind the middle and very much waved. EMPEROR -MOTH. ]97 The centre of each wing is ornamented with a large ocellus, placed on a whitish ground, and consisting of a large black pupil with a whitish streak and a yellow or grey iris, surrounded with hlack, and surmounted by a reddish and light blue crescent. On the apex of the anterior wings there is a patch of purple, accompanied with a black and w'hitish mark. The body is covered with fulvous or browm hairs, the hinder margin of the abdominal segments whitish. The caterpillfu feeds on a variety of plants, par- ticularly the common ling or heath ( Calluna mil- ffari^X blackthorn bramble, willow, &c. It is at first black, but ultimately becomes of a lovely green colour, having each of the segments cinctured by a black band which is adorned with a series of pink tubercles, each bearing a whorl of six hairs, diverg- ing like a star, the central one being longer than the others and capitate. (PI. xvii. fig. 2.) The insect is of frequent occurrence through- out the greater part of England : the moth is not abimdant in Scotland, hut the caterpillar and the empty cocoon are often observed on heaths. The female lays between 200 and 300 eggs, which she attaches by a glutinous liquid to the stem of the plant which is to afford nourishment to the larvas. They are deposited in several separate packets, which are placed at some distance from each other, probably with a view to increase the chance of some of them escaping the effects of accidents, as well as to afford a greater supply of food when the young are hatched. 308 OAK EGGER-MOTH. Lasiocampa Quercus, PLATE XVII. Fig. 3, Male. Plial. Bom. Quercus, Lirm. ; Donovan^ iii. PI. 104. — Great Egger, Wilkes., PL 46 ; Hanins' Aurel. PI. 29. — Lasiocampa Roboris. Shmiik^ St^. 9 In this geiras (named from Xatf/os /latry, and xa/j/sr^ a norm or caterpillar) the antennae ai-e hipectinated in the males, and merely serrated in the other sex. There are neither mandibles nor suctorial trunk, hut two short hairy palpi are ob- servable, composed of tliree joints, the terminal one being very minute. The wings are entire, densely covered with scales, and deflexed when at rest ; the margin with a distinct fringe. The abdomen of the male tufted at the apex and somewhat cleft, that of the female very large and scarcely tufted ; the legs slender and sparingly clothed uith hairs. Four species are recorded as British, all of which are of a reddish-brownish colour, with ti-ansverse wliitish bands. The species figured to illustrate the genus is the most common of the whole. The male is of a deep feiTuginous or chestnut-brown, with an ochreous yellow band running across all the wings OAK EGGER-MOTU. J99 near the middle ; this hand is distinctly defined on. the inner side, but externally it is gradually shaded off towards the margin, where the brown colour again deepens. On each of the anterior wings there is a small central white spot placed in a dusky ring, and in many instances a yellowish patch at the base. The fiinge of the anterior wings is nar- row and bro'(vn ; that of the hinder pair broad, and nearly of the same colour as the transverse band, but occasionally somewhat clouded with brown. The upper parts of the body are of the same colour as the dark portion of the wings, tlie under side and legs ochreous-yellow. Antenn® chestnut-brown. The female is much larger than the male, with similar markings, but the w'hole body and wings are pale yellow. Tlie caterpillar is yellowish, covered with greyish- brown hairs, having the incisures black, and a white macidar band on each side. There is like- wise an interrupted row’ of white spots on the back, and a pale yellow’ mark on the anterior part of the head. It feeds on the oak, wiUow, haw’thom, broom, and a variety of other trees and shrubs. Both the caterpillar and the moth are subject to numerous variations, w’hicli has occasioned diffe- rence of opinion among authors regarding the proper application of the specific name. Examples are occasionally foimd in w’hich the transA’erse band is greenish : these Ilubner regarded as distinct, and named Hombyx Spartii. Such as have a yellow’ mark at the base of the anterior wings, are alone 200 OAK EGGEB-MOTH. considered by Mr. Stephens as referable to the true Bom. Quercus of Linnmns, in whose description that character is p.articularly mentioned. The others, of which the individual figured is an example, he has described separately under the name of L. Rohorh, adopted from Shrank. The difierences between the two are not, however, very important, and they obviously do not exceed the limits assigned to the range of deviation in the majority of variable species. Neither ought the occasional dissimilarities observable in the larvas to be assumed as certainly indicating specific distinction, for these variations often depend on age, sometimes even on the nature of the food ; and in such a case as the present, where the sexes of the perfect insect are so unlike, it is not unreasonable to suppose that they may be re- spectively produced from caterpillars partaking more or less of the same character. The observations of De Geer have proved that in some instances the male moth originates from a caterpillar of an entirely dif- ferent colour from that which produces the female. In the extended sense which we have assigned to the name, Laslocampa Quercus is an abundant moth in most parts of England, particularly in the south. The woods in the neighbourhood of London, the New Forest, woods in Cambridge-shire, &c. produces it in plenty. It appears to become more scai-ce as we advance northward, and it is by no means common in Scotland, although occurring at times at least throughout the southern division of that country. f ■■f-- a.-' Slfe?iSS’; PLATE. 18. 1 . 1 '- Urwhi'i lIntiL. puilf S:Jc.7il. ?).Lup/k f}foth 4 . Catf.ipilhr of Ij ifC: . a-';- £01 DiUNKER-MOTH. Odonestis Potatona. PLATE XVIII. Figs. 1 and 2. Phal. Bomb. Potatoria, Linn.; Don,v. PI. 148. — Odonestis Potatoria, Gtnnar* Steph. — Drinker Caterpillar, Listens Gmdart. Alhin^ PI. xvii.— DrinJcer-motb, Wilkes-t PI. 58 ; Harris' AureL PI. 45. Odonestis may be briefly distinguished from the allied genera by the length of the palpi, which have the second joint double the length of the basal one, and project in front of the head like a small beak, and by the hinder margin of the anterior wings being entire. The antennas are strongly bipectinated, at least in the male, as far as the apex, and they are a little curved near the base. The abdomen is elongated and furnished with an anal tuft in the male, which is wanting, however, in the other sex. The hinder margin of the anterior wings is roimded and entire, but the angle formed by the tip is pretty acute ; in the hinder pair there is a tendency to become den- ticulate. The sexes are distinguished by differences of size and, colour similar to those exemplified by the preceding species. The male is reddish-brown 202 DRINKER-MOTH. on tlie stirfnce, somewliat glossy, the anterior ivings -.rith an ochreous yellow patch at the base, and the disk more or less sutfiised with the same colour ; a dai'k rust-coloured line extends obliquely .across each of them from the tip to the middle of the inner edge, a faint transverse line is likewise ob- servable near the base, and another, sometimes faint and interrupted, towards tlie hinder margin, to wliich it is nearly parallel. On the disk, towards the anterior margin, are two white spots, the lower one largest and stained ivith yellow in the centre. The hinder wings are imspotted, but there is an indistinct transverse streak on each darker than the rest of the surface. The body and antcnnse ai‘e nearly of the same hue as the Tvings. The female is about a third larger than the male, and of a pale ochre-yellow, sometimes approaching to yellowish- white. She lays a considerable number of eggs, which are whitish, surrounded unth two green circles, and marked ■ndth a dark spot. The cater- pillar has natlier a singular appearance from being furnished irith two long conical tufts, one of them placed on the back of the second segment and di- rected forwards, the other on the eleventh segment and turned in the opposite direction. On e.'ich side of the back there is a linear series of velvet-black spots, followed by a line of yellow spots, and beneath these a number of tufts of white hair. Like so many others of its tribe, it rolls itself in a ring when apprehensive of danger. It feeds on a variety of common grasses, such as Alopecurws pratensis, Bro- DEINKER-MOTn. 203 nius sterilis, the meadow grasses, &c. It survives the rvinter in a kind of torpid condition, and changes into the pupal state in June or July, the moth appearing in about three weeks. It is plentiful in most parts of England, particularly in marshy situa- tions, to which it seems to be partial. It occurs much less frequently in Scotland. LAPPET-MOTH. Gastropacka Quercifolia. PLATE XVIII. Fig. 3. Phal. Bomb. Quercifolia, Linn. ; Don. vii. PI. 332.— Lappit- moth, Wilkes^ PI. 57 ; llanis' Aurel. PI. 43.— Gastropacha Quercifolia, Odtsen. ; Steph, ; Curtis' B. E. i. PI. 24. The generic name* refers to the appearance of the abdomen, wliich is very large in the females. As a genus, Gastropacha possesses strongly marked characters by which it is readily discriminated from all the other groups included in the family of the Bomhycidaj. All the ■\vings are strongly dentated, and when the insect is in a state of repose, the anterior edge of the upper pair projects considerably beyond the upper, gi^dng an oval form to the out- line, bearing a good deal of resemblance to a withered ■* From yaart^ the helly, and thick. 204 LAPPET-MOTH. leaf MTth a serrated border. Hence one of the species was named by Geofiroy lafeuille morte. The anteimse are very short, recurved, and deeply bipec- tinated nearly in a similar manner in both sexes : the palpi very hairy and prolonged into a kind of snout, the second joint longer than the others. Maxillm are obseiTable, but they are very minute. The genus includes several European insects, but that figured on the adjoining plate is the only one satisfactorily ascertained to inhabit Britain. The surface of the wings is of a rusty-bromi colour, varying considerably in shade, the extremity slightly glossed with violet ; the upper pair with three oblique waved blackish lines, and a black spot in the centre. The hinder wings are generally un- spotted ; at times, however, they are marked with faint transverse streaks similar to those on the upper pair. The body is of the same colour as the wings ; the stalk of the antemue, the palpi, and the tarsi, of a deep bluish-black. The caterpillar is of large size wiien full grown, sometimes measuring nearly foiu- inches in length, and very variable in colom. The prevailing hue is dusky-grey, inclining to ash-grey, with two blue spots on the neck surrounded with black, and having a black angular mark in the middle. The membranous legs and the under side of the body are ferruginous, the latter spotted with black. Each segment is furnished with a fleshy appendage which hangs from the side, and there is a dorsal tuber- cle on the penultimate joint. (PI. xviii. fig. 4.) PLjiTE 19. l.i: j* Bht/:}; jlri fu's rtu/In f,.- fhn o.S'/jrlctTuirrmntfi J Viu-.i'f'DI LAPPET-MOTH. 205 It feeds on a variety of trees and shrubs, such as the vi’illow, blackthorn, bramble, hawthoni, &c., and it is asserted that the colour varies according to the nature of its food. The cocoon which it spins for its pupal change is long, and generally tapers somewhat at one end. Tlie tissue is not very thick or compact, but all the interstices are closely filled up with a whitish powder, employed for lining the interior. The moth is found occasionally in many parts of England hut seldom in great abundance. It is not rare on the continent. BLACK ARCHES. Psilura Monaclia. PLATE XIX. Figs. 1 and 2. Phal. Bomb. Monacha, Linn. ; Don. vii. PI. 228. Lipaiis Monaeha, Ochsenheimer . — Laria Monacha, Shrank, Leach Black Arches, Wilkes, PI. 39 ; Harris' Pads Mecum, 9 Psilura Monacha, St^h. This genus was established by Mr. Stephens, and may be recognised by the follonung characters : — maxilljB obsolete ; palpi with the second joint cla- vate, and one-half longer than the radical one, which is likewise somewhat lengthened and club- shaped ; antennEB short, deeply bipectinated in the male, but less so in the female ; wings opaque and densely covered with scales, the edges entire ; body 206 BLACK AHCHES. more slender than in the preceding genera, the male having the apex of the abdomen slightly tufted, ■while that of the female is naked and atte- nuated*. Psilura is very closely related to Hvpo- gymna, a genus including the Gipsey Moth, whose curious economy renders it an object of much interest. Tlie principal differences consist in the relative length of the articulations of the palpi and the appearance of the abdomen in the respective females, that of the Gipsey Moth terminating in a dense tuft of hairs. The male of the Black Arches Moth generally expands from fifteen to eighteen lines, the female about two inches. Both sexes vary considerably, but the following description will apply to the ma- jority of specimens. The surface of the primary wings is greyish-white, with numerous black spots, and four confused zigzag transverse lines of the same colour. Several of the spots are placed at the base of the wing, one before the middle between the two anterior lines, and a regular series tdong the terminal border. The secondary wings are brownish-grey, sometimes white at the hinder extre- mity; the fiinge always white, spotted at regular intervals ivith black. The thorax is white, tinged with yellow in front, and marked with several black spots; the abdomen rose-red behind, >vith the incisures and series of spots black, that of the female terminating in a yeUow corneous oviduct. * The generic name refers to this circumstance, being derived from naked, and the tail. BLACK ARCHES. 207 The caterpillar is brown, beset with numerous tubercles supporting tufts of greyish hairs. On the second segment there is a heart-shaped black spot followed by two white ones ; the head is lai-ge, marked in a reticulated manner 'with flesh-coloured lines, and having a triangrdar oval spot in the middle of the forehead ; the membranous legs and belly light green. It feeds on the oak, birch, bramble, &c. ; and is said occasionally to appear in such munhers in certain districts of Germany, as entirely to strip the pine forests of their foliage. The chrysalis, which is enveloped in a slight cocoon, is of a sliining brorvn, and lias tufts of hair on the segments, a circumstance which is likewise observ- able in several of the allied genera. Tliis pretty moth is not generally distributed, but has been found in some plenty in certain locali- ties, such as the New Forest, some parts of Kent, Surrey, &c. It does not seem to extend far to the north, and we have never heard of its being seen on this side of the Tw’eed. 208 SCARLET TIGER-MOTH. Hypercampa Doininida. PLATE XIX. Fig. 3, Fig. 4 var. Phal. Noet. Domimila, Linn, ; Don, iv. PI. 141.— Collimorplia Dominula, Latr, ; XeacA.— Eyprcpia Dominula, Ochsen,— Scarlet Tiger-moth, Wilkes^ PI. 38 ; Harris' Aurd, PI. 40. — Hypercampa Dominula, Hubnery Stepk. .The length of the proboscis, which considerably exceeds that of the head, taken in connection >vith the opaque scaly wings, is sufficient to distinguish the present genus from all others belonging to the extensive family of the Arctiidse. Another peculiar character is to be found in the structme of the antennas, which are simple ; that is, vrithout teeth or pectinations in both sexes, contrary to what is ob- served in genera which in other respects have the greatest affinity to the present. The palpi have the two lower joints of equal length, the terminal one much shorter and of an ovate form : wings entire on the edges. TTie species named the Scarlet Tiger-moth is one of the most elegant and orna- mental that we possess. The primary wings are black and shining, ^vith a fine silken-green gloss, SCARLET TIGER-MOTH. 209 each of them ornamented mth about a dozen cream- coloured or yellowish spots of various dimensions, the two largest placed rather beyond the middle. The secondary wings are of a fine carmine-red, ivith three large and irregular black sjiots; the fringe of all the ivings black. The thorax is black glossed with green, and marked with two yellow longitudinal spots : abdomen the colour of the un- der ivings on the surface, the under side, basal segment, and a dorsal line, black ; the under side highly glossed with green. Several varieties occur, of which the most remarkable are those iu which the red colour is replaced by pale yellow, and such as have the abdomen entirely black, and the under ivings dull brown, without any vestige of the gay colouring of ordinary specimens. This latter variety • is represented on Plate xix. fig. 4. On issuing from the egg, the caterpillar is of a dirty yellow, with the head and numerous small spots over the body black. After its first moult it becomes black, ivith three yellow lon^tudinal lines, one on the back and another on each side ; the black portion with many small blue tubercles, from which issue diver^g greyish hairs. The moth appears in June ; but is not of frequent oc- currence in this country. It has been found in some plenty in the vicinity of Cambridge and in Darenth Wood; also, but much more sparingly, at Blackheath, Oxford, near Reading, &c. O 210 THE CLOUDED BUFF. Eutliemonia Russula* PLATE XX. Fig. 1. Phal. Bomb. Russula, Linn. ; Don. vi. PI. 214.— -Eypropia Russula, Ochsetif Curtis' B* E. i. PI. 21. — Clouded Buff, Phal. quadra^ Harris. — Phal. Bomb. Sannio^J, Lwn.— Arotia Russula, Ao^r.— Euthomonia Russula, Stepk. » The above insect has generally been associated with the typical Tiger moths ( Arctiw ), but the discre- pancies are too great for this union to be continued with propriety. The genus Euthemonia (from handsome ) has therefore been constituted, and may be recognized by having the middle joint of the palpi a good deal longer than the two others, the terminal one rather slender ; proboscis not longer than the head; antennse short and slender, bipectinated in the males and serrated in the fe- males ; abdomen annulated, and having a small tuft at the apex ; wings deflexed and trigonate. This species named the Clouded Buff, differs from the generality of moths in the female being considerably less than the male ; the latter being about eighteen or twenty lines between the tips of •/ ■ •V’-'l' • r ■ *■ i^rui^k.: ■ PLATK 2 0. J. rhwJnJ linjf'. 'J. t'lrum spot Tiller. \fnth . ?> Hnhu Tif/t't jhifli . TUE CLOUDED BUEP. .211 the vpings, and the former seldom exceeding sixteen or eighteen lines. The sexes are likewise very dissimilar in colour: the male has the surface of the upper wings pale yellow, with the anterior and inner edge as well as the fringe, rose-red ; the disk of each with a large somewhat crescent-shaped brown spot edged with red. The imder wings are pale yellowish-white, -with a dusky crescent in the middle anteriorly, and a broad dusky band near the hinder margin, the fringe rose-red. The thorax and abdomen are of the same colour as the adjoining wings ; the legs and stalk of the antennse reddish. In the female the portion of the upper wings just described as light yellow, is of a reddish-yellow inclining to brown ; the hinder wings dusky at the base, and having a marginal band, varying in shape and size in different individuals. The caterpillar is thickly covered with fascicles of short hair, sometimes reddish, at other times in- clining to orange-yellow. The body is dusky-brown, ■with a pale yellow dorsal line, and a series of yellow spots on each side. It feeds on a variety of plants, among which are the hoimd's tongue C Cynoglossum officinale ), field scabious, and narrow-leaved plantain. The moth is not generally distributed, but is found in some plenty in Coombe Wood, the New Forest, near York, &c. : likewise in the vicinity of Edin- burgh, but not plentifully, and in Dumfiies-shire near Raehills. 212 CREAM-SPOT TIGER-MOTH. Jrctia VSlica. PLATE XX. Fig. 2. Phal. Bomb. Villica, Linn.; Donovan, ii. PI. 71 Bombyx Villicus, Haworth . — Eyprepia Villica, Ochsen; Curtis Cream Spot Tyger-moth, IFi/te, PI . 37 ; Harris' Aurel. PI. 4 Arctia Villica, Steph. This genus compreliends some of the most striking and richly coloured moths with which we are ac- quainted. Deep hlack, crimson, and yellow are the prevailing colours ; and these are combined in strongly contrasted spots and bars in such a man- ner as to produce a most agreeable effect. The most common species is the beautiful Great Tiger- moth (' Arctia caja J, found occasionally in aU parts of Britain, produced from a larva of much more frequent occurrence, well known throughout the country as the hairy worm, and in the south of Scotland by the name of hairy ottbil. The generic name likewise hears allusion to the hairj' caterpillar, being derived from afxroc a hear. The distinctive characters are to he found in the palpi, which have the basal joint longer than the second ; in the an- tennae being rather long, bipectinated in the males, and serrated in the females, each of the radii and CREAM-SPOT TIGER-MOTH. 213 serratures terminating in a bristle ; in the proboscis being short, scarcely longer than the head ; and the ivings being densely clothed with scales. The thorax is without a crest, and, as well as the abdo- men, is thick and strong. The species figured as an example of the genus is by no means so gene- rally distributed as the Great Tiger-moth, but it is not very rare in some parts of England. It measures fi-om two inches to two inches and a half across the anterior wings, which have the ground colour deep black ; each of them with about eight yfeUowish or cream-coloured spots of various sizes, the basal one triangular or heart-shaped, the others in pairs placed transversely, and an insulated one on the hinder margin. The under wings are rather deep yellow, ivith a few scattered small black spots, and a large black patch on the outer angle, enclosing a few irregular spots of the ground colour. The thorax is deep blaek, ivith a cream-coloured mark on each shoulder ; the abdomen yellow at the base, bright red posteriorly, with three longitudinal rows of black spots. On the imder side the anterior edge of all the wings is tinged with bright red, and the breast and sides are thickly garnished with hairs of the same colour. The caterpillar is black after its last moult, and covered with aigrettes of greyish-brown hairs : the head and legs reddish-brown, the former having a black heart-shaped spot in the middle. It feeds on most of our common field plants. The chrysalis has short tufts of reddish hairs on the segments. 214 RUBY TIGER-MOTH. Phragmatobia fuliginosa. PLATE XX. Fig. 3. Phal. Noo. fiiliginosa, Linn.; Don. iii. PI. 80.— Ruby Tiger, Harris' Aurel. PI. 27 Chelonia fuliginosa, Godart Arotia fulig. Aofr.— Phragmatobia fulig. Sieph. This genus, like several others in the same family, has the scales so thinly placed on the wings that these members appear more or less diaphanous. This circumstance, taken in connexion with the structure of the antenme, which are short and almost simple in both sexes, and the very robust body, suffices to distinguish it from any other with which it has any chance of being confounded. The palpi are short and hairy, having the two lower joints of equal length ; the head very small. The only British species referable to it is the pretty little moth named the Ruby Tiger. It varies much in colour, but the upper wings are most commonly reddish brown, with two black points near the middle of each, and the fringe bright red ; the hinder pair bright red, becoming black posteriorly, with a streak of that colour at the extremity of the discoidal RUBY TIGER-MOTH. 215 cell ; or the surface nearly all black, having the inner edge only tinged with red ; flange as in the anterior wings. The thorax is reddish-brown, the abdomen bright carmine-red, with a row of black spots on the hack and another on each side. The caterpillar is very thickly covered with hairs, which vary in colour in different individuals, hut are commonly broivn or reddish ; the head and legs of a corresponding hue. Scarcely any of our or- dinary plants are rejected by it as food. Fabricius has remarked of this caterpillar, that when it is seen to run over the snow in the winter, it may be taken as a sign that the ensuing summer will be cold and ungenial; “ Hieme in nive obambulans, aestates fligidiores et annonaj caritatem pranun- ciat;” a prognostication wiiich the French natu- ralist Godart proves not to be infallible, by gravely stating the result of his observations to the contrary ; and he has actually known a beautiful summer and plentiful harvest follow the phenomenon alluded to. Of occasional occurrence during the months of July and August, in many parts of the country. We once found it at Duddingston, near Edinburgh , and have seen several specimens which were taken in Roxburghshire. The neighbourhood of New- castle, York, Darenth Wood, &c. are mentioned among its English localities. It has likewise been found in Caithness and Sutherland. 216 WOOD TIGER-MOTH. NemeopMla Plantaffims. PLATE XXI. Fig. 1. Phal. Bomb. Plantaginis, Linn.; Don. iv. PI. 134 Wood Tyger-moth, Wiltes, PI. 50 Nemeoph. Plantaginis, Stepi. This pretty insect was formerly associated with the Arctiae, but has lately been referred to a separate genus, under the name of Nemeophila*. The an- tenna are bipectinated in the male and serrated in the female ; the palpi short, all the joints of nearly equal length, and almost globose, the ®minal one rather smallest. The proboscis is short, scarcely the length of the head ; the thorax not crested, and the wings completely opaque with scales. The thorax and abdomen are somewhat slender, the extremity slightly tufted in the male. The latter sex usually measures about an inch and a half across the wings, the female being somewhat larger. The anterior tvings are deep black above, with a yello^vish or cream-coloured stripe running from the base towards the apex, where it becomes very irregular and forms a kind of cross ; there are like- * Derived from tipn a grove, and ftkes a Cover. 3 J VLA.TE 1 * 1 . ■ WOOD TIGER-MOTH. 217 wise two spots of the same colour on the anterior margin, varying much in size, and sometimes con- fluent. The hinder wings are ochreous-yellow (sometimes reddish) with two black stripes at the base, and a nearly continuous series of black spots along the hinder margin, in the male ; the whole base black in the other sex. The head, thorax, and biick of the abdomen are black ; the former >vith a yellow tuft on each side, and the thorax with lateral streaks of light-coloured hair, which, however, are granting in the female. In the latter sex the abdo- men is reddish, with a black dorsal line. The caterpillar, which feeds on the broad and narrow leaved plantain, chickweed, &c. is black and hairy, the six middle segments reddish on the back and sides. It is w'ell figured by Rosel, vol. iv. t. 24. The moth is found in June and July, and is not unfrequent in certain localities, although it does not seem to be generally distributed. We have seen several examples from Roxburghshire and some other of the border counties of Scotland, and it has been taken in Darenth Wood, as w'ell as in seve- ral places in the north of England. It has also been found plentifully in Shetland and the Orkney Islands. 218 THE CINNABAR MOTH. Callimorpha JacohacB. PLATE XXr. Fig. 2. Phal. Noc. JacobsDse, Linn. ; Don. PI. 45. — Pink Undenving, Harris' Aurel. PI. 4. — Callimorpha Jacobsen, Latr.^ Stcph. This genus, originally constituted by Latreille under tbe above name (derived from xaX«s heatttiful, and uojpa form or appearance J, properly contains in its present restricted acceptation only one species, for the Red Arches of Harris f Phal. rosea, Don.) which has been sometimes referred to it, obviously pertains to a different group. The trunk is rather long, at least longer than the head, and the palpi, which are covered only -with small scales, have the basal joint as long as the two following, which are of eqiml length and rather obtuse. The antennas are slender and setaceous, somewhat ciliated in the males ; the extremity of the abdomen slightly tufted in that sex ; the anterior wings long and narrow, with the hinder margin a little rounded. The thorax is not crested ; and the posterior tibise are furnished with two pair of spurs. The colouring of the Cinnabar, or Pink Underwing Moth, as it is sometimes called. THE CINNABAR MOTH. 219 is very peculiar, and it presents ttis additional singularity that the upper and under surfaces are precisely alike. The anterior uongs are greyish black, with a stripe of carmine extending from the base nearly to the apex, parallel with the imterior margin and at a little distance from it; on the hinder border there are two remote rounded spots, and a dash on the inner edge, of the same brilliant red. The under wings are entirely bright red, except the fringe and a stripe on the anterior edge, which are greyish-black. The body, antennae, and legs are deep black. The caterpillar is likewise prettily marked, being yellow ringed with black. (PI. xxi. fig. 3.) It feeds on the flowers of the ragwort ( Senecio Jaco- hwa ), and probably also on the other species of the genus, several of wliich are well kno^vn to be com- mon weeds. The moth is of occasional occurrence apparently throughout Britain, and in some places it is abundant. It seems to be nowhere plentiful in Scotland, but specimens have been obtained from numerous and >videly scattered localities. “ Abun- dant on the Northumbrian coast.” Sir Wm. Jar- dine, Bart. 220 CRIMSON SPECKLED FOOTMAN. Deiopeia pulcheUa. PLATE XXL Fig. 4. Plial. Tinea pulehella, Linn Lithosia pulohella, Haworth— Bombyx pulchra, Hvhner Deiopeia pulchra, Curtis, iv. PI. 169. Deiopeia has been separated from the allied genera in consequence of having the labial palpi three- jointed, with the second joint longest, the third shortest and ovate; antennas alike in both sexes, simple ; and the proboscis as long as the antennas. The anterior wings are narrow and elongate, the hinder pair ample, someM'hat diaphanous, and much folded. Besides the labial palpi, a maxillary pair likevrise exist, but they are exceedingly minute and consist of only two joints. Tlie species are nu- merous on the continent, but that which we have figured is the only one that inhabits this country. The head, thorax, and upper wings are pale straw- colour, the thorax marked wth yellow and rounded black spots; the wings with five curved and irre- gular transverse rows of quadrate black spots, the spaces between these rows occupied with several CRIMSON SPECKLED FOOTMAN. 221 bright scarlet spots Tarying in shape and size. The abdomen and imder wings are white, slightly tinged with blue, the latter with a broad dusky marginal band, sinuated on the inner side, and becoming narrow towards the body, the transverse nervure closing the basal areolet dilated and blackish ; the fringe of all the wings pale yeUow. Tlie caterpillar is hairy, of a bluish-grey colour, spotted with black and red, and having a white dorsal line. (PI. xxi. fig. 5.) It feeds on Helio- tropium Europeum, Solanum t/ymentasum, and field mouse- ear (Myosatis arvemis), only the latter of which is indigenous to this country. This very beautiful moth is frequent in the southern European coimtries, and is said likewise to be found in Asia and America. It is one of out nuest native species, the following, we believe, being the only places where it has occurred, and only a single example except in one instance having been found in each; near Christchurch, Hants; Hove, near Brighton ; Y orkshire. 222 BROAD-BORDERED YELLOW UNDERWING. THphosna Fimhria. PLATE XXII. Fig. 1. Phol, Noctua Fimbria, Linn.; Don.y\. PI. 208. — Noctua Solani, Fair. — Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Harris^ Aurel. PL v. fig. 2.— Triphajna Fimbria, Ocksen^ Siepk. The genus Triphsena (an ancient classical name applied to a female) is included in tbe great family of the Noctuida:, and is readily distinguished from all the groups to which onr attention has been hitherto directed, by having the proboscis long and spiral, like that of the diurnal lepidoptera. The palpi rise uprvards in front of the head and are somewhat compressed, the radical joint shorter than the two others, the second long, the third short and attenuated, ■with the tip obtuse. The antenmn are simple in both sexes, those of the male ciliated on the under side ; the thorax without a crest, but furnished with a large flap or tippet in front. All the species are of middle size, and rather gaily coloured, especially on the underwings, which are bright yellow with a black posterior margin. When they fly it is only for a short distance at a time, and chiefly in the afternoon and evening. In the earlier PLATE 22. 1 . Brnat] -hordfj'tid TtUow flriJi'i iyuiij . 2 - Lanfr S mirtl-firns.s' Moth . 3. Cotfrpilhir of P" Luiir^'i sf BROAD-BORDERKD YELLOW UNDERWING. 223 part of the day they may be found lurking at the sides of stones and among grass, and when an attempt is made to seize them, they do not take >ving, but attempt to escape by gliding rapidly among the herbage. The most abxmdant species is that named the Great Yellow Underwing (T. pronuba J, which occurs plentifully in all parts of Britain. That which we have figured is much less frequently met with, but it inhabits numerous and widely scattered localities, having been foimd in Northumberland, Yorkshire, Devonshire, Sufiblk, &c. It is nearly of the same size as the common species ; the head, thorax, and anterior wings grey- ish, dark liver-coloured, or some shade intermediate between these two, each mth four transverse pale lines, and tw'o pale rings on the disk ; the line next the base abbreviated, the second and third angulated, and enclosing a space darker than the rest of the wing in which the two annular marks are placed ; the hinder one undulated, having one or two black dots at its anterior extremity, surmounted by a few white ones. The underwings are light orange yellow, with a very broad posterior band of deep black, which, however, does not cover the hinder edge : the abdomen likewise yellow ; the antenn® brown, ivhitish at the base. The caterpillar is large, rough, and ochrey-yellow, with a pale line along the back, and white stigmata surrounded with a black ring. It feeds on the potato, violet, hound’s tongue, primrose, &c. The moth is found in June and July. 224 LARGE SWORD-GRASS MOTH. Calocampa Exoleta. PLATE XXII. Fig. 2. Pha]. Noct. Exoleta, Linn. ; Don. vi. PI. 187, larva , — Noctua Exoleta, Hubner. — Sword-grass Moth, Wilkes., PI. 18, Harris, Xylina Exoleta, Curtis' B. E. vi. PI. 256.^ — Calocampa Ex- oleta, St^h. » Antenna: setaceous, rather stout in the males, each joint ciliated beneath with hairs ; the proboscis as long as the antenna ; palpi entirely covered with long trigonate scales, the Joints robust, the second double the length of the first, the terminal one short and ovate, with the apex truncate ; head with a frontal crest; anterior wings long and narrow, scarcely wider at the hinder margin (which is dentate) than towards the base ; thorax quadrate, slightly crested, and three-lobed behind ; the abdo- men depressed, in the male with the apex triangu- lar ; such are the principal attributes of the present genus, and which serve to distinguish it fi-om Xylina, with which it has generally been associated. , Only two species are found in this country, and one of them, C. Vetusta, is very rare. They bear con- LARGE SWORD-GRASS MOTH. 225 siderable affinity to the group named Cwullia ; and besides other properties common to both, have this peculiai-ity, that when they are made to fall down they roU their Avings closely round them and draw in their legs and antennze ; a position in which they not a little resemble a piece of de.ad wood. The species figured is rather the largest of the two, the expansion of the wings being frequently up- wai-ds of two inches. The prevailing colomr is pale ochreous, inclining to reddish-bro^vn in many places. The upper wngs are striated with dusky lines towards the base, and the inner side is more or less clouded unth the same colour ; each of them with two approximating ear-shaped spots near the middle, the hinder one largest, and relieved with black, which emits one or two salient points directed backwards ; the fringe brown spotted with black. The hinder wings are dusky-grey, with a darker lunulated spot towards the base ; the fringe ochre- yellow. The thorax is dark-brown on the back, and the abdomen light reddish-ochre, obscurely banded jvith dark brown. The caterpillar is remarkably beautifiil*, the ground colour being a rich green, the back adorned with two row's of white spots, connected in pairs, below this a yellow line, succeeded by a series of small round spots, and then a red line just over the legs. (PI. xxu. fig. 3.) It feeds on almost every * The beauty of the larvae has suggested a name for the genus, Calocampa being derived from hmuiifvl^ and xafA-n-tt a uvr7?u P 226 LARGE SWORD-GRASS MOTH. kind of plant but prefers spinach, lettuce, and aspa- ragus. The moth is found in summer and autumn, and although far from being common, occurs now and then in marshy places in many parts of the coimtry. We have found it near Jedburgh, at Duddingston in the vicinity of Edinburgh, and have seen examples from Perthshire. In England it lias been taken at Darenth Wood, near Oxford, and in several other stations. “ Several specimens were taken at Jardine Hall on the skep during the month of January of the present year.” Sir W. Jardine, Bart. THE APRIL MISELIA. Miselia Aprilina. PLATE XXIII. Fig. 1. Phal. Noct. Aprilina, Ztnw.— Nootua Runica, Fair. — Phal. Runica, Don. x. PI. 354. — Marvel du Jour, Harris. — Mi- selia Aprilina, Oc/isen, Steph. The beautiful little group distinguished by the name of Miselia (from /uestv to hate and the sun ), is recognised by the antenn® being long, robust in the males and sometimes slightly serrated : the maxill® about the length of the antermsej the palpi ivith the radical joint rather robust, the second long and not so thick, the thud shortest and ovate, all of them thickly clothed with scales except the PLATE 23- i. April MiycUn . 2. Peorh-blossouiMotli Biiff'ArULts . THE APRIL MISELIA. 227 terminal one which is nearly naked ; the head tufted on the crorni ; the thorax robust and quadrate, and the abdomen tufted on the back towards the base. All the wings are rather narrow, the anterior pair roundish on the hinder margin. The larvsB have the head and pectoral segments a little depressed, and the head is considerably retracted in repose. They have two protuberances on the hack of the penultimate segment ; their abode is usually between the bark and on the trmik of trees. The species named Aprilina, from the usual period of its first appearance, has the upper wings of a fine green, thickly marked nnth transverse black streaks and spots, the apex with two rows of spots shaped like the head of an arrow, one of the rows placed upon the hinder margin. Tlie under wings arc dusky brown, with a faint light-coloured streak on the inner side rather behind the middle, and another along the hinder edge ; the fringe of the n-ings whitish spotted with hroivn. The head and thorax are the colour of the upper wings, the latter with some black marks on the back and a line of the same colour on each side ; abdomen grey ; legs ringed ivith black, the posterior wings having a black spot in the middle on the imder side. The catci'pillar varies m appearance according to its age, and even full grown individuals are often very dissimilar. It is commonly ash-grey, nuth dark spots and lines on the back and sides ; sometimes the back is spotted wth white, and the sides more or less striped with that colour. It feeds on dif- 228 THE APRIL MISELIA. ferent kinds of forest trees, such as the ash, elm, beech, &c. The moth first appears in the middle of April, and there is another hatch in October. “ This,” says Mr. Haworth, “ is at once a plentiful, well known, and beautiful insect ; but it is remark- able that none of our collectors ever take it in the winged state, and very rarely in that of a larva. The usual mode of prociuing it being by digging about the roots of oaks an inch deep for the pupm, which are annually found in that manner in con- siderable numbers.” The insect is not plentiful in Scotland, but is found occasionally throughout the southern counties. PEACH-BLOSSOM MOTH. Tliyatira Batis. PLATE XXIII. Fig. 2. Plial. Noctua Batis. Linn. ; Don. i. Pi. 33 Noetua Batis, Haworth Peach-blossom, Harris . — Tliyatira Batis, Oehsen, Curtis, Siq>h, Thyatira has the antennas simple in both sexes; maxillaB as long as the antennae ; palpi placed con- siderably apart, the radical and terminal joints of equal length, both of them short, the intermediate one very long and thick, the apical one with such small scales that it appears nearly naked ; the head transverse ; the superior wings moderately wide. PEACn-BLOSSOlI MOTH. 229 with the tip acute ; the body rather robust, and thd thorax famished with a transverse crest, which is forked posteriorly. When obtained in perfection, the species above referred to, named the Peach-blos- som from the colour of the spots on its upper udngs, is one of the most lovely found in this country. The upper wings are bro^vn wth dark transverse waved lines rather darkest towards the base, each of them with five rose-coloured spots, a large one at the base, clouded with bro>vn, two towards the tip (sometimes tmited), a third on the posterior angle having a brown spot in the middle, and a smaller one on the inner margin ; there is likewise a minute rosy spot on the hinder margin adjoining that on the posterior angle. The hinder wings are dusky inclining to ochre-yellow, and having a pale waved fine near the middle ; the abdomen of a similar colour. The caterpillar is of a very peculiar form, having a large gibbosity on the back a little behind the head cleft at the summit into two branches, and triangular elevations along the back marked with a pale zigzag line ; the colmrr rust-brown or blackish. It feeds on the common bramble. The moth ap- pears in June and July, and is usually found in the evening in the vicinity of woods ; it is not however of very frequent occmTence, although it seems to inhabit all the southern counties of England, and has occasionally occmTed pretty far north. “ Five or six specimens have been taken at Jardine Hall.” Sir W. Jardine, Bart. 230 BUFF ARCHES. Thyatira Derosa, PLATE XXIII. Fig. 3. Phal. Noctua Derasa, Lim. ; Don, vii. PI. 223, fig. I. — Noctua derasina, Hau-orOi Buff Arclies, ^¥ilkes, Harris. — Thya- tira Deraea, Ochsen, Steph, About the size of the preceding, or a little larger ; the prevailing colour light yellowish-brown ; the upper wings with two white oblique hands, one of them extending from the tip to the inner mar^n, the other continued from the inner margin to the anterior one, and terminating not far from the base, the space between it and the base generally more or less denuded of scales. The triangular space between the two bands is clouded with brown and white, and there is a transverse series of several parallel fine browm zigzag lines, forming very acute angles on a whitish grormd ; the hinder margin of the wing brown, udth two rows of small white arches, surmoimted by a w’hite iU defined line ; the fringe likewise whitish. The hinder wings are some- what dusky with a slight ochreous tinge, the fringe white. 'l' 1 l.l/fi ti/J .\foth. Uj-aiu/r }lnth. o AuiiIt'shtulxyMoth BUFF ARCHES. 231 The caterpillar, which seems to be a general feeder, is yellowish-green, with dark-bromi spots and lines on various parts of the body* Tlie moth, which is prized for its beauty as well as its congener T. hatis, is much more common than that species, being frequently found in most parts of England, near woods and in shady lanes. It becomes scarce in the north, but has been taken near York and in Northumberland. July and August are the periods of its flight. THE HERALD-MOTH. Scolioptcryx Lihatrix* PLATE XXIV. Fig. 1. Phal. Bomb. Libatrix, Linn.; Don. vi. PI. 216. — Bomb. Li- batrus, Furbelow-moth, Haivorth. — Herald-moth, Harns.— Calj^ptra Libatrix, Ocksen, Steph. This beautiful moth occurs in gi'cat profusion in the more southern parts of England, but becomes rarer as we advance northwards, and cannot be said to be common in any quarter of Scotland. It fre- quents places where willows and poplars grow, it being upon these trees that the larvaa feed. It first appears in July, and is likewise found plenti- fully in October, whence Aurelians have called it 232 THE HEBALD-MOTH. the Herald, from an idea that its appearance gave indication of the approach of winter. The expan- sion of the wings is from an inch and a half to an inch and a quarter ; the thorax and anterior wings reddish-grey, ivith an irregular red patch at the base, a round white spot on the disk of each, and two oblique transverse white bands, one a little below the middle, the other a little behind it : from the outer hand to the apex the colour is grey with minute dusky points, the space traversed by a veiy faint -waved whitish streak. The rufous patch is sprinkled with minute yellow dots, and there is a distinct row of small white marks along the central nervure. The underwings are hro-wnish, becoming darker towards the hinder margin; the abdomen inclining to red with a few faint dorsal marks ; the thorax Avith a dusky line on the hack and a trans- verse streak of the same colour. Legs greyish ; the tarsi white, spotted -with rust-red. Tire caterpillar, which is slender and naked, is green with a white line on each side, and red stigmata. — The principal generic distinctions of Scoliopteryso are thelengthened palpi clothed with long capitate scales, the radical joint shortest, the other tw'o rather long and stout and nearly of equal length ; antennas short and strong, bipectinated to the apex in the males, slightly serrated in the females ; proboscis rather short, head and thorax each -with a crest anteriorly ; anterior Avings deeply emarginate on the hinder edge and somewhat dentate ; the hinder pair very slightly dentate. 233 MOTTLED ORANGE-MOTH. Gortyna Jlavago, PLATE XXIV. Fig. % Phal. Noct. Lapp©, Dm. x. PI. 340. — Noctua Flavago, Hnh-‘ Noct. Ocl^ceago, Haxcorthy 234. — Noct. nitilago, Fuhr . — Mottled Orange, Harris' Aurd. PI. 35.— Gortyna flavago, Ochsen^ Curtis, SiejA* Gorttna has anteim® of moderate length, setace- ous, clothed Tivith scales above, and pubescent be- neath; the proboscis slender and not so long as the antennae ; palpi with the basal joint short and curved upwards, the second long and attenuated, the terminal one distinct, somewhat oval and com- pressed at the apex; thorax broad, with a conical tuft anteriorly, and trilobed behind; all the wings entire, the upper pair sublanceolate, with the tip acute. The larva is fleshy, furnished only with a few short and scattered hairs. It feeds on the pith and internal parts of vegetables, and bears a good deal of resemblance to those of Zeuzera, Ctmillia, and others of similar economy. Oidy two British species have been hitherto detected, of which that named G. Jlavago is by far the most handsome. It 234 MOTTLED OHANGE-MOTH. expands from an inch and a quarter to nearly an inch and a half ; the upper TVings are rich yellow, variegated with reddish-brown, the latter colour enclosing several spots of a lighter yellow than the rest, each wing with two broad transverse bands of reddish-bro-wn, one near the base the other near the hinder margin, from which it is separated by a yellow band undulated on the inner side; fringe long and thick, the colour reddish-brown. The hinder nungs are dirty white, glossy, with a dusky crescent-shaped mark on the disk, and an obscure band posteriorly ; the fringe ash-brown. The thorax and abdomen are reddish-bromi, the former slightly tinged in certain places with yellow. The cater- pillar feeds on the pith of the common burdock C Arctium Lappa ), and UkewLse attacks other thick stemmed plants, such as Verlascum Thapsus, Scro~ phularia aguatiea, the spear thistle, &c. It under- goes its metamorphosis in the interior, where the pupa likewise remains till the moth is ready to emerge, 'which usually takes place towards the end of autumn. The insect is not rare in many parts of England, but seems to become very scarce as we advance northwards. The only Scotch specimen we have seen was taken near Rosslyn. 235 THE ANGLE SHADES. Phhyophora Mdiculosa. PLATE XXIV. Fig. 3. Plial. Noct. metioulosa, Linn.; Don. iv. PI. 139 Angle- Sliades-Motli, Wilkes, PI. 3, Harris' Aurel, PI. 41. — Phlogo- phora mcticulosa, Treiisckke, Oc/isen, Sty>h. In Phlogophora (from pXof flame, and to carr)', in allusion to the shape of the markings on the anterior wings) the antennsa are long, slender, ;md ciliated ; the abdomen tufted at the base ; the anterior tvings rather nan'ow, with a sinuosity on the hinder margin and several ragged teeth ; the hinder wings very slightly dentate on the edge. The only British species is that figured. The upper wings, which usually measure nearly two inches across, are pale rosy-white, more or less clouded tvith olive-brown, each of them with a large tri- angular purplish mark in the centre, beyond which there is a white band, the margin more or less marbled with olive-brotra. The hinder wings are whitish, sometimes with a faint rosy tinge pos- teriorly, having a dusky central crescent, and two or three faint transverse waved dusky lines. 0 PLATE 23. Zvonr sc 1 ] J^oise'BlihK'Snni.Moth 2.0iunmu Motii o 4 Ihtrtushf.d Imixs'Moth \ s PEASE-BLOSSOM MOTH. 23 ? narrow, very slightly notched on the hinder margin, and furnished, as well as the under -wings, with a very long fringe : the anterior tibiae very short, and bearing two naked homy spines at the extremity. The Larkspur or Pease-blossom Moth expands about an inch and a quarter ; the upper -wings -with a broad three-lobed band at the base, and a narrow one behind the middle, of a purple colour; the space betAveen these bands, Avhich is hounded on each side by a pale sinuated line, variegated with pale rose-colour and purple; the hinder margin likewise pale rosy, Avith a black line next the fringe ; the latter yeUoAvish-white. The under Avings are Avhitish, tinged AA-ith rose-colour behind, and having a transverse dusky spot near the middle yelloAvish-Avhite. The caterpillar is yeUoAv, tinged Avlth lilac on the back and belly, Avhere it is likeAvise marked Avith numerous rows of black spots ; each side Avith a line of rather bright yellow. It feeds on the Avild Lark- spur f Delphinium Comolida ), a plant which groAA's prettj' abAmdantly in some of the southern counties of England, but Avhich is not found in a AA-ild state in Scotland. “ This charming moth,” says Mr. Curtis, “ is no less esteemed for its rarity than for its loA'ely colours ; the specimens in Mr Stephen s cabinet, as well as those in the British Museum, are from Windsor ; and it has once been taken by the late Mr. Jones in his garden at Chelsea. Its favourite food is the larkspur ; it therefore ought to be met 238 PEASE-BLOSSOM MOTH. with in Cambridgeshire, and districts W'here that plant abounds in a natural state. It is, however, probable that this is one of those insects, which, if not periodical, appears in very small numbers ; which opinion is strengthened by the feet, that it is veiy rare upon the Continent, where it fetches very high prices ; and we are informed by Mr. Haworth, that the great patroness of Natural History, the late Dutchess of Portland, possessed only a wing of the moth, foxmd in a spider’s W'eb at Bulstrode. In Wilkes’ days (1773)5 it was bred, he says, by the Honourable Mrs. Walters, and by Nathaniel Old- ham, Esq."* THE GAMMA-MOTH. Plusia Ganuna. PLATE XXV. Fig. 2. ^Phal. Noct. Gamma, Linn. ; Don. viii. PI. 265. fig. 2 — Noc- * tua Gamma, Htioner . — Silver Y Moth, Wilkea . — Plusia Gamma, Ocisen, Steph. Antennse simple in both sexes, of moderate length ; palpi longer than the head, the radical joint nearly of the same length as the terminal one, the latter linear and obtuse at the apex, the intermediate joint double the length of the others and tapering * Brit. Entom. vol. ii. fol. 76. THE GAMMA-MOTH. 239 towards the tip ; proboscis long ; head and thorax both crested ; the abdomen, which is rather long and thick, likewise bearing tufts at the base and along the back ; fringe of the anterior wings slightly emarginate, that of the posterior entire : caterpillars half loopers, poasessing only four rentral legs and the usual posterior pair. Such are the distinguish- ing characters of this handsome genus, which con- tains about a dozen indigenous species. All of them are remarkable for the rich metallic marks on the anterior wings, which sometimes assume the appearance of rvritten characters. They fly during the day, skipping about from one plant to another in a restless manner, and rvith much rapidity, keeping their wings, while feeding, in con- stant Vibration, somewhat like the Humming-bird Hawk-moth. The most common and best knowm of these insects is represented on the adjoining plate. It measures from an inch and one-third, to upwards of an inch and a half; the upper wings grey, varie- gated with dusky brorvn, having a pale blotch ante- riorly towards the apex, and a few transverse slightly waved dark lines ; the disk of each inscribed with a silvery character, resembling the letter Y, or rather the Greek 7 ; fringe somewhat dentate, greyish, spotted with dusky brown. Hinder "wings ash- brown, the nervures and hinder margin deep bro"\vn; the fringe light-coloured with dark spots. The head and thorax are ash-grey ; the abdomen rather of a lighter hue. The colour varies considerably in intensity, and 240 THE GAMMA-MOTH, the character on the anterior ■\vings is sometimes of a golden hue. The caterpillar is green, with a faint yellow strealc along the sides, and white ones along the back ; it feeds on almost any of our common field plants, and is well known for the extensive depredations it sometimes commits. (PI. xxv. fig. 3.) The moth is found from April to September, and, even so late as the beginning of November it may sometimes be seen in fine weather hovering about the few flowers that retain their blossoms till that season. It seems to inhabit all parts of Britain : we have seen speci- mens from the most northern quarters of Scotland. BURNISHED-BRASS MOTH. Plusia CTirysUis. PLATE XXV. Pig. 4. Phal. Noct. Chrysitis, Linn,; Don. iv. PI. 137 Phytometra Clirysitis, Lfatvorih Biirnished-Moth, Wilkes Buruishcd- Brass Moth, Harris' Aurel. PI. 22. — Plusia Chrysitis, Och- sen, Steph. This elegant species is about the size of the pre- ceding, but differs firom many others belonging to the same genus in the shape of the wings. The ante- rior pair are pale fuscous, ornamented with a broad band near the base, generally of a golden-green BURNISHED-BRASS MOTH. 241 colour, but variable in the tint; the green sometimes predominating, at other times the yellow; and a second of a similar colour behind the middle, placed obliquely, and frequently united to the other by an oblong patch on the inner margin. Near the apex there is a transverse line of deep broivn, and the nervures are likewise of that colour. Posterior wings dusky-brown, the fringe of both pairs red- dish-brown. Head and thorax yellowish, the latter bro^vnish-grey on the sides ; abdomen brown, tinged with yellow, the hairs on the sides and hinder extremity inclining to rust -red. The caterpillar, which feeds on a variety of com- mon plants, is green, with a longitudinal white line on the sides, and oblique streaks of the same colour on the back. The moth frequents lanes, the rank vegetation fonnd among rubbish, &c. and is very common in the vicinity of London and other places in the south of England. It becomes scarce in the north, and is not frequently observed in Scotland, although occurring at times in the southern counties, as we have seen examples from Roxburghshire, Dumfries-shire, Peebles, &c. Q 242 THE CLIFDEN NONPAREIL. Catocala Fraxini, PLATE XXVI. Fig. 1 Phal. Noct. Fraxini, Linn.; Don. v. PI. 171 and 172. — Clifden Nonpareil, Wilkes (PI. 90), Harris' Aurd. PI. 31. — Catocala Fraxini, Shrank^ Steph. Curtis' B. E. fol. 217. Tub genus Catocala of Shrank contains several of the largest and handsomest moths indigenous to this country. The 'wings are lai'ge, and extended by means of very strong nervures, the upper pah- some shade of grey on the. surface, finely mottled and waved vith dark broivn spots and streaks, forming a striking contrast with the under wings, ■which (except in the species named above) are bright red, with transverse black bars. The cater- pillars are what are called half-loopers, because hi walking they iiartially assume the attitude of the kinds which are without abdominal legs ; and con- formably ivith this circumstance, the first pair of legs are found to be smaller than the others, sho-u-ing a tendency to become obsolete, and thus indicating a certain degree of affinity ivith the geometers properly so called. They are densely ciliated on the ■•'•■■ 'r ■ ,: ■'tv- PLATE 26 . j /. i/.ttim Xunparril Lnjir.f sc - . I 'nd/r ww i] . THE CLIEDEN NONPAREIL. 243 sides, attenuated before and behind, and fumisbed with a caudal prominence. These insects may be distinguished as a genus by the length of the trunk, which is equal to that of the antennm ; by the palpi, which hare the middle joint nearly one half longer than the two others, and so densely clothed rrith scales as to appear double the thickness of the terminal one, the latter being short and slender ; by the abdomen being attenuated posteriorly, and the fringe of the wings, especially in the hinder pair, being long and rather deeply indented : the thorax slightly crested, large, and strong ; the head small, and the antennee long and setaceous, covered ■with scales external^, and short hairs on the inner side. The species named C. Fraxini is the largest moth found in this countiy, the expansion of the wings sometimes reaching four inches. The thorax and upiper ■wings are light grey on the surface, the latter variegated with transverse undulating lines of browi. The under wings are bro^vnish-black, with a broad curved band of light blue across the middle. The fringe of all the wings is pure white, deeply indented, and preceded by a row of dusky triangular marks, having the point tmmed outwards, which is most distinct in the hinder ■brings. Tlie under side of the body and legs are white, the tarsi of the anterior pair spotted with brown above. The caterpillar lives on the ash, poplar, oak, elm, birch, &c. It is ash-coloured, more or less yellow- ish, and sprinkled with minute black dots. The 244 TEE CLIFDEN NONPAREIL. head is greenish, with two frontal black crescents ; the eighth segment haling a dorsal protuberance of a bluish-black colour, and marked with a few yellow spots. On the ninth segment there is an oblique black line extending to the hinder stigmata; the latter are all smTounded with a black ring. It spins a very loose cocoon among a few leaves, and changes into a reddish-brown chrysalis, powdered with pale blue, and having tw'o small blue tubercles on each side of the fourth and fifth segments. It is a rare insect in this country, and indigenous specimens in good condition may still be regarded as a valuable addition to a cabinet. It was first figured by Wilkes as a British insect, and is said by him to have been found at Cleifden, in Bucking- hamshire; whence the English name he has as- signed to it. It has since been observed in SuflTolk, Kent, Surrey, and a few other places ; the vicinity of York is the most northern locality that has been cited. In France, Germany, and other continental countries, it occurs much more plentifully. EED UNDERWING. CcUocala Nupta. PLATE XXVI. Fig. 2. Plial. Noct. Nupta, Linn. ; Don. vii. PI. 224.— Red Under- ■wing, Harris' Aurel. PI. 18.— Hemigeometra Nupta, Ha- tvoiihi 268. Extent of the wings about three inches or up- wards ; the surface of the upper pair dark grey, with transTcrse wared streaks and spots of brown and obscure yellow, the hinder border wdth a series of transverse lunulated spots, and two waved dusky lines on the fringe. The underwings are of a deep and beautiful blood-red inclining to carmine, with a curved sinuated band of deep black near the middle, which tapers and disappears before reaching the inner edge of the wing, and a broad marginal band sinuated internally; the fringe pine white, with vestiges of ferruginous spots at the base. The thorax and abdomen are brownish-grey above, but white beneath ; the legs brown, ringed nith white on the tarsi. The under side of the upper wings is black, ndth a faint bluish play of colour, and three white transverse bands, the central one abbreviated, 24G RED DNDERWING. and the outer one attenuated and forming an acute V-shaped angle towards the inner mai'gin ; the apex and the fringe greyish-white, each tooth of the latter bearing a transverse dusky arc. The caterpillar is attenuated at both extremities ; the colour grey, inclining to white, and variegated with brown; having two rows of small tubercles along the back, and a callous protuberance on the eighth segment. The belly is greenish, with a lon- gitudinal series of black spots in the middle ; the head bordered with black. The chrysalis is reddish- broum, and covered with a kind of bloom of a blue colour. The caterpillar feeds on the poplar and ■willow ; and the moth continues to frequent these trees, and may often he seen reposing on their stems, particularly of the' willow. It occms very frequently in the southern parts of England, and is not rare even in the more northern counties, although 'we are not aware that it extends to Scotland. "We now come to that section of the nocturnal lepidoptera which includes the extensive family of Geometrine moths, the peculiar characters of which have already been alluded to. They constitute the Phalamce geomelrm of Linne, and the Lepidoptera semidiurna, Phaloenites, or Arpcntetim, of more recent -writers. The caterpillars are remarkable for their mode of progression and long narrow bodies, ■which are generally free from hair, but not unfre- quently furnished with knobs and protuberances. RED DNDERWING. 247 The majority have ten feet, six of which, placed upon the pectoral segments, are scaly and conical ; the other four are membranous, a pan- of them situate near the hinder part of the abdomen, the other at the extremity. The abdominal legs are sometimes wholly wanting, but the anal pair is indispensably requisite to enable the animal to execute its peculiar movements. Many of these caterpillars feed only in the night, and may be obsen'ed during the day, if the eye happen to dis- tinguish them from the surrounding tmgs which they often strikingly resemble, with their bodies suspended in the air. perfectly motionless, forming an angle -with the branch to which they cling by their hinder prolegs. The moths, however, are by no means exclusively nocturnal, and several of them may occasionally be noticed on the wing even in the heat of the day. Their bodies are generally slender, the abdomen of the male terminating in a small tuft : the antenna in that sex frequently pec- tinated, at other times simple ; the palpi short and somewhat cylindrical ; the proboscis occasionally ob- solete, — when developed, not very long and nearly membranous; the wings ample, and extended almost horizontally during repose. The first species selected to illustrate this division is named 248 THE BRIMSTONE-MOTH Rumia Cratagata, PLATE XXVII, Fig. 1. Phal. Geom. Cratagata, Lim, — Geom. Crattegaria, Hatvorth. Brimstone-moth, WiUtes, PI. 80 Yellow or Brimstone, Harris . — Romia Cratmgata, Duponchd, Steph. Ix expands firom an inch to an inch and two-thirds ; the colour deep sulphur yellow, the anterior edge of the upper tvings tvith two narrow reddish-brown spots towards the base, a tliird near the middle produced internally and having a white mark in the centre, and a pretty large one on the apex ; behind the middle there is a transverse row of faint dusky marks, and two or three others near the base. The hinder wings have a small dusky spot on the disk, sometimes with a white centre, and several evanes- cent (^sky marks, some of them forming a kind of band posteriorly. The fnnge is nearly the same colour as the wings, and marked in certain places mth reddish-brown spots. The caterpillar, which is elongate and cylindrical, is pale bro■^vn, with a bluish spot on each side of the neck, and the spiracles on the sixth segment £ PLATE Lixars sr. 1 Brunst/uir. Moth 2. Sw'iU/JwtailMuth. 7> - Enurah/ ■ THE BRIMSTONE- MOTH. 249 tinged with red ; the back with two hom-like pro- tuberances. Its favourite food is the haivthom, but it likewise frequents the sloe, apple-tree, bramble, &c. The moth is one of our more common species, and is distributed over the whole island. It is found from April to October or November, there being several broods in the year. SWALLOW-TAIL MOTH. Ourapteryx Samhucaria. PLATE XXVII. Fig. 2. Phal. Geom. Sambuearia, Linn.; Don. v. PI. 170 Swallow- tail Moth, Wilhs, P1.78 ; Harris . — Ourapteryx Sambuearia, Leach, Zool. Mag. i. PI. 35, fig. 2. The most characteristic feature in the present genus is that to which both the generic and English names refer, namely, the prolongation of the hinder wings into a pretty lengthened acute tail. The anterior wings are likeivise very acute at the tip, and some- what falcate, the margin entire. The antennse are of moderate length and simple in both sexes ; the palpi short, tlie proboscis nearly as long as the antenuEB. The caterpillar has six pectoral legs, and four prolegs at the hinder extremity. The Swallow- tail is one of the largest of our native geometrine mothSj the extent of the -wings frequently measuring 250 SWALLO-VV-TAIL MOTH. two inclies and a half. Tlie colour is delicate sul- phur-yellow, shaded at the hase of the wings into satiny-white, and deepening towards the hinder extremity ; the surface marked with numerous dark evanescent streaks, placed transversely ; two lines of deep yellow run across the anterior wings, and a single one across the under pair, the latter forming a continuation, when the vi'ings are expanded, of the innermost of the two anterior lines. -4.t the hase of the tail there are two small blackish spots, the larger one with a reddish centre, and the fringe is ochrey-yellow, inclining in some places to reddish- bro'wn. The colour of the caterpillar is reddish-brown, ■with darker lon^tudinal lines ; the head flat and oval. It feeds on the leaves of various shrubs and trees, but prefers the elder, uillow, and lime. It changes to a long narrow pupa of a bro'wn colour, •with darker spots and streaks, which is inclosed in a thin spinning among leaves. The moth appears on the wing in June and July, and is not scarce in many parts of England, especially in the south ; but it appears to be somewhat rare in Scotland. 251 LARGE EMERALD-MOTH. Hipparchus Papilionarius. PLATE XXVII. Fig. 3. Phal. Geom. Papilionaria, Lirm. ; Don. viii. PI. 287 Geo- metra Papilionaria, Hubner, Haworth . — The Large Emerald, 7/arru.— Hipparcliua Papilionarius, Leach, Steph. This genus was first cliaracterized by Dr. Leach, and has been adopted ivith some modifications by most succeeding writers. The species which it formerly embraced are noted for their beautiful tints of green, which caused them to be known by the appellation of Emerald-moths. These, however, are now distributed in other genera, and the only one left imder the old designation is the fine insect represented on the adjoining plate. The wings generally exceed two inches in extent, and some- times are two inches and a half in the female ; the surface deep grass- green, with two rows of whitish spots extending across both wings, rather behind the middle ; on the disk of each there is an obscure crescent-shaped spot of a deeper green than the rest ; the Singe is greenish -yellow, and the antennas reddish-brown, particularly in the male. 252 LARGE EMERALD-MOTH. The catei'plllar lins six pectoral, two abdominal, and two anal feet. It is green, with a yellow line on each side and reddish warts on the back ; and feeds on the elm, lime, alder, birch, &c. The moth appears in the end of July, frequenting woods and meadows, but is not very frequently met ivith in any part of Britain. It has, however, been found in Askam Bogs Yorkshire, in Kent, Surrey, near Reading, in Warn'ickshire, and many other parts of England, and on two or three occasions near Rae- hills in Dumfries-shire, as well as at Cramond near Edinburgh. As a genus, Hipparchus is distinguished by the following characters : antennce pectinated in the males almost to the apex, the pectinations ciliated ; antenna of the female simple ; proboscis spii-al, much shorter than the antenna ; palpi pro- jecting nearly in a horizontal direction, and approxi- mating at the tip ; the radical joint very short, the second very long, the terminal one lanceolate, free from hairs, and somewhat pointed; upper wings covering the under pair when at rest, the latter with the hinder margin dentate. PLATE 28. I. Goose}>r.rry Moth. 2>.Mntth'd IW.auty. 2.&‘ 2. Catr.rpVJnrs of D? 4. Chfhn Benuh . Lixars sc. 2o:^ MAGPIE OR GOOSEBERRY-MOTH. Ahrcucas Grossulariata. PLATE XXVIII. Fig. 1. Phal. Geom. Grossulariata, Linn. ; Don. u PI. 4— The Mag- pie, Haxoorth. — Large JMagpie or Moth, Wilkes^ PI. 85.— Currant Moth, Harris' Aurel» PI. 12.— Abraxas Grossula- riata, Leach, Steph. The establishment of this genus is due to Dr. Leach, who assigns as its distinctive characters the shape of the wings, -which are broad and rounded at the tip, the outer edge entire ; expanded during repose. Tlie antennae are of moderate length, and simple in both sexes. The palpi are very short, the radical joint short and robust, second longer, third globose and concealed by scales. The maxillae are long, the thorax and abdomen slender, especially in the male. It contains three British species, all of which are somewhat scarce, except that which we have figured, which may be regarded as one of the most abrmdant of our native moths. The upper -wings, which measure fi-om an inch and one-third to nearly two inches, are white -with two bright yellow bands, one at the base, the other a little beyond the middle. 254 MAGPIE OR GOOSEBERRY-MOTH. and six transTerse rows of rounded black spots ; the first consisting of a single spot or two at the base, the third irregular and interrupted, the fourth and fifth enclosing the outermost of the yellow bands formerly mentioned, and the sixth on the hinder margin : these spots vary much in size and position, and some of them are generally more or less con- fluent. The under wings have a few scattered spots on the disk, and a continuous series of larger size round the posterior border. The body is yel- low, with rows of black spots ; the head and an- tennse of the latter colour. Varies greatly in the marks, being sometimes nearly all black. The caterpillar is very similar in its markings to the perfect insect, the prevailing colour being white, slightly tinged with blue, the back with numerous black spots of various dimensions, and the lower parts of the sides, and the belly, yellow, sprinkled Mith black dots. (PI. xxvui. fig. 2.) The chrysalis is pitchy-black, with yellow bands on the segments. The moth appears pretty early in the summer, and abounds wherever the appropriate food of the cater- pillar (the common currant and gooseberry-bushes) is to be obtained. 255 THE MOTTLED BEAUTY. Melanippe Hastata. PLATE XXVIII. Fig. 3. Phal. Geom. Hastata, Linn. ; Don. iv. PI. 129. — Phal. Hastata, Haworth The Mottled Beauty, a Moth, Wilkes . — Argent and Sable, Harris' Aurel. PI. 1 S. — Xerene Hastata, Trdtsehke, Stcph. Bears considerable affinity to the preceding genus ; but the anterior wings, instead of being much rounded off at the tip, are but slightly so and almost come to an obtuse point. Tlie proboscis is rather long, the antennas slender, simple in both sexes, and the palpi short, slender, and acute, the terminal joint small and pointed. Tlie species above named differs slightly from the species with which it has usually been associated, and forms the type of Duponchel’s genus Melanippe. It measures from an inch to nearly an inch and a half across the wings ; the ground colour white, with a broad irregular black band round the hinder margin of all the wings, continuous externally, but spotted and inter- rupted on the inner side : across the middle of the tipper wings is another black band very irregular, being nearly ditdded in the middle, and interrupted 250 THE MOTTLED BEAUTY. behind the middle by the ground colour ; the base occupied by another band, similarly interrupted, and nearly divided by a white crescent. The imder wings have a cross band of black angular spots, rather before the middle, in continuation, when the nings are expanded, of the central one on the upper pair. The fringe is rather long and thick, and consists of regularly alternating tufts of black and white plumelets ; body and antennas black, spotted with white. « The caterpillar, which feeds on the birch, is dusky- bro^vn, svith undulating yellow lines on the sides. The moth is found in June and July, but is by no means of frequent occurrence. It is met with oc- casionally, however, in most of the southern counties of England. CLIFDEN BEAUTY. Zerene Albicillala. PLATE XXVIII. Fig. i. Phal. Gcom. Albicillata, Linn. ; Don. iv. PI. 202 The Beau- tiful Carpet, Haworth Clifden Beauty, Xerene Albioillata, Odhsen, Steph. About the same size as the preceding ; the ground colour milk-white ; all the tvings with a small dusky-black spot in the centre : the anterior pair with the base brown, variegated with transverse CLITDEN BEAUTY. <2o1 waved streaks of pearl white or leaden colour ; a large dark-brown tliree-comered patch on the an- terior edge near the tip ; and the whole of the hinder margin tinged with dusky-brown and varie- gated ivith faint waved lines of white or lead colour ; tliis dusky Iwrder hounded internally by a pretty distinct geminated imdulating bromi Ihie. Hinder wings likewise dusky on the hinder margin, that colour more or less interrupted rvith white, and boxmded intemtdly by a faint waved bromr streak. Head, thorax, and base of the abdomen pitch-brown, the rest of the abdomen whitish. The caterpillar is green, with a series of bro^vn crescent-shaped spots on the back, and a streak of that colour on the sides of the first and last seg- ments. It feeds on the raspberry and probably other species of Rubi. The moth, which is prized by collectors on account of the delicacy of its mark- ings, is very scarce ; but has been found near London, at Reading, in Kent, at Tunbridge Wells, and a few other places. The present genus differs from Melanippe cliiefly in the proportions of the joints of the palpi, the two first joints both robust, the radical one especially, the terminal joint minute and ovate ; the whole organ very short, and not visible from above. Tlie proboscis is long, the forehead prominent. Tlie wings entire mrd rounded, but not so broad as in Melanippe. As at present consti- tuted, the genus contains five British species. 258 THE BEAUTIFUL CHINA MARK. Hydrocampa Nymphaata. PLATE XXIX. Fig. 1. Phal. Geom. Nymphseata, Phal. Stagnata, Don. xi. PL 363, fig. 2.— Pyrauata Nymphealis, The Beautiful Cliioa liiark, Haworth . — Hydrocampa Nymplisaata, Latr.y Sieph, The genus Hydrocampa ( Water-caterpillar ) we havfe given as an example of the pretty numerous family of the Pyhalida;. It belongs to a section of that group, the species of which are somewhat remarkable for possessing four distinct palpi, the maxillaiy pair being likewise developed, contrary to what is observed in the generality of moths. Tlie labial palpi are, as usual, tri-articulate ; the two lowest joints densely clothed with scales, the ter- minal one acute. Tlie proboscis is rather long, the antennae moderate, and simple in both sexes. All the rvings have the hinder margin entire, the ante- rior pair elongate, the posterior ovate-triangular ; the surface reticulated uith dark lines upon a white ground. The legs are long and slender, the hinder tibiae vrith two pair of long spurs. The larva, which has six scaly and ten membranous legs, feeds upon PLATE 29 . B&aiJtifiil Omta^urnrk. 2. Ore^nSilver-tirus. o. CaUrpiUar of D'! A.Sctirr.^Silye.r-lvus LiXiir.i >vv. THE BEAUTIFUL CHINA MARK. 259 aquatic plants, from which it cuts out a portion in order to form its cocoon. The species figured on the adjoining plate measures from ten lines to an inch across the wings ; the latter white and shining, the anterior pair with two brown stripes extending from the base to beyond the middle, the remainder of the surface reticulated with hands, formed by two hroivn approximating lines ; the hinder margin with a continuous hand, the fringe pure white, brown at the base. The posterior wings are likewise white, ivith two brown transverse bands. The arrange- ment of the hands varies much in different indivi- duals, and, in some instances, they ai'e almost wholly obliterated. Tlie caterpillar, of which we have seen no de- scription, feeds on the common duckweed, and the moth frequents the borders of ponds and marshy places. It occurs not unfrequently both in England and Scotland. 2G0 GREEN SILVER-LINES. IlylaphOa Prasinana. PLATE XXIX. Fig. 2. Phal. Tortrix Prasinana, Li«n. — Phal. Fagan.i,Don. viii. PI. 281. — Green Silver-lines, Harris' Aurel. PI. 10, f. i. m Chloe- pliora Fagana, Steph. Cat . — Hylophila Prasinana, Huhner, Steph, Him. The present genus is usually placed at the head of the great family of the Tobtricid.*, so called from the larva being in the habit of twisting or rolling leaves in order to form an abode for itself. The aspect of these insects, when at rest, is somewhat peculiar, the anterior wings being very broad near the base, the humeral angle forming a wide curve ; towards the middle they are somewhat contracted, and again dilated at the hinder extremity ; the whole figure of the outline, as Mr Stephens remarks, thus bearing some resemblance to that of a bell. This peculiarity of form has caused them to be frequently tenned Broad-thouldercd Moths. With a few ex- ceptions, they are small insects considerably below the middle size, very agreeably coloured, and fre- quently marked with metallic spots. The cater- GREEN SILVER-LINES. 2(51 pillars are usually naked, and muck attenuated behind, which gives them some resembhmce to a fish ; whence some of them are described by Eeau- raur as Chenilles en forma de Poisson. They have sixteen legs, and run ivith great activity, seemingly with equal ease either backwards or forwards. The species above referred to expands fi'om somewhat more than an inch to an inch and a half, the colour light-green ; each of the anterior wings nith three oblique stripes of sUvery-white, the costa likewise of that colour. Tlie abdomen and hinder wings are yelloivish-white ; antennse reddish-brown ; the an- terior margin of the upper wings, the hinder margin and the fringe, as well as the legs, tinged more or less with bright red in the male. The cateiq)Ular is light-green, with a yellow line on each side, and two red streaks behind. (PI. xxix. Fig. 3.) It feeds on a vaiiety of common trees, and changes into a reddish-broivn pupa, which it encloses in a closely woven cocoon, nearly boat- shaped. The moth is not rare in England, and is likewise found not unfrequently in the south of Scotland. 202 SCARCE SILVER-LINES. HylopMa Quercana. PLATE XXIX. Fig. 4. Phal. Tort. Prasinana, Linn . ; Don. ii. PI. 40. — Scarce Silver- Lines, Harris' Aard, PI. 30 Hylophila Quercana, Hubner, Sleph. lUus. The largest insect belonging to this group, the wings sometimes extending to two inches ; the colour of the thorax and anterior •wings deep grass-green, the latter traversed by two oblique white lines ; poste- rior wings and abdomen glossy-white; palpi, an- tenna?, and legs tinged with red. The caterpillar is very like that last described, but is larger and has a dorsal tubercle on the second segment. It frequents various trees, l)ut seems most partial to the oak. Tlie moth appears about the middle of June. It is a rare insect in this cmmtry ; most of the specimens in collections have been obtained from the vicinity of London. PLATE 30. 1 . Thi’Dnrk porcelainlfoth \Mutr-pJumtd 2.LiimufJv^' Glitphqitfi'i/x.. A.Mariy-phinwl Mnik . Ltui?y sr. f ■i ■ > \ ' -.5 263 THE DARK PORCELAIN. Argyromiges Sylvella. PLATE XXX. Fig. 1. Tinea Sylvella, Haworth. — Phal. Blancardella, Don. xi. PI. 392. fig. 2 Argyromiges Sylvella, Curtis, Steph. The family Yponomeutida3, to wMch the present genus belongs, is constituted by a numerous assem- blage of small moths, the largest not exceeding an inch in the expansion of the vvings, while serersd do not equal the tenth part of these dimensions. The palpi are in general long and slender, and usually only two in number, a character which distinguishes them from the allied group, Tineida;, which possess two pair of these organs. Tlie name of the present genus bears reference to the metallic markings which are conspicuous in many of the species. It is known by having the palpi very short and drooping, nearly filiform, with the terminal joint compressed and obtuse, and longer than the two others taken together. TTie antennae are about the length of the wings, the basal joint robust. Wings rolled round the body 264 THE DARK PORCELAIN. when at rest, the anterior pair nearly linear, the hinder pair of a similar shape and very slender, all of them wtli a very long fringe. Twenty-five British species have been described, one of which is represented on the adjoining plate. It expands about three lines and a half; the anterior wings white, having a short ash-coloiured band at the base, a rectangular one near the middle, both of them edged ndth dusky and glossed with golden-yellow ; and towards the apex there is a cruciform mark of a similar colour, and a minute eye-like spot, with a black oblique pupil at the tip. Tlie hmder udngs are white, inclining to cinereous. Apparently not generally distributed : it has cc- curred near London and elsewhere. 265 LINNjEUS’ glyphipteryx. Oli/pltipteryx Linnedla. PLATE XXX. Fig. 2. Phal. Linea Linneella, Linn .®copliera Linneella, Latr . — Glj-phiptcryx Linneella, Hitbner, Curtis, iv. PI. 1S2. Palpi longer than the head, somewhat curved, the radical joint short, second long, the third nearly oi equal length to the second, hut more slender ; pro- boscis short ; antennae as long as the wings ; thorax without a crest ; the ivings nearly lanceolate, with very long fiinges, the anterior pair adorned with elevated tufts of metallic scales ; are the principal distinctive maiks of Glyphipteryx. It includes about ten British species, of which the beautiful example figured may be regarded as the type. It sometimes 'expands nearly half an inch, the anterior wings tavrny-orange, wuth three roxmd silvery spots on the disk of each, rising considerably above the surface, and placed in the form of a triangle ; the base and apex of the wing are black with a meteUic gloss, and there is likeivise a metallic line anteriorly and a small spot at the base. The fringes and hinder 8 266 LINNiEUs’ GLYPniPTEBYX. wings are dusky, the latter glossed with steel-hlue ; anteniue black, whitish at the apex. Occasionally found in some plenty, hut by no means general. It has been most frequently found near London, probably because that neighbourhood has been more carefully examined than most other places. TVHITE-PLUMED MOTH. ' Plerophorus Pentadaclylus. PLATE XXX. Fig. 3. Phal. Alucita. Pentadactyla, Linn.; Don. iv. PI. 110 Tlio Large White Plume, Haworth Plumed Moth, Harris' Aurel. PI. I, fig. 0 — q Pterophonis Pentadactylus, Lair., Steph. The last section of the Nocturnal Lepidoptera is chiefly composed of such moths as present the very remarkable peculiaiitj' of having their wings divided from near the base to the apex into separate plume- lets or feathers; thus bearing mueh resemblsince to the wings of birds. Tlicir bodii.. are long and slender, the legs likewise of grc'.i. length and deli- cacy, whence they are not unlike some kinds of crane-flies, and were in fact from that circumstance designated by De Geer, phalrmice- tipulce. In Pte- rophorus the anterior wings are variously divided in different species into from two to six branches, but the posterior pair are always trifid. The larvne, WHITE-PLBMED MOTH. 267 ■which are described by Eeaumur, have sixteen legs, and are furnished with hairs sometimes of consider- able length placed on rows of tubercles. The pupas, ■which are likewise hairy, at least in some species, are occasionally suspended by a band round the middle. The White-plume Moth is the largest of the British kinds, the ■wings sometimes measures rather more than an inch across ; the anterior pair rather ample, deeply cleft, with the apex somewhat acute, the whole snow'-white ■with a silky gloss ; the eyes alone being black. The caterpillar, -which feeds principally on nettles, is white tinged with green, marked Avith dusky spots, and having a yellow line on the sides. The moth is common throughout England on hedge banks, weedy lanes, &c., and appears to be by no means rare in Scotland. MANY-PLUMED MOTH. Alucita Hemdactyla. PLATE XXX. Fig. 4. Phal. Alucita HexadactjTa, Linn , ; Don, iv. PI. 136. — Twenty- Plumed Moth, Harris Pteroph. Hexadactylus \ The Six- cleft Plume, HaworOt, At once distinguished from all its associates by the beautiful structure of the ■\vings, -which are regularly divided into equal plumes, composed after the man- 268 MANY-PLUaiED MOTH. ner of a feather, of a central shaft, and fine diverg- ing cilia on tivo of its sides. Each of the anterior wings contains eight of these fringed rays, and each of the hinder ones fonr only. The palpi are long, slender, and reciurved ; the terminal joint very long and acnte, and turned npwards. The antennas are rather short, the thorax not crested, and the body scarcely extends beyond the hinder edge of the wings. The species figured usually expands about half an inch or npwards, and is of an ashy grey colour, with an irregular brown b.and near the middle of the anterior wings and another on the hinder margin, both of them with a whitish line adjoining. The posterior ^vings are variegated mth bromi and white, and a small black spot is visible on the tip of all the plumes. The moth is found not unfi-equently in houses, towards the close of autumn, most commonly on the inside of windows creeping on the glass. ‘■'i A* . 1 ''' . f