BRITISH AXD ECROPEAX BUTTERFLIES AXD MOTHS. 



109 



brown, lighter near the base, in the female. 

 The head and thorax are black and the ab- 

 domen greyish brown, lighter in front. The 

 antennae of the males are finely pectinated. 

 It is widely distributed in Central and 

 Southern Europe, but is not common. The 

 larv-a is yellowish green, with five brick- 

 red longitudinal lines and a dark yellow head. 

 It lives in Spring on Rmiiex and other low 

 plants. 



A. australis, Boisd. The Feathered 

 Brindle. Fore wings light grey, with a brown- 

 ish grey patch on the middle of the costa, 

 extended so as to enclose the well-defined 

 reniform stigma. All the stigmata are brown, 

 with a narrow black margin; beyond the middle 

 is a zigzag black line and another line which 

 is sharply angled. Between these and the 

 base are several other black lines. The fringes 

 are greyish brown, marked with white on the 

 nervures. The hind wings are white in the 

 male, with greyish brown nervures, and are 

 dull brown in the female. The head and 

 body are greyish brown, and the thorax has 

 a white patch on each side. It is found chiefly 

 in Southern and Western Europe, and has 

 been taken occasionally in the Southern and 

 Eastern counties of England. The larva is 

 yellowish red, with a paler dorsal stripe, brown 

 dots and black streaks on the sides, and a 

 greenish j^ellow bell}'. It feeds on Ciclwrium, 

 Asphodelus, etc., in March. 



Genus Ammoconia, Led. 



This Genus is allied to Polia, from which, 

 however, it is distinguished by the spined middle 

 and hind tibiae, and the ridged crest behind 

 the collar. The larvae are smooth and have 

 sixteen legs. 



A. caecimacula, W. V. Fore wings brown, 

 suffused with black and red. The half line, 

 which ends in small black spots, is yellowish 

 grey, and the two transverse lines are yellow- 

 ish grey, edged with brownish. The two 

 stigmata are also edged with brownish, and 

 there is a shade beyond the reniform stigma. 

 In the position of the claviform stigma is an 

 oblique transverse black spot, with rusty mar- 

 gins. The yellowisli submarginal line has a few 

 brown dots, and the marginal line is also 

 yellow. The hind wings are whitish in the 



male, with a grey hmule and hind margin and 

 a darker marginal line. In the female they 

 are dusted with grey. It is local in Central 

 Europe, except the North-West, in August and 

 September. The larva is light brown, with 

 dark brown dots on the back, and a pale 

 lateral stripe. It feeds on low plants. 



Genus Polia, Treit. 



Antennae with a tuft of hair at the base, 

 serrated and ciliated in the males. The eyes 

 are hairy. The thorax is quadrilateral, slightly 

 arched, and only slightly crested in front and 

 behind. The legs are unarmed. The proboscis 

 is spiral. The larvae are slender and cylindri- 

 cal, feed on low plants, and are fond of sitting 

 on rocks, etc. 



P. polymita, Linn. Fore wings dark 

 olive-green, darkest in the central area. All 

 the markings are white, except the indistinct 

 claviform stigma. Both transverse lines are 

 edged with black, the posterior consisting of 

 sharply curved crescents. The stigmata are 

 edged with black, and have several dentations 

 representing a central shade. The submarginal 

 line is composed of sagittate streaks towards 

 the base. The suffused band is thickly dusted 

 with white. The marginal line is composed 

 of black crescent-shaped spots, edged with 

 white on the inner side. The fringes are di- 

 vided by white conical spots on the nervures, 

 and each of the black marginal crescents 

 has a white blotch adjoining it. Otherwise 

 the fringes are like the ground colour of the 

 wing. The hind wings are whitish, darker on 

 the nervures and towards the base, with a 

 blackish interrupted marginal line, having a 

 lighter band of spots in front of it. There is 

 also a central lunule, and the fringes are 

 white, spotted with darker. The head and 

 thorax are olive-green, the collar with a black 

 transverse stripe through the middle. The 

 tegulK in the middle and the dorsal crests 

 are white behind. The abdomen is ashy grey. 

 The antennae are obtusely serrated in the 

 male. It is found in Central Europe, except 

 the West, in Julv, but is not very common. 

 The larva is slender, rusty }-ellow, with three 

 fine white dorsal lines edged with darker, and 

 a dark reddish brown line on the sides above 

 the stigmata. The belly is pale 3-ellow. It 



