1.S6 



BRITISH AXD ECROPEAN BUTTERFLIES AXD MOTHS. 



June, but is scarce. The larva is clay-coloured 

 with a white interrupted dorsal line, and dark 

 angular spots with hairy warts beside them. 

 It lives on plantain and other low plants in 

 June and Jul)". 



C. arcuosa, Haw. The Small Dotted 

 Buff. Fore wings brownish yellow with tolerably 

 rectangular rather truncated apex, rounded at 

 the hinder angle with entire fringes and some- 

 what indistinct markings. The hind wings 

 are grey with rounded apices, and are narrow 

 in the female. The abdomen is slender, and 

 tufted on the sides. It is common in Central 

 Europe in June and July. The larva is dirty 

 yellowish white with small dark warts. It 

 feeds on Aira ccspitosa till May. 



Genus Acosmetia, Steph. 



Proboscis spiral, front and palpi smoothly 

 scaled; the last is curved upwards in a sickle- 

 shape, and the terminal joint is long, uniforml}- 

 thick and obtuse. The antennae are setiform, 

 and shortly ciliated in the males. The thorax 

 is rounded, with smooth shining hair. The 

 abdomen reaches as far as the anal angle, is 

 slender, not much thicker in the females than 

 in the males and, like the thin legs, is covered 

 with smooth scales. The anal fold is short 

 and broad, and is rounded and hollowed like 

 a spoon. They are slender moths with delicate 

 nervures, long fore wings much expanded ex- 

 ternally, with straight hind margins, and broad 

 rounded somewhat convex hind wings. 



A. caliginosa, Hi'ibn. The Reddisn Buff. 

 Fore wings dark ashy grey, without stigmata 

 and with the two transverse lines indistinct. 

 The central shade and the nervures behind the 

 posterior transverse line are longitudinally 

 streaked with black and slightly dotted with 

 white. The submarginal line is scarcely paler 

 than the ground colour and the marginal 

 line is formed of slight dark lunules, suffused 

 with whitish on the inner side. The fringes 

 are banded with darker, especially on the fore 

 wings. The moth is found throughout Central 

 Europe from May to the end of July, fre- 

 quenting damp meadows, and may be disturbed 

 in long grass in the daytime. The larva is 

 greenish, with yellow ring-like incisions and a 

 tew fine white longitudinal lines. It lives in 

 J line and August on Scrratula iindoria. 



Genus Rusina, Boisd. 



These moths resemble the larger Caradrina 

 in their shape and general characters. The 

 thorax is, however, provided with a small trans- 

 verse crest behind the collar and at the extre- 

 mity. The pectus and legs are thickly covered 

 with woolly hair. The palpi are well developed 

 and erect, and are rather prominent. The 

 antennas are strongly pectinated in the male, 

 and ciliated towards the tips; in the female 

 they are setiform. The body is thick in the 

 female. The only species is: — 



R. tenebrosa, Hiibn. The Brown Rustic. 

 PI. XX\T. lig. 9. It is widely distributed in 

 Europe, appearing in July. The larva is 

 smooth, and stout, reddish brown, darker above, 

 with three light dorsal lines, and blackish 

 oblique stripes. It lives from Autumn till April 

 on low plants. 



Genus Amphipyra, Ochs. 



Large or middle-sized moths with the 

 usual markings, but with the claviform stigma 

 nearly always wanting and the two other stig- 

 mata often ill-defined. The fore wings are 

 tolerably broad at the base, and slightly broader 

 behind, with the apices almost rectangular. 

 Nervure 5 of the hind wings is rather more 

 slender than the others. The vertex and front 

 are broad, and not tufted. The thorax is not 

 tufted; the palpi are raised; the proboscis 

 is stout and the antennas are simply ciliated. 

 The legs are long, the femora compressed and 

 smoothly scaled. The abdomen is depressed. 

 The moths fly in July and August and are 

 single -brooded. They sit with the wings 

 nearly horizontal and crossed at the hinder 

 angle, and pass the day hidden in the cre- 

 vices of palings and in the bark of trees, 

 quickly slipping from one crevice to another 

 if disturbed. There are several European 

 species, but only two are found in Britain. 



A. tragopogonis, Linn. The Mouse. Fore 

 wings greyish brown, the nervures sometimes 

 darker, with three black spots in place of the 

 two stigmata. The hind wings are lighter, 

 whitish or reddish towards the base, with a 

 darker marginal line and the fringes yellow- 

 ish at the base. It is common throughout 

 Central and Southern Europe in July and 

 August. The larva is green with three white 



