BRITISH AXD EUROPEAN BUTTERFLIES AXD MOTHS. 



145 



bordered with white in front, passes from 

 the middle of the base. The hind wings are 

 whitish grey, darker at the apex, with the 

 hind margins sHghtly sinuated. The head and 

 thorax are ashy grey; the collar is striped 

 transversely with black in front of its hind 

 margin ; and the abdomen is grey. It is com- 

 mon in Central and Southern Europe in July. 

 The caterpillar is green with five fine white 

 longitudinal lines; white transverse incisions; 

 and a brown head. It feeds on sallow in 

 May and June. 



Genus Orthosia, Ochs. 



Head and legs covered with woolly hair; 

 the palpi raised on the head, with a short 

 terminal joint, straight or projecting slightly 

 outwards. The proboscis is spiral; the eyes 

 naked, bristly at the edges. The thorax is 

 arched, with smooth hair, and no tufts. The 

 abdomen is somewhat thicker in the female 

 than in the male. The antennae of the male 

 of ruticilla are serrated and ciliated, but not 

 quite to the tip; in litura they are pubescent 

 in the male and setiform in the female; in 

 the males of the other species they are only 

 slightly ciliated. They are middle-sized moths 

 with more or less expanded fore wings, gene- 

 rally with strong apices, and oblique hind 

 margins ; rarely with rectangular rounded 

 apices or with slightly oblique hind margins 

 curved above the inner angle. They fly in 

 Autumn, hibernate and reappear in Spring. 

 The larvse have a rather small head, and 

 are usually somewhat thickened behind. They 

 are smooth, green or clay-coloured, with fine 

 longitudinal lines or oblique markings. They 

 live on low plants or bushes, remaining hidden 

 during the day and assume the pupa-state in 

 the ground. 



O. ruticilla, Esp. Fore wings rusty-red 

 or brownish grey, very variable in colour; 

 with the markings rendered indistinct by the 

 dark scaling. There is a reniform stigma, 

 only filled with darker in the lower half; a 

 central shade; a yellowish nearly straight 

 submarginal line and a row of black dots edged 

 with yellow stripes, in front of the fringes. 

 The hind wings are shining grey with reddish 

 yellow fringes. The abdomen has a thick 

 anal tuft in the male. The moth appears in 



April and is scarce and local in Central 

 France and North-Western Germany, though 

 common in Southern Europe. The larva is 

 brown with dark angular markings and a black 

 head. It feeds in May and June on the buds 

 of the oak, but is said to eat wild thyme in 

 confinement. 



O. lota, Linn. The Red-line Quaker. 

 Fore wings shining reddish grey with the 

 transverse lines only indicated by black dots; 

 and yellowish -bordered stigmata, the orbicular 

 being kidney-shaped, and the reniform with a 

 black dot in its lower part. There is a nearly 

 straight submarginal line, dentated in front and 

 of a yellow colour bordered with purple; a 

 yellowish marginal line; and a band of the 

 same colour through the fringes. The nervures 

 are whitish, at least in their anterior half, 

 here and there dotted with darker. The hind 

 wings are dark grey with a still darker mar- 

 ginal band, a lunule and yellowish grey 

 fringes. It is common and widely distributed 

 throughout Europe in Autumn. The larva is 

 greyish brown, with a violet tinge, with an 

 interrupted white dorsal line, somewhat ex- 

 panded on each segment, and on both sides 

 of it a line marked with small white warts 

 or dots, most distinct in front and behind, as 

 well as a few broad oblique streaks on the 

 sides. It feeds between the leaves of willow 

 and sallow, which it has spun together. 



O. macilenta, Hiibn. The Yellow-line 

 Quaker. Fore wings reddish yellow, with the 

 transverse lines only indicated by blackish 

 dots. There is a more or less distinct central 

 shade and dark edged stigmata, the orbicular 

 being indistinct and the reniform blackish in its 

 lower angle. The submarginal line is yellow, 

 unspotted, and bordered within with darker; 

 it is nearly straight, but forms a tooth inwards 

 in front. There is a small dark spot in front 

 of the yellowish marginal line. The hind wings 

 are yellowish grey with a lunule showing 

 through, and yellowish fringes. The head and 

 thorax are reddish yellow, thickly covered 

 Avith hair, and the abdomen is yellowish grey 

 with yellowish hair at the sides and extremity. 

 It is common in Central Europe in August 

 and September. The larva is whitish grey 

 with an interrupted black dorsal line, a red- 

 dish brown head and dark brown cervical 



