BRITISH AXD EUROPEAN BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. 



169 



stripe parallel to the hind margin. The 

 marginal line is composed of faint dark dots. 

 The fringes are white at their base and tip. 

 The hind wings are pale grey with the basal 

 half and the fringes dirty white. The body 

 is white. It is common in sandy places in 

 South-Central Europe in July and August, and 

 is especially fond of the flowers of Gnaphaliiim 

 aromrium. The larva is greenish white. It 

 feeds in June on the shoots of Gnaphaliiim 

 which it has spun together and eats its way 

 into the stem. 



Genus Erastria, Ochs. 



Small slender moths with nearly triangular 

 fore wings, and very various markings. The 

 appendicular cell has nervures 7, 8 and 10 

 rising from it, and g from 8. The hind wings 

 are without pattern, grey with a curved hind 

 margin, and nervure 5 is somewhat more 

 slender than tlie rest. The body and legs are 

 clothed with depressed scales; the antenna; 

 are thickly and shortly ciliated; the palpi are 

 erect with a slightly oblique narrow, cylindri- 

 cal terminal joint. The thorax is not tufted, 

 or at most the scutellum may be slightly 

 tufted. The abdomen is slender, somewhat 

 thicker in the female, without tufts or with 

 a shovel-like tuft on the third and fourth seg- 

 ments. The moths sit on branches of trees, 

 etc., with their wings oblique, and tly at dusk, 

 and do not take to the wing in the day-time 

 unless disturbed. They are found in grassy 

 places among trees on turf-moors, etc. The 

 caterpillars are geometer-like with only three 

 or four perfect pairs of prolegs, the second 

 pair being rudimentary' and the first quite 

 absent. They are smooth with fine longitudinal 

 lines. The pupae have a slight cocoon between 

 dry leaves, among which some of them hiber- 

 nate. 



E. argentula, Hubn. The Silver-barred 

 Moth. Fore wings olive-brown with two sil- 

 very bands, edged with black, once dentated 

 internally and running almost parallel towards 

 the hinder angle. There is also, on the costa, 

 a fine white stripe from the base, a second 

 oblique one at the tip and a third in front 

 of the hind margin. There are no stigmata 

 or other Noctiia- m&rkmgs. The hind wings 

 are grey, somewhat darker towards the hind 



margins, but interrupted with lighter; and 

 with whitish fringes banded with darker in 

 front of their middle. It is common in damp 

 meadows in Central Europe, appearing in May 

 and June, but is local in England and Ire- 

 land. The larva is dark green on the back, 

 bordered with white, with light green sides 

 and dark green incisions. It feeds on grass 

 in July. 



E. uncula, Clerck. The Silver Hook Moth. 

 Fore wings shining brown, with the costa 

 broadly yellowish till near the tip, and suf- 

 fused with brownish in front. Internally there 

 is a white branch in place of the reniform 

 stigma and a white expansion in place of the 

 orbicular. The submarginal line is straight, 

 finely white, suffused in a band-like manner 

 with brownish. Tlie fringes are double, banded 

 with darker. The hind wings are brownish grey, 

 with the fringes as on the fore wings. It fre- 

 quents damp grass-lands in Central and North- 

 ern Europe in June and July. The larva is 

 slender, geometer-like, green with a lighter 

 line on the sides. It feeds on grass from July 

 to September. 



E. candidula, W. V. Fore wings white 

 varied with brownish grey and brown. The 

 costa is brown in the basal area ; from the 

 inner edge of this spot is a similar one on the 

 inner margin of the central area passing obli- 

 quely to the inner edge of the posterior trans- 

 verse line. In the central area, in the position 

 of the reniform stigma is a dark brown tri- 

 angle, marbled with black and white, reaching 

 along the costa to the tip of the submarginal 

 line. The two transverse lines are fairly 

 distinct ; in the position of the orbicular stigma 

 are two small black dots whilst the reniform 

 which is indistinct is placed in a dark triangle. 

 The submarginal line is bordered with brown- 

 ish grey on both sides. The marginal line is 

 composed of small black streaks. The fringes 

 are brownish grey, darkest through the middle 

 and at the tips. The hind wings are brownish 

 grey with two curved lines. The thorax is 

 somewhat tufted behind. It is scarce and local 

 in some parts of Central and Eastern Europe 

 in May and June. The larva is green with 

 two dark lines on the back and a white stripe 

 on the sides. It feeds on Sparganium ramosttm 

 in August and September. 



