THE EREBID^ 



689 



along their inner edges is a greyish down. As the nervures are 

 somewhat thick, they become shining in an old and worn speci- 

 men, and consequently make it look very different from a youn^ 

 and fresh one. The abdomen is sooty black, with the edges of 

 the segments grey, and the sides rather greyish. 



There is a group of large Moths called from their sombre 

 colours, Erebidae. The reader will remember that Erebus was 

 the name given by the ancient Greeks to the lower regions, 



P'lo. 424, — Thysaiiira Agrippir 

 (Grey, brown, and black.) 



which were represented by them to be dark, dull, and sombre. 

 In consequence of the exigencies of space, the insect is drawn 

 of barely half its proper size, the extended wings of the Moth 

 itself measuring about seven inches across. The Erebidae are 

 South American insects, and the present species is a native of 

 Brazil. 



The colour is pale grey mottled and banded with brown and 

 black, and the wings have a curious aspect which cannot be 

 better expressed than by the word "^peppered." 



