-^0 



268. 



GLiEA SUBNIGRA. 



The black Chestnut. 



Order Lepidoptera. Fam. Noctuidae Lat., Leach, 



Type of the Genus, Noctua Vaccinii Linn. 



Gl^ea Hub. — Cerastis Treit. — Noctua Linn., Fab., Haw., Don. 



AntenncB inserted close to the eyes on the crown of the head, 

 slender and setaceous, covered with scales above, pubescent 

 beneath, joints transverse, each producing a few fine bristles (I ). 

 MaxillcE spiral, shorter than the antennae, robust, slightly pu- 

 bescent and furnished at the apex with long tentacula (3), 

 Labial Palpi porrected nearly horizontally, short, thickly clothed 

 with scales (4) ; triarticulate, basal joint long robust and slightly 

 curved, 2nd rather longer subfusiform, 3rd minute ovate-trun- 

 cate (4a). 

 Head small, thickly clothed vnth rather long scales. Ocelli two (7, the 

 head in projile). Thorax not crested. Abdomen very much de- 

 pressed, the sides margined, the end truncated and ciliated. Supe- 

 rior wings truncated, the posterior angle rounded. Legs rather ro- 

 bust. Tibiae, anterior with a spine on the internal side, the others 

 spurred at the apex, the posterior pair having 2 spines below the 

 middle. Tarsi 5-jointed, basal joint the longest. Claws minute 

 and bifid (8, afore leg). 

 Caterpillars, some hairy, others naked , with 6 pectoral, 8 abdominal, 

 and 2 anal feet. 



SuBNiGKA Haw. Lep. Brit. p. 234. n. 215. 



Dark chestnut. Superior wings with a slight bloom ; a striga 

 at the base, a waved one before and another beyond the middle, 

 with an oval and an ear-shaped paler spot near the centre, the 

 latter with the lower extremity blackish ; 4 pale dots on the 

 costa and an ochreous fimbria at the posterior margin, with 6 or 

 7 ferruginous spots ; the base of the cilia of the same colour, the 

 apex blackish. Abdomen and inferior wings fuscous ochre, the 

 latter with an obscure spot and transverse line darker, the cilia 

 ochraceous dark at the edges. 



In the Cabinets of the British Museum and Mr. Haworth. 



The continental winters have found it expedient to divide 

 many large families of insects into various genera, and in none 

 was this become more necessary than in the Noctuidae ; many 

 of these groups, however, are very artificial, and it frequently 



