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595. 

 HELIOTHIS SCUTOSA. 



The marbled Wormwood Moth. 



Order Lepidoptera. Fam. Noctuidae. 



Type of the Genus, Noctua Dipsacea Linn. 



Heliothis Och., Curt. — Heliocentis i/«i. — Phytometra i/att;. — Noc- 

 tua Linn., Hilb., Goda. 



Antennce alike in both sexes, very slender and setaceous, rather 

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

 clothed with scales above, pubescent beneath (1). 

 MasfillcB as long as the antennse, very spiral, inserted at the 

 middle of the face (3). 



Labial palpi short, recurved, densely clothed with short scales 

 and projecting a little beyond the head (4), triarticulate, basal 

 joint elongated, curved, 2nd larger, slightly attenuated, 3rd not 

 very short, elliptic (4 a). 

 Head subtrigonate : eyes prominent and globose (7) .• ocelli 2, minute. 

 Thorax robust not crested. Abdomen with a few tufts down the 

 back, rather long and slender in the male, with a tuft at the apex ; 

 shorter and conical in the female. Wings slightly deflexed in re- 

 pose ; superior elongate-trigonate, the apex a little pointed, cilia not 

 short: inkrior ovate-trigonate. hegs rather long : tlhis^, anterior 

 very short with a long and broad internal spine, very scaly externally, 

 with two long slender spines outside at the apex (8), the others 

 spined and terminated by long unequal spurs, the hinder having a 

 pair also below the middle : tarsi rather long, very spiny beneath 

 and b -jointed, basal joint long : claws small. — Obs. The dissections 

 are from H. Scutosa. 

 Larvae with Q pectoral, 8 abdominal and 2 anal feet. Hiib. 



Scutosa Hdb. Noct. tab. 63./. 309 (^ .—Curt. Guide, Gen. 876. 



Griseous : wings dark brown ; superior with the nervures and 

 an irregular striga near the posterior margin ochreous-white ; 

 three large brown spots on the disc margined with black, a spot 

 before the first, which is the smallest, and the space between it 

 and the 2nd, which is auriform, ochreous-white, the lower spot 

 subovate and longitudinal : inferior wings whitish-ochre, the 

 nervures dark, with a large greyish-brown spot on the disc, and 

 a broad fimbria of the same colour with 2 round pale ochreous 

 spots at the centre near the margin ; apex of abdomen ferru- 

 ginous : underside very similar to that of H. Dipsacea, being 

 whitish variegated with ochre and brown, the spots in the su- 

 perior wings and a fascia beyond them black, the spot on the 

 under wings and the fimbria pale brownish, the edge of the 

 latter denticulated, with 3 large whitish spots on the margin. 

 In Mr. Heysham's Cabinet. 



The Heliothes fly in the day when the sun shines, and it is 

 said also in the evening : some of the Caterpillars form a web 

 amongst leaves on the surface, and others enter the earth to 

 change to pup*. 



