NOCTUIDiE. — ORTHOSIA. 141 



Allied to the foregoing, but differs in the strongly pectinated antennae of the 

 male, in which alone it resembles the following : head, thorax, and anterior 

 wings griseous-brown, the latter with three equidistant darker fascise, with 

 the ordinary striga paler, and the posterior one consisting of two somewhat 

 parallel and slightly undulated lines, and unaccompanied by darker spots; the 

 stigmata have the margins alone conspicuous and pale, and the posterior one 

 is destitute of a black spot : the hinder margin of the wing itself has a narrow 

 pale streak : the abdomen and posterior wings are dusky-ash ; the apex of 

 the former and the cilia with a rosy tinge ; antennae of the male deeply pecti- 

 nated, with a white rib and griseous radii. 



I have seen a pair only of this species : the male I obtained of a 

 practical collector, the female was found by myself in the pupa 

 state, at the foot of an oak in Richmond Park many years since. 



Sp. 3. gracilis. Alis anticis plumbescentibus griseo subnebulosis, striga obsoletd 

 posticd e punctis griseo-nigris extiis pallida adnatis. (Exp. alar. 1 unc. 6 — 7 

 lin.) 



No. gracilis. Wien. V. — Or. gracilis. Steph. Catal part ii. p. 71. IVo. 6131. 



Antennae strongly pectinated ; pale griseous, with the shaft ashy : head, thorax, 

 and anterior wings lead-coloured ash, more or less clouded with cinereous, 

 with the ordinary strigae very obsolete ; the posterior one pale, slightly waved, 

 and accompanied on its inner edge with several black spots : stigmata deep 

 fuscous-ash, with the margins pale griseous ; the anterior circular, the posterior 

 reniform ; abdomen and posterior wings dusky. 



Like its congeners, this rare species seems to be extremely variable: in some 

 examples the ordinary strigae are very distinct, a pale ferruginous bar traverses 

 the centre of the wings between the stigmata, and the arcuated striga behind 

 the posterior stigma is externally pectinated : the pale hinder striga is some- 

 times accompanied by an almost continuous series of black dots. 



Caterpillar green, the sides yellowish, with yellow rings, each articulation with 

 an anterior black spot and four obscure dots : it feeds on the oak, willow, 

 bramble, &c.; changes in July to pupa, and appears at the beginning of the 

 following April. 

 Not common : the pupa has been occasionally found at the roots 



of oaks in Epping Forest, and the larva has been taken sometimes 



at Darenth and Birch woods ; and I believe the insect has occurred 



in Richmond Park. 



Sp. 4. munda. Alis ttnticis griseo-cinereis, aut ferrugineis, striga posticd palli- 

 diore, punctis duabus geminatis ad apicem atris. (Exp. alar. 1 unc. 7 — 8 un.) 



No. munda. Wien. T.— Or. munda. Steph. Catal. part ii. p. 71. No. 6132. 



Head, thorax, and anterior wings pale griseous-ash, the latter with a dusky spot 

 at the base, a dusky ferruginous striga, before the anterior stigma, angulated 

 beyond the middle, arid turning rather suddenly to the base, a flexuous brighter 



