314 THE NOCTUINA. 



In the warm evenings of summer^ when we are 

 compelled to sit with every window open for the sake 

 of a little fresh air, our lights frequently attract a 

 good many insects into our rooms, and amongst these, 

 numerous moths always make their appearance ; for, 

 although, from the noctm'nal habits of these insects, 

 we should rather expect them to avoid light, their pro- 

 pensity to fly towards luminous bodies is so great as to 

 have become proverbial ; and perhaps no natural simile 

 could more accm-ately express the behaviour of a 

 man rushing heedlessly on his fate, than the old and 

 well-known one of the Moth and the Candle. 



At such times, however, to return from this digres- 

 sion, our attention is often attracted to the ceiling 

 by a larger moth than ordinary, who, wiser than 

 his small brethren busily engaged in singeing their 

 vvings in the candles below, keeps warily at the top of 

 the room, so as even to flap it with his wings as he 

 spins about in circles. The moth which I have usually 

 seen thus employed is the Yellow Underwing (Tri- 

 phaena Pronuba), so called from the bright golden- 

 yellow colour of its hinder wings, which, however, 

 exhibit a deep black band close to their hinder mar- 

 gin. The fore part of the body, the limbs, and the 

 anterior wings are usually greyish-brown, and more 

 or less clouded, and the latter exhibit a large dark 

 spot in the centre, and a small black point close to 

 the apical angle. In repose, the hinder wings, which 

 are shorter but broader than the anterior pair, are 

 completely concealed under the latter, their inner 



genesis in Moths and Bees ; " a work containing most curious 

 and interesting details regarding the reproduction of certain in- 

 sects. A translation of this book, by the present writer, has been 

 published by Mr. Van Voorst. 



