116 



night like those of the barn owl as they winnow 

 the dewy flowers ; folded into two side pockets 

 at the base of the abdomen like those of the 

 Sphinx Moths and capable of being spread into 

 a fragrant star they are no longer sessile l)ut 

 attached to the extremity of a fleshy arm : com- 

 monly they are composed of white , rarely of 

 blacli hairs , and often they are stained yellow. 

 The Shark Moths , most numerous in Eastern 

 Europe like the Sphingomorpha of South America 

 are easily mistaken for Sphinx Moths ; orange 

 fans redolent of turpentine are possessed by the 

 male of ('ucuUla uiubratica whose caterpillar 

 feeds on sow-thistles and by that of verbasci, 

 whose chinaware caterpillar feeding on muUen, 

 known as would seem to king Soloman as the 

 Towers of Perfume, is a thing of beauté'. It is 

 singular that the notched wings of Pliolog'Opliora 

 lueticiilosa are not possessed by its congeners, 

 its Angle Shade markings resemble those of the 

 Tortrix-like Cosmas and its green caterpillar 

 sometimes noticed on the garden I'ennel has the 

 lateral lines of the Sphingina ; the scent fans of 

 the male are black. Scent fans are employed 

 by the orange-tinted males of Anchocelis pistacina 

 and Orthosia macileiita and no doubt by their 

 congeners who are tender eyed and readily dazed 

 by light. The pale moths of the genus Leucania 

 as Mr. Stainton has remarked congregate on tiie 

 misty marsh land, the male of Leucania coiigrua 

 remarkable for the silvery fi.sh-scale irridescence 

 on the under side of its wings and black stomacher 

 of hair , which is flying on the damp meadows 

 that border the Po in September , has its scent 

 fans stained orange ; those of the males of the 

 straw-coloured Leucania conigera, Ijthargyria 

 and pallens, that start up in July from the 

 long grass in English meadows have yellow or 

 white fans fragrant of ratafia. The gre^- Daggers, 

 Acronycta psi and trideus, that slumber on the 

 untarred pailings with a two-handed sword de- 

 picted on their wings look alike but the cater- 

 pillar of the first has a long hump and a lemon 

 ribbon on its back and that of the latter fre- 

 i|uently noticed in the south-eastern counties is 

 reddish with a short hump ; the Reverend Mr. 

 Smallwood found that the moths he bred from 

 the latter were smaller and darker ; the European 

 species cuspis has a caterpillar similar to the 

 first with a short hump : the resemlilance of these 

 singular caterpillars to those of the Notodontidae 

 has been noticed by Mr. Butler, the males of the 

 moths have scent fans that diffuse the reviving 

 essence of the vinaigrette. 



According to Mr. F. F. Pierce the male of 

 the coal black Epunda nigra has scent fans 

 wherewith to captivate its female; the fans of 

 the males of the ding^' brown black Mamestra 

 brassicae and persicariae that come to London 

 in the vegetable carts are sweetlv fraarrant of 



the vinaigrette and those of Apamea basilinea 

 are vinegarj' and white : the males of Xylophasia 

 rurea that sometimes wander about fir woods, 

 those of scolopacina that come to light , and 

 those of polyodon that slumber on the garden 

 gate and fly in at the top window, protrude fans 

 from their side pockets that scatter an essence 

 of tansy or turpentine; the brown marbling of 

 these moths serves for protection in the crevices 

 of the bark of trees and on the peaty heather 

 of Scotland the last is often brown black instead 

 of grey l)rown. The male of the large, black 

 Mania niaura, which M. Gruenée placed in his 

 Quadrifidae on account of the ample hind wings 

 having four branches to the median vein has 

 scent fans that at the close of sunnner cool the 

 evening air with the fragrance of the vinaigrette, 

 at Guildford it often flew in at the window and 

 was easily mistaken for a bat. 



Flat bodied Noctuina that close their wings 

 like a pince-nez such as the root feeding species 

 of Agrotis, Triphaena and Noctua, whose cater- 

 pillars are often troublesome in fields and vine- 

 yards , apparently' have these sexual organs at 

 the extremity of the abdomen ; and when they 

 are absent tinsel is supplied in the genus Phisia, 

 on whose courtship Greek letters and metalic 

 splarges inscribed on the wing are calculated to 

 confer the delight of a Chinese festival. As 

 I'egards the time of flight of these moths I entered 

 in a note book on the 20 of July 1867 at Warsash 

 in Hampshire 'Macroglossa stellatarura and now 

 Triphaena interjecta have connected the activity 

 of diurnal and nocturnal lepid optera, interjecta 

 commences its flight a little before sunset and 

 when dusk falls Plusia gamma comes like a 

 liacchanal in swarms to the flower beds having 

 spent the morning in the meadows where it sleeps 

 at noon'. Perhaps colour selection may be re- 

 cognised in the wing patterns of these moths, at 

 Guildford there were three varieties of the Common 

 Yellow Underwing, one had pale grey fore-wings, 

 another grey fore-wings with the Noctuina pattern 

 distinct , and a third lirown fore-wings . and a 

 series of each looks like three distinct species: 

 here in Devonshire Abrostula urtice and triplasia 

 have the habit of flying in at the diningroom 

 window, the first in July and the second in 

 August , and since the caterpillars that feed on 

 nettle are pronounced hy Mr. Kirby to be after 

 all much alike , I have wondered whether the 

 species are sufficiently differentiated to be con- 

 sidered more than seasonal varieties ; anywise we 

 plainly perceive how the species of Noctuina have 

 arisen in ages gone by. 



(to be continued.) 



