NEURIA. 29 



Europe and in Siberia. It expands from an inch and a half to 

 an inch and three-quarters. 



The head is brown, with brown antennse suffused with 

 white. The neck is yellowish, streaked with brown ; the thorax 

 is brown, and the tegulge are varied with ochreous. The 

 thorax is crested. The abdomen is pale grey, darker pos- 

 teriorly, and terminated by a brown anal tuft in the male. 



The fore-wings are violet-brown, with conspicuous white 

 nervures. The nervures and transverse lines are white and 

 give a reticulated appearance to the wings. There is a hall 

 line and two transverse lines, bordered on both sides with 

 darker. The orbicular and reniform stigmata have white out- 

 lines, and the latter has a white central line. The claviform 

 stigma is large and blackish. The sub-marginal line is yellowish- 

 white ; it rises from an indistinct dark spot near the apex. On 

 the hind margin is a row of seven black lunules, bordered 

 within with whitish. The fringes are light brown internally, 

 and dark brown externally. The hind-wings are whitish- 

 brown, darker towards the hind margins, with yellowish fringes. 



The female is larger than the male, with a stouter body, and 

 darker colouring, especially on the hind-wings. 



The larva, which attains its full growth in July and August, 

 feeds on various low plants, especially on the unripe seeds ol 

 the catch-fly {Silene), and its presence may be detected by the 

 ear-shaped holes which it makes in the pods. 



The larva is greyish- yellow or reddish, and only green when 

 young. It is conspicuously striped with brown, but the dorsal 

 line is only slightly paler. The spiracular line is light grey, 

 without markings, and so is the belly. The head is rather 

 large, spherical, and of a dull brown, and there is a brown 

 horny plate on the second, and another on the twelfth segment. 



The pupa, which is shining reddish- brown, is formed in a 

 cocoon in the ground. 



