NOCTU^ PATUL^. 147 



This is also a North American species, but it is con- 

 siderably smaller than the last, the wings expanding hardly 

 more than two inches. 



I'he head and thorax are light grey, and the abdomen 

 yellow. The fore-wings are ashy-grey, mottled with white, 

 and marked with dark spots and transverse streaks. The 

 central area is white, with a brown reniform stigma, centred 

 with black. The half-line, two transverse lines, and sub- 

 marginal line are all brown and dentated. In front of the 

 sub-marginal line is a row of zig-zag spots. The hind- wings 

 are light yellow, slightly tinged with reddish, with two curved 

 black bands; the inner narrow and ceasing at some distance 

 from the inner margin. The outer band is broader, and is 

 widely interrupted near the anal angle, but is then continued 

 to the inner margin. 



The larva is grey, with dark lines along the sides. It feeds 

 on various kinds of American oaks. Abbot found it also on 

 the Bead Tree or Pride of China {Ale/ia azedarack). He 

 observed that it spun among the leaves in the beginning of 

 May, and that the moths emerged about the end of the same 

 month. He adds that the moth is often found sitting on the 

 trunks of large oaks in Georgia and Virginia. The pupa is of 

 a delicate lilac tint. 



VI. NOCrU.-E PATUL./E. 



In this Division, which includes the largest Nocluce known, 

 the antennae are simple, the palpi ascending, with the second 

 joint compressed, and the third long and linear. The proboscis 

 is stout, and the eyes large and prominent. The abdomen is 

 conical, moderately long, and stout. The wings are large, 

 broad, and generally dentated, and the fore- and hind-wing, 

 arc mure or less similar in markings, and are usually grey 



L 2 



