THE NEGLECTED, OR GREY RUSTIC. 219 



merges into blackish grey. In the Shetlands a blackish, or 

 sooty-brown form (var. edda., Stand.), occurs. 



The caterpillar feeds on grasses and various low plants, also 

 on ling, heath, sallow, and has been found on wild hyacinth. It 

 is yellowish-brown with dark shaded pale lines on the back, and 

 a dark brown stripe on the sides ; spiracles and dots blackish. 

 October to June. The moth flies in August and September, and 

 affects heathy places, borders of woods, etc., throughout the 

 British Isles, including the Hebrides, Orkneys, and Shetlands. 

 Except in the New Poorest, Hampshire, it does not seem to be 

 common in the southern counties of England ; it occurs in 

 Epping Forest, and in other parts of the eastern counties ; 

 northwards it becomes more generally distributed and more 

 plentiful. 



The Neglected, or Grey Rustic {Nodua castanea). 



The reddish typical form of this species is shown on 

 Plate 110, Fig. 3. Fig. 2 represents the greyish form, var. 

 nci^lecta^ which is most frequently met with in southern England. 

 Between these extremes intermediate forms occur connecting 

 one with the other. Specimens of a pale ochreous colour have 

 been obtained in the vicinity of Market Drayton, Shropshire. 

 The caterpillar, which feeds on heather and sallow at night, 

 is pale reddish-brown, finely powdered with greyish ; below the 

 pale ochreous stripe on the sides, the ground colour is greenish ; 

 head marked with darker brown. September to May. The 

 moth flies in August, and occurs on the larger tracts of heathery 

 ground throughout the British Isles, but it is commoner in some 

 parts than in others, and appears to be scarce in Ireland. The 

 red form, and intermediates, occasionally occur in the New 

 Forest, and also in other parts of Southern England, but in 

 Scotland it is not unconnnon. The distribution abroad is, 

 like that of the last species, pretty much confined to Western 

 Europe. 



