THE LUNAR YELLOW UNDERWING. 23 1 



Var. curlisii, Newman, was discovered in the Isle of Bute 

 by Curtis in 1825, but until 1871, when Newman gave it the 

 name it now bears, it had been known as conseqiuij the name 

 assigned to it by Curtis when figured by him in 1831. The 

 form is generally rather smaller than the type ; the fore wings 

 are rich reddish brown, clouded to a greater or lesser extent 

 with blackish, and sometimes entirely suffused with that colour. 

 The yellow ground of the hind wings is rarely quite free of black 

 scales, but in some specimens they are so thick that the yellow 

 is hidden. A specimen of this form is shown on Plate 115, 

 Fig. 8. It is found in the Orkneys, Sutherlandshire, Elgin, 

 Inverness, Aberdeenshire ; also in the Hebrides, and in the Isles 

 of Bute and Arran. 



The caterpillar (Plate ii8, Fig. i), is greenish ochreous 

 varying to greenish brown ; three yellowish lines on the back, 

 the central edged with blackish and the others with dark oblong 

 marks ; spiracles white, edged with blackish, and below them an 

 ochreous stripe ; head grey brown marked with darker. It 

 feeds on grass and most low plants from September to April. 

 The moth is out in July and August. 



Abroad it occurs chiefly in Central and Southern Europe, 

 but its range extends to Southern Scandinavia and eastward to 

 Asia Minor and Armenia. 



The Lunar Yellow Underwing {Tnphcena {Agrotis) 

 or bo mi = subsajiia). 



Two specimens of this species are shown on Plate 115. 

 Fig. I represents a specimen from Forres, in Scotland, and Fig. 2 

 an example from the New Poorest, Hants. 



Although there is some variation in the colour of the fore 

 wings (which ranges from pale greyish brown to dark reddish 

 brown), and also in the intensity and clearness of the markings, 

 this species is far less aberrant than that last referred to, and 



