232 THE MOTHS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



from which it is at once separated by the black mark on the 

 front margin, placed on the inner edge of the submarginal line. 

 The caterpillar is distinguished from that of comes by the 

 black-edged broader ochreous central line, and a series of black 

 oblong spots on each side of it ; the stripe under the spiracles is 

 broad, and ochreous. It feeds from September to April on 

 grasses and various low plants. The moth flies in July and 

 August. The species is widely distributed in Scotland, and 

 occurs in Unst, the most northern of the Shetland Isles. In 

 England it occurs, or has been found, in Durham, Yorkshire, 

 Worcestershire (Malvern), Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, 

 Oxfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk (not uncommon in the " Breck " 

 district), Surrey, Sussex, Hants (rather commonly in the New 

 Forest), and the Isle of Wight. For Wales, Barrett states that 

 it is rare in Pembrokeshire ; and Kane mentions Co. Galvvay 

 (four specimens), Killarney, and Lisbellaw for Ireland. The 

 range abroad is somewhat similar to that of comes, but it 

 extends further north in Scandinavia. 



J^ The Large Yellow Underwing {Triphana {Agrofis) 

 ■^ pro N lib a). 



The colour of the fore wings of this common, and often 

 abundant, species ranges through various shades of brown to 

 dark purplish. In the typical form (Plate 115, Fig. 3), the 

 wings are of the paler shades, mottled with darker, and the 

 thorax, except the pale front, agrees in colour with the darker 

 mottling of the wings. Fig. 6 shows the plain form (van 

 inniiba., Treitschke), and it is in this form that the darkest 

 colours appear ; the thorax is always of the wing colour, and 

 without the pale front. The black mark at upper end of the 

 submarginal line is rarely absent, but I have a pale reddish- 

 brown example of the inniiba form without the mark. In the 

 black-bordered yellow hind wings a central crescent is very 



