274 THE MOTHS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



Ur^ 



'\J^^W^ The Common Rustic {Apamea secalis). 



[| ' Following Guenee, British entomologists at one time knew 



this species as ociilca ; afterwards it became the habit to label it 

 iUdyma^ a name given to it by Esper in 1788. Just now the 

 authorities insist on secalis, Linnceus, being adopted. The 

 species is an exceedingly variable one, and six examples of 

 it are shown on Plate 132, Figs. 6 to 11. The form with 

 blackish fore wings and a white reniform mark is var. leifco- 

 sfii^nia, Esp. Niciitans, Esp., has brownish fore wings and a 

 white reniform. I-uigcr, Haw., is greyish or grey brown with 

 darker central band, and the cross lines united by a black 

 bar. Ochreous or reddish ochreous specimens with the front 

 margin \I area broadly and irregularly reddish brown, and the 

 outer margin bordered with reddish brown, are referable to 

 var. furca, Haw. Many other forms have been named. The 

 caterpillar is green with three reddish lines on the back ; head 

 and plate on the first ring pale brown, also plate on last ring. 

 In stems of grasses such as Fcstiica, Dactylis, etc., also on 

 wood-rush. From Autumn to April or May. The moth flies 

 in July and August, and is common everywhere in the British 

 Isles ; its ran^re abroad extends to Western China. 



The Double Lobed {Apamca op/iiogramma). 



This species (Plate 132, Fig. 5) is usually found in marshy 

 localities, or in gardens, over the eastern counties, and from 

 Northamptonshire through Rucks, and Hertfordshire, to Kent, 

 and Surrey. The caterpillar feeds from September on the 

 shoots of Fhalaris cD-iiudinarca and the cultivated form of that 

 plant grovvn in gardens, and known as ribbon grass. Also said 

 to feed on Poa aquaiica. When the grass dies down in the late 

 autumn the caterpillar enters the ground to hibernate, and 



