100 NK'AEA. By Dr. A. Seitz. 



('. ij;. at Fiankfinl a. ^I. and Main/,, wlicre it lia.s been pnictically extinct for many years. In South Europe 

 •still very common at most flight-jilaces. In daytime it rests on leaves, but is easily flushed, when it goes 

 off in a rather high pai-aliolic curve, settling again at a short distance, therefore being easily caught. 



raeckbeili. A. rueckbeili P/</(.iy. As large as villica: forewing rather narrow with olilique slightly incurved outer 



margin, pale grey-brown with dull white spots, the largest of which is situated at the base and contains 

 two or three dark dots. Other spots partly at the costal and partly at the inner margin. Hindwing dull 

 yellow with two l>rown-grey median bands, and a broad grey marginal band of the same colour only 

 reaching the margin at its upper end and connected with it at the middle by a few rays. Abdomen 

 above yellowish with grey spots. Found in ^lay in the desert south of Aksu (Central Asia). 



Iiele. A. hebe L. (= festiva Hufn., nee Bkh., monacha Fourcr.). Forewing dull white, with more or less 



numerous black transverse bands edged with rust-colour and sometimes interrupted and running from the 

 costa to the inner margin. Hindw-ing purple-red, with black transverse spots. In Europe with the exception 

 of the extreme West, North- West and North, in Anterior and Central Asia, where several local forms occur. 

 From Livonia to Calabria and Syria and from Paris to ^Manchuria. l)ut always local. The commonest 

 Itujcns. aberrative specimens are those with the black bands of the forewing broadened (ab. lugeris Schultz), some- 



((Wicavs. times suppressing the ground-colour altogether. On the other hand, ab. albicans Fnchs is a form in which 

 the white predominates, the black bands of the forewing being only slightly indicated. — ScHULTZ calls 



'".'..J!';' specimens with the inner band of the forewing doubled ab. bivittata. In ab. wassi J(om. the hindwing and 

 abdomen are yellowish brown instead of purple-red. — More important are certain local forms like 

 sartha. sartha .S7(/r. (18 d), from Turkestan, smaller, with narrower wings, the collar with bright light edge; a strong 

 darkening of the forewing, which is not rare in specimens from Turkestan and Europe, is not constant. — 

 /■''''■'," interrogationis Men. (18 d) is the eastern form from Siberia and Manchuria, in which there is a great 

 deal of white on account of the much narrower bands of the forewing. CrRfM-GRSHMAiLO calls spe- 

 cimens of this form with very distinct red collars (this being sometimes the result of the setting) ab. 



collid-ts. collaris. — Egg yellow, later on grey. Full-grown larva black, with black head and warts, the latter 

 liearing grey hairs dorsally and rusty yellow ones laterally. Until April on sunny fallow fields, on low- 

 growing plants, especially spurge. Pupa in a loose cocoon on the ground, which can be recognised by the 

 silk-throads glittering in the morning dew; black with small bristles posteriorly. The moths at the end 

 of April and in May; they only occur in sandy districts and only in the plains. In day-time they rest 

 on or near the ground; the $$ have a very heavy abdomen, and when ovipositing run with whirring 

 wings along the ground, from which they can scarcely rise. The species is usually common where it 

 occurs, Init local, and mostly the larvae can onh- be found on certain definite fields, where great quantities 

 of them may be encountered in the early spring. Some of the larvae are, however, always attacked by 

 a certain fungus, Empusa aulicae, and occasionally the disease is introduced into the breeding-cages with 

 such larvae. The best result is therefore obtained if one breeds the larvae separately or only a few 

 together in small flower-pots. It must be observed that the larvae sometimes attack fresh pupae of their 

 own kind, and gnaw through thin gauze. Exposure to low temperatures now and again produces melanistic 

 examples, but generally kills the specimens or results in cripples. Sunshine is necessary to the larva, 

 wliich then feeds greedily and grows rapidly. 



7. Subfamily: Callimorphinae. 



In conlradistinctiuu to ihe preceding group of clumsy nocturnal moths with the tongue mostly aborted, 

 we have the very slender light-winged flower-loving Callimorphinae which are nearly all diurnals enjoying the 

 sunshine, and almost exceed in brilliancy of colour the bright Arciiinae. The blackish wings usually have a 

 liright green metallic gloss and rounded white or yellow spots or stripes; the hindwings are bright deep red or 

 purple red, yellow or white. The larvae are mostly more brightly coloured than those of the preceding group, and 

 with the hair not so long and shaggy as in those. The Callimorphinae do not occur in Australia, but are fairly 

 luiiversally distributed in the Northern Hemisphere. However, they do not extend so far northward as certain 

 genera of Arciiinae, and it is worthy of note that always only a few species occur in one locality, the greatest 

 number being found in the North-Western Himalayas, where the Palearctic and Indian genera meet. Nearly all 

 the species are common where they occur, many of them being foimd in great abundance. 



70 Geiui.s: Xioaea Moore. 



Rather large moths with medium-sized head, large eyes, short palpi and strong tongue; antennae 

 long with short ciliae in the (J. Body entirely clothed with dense smooth hair. In the f^ the much 

 produced apex of the forewing is characteristic, while the $ of the single species resembles a Call, dominulu 

 rossica in shape and colour and has normally-shaped wings. The only species inhabits West China and the 

 neighbouring districts of the Indian Himalayas. 

 lonijipeniiis. N. longipennis Walk. (ISd). Forewing and apical area of liindwing black with wliite spots; the 



remainder of the lundwing bright yellow with black spots. Thorax black, abdomen bright yellow wth 



