120 European Butterflies and Moths. 



yellowish-white oblique stripes on the sides, running upwards and forwards, and a j-ellowish line on 

 the sides, which is broadest on the 4th segment. It feeds on beech, hme, and oak in June 

 and July. 



GENUS III.— SATURNIA (SCIIRANK). 



Antenna; with long pectinations in the male, and short ones in the female ; wings witii dark 

 zigzag lines, and an eye in each, surrounded with a dark or coloured ring. The abdomen rarely 

 extends as far as the anal angle of the hind-wings. Tlie larvre have large tubercles, bearing 

 star-like clusters of short bristles. They construct a hard pear-shaped cocoon, which is closed at 

 the thin end by elastic bristles like a weir. 



1. ^S". Pyri (W. v.), (Great Peacock Moth). — Dark grey, with a marginal white band, brownish 

 behind, and black eyes dusted with violet-blue, surrounded with black and fawn-coloured rings, 

 between which is a white and red crescent on the basal side. It expands nearly 6 inches, and 

 is the largest Lepidopterous insect found in Europe. Common in South Europe and Western 

 Asia in May, and found as far north as Paris and Vienna. The larva is green, with blue warts 

 studded with short hairs, among which are two longer ones, knobbed at the extremity. It lives 

 on apple, sloe, &c., in July and August. The moth and larva are figured at PI. 27, Fig. 2, a, b. 



2. S. Spiiii (W. v.). — Both sexes are very similar to the female of S. Carpini, but the dark 

 double zigzag line ends about the middle of the inner margin, and the pectinations of the antennre 

 of the female are much longer. Expands from 2\ to 3 inches. It inhabits South-Eastern 

 Europe and Western Asia in May. The larva is black, with golden-yellow tubercles studded with 

 short hair, and feeds on sloe, roses, &c., in June and July. 



* 3. 5. Carpini (W. V.), {Emperor Moth). — Male with reddish-brown fore-wings and rusty- 

 yellow hind-wings ; female with all the wings grey. The hind margins are white, tinged with 

 dusky externally, and there is a double dark zigzag line which terminates on the inner margin of 

 the fore-wings much beyond the middle, and a black central eye on each wing, which contains a 

 white crescent, but is otherwise similar to that of 5. Pyri. Expands from 2^ to 2| inches. It is 

 common throughout Europe and Northern and Western Asia in ]\Iay. The larva is green, with 

 black transverse bands and reddish tubercles studded with short hair. It feeds on sloe, heath, &c., 

 in July and August. Both sexes, and the transformations, are figured at PI. 27, Fig. 3, a — c. 



4. S. Ccecigena (Esp.). — Ochre-yellow, suffused with rosy in the female, with two dark brown 

 zigzag stripes, and a dark brown ring in the middle of each wing. Expands from 3 to 3^ inches. 

 It is found in South-Eastern Europe and Western Asia in September and October. The larva is 

 greenish-yellow, or brown, with a yellowish stripe on the sides, reddish or dark brown bands, and 

 yellow tubercles, covered with short hairs. It feeds on oak in June. 



GENUS IV.— ACTIAS (LEACH). 



The only European species, A. IsabcUce (Graells), is grass-green, with the hind margins paler, 

 bordered, and on the fore-wings bisected, with dark lines, and the nervures broadly reddish. 

 There is an eye in the middle of each wing, with an oval white pupil, bordered first with reddish- 

 brown, and then with a ring dusky within and yellow without, and finally enclosed by a black 

 ring. The hind-wings of the male terminate in a long tail, curving outwards, and those of the 

 female in one much shorter and broader. E.xpands nearly 3i inches. This magnificent insect, 

 which is not closely allied to any other known species, is confined to Spain. The few other species 

 of the genus inhabit South-Eastern Asia, from India to the Amoor; North America; and South 



