Aplecta. 207 



on the back, or else the hair on the first segments is loose and erect. The larvae have sixteen 

 legs, and are naked, often with dark spots on the back, or a pale stripe on the sides ; they 

 generally hide themselves during the day. Many hybernate, and others become pupae in 

 autumn, and the moths emerge in spring. The latter fly in the evening, and slope their wings 

 when at rest. 



GENUS I. — APLECTA (BOISD.). 



Rather large moths, the antennae of the male shortly ciliated ; the fore-wings broad and 

 triangular, with the fringes entire or waved ; grey or green, with dark double dentated transverse 

 lines, and the three stigmata surrounded with darker ; the orbicular and reniform stigmata large, 

 the former oblique and the latter with a dark centre ; the subterminal line generally marked 

 with black arrow-heads in front ; the thorax smooth and woolly, with the scapulae projecting 

 behind, and the abdomen extending a little beyond the hind-wings. The front tibiae are furnished 

 with bristles in A. Occulta only. The larvse are marked with dark angular or lozenge-shaped 

 spots. They hybernate, and change to pupae in the ground or in moss ; and the moths appear 

 in summer, and may be taken at sugar. 



* I. A. Occulta (Linn.). — Fore-wings bluish-grey, varied with brown and yellowish, with a black 

 basal streak ; the transverse lines are filled up with whitish ; the reniform stigma is dark grey, 

 and larger than the orbicular stigma, which is whitish, as well as the broad claviform stigma ; 

 the subterminal line forms an obtuse W in the middle, above which are two more distinct black 

 arrow-headed spots ; the fringes are intersected with paler, and the hind-wings are brownish-grey. 

 Expands from 2 to 2\ inches. Common in Central Europe and Northern Asia from June to 

 August ; the smaller and paler variety Implicata (Lef.) is circumpolar. The larva is dark brown 

 on the back, with a whitish line in the middle, and yellowish longitudinal stripes, on which rest 

 oval black spots, the hindermost of which are broader; the sides are pale yellowish-brown 

 mottled with darker, with a pale yellow longitudinal stripe spotted with bright yellow. It lives 

 on bilberry, dandelion, &c., till May. 



2. A. Sincera (Herr.-Schaff.). — Fore-wings ashy-grey, varied with brown in the central area, 

 with a black basal streak ; the orbicular and reniform stigmata are of nearly equal size, and the 

 former is pale ; the claviform stigma is small, the subterminal line is not dentated, and there 

 are black rays before it ; the fringes are intersected by a darker line, interrupted with paler ; 

 and the hind-wings are whitish, slightly dusted with grey, with a dark central lunule. The 

 variety Rhcetica (Stand.), from the Upper Engadine, is brownish-grey. Expands about if inches. 

 A rare species, found in the Harz and Oberpfalz in July. 



3. A. Spcciosa (Hiibn.). — Fore-wings light grey, suffused with yellowish, with a short black 

 basal streak ; the transverse lines are black, filled up with yellowish ; the elbowed line is marked 

 with black and white dots at the ends of the teeth ; the orbicular and reniform stigmata are 

 of equal size, with the centres brownish ; the claviform stigma is small, the subterminal line 

 nearly straight and not dentated, with broad deep black arrow-heads in front ; and the fringes 

 are entire, white, and spotted with dusky at the ends of the nervures ; hind-wings whitish, 

 slightly dusted with grey, with a dark central lunule, and two dark curved stripes. Expands 

 about 2 inches. A rare species, though less so than the last ; it occurs in the Alps, and in the 

 mountains of Germany in June and July. (The variety Arctica, Zett., from Northern Europe, is 

 unicolorous mouse-colour; the stigmata and transverse lines are a little paler within, and the 

 claviform stigma is absent ; the fringes are grey.) The larva is dull pale green, yellowish before 

 the incisions, with three greenish-white lines on the back bordered with darker, and a greenish- 



