Erjopus. 241 



hind-wings are dusted with grey. Expands about i inch. Inhabits Southern and South- 

 Central Europe and Western Asia. The larva is reddish-grey or brown, with dark spots on 

 the back, three whitish lines on the back, and a white stripe on the sides. 



GENUS XXXVI. — ERIOPUS (TR,). 



Small moths, the fore-wings with the iVo<r/««-pattern, but the claviform stigma absent 

 and the subterminal line indistinct ; the fringes slightly waved, and spotted with paler and 

 darker behind ; hind-wings broad, extending nearly as far as the abdomen, strongly contracted 

 below the tips, and dusted with brownish-grey. The larvae are slender, thickened behind, 

 and with a slight prominence on the 12th segment. 



1. E. Piirpiircofasciata (Pill), Pteridis (Fabr.). — Fore-wings with an angular projection in 

 the middle of the hind margin, olive-brown, whitish before the tip, with pale yellow nervures, 

 and single black transverse lines, which are not dentated, but broadly bordered with purplish-red 

 behind ; the marginal area is rusty-brown behind, with an oblique white streak above the middle, 

 and a pink spot at the hinder angle ; the two stigmata are bordered with white, and the orbicular 

 stigma is very narrow and oblique ; hind-wings brown, whitish towards the base. Expands 

 from i^ to \\ inches. Inhabits Southern and Central Europe, except the north-west, in June, 

 but not very common. The larva is green, with red or white crescents on the back, bordered 

 with white, and hollow behind ; or reddish, with pale yellow crescents. It feeds by day on 

 the under surface of the fronds of the fern {Pteris aquilina) in August and September, and 

 passes the winter full-grown in a thick cocoon, in which it becomes a pupa in spring. The 

 moth is figured at PI. 38, Fig. 10. 



2. E. Latreillii (Dup.). — Fore-wings with the hind margin regularly curved, dark grey, varied 

 with paler grey, and suffused with reddish on the nervures, with the transverse lines dark, 

 double, slightly dentated, and bordered with white inside, and a slender white subterminal 

 line, more distinct above the middle ; the two stigmata bordered with paler, and the orbicular 

 stigma round and very small ; hind-wings yellowish-white, washed with grey towards the 

 hind margin. Expands about i inch. Inhabits South Europe, as far north as the South- 

 Eastern Alps ; and likewise occurs in North Africa. The larva is rusty-red, with many indistinct 

 pale longitudinal lines ; and yellow stigmata. It feeds on Cetenich officinaruni, &c., only 

 eating the reddish scales which cover the capsules below the leaves ; and there is a succession 

 of broods throughout the year. 



FAMILY VI.— XYLINID^. 



Middle-sized or rather large moths ; the fore-wings a little broader behind, with the tip obtuse, 

 and the hinder angle distinct ; the hind margin not longer than half the length of the inner 

 margin. The colour of the fore-wings is brown or grey, often resembling that of rocks or petrified 

 wood, with the Noctiia-'^-i.XXQxn. more or less distinct ; hind-wings small, with a short hind margin, 

 and strongly contracted below the tips. The legs are short; the antennse of the males are 

 densely ciliated, and the palpi are small, porrected, and hairy. The larvae are naked and 

 cylindrical, with sixteen legs, and undergo their transformations in the ground. The moths 

 fly at night, and may be taken at sugar; or may be found at rest during the day on palings, 

 trunks of trees, &c. 

 38 



