248 European Butterflies axd Moths. 



or represented by some small white dots. The fringes are slightly interrupted with grey. Hind- 

 wings grey, with the hind margin darker. Size of Dcjcanii. Inhabits South France and Spain 

 in May. The variety Diffluejis (Staud.), from Cadiz, is dark grey, with a blackish central shade, 

 and the two lines nearly parallel and not united ; the elbowed line dentated ; the reniform stigma 

 bordered with white below and on the outside, and the orbicular stigma more distinct than in 

 the type. The larva is yellowish-white, with four red longitudinal lines on each side. It feeds on 

 the seeds of a species of Helianthenmm with a yellow flower. {C. Opposita, Led., from Turkey 

 and Armenia, has ashy fore-wings, darker at the base, with a brownish fascia in the middle, 

 touching the whitish reniform stigma ; subterminal line whitish, continuous, and dentated ; 

 fringes spotted with black and white ; hind-wings pale grey, with very broad brownish hind 

 margins, and a brown stripe in the middle. Expands nearly i inch.) 



7. C. Pectinicornis (Staud.). — Fore-wings grey, darker in the inner half of the central area, and 

 with a dark grey triangular spot on the costa, near the tip ; the transverse lines black and dentated, 

 the inner line bordered within with paler, and the elbowed line standing on the paler grey ground- 

 colour of the wing ; a white suffused subterminal line, and a black and white line at the root of the 

 fringes, which are spotted with black and grey ; hind-wings white, with the hind margin broadly 

 brown. Antennae distinctly pectinated in the male. Expands a little more than I inch. Inhabits 

 Andalusia. 



FAMILY VIII.— CUCULLID^. 



Middle-sized moths, with long and narrow lanceolate fore-wings, with the tip pointed and the 

 hind margin short and oblique ; brownish-yellow, grey, silvery-white, or green, sometimes with 

 silvery spots, and generally with longitudinal markings ; the transverse lines and spots rarely 

 distinct, but the inner line, when present, is long and sharply indented, and the elbowed line is 

 sometimes indicated by light crescents on the inner margin. The hind-wings are small, with 

 the tip rather produced and the inner margin very short ; and they scarcely extend as far as the 

 middle of the abdomen. The middle and hind tibi<-E are provided with woolly flag-like processes. 

 The antennae of the males are very shortly ciliated, and the collar is raised in the form of a 

 hood, whence the moths have derived their popular German name of " Monks." In England they 

 are generally called " Sharks," from their shape when at rest. The larvae have sixteen legs, and are 

 naked, smooth, and shining, and generally spotted or streaked with bright colours, and some are 

 provided with short fleshy protuberances. They generally rest on their food-plants during the day, 

 leaping from them among the herbage below if disturbed. They generally prefer the flowers and 

 seeds to the leaves, and feed in summer and autumn, grow very rapidly, and undergo their trans- 

 formations in the ground. The moths appear next spring, fly over flowers in the evening, and rest 

 during the day on palings, &c., with their wings sloping very obliquely. The species are most 

 numerous in Eastern Europe. There is only one genus. 



GENUS CUCULLIA (SCHRANK), 



which it is therefore unnecessary to characterise, but it may be divided into two sections. In 

 the first, including species i — 6 inclusive, the fringes of the fore-wings are denticulated and those 

 of the hind-wings strongly waved; and in the second, including the remaining species, the fringes 

 are rounded or but slightly waved. 



*I. C. Vobasci (Linn.). — Fore-wings brownish-yellow, chestnut-brown along the costa and 



