278 European ButterI'Ues and Morns. 



line. Inhabits many parts of Central Europe and Northern Asia in July. The larva is clay- 

 coloured, with a broad brown stripe on the back, divided by a darker line edged with paler ; 

 and a whitish spot on the last segment. It feeds in May and June. 



5. T. Liiiiosa (Tr). — Fore -wings reddish-grey, dark grey on the costa and in the marginal 

 area, almost without markings, only the small black-edged reniform stigma being visible. Expands 

 about \\ inches. It inhabits Hungary and Dalmatia in April and July. The larva is pale bluish- 

 grey, with black and yellow longitudinal lines on the back. It feeds on Coronilla varia in spring 

 and autumn. {T. Epltialtcs, Hiibn., from Andalusia, is uniform brown, with the three outer lines 

 black and very slightly curved, and the reniform stigma small, black, and nearly square.) 



FAMILY XVII.— NOCTUOPHAL.ENID^. 



.Small moths ; the fore-wings generally brightly coloured and marked, seldom with the Noctiia- 

 pattern distinct, and often quite irregular ; the antennas simple, and the thighs only occasionally 

 clothed with thin hair. The larvae have twelve or fourteen legs, and are naked, or covered 

 with short soft hair, and the moths rest with their wings sloping. 



GENUS I. — ER.\STRIA (TR.). 



Rather slender moths, with delicate wings ; the fore-wings brown or grey, varied with whitish, 

 or without markings. Larvic with fourteen legs, those on the 8th segment rudimentary. They 

 are naked, live in summer, and undergo their transformations on or in the ground. The moths 

 fly at twilight in open woods from May to August. The abdomen is strongly crested in the 

 two last species, and only slightly or not at all in the others. 



* I. E. Argentida (Hiibn.), Bankiaiiu (Fabr.). — Fore-wings olive-grey, with two broad 

 straight and oblique silvery-white transverse lines, the first continued along the costa to the 

 base ; hind-wings grey, dusted with brownish. Expands from three-quarters of an inch to an 

 inch. Inhabits Central Europe and Northern and Western Asia ; very local in England and 

 Ireland. The larva is green, darker above, with two white lines on the back, and a yellowish 

 stripe on the sides. It feeds on grass in August and September. 



* 2. E. Uncida (Clerck), Uncana (Linn.). — Fore-wings brown, with the costa broadly white. 

 edged above with brownish ; below this are the two stigmata, which are bordered with silvery- 

 white ; the reniform stigma is inconspicuous. There is a white line parallel to the hind 

 margin, and the hind-wings are brownish-grey. It expands i inch or less. Common in damp 

 meadows in Northern and Central Europe, and Northern Asia. The larva is green, with a 

 dark line on the back, and feeds on grass. 



3. E. Oblitemta (Ramb.), Wimmeri (Tr,). — Fore-wings varied with ashy-grey and brownish- 

 grey, with indistinct finely waved transverse lines, bordered with paler; the elbowed line is 

 curved round the light space in the middle of the wing representing the reniform stigma ; and 

 the hind-wings are reddish-grey. Expands about i inch. Inhabits South-Eastern Europe, west- 

 wards to North Italy ; and Northern and Western Asia. 



*4. E. Venustula (Hiibn.). — Fore-wings varied with violet-grey and brown, rosy-grey towards 

 the base and in the position of the orbicular stigma, with whitish trans\erse and subterminal 

 lines, which are not dentated, and a black spot before the reniform stigma ; the hind-wings are 

 pale grey. Expands about three-quarters of an inch. Scarce and local, occurring among fern 

 in Central Europe and Northern and Western Asia. The larva is dark reddish-brown, with 



