Selidosema. 317 



GENUS XLII. — SELIDOSEMA (niJBN.). 



Antennas pectinated nearly to the tips in the male, and simple in the female ; palpi 

 straight, tongue short and slender, abdomen slender ; wings dull grey or brown, finely 

 dusted or striated with darker ; fore-wings rather long, but obtuse at the tips ; hind-wings 

 rounded, and often a little dentated, and more or less excavated opposite the cell. The 

 larvae are smooth and cylindrical, with a round head, and feed on low plants or shrubs. 

 The moths expand about i^ inches. 



1. 5. Miniosaria (Dup.). — Wings entire, thick, of a yellowish or whitish-grey, striated with 

 brown, and with a blackish dot in the middle of each wing ; fore-wings with four transverse 

 lines, indicated by rather darker spots ; hind-wings paler, striated with brown, and bluish at 

 the base, but with no lines. It is very variable ; sometimes the ground-colour is dark brown, 

 speckled with black, with reddish costa and nervures. Inhabits South France and Spain in 

 September. The larva is bluish-violet, or green, with a brown stripe on the back, finely 

 bordered with yellow, and with a broad whitish stripe on the sides, marked with a yellow 

 spot before and behind each of the black stigmata. It feeds on the flowers of Genista 

 and Ulcx in March and April. 



2. S. Agaritharia (Dard.). — Fore-wings with the tip rather long, but obtuse ; dull brownish- 

 grey, with a dark central band, broad above, narrower from the middle of the inner margin, 

 and bordered with whitish on both sides. The subterminal line is waved, of a lighter grey, 

 and bordered with dark grey on both sides. The markings vary much in intensity, and are 

 sometimes lost in the ground-colour. Hind-wings whitish-grey, with the hind margin dull ashy, 

 and an indistinct central dot. Inhabits South France and Spain. The larva is reddish-grey, 

 with a broad whitish stripe on the sides, and feeds on Genista and Ulex. (S. Unicoloraria, 

 Ramb., supposed to occur in Andalusia, is greyish-white, thickly speckled with yellowish- 

 brown, the nervures yellowish-brown, and a stripe of the same colour across the centre of all 

 the wings, which is obtusely angulated outwards, just below the cell of the fore-wings.) 



*3. S. Plumaria (W. V.). — Wings light violet-grey, finely speckled with brown, darker on the 

 hind margin, with a brown central spot, and a suffused subterminal line, bordered with dark 

 brown in front ; and the fore-wings with three dark brown shaded stripes, often only 

 distinct on the costa. It is found throughout a great part of Europe and Western Asia, in 

 rocky places, in July and August, but is seldom very common. The larva is brownish-red, 

 with a black line on the back, expanded into spots at the back of the segments, and with 

 blackish dashes on the sides. It feeds on Lotus corniciilatus in May. (S. Granataria, Ramb., 

 from Andalusia, is yellowish-grey, transversely striated with brown, the half-line marked, and 

 the two transverse lines indicated by brown spots ; the inner line consists of three large 

 spots, and is not continued on the hind-wings ; the subterminal line is broad, pale, and much 

 dentated, especially on the fore-wings, and is broadly bordered on both sides with yellowish- 

 brown.) 



4. S. TcEiiioIaria (Hiibn.). — Wings reddish-testaceous, dusted with black, with three blackish 

 lines, the first angulated, and the second and subterminal lines dentated, and bordered outside 

 with reddish and with white respectively ; hind-wings dentated, with only the two outer 

 lines marked. Inhabits South France and Spain from June to September. The larva is 

 yellowish-grey, shading into bluish-grey and dull red, with a grey line on the back and a red 

 one on the sides. It lives on sloe, bramble, &c., in summer and autumn, and forms its 

 pupa on the ground, without constructing a cocoon. 



