390 European Butterflies a.vd Moths. 



transverse lines dusted with darker ; fringes pale ochre-yellow, spotted with dark brown. 

 Expands from f to i inch. Common in Europe from May to July. The larva is green, with a 

 yellow line on the back and a yellow stripe on the sides. It feeds on birch and alder in 

 August and September. 



GENUS XX. — EUPITHECIA (CURT.). 



Small and delicate moths ; fore -wings with the costa rather long, and the hind and inner 

 margins of equal length. They are generally grey or brownish, and occasionally white, with dark 

 waved transverse lines, of which three double bands or double stripes generally enclose and 

 intersect a light band before and behind the central area, and two or three more placed close 

 together intersect the central area itself The subterminal line is generally light, often dentated, 

 and thicker below the costa ; in many species it is expanded into a spot above the hinder angle. 

 The hind-wings are generally lighter than the fore-wings, with the outer double band and the 

 subterminal line more or less distinct. The antennae are only distinctly ciliated in the males of a 

 few species. The larva; are usually slender, though sometimes thick, with raised angles on the 

 sides. Most of them feed on flowers and seeds, especially on Compositce, in autumn, though some 

 feed in spring. They construct their pupae in or on the ground in a cocoon. The species are 

 generally called " Pugs " by British collectors. They are small and inconspicuous insects, 

 and many of them are very difficult to determine. Several entomologists have lately paid 

 special attention to this group, both in England, France, and Germany, and new species are 

 being described every year, though it is doubtful whether all the reputed species are truly 

 distinct ; for while many of the moths are wonderfully similar, the larvae of the same species often 

 differ very much in colour and markings, and feed on a great variety of plants. 



I. E. Magnata (Mill.). — Wings very long, pointed at the tips, clouded with grey, finely 

 speckled with black, very slightly washed with orange, and traversed by several whitish and 

 strongly-dentated lines. Fore-wings with the costa nearly straight ; the central spot black, oval, 

 and very large, and surrounded by four white dots ; on the hind-wings it is very small. Fringes 

 preceded by blackish lunules, and marked with black dots between the nervures. On the under side 

 the markings are less distinct. Expands nearly \h inches. Occurs at Celerina, in Switzerland, in 

 July. (E. Fenestrata, Mill., is nearly white, the transverse lines very fine, interrupted, reddish- 

 grey, and a little more distinct on the fore-wings than on the hind-wings. The second line 

 is rounded on all the wings. Fringes very long and satiny-white. Under side pale grey, with 

 the dark grey lines more distinct than above, and the central dots, which are invisible above, 

 just perceptible. Expands about \\ inches. It is found on the Italian frontier of France in 

 August.) 



* 2. E. Ccntaurcaia (W. V.). — Fore-wings white, suffused with brownish in the marginal 

 area, with a large black central lunule, and a dark grey costal spot beyond it ; the central 

 area bounded on each side by a finely-dentated black line ; the subterminal line white and zigzag, 

 and the hind-wings whitish. The costa of the fore-wings and all the inner margins are spotted 

 with dusky. Expands nearly I inch. Common in Europe and Northern and Western Asia in 

 June and July. The larva is white or yellowish, with a blood-red stripe on the back, connected 

 with red curves, open in front. It feeds on the flowers of various Compositce in September. 



3. E. Graliosata (Herr.-Schaff.). — Larger than Coitaitreata ; snow-white, the fringes darker on 

 the nervures, the subterminal line narrowly bordered with dusky outside, and broadly inside, and 

 expanded into a white spot at the tip. The basal and central areas are cherry-coloured towards 



