486 INSECTS AT HOME. 



of these beautiful Moths. I was going to bathe in the river 

 Cherwell, near Oxford, a river which is bordered with willows. 

 I happened to place my hand on the trunk of one of the wil- 

 lows, when out bounced a grand Red Underwing, startling me 

 as much as a novice in shooting is startled by his first pheasant. 

 I afterwards found that the Moths were tolerably plentiful upon 

 these trees. 



The generic name Catocala is formed from the Greek, and 

 signifies something which is beautiful beneath. The name has 

 been given to these insects because their chief beauty lies in 

 the under wings, which are hidden beneath the upper pair when 

 the Moth is at rest. 



On the Frontispiece may be seen a portrait of a smaller but 

 more richly coloured species, called the Light Ckimson Under- 

 wing {Catocala proraissa). 



In this fine Moth, the upper wings are coloured much like 

 those of the preceding species, but the marblings are much 

 richer and more clearly defined, and on the middle of the wing 

 there is a decided ochreous tinge. There is censiderable 

 variation in the aforesaid markings. The ground colour of 

 the lower wings is crimson, with a very broad black band 

 following the hind margin, and a narrow band crossing the 

 middle, and almost angular in its form. 



The caterpillar feeds on the oak, and is greenish-grey in colour, 

 and covered with tubercles of a warmer hue. ' It is full-fed in 

 June, and spins a Aveb among the leaves, appearing as a perfect 

 insect in a month or so. This is not nearly so common an 

 insect as the Red Underwing, but has been found in most of 

 the southern counties of England, the New Forest being noted 

 as its best locality. 



To the same genus belongs that magnificent insect which is so 

 very common in France and so very rare in England, the Clifden 

 Nonpareil {Catocala fraxini). This Moth can at once be 

 recognised by its superior size and the colour of its under wings, 

 which are black, with a broad band of bluish grey drawn through 

 their centre. It is believed by many practical entomologists 

 that this insect does not rightly belong to England,^ but that 

 those few specimens which have been taken within the limits 

 of our island have been blown across the Channel from their 

 legitimate home in France. 



