508 INSECTS AT HOME. 



dusky, or anything which comes out in the dusk ; while the 

 latter name is Latin, and signifies a little mouse, in allusion to 

 the nocturnal habits of the mouse. 



The upper wings of this insect are dull grey. At the base is 

 a patch rather darker than the ground colour of the wing, and 

 very indistinct. The central band is dark-brown with a greyish 

 tint, the other marks are light-grey brown. The larva of this 

 Moth feeds on the common bramble, drawing two leaves together 

 with silk, and remaining hidden between them. The Moth is 

 tolerably plentiful. 



Another species of this genus is the Eight-Spot Moth [Cne 

 phasia octomaculana), a figure of which is given on Woodcut 

 LIX. Fig. 4. 



Although its colours are simple, they are very pleasing and 

 prettily arranged. The ground colour of the upper wings is 

 white, minutely speckled with grey, and each wing has four 

 dark greyish-black marks, from which the insect derives its 

 name of octomaculana, or eight-blotched. There is some 

 variation in the size and form of the marks, but as a rule they 

 are found as they appear in the illustration. The under wings 

 are simply grey. 



The larva of this insect feeds on the thistle, and is more 

 common in Scotland and the northern parts of England than 

 in the southern counties. 



It is with much regret that I find myself obliged to omit 

 many insects which are well deserving of notice. Our space, 

 however, is so rapidly diminishing that we must content our- 

 selves with only a very few out of the many pretty little Moths 

 which form this large group. 



Another of the rose-feeding pests is the caterpillar of the 

 Moth which goes by the popidar name of the Brown Cloak 

 (Spilonota roborana). 



In the insects belonging to this genus the upper wings are 

 very narrow, being twice as long as they are broad. The hind 

 wings, however, are so wide that they carry off the narrowness 

 of the upper wings, which none but a practised eye would 

 notice. The palpi are broad and flattened, and the male is 

 known from the female by his tufted abdomen. 



This is a pretty Moth, tliough the colours are very simple 



