THE GENERA OF BRITISH MOTHS, 15 
No. 5, Plate 4, is the female of the Ghost-Moth, Hepialus Humuli, the extremely small antenne of 
which are scarcely visible. 
No. 6 is the male Ghost-Moth, which is white on the upper side, but brown beneath. Few other 
British Moths exhibit so extraordinary a difference in the markings of the male and female. The male, 
when it flies in shady places late in the deep twilight of summer evenings, has a singularly spectral 
appearance, seeming to vanish suddenly, when the dark-coloured under sides of the wings are presented instead 
of the upper. It is from this circumstance, or from its frequent appearance in churchyards, that it has received 
its popular name. It appears in the beginning of summer. The Caterpillar of the Ghost-Moth (No. 7) is a 
root-feeder, and is represented as feeding on the root of the Hop. 
There are four other species of the genus Hepialus, all much smaller than the Ghost-Moth. 
1. Hepialus Heetus (the Gold Swift). This pretty species is of a bright orange tone, with marks of 
pale gold colour, which have a metallic gloss, from which it has received its popular name. The colour and 
markings of the female are much deeper in colour, but entirely without the metallic gloss. It appears 
in June. 
2, Hepialus Lupulinus (the common Small Swift). This unattractive species, though very similar to 
the preceding, is entirely without the metallic gloss in its markings of the male, and the female is of a dull 
ashy colour, with fewer light marks, and is sometimes entirely gray. It appears at the end of May. 
3. Hepialus Velleda (the Beautiful Swift), is larger than the two preceding; and the front wings are 
much more evenly and beautifwlly variegated than those of any other species, from which it is sometimes called 
the Map-winged Swift. The female is of a warmer tone of colour than the male, but the fine markings are 
scarcely traceable. There is a variety with the map-like markings nearly obsolete, but having a group of 
whitish patches just beyond the centre of the fore-wings. This species is rather rare. 
4, Hepialus Sylvinus (the Orange Swift), is not so finely marked as the preceding, but has the ground- 
colour of the fore-wings of a very rich orange. The male has the antenne longer than any other species, and 
slightly pectinated. The female is of a duller but very pleasing brown tone, and much larger than the male, 
being nearly the size of the Ghost-Moth, A variety of this species occurs in which all four wings of the female 
are of an unyarying pinkish flesh colour. It appears towards the end of summer. 
The next genus, containing a solitary British species, is Zeuzera. This genus is “distinguished from 
Hepialus by the length of the antenne, and by the broad bipectination of those of the male to about two-thirds 
of their length ; those of the female being only slightly serrated. 
No. 8, Plate 4, isthe female of Zewzera Asculi (the Wood-leopard), a far handsomer and larger insect 
than the male, which is, however, similarly marked. It is one of the most remarkable of our British Moths. 
No. 9 is the Caterpillar of the Wood-leopard, which, like those of other Hepialide, feeds upon the interior 
of the trunks of various trees. 
The next genus is Phragmatecia, containing only one species, now of extreme rarity in England, though 
once well known in the Fens of Lincolnshire. The genus is distinguished by the deeply pectinated antennie of 
the males; those of the female being ciliated to the point. The abdomen is slender, and of extraordinary 
length in the female. 
Phragmatecia Arundinis (the Reed-leopard), is in form not unlike the Wood-leopard, but the fore-wings 
are almost devoid of markings, and of a dark purplish ochre, the hind-wings being of a pale yellowish gray ; 
the antenne are pectinated in the males, The first specimen discovered was a mutilated one found by Mr. 
H. Doubleday in Epping forest. A few years afterwards it was taken rather plentifully in the Fens in Lincoln- 
shire, but it has since disappeared ; it is perhaps periodical in its appearance like several other species. <A figure 
of this insect, with some others, will be given in a supplemental plate at the end of the work. 
The next genus, Cossws, contains four European species, but only one British, which is, however, one of 
the largest of our native Moths. The antenne of the males are long, and partially pectinated ; those of the 
females being merely dentate. a 
No. 10, Plate 4, is Cossus Ligniperda (the Goat-Moth) ; and No, 11 the handsome Caterpillar, the dark 
