THE GENERA OF BRITISH MOTHS. 29 
PLATE XI. 
No. 1.—The Whittlesea Ermine (Lelia Canosa). No. 6.—The Brown-tail Moth (Eup ioctis Chysorrhea) 
No. 2.—The Caterpillar of the Whittlesea Ermine. No. 7.—The Female of the Brown-tail Moth. 
No, 8,—The Black V-Moth (Leucoia Vau-nigrum). No, 8.—The Caterpillar of the Brown-tail Moth. 
No. 4.—The White Satin Moth (Stilpnotia Salicis). No. 9.—The Gold-tail Moth (Zuproctis Auriflua). The Male. 
No. 6.—The Caterpillar of the White Satin Moth. No. 10.—The Caterpillar of the Gold-tail Moth, 
Tue genus Lelia is a comparatively recent addition to the catalogue of British Lepidoptera ; the only known 
species having been captured for the first time about 1825, in which year it was engraved in Curtis’s ‘ British 
Entomology” as Arctia Cenosa. It received its present name from Mr. Stephens in 1828, when he described it ” 
from a specimen taken at Whittlesea Mere, the only locality in which it has yet been found. 
Lelia Cenosa (the Whittlesea Ermine, No. 1) is remarkable for the size of the antenne of the males, 
which are deeply bipectinated. In the females, the pectinations of the antenne are scarcely visible, and the wings 
are paler coloured and more transparent than those of the other sex. The Caterpillars (No. 2) have four tussocks of 
hair similar to those of the Vapourers. They are found in July on the Butomus Vmbellatus, which grows in great 
abundance in Whittlesea Mere, and the perfect Moth appears in August. 
The genus Lewcoma, the name of which is formed of a Greek word meaning white, contains but one British 
species. It is distinguished by the snowy whiteness of the wings, and also by the character of the Caterpillars, 
which have the tussocks of the preceding genera, but not the long pencil-like tufts of separate hairs. 
Leucoma Vau-nigrum (the Black V-Moth No. 3) does not differ in appearance in the two sexes ; both having 
the slightly marked black V near the centre of the anterior wings ; the female, however, is generally larger than 
the male, and the light-brown antenne are not above one-third as deeply pectinated as in the males. The 
Caterpillar is black on the back, the sides being of a pale brownish colour, and it has eight tussocks of silky hair, 
the three middle ones of a pale yellow tone, and the others white. It feeds on Willows in June and July, and the 
Moth is found in August. The Chrysalis is green, with a dark spot on the thorax. As a British species it is 
extremely rare, but is said to be taken occasionally at Darenth Wood, Kent. On the Continent it is abundant in 
many localities, 
The genus Stidpnotia, in the perfect insect, closely resembles Leucoma, but the antenne of Lewcoma are brown, 
while the genus Sfi7pnotia is distinguished by the blackness of the antenne ; and in the caterpillar stage it is at 
once distinguished by the entire absence of the tussocks. 
Stilpnotia Salicis (the White Satin Moth, No. 4) the only native species. It is very common, and found abun- 
dantly everywhere. The female is generally larger than the male, and the antennz are pectinated, but much more 
slightly than in the male. The Caterpillar (No. 5) feeds on Willows and Poplars in June, and the Moth appears in 
July. 
The genus Euproctis has shorter and rounder wings than the preceding species, the legs are much more 
downy, and the abdomen is terminated, in both sexes, with a remarkable tuft of a woolly substance, either yellow 
or brown, much more conspicuous in the females, who use it to envelope the eggs after they are deposited. 
The Caterpillars are furnished with two long, pencil-like tufts of black hair at each extremity, but are devoid of 
the tussocks of other neighbouring genera. 
