DESCRIPTIVE NOTICES OF CONSPICUOUS SPECIES 205 



FAMILY XVII. PLUSID.E. 

 PLUSIA GAMMA. THE SILVERY. 



A pretty species, abundant throughout the country. 



The expansion of the wings is about 1J inch. The 

 fore-wings are of a violet- grey, clouded with darker 

 grey, here and there extremely glossy, some of the 

 transverse lines, and the outline of reniform stigma, 

 with a faint silvery lustre ; just beneath the orbicular 

 stigma is a more distinct silvery mark in the form of 

 the letter y, or of the Greek letter 7 (whence the name). 



The larva (half-looping because only twelve-legged) 

 is green, with the spots whitish ; the dorsal line bluish- 

 green, slenderly edged with whitish ; spiracular line 

 yellowish, bordered above with darker green. It feeds 

 on all sorts of low plants in the spring, summer, and 

 autumn, and is very plentiful in gardens. 



The perfect insect appears from June to October 

 continuously, seeming most plentiful just before the 

 flowers in our gardens are cut off by the first sharp 

 night ; it flies, as already remarked (p. 24), at all hours 

 of the day and night. 



FAMILY XXIII. CATOCALIDJE. 

 CATOCALA NUPTA. THE BED UNDEEWING. 



This handsome insect used to be generally common 

 in the south of England, though of late years it appears 

 to have become scarcer ; Worcester appears to indicate 

 the extent of its northward range. 



The expansion of the wings is about 3 inches. The 

 fore-wings are grey, with the transverse lines and the 

 reniform stigma darker grey, the latter is preceded by a 



