250 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS 



three or four black dots ; in the female the fore-wings 

 are whitish, faintly clouded with pale brownish towards 

 the costa, and along the hind margin. 



The larva does not appear to have been observed ; but 

 nearly all the larvae of this genus are subterranean in 

 their habits, feeding on the roots of moss, and, moreover, 

 they are very similar in appearance, so that this branch 

 of larva-collecting possesses few charms for the ento- 

 mologist ; in addition to which nearly every species of 

 Crambus can be taken in plenty in the perfect state, if 

 we once find its haunts. As most of the females deposit 

 their eggs very freely, the time may come when we shall 

 learn to rear them from the egg. 



The perfect insect appears in June, and may be ob- 

 served in plenty flying amongst the short grass, when 

 disturbed by the approach of the collector. 



FAMILY XVI. CRAMBIDJE. 

 CHAMBUS PRATELLU8. 



This common grass-moth is generally distributed 

 throughout the country, and very plentiful. 



The expansion of the wings is about f inch. As in the 

 last-named species, the female is much paler in colour 

 than the male, which has the fore-wings brown, with a 

 slender, angulated, darker, transverse line toward the hind 

 margin, edged externally with silver, and followed by a 

 triangular white spot on the hind margin near the costa, 

 and four black dots along the hind margin near the inner 

 margin ; a white streak proceeds from the base along 

 the centre of the wing, it has a short spur on its lower 

 edge in the middle, and terminates in an acute, point 



