DESCRIPTIVE NOTICES OF CONSPICUOUS SPECIES 271 



The larva, which, when adult, is very handsome, 

 greenish marbled with reddish -brown, feeds in May on 

 the shoots of the ash -tree. 



The perfect insect appears in June and July, and 

 may often be beaten from ash-trees, or observed sitting 

 on the stems, or on palings near ash-trees. 



The insect which does so much mischief to the 

 olive-trees of southern Europe by devouring the tender 

 shoots, is very closely allied to this. 



FAMILY V. PLUTELLIM. 

 PLUTELLA CRUCIFERARUM. 



Very abundant, and very generally distributed 

 throughout the country. 



The expansion of the wings is rather more than 4 

 inch. The fore-wings are greyish-brown, spotted with 

 dark brown, with a whitish-ochreous streak along the 

 inner margin, from which three rounded projections 

 cross the fold, and encroach on the darker ground- 

 colour. 



The larva is green, with the head and second segment 

 speckled with dark green ; the spots are small and 

 grey; it feeds on cabbage, turnip, and various other 

 Cruciferae in June, July, and September. 



The perfect insect appears in May and August, and 

 is very common amongst cabbages and turnips, etc. ; it 

 flies for a short distance with a steady, straight flight, 

 and then settles, holding its antennae straight out 

 before it. In some years it is particularly abundant, 

 and is then very injurious to turnip fields, the leaves of 

 the turnips being sometimes entirely devoured by the 

 larvae of this small moth. 



