NOCTUENI. 



45 



and again in spring, living through the 

 winter. The Moth appears in August. (The 

 scientific name is Bombyx Trifolii.) 



98. The Drinker (Odonestis potatorid). 



98. THE DRINKER. Male beautifully varie- 

 gated with brown and fulvous ; near the 

 centre of the fore wing is a small white spot, 

 and between this and the costal margin a still 

 smaller one ; the bar and middle of the wing 

 are fulvous, the costal margin and hind mar- 

 gin brown with a purple gloss ; there is a 

 single oblique line across the wing from the 

 very tip to the middle of the hind margin ; 

 the hind wings are brown and without mark- 

 ings. All the wings of the female are pale 



fulvous-yellow; the fore wings have two 

 white spots as in the male, and an oblique 

 narrow brown line from the tip to the middle 

 of the inner margin ; and sometimes, but not 

 always, there is a straight narrow brown line 

 across the base of the wing : the hind wings 

 have a broad indistinct brown band across 

 the middle. The caterpillar is hairy, and 

 rolls in a ring when touched ; it may often be 

 observed putting its mouth to a drop of dew 

 and sucking up the whole of it, whence the 

 name of " drinker" : in colour it is beautifully 

 and delicately variegated ; the back is blue- 

 grey, minutely mottled and dotted with black ; 

 on each side is a row of orange-coloured spots, 

 and below the row are oblique orange streaks 

 alternating with short tufts of white hairs. 

 It feeds on different grasses in spring and 

 autumn, and lays up without food during the 

 winter ; in May it spins a yellow shuttle- 

 shaped leathery cocoon, pointed at both ends 

 and fixed to the upright flowing stems of 

 grasses ; and the Moth comes out in July, 

 and is common everywhere. (The scientific 

 name is Odonestis potatoria.) 



99 The Lappet (Lasiocampa quercifotta). 



99. THE LAPPET. Rich mahogany-brown, 

 with a purple lustre like the bloom on a 

 plum. This beautiful appearance only lasts 

 while the insect is recently out of the chry- 

 salis ; it soon fades after the insect has flown. 

 The fore wings have a black dot in the middle, 

 and three zig-zag black transverse lines. One 

 of them is nearer the base of the wing than 

 the central dot, and the other two are beyond 

 it ; the hind margin of all the wings is 



regularly scalloped : the head, thorax, and 

 body, are rich red-brown : there is no dif- 

 ference in the markings of the male and 

 female. The caterpillar is very large, rather 

 hairy, and individual specimens are extremely 

 different from each other, sometimes almost 

 grey with a series of black V-shaped marks 

 all down the back, sometimes plain brown 

 with a paler stripe on each side ; there is a 

 row of fleshy tubercles along each side ; those 



