NOCTUAS. 



259 



438. The Brown-line Bright-eye (Leucania conigera). 



438. THE BROWN-LINE BRIGHT-EYE. The 

 antennae are slightly ciliated in the male, 

 simple in the female : the fore wings have the 

 costal margin very straight, the tip almost 

 pointed ; their colour is raw sienna-brown with 

 two slender transverse umber-brown lines, the 

 first of which originates on the costa at about 

 a quarter of the distance from the base towards 

 the tip ; it runs obliquely nearly to the 

 middle of the wing, and then turns abruptly 

 to the inner margin, and joins it at a third of 

 the distance between the base and anal angle ; 

 the second originates on the costa at three- 

 fourths of its length, and runs obliquely 

 towards the inner margin, and joins it at two- 

 thirds of the distance between the base 

 and anal angle ; the orbicular and reniform 

 spots are between these two lines, the orbi- 

 cular scarcely perceptible, the reniform very 

 conspicuous and shaped something like the 

 letter S, the upper portion being ochreous, the 

 lower brilliantly white : the hind wings are 

 gray- brown with a brick -dusty tinge : the 

 head and thorax are of the same colour as 

 the fore wings, the body of the same colour 

 as the hind wings. 



ThecATERPiLLARhasbeenfoundinMay,and 

 is described in the third volume of the Ento- 

 mologists 1 Monthly Magazine, by Mr. Buckler. 

 Six specimens were received by that gentle- 

 man, three of them of a bright ochreous tint, 

 and the other three were of an almost uniform 

 gray colour. It is nearly cylindrical in form, 

 but tapers slightly at the anterior extremity : 

 in the ochreous variety, Mr. Buckland says, 

 " The colour of the back is deep ochreous, the 

 dorsal line pale sulphur-yellow, enclosed on 

 either side by a black line, and well denned 

 in its entire length. The sub-dorsal line 



rather broad, of equal width, and uninter- 

 ruptedly black throughout, followed by a pale 

 yellow line, finely edged below with black ; 

 next, a stripe of pale ochreous, then another 

 pale yellow line finely edged above with 

 black, and followed by a broad stripe of deep 

 ochreous, and broadly edged with black, both 

 above and below, the black spiracles being 

 along the lower, edge. Above the legs is a 

 stripe of pale dull ochreous, the belly and 

 claspers being slightly darker, the anterior 

 pairs of black dots visible only on the back of 

 each segment. The headis brownish, streaked, 

 and mottled with black. The other variety is 

 of a brownish-gray tint, with all the lines and 

 stripes less distinct, but all disposed in the 

 same order as above described ; but the yellow 

 lines of the former are, in these, represented 

 by lines of gray, and the ground colour of the 

 back is brownish-gray." It feeds on several 

 grasses, preferring that plague of the gardener 

 called couch-grass, spear -grass, or squitch 

 (Triticum repens), and is full fed at the end 

 of May. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in July ; it is 

 common and generally distributed in England, 

 Scotland and Ireland. (The scientific name 

 is Leucania conigera.) 



439. The Delicate (Leucania vitt'llina). 



439. THEDHLICATE. The antennae are very 

 slightly pubescent in the male : the fore wings 

 are straight on the costa and rather blunt at 

 the tip ; their colour is delicately pale ochre- 

 ous, the reniform spot and three slender zigzag 

 transverse lines being slightly darker, indeed, 

 tinged with brown ; the first of these trans- 

 verse lines crosses the wing half way between 

 the base and the reniform spot, and is nearly 

 direct, but very indistinct, indeed scarcely 

 perceptible] the second and third are very 



