296 



BRITISH MOTHS. 



commonly bistre-brown of several shades, yet 

 sometimes tinged with brick-dust red, and 

 always having four transverse lines and the 

 two discoidal spots mapped out, or, at least, 

 indicated in pale brown, gray, or white ; the 

 first transverse line is close to the base, short 

 and imperfect ; the second, much angled, pre- 

 cedes the orbicular ; the third follows the 

 reniform, and is the most distinct ; the fourth 

 is parallel with the hind margin, vague, 

 waved, broken, and often indistinct ; the hind 

 wings are straw-coloured, with a broad smoke- 

 coloured marginal band ; the margin is waved ; 

 the hind margin of all the wings has a deli- 

 cately slender black line : the head and 

 thorax are gray-brown, the tint produced by 

 a diversity of colour in the scales ; the body 

 is gray-brown, the scales concolorous. 



The CATERPILLAR is described by Guene"e as 

 elongate and cylindrical, smooth and shining ; 

 the head is pale, with two black lines down 

 the face ; the body is of a grayish yellow 

 colour, excepting the three thoracic segments 

 and the lateral area, which are woo^-brown ; 

 all the stripes are conspicuous and blackish, 

 the medio-dorsal is the most distinct, double, 

 crowded with black dots, and velvety on the 

 anterior part of each segment ; the sub-dorsal 

 atripe also is double, the spiracular stripe is 

 bordered with black above. It feeds on the 

 grasses which grow on dry and stony hills, 

 and lives through the winter from September 

 until the following April : the CHRYSALIS is 

 subterranean. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in July, 

 arid has been taken in most of our counties 

 %s far north as Kirkcudbrightshire ; Mr. 

 Birchall says it is common, and generally dis- 

 tributed in Ireland. (The scientific name is 

 Ceriffo Cytfierea.) 



491. The Flounced Enstic (Luperina testacea). 



W THE FLOUNCED RUSTIC. The palpi 



are short and scarcely projecting; the 

 antennae are ciliated in the male, simple in 

 the female : the fore wings are rather narrow 

 very straight on the costa, blunt at the tip, 

 and slightly waved on the hind margin ; their 

 colour is testaceous, with several dark umber- 

 brown markings, the most conspicuous of 

 which is below the two discoidal spots, and has 

 some resemblance to a capital letter I placed 

 longitudinally ; the disk of the reniform 

 is paler than the ground colour of the wing, 

 there is a series of crescentic dark brown 

 spots beyond the renifoim and the concavity 

 of each crescent is occupied by a paler crescent; 

 these markings are followed by a broad trans- 

 verse paler band, and a darker and indented 

 hind-marginal band : the hind wings are deli- 

 cately pale, and exhibit the most slender trace 

 of a darker discoidal spot, and a linear inter- 

 rupted border : the head and thorax are 

 testaceous brown, the body gray-brown. 



" The caterpillar is dull flesh-colour, the 

 head and the corneous plate on tl>e second 

 segment pale yellowish brown (Treitschke) : on 

 the lower parts of the stems of grass. " (Stain- 

 ton's Manual, vol. i. p. 206.) 



The MOTH appears on the wing throughout 

 August and September, and is common in 

 England, Scotland, and Ireland. (The scien- 

 tific name is Luperina testacea.} 



492. Dumeril's Lnperina (Luperina, Dumerilii). 



492. DUMERIL'S LUPERINA. The palpi are 

 short and scarcely projecting, the antennae are 

 ciliated in the male, simple in the female, the 

 fore wings are rather narrow, very straight on 

 the costa, and scarcely waved on the hind 

 margin ; their colour is testaceous brown, 

 with a darker median band, and a darker but 

 narrow hind-marginal band : the discoidal 

 spots are very distinct and very pale; the 



