300 



BRITISH MOTHS. 



formly cylindrical, very smooth and velvety, 

 and slightly decreasing towards either extre- 

 mity : the colour of the head is pale semi-trans- 

 parent green, and glabrous: the second seg- 

 ment has on its anterior margin a crescentic 

 glabrous plate, resembling the head in colour ; 

 the body is grass-green, with a medio-ilorsal 

 stripe slightly darker, and intersected by an 

 extremely narrow paler stripe on each side just 

 below the spiracles, and, touching all of them 

 except the first and ninth, is a pale stripe, 

 intersected by a darker stripe ; the claspers 

 and legs are concolorous with the body. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in May and 

 June, and has been "taken in Devonshire by 

 Mr. Matthew, in Somersetshire by Mr. Crotch, 

 in Cheshire and Lancashire by Mr. Birchall, 

 in Northumberland, Durham, and the Lake 

 District ; it is also exceedingly common on 

 the Irish coast near Dublin. (The scientific 

 name is Mamestra albicolon.) 



498. The Confused (Mamestra farva). 



498. THE CONFUSED. The antennae are 

 slightly ciliated in the male, and of a tes- 

 taceous brown colour ; the palpi are very 

 inconspicuous : the colour of the fore wings 

 is dark gray-brown, obscurely mottled and 

 marbled with darker markings ; the reniform 

 and orbicular spots are confused, and have no 

 white or light borders ; parallel with the hind 

 margin is a pale interrupted line, or rather a 

 series of pale linear spots : the hind wings are 

 dingy gray-brown, paler at the base, and 

 having darker wing-rays : the head and 

 thorax are of the same colour as the fore 

 wings; the body of the same colour as the 

 hind wings. 



The CATERPILLAR is thus described by 

 Guene " Vermiform, shining, transparent, 

 ana of a dull violet-brown colour, with, the 



usual somewhat wart-like spots, as well as the 

 heap, the plates of the neck and twelfth seg- 

 ment, and the spiracles shining black. It 

 lives in June concealed n at the root of grasses, 

 especially Aira canescens in the manner of 

 Xylophasia polyodon and X. lateritia, both 

 of which it much resembles." 



The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and 

 is said to have been taken in Devonshire. 

 Somer.-etshire, Kent, Berkshire, Suffolk, Wor- 

 cestershire, Shropshire, Derbyshire, York- 

 shire, the Lake District, Scotland, and Ire- 

 land : it is certainly very local, and is imper- 

 fectly known, one of the varieties of Apa>n?.a 

 gemina hereafter to be described, being con- 

 stantly sent under the name of Furva : on tliis 

 account I receive all reports of its capture with 

 distrust unless accompanied with, specimens. 

 (The scientific name is Mamestra furva) 



Obs. This confused and obscurely-coloured 

 moth is not noticed by Haworth or Stephens, 

 and, therefore, I believe has . received no 

 English name prior to that now given. 



499. The Cabbage Moth (Mamestra Brassicce). 



499. THE CABBAGE MOTH. The antennae 

 are rather long and slender, and scarcely 

 ciliated in either sex : the fore wings are dark 

 smoky gray-brown, mottled and marbled with 

 confused markings, both darker and paler ; 

 the orbicular spot is inconspicuous, but de- 

 cidedly to be traced ; the reniform is delicately 

 outlined with white or whitish gray, and has 

 a pale interior disk, in which the same pale 

 gray colour predominates : the hind wings are 

 dark smoky-brown, with rather pale base, and 

 rather darker crescentic discoidal spot and 

 wing-rays : the head, thorax, and body hav e 

 the .same colour as the fore and hind wings. 



The EGG is laid on the cultivated varieties 

 ofHrassica, as summer cabbage, brocoli, cauli- 



