NOCTtfAg. 



345 



and semi-transparent. It changes to a CHRY- 

 SALIS on or near the surface of the ground. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and 

 is common in England, Sc tland, and Ireland. 

 (The scientific name is Noctua, augur.) 



554. The Flame Shoulder (Noctua plectn). 



554. THE FLAME SHOULDER. The palpi are 

 Corrected and conspicuous, the third joint 

 small, and received into the second as into a 

 cup ; the antennae of the male are delicately 

 ciliated, those of the female simple : the colour 

 of the fore wings is vinous-brown, with the ' 

 costal margin broadly white from the base to 

 beyond the reniform spot; the white colour is 

 impiire ; there is a dash of the same colour at 

 the base of the inner margin; both the dis- 

 coidal spots are distinctly outlined in gray, and 

 both are united with the costal white ; a streak 

 of purer white extends from the base of the 

 wing to the orbicular, and below this, imme- 

 diately adjoining it, is a blackish shade: the 

 hind wings are white ; the head and collar are 

 pale, the square disk of the thorax is vinous- 

 brown ; the body pale wainscot-brown. 



The EGGS, kindly given me by Mr. Moncreaff, 

 were laid in a chip box, and were hatched in 

 June ; and the CATERPILLARS, which fed on 

 ladies' bed-straw (Galium verum) and sweet 

 woodruff (Asperula odorata), were full-fed on 

 the 26th of July. The caterpillar rolls itself 

 in a compact ring when annoyed. The head 

 is glabrous, very shining, narrower than the 

 second segment, and especially narrower than 

 the rest of the body, porrected in crawling, 

 and not notched on the crown ; the body is 

 smooth and velvety, gradually but slightly in- 

 creasing in width from the second to the 

 eleventh segment, which is wider. The twelfth 

 is rather abruptly truncate : the colour of the 

 head is umber-brown, with a pale longitudinal 



patch on each cheek; the dorsal surface of the 

 body is umber-brown; the medio-dorsal stripe 

 rather darker, narrow, and intersected by a 

 slender interrupted white line; there is an 

 upper lateral stripe, darker, half-way between 

 the medio-dorsal stripe and the spiracles; this 

 is also intersected by a slender interrupted 

 whitish line ; the lower margin of the dorsal 

 surface is darker; the ventral is paler than the 

 dorsal area, particularly at the junction of the 

 two areas, where it may be called a pale 

 lateral stripe ; all parts of the body are reticu- 

 lated and dotted with dark brown; the legs, 

 feet, and claspers are of the same dingy colour 

 as the body. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and 

 is generally common throughout England, 

 Scotland, and Ireland. ( The scientific name 

 is Noctua plecta.) 



555. The Black Collar (Noctua flammatra). 



555. THE BLACK COLLAR. The palpi are 

 porrected, rather connivent towards the tip, 

 and blunt; the antennae are rather long and 

 slightly serrated : the fore wings are rather 

 narrow, the costa very straight, the hind 

 margin rather rounded, and slightly waved; 

 their colour is grayish-brown with a somewhat 

 silky appearance, and having a black linear 

 mark issuing from the middle of the base, and 

 extendingrathermorethanasixthofthelength 

 of the wing ; beyond this, and rather higher 

 on the wing, is a second black mark almost 

 linear, and yet obscurely and obtusely pyra- 

 midal in outline; there are other markings on 

 the f >re wings both darker and paler than the 

 groun 1 colour, but these are so obscure the 

 specimen being somewhat wasted that I 

 cannot describe them with any certainty : the 



