NOCTUAS. 



349 



the fore wings are rather squarely pointed at 

 the tip, their colour is obscure ochreous-gray, 

 clouded with various shades of brown ; the 

 orbicular is gray, the reniform only outlined 

 with gray, and its median area of the same 

 colour as the general area of the wing ; adjoin- 

 ing the orbicular is a dark brown triangular 

 spot, the apex of which points to the base of 

 the wing, and between the two discoidal spots 

 is a dark brown square spot ; on the extreme 

 hind margin is a series of minute black spots, 

 each situated at the extremity of a wing-ray : 

 the hind wings are gray-brown, with a darker 

 crescentic discoidal spot and a pale testaceous 

 fringe : the head and collar are pale wainscot- 

 brown, the thorax testaceous-brown ; the body 

 gray at the base, gray-brown in the middle, 

 and bright testaceous-brown at the extremity. 



The CATERPILLAR rolls in a lax ring if an- 

 noyed, the head being brought into contact 

 with the ventral claspers : the head is glabrous, 

 of about the same width as the second seg- 

 ment, and prone, the cheeks rounded, and 

 there is scarcely any notch on the crown ; the 

 body is uniformly cylindrical, smooth, and vel- 

 vety; the colour of the head is pale ferrugi- 

 nous, reticulated with darker brown, and hav- 

 ing black ocelli and several other black dots; 

 the colour of the body is dull ferruginous, 

 reticulated and dotted with darker brown ; aii 

 the markings are very minute ; there is a very 

 narrow medio-dorsal thread-like stripe extend- 

 ing from behind the head to the anal extremity, 

 a transverse line on the twelfth, and another 

 on the thirteenth segment ; the anterior por- 

 tion of these is dark brown, the posterior por- 

 tion nearly white ; on each side of the medio- 

 dorsal stripe is a series of whitish spots ; the 

 spiracles are nearly white, with a small black 

 blotch behind each ; the ventral surface, ex- 

 tending to the spiracles, is paler than the 

 dorsal surface, and there is an appearance of a 

 still paler lateral stripe, which partially in- 

 cludes the spiracles, but is chiefly below them; 

 the legs and claspers are very pale. It feeds 

 on sallow, and my specimens were full-fed on 

 the 6th of May, and retired beneath the sur- 

 face of the earth to undergo pupation. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and 



is common in England, Scotland, and Ireland. 

 (The scientific name is Noctua f estiva.) 



Obs. This MOTH is exceedingly variable. 

 Through the kindness of friends I have at 

 times possessed hundreds of specimens, of 

 which I can truly say that no two were exactly 

 Alike. The figures represent some of the more 

 common varieties. 



562. The Lesser Ingrailed (Noctita conflua). 



562. THE LESSER ING RAILED. The palpi are 

 rather long and distant; the terminal joint is 

 long and slender, but rarely exceeding the 

 scales of the second in length; the antennae 

 are simple : the fore wings are rather squarely 

 pointed at the tip ; their colour is dingy gray, 

 with scarcely any tint of ochreous, but clouted 

 with various tints of gray and brown ; the 

 orbicular is gray, the reniform only outlined 

 with gray ; between these two discoidal spots 

 is a very dark square spot or space ; and on 

 the extreme hind margin is a series of small 

 linear black marks ; the hind wings are gray- 

 brown, much darker towards the margin, and 

 having a crescentic discoidal spot and a pale 

 fringe of a testaceous-red colour : the head, 

 thorax, and body are dingy brown, the last 

 paler at the base and tip. 



The EGGS are laid in July on various low 

 plants. The CATERPILLAR is polyphagous, but 

 prefers the leaves of the moss campion (ISil&M 



