NOCTUAS. 



355 



Sscotiand, and Ireland. (The scientific name 

 is Noctua, xanthographa.) 



Obs. This moth is sometimes a perfect 

 nuisance to the collector who adopts the 

 sugaring mode of capture. Guenee observes 

 that a great number of individuals die in the 

 chrysalis state, a conclusion at which he 

 arrives from the fact that in France the 

 caterpillars are much more abundant than the 

 moth. Mr. Doubleday informs me he thinks 

 this is also the case in England. 



571. The Pine Beaut-y (Trachea piniperda). 



571. THE PINE BEAUTY. The palpi are 

 small, short and inconspicuous ; they are 

 clothed with longish scales, which conceal 

 their form : the antennae of the male are ser- 

 rated, the teeth being very short ; those of 

 the female are simple ; the head is very small 

 and almost hidden by the clothing of the 

 thorax : the fore wings are rather long and 

 narrow, and of a bright reddish-brown colour, 

 mixed with orange ; the orbicular is small, 

 the reniform large and oblique ; both are out- 

 lined in white, and both are cut off at the 

 lower extremity by a white wing-ray, which 

 emits a branch below the orbicular ; the hind 

 marginal area is occupied by a broad band of 

 ochreous-yellow, which contains eight oblong 

 and closely approximate red spots : the hind 

 wings are gray-brown, the inner margin paler ; 

 the fringe is yellowish-red : the head is yel- 

 lowish, the thorax gaily ornamented with 

 red, orange, and white ; the body is brown 

 at the base, reddish towards the tip. 



The CATERPILLAR rests in a straight position 

 on the twigs of fir-trees, but when knocked 

 off rolls in a compact ring ; the head is rather 

 narrower than the second segment ; the body 

 is obese, but decidedly tapering to the anal 

 extremity : the colour of the head is pale 

 wainscot-brown, of the body clear pale brown, 



or dark olive-green, or rich oil-green, varying 

 in different specimens, and has five longitudi- 

 nal white stripes, one of which is medio-dorsal ; 

 the next is lateral, and accompanied, or rather 

 bordered, on each side by a very delicate jet- 

 black line ; the next is in the region of the 

 spiracles, and is accompanied by a bright 

 orange stripe ; the ventral is rather paler than 

 the dorsal area, and the claspers are con- 

 colorous ; on all parts of the body are scat- 

 tered black dots, but I find no order in their 

 arrangement ; the legs, like the head, are 

 wainscot-brown. It feeds on the needles of 

 the Scotch fir, beginning at the tip and eating 

 slowly and systematically to the base ; it is 

 full fed during the first or second week in 

 July, when it forms a very flimsy cocoon in 

 the crevices of the bark, and therein turns to 

 a slender and sharp -tailed reddish CHRYSALIS. 



The MOTH appears in April, when it may be 

 found just emerged from the chrysalis case 

 and sticking close to the back of the fir, with 

 which, although so variegated, it strikingly 

 assimilates in colour. It is found only in pine 

 plantations, but is generally present both in 

 England and Scotland where these occur : it 

 has not been observed in Ireland. (The 

 scientific name is Tracfoa piniperda.) 



Obs. M. Guenee describes the chrysalis as 

 enterres, and I have no doubt this is correct 

 as a rule, but it is contrary to my very 

 limited experience. 



572. The Mountain Rustic (PacTinobia carnica). 



572. THE MOUNTAIN RUSTIC.- The palpi 

 are short and porrected, the second joint 

 rather slender, the apical joint distinct and 

 naked ; the antennze are serrated in the male, 

 the serratures being short and inconspicuous, 

 simple in the female ; the fore wings are 

 rather pointed at the tip ; their colour is 

 dingy gray, the exterior portion of the wing 



