NOCTUAS. 



366 



f somewhat shuttle-shaped pale markings, 

 placed end to end, and forming an almost 

 continuous stripe : there is a slightly paler 

 mark on each side, including the spiracles, 

 which are situated just within its upper 

 margin; the dorsal area, as far as this lateral 

 stripe, is variegated or marked with velvety 

 black : the belly and claspers are paler. It 

 feeds by night on the common willow (Salix 

 fragilis), and other narrow-leaved species of 

 the same genus, descending in the morning to 

 the ground, or concealing itself in a crevice of 

 the bark; on the approach of night these 

 caterpillars leave their hiding-places, and 

 crawl up the trunks of the willows, travelling 

 at a great rate, and in windy weather in- 

 variably keeping on the lee side of the trunk. 

 They are full fed at the end of May, when 

 they finally descend to the ground, and change 

 to CHRYSALIDS in a slight cocoon on the sur- 

 face of the earth. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in July, 

 and may sometimes be observed by hundreds 

 porting in the evening over the tops of willows, 

 always those of narrow-leaved species : it 

 occurs in all our English counties ; but Mr. 

 Reading says it is rare and local in Cornwall 

 and Devonshire, except as regards the neigh- 

 bourhood of Exeter, where Mr. Parfitt has 

 found it commonly. Mr. Birchall met with 

 it in the county Wicklow, in Ireland. Mr. 

 Greene says the caterpillars may be found in 

 profusion under loose moss and bark of willows 

 and poplars, but they must be fed : the CHRY- 

 SALIS may be found at the beginning of July in 

 the same situations, or spun up at the roots. 

 (The scientific name is Orthosia UptUon.) 



686. The Ked-Lme Quaker (Orthosia lota). 



586 THE RED-LINE QUAKER. The palpi 

 are porrected and pointed ; they ar clothed 

 beneath with black bristly scales ; the an- 

 Uanie are simple in both sexes : the fore 



wings are pointed at the tip ; their colour is 

 dull leaden -brown, or dull ochreous- brown, 

 the two shades being equally common ; and 

 there are also other intermediates of less 

 frequent occurrence ; the discoidal spots have 

 a very slender pale circumscription, and out- 

 side of this a slender brick-red circumscrip- 

 tion ; the lower half of the reniform is almost 

 black ; parallel with the hind margin is an 

 oblique compound line, the inner portion of 

 which is brick-red, the outer portion ochreous- 

 gray ; both colours are sharply defined and 

 very distinct : the hind wings, head, thorax, 

 and body are leaden gray-brown. 



The CATERPILLAR is dull dingy-brown, with 

 a slight tint of purple, and is powdered over 

 with minute white dots ; it has a narrow 

 medic-dorsal stripe of almost pure white, 

 interrupted at the incisions of the segments. 

 It feeds on the common willow (Salixfragilis) 

 or sallow (Salix caprea), and secretes itself 

 during the day in the cracks of the bark, 

 ascending the tree only at night. It generally 

 changes to a CHRYSALIS between the leaves of 

 the sallow or willow, but sometimes on or 

 near the surface of the ground in a slight 

 web. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in Septem- 

 ber and October, and comes freely to sugar 

 and to ivy bloom, and to the luscious muci- 

 laginous berries of the yew : it occurs in all 

 our English counties, and has also been taken 

 in Scotland : Mr. Birchall informs us it is 

 common and widely distributed in Ireland. 

 (The scientific name is Orthosia lota.) 



687. The Yellow- Line Quaker (Orthosia macilenta). 



687. THE YELLOW- LINE QUAKER. The 

 palpi are porrected, pointed, and very pale 

 in colour ; the antennae are ciliated in the 

 male, simple in the female : the fore wings 

 are rather narrow, their colour is yellow- 

 ochre ; the orbicular is scarcely perceptible, i~ 



