366 



BRITISH MOTHS. 



most specimens it is entirely absent ; the reni- 

 form is indistinct, but the lower half of its 

 median area is dark, forming a rather con- 

 spicuous spot ; parallel with the linear margin 

 is an oblique compound line, the inner portion 

 of which is slightly darker, the outer portion 

 slightly paler than the general area of the 

 wing : the hind wings are smoke-coloured and 

 much darker than the fore wings, having au 

 indistinct crescentic discoidal spot and a broad 

 ochreous fringe : the head and thorax, and a 

 tuft at the extremity of the body in the male, 

 are yellow - ochre ; the body itself smoke- 

 coloured. 



The CATERPILLAR is very beautiful ; it is of a 

 testaceous brown colour, po wderecl with minute 

 dots, and having five very distinct white 

 stripes, one being medio-dorsal, one on each 

 side lateral or sub-dorsal, and another in the 

 region of the spiracles. It feeds on beech 

 (Fagus sylvatica). 



The MOTH appears on the wing in September 

 and October, and is especially partial to the 

 luscious mucilaginous berries of the yew, and 

 also frequents the ivy bloom, and comes to 

 sugar. Mr. Greene says of the chrysalis, "of 

 this species, so difficult to obtain good in the 

 perfect state, I have found only three : the 

 chrysalis, which is extremely delicate, is 

 enclosed in a weak cocoon ; " it may be found 

 at the roots of birch in September. It is com- 

 mon and generally distributed in England, 

 Scotland, and Ireland. (The scientific name 

 is Orthosia macilenta.) 



588. The Flounced Chestnut (AnchoceUs ruflna). 



588. THE FLOUNCED CHESTNUT. The palpi 

 are pointed and very slightly porrected ; the 

 antennae are almost simple in the male, quite 

 so in the female : the colour of the fore wings 

 is reddish -brown, inclining to fulvous, and 

 having two darker transverse bands, in which 



there is no tinge of fulvous ; the first of these 

 is short and near the base ; the second is 

 beyond the reniform spot, and is interrupted 

 by a series of acutely wedge-shaped marks 

 running into it from the middle of the wing; 

 the two discoidal spots are delicately outlined 

 in a paler colour, and between them is an 

 indistinct transverse bar rather sharply angled 

 in the middle : the hind wings are smoky- 

 gray, bordered with rosy-gray on the costal 

 and hind margins : the head and thorax are 

 reddish-brown tinged with fulvous ; the body 

 is pale gray at the base, reddish-gray towards 

 the extremity. 



The beautiful CATERPILLAR of this species 

 is represented by Hiibner as of a bright 

 orange-colour, with a yellowi>h-white medio- 

 dorsal stripe, and a series of whitish spots on 

 each side of it ; there is a broad white stripe 

 in the region of the spiracles. It feeds on oak 

 (Quercus Robur). 



The MOTH appears on the wing in September 

 and October, and occurs, but not generally, in 

 most of our English counties, extending north- 

 wards over the whole of Scotland, so far as 

 hitherto examined ; and Mr. Birchall says it 

 is common and widely distributed in Ireland : 

 it comes freely to sugar. (The scientific name 

 is Anchocelis rujina.) 



589. The Beaded Chestnut (Anchocelis pistacina). 



589. THE BEADED CHESTNUT. The palpi 

 aje very inconspicuous ; the antennae almost 

 simple in the male, quite so in the female : 

 the fore wings are so various in colour that it 

 is impossible to define any particular colour as 



