NOCTUAS. 



389 



way between the base and the orbicular; this 

 is almost dii'ect ; its white portion is on the 

 inner, its black portion on the outer side; the 

 second is much elbowed and zigzag ; it is 

 situated beyond the reniform, and has the 

 white portion outside, the black inside ; the 

 third is very zigzag, and very sharply denned ; 

 the white portion is outside, the black inside ; 

 the fringe is spotted with black and white : 

 the hind wings are smoky-black, with paler 

 base, and a white spot near the anal angle ; 

 the fringe is pale : the head and thorax are 

 variegated like the fore wings ; the body is 

 smoke-coloured, the basal segments crested, 

 the crests tipped with black. , 



The CATERPILLAI: is ochreous-yellow ; the 

 medio-dorsal line dark gray, with oblique 

 lines proceeding from it on each segment ; a 

 row of black spots on each side ; subdorsal 

 line pale gray (Gu.). It feeds on the 

 Nottingham catchfly (Silene nutans). Stain- 

 ton's Manual, vol. i. p. 262. 



The MOTH appears in June. There is a 

 specimen in the late Mr. Stephens' collection, 

 said to have been taken in Birch Wood, Kent, 

 in 1816, and from this my description is 

 made ; a second is reported in the Entomo- 

 logist's Monthly Magazine for 1865, p. 237, 

 as having been taken at Gosport. Its occur- 

 rence in these localities is very remarkable 

 from the entire absence of the food-plant. 

 (The scientific name isDianthosciaalbimacula.) 



619. The Marbled Coronet (Dianthcecia conspersa). 



619. The MARBLED CORONET. The palpi 

 ivci scarcely porrected, the second joint very 



scaly, the terminal joint scarcely perceptible ; 

 the antennae are very slightly serrated in the 

 males, quite simple in the females : the fore 

 wings have the costal margin almost straight, 

 the tip blunt, the hind margin slightly waved; 

 tLeir colour is smoky-black, with creamy- 

 white and sharply-defined markings; the 

 orbicular is creamy-white, and in some speci- 

 mens has a slight smoky cloud in its median 

 area ; in other specimens this cloud is entirely 

 wanting. This orbicular spot is often con- 

 tinued to the costal margin, and is frequently 

 united to a pure white blotch in the middle 

 of the wing. The reniform is white, with a 

 smoky cloud in its median area ; there are 

 several white spots at the base of the wing, 

 and several others on the inner margin, par- 

 ticularly a large one opposite the reniform ; 

 there is also a transverse zigzag and inter- 

 rupted white line parallel with the hind 

 margin, which terminates in a white blotch 

 on the costal margin ; there is a scalloped 

 black line on the hind margin ; the fringe is 

 whitish, with a double series of smoky or 

 blackish markings; the hind wings are smoke- 

 coloured, the base and fringe being rather 

 paler; the wing- rays and discoidal spot rather 

 darker ; and there is a small pale spot near 

 the hind margin, and nearer the anal than 

 the apical angle : the head is white, with two 

 dark lines on the crown, the thorax is varie- 

 gated with black and white like the fore 

 wings ; the body is smoky-gray like the hind 

 wings. 



The EGGS are laid on the flowers or calyces 

 of the ragged Robin (Lychnis Flos-Cuculi), and 

 the young CATERPILLAR feeds on the seeds. 

 For a while it is concealed entirely within the 

 seed-pod ; but as it grows larger it is com- 

 pelled to leave this very limited residence, 

 and may afterwards be generally found with 

 its head and anterior segments in the capsule, 

 and the rest of the body exposed. When full- 

 fed the head is narrower than the second seg- 

 ment and very glabrous, the face rather 

 flattened, the crown not perceptibly notched; 

 the body is smooth and almost uniformly 

 cylindrical, but gradually and very slightly 

 increasing in size from the second to the tenth 



