NOCTUAS. 



413 



its full growth before the end of Septem- 

 ber, and then rests in nearly a straight 

 position on the twigs of the sallow, but when 

 annoyed it falls to the ground rolled in a 

 compact ring and feigns death ; in this posture 

 it remains but a few seconds, and then re- 

 ascends the stems of the sallow with great 

 activity. At this period it nearly abandons 

 the leaves of the sallow as food, and feeds 

 almost exclusively on those swollen flower- 

 buds which contain the male catkins of the 

 ensuing year : the head is semi-porrect, sub- 

 globose, highly glabrous, and scarcely narrower 

 than the second segment : the body is almost 

 imperceptibly attenuated at the anterior ex- 

 tremity, otherwise uniformly cylindrical ; the 

 dorsal surface transversely wrinkled ; the 

 colour of the head is dingy green, reticulated 

 with brown ; the dorsal surface of the body is 

 pale purple-brown, inclining to pink on the 

 second, third, and fourth segments, and ob- 

 scurely reticulated throughout with smoky- 

 brown ; the spiracles are very pale wainscot- 

 brown, almost white, and are surrounded with 

 jet-black rings ; the ventral surface is pale 

 olive-green, sprinkled with dingy white, many 

 of the white markings emitting pale hairs; 

 the claspers are concolorous with the ventral 

 surface ; the legs are pale transparent green, 

 tipped with pink. During October these 

 caterpillars may be found at night feeding 

 on low-growing plants, but in the daytime 

 they invariably secrete themselves in the 

 ground or under leaves : when full-fed they 

 enter the ground, each forming a hybernacu- 

 lum, in which it remains until A pril, and then 

 assumes the CHRYSALIS state. 



Mr. Buckler has described two varieties of 

 the caterpillar as under : 



Var. 1. The groxind colour is a brilliant 

 yellow, the upper surface suffused with deep 

 rose pink ; the dorsal stripe composed of two 

 darker pink lines, confluent at the beginning 

 of each segment, forming a spot ; the sub 

 dorsal stripe bright yellow, only visible on the 

 anterior halves of the segments; the tubercular 

 spots and two transverse streak-* near the end 

 of each segment also of the bright yellow 

 ground colour. 



Var. 2. A dull pale yellowish-green, the 

 dorsal stripe faintly outlined with orange-red, 

 with a spot at the segmental divisions; sub- 

 dorsal line of the same colour, but interrupted 

 on the hinder half of each segment; tubercular 

 Jots red, and situated on the taint reddish 

 outlines of diamonds, which are very delicately 

 freckled within ; spiracles white ringed witli 

 black. 



The MOTH appears on the wing towards the 

 end of May, and has been taken in most of 

 our English and Scotch counties, and Mr. 

 Birchall informs us that in Ireland it is com- 

 mon and widely distributed. (The scientific 

 name is Hadena adusta.) 



645. The Brindled Green (Hadena Proteus). 



< >. THE BRINDLED GREEN. Thepalpiare 

 sdghtly porrected, the second joint clothed 

 with bristly scales, the terminal joint also 

 rather scaly ; the antennae are nearly simple 

 in both sexes ; the fore wings are waved on 

 their hind margin, their colour is a variegated 

 mixture of black, white, and green, the 

 boundary of each colour being sharply de- 

 nned ; the orbicular is almost wholly white, 

 the median area having a few scattered black 

 and green scales ; the reniform is oblique and 

 indistinct; below the discoidal spots, and 

 often united with the orbicular, is a pale 



