NOCTUAS. 



4Bi 



-whitish-green, with various yellow as well as 

 black marks which give it a very gay appear- 

 ance; on every segment is a bright yellow 

 band extending on each side below the spira- 

 cles ; this yellow band is interrupted by pure 

 black markings which are inconstant both in 

 their outlines and extent ; they consist princi- 

 pally of a double dorsal series or i-ather two 

 series, each composed of two marks, the 

 anterior rather short and oval, the posterior 

 larger, longer, and slightly bent : there are 

 several small black marks on the sides, but I 

 find so great difference in the extent and 

 number of these smaller spots in different 

 individuals, that I forego the pleasure of 

 describing them rather than induce confu- 

 sion by laying stress on characters which are 

 certainly inconstant. It feeds principally on 

 the woolly mullein^ Verbascum T/tapsus), and 

 being so abundant and so conspicuous is a 

 great favourite with all beginners in ento- 

 mology : it also eats the leaves of the water- 

 figwort (Scrophtilaria aquatica) : when full- 

 fed it descends to the ground, and binding 

 together particles of earth with silk, forms a 

 tough cocoon, in which it changes to a greenish- 

 brown CHRYSALIS, of which the case containing 

 the legs is much elongated, and that which 

 contains the wings is almost colourless, but 

 appears greenish in consequence of being so 

 transparent. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in April, and 

 is common in the south-western and southern 

 counties of England, but rarely occurs north- 

 wards. I have known the time when I could 

 readily have obtained a quart of its beautiful 

 caterpillar from the mulleins in the hedge- 

 rows about Darenth and Green-street Green ; 

 and Mr. Mathew, in Mr. Reading's " List of 

 the Lepidoptera of Cornwall and Devonshire," 

 says : " The extreme abundance of the cater- 

 pillar of this species on Braunton Burrows, in 

 the summers of 1858, '59, and '60, is worth 

 mentioning. Every plant of Verbascum 

 Thapsus was completely covered with them ; 

 the caterpillars in July varying in size from 

 the juvenile just hatched to the full-fed indi- 

 vidual ready to burrow in the sand. I am 

 positive that had anyone desired to have taken 



ten or twenty thousand, it might easily have 

 been done." It is common in the counties of 

 Dublin and Wicklow, in Ireland. (The 

 scientific name is Cucuttia Verbasci.) 



669. The Water Betony (Cucuttia Scrophularice) . 



669. THE WATER BETONY. The palpi are 

 slightly porrected and form a rather conspi- 

 cuous tuft beneath the head, the second joint 

 being so densely clothed with bristle-like 

 scales as almost to hide the terminal jo'nt, 

 which is short and very nearly naked ; the 

 antennae are quite simple in both sexes : the 

 fore wings are narrow and the costa very 

 straight until near the tip, where it is finely 

 arched; the hind margin is regularly scal- 

 j loped and the fringe notched, adding thereby 

 I to the scalloped appearance ; their colour is 

 I umber-brown along the costal margin, deli- 

 S cately shaded to wainscot-brown along the 

 middle of the wing ; the hind margin is dark 

 brown, interrupted about the middle by two 

 pale approximate crescents : the hind wings 

 are gray-brown, much paler towards the base, 

 and with the wing-rays darker; the hind 

 margin is scalloped ; the fringe is pale and 

 intersected throughout by a darker line : the 

 head is dark brown, the collar very delicate 

 wainscot-brown and raised inlo a crest, the 

 sides of the thorax are also wainscot-brown ; 

 the body is pale brown and crested with a 

 medio-dorsal stripe of darker brown, this is 

 broadest at the base, and gradually decreases 

 in breadth as well as in intensity towards the 

 tip. 



The head of the CATERPILLAR is narrower 

 than the second segment, sub-spherical, and 

 slightly porrected ; the body is cylindrical and 

 slightly wrinkled transversely ; the divisions 

 of the segments are clearly defined ; the 

 colour of the head is pale greenish-yello 1 ., , 



