ACRONYCTA. I I 



in the female. They are speckled with white and ashy, and 

 are generally marked with a central lunule. Towards the 

 margins the ashy-grey colour becomes darker, and almost 

 constitutes a band between a sharply denned brown line and 

 the uniform white fringes. 



The larva is found in spring on Jungermannia, especially 

 when growing on oak-trees ; and on lichens growing on walls. 

 It has a brown head, and a pale blue or grey dorsal line, 

 bordered with black. The body is dark yellow, barred with 

 black. It is full grown in July, and assumes the pupa state 

 in a firm cocoon under moss. The Moth appears about a 

 month later. 



SUB-FAMILY II. ACRONYCTIN^. 



These are stout-bodied Moths of moderate size, with the 

 fore-wings varied with grey, black, brown, and sometimes 

 green. The hind-wings are grey, brown, or whitish. The 

 larvae differ much in structure and appearance, but are more or 

 less hairy, or tufted, and feed on trees. Several species are 

 remarkable for having a black dagger-shaped mark towards the 

 hinder angle of the fore-wings. 



GENUS ACRONYCTA. 



Acronicta^ Ochsenheimer, Schmett. Eur. iv. p. 62 (1816). 

 Acronycta, Treitschke, Schmett. Eur. v. (i), p. 3 (1825) ; 

 Guenee, Spec. Gen. Lepid. Noct. i. p. 41 (1852). 



There are about a dozen British species usually included in 

 this genus. They differ much in the structure of their larvae, 

 so much so that some authors have referred them to different 

 families of Bombyces and Noctua. We figure one of the com- 

 monest species, A. psi (Linn.), but there are two other Euro- 

 pean species, A. tridens (Den. & Schiff) and A. cuspis 



