258 COMMON BRITISH INSECTS. 



One of these splendid insects is the RED UNDER- 

 WING (Catocala nupta\ which is represented below. 

 This is one of the largest and handsomest of the 

 group, though its colours are not quite so brilliant as 

 that of the Scarlet Underwing, an insect not so com- 

 mon as the present species. 



The upper wings are grey with a slight yellowish 

 tint, and profusely covered with waved bars and other 

 marks of black, nearly every such mark being 



Catocala nupta. 



accompanied by a grey bar of similar shape. The 

 under wings are red, diversified with two black bars, 

 one, a very broad one, parallel to the hind margin, and 

 another, a comparatively narrow and much curved 

 bar, running across the middle of the wing. Beneath, 

 the upper wings are white, crossed by three broad 

 black bars, and the lower wings are similarly coloured, 

 but warming into light red towards the inner margin, 

 and having two bars across them. 



The caterpillar is grey in colour, not unlike the 

 hue of the upper wings of the perfect insect, and some- 



