CHAPTER IV. 



NOCTUASb 



WE now come to a very large and most im- 

 portant section of Moths, so large indeed that it 

 alone comprises five times as many species of 

 British Moths as there are of British butterflies. 

 Some of the j^octuas are conspicuous insects, and 

 can be easily identified ; but the greater number 

 are so obscure in their markings, and so desti- 

 tute of characteristic points of difference, that a 

 young entomologist is often tempted to give up 

 the whole business in despair. 



In fact, the Noctuas are among Moths what 

 the ichneumons are among hymenoptera, and the 

 brachelytrse among beetles enough to break a 

 man's heart. 



Sometimes the industrious collector find* 

 some larvae totally different in shape, colour, 

 and food, and evidently belonging to distinct 



