20 



BEITISH MOTHS. 



brown spot ; the fringes of the fore wings are 

 orange-coloured and unspotted ; hind wings 

 dusky brown, with orange-coloured fringe ; 

 thorax and body orange-brown. .The female 

 is larger than the male, the colour is duller, 

 and the markings much less conspicuous. No 

 one has discovered the caterpillar of this com- 

 mon Moth, which occurs in the perfect or 

 Moth state in July. (The scientific name is 

 Hepialus sylvimts.) 



36. The Northern Swift (Hepialus Velleda). 



36. THE NORTHERN SWIFT. Fore wings 

 mahogany-brown in the male, obscure brown 



in the female ; in both sexes there is a pale 

 broad oblique band running from the tip to 

 the inner margin ; the upper or outer end of 

 this band is forked, one branch terminating 

 in the extreme tip, the other in the costal 

 margin ; there are other pale markings of 

 uncertain situation nearer the base of the 

 wing ; the fringes are paler and spotted 

 with dark brown ; thorax and body dull 

 brown. A dull, ugly-looking insect The 

 caterpillar feeds through the winter in the 

 subterraneous rhizome of the common Brake. 

 (Pteris aquilina.) The Moth appears in July, 

 and swarms in some parts of the North of 

 England, in Scotland, and in the Western 

 Isles; near Stromness in Orkney, a dozen 

 may be taken in the season with one sweep 

 of the collecting net. We have never taken 

 it in the South of England. (The scientific 

 name is Hepialus Vetteda.) 



37. The Ghost Swift (Male) (Hepialus humulf). 



37. THE GHOST SW T ,PT. So called from the 

 white colour of the male. All the wings of 

 the male silvery white ; fore wings of the 

 female yellow, with orange markings ; hind 



wings smoke-coloured at the base, but becom- 

 ing tawny towards the margin ; head, thorax, 

 and body tawny. Caterpillar dirty white, the 

 segment nearest the head with a brown plate ; 



The Ghost Swift (Female). 



feeds on the roots of Burdock (Arctium 

 Lappa), Stinging Nettle (Urtica divica), 

 and Dead Nettle (Ballotafoetida), and (Lamium 



album), abundant in the South of England 

 about Midsummer. (The scientific name is 

 Hepialus humuli.} 



