BRITISH MOTHS. 



FAMILY IX. THE LITHOSHDJS. 



50. The Round-winged Muslin (Nudaria Senex). 



51. The Muslin (Nudaria mundana~). 



52. The Dew Moth (Setina irrorelld). 



53. The Rosy Footman, or Red Arches (Calligenia mi- 



niata). 



54. The Four-dotted Footman (Lithosia mesomella). 



55. The Dotted Footman (Lithosia muscerda). 



56. The Orange Footman (Lithosia aureola). 



57. The Pigmy Footman (Lithosia pygmxola) 



58. The Buff Footman (Lithosia helvola}. 



59. The Common Footman (Lithosia complanula^. 



60. The Scarce Footman (Lithosia complana"). 



61. The Ding}' Footman (Lithosia griseold). 



62. The Pale Footman (Lithosia stramineola). 



63. The Four-spotted Footman (Lithosia quadra). 



64. The Red-Necked Footman (Lithosia rubricollis). 



65. The Feathered Footman (Eulepia grammica). 



66. The Speckled Footman (Eulepia Cribrum). 



THE little family of Nolidce we should have 

 included with the larger family which here fol- 

 lows and is called Lithosiidce, but Mr. Double- 

 day, in the work mentioned below, has sepa- 

 rated them, and no one is so well acquainted 

 with the subject. At this point of our 

 History of British Moths we should like to 

 make an observation on the English names. 

 We consider these names are often very silly 

 and unmeaning, but still we use them, because 

 we do not wish our juvenile readers to be de- 

 terred from the study of Entomology, which 

 is a truly delightful study, by long Latin 

 words, very often without any meaning, and 

 sometimes also difficult to pronounce ; still, as 

 these names must be learned by-and-by, we 

 always add them at the end of each descrip- 

 tion. These names we obtain from aprinted 

 catalogue, called " A List of British Butter- 

 flies and Moths," by Henry Doubleday. This 

 js the most perfect and complete scientific 

 work ever published in this country ; and, 

 although it costs two shillings, we recommend 

 every one of our young entomological friends 

 to buy it, because it will enable them to ob- 

 tain a thorough knowledge of the mode of 

 arranging these beautiful objects. The list 

 can be bought of every bookseller and natu- 

 ralist in the kingdom, and one copy will 

 last a lifetime. Mr. Henry Doubleday, the 

 author, lives at Epping, and knows more of 

 British Butterflies and Moths than all the 

 other Entomologists in the kingdom ; -he 

 never sells nor deals in books or insects, but 

 has acquired all his knowledge solely to 

 gratify his ardent love of the science, and for 

 the purpose of instructing others an example 



we cannot too highly recommend to our ento- 

 mological friends. 



There are seventeen British Moths belong- 

 ing to the NINTH FAMILY, Lithosiidce : they are 

 all small and rather insignificant in their 

 appearance ; their form, when at rest, is long 

 and narrow, the fore wings folding over one 

 another, and all the wings wrapping closely 

 round the sides of the body. When collecting 

 insects in the bright summer time, we have 

 often seen these little Moths fall into the net 

 we have held beneath, while we tapped the 

 bough of an oak-tree ; they generally pretend 

 to be dead, and then so much resemble little 

 bits of stick that it requires a little practice 

 to detect them. Many insects have this 

 mode of simulating death, and thus escaping 

 observation ; for, if they move in the day- 

 light, they are almost sure to attract the 

 notice of some hungry bird who will snap 

 them up in a moment. This means of escape 

 is doubtless an instinct bestowed by a bene- 

 ficent Providence for the preservation of His 

 creatures ; thus, while some are protected by 

 weapons of defence, others by size, and more 

 still by their extreme activity, the safety of 

 many a minute insect depends solely on its 

 escaping notice by preserving a death-like 

 quiet. The caterpillars generally feed on the 

 lichen which we often see so beautifully 

 clothing the bark of trees ; they are generally 

 covered with a number of little lumps like 

 pimples, and from each of these spring a few 

 hairs : more than half the caterpillars are. 

 however, quite unknown to scientific ob- 

 servers. 



50. THE ROUND-WINGED MUSLIN. Fow 



