BBITISH MOTHS. 



FAMILY XI. THE CHELONIHLE. 



70. The Clouded Buff (Euthemonm rusmla}. 

 The Wood Tiger (Chelonia Plantaginis). 



72. The Tiger (Chelonia caia). 



73. The Cream-spot Tiger (Chelonia villlc(i). 



74. The Ruby Tigfir (Arctia fuliginosa). 



75. The Muslin Moth (Arctia mendicd). 



76. The Buff Ermine (Arctia lubricipeda). 



77. The White Ermine (Arctia Menthastri). 



78. The Water Ermine (Arctia Urlicx). 



THE ELEVENTH FAMILY of Moths, called 

 Cheloniidce, contains eleven species ; they are 

 the true Tiger Moths, so called from the 

 beauty of their variegated colouring. They 

 differ from the Eucheliidce, in the males always 

 having the antennae fringed. The caterpillars 

 are still more hairy than those of the 

 Eticheliidce, and roll themselves in a ring when 

 disturbed. They spin a luose silken web, in 

 which a great quantity of their hairs are 

 interspersed ; the chrysalis is smooth. 



70. The Clouded Buff (Male) (Euthemonia ntssula). 



70. THE CLOUDED BUFF. The male is very 

 much larger than the female, and so different, 

 that we must describe them separately ; 

 Linnaeus, indeed, believed them to be two 

 distinct insects ; he called the male Bombyx 

 Sannio, and the female Bombyx russula. The 

 fore wings of the male are buff, with a conspi- 

 cuous central spot, in which red-brown and 

 dull brown are mixed ; there ie a brown stripe 

 along the inner margin, and within this is a 

 red-brown stripe ; the hind margin is bright 

 red-brown, and a delicate stripe of the same 

 colour runs from the tip of the wing half way 

 along the costal margin ; hind wings whitish 

 yellow, with a broad smoke-coloured baud 

 near the hind margin, the margin itself being 

 bright red-brown ; there is also a large crescent- 

 shaped smoke-coloured mark in the middle, 

 and an indistinct smoke-coloured cloud at the 

 base : head and thorax yellow, and body pale. 

 Fore wings of the female reddish orange- 

 coloured, with the rays and a central spot 



bright red-brown, and various black markings, 

 and a black cloud about the base : head and 

 thorax deep orange-coloured ; body black 

 with slender orange rings. Caterpillar brown, 



The Clouded Buff (Female). 



with red-brown hairs, and a yellow stripe 

 down the middle of the back ; it feedi on 

 Mouse-ear, Hawk-weed (Hicracium pilosclla), 

 Dandelion (Leontodon taraxacum), Heath 

 (Erica cinerea), and probably several other 

 plants growing on heaths. The male used to 

 be very abundant on Blackheath, among the 

 furze and fern, twenty years ago, but we 

 have not seen it there since ; it is common on 

 most heaths in June. (The scientific name 

 is Eiithemonia russida.) 



71. The Wood Tiger (Male) (Chelonia Flantagwii). 



71. THE WOOD TIGER. Fore wings of the 

 male intense velvety black with cream-coloured 

 markings, of which the most conspicuous are 

 first, a long stripe, parallel with the inner 

 margin ; and secondly, an irregular and often 

 incomplete figure, somewhat like the letter X, 

 occupying the apex of the wing ; this X-like 

 mark and the stripe are often connected to- 

 gether ; there are two other cream-coloured 

 markings on the costal margin ; hind wings 

 bright orange, with velvety black markings ; 



