BRITISH MOTHS. 



262. THE TAWNY SPECK. The central disk 

 of the fore wings is bright ferruginous, the 

 base, costal margin and hind margin being 

 smoky brown, and a nearly circular discoidal 

 spot is quite black ; the costal margin is in- 

 terrupted by numerous short, transverse, 

 waved, gray lines, and the hind marginal band 

 is intersected by a zigzag whitish line ; the 

 hind wings are smoke-coloured ; the head> 

 thorax, and body are also smoke-coloured ; 

 the body has a bright ferruginous belt near 

 the base. 



Two varieties of the CATERPILLAR are thus 

 described by Mr. Crewe : 



" Var. 1. Reddish brown ; the central 

 dorsal line pale olive, connecting a series of 

 perfectly oval, dusky olive blotches, which 

 become confluent on the anterior and posterior 

 segments ; the sub-dorsal lines are blackish 

 red, interrupted ; they are dark opposite the 

 dorsal blotches, and pale and almost, if not 

 quite, evanescent'between them ; the median 

 dorsal blotches are pale in the centre, very 

 close together, and almost confluent ; the 

 spiracular line is white ; the back is thickly 

 studded with minute white tubercles, and less 

 thickly with whitish hairs ; the belly is 

 whitish, with a purplish central lina 



" Var. 2. Ground colour pale yellowish 

 brown. Markings similar to Yar. 1." 



It feeds on the leaves, flowers, and seeds of 

 the common yarrow (Achillea miUefolium). 



The MOTH appears on the wing in August, 

 and occurs not unfreqnently in most of our 

 English counties, more especially in gardens, 

 and Mr. Birchall reports it as common in the 

 county Galway, in Ireland. 



263. The Shaded Pug (Eupithecia subumhrata). 



263. THE SHADED PUG. The ground colour 

 of the fore wings is white, intermixed, espec- 

 ially along the costal and hind margins, with 

 smoke colour ; there is a ve r y small discoidal 

 spot, but so indistinct that iu borne specimens 



it is scarcely to be perceived ; the smoke- 

 colour is arranged transversely, and inter- 

 rupted by waved whitish transverse lines ; 

 the hind wings are almost white, with a 

 smoke-coloured hind marginal band, but this 

 band is also interrupted with whitish mark- 

 ings ; the head, thorax, and body are mottled 

 with white, ami smoke-colour, and greatly 

 resemble the fore wings. 



Mr. Crewe describes two varieties of the 

 CATERPILLAR as under : 



" Var. 1. Very long and slender, tapering 

 very much towards the head ; ground-colour 

 dull yellowish green ; the central dorsal line is 

 broad, dark green, narrower at the segmental 

 divisions ; the sub-dorsal lines are dusky, very 

 narrow, and indistinct ; the dorsal segmental 

 divisions are orange ; the ventral divisions 

 yellow; the spiracular line is dusky green. 

 On each side of the head and segment is a 

 yellowish line. 



" Var. 2. The ground colour is dirty 

 greenish brown ; the central dorsal line dusky 

 olive ; the subdorsal lines are of the same 

 colour ; and the narrow posterior segments 

 are reddish. In other respects it resembles 

 Var. 1." 



This singular long thin caterpillar I have 

 been in the habit of taking at intervals for 

 some years past in Buckinghamshire. It feeds 

 in the open spaces between and near beech- 

 woods, on the petals of almost any flower 

 which happens to grow in such localities, for 

 instance, Centaurea nigra Knnutia arvensis, 

 Gentiana amarella, and(r. campestris, Apargia 

 hispida, Origanum vulgare, Prunella vulgaris. 

 GaUum mollugo, &c., preferring, perhaps, 

 Apargia hispida, and Crepis taravicifolia. It 

 is full-fed at the end of August and through- 

 out September. 



The CHRYSALIS is enclosed in an earthen 

 cocoon, and has the thorax and wing-cases 

 dark green ; the body is ochreous, with the 

 tip dusky red. 



The MOTH appears in June, and is not very 

 uncommon in England ; and Mr. Birchall 

 informs us that it is common in the county 

 Galway, in Ireland. (The scientific name is 

 subumbrata.) 



