196 



BRITISH MOTHS. 



heaths on the stony declivities of the Alps, 

 Pyrenees," &c. (Guenee). "Once near 

 Baron Wood, Carlisle" (Staintori). A 

 second specimen is reported as having been 

 taken in 1866. I copy the record : " On the 

 19th of August last I took what I thought 

 to be a good variety of E. mensurata ; a few 

 weeks ago, when examining the specimen 

 more closely, I found it answered exactly 

 the description in Stainton's Manual of E. 

 mseniata. I took it by beating broom." 

 W. Prest. York, Jan., 1867. (The scientific 

 name is Eubolia mceniata.) 



Obs. The description and figure are 

 taken from an authentic Continental speci- 

 men : I never saw a British one. 



869. The Small Mallow (Eubolia mensuraria). 



369. THE SMALL MALLOW. The antennae 

 of the male are pectinated, those of the 

 female simple ; the fore wings are pointed 

 at the tip, and very slightly falcate ; their 

 colour is clear but rather pale brown, with 

 a broad median band of a darker tint ; this 

 median band includes two lines of a still 

 darker tint ; the interior of these is much 

 more slender than the exterior ; between them 

 is a small but conspicuous black discoidal 

 spot ; at the extreme tip of the wing is a 

 short oblique dark streak ; the hind wings 

 are pale gray -brown with a darker median 

 line faintly indicated : the head, thorax, and 

 body are brown. 



The CATERPILLAR of this common insect 

 is unknown to me, and I do not find any 

 published description. 



The MOTH appears in June and July, and 

 occurs commonly in the south of England, 

 and probably also in the north, and Mr. 

 Birchall describes it as being common in 

 Ireland. (The scientific name is Eubolia 

 mensuraria.) 



Obs, This moth is the Chenopodiata of 

 English authors. 



370. The Belle (Eubolia palumbaria). 



370. THE BELLE. The antennae are 

 pectinated in the male, simple in the 

 female ; the fore wings are pointed at the 

 tip and lead-coloured, with three transverse 

 brown lines, the first is oblique and near 

 the base ; it is very slender, and both its 

 margins are clearly defined ; it is sometimes 

 slightly sinuous, but generally direct ; the 

 second is oblique and situated before the 

 middle of the wing; its interior margin 

 is sharply defined, the exterior margin 

 shading off gradually into the ground 

 colour ; the third is still more oblique, its 

 interior margin shades off gradually into 

 the ground colour, its exterior margin is 

 sharply defined ; between the second and 

 third lines is a conspicuous black discoidal 

 spot ; at the extreme tip of the wing is a 

 short oblique streak of the same colour as 

 the transverse lines ; the hind-marginal 

 area is not unfrequently of two shades of 

 colour, the exterior being the lighter, and 

 the division between the two acutely zig- 

 zag : the hind wings are pale gray-brown ; 

 the head, thorax, and body are of the same 

 lead-colour as the fore wings. 



The CATERPILLAR feeds by night only on 

 needle green- weed (Genista Anglica), and 

 sometimes, but less frequently, on the com- 

 mon broom (Spartium scoparium). Mr. 

 Hellins informs me that Mr. Buckler has 

 figured it, and has represented it as of a 

 very pale stone-colour with interrupted 

 dorsal and sub-dorsal lines, and apparently 

 with three fine irregular lines above the 

 spiracles. Another variety is dark gray on 

 the back, the black dashes of the inter- 

 rupted dorsal line alternating with small 

 light oblong spots, which occur just before 

 the segmental divisions. They appear to 

 be full-fed in May. 



The MOTH appears in June, and continues 

 on the wing for some months ; it is common 

 in all the southern and several of the 



