224 



BEITISH MOTHS. 



396. The Dusky-marbl&l Brown (Oluphisia crenata). 



396. THE DUSKY-MARBLED BROWN. The 

 antennae of the male are strongly pectinated, 

 those of the female slightly so ; there is no 

 tuft of scales at their base, the fore wings 

 are blunt at the tip, the hind margin almost 

 straight, the inner margin has no angle or 

 tuft, their colour is dingy-brown with a gray 

 transverse line accompanied exteriorly by a 

 dark line before the middle ; beyond the 

 middle is a similar gray line with a similar 

 accompaniment, but conspicuous only on 

 the inner margin ; beyond and parallel with 

 the hind margin is a pale zigzag bar very 

 imperfectly developed : the hind wings are 

 dingy-brown ; the head, thorax, and body 

 are dingy -brown. 



" The CATERPILLAR is pale green, the 

 dorsal line spotted with ferruginous, bor- 

 dered on each side by a yellow line. (Dup.) 

 On poplar." Stainton's Manual, vol. i., 

 p. 122. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in June. 

 Three specimens have been taken at Epping, 

 and I believe nowhere else in Great Britain. 

 (The scientific name is Gluphisia crenata.) 



397. The Plumed Prominent (Ptilophora plumigera). 



397. THE PLUMED PROMINENT. The an- 

 tennae are beautifully plumose in the male, 



simple in the female ; the fore wings have 

 the costal margin straight, the tip scarcely 

 pointed, and the hind margin slightly 

 scalloped ; they are semi-transparent and 

 of a pale raw sienna-brown, with a much- 

 bent interrupted and very indistinct paler 

 transverse bar beyond the middle ; the 

 wing-rays are brown, except when they cross 

 the pale bar: the hind wings are rather 

 paler than the fore wings, but the head, 

 thorax, and body are of the same colour as 

 the fore wings. 



I am indebted to the Eev. H. Harpur 

 Crewe for the following information : 



The EGGS are brown, and laid in the 

 month of November. 



The CATERPILLAR is pale whitish-green, 

 the centre of the back is bluish, the sub- 

 dorsal lines are distinct and white ; the 

 spiracular lines pale yellow, slender and 

 waved, two on each side, the lower of each 

 pair becoming broader on the anterior and 

 posterior segments ; the segmental divisions 

 are pale yellow, the ventral area is grass- 

 green. It feeds on maple (Acer campestris) 

 in shady woods and hedges, generally in 

 chalky districts, and is full-fed at the end 

 of June and beginning of July. 



The CHRYSALIS is enclosed in a tight 

 earthen cocoon, rather short and black ; rich 

 dark reddish-brown ; its thorax and wing- 

 cases are almost black. The extremity of 

 the body is furnished with a bristly bifur- 

 cate appendage. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in Octo- 

 ber, and seems to be of very rare occur- 

 rence in this country. My specimens are 

 from Buckinghamshire, but I do not know 

 the exact locality. (The scientific name is 

 Ptilophora plumigera.) 



398. The Pale Prominent (Ptilodontis palpina). 



398. THE PALE PROMINENT. The palpi 

 are very long, pointed, and bent downwards 

 at the tip ; the antennae are strongly pecti- 



