NOCTUAS. 



261 



44>1. The Clay (Leucania lithargyria). 



441. THE CLAY. The antennae are slightly 

 pubescent in the male, simple in the female : 

 bl.3 fore wings are reddish-gray, the red having 

 a brick-dust tinge ; there is a bent transverse 

 series of ten or eleven brown dots curving 

 across the wing nearly pai'allel with the hind 

 margin ; the orbicular spot is absent ; the 

 reniform is reduced to a small whitish dot : 

 the hind wings are smoky-brown, the fringe 

 paler : the head, thorax, and body, are nearly 

 of the same colour as the fore wings. 



The Rev. H. Harpur Crewe has described 

 the CATERPILLAR in the Zoologist for 1861, as 

 under : " The ground colour is ochreous or 

 reddish-drab, the central dorsal line slender 

 and blackish, with a white centre ; the sub- 

 dorsal lines are broad and deep black, bordered 

 with white on the lower side ; between the 

 dorsal and sub-dorsal lines is a very slender in- 

 distinct dusky line. The spiracles are black in a 

 whitish ring ; and between the latter and the 

 sub-dorsal lines is a whitish waved line edged 

 with black -, between the spiracles and legs 

 are two conspicuous yellow lines ; the belly is 

 destitute of spots or markings : the sub-dorsal 

 lines vary much in intensity of colour : it 

 feeds by night, in April or May, on various 

 species of grass, concealing itself by day, and 

 crawling up the blades as soon as it is dark : 

 it is full-fed from the middle to the end of 

 May. The CHRYSALIS is of a bright red 

 colour, and is enclosed in an earthen cocoon." 



The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and 

 is common in almost every part of England, 

 Ireland, and Scotland. It has a remarkably 

 delicate appearance, the colours being ex- 

 quisitely blended. (The scientific name is 

 Leucania lithargyria.) 



442. The American Wainscot (Leucania extranea). 



442. THE AMERICAN WAINSCOT. M. Guenee 

 says that the species varies greatly in size, but 

 is always larger than Leucania lithay^ria ; 

 the circumscription of the wings is, how ever, 

 altogether different, and rather resembles -hat 

 of Heliothis armigera and H. peltigera ; the 

 fore wings are very pointed at the tip ; their 

 colour is gray, more or less tinged with red, 

 but sometimes whitish, thickly sprinkled with 

 black scales ; the two discoidal spots are 

 detached, and of a light colour, more or less 

 tinged with red; below the reniform spot there 

 is a white dot indistinctly surrounded with 

 black : there is no trace of lines, but the series 

 of black dots which represents the elbowed 

 line, is often very distinct ; an oblique black 

 streak which originates in this series ascends 

 to the tip of the wing, and this, in conjunction 

 with the form of the wing, is a principal 

 characteristic of the species : the hind wings 

 are semi-transparent and gray, with the hind 

 border and wing-rays blackish ; there is 

 scarcely any difference in the sexes. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in Septem- 

 ber ; Mr. Bond captured one specimen at 

 sugar at Freshwater, in the Isle of Wight, on 

 the 6th of that month, 1859. It has always 

 been considered an American insect. (The 

 scientific name is Leucania extranea.^ 



443. The Obscure Wainscot (Leucania obsolete). 



443. THE OBSCURE WAINSCOT. The an- 

 tennae are slightly ciliat in the male, sirnpi* 



