NOCTUAS. 



269 



plainly visible as black spots : but the orna- 

 mentation of the wings is so diverse and so 

 varied, that no description could be compiled 

 which should include them all, and therefore 

 four of the most striking variations are 

 selected as illustrations : the hind wings are 

 pearly white ; the head and thorax are pale 

 wainscot-brown ; the body silky white. 



" The CATERPILLAR is yellowish ochreous 

 with several fine lines (Treitschke). It feeds 

 on the common reed (Arundo Phragmites), in 

 September, March, and April." Stainton's 

 Manual, vol. i. p. 191. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in June, 

 and has been taken in the Cambridgeshire 

 fens, and also in Hammersmith marshes. 

 (The scientific name is Senta maritima.) 



Obs. The moth represented in the third 

 figure has been named Bipunctata by Haworth, 

 and is the Ilythia anella of Stephens. This 

 species is also the Melia serica of Curtis, and 

 the Senta Ulvce of Doubleday's List. I am 

 indebted to Mr. Bond for the loan of the 

 three varieties. 



454. The Small Rufous (Ccenoliarufa). 



454. THE SMALL RUFOUS. The antennae 

 are very slender in both sexes : the fore wings 

 have the costa rather arched, the tip very 

 blunt, and the upper portion of the hind 

 margin very straight ; their colour is reddish- 

 brown, with a median longitudinal dash, and 

 the wing-rays darker ; at some distance from 

 the hind margin each ray has also a black dot, 

 and these together form an oblique transverse 

 series ; the lowest ray, that nearest the inner 

 margin, has two such dots ; the hind wings 

 are dark gray, tinged with brown ; the basal 

 portion of the fringe is ochreous, the exterior 

 portion brown ; the head and thorax are gray- 

 brown ; the body is paler, and very sparingly 

 clothed with scales ; it is tufted at the ex- 

 tremity. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in July ; it 

 occurs very commonly in the Cambridgeshire 

 fens, and has been taken at Epping and other 

 places in the South. (The scientific name is 

 Ccenobia rufa : it is the Nonagria despecta of 

 Doubleday's List.) 



455. The Keed Wainscot (Nonagria Cannoi). 



455. THE REED WAINSCOT. The antennse 

 are slightly ciliated in the male, and therefore 

 appear stouter than in the female : the fore 

 wings have the costa veiy slightly arched, the 

 tip blunt but not rounded, the hind margin 

 almost straight ; their colour is red-brown, 

 with the median ray dark brown, and ter- 

 minating in a brown spot, beyond which is an 

 arched series of dark brown spots, one on 

 each wing-ray; the lowest wing-ray, that 

 nearest the inner margin, has two such spots ; 

 the hind margin has sometimes, but not con- 

 stantly, a dark continuous line ; the fringe is 

 red-brown : the hind wings are dingy brown, 

 with reddish margins and fringe : the head 

 and thorax are reddish brown, the body 

 paler. 



" The CATERPILLAR is greenish or yellowish, 

 with the dots black, the head brownish, the 

 plate of the second and anal segments greenish 

 white; the spiracles black (Treitschke). It 

 feeds on the reed mace (Typha latifolia)." 

 Stainton's Manual, vol. ii. p. 193. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in August, 

 and has been taken in the fens of Cambridge- 

 shire. (The scientific name is Nonagria 

 Cannce.) 



Obs. The very peculiar red colour of 

 this moth distinguishes it at once from either 

 of its congeners, which are, generally speak- 

 ing, very similar in colour, and difficult to 

 distinguish. 



