328 



BRITISH MOTHS. 



distributed in England, Scotland, and Ireland. 

 (The scientific name is Agrotis corticea.} 



Obs. This is the Heart and Club (^cr.-Jbyx 

 clavigerus), of Ha worth (Lep. Brit., No. 52); 

 the Chain-Shot Dart (Bombyx connexus, Lep. 

 Brit., No. 58) ; the Pointed Dart (Bombyx 

 corticeus, Lep. Brit., No. 59) ; the Broad- 

 Veined Dart (Bombyx venosus, Lep Brit , No. 

 60) : These are subsequently placed in the 

 Genus Noctua, at p. 218 of the same work. 



531. The Light-Feathered Rustic {Agrotis cinerea). 



531. THE LIGHT-FEATHERED RUSTIC. The 

 antennte are ciliated in the male, simple in 

 tl.e female : the fore wings are very straight 

 on the costal margin, but r ded at the tip ; 

 their colour is pale gray with, three slender 

 transverse lines, and two transverse shades ; 

 the first transverse line is very short and very 

 near the base, the second is zigzag, and pre- 

 cedes the orbicular spot, which is represented 

 by a mere aot ; then follows the first trans- 

 verse shade vhic" includes the reniform spot, 

 and beyond this is the third transverse line, 

 bent a^d zigzag : the second transverse shade 

 is parallel with the hind margin ; in some 

 specimens especially females, the entire ground 

 colour of the wing is darker, in others only 

 the space between the second and third trans- 

 verse lines : the hind wings are almost white 

 with darker wing-rays, and a very indistinct 

 crescentic discoidal spot ; the head, thorax, 

 and body arc pale gray. 



" The CATERPILLAR is shining greenish- 

 brown ; dorsal and sub dorsal lines darker : 

 between them are small oblique dark streaks 

 (Treitschke). On roots of various low pi; its." 

 iStainton's Manual, vol. ii., p. 225. 



The MOTH appears on the winy in June, and 

 has been taken in the Isle of Wight, at Brigh- 



ton, 'Lewes, and in Gloucestershire, Hereford- 

 shire, Pembrokeshire, and Carnarvonshire. 

 (The scientific name is Agrotis cinerea. 1 ) 



532. The Sand Dart (Agrotis Ripce). 



532. THE SAND DART. The antennae are 

 ciliated in the male, simple in the female : the 

 fore wings are rather long and rather narrow, 

 straight on the costa, and rounded at the tip ; 

 their colour is pale gray with a very slight 

 tinge of ochreous ; the claviform spot is >re- 

 sent, but not strongly marked, the orbicular is 

 small and round, defined by its darker outline 

 only, the reniform is almost square and its 

 disk dark ; there are two irregular and inter- 

 rupted transverse lines, both of them semi- 

 double, and both broken up into spots: the 

 hind wings ->f the male are white, those of the 

 female slightly clouded, especially on the 

 wing- rays and towards the hind margin : the 

 head, thorax, and body are gray, the body 

 rather the palest. 



The Rev. John Hellins has described the 

 CATERPILLAR in the Zoologist as having the 

 ground colour varying from a light pea-green 

 to a yellowish-gray (in one instance the cater- 

 pillar was green half its length and gray the 

 other half) having a medio-dorsal stripe of a 

 darker shade of the ground colour, but inter- 

 sected throughout by a very slender pale 

 stripe ; there are three slender waved Literal 

 lines on each side ; these are placed clo.~e 

 together just above the spiracles, and are 

 slightly paler than i ie medio-dorsal stripe; 

 .they are followed by a stripe rather darker 

 than the ground colour, and containing tho 



