NOCTUAS. 



369 



margin : the hind wings are pale with a con- 

 spicuous dark discoidal spot, and an interrupted 

 dark bar parallel with the hind margin : the 

 head and thorax are of the same colour aa the 

 tore wings, the body is darker than the hind 

 wings. 



The CATERPILLAR is described by Guen6e as 

 stout, rather monUiform, and somewhat flat- 

 tened below ; the head is small and of a 

 brown colour, with two darker lines on the 

 face : the body is of a dull gray-green, and 

 sometimes of a brighter green, with a white 

 inedio-dorsal stripe and a white sub-dorsal 

 stripe ; there is also a white lateral stripe in 

 the region of the spiracles, and this is deli- 

 cately bordered above with a black line ; the 

 usual dots are large, very observable, wart- 

 like, black, and shining ; there ia a distinct 

 and very observable plate on the second, and 

 another on the thirteenth segment. It feeds 

 on grasses, particularly in elevated and dry 

 situations, and is fond of concealing itself by 

 day under stones. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in Septem- 

 ber, and ia generally distributed in England, 

 Scotland, and Ireland. (The scientific name 

 is Anchocelis lunosa.) 



591. The Brown-spot Pinion (Anchocelis Litwra). 



591. THE BROWN-SPOT PINION. The palpi 

 are porrected and pointed, the points naked : 

 the colour of the fore wings is pale reddish- 

 brown, strongly inclined to gray in the basal 

 half: the discoidal spots are distinct ; they 

 have a pale circumscription and a dark median 

 area ; there are four dark spots on the costal 

 margin; the first, almost close to the base, 

 reaches half-way across the wing; the second 

 is rather oblique, pointing towards the anal 

 angle; the third, also oblique, is situated just 

 about the reniform, and points in an opposite 



direction to the second; the fourth ia much 

 the largest and most conspicuous, and situated 

 very near the tip of the wing ; it serves a* 

 the commencement of a straggling series of 

 dark spots, which vanish before reaching the 

 inner margin : the hind wings are smoky, 

 with paler fringe: the head, thorax, and 

 body are of the same colour as the fore 

 wings. 



The CATERPILLAR is stout and smooth, and 

 varies in the tint of the ground-colour, in the 

 way so common among the caterpillars of 

 Noctiuis, some specimens being green and 

 others brown ; the medio-dorsal stripe is dull 

 dingy white, inclining to green or brown, in 

 accordance with the* ground-colour ; there is 

 also a lateral stripe of the same pale colour : 

 it feeds on a variety of low-growing plants, 

 perhaps most commonly on meadow-sweet 

 (Spircca ulmaria). 



The MOTH appears on the wing in Septem- 

 ber and October, and is common and generally 

 distributed in England, Scotland, and Ireland, 

 (The scientific name is Anckocclis Litura.) 



Obs. This species comes to sugar when 

 spread on the trunks of trees, and has thus been 

 taken freely near Catford Bridge, in my own 

 neighbourhood. 



592. The Chestnut (Cerastis Vaccinif) 



692. THE CHESTNUT. The palpi are rarely 

 porrected beyond the scales on the head : the 

 antennae are almost simple in both sexes : the 

 fore wings are broad and short, almost square 

 at the apical angle, but the apex itself is 

 blunt; their colour is wainscot-brown, inclin- 

 ing to red-brown, indistinctly divided by 

 waved transverse darker lines ; the discoidal 

 spots are distinctly perceptible ; their circum- 

 scription is pale ; the lower half of the median 

 area in the reniform is almost black ; the 

 orbicular in oblong and oblique ; its median 



M 24 



