NOCTUAS. 



383 



oiO. The Lunar-spotted Pinion (Cosmia pyralina). 



610. THE LUNAR-SPOTTED PINION. The 

 palpi are porrected and curved upwards, the 

 terminal joints being slender and pointed; the 

 antennae are simple : the fore wings are 

 scarcely at all arched on the costa, and square 

 at the tip ; their colour is rich reddish-brown, 

 the discoidal spots being scarcely perceptible, 

 but there is a white crescent on the costal 

 margin near its apical angle, its cusps point- 

 ing towards the hind margin ; nearer the 

 middle of the wing is a transverse and much 

 elbowed white line; and nearer the base, a 

 transverse waved pale line; parallel with the 

 hind margin is a compound transverse line, 

 uniting with the crescentic mark already 

 described : the hind wings are smoky-gray 

 with a somewhat rosy fringe : the head and 

 thorax are of the same colour as the fore 

 wings, the body as the hind wings. 



The CATERPILLAR is pale green, the medio- 

 dorsal and sub-dorsal stripes being paler green ; 

 the spiracular line is yellowish, edged above 

 with black ; the spots yellowish-greec ; the 

 head dark green (Freyer}. It feeds on plum 

 and pear (Staintons Manual, vol. ii. p. 258). 



The MOTH appears on the wing in August, 

 but is very local; Mr. G. C. Green found it 

 very abundant at Modbury, in Devonshire ; 

 it has also been taken in Dorsetshire, Wilt- 

 shire, Sussex, Kent, Suffolk, \Yorcestershire, 

 and Derbyshire. (The scientific name is 

 Cosmia pyralina.) 



11. The White-spotted Pinion (Cosmia diffinis). 

 $11. TH WHITE-SPOTTED PINIOK. The 



palpi are porrected and curved upwards, the 

 terminal joint being slender and pointed ; the 

 antennae are simple : the costal margin of the 

 fore wings is almost straight, the tip blunt; 

 their colour is red-brown, the discoidal spots 

 being scarcely perceptible ; there are four 

 white marks on the costa ; the first is near 

 the base of the wing and linear ; the second 

 is triangular at its commencement, then bends 

 slightly towards the body, and then unites 

 with a pale line which descends to the middle 

 of the inner margin ; the third is large and 

 triangular at the costa, and unites at its apex 

 with a pale transverse line which at first bends 

 towards the hind margin, and then rather 

 abruptly descends to the inner margin ; the 

 fourth is linear, or slightly crescentic, and 

 combines with a' third pale transverse line 

 parallel with the hind margin : the hind 

 wings are gray-brown with pale fringe : the 

 head and thorax are of the same red-brown 

 colour as the fore wings, the body of the same 

 gray-brown colour as the hind wings. 



The head of the CATERPILLAR is black and 

 shining ; the body is nearly cylindrical, but 

 the anterior extremity is more slender, a 

 character very evident when this part of the 

 body is stretched out to its full extent : its 

 colour is pale apple-green, with medio-dorsal 

 and lateral stripes ding v -white ; there is a 

 second stripe on each side in the region of the 

 spiracles of a pale yt-llow ; it feeds on elm 

 ( (Jlmus campestris), and is full-fed the begin- 

 ning of June, when it spins a slight cocoon 

 either on the trunk of the elm or between two 

 leaves. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and 

 occurs rather commonly in the southern coun- 

 ties of England, in Worcestershire, Derbyshire, 

 and Yorkshire. (The scientific name is Oosmia 

 dijfinis.) 



612. The Lesser-spotted Pinion (Cosmia affinis). 

 612. THE LESSER-SPOTTED PINION. The 



