NOCTUAS. 



389 



way between the base and the orbicular; this 

 is almost direct ; its white portion is on the 

 inner, its black portion on the outer side ; the 

 second is much elbowed and zigzag ; it is 

 situated beyond the reniform, and has the 

 white portion outside, the black inside ; the 

 third is very zigzag, and very sharply denned ; 

 the white portion is outside, the black inside ; 

 the fringe is spotted with black aud white : 

 the hind wings are smoky-black, with paler 

 base, and a white spot near the anal angle ; 

 the fringe is pale : the head and thorax are 

 variegated like the fore wings ; the body is 

 smoke-coloured, the basal segments crested, 

 the crests tipped with black. . 



The CATERPILLAR is ochreous-yellow ; the 

 medio-dorsal line dark gray, with oblique 

 lines proceeding from it on each segment ; a 

 row of black spots on each side ; subdorsal 

 line pale gray (Gu.). It feeds on the 

 Nottingham catchfly (Silene nutans). /Stain- 

 ton's Manual, vol. i. p. 262. 



The MOTH appears in June. There is a 

 specimen in the late Mr. Stephens' collection, 

 said to have been taken in Birch Wood, Kent, 

 in 1816, and from this my description is 

 made ; a second is reported in the Entomo- 

 logists Monthly Magazine for 1865, p. 237, 

 as having been taken at Gosport. Its occur- 

 rence in these localities is very remarkable 

 from the entire absence of the food-plant. 

 (The scientific name isDiantfweciaalbimacula.) 



619. The Marbled Coronet (Dianthcecia conspersa). 



619. The MARBLED CORONET. The palpi 

 w3 scarcely porrected, the second joint very 



scaly, the terminal joint scarcely perceptible ; 

 the antennae are very slightly serrated in the 

 males, quite simple in the females : the fore 

 wings have the costal margin almost straight, 

 the tip blunt, the hind margin slightly waved ; 

 tl.eir colour is smoky-black, with creamy- 

 white and sharply-defined markings; the 

 orbicular is creamy-white, and in some speci- 

 mens has a slight smoky cloud in its median 

 area ; in other specimens this cloud is entirely 

 wanting. This orbicular spot is often con- 

 tinued to the costal margin, and is frequently 

 united to a pure white blotch in the middle 

 of the wing. The reniform is white, with a 

 smoky cloud in its median area ; there are 

 several white spots at the base of the wing, 

 and several others on the inner margin, par- 

 ticularly a large one opposite the reniform ; 

 there is also a transverse zigzag and inter- 

 rupted white line parallel with the hind 

 margin, which terminates in a white blotch 

 on the costal margin ; there is a scalloped 

 black line on the hind margin ; the fringe is 

 whitish, with a double series of smoky or 

 blackish markings ; the hind wings are smoke- 

 coloured, the base and fringe being rather 

 paler; the wing-rays and discoidal spot rather 

 darker ; and there is a small pale spot near 

 the hind margin, and nearer the anal than 

 the apical angle : the head is white, with two 

 dark lines on the crown, the thorax is varie- 

 gated with black and white like the fore 

 wings ; the body is smoky-gray like the hind 

 wings. 



The EGGS are laid on the flowers or calyces 

 of the ragged Robin (Lychnis Flos-Cuculi), and 

 the young CATERPILLAR feeds on the seeds. 

 For a while it is concealed entirely within the 

 seed-pod ; but as it grows larger it is com- 

 pelled to leave this very limited residence, 

 and may afterwai-ds be generally found with 

 its head and anterior segments in the capsule, 

 and the rest of the body exposed. When full- 

 fed the head is narrower than the second seg- 

 ment and very glabrous, the face rather 

 flattened, the crown not perceptibly notched; 

 the body is smooth and almost uniformly 

 cylindrical, but gradually and very slightly 

 increasing in size from the second to the tenth 



