412 



BRITISH MOTHS. 



of this species resembles those of the great 

 genus Agrotis, which generally live concealed 

 near the roots of low plants, or even among 

 the roots themselves ; it possesses, moreover, 

 the maggot-like appearance and the obscure 

 colouring of the greater number of these sub- 

 terranean caterpillars : it is elongate, stout, 

 cylindrical, and transversely wrinkled, and 

 has a horny dorsal plate on the second and 

 thirteenth segments, which are more wrinkled 

 than the others, slightly tinged with yellow 

 above, and exhibit certain indistinct indica- 

 tions of a medio-dorsal and lateral stripes; the 

 head is of moderate size, spherical and notched 

 on the crown ; it is very shining and of a red- 

 dish colour, with brown mandibles and ocelli ; 

 the legs are of the same colour as the head, 

 but black at the extremities ; the claspers are 

 of the same colour as the body, with the ex- 

 ception of the terminal disks, which are brown : 

 the spiracles are oval and black, and are ren- 

 dered very conspicuous by their contrast with 

 the pale ground colour ; the corneous plate of 

 the second segment, occupying its entire dorsal 

 surface, is of a reddish-yellow colour, but 

 paler than the head ; the corneous plate of the 

 thirteenth segment is also brown, and cor- 

 responds in colour with that on the second ; 

 the trapezoidal warts are not larger than the 

 other bristle-bearing warts, and in like manner 

 emit short black hairs. 



It spins itself a slight cocoon in the lichen, 

 and in this changes to a CHRYSALIS, which is 

 smooth, shining, rather elongate, and of a red- 

 dish-brown colour, and has absolutely no 

 character by which it can be distinguished 

 from the general run of Noctua chrysalids, 

 unless it be that the last segment of the body, 

 which is browner, is square at the extremity, 

 and ends in four short points, of which the 

 two in the middle are rather longer than 

 those on the outside. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and 

 has been brought in great numbers from Ice- 

 land. It flies during the day, and may some- 

 times be seen flying in crowds about the 

 flowers scattered sparingly over the surface of 

 the ground. The species has also been found 

 in Labrador, Kamtschatka, Lapland, and the 



Arctic regions of North America,. (The scien- 

 tific name is Crymodes exulis.} 



There can be no doubt that the natural situ- 

 ation of this species is between Dasypolia 

 Templi and the genus Xylophasia. 



644. The Dark Brocade (Hadena adusta). 



644. THE DARK BROCADE. The palpi are 

 slightly porrected, the second joint clothed 

 with long bristly scales, the terminal joint is 

 comparatively slender, and square at the tip; 

 the antennae are slightly pectinated in the 

 male, simple in the female : the fore wings 

 are waved on the hind margin, but scarcely 

 scalloped ; their colour is rich dark umber- 

 brown, the discoid al spots being perceptible, 

 but indistinct ; their central area is of the 

 same colour as the general area of the wing ; 

 the circumscription of the orbicular is black 

 and very slender ; the reniform is narro\v, its 

 outer border zigzag and pale ochreous ; parallel 

 with the hind margin of the wing is a pale 

 zigzag line, on the interior border of which 

 rest a series of very dark wedge-shaped marks, 

 the tips of which point towards the base of the 

 wing ; the entire area of the wing is mottled 

 and marbled with darker and paler patches 

 and lines, none of them very conspicuous : the 

 hind wings are pale gray at the base, gradu- 

 ally shading to smoky-brown towards the hind 

 margin, the discoidal spot and wing-rays being 

 dark and very distinct ; the fringe is pale, 

 intersected throughout by a waved darker 

 line : the head and thorax are dark umber- 

 brown, the latter crested at the base ; the 

 body is slightly crested on the back and tufted 

 along the sides ; it is gray-brown with long 

 paler scales at the base. 



The EGG is laid in June on the leaves 

 of many garden plants, and the CATERPILLAR 

 emerges in August ; at first it is a dingy 

 " <t\oiir and without markings : it attains 



