NOCTUAS. 



421 



on the back of which they are united ; on 

 each side immediately below the spiracles, 

 which are almost white, is a well-defined 

 light stripe, conspicuously tinged with pink ; 

 the upper margin of this lateral stripe is 

 delicately bordered with white, the stripe 

 itself is reticulated, but not so conspicuously 

 as the dorsal surface ; the ventral surface, 

 legs, and claspers are slightly paler and more 

 serni-ti'ansparent than the back, dotted and 

 reticulated. It changes to a CHRYSALIS just 

 beneath the surface of the earth, at the end 

 of July. 



Such is the general character and appear- 

 ance of the caterpillar ; but as Mr. Buckler 

 has described some varieties which were sent 

 him by my friend Mr. Doubleday, I can do 

 no less than copy his descriptions. 



Vcur. 1. Reddish-brown above as far as 

 the spiracles, a dull brown plate on the 

 second segment, through which the dorsal and 

 sub-dorsal lines are traced ; the dorsal line 

 pale ochreous on the anterior segments, V t 

 on the others much suffused with the groana 

 colour, except at the segmental divisions, 

 where it reappears as an ochreous spot. Ihe 

 sub-dorsal line is ochreous, and much suffused 

 with brown. On the fifth segment to the 

 twelfth, inclusive, a dorsal diamond-shape 

 of mottled brown, darker than the ground- 

 colour, and on each side a wedge-shape of 

 very dark brown pointing forwards, their 

 broad ends a little distance from the segmental 

 divisions, their sides edging the lower half of 

 the diamonds and the sub-dorsal lines. The 

 wedge-marks gradually increase in size towards 

 the twelfth segment, \vhere they are largest 

 and darkest, and most conspicuous, by the 

 sub-dorsal line being there suddenly paler 

 and united by a transverse pale line at the 

 base of the wedges. Spiracular line black, on 

 which are the white spiracles, and running 

 immediately beneath is a pale grayish stripe, 

 its upper edge whitish, belly and legs brown- 

 ish-gray, head pale brown. 



Var. 2. A rich cinnamon-brown mottled 

 with ochreous above ; belly and legs paler, 

 and greenish-ochreous ; dorsal and sub-dorsal 

 lines paler than the ground-colour, but not 



very distinct, the diamond - marks hardly 

 visible ; the blackish wedge-marks strongly 

 defined, but with the addition of two or three 

 fine streaks of ground-colour cutting trans- 

 versely through them all ; the tubercular dots 

 black in the following order : a transverse row 

 of eight dots on the third and fourth segments, 

 and on the fifth to the twelfth, inclusive ; the 

 anterior dorsal pair distinct, the posterior pair 

 hardly visible by being placed in the broad 

 ends of the wedges, and a latei-al anterior dot 

 midway between the sub-dorsal and black 

 spiracular lines ; a dull brown plate on the 

 second segment ; head brownish - ochreous, 

 with a blackish stripe on each lobe from the 

 crown to the mouth. 



Var. 3. A dull grayish-brown ; the dorsal 

 and sub-dorsal lines, and penultimate trans- 

 verse mark, very little paler than the ground ; 

 the tubercular dots black, the wedge-marks 

 black, with a thin transverse line of ground- 

 colour cutting them through towards the 

 broad end. 



The MOTH appears at the end of May and 

 beginning of June, and seems to occur very 

 generally in England, Scotland, and Ireland. 

 (The scientific name' is Hadena thalassina.) 



655. The Beautiful Brocade (Hadena contigua). 



655. THE BEAUTIFUL BROCADE. The palpi 

 are inconspicuous, the antennse simple in both 

 sexes ; the fore wings are beautifully mottled 

 and marbled with delicate shades of brown 

 and gray, and in the region of the reniform 

 there is not uncommonly a saffron tint ; the 

 orbicular is roundish, and its median area 

 white ; the reniform has a slender black cir- 

 cumscription, its median area is gray ; adjoin- 

 ing the orbicular and passing obliquely below 

 the reniform is a lozenge-shaped pale gray 

 spot ; at the costal base of the wing there is 



