432 



BRITISH MOTHS. 



with a few black markings ; of the body pale 

 or whitish-green, with bright yellow and 

 black markings, which give it a very gay 

 appearance : on the back of each segment is a 

 yellow band interrupted by a black mark, 

 which consists of two oval spots and a trans- 

 verse band, each black spot is united to the 

 band by a very slender black line, so that the 

 oval spots, the transverse band, and the con- 

 necting lines unite in forming a compound 

 ornamentation on the back of each segment. 

 It feeds on figwort (ticrophularia nodosa and 

 8. aguatica), and on the moth mullein 

 ( Verbascum Blattaria), anJ is full-fed in July, 

 when it descends to the ground forming a 

 tough cocoon of silk and earth, in which it 

 changes to a greenish-brown CHRYSALIS, with 

 semi-transparent and almost colourless wing- 

 cases. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in May, and 

 seems to be confined to the southern and 

 western counties of England. It is extremely 

 difficult to distinguish this from the preceding 

 species when in the perfect state, and, there- 

 fore, I refrain from giving localities : the 

 caterpillars of the two seem equally difficult 

 to separate, but I have trusted for my descrip- 

 tion of the present species to the exquisite 

 figures and minute description in Boiscl aval's 

 "Collection des Chenilles." (The scientific 

 name is Cucullia Scrophularice.) 



670. The Striped Lychnis (Cucullia Lychnitis). 



670. THE STRIPED LYCHNIS. The palpi are 

 slightly porrected, the second joint being scaly 

 but not very densely so, the terminal joint is 

 scarcely perceptible; the antennae are per- 

 fectly simple in both sexes ; the fore wings 

 are very straight on the costa until near the 

 tip, and then slightly arched ; the hind margin 



is scalloped ; their colour is wainscot-brown 

 with a black-brown costal margin and a black- 

 brown inner margin, interrupted in the middle 

 by two minute pale crescents, and towards 

 the anal angle by several pale lines ; the hind 

 wings are very pale at the base, often almost 

 white, but darker and smoke-coloured towards 

 the hind margin ; the collar is very pale and 

 raised in the form of a crest ; the hinder pare 

 of the thorax and body are very pale brown, 

 the latter having a medio-dorsal stripe almost 

 black; this is broad at the base, and very 

 narrow and indistinct towards the tip. 



The head of the CATERPILLAR is rather nar- 

 rower than the second segment, slightly por- 

 rected, and somewhat triangular ; the body is 

 stout, cylindrical, and slightly wrinkled trans- 

 versely ; the colour of the head is greenish- 

 yellow, with five or six black dots on each 

 cheek ; of the body, dingy white with a slight 

 tendency to glaucous-green, each segment has 

 a transverse yellowish band, and a compound 

 black mark which consists of a transverse 

 band slightly indented in the middle and bent 

 forward at both extremities ; and anterior to 

 this are two oval black spots joined to the 

 band by connecting lines ; the second segment 

 has a double series of small black spots in the 

 place of the ornamentation I have attempted 

 to describe; the third segment has the 

 ornamentation divided into spots, and the 

 twelfth segment has only a transverse series 

 of black spots : it feeds on the flowers and 

 seed-pods of the white mullein (Verbcuoun 

 Lychnitis), and the black mullein ( V, nigrum), 

 and is full-fed in July and August, when it 

 spins its tough cocoon on the surface of the 

 ground, and in this changes to a smooth 

 brown CHRYSALIS. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in June and 

 July, and appears confined to the southern 

 districts of England ; the neighbourhood of 

 Arundel seems to be the principal locality. 

 It is at present entirely unknown in Scotland 

 or Ireland. (The scientific name is Cucullia 

 Lychnitis.) 



Obs. In this species I have relied on Bois- 

 duval's "Collection des Chenilles" for the 

 description of the caterpillar. 



