462 



BRITISH MOTHS. 



a paler ochreous-brown ground, followed by a 

 pale stripe of ochreous, enclosing a very thin 

 brown line; the lateral lines double, dark 

 brown, extending from the mouth to the anal 

 claspers ; this is edged above with black at 

 the anterior portion of each segment, the 

 upper one widening below in the middle, along 

 which are some black dots ; the belly and legs 

 are brown. Within the dark portion of the 

 back, on each segment are placed four black 

 dots in the usual order, and on the eleventh 

 segment there is an additional black dot on 

 each side, outside the dark region ; subdorsal 

 lines also, containing two black dots and a 

 minute ring. It feeds on the wood vetch 

 (Vicia sylvatica), and is full-fed about mid- 

 summer. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and 

 has only occurred to entomologists in Devon- 

 shire, where it was discovered by the Kev. E. 

 Horton. (The scientific name is Toxocampa, 

 Craccce.) 



713. The Anomalous (Stilbia anomala). 



713. THE ANOMALOUS. Thepalpi are short 

 and distant, they are porrected, and the 

 terminal joint is naked and porrected ; the 

 antennae are slightly pubescent in the male, 

 simple in the female : the fore wings are 

 narrow, scarcely arched on the costa, and 

 blunt at the tip ; their colour is smoky gray 

 and glossy ; both the discoidal spots are clearly 

 defined, and both are composed of the same 

 tints, first a black circumscription, then a 

 border of pale gray; within this a smoky 

 median area, and within the median area a 

 pale gray line ; the position of the orbicular is 

 very oblique, its shape very elongate; the hind 

 wings are ample, much folded, of a pale pearly- 

 gray colour, and very glossy ; the head, thorax 

 and body are gray -brown. 



The CATERPILLAR, according to Graslin, is 

 obese and of a greenish-yellow colour, with 



the medio-dorrfiil and subdorsal stripes slender 

 and yellowish- white ; the spiracular line is 

 broad and bluish- white, attenuated at both 

 extremities, and bordered above by a darker 

 tint ; the spiracles above are black er, and the 

 legs concolorous with the body ; the head is 

 pale reddish-green : it feeds entirely on grass 

 in the open parts of woods. The CHRYSALIS is 

 short and of a yellow-ochre colour, with a 

 darker stripe down the back. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in August 

 and September and seems very local : in some 

 localities in Corn wallandDevonitisabundant, 

 bxit always confined to a small space : it has 

 occurred in Hampshire, Dorsetshire, Sussex, 

 Surrey, and Kent, it would seem that no ento- 

 mologist has observed it in the midland 

 counties of England, but it appears again in 

 the north, having been taken in Cheshire and 

 Lane ishire ; it has been found somewhat 

 abundantly in Scotland, my series having been 

 taken by the late James Foxcroft, at Kinloch 

 Rannoch, and Mr. Birchall says it is not 

 uncommon at Howth in Ireland. (The scien- 

 tific name is Stilbia anomcila.) 



714. The Alchymist (Catephia Alchymista). 



714. THE ALCHYMIST. The palpi are rather 

 long and curved upwards, the second joint is 

 slender and bent, the third is slightly dilated 

 at the extremity ; the antennae are delicately 

 ciliated in the male, the ciliations white and 

 the shaft of the antenna black ; the fore 

 wings are of moderate size and proportions ; 

 the outline of the costa is slightly arched 

 both at the base and tip, but the middle 

 portion of the costa is nearly straight ; the 

 hind margin is cut off obliquely, and decidedly 

 but not deeply scalloped; their colour is 

 almost black, but marbled and lined with still 

 deeper black ; there is an indication of ths si to 

 where the reniform spot is usually placed; 



