LEPIDOPTEEA. 



261 



Fig. 254 ; Catocala nupta, Fig. 255, the Red underwing ; and 

 Erebus strix, Fig. 256. 



Fig. 251. Noctua brunea. 



The bodies of these moths are robust and sometimes massive, and 

 are scaly rather than woolly. The thorax is sometimes bristling 

 with hairy tufts. 



This genus includes eight hundred species, of which there are 



Fig. 252. Catocala fraxini. 



about three hundred in France. The caterpillars of the Noc- 

 :uina are smooth or very slightly covered with hair, usually 

 of a pale colour, and live on low plants, of which they devour, some 

 the leaves, others the roots ; then it is they are most destructive to 



