114 



THE MATRONUIA MOTH. 



Phalana Matronula. 



PLATE LXXIX. 



Phalaena Matronula, Linn. Syst. Nat. ii. p. 835. Shaw's 



Naturalists' Miscellany, pL 932 Merian's Insect* of 



Europe, p. 53, No. 5. 



THE superior wings of the Matronula Moth are of 

 a rich fawn coloured brown, with two abbreviated rich 

 golden yellow bands, and three large spots on each 

 wing, the whole forming a kind of macular transverse 

 band on each wing ; the inferior wings are ochre 

 yellow, with three large clouds of black on each ; the 

 head and back are black, the latter with a golden 

 band on each side, and a spear-shaped mark of the 

 same colour under the head ; on the back is a horse- 

 shoe-shaped band of rich crimson; the eyes are 

 golden yellow, and the antennae black, long, and 

 smooth ; the abdomen is bright scarlet, spotted with 

 black ; at the upper margin of each of the annula- 

 tions are small spots of the same colour on each side. 



This moth is a native of various parts of Germany, 

 where its larva is said to feed on the leaves of 

 the common mugwort, the Artemitia vulgaris of 

 Linnaeus. 



