MOTHS. 185 



times a little suffused or marked with purplish or reddish, and are 

 nearly always marked with a silvery or yellowish figure resembling 

 a letter ; or else they are brown, more or less extensively blotched 

 with brassy green, which sometimes fills up a great part of the 

 wing. The hind wings are pale brown, with a darker submarginal 

 band, or, in a few foreign species, yellow (Fam. Plusidce). 



In the Calpidw the palpi are very large. But their chief peculi- 

 arity is the shape of the inner margin of the fore wings, which is 

 excavated and dentated. The genus Gonodanta, Hiibn., is entirely 

 American ; the species are of moderate size, and the hind wings 

 are nearly always yellow, with black borders or lines. Calpe 

 Ophideroides, Gue"n., is a much larger species. The fore wings are 

 brown, with an oblique white black-bordered stripe running from 

 the tip to the cavity on the inner margin ; the hind wings are 

 yellow. It is not uncommon in India. 



The Hyblceidce are a small family of pretty species, almost con- 

 fined to the East Indies. The only exception is HyUcea, Puera, 

 Cram., which is found in Africa, Central America, and the West 

 Indies, as well as in India and China. It has brown fore wings, 

 and black hind wings, with orange-red bands. In H. Constellata, 

 Gu6n., the fore wings are varied with paler, and the hind wings 

 are spotted with yellow. 



The Gonopteridce are moths of moderate size, with the hind 

 margin of the hind wings angulated outwards, and sometimes 

 dentated. The only European species is the Herald Moth (Gono- 

 ptera Libatrix, Linn.), which may be known by its strongly dentated 

 brown fore wings, with brick-red blotches, and some pale trans- 

 verse markings. It is a common species, and is found in the 

 northern parts of North America as well as in Europe. It is often 

 found in houses. The species of Cosmophila, Boisd., are not unlike 

 Orfhosiidce, except for the projecting angle on the fore wings. One 

 of the commonest is C. Stigmatizans, Fabr., which is found in 

 India, Australia, and West Africa. It is yellowish grey, the fore 

 wings with four angulated transverse lines, the third and fourth 

 connected, and the hind wings are pale yellow. 



One of the commonest of the larger British Noctum is Mormo 

 Maura, Linn., the Old Lady, a dark-brown insect with grey mark- 

 ings, which frequently flies in at the windows of country houses 

 in the evening (Fam. Amphipyridce). 



Stilbia Anomala, Haw., is an insect with rather narrow brown 

 fore wings, and broad whitish hind wings ; the body is unusually 



