312 



BRITISH MOTHS. 



"The CATERPILLAR is fusiform, and of a 

 brown colour, with darker chevroned mark- 

 in<*s, terminating in black points ; the medio- 

 dorsal stripe is white, and interrupted with 

 two large white dots on each side : the head 

 and spiracles are black. It feeds, in July and 

 August, on plantain (Plantago) and other low 

 plants : the CHRYSALIS is subterranean. 



" The MOTH appears on the wing in May 

 and July." A single specimen is said to have 

 been taken in Cambridgeshire, and another 

 "at Compton's wood, near York, flying over 

 grass in a damp place." (The scientific name 

 is Hydrilla palustris.) 



Obs. My description is copied from Guenee. 

 I do not possess the insect. The figure is from 

 a female specimen in the British Museum. 



516. The Reddish Buff (Acosrnetia caligvnost). 



516. THE REDDISH BUFF. The palpi are 

 porrected and curved ; their joints very dis- 

 tinct, the second joint is scaly, and the terminal 

 joint filiform and naked ; the antennae are 

 short and pubescent in the male, slender, and 

 furnished with scattered hairs in the female : 

 the fore wings are very ample, and square at 

 the tip, the hind margin is slightly waved ; 

 the colour is gray-brown, with three inter- 

 rupted and indistinct transverse lines; between 

 the first and second of which is an indistinct 

 cloudy spot, probably representing the reni- 

 form ; between the second and third trans 

 verse lines there is a transverse series of nine 

 black dots, always indistinct, and sometimes 

 scarcely to be traced : the hind wings are very 

 ample, with a waved margin ; their colour is 

 gray, powdered with gray-brown scales : the 

 head, thorax, and body are gray-brown ; the 

 body is remarkably slender. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in June. 

 My specimens were taken by the late Charles 



Turner, in Hampshire, flying by day ; they 

 are in a very imperfect condition. (The 

 scientific name is Acosmetia caliginosa.) 



Obs. 1. In this species, as in the preceding, 

 the females are smaller than the males. 



Obs. 2. This is the Reddish Buff" (Noctua 

 lutescens) of Haworth (Lep< Brit., No. 15); 

 Mr. Stephens seems to have made some mis- 

 take (Haustell. iii. 122) in giving Caliginosa 

 and Lutescens as distinct species (a mistake 

 which is not entirely rectified in the Museum 

 Catalogue, where the name Lutescens is still 

 retained as a variety). Mr. Stainton very 

 properly drops this fictitious species altogether. 



517. The Mottled Rustic (Caradrina Morpheus). 



517. THE MOTTLED RUSTIC. The palpi 

 are slightly porrected, slightly curved up- 

 wards, and rather distant ; the antennae are 

 almost simple in the male, quite so in the 

 female : the fore wings are rather square at 

 the tip and straight on the costa ; their colour 

 is dingy gray-brown, with the discoidal spots 

 and several transverse linear markings darker 

 brown ; there is also a distinct bar of the 

 same darker colour, parallel with the hind 

 margin : the hind wings are whitish -gray, 

 with a darker shade at the tip, and a marginal 

 series of linear spots, which often form un 

 almost continuous line ; the wing-rays arid 

 discoidal spots are also darker : the head and 

 thorax have the darker colour of the fore 

 wings, the body the paler colour of the hind 

 wings. 



The EGGS are laid in July and August on 

 docks and other low plants, and the young 

 CATERPILLARS, hatched in about a fortnight, 

 feed on the leaves and continue feeding 

 throughout the autumn and winter, and until 

 the following May, when they are full grown; 

 they are throughout their lives excessively 



