NOCTUAS. 



329 



miracles which are black ; the head, and a 

 lorsal plate on the second segment are pale 

 )wn. These caterpillars were found feeding 

 an hound's-tongue (Cynoglossum officinale), 

 r hich grows on sand-hills by the sea coast, and 

 fed on the same plant in confinement : 

 icy are very fond of burrowing in the saud, 

 id Mr. Hellins thinks some of them hyber- 

 ite in the sand at a depth of several inches : 

 ley always leave off feeding in October. 

 The MOTH appears on the wing in June and 

 Tilly, and has been taken in Cornwall, Devon- 

 lire (at Instow Sand-hills, and Braunton 

 Jurrows, Dawlish, and Exniouth), Somerset- 

 and Glamorganshire, but I believe 

 Iways on the sea coast. (The scientific name 

 Agrotis Ripce.} 



Obs. I am indebted to Mr. Yaughan for 

 use of a beautiful variety. 



533. The Coast Dart (Agrotis cursoria). 



533. THE COAST DART. The antennae are 

 ery slightly pectinated in the male : the fore 

 rings are rather long and narrow, straight on 

 ic costa, and blunt at the tip ; their colour is 

 lie gray tinged with ochreous or brown, and 

 presenting in different specimens almost every 

 lade of colour from pale ochreous gray to 

 irk brown ; there are evident indications of 

 iree darker transverse lines, all of them 

 3uble ; the first is short and indistinct, it is 

 Imost close to the base of the wing, and does 

 not reach the inner margin ; the second crosses 

 ie wing just before' the orbicular spot, and is 

 almost straight; and the third is bent and 

 situated beyond the reniform spot : the orbi- 

 cular spot is almost round and rather paler 

 gray than the rest of the wing ; the reniform 

 is larger and conspicuous, it has a pale circum- 

 scription ; the inclosed area is of two shades, 

 the upper portion paler, the lower darker than 

 the general ground colour : the hind wings 



are pale gray with a slightly darker marginal 

 cloud, especially towards the tip, and an 

 indistinct crescentic discoidal spot ; in the 

 females the wing-rays also are darker : the 

 head and thorax vary in tint with the fore 

 wings : the body is gray in the males, brown- 

 gray in the females. 



" The CATERPILLAR is pale ochreous with 

 dark brown dorsal line ; spiracular line whitish, 

 edged above with brown : ordinary spots 

 black (Freyer) on spurge (Euphorbia esula)" 

 Staintoris Manual, vol. i., p. 225. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and 

 has occurred in Cornwall, Devonshire, Dorset- 

 shire, Kent, Suffolk, Norfolk, Glamorganshire, 

 Denbighshire, Cheshire, and Lancashire ; it is 

 also reported from Scotland, and Mr. Birchall 

 says it is very abundant on the Irish coast. 

 (The scientific name is Agrotis cursoria.) 



Obs. I am indebted to Mr. Bond for the 

 use of an unusually fine series of specimens. 



534. The Garden Dart (Agrotis nigricans). 



534. THE GARDEN DART. The antennae 

 are very slightly ciliated in the male, but are 

 evidently stouter than those of the female ; 

 the costal margin of the fore wings is slightly 

 arched, and the tip blunt ; their colour is 

 dark umber-brown, sometimes slightly tinged 

 with reddish-brown ; the claviform spot is 

 connected with the base of the wing by a 

 mixed longitudinal streak which presents an 

 appearance of having had the scales scraped 

 off with a penknife ; the orbicular spot is 

 rather depressed, in some specimens a good 

 deal flattened ; it has a dark circumscription 

 and a pale disk ; the reniform is more 

 perfectly kidney-shaped than in any other of 

 the genus, its circumscription is very dark, 

 its disk rather dark towards the base of the 

 wing, rather pale gi-ay towards the hind 



