334 



BRITISH MOTHS. 



it frequents the blossoms more particularly of 

 those which grow under the shade of trees. 

 It has occurred a Lyndhurst, in the New- 

 Forest; at Wey bridge and West Wickham, in 

 Surrey ; and also in Lancashire and York- 

 shire. Mr. Birchall has taken it not uncom- 

 monly at Howth, and in the county Wicklow, 

 in Ireland, by sweeping heath at night in 

 August and September. (The scientific name 

 is Agrotis agathina). 



539. The True Lovers' Knot (Agrotis porphyrea). 



539. THE TEUE LOVERS' KNOT. The palpi 

 are porrected and slightly ascending; the scales 

 on the second joint extend to the tip of the 

 apical joint, making each palpus look bifid; 

 the antennae are slightly serrated in the male : 

 the fore wings are nearly straight on the costa, 

 blunt at the tip, and entire on the hind 

 margin : their colour is brickdust red, with 

 numerous nearly white markings ; the dis- 

 coidal spots are outlined in white, but each 

 has a darker area ; the parts between and 

 around them are also darker indeed, very 

 dark brown ; there are seven white spots on 

 the costa, four rather large ones at equal dis- 

 tances, the second and fourth of which eeem 

 to originate transverse zigzag white lines, the 

 first before the orbicular, the second beyond 

 the reniform ; the seventh costal spot is near 

 the tip, and extends a considerable distance 

 into the wing, and is followed by a series of 

 white dots irregularly parallel with the hind 

 margin; most of the wing-rays are also white 

 for the whole or the greater part of their 

 length ; most of the white markings are accom- 

 panied by darker blotches, which make them 

 more conspicuous : the hind wings are pale 

 grayish-brown, darker towards the hind mar- 

 gin : the thorax is variegated with the colours 

 of the fore wings, the body has the more 

 uniform colour of the hind wings. 



The CATERPILLAR is uniformly cylindrical ; 

 the head is very shining, and of a pale brown 

 colour ; the body is umber-brown, paler be- 

 tween the segments : on the back are three 

 series of linear clearly-defined whitish marks 

 placed end to end ; the first series is median, 

 an'i extends from the third to the tenth seg- 

 ment, both inclusive, and consisting, therefore, 

 of nine spots ; the first of these, that on the 

 third segment, is circular; that on the fourth 

 oval ; the rest are linear ; on each side of this 

 series is a lateral series of similar whitish 

 linear spot, and these commence on the fifth 

 segment, and extend to the thirteenth; below 

 these lateral series of whitish' spots there is a 

 whitish stripe which includes the spiracles, 

 which are black; the legs are very shining, 

 pale brown, spotted with black ; the claspers 

 are pale. It feeds on the common ling 

 ( Calluna vulgaris) onl y in the night. The EG G s 

 are laid and hatched in the autumn, and the 

 caterpillar hybernates : in April it begins to 

 feed again, and is full-fed in May : it then spins 

 a slight cocoon on the surface of the ground, 

 and therein changes to a CHRYSALIS. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in June and 

 July, and occurs in every locality I have 

 visited where the common ling grows abun- 

 dantly, hiding among the branches of that 

 plant until disturbed by the entomologist. 

 Mr. Birchall says it is very common at 

 Howth, in Ireland, secreting itself by day 

 among the broken limestone shale. (The 

 scientific name is Ayrotis porphyrea.} 



540. The Portland Moth (Agrotis prascox). 



540. THE PORTLAND MOTH. The palpi are 

 short and inconspicuous, and the antennae 

 slender in both sexes ; the fore wings are 

 straight on the costa and blunt at the tip; they 



