350 



BRITISH MOTHS. 



acaulis). The head is small and almost spheri- 

 cal ; the body rather obese, smooth, and hav- 

 ing the twelfth segment slightly tumid dor- 

 sally. The colour of the head is pale brown, 

 the face having two conspicuous crescentic 

 black markings placed back to back, that is, 

 with the convexity of each towards the median 

 suture : the colour of the dorsal area of the 

 body is greenish-yellow, delicately striated 

 with brown. Like the caterpillars of many 

 other true -/Voe^ttCE, it is marked from the fourth 

 segment to the tenth, both inclusive, with a 

 sub-dorsal stripe surmonted on each segment 

 with a wedge-shaped black spot, the apex of 

 which points towards the head of the cater- 

 pillar ; the medio-dorsal stripe is straight, 

 nearly white, and delicately bordered on each 

 side with brown : it is scarcely perceptible on 

 the middle segments. The spiracular stripe is 

 indicated by a series of straight brown mark- 

 ings : the spiracles are oval, black, and encir- 

 cled with Avhite : the ventral is paler than the 

 dorsal area, and has no markings : the feet are 

 testaceous, the extremities black : the claspers 

 are concolorous with the ventral area ; except 

 at the extremities, which are brown. In the 

 autumn this caterpillar hybernates towards the 

 roots of herbage, feeding again in May for a 

 short time; when full-fed it again descends 

 towards the ground, and, secreting itself among 

 fragments of its food-plant, spins a cocoon of 

 these materials, mixed with particles of earth: 

 in this it almost immediately changes to a 

 CHRYSALIS, which is of moderate length,and 

 ordinary form, and rather glabrous brown, 

 with a black tip to the body, which is fur- 

 nished with four straight, butratherspreading, 

 spine-like bristles : of these the outer one ou 

 each side is only half the length of the other. 

 The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and 

 is abundant on the heaths or mosses near Dar- 

 lington, as also in similar localities in Perth- 

 shire, and Mr. C. Buxton has taken it in the 

 north of Scotland, but it is evidently very 

 local. (The scientific name is Noctua cottjlua.} 

 Obs. 1. This pretty little species strikes me 

 as very like Festiva in miniature, but our best 

 coutinentallepidopterists have not noticed this 

 similarity. I am indebted to Mr. Backhouse, 



of Wolsingham, for my own series, and for 

 a hundred specimens for distribution, none of 

 them exceeding in size the three which I have 

 figured. The total difference of the two cater- 

 pillars proves the two species to be perfectly 

 distinct. 



Obs. 2. -7-1 am indebted to M.Milliere's beau- 

 tiful work for a description of the caterpillar 

 and chrysalis. 



563. The Barred Chestnut (Noctua DaUii). 



563. THE BARRED CHESTNUT. The palpi 

 are porreeted and rather long; the second 

 joint has very long scales, particularly on the 

 \mder side, and these project as far as the 

 naked apical joint; the antennae are slightly 

 ciliated in the male, simple in the female : 

 the costal margin of the fore wings is arched, 

 their colour is dull chestnut-brown, lined and 

 clouted with darker brown; the discoidal 

 spots are scarcely distinguishable from the 

 ground colour, but are always traceable ; there 

 is always a small oblique black spot below 

 the orbicular; a median shade crosses the 

 wing between the discoidal spots, but this is 

 neither very conspicuous nor very constant : 

 the hind wings are gray -brown, paler at the 

 base; the fringe is pale, and inclining to rosy. 



The CATERPILLAR is reddish mixed with 

 gray, with paler dorsal and subdorsal lines ; 

 above the latter is a row of black dots in 

 white rings (Hubner). On various low plants. 

 (Staintons Manual, vol. i, p. 236.) 



The MOTH appears on the wing in July and 

 August. It has been taken both in the north 

 and south of England; Mr. Reading reports it 

 from various localities in Devonshire, as 

 Plymbridge, Shaugh Woods, Radford Wood, 

 Torquay, Exeter, and Stoke Wood ; he says 

 it frequents open places in woods, where at 

 dusk it is easily captured on the wing ; it also 



