NOCTUAS. 



359 



darker spots ; and there is generally a median 

 transverse cloud. Notwithstanding the gene- 

 ral occurrence of these markings, in some of 

 my specimens they are scarcely perceptible, 

 and in others entirely absent : the hind wings 

 are gray-brown, the discoidal spot being dis- 

 tinctly darker and of a crescentic form ; the 

 fringe is paler : the head and thorax vary in 

 colour with the fore wings ; they are densely 

 clothed with scales ; the body is gray-brown. 



The CATERPILLAR rolls in a ring when 

 touched. The head is green, shining, and 

 unspotted : the body bright pea-green, with a 

 whitish ring immediately behind the head, a 

 narrow whitish medio-dorsal stripe, another 

 on each side supra-spirucular ; intermediate be- 

 tween the dorsal and supra-spiracular stripes 

 is another indistinct stripe, composed of a 

 series of whitish dots : every part of the 

 caterpillar is sprinkled with whitish dots, 

 except the belly, which is sprinkled with 

 black dots ; the disks of the claspers are also 

 intensely black ; occasionally black dots of 

 uniform size, but at irregular distances, appear 

 on the back and sides. It feeds on sallow 

 (Salic caprea), oak (Quercus Robur), and also 

 on dock and many other plants, and is full fed 

 about the 10th of July : it buries itself in the 

 earth to assume the CHRYSALIS state. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in March 

 and April, and is plentiful and generally 

 distributed throughout the kingdom. (The 

 scientific name is Tceniocampa instabilis.) 



577. The Northern Drab (Tceniocampa opima). 

 577. THE NORTHERN DRAB. The palpi are 

 almost hidden; the antenna? are slightly 



pectinated in the males, simple in the female : 

 the fore wings are slightly pointed at the tip ; 

 their colour is various ; there are two principal 

 varieties, the first, pale gray -brown, with a 

 median darker shade ; the second, uniform 

 darker broAvn, without a median darker shade ; 

 in both instances the discoidal spots are dis- 

 tinctly outlined in pale gray, and there are 

 usually three pale transverse lines ; the first 

 bent or waved, and situated before the orbi- 

 cular ; the second, oblique and waved, beyond 

 the reniform ; and the third more distinct 

 than the others, oblique and parallel with the 

 hind margin : the hind wings are gray-brown, 

 with a paler fringe ; the head and thorax are 

 plain gray-brown, and densely clothed with 

 scales ; the body is slightly paler. 



The head of the CATERPILLAR is of a brick- 

 red colour, reticulated with brown ; the 

 dorsal area of the body is purplish -brown, 

 reticulated or rather delicately striated with 

 a paler tint ; there is a very distinct and paler 

 medio-dorsal stripe, and a lateral stripe also 

 paler ; the ventral surface, as far as the spira- 

 cles, is of a bright yellow-green ; the spiracles 

 are white in black rings ; the legs and 

 claspers are dingy semi-transparent yellow- 

 green, slightly tinged at the extremities with 

 rosy brown : it feeds on sallow (Salix caprea). 



The MOTH appears on the wing in March 

 and April. It is by no means generally dis- 

 tributed, but has been taken freely in Sussex, 

 Herefordshire, Radnorshire, on both the 

 Cheshire and Lancashire sides of the Mersey, 

 and in the Lake District. (The scientific 

 name is Tceniocampa opima.) 



Obft. There seems to be a constant differ- 

 ence between this species and the preceding, 

 in the third pale line being more direct in 

 Opima than in Instabilis, in which I have 

 described it as slightly irregular: in other 

 respects they are very similar; but I have 

 always observed that Opima is far more 

 constant in colouring. The two varieties 

 noticed above are the only ones which are at 

 all of frequent occurrence. 



