NOCTUAS. 



36$ 



largin : the hind wings are pale with a con- 

 picuousdark discoidal spot, and an interrupted 



irk bar parallel with the hind margin : the 

 lead and thorax are of the same colour as the 

 wings, the body is darker than the hind 

 igs. 



The CATERPILLAR is described by Guenee as 

 >ut, rather moniliform, and somewhat flat- 

 tened below ; the head is small and of a 

 brown colour, with two darker lines on the 

 face : the body is of a dull gray-green, and 

 sometimes of a brighter green, with a white 

 medio-dorsal stripe and a white sub-dorsal 

 stripe ; there is also a white lateral stripe in. 

 the region of the spiracles, and this is deli- 

 cately bordered above with a black line ; the 

 usual dots are large, very observable, wart- 

 like, black, and shining ; there is a distinct 

 and very observable plate on the second, and 

 another on the thirteenth segment. It feeds 

 on grasses, particularly in elevated and dry 

 situations, and is fond of concealing itself by 

 day under stones. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in Septem- 

 ber, and is generally distributed in England, 

 Scotland, and Ireland. (The scientific name 

 is Anchocelis lunosa.) 





591. The Brown-spot Pinion (Anchocelis Litura). 



591. THE BROWN-SPOT PINION. The palpi 

 are porrected and pointed, the points naked : 

 the colour of the fore wings is pale reddish- 

 brown, strongly inclined to gray in the basal 

 half: the discoidal spots are distinct; they 

 have a pale circumscription and a dark median 

 area ; there are four dark spots on the costal 

 margin; the first, almost close to the base, 

 reaches half-way across the wing; the second 

 is rather oblique, pointing towards the anal 

 angle; the third, also oblique, is situated just 

 about the reniform, and points in an opposite 



direction to the second; the fourth is much 

 the largest and most conspicuous, and situated 

 very near the tip of the wing ; it serves as 

 the commencement of a straggling series of 

 dark spots, which vanish before reaching the 

 inner margin : the hind wings are smoky, 

 with paler fringe: the head, thorax, and 

 body are of the same colour as the fore 

 wings. 



The CATERPILLAR is stout and smooth, and 

 varies in the tint of the ground-colour, in the 

 way so common among the caterpillars of 

 Noctuas, some specimens being green and 

 others brown ; the medio-dorsal stripe is dull 

 dingy white, inclining to green or brown, in 

 accordance with the ground-colour ; there is 

 also a lateral stripe of the same pale colour : 

 it feeds on a variety of low-growing plants, 

 perhaps most commonly on meadow-sweet 

 (Spircea iilmaria). 



The MOTH appears on the wing in Septem- 

 ber and October, and is common and generally 

 distributed in England, Scotland, and Ireland, 

 (The scientific name is Anchocelis Litura.) 



Obs. This species comes to sugar when 

 spread on the trunks of trees, and has thus been 

 taken freely near Catford Bridge, in my own 

 neighbourhood. 



592. The Chestnut (Cerastis Vaccinii) 



592. THE CHESTNUT. The palpi are rarely 

 porrected beyond the scales on the head : the 

 antennje are almost simple in both sexes : the 

 fore wings are broad and short, almost square 

 at the apical angle, but the apex itself is 

 blunt ; their colour is wainscot-brown, inclin- 

 ing to red-brown, indistinctly divided by 

 waved transverse darker lines ; the discoidal 

 spots are distinctly perceptible ; their circum- 

 scription is pale ; the lower half of the median 

 area in the reniform is almost black ; the 

 orbicular is oblong and oblique ; its median 



EDWARD NEWMAN'S BRITISH 

 MOTHS. No. 24. PBICB GD. 



roN : R. HARDWICKE, 

 192, PICCADIM.Y. 



