NOCTUAS. 



379 



irge insects can be contained in so small a 



Hnpass." 

 The HIOTH appears on the wing in Septem- 



3r, and has occurred in several of our English 

 counties ; between Bickleigh and Ply mp ton 

 station, and at Torquay in Devonshire ; in 

 Somerset, Dorset, Essex, Berkshire, Suffolk, 

 Cambridge, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, and the 

 Lake District : but I think not in Scotland or 

 Ireland. (The scientific name is Cirrhosdia 

 scerampelina.) 



605. The Olive (Tethea subtusa). 



605. THE OLIVE. The palpi are rather 

 long, porrected, and sharp - pointed ; the 

 antennae are simple in both sexes : the costal 

 margin of the fore wings is slightly arched, 

 the tip scarcely produced, and not very sharp- 

 pointed ; the hind margin is slightly waved ; 

 their colour is olive-gray, the discoidal spots 

 being delicately outlined in paler olive-gray : 

 there are three slender transverse lines of the 

 same colour as the circumscription of the 

 discoidal spots, and two of these are nearer 

 the base of the wing than the orbicular; they 

 are almost straight, but are nearer the base of 

 the wing at the costal than at the inner- 

 marginal extremity ; the third transverse line 

 is very nearly straight, and is situated beyond 

 the reniform : the hind wings, head, thorax, 

 and body are nearly of the same colour as the 

 fore wings, but perhaps slightly less olive, 

 and tending to gray-brown ; the fringe of the 

 hind wings is paler. 



The CATERPILLAR of this moth has been very 

 carefully described by the Rev. Joseph Greene. 

 who says : " The EGGS are probably laid at 

 the end of July and throughout August on 

 the young twigs of poplar. The caterpillar 

 hatches in the following spring, as soon as the 

 young buds burst into leaf; it immediately 



r 



spins two leaves together, and continues this 

 practice during the whole of .the larval state. 

 Like some other species it effects the various 

 changes of skin in the same situation. In 

 confinement it appears to feed only at night. 

 The following is a description of the full-grown 

 caterpillar, which is not at all variable either 

 in colour or markings : pale yellowish-green, 

 rather glossy, not unlike the caterpillar of 

 Notodonta dictcea. The dorsal stripe is broad 

 pale yellow, much more so than the ground- 

 colour. Spiracular line the same; along this 

 latter is a row of black rings, somewhat oval, 

 having a pale yellow centre. There is one 

 such ring in the second and ten following seg- 

 ments ; just midway between the dorsal and 

 spiracular lines is another slender, clear yellow 

 stripe, slightly interrupted by the segmental 

 divisions. Head chrome -yellow, bordered 

 with black; mouth and claspers black, 

 slightly mottled with yellow. The caterpillar 

 lies curled up between two leaves spun 

 together, and in this position when in a 

 state of nature may be easily detected by 

 looking up at the leaves . CHRYSALIS subter- 

 ranean; chrysalis-case weak. The caterpillar 

 is full-grown about the end of May. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and 

 has been taken now and then in most of our 

 English counties, but I think not in Ireland. 

 (The scientific name is Tethea, subtusa.) 



^II^^^B 



606. The Double Kidney (TetJiea retusa). 



606. THE DOUBLE KIDNEY. The palpi are 

 rather long, porrected, and sharp-pointed ; 

 the antennae are simple : the costal margin 

 of the fore wings is nearly straight, the tip 

 produced and very sharp-pointed ; the hind 

 margin is sinuous and concave just below the 

 tip ; indeed, the tip may be described as 

 slightly falcate ; their colour is dark olive- 

 gray, the discoidal spots being very distinctly 



