NOCTUAS. 



411 



the same colour as the fore wiugs; the thorax 

 is very stout and densely clothed with scales; 

 the body has more the colour of the hind wings. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in June. 

 Mr. Doubleday has a pair of this insect 

 taken at Rannock ; Mr. Shepherd also has a 

 specimen taken in Scotland by the late Mr. 

 Weaver, and Mr. Stainton one taken by 

 himself at rest, also in Scotland. (The scien- 

 tific name is Hadena ass'.milis}. 



Obs. It seems desirable here to say a few 

 words concerning Crymodes exulis, a species 

 to which the present insect, Hadena assimilis, 

 has been referred by Dr. Staudinger. In the 

 first place I would remark that, supposing 

 Crymodes exulis and Hadena asstmilis to be 

 identical, it is a remarkable instance of one 

 genus assuming the character of another, for 

 I can in no respect distinguish genetically the 

 two insects under consideration, and yet the 

 caterpillar of Exulis, as described and figured 

 by Milliere, seems to have little or no re- 

 semblance to the 'caterpillar of an Hadena. 

 Seeing that the name of Crymodes exulis 

 (should it not rather be Crymodis Exul) 

 has been introduced into our list, it seems 

 desirable to give figures and a description of 

 authentic continental specimens of that insect 

 kindly lent me by Mr. Doubleday, and quote, 

 from Milliere's-inestimable works,-a description 

 of the caterpillar. 



The Exile (_<'i-ijmi-nle? cxulis). 

 The palpi are inconspicuous, almost hidden 



beneath the very slightly projecting scales of 

 the head ; the fore wings are dark brown, 

 tinged with ochreous or saffron, the discoidal 

 spots being paler ; the reniforin is large and 

 amorphous, the outer border being strongly 

 toothed or divided into points ; there is a 

 darker band across the middle of the wing, 

 including the orbicular, but only touching the 

 reniform ; this band is interrupted longitudi- 

 nally by two paler wing-rays ; the hind mar- 

 ginal area is also darker, and is interrupted by 

 eight paler parallel rays ; very near the tip of 

 the wing is a rather conspicuous transversely- 

 placed pale spot on the costa ; the hind wings are 

 saffron-brown, towards the base, smoky-brown 

 towards the hind margin ; there is a slightly 

 darker median transverse line, and a paler 

 fringe tinged with saffron : the head, thorax, 

 and body are very nearly the same colour as 

 the fore wings. 



The EGG is deposited by the provident 

 parent on the stem of a grass, generally on 

 some species of Poa, and the young CATER- 

 PILLAR emerges after a few days, and then at 

 once introduces itself into the stem by gnaw- 

 ing a small hole just below the first septum ; 

 it feeds on the interior, making its way gra- 

 dually downwards, head foremost, until it has 

 arrived at the root. Winter, always so early 

 in the north of Europe, is still more prompt 

 in making its appearance in Iceland, the native 

 country of this species, which is then in the 

 caterpillar state : at 'its approaches these 

 caterpillars hasten to shelter themselves fi'om 

 the severity of the cold, under that dense bed 

 of moss or lichen with which almost the whole 

 surface of the island is covered : in this vege- 

 table bed they form long galleries, or mines, 

 and in these they remain in a state of tor- 

 pidity for many months. On the arrival of 

 spring the caterpillar attains its full size, 

 and if sought for at that season will readily be 

 found, the long galleries which it has formed 

 among the lichens revealing its presence to the 

 entomologist. About the middle of June 

 that is to say, seven or eight months after 

 burying itself in the lichen, it appears to be 

 full-fed. 



In its mysterious economy the caterpillar 



