NOCTUAS. 



brooded twice a year ; one portion coming forth 

 soon after the completion of the chrysalis con- 

 dition, and the other portion, or part of it, 

 remaining in the chrysalis state till the next 

 season ; whilst sometimes it happens that a 

 few keep to the chrysalis covering for one, 

 two, and even three years." 



This species has also occurred in the 

 counties of Somerset, Gloucester, Dorset, 

 Hants Sussex, Surrey, Kent, Cambridge, 

 and Cheshire, and in Wales. (The scientific 

 name is Heliothis peltiyer.} 



678. The Scarce-bordered Straw (Heliothis armiger). 



678. THE SCARCE-BORDERED STRAW. The 

 palpi are porrected andconnivent, the terminal 

 joint almost naked ; the antennae are simple, 

 or nearly so ; the fore wings are straight on 

 the costa, produced, and almost pointed at the 

 tip ; their colour is dingy ochreous-brown. 

 the orbicular being visible as a small dot, the 

 reniform conspicuous and dark brown ; there 

 is a transverse narrow band of dingy brown 

 parallel with the hind margin : the hind 

 wings are paler, with a crescentic discoidal 

 spot and a broadish smoke-coloured hind- 

 marginal band, interrupted by a median paler 

 blotch?: the head, thorax, and body are dingy 

 brown. 



The CATERPILLAR has a smooth and shining 

 porrected head, about equal in width to the 

 second segment of the body, which is rather 

 slender, cylindrical, attenuated behind, and 

 sparingly covered with scattered hairs ; the 

 colour of the head is smoky-brown, as also that 

 of the second segment of the body, which is 

 covered by a leathery plate ; the general 

 colour of the body is dingy brown ; with a 

 medio-dorsal stripe darker brown ; there is a 

 yellow lateral line which includes the spiracles, 

 which are black, and encircled first with a 

 yellowish, and then with a black ring, both of 

 them very delicate ; between the medio-dorsal 



and spiracular stripes the body is pale greenish- 

 brown, with numerous slender streaks both 

 paler and darker than the ground-colour, and 

 on each segment are two wart-like dots. I 

 have never possessed this caterpillar, and 

 have been obliged to describe it from con- 

 tinental figures. 



A local and very uncertain species ; the 

 MOTH flies generally by day, in September 

 and October, but also comes to sugar ; it has 

 been taken at Hoe, Plymouth, Teignmouth, 

 Al phing ton near Exeter, Barnstaple, &c., in 

 Devonshire ; also in Somerset, Dorset, Hamp- 

 shire, Sussex, Surrey, Kent, Essex, Cam- 

 bridge, and, according to Mr. Stainton, in the 

 Lake District ; but I think not in Scotland 

 or Ireland. (The scientific name is Heliothis 

 armiger.) 



Obs. This insect is truly cosmopolitan. I 

 have seen specimens from the United States, 

 South America, and almost every part of con- 

 tinental Europe ; and to-day Mr. Bond has 

 shown me others from Australia and India. 

 Dr. Horsfield records it as an inhabitant of 

 Java, and figures the caterpillar and chrysalis. 

 The caterpillar is supposed by many to be the 

 army- worm so destructive in the United States 

 to the cotton crop ; but this is a matter of 

 grave doubt, and I would particularly refer 

 the reader to papers by Mr. Birchall and Mr. 

 Muller on this subject, at pp. 16G and 213 of 

 the third volume of the Entomologist. 



679. The Marbled Clover (Heliotlris dipsaceus). 



679. THE MARBLED CLOVER. The palpi are 

 decidedly porrected and slightly ascending, 

 the tips pointed ; the antennae are simple in 

 both sexes ; the fore wings have the costal 

 margin almost straight, the tip scarcely pointed, 

 and the hind margin oblique ; their colour is 

 dingy pale olive-brown ; the orbicular is a 

 mere spot ; the reniform is large and conspi- 

 cuous, and forms part of nn indistinct and 



