THE UNDERWING MOTHS. 479 



ochreous yellow. Tlie upper wings of this Moth are shining 

 hrown, with a slight purplish gloss when viewed in a side 

 light. The purple shows best by placing the insect with the 

 tip of the wing towards the light, and then looking at it from 

 base to tip. On the wing are drawn a number of waved and 

 indistinct bands of chestnut, and there is a decided patch 

 of that colour on the costal margin, near the tip. The under 

 wings are bright orange above, with a brown patch at the 

 base, and a broad, waved black band nearly parallel with the 

 hind margin. This black band is more perceptible on the 

 under surface of the wing. 



The caterpillar feeds on several garden-flowers, and, like 

 many of its kin, hides itself by day, and only comes from its 

 place of concealment at night. It has a particular fancy fur 

 the crown or top of the root, but will also eat the leaves. It 

 is dull, greyish-yellow in colour, with some pale streaks on the 

 side and eight bold black spots on the back. An outline 

 of this larva is given at Fig. a. It is full-fed at the end of 

 spring, when it burrows into the ground, and there changes 

 into a brown, smooth chrysalis, merging into the Moth state 

 towards the end of summer. 



Tliis is a wonderfully pretty little creature, the mottlingg 

 of the upper wings being peculiarly rich, and forming an 

 admirable foil to the bold black and orange of the under 

 wings. It is moderately common throughout the greater part 

 of England. JNIy own specimens were taken in Oxfordshire, 

 Wiltshire, and Kent. 



The Larger Yellow Underwing {Tryphcena pronuha), 

 which is figured on Woodcut LV. Fig. 1, is, as its name 

 implies, considerably larger than the preceding insect. 



Its upper wings are exceedingly variable in colouring, but 

 are always of some shade of brown. There are several pale, 

 narrow, waving bands drawn across the wing, and on the 

 upper part of the disc a large kidney-shaped black spot with 

 a pale centre and a chestnut outline ; there is also a small 

 black spot near the tip. The under wings are orange-yellow, 

 but not so richly coloured as in the preceding insect, and 

 parallel with their hind margin is a bold black stripe, broad 

 above and narrowing below to a point. There is a very slight 



