226 
Mrs. T. Vernon Wollaston on 
sufficient almost, in the dusk of the evening, to startle one. 
We were too late, however, in the season to see them in any 
great numbers, and at first I only met with a few examples 
(most of which were dead and enveloped in cobwebs behind 
the window-shutters of the house) at Plantation; but before 
leaving the island we managed to rear some remarkably 
perfect ones, from larvte which had been sent to us by Mr. N. 
Janisch, from the Botanic Gardens in Jamestown. 
The caterpillar of this species is of a dirty yellowish flesh- 
colour, and, when fully extended, about two inches and a 
half in length. From the fifth segment (which is the largest) 
to the head it gradually tapers; and it has a yellow band on 
either side, which likewise tapers to the head; the ground-colour 
also is darker on the second, third, fourth, and fifth segments. 
The head is of a pale greenish brown. The fifth segment is 
ornamented with a conspicuous eye-like spot (the centre of 
which is black, but having a few bluish dots), which is sur¬ 
rounded by a yellow ring. The sixth segment has a rather 
smaller, round, plain, yellow spot. There is a narrow black 
dorsal line throughout; and after the sixth segment the surface 
is ornamented with short black streaks (almost forming narrow 
longitudinal broken-up lines), which give the central space a 
reticulated appearance, which is interrupted by a black abbre¬ 
viated transverse streak on either side of the fore part of the 
segments. There are some minute white dots sprinkled on 
each side of the spiracles; and the horn is small, straight, and 
almost black. This caterpillar, however, is in colour very 
variable, it being sometimes of a bright green throughout; and 
its principal food appears to consist of vine-leaves. 
D. celerio is found in the island of Madeira, and also in 
the Mauritius and in Asia Minor. 
Fam. II. Noctuidse. 
Genus 4. Agrotis, Ochsenh. 
Agrotis obliviosa , Walk. 
This species is so similar to the British A. segetum that 
I should have concluded it to be at the most but a geogra¬ 
phical variety of the latter had not Mr. Walker identified it 
with A. obliviosa , which he first described in 1856 from, I 
believe, some African examples, 
Agrotis jgallidula. 
Agrotis pallidula, Walk, in Melliss, St. Hel. 183 (1875). 
The widely spread and numerously represented genus 
