S2 PLATE CCXXIV. 



Co!leftors of Englifli Infefls enumerate near twenty fpecies of 

 Phalffina under ithe trivial diftinflions of yelkw und^rwing, copper 

 underwing, oratige undervu'ing, pink undefwing, &c. &c. Among thefe 

 the moft confpicuous both for beauty and magnitude, are the red 

 underwing, and crhnfon underwing. The firrt is by no means uncom- 

 mon in the winged Hate. The latter is very rare, or at leaft a local 

 fpecies : it is found in the larva flate on the tops of the higheft oaks 

 in Richmond Park, and was formerly found in fimilar fituations in 

 Burnt Wood, Effex. We are not informed that it has been taken in 

 Tiny other part of this kingdom. 



Thefe two fpecies have been confounded with a third fort that is 

 fotjind in fome parts of Europe, but does not, we have every reafon 

 to conclude, inhabit this country. This is the Np^ua Pa&a of 

 JLinnaeus and Fabricius. Linnasus himfelf, in the firft editions of 

 the SyftemalSratura, confidered the Red Underwing Moth, figured 

 by Roefel, tab. 15, as the Phala;na Pada, and adds it in his Syno- 

 nyms ; but it appears corrected in the later editions *. 



After that time, Harris, in his Aurelian, and other works, called 

 the Red Vnderiving Phalasna Pacba, and the Crhnjon Underwing Pha- 

 Isna Nupta. And Dr. Eerkenhout, following Harris, or inattentive 

 to the exprefs language of the author he tranflated, has made the 

 fame error in his Synopfjs of the Natural Hiflory of Great Britain f. 

 Indeed, it may be doubted, whether any' later Englilh work on 

 Infefts has deleted thee^ror; for, examining a little tra£l of Mr. 

 Mat'hew Martin, of the Bath Society, publjfhed in 1785, we find 

 |;he Red Underwing called therein Phalcsna P(i£ia. 



To place our remarks in a clear point of view, we need only quote 

 the defcriptions of Linnseus: — " Noctua Pacta Criflata alis 

 grifefcentibus fubundatis : poflicis rubris ; fafciis du^^bi.s nigris. 

 ^bdomine Jupra rubro." And again in the general defcription : 



* porrpdlcd after 1759, f Not corrcfted in the laft edition. 



** Abdomen 



