14S HAUSTELLATA. — LEPIDOPTERA. 



respecting the habits of the species, many of which are still retained 

 under the above generic name by Duponchel: — dismembered as 

 the genus is in my Systematic Catalogue, I suspect that the few 

 insects here retained are far too discrepant to be strictly associated 

 together ; and if the first species in Treitschke's arrangement is to 

 be taken as the type, probably the name itself ought to be changed, 

 the antennae in Duponchel's copy of Hlibner's figure (Geo. cebraria) 

 being scarcely pectinated ; but as I have never seen that insect, it 

 is here retained in preference to coining a new one : — the antennse 

 of the males are very plumose. 



Sp. 1. atomaria. Alis albido-lutescentibus prwatomo.iis, strigis subanastomo- 

 santibus jimbri&que saturatioribus communibus. (Exp. alar. 1 unc. — 1 unc. 



■ 3 lin.) 



Rh. Ge. atomaria. Linne. — Don. vii. pi. 248. f. I, 2. — Fi. atomaria. Steph. 

 Catal. part ii. p. 115. No. 6441. 



Deep brown^ irrorated with yellowish : wings flavescent or deep ochraceous, 

 speckled throughout with minute brown dots, each wing with four transverse 

 strigse of the same colour, the second and third generally united on the inner 

 margin, the fourth frequently interrupted in the middle, or united to a fifth 

 striga on the margin itself: cilia flavescent, interrupted with brown. Female 

 marked as in the male, but the ground colour of the wings dull white, or 

 slightly tinted with pale yellow. 



Extremely variable in colour, and the striga? more or less obliterated : in some 

 examples the latter are so considerably expanded as almost to cover the entire 

 surface of the wings, causing them to become fuscous. 



Caterpillar when young green, with reddish spots on each side of the body; 

 afterwards yellow-brown, with a deeper longitudinal dorsal stripe, on each 

 side of which, on each segment, are small triangular deep-brown spots, and 

 beneath these a longitudinal streak, the stigmata edged with black. It feeds 

 upon the various species of scabious, changes beneath the earth into a 

 brown pupa, which is tumid in the middle, with its posterior extremity 

 acute. 



Extremely abundant on heathy places within the metropolitan 

 district in May or June, and again in August, especially in the 

 vicinity of Darenth-wood, and at Hertford. " Epping." — Mr. 

 Douhleday. " In the fens of Cambridgeshire, abundant." — Rev.L. 

 Jenyns. " Heaths, in plenty, Durham."— 6i^. Wailes, Esg. " Rae- 

 hills, Dumfries-shire, very common." — Rev. W. Little. "Abundant 

 on all the heaths near Carlisle." — T. C. Heysham, Esq. " York and 

 Newcastle, on heaths." — W. C. Heimtson, Esq. 



