210 HAUSTELLATA. LEPIDOPTERA. 



Phal. plumbaria. Fahricius. — As. plumbaria. Steph. Catal. part ii. p. 129. iVb. 

 6533. 



Wings pale brownish or lead-colour, rather thickly sprinkled with extremely 

 minute fuscous atoms, with a faint fuscous striga at the base, a second straighter 

 one before the middle, edged outwardly with fulvous, and a third oblique one 

 behind, slightly flexuous, bordered entirely with fulvous ; between these 

 two short strigEe, which approximate on the inner margin, the wing is in 

 general rather darker, and there is a black spot towards the costa ; at the 

 apex is an oblique fuscous streak, at the termination of which an obscure 

 undulated whitish line exists : cilia fuscous : posterior wings paler, with a 

 transverse fuscous or whitish striga. 



Extremely variable both in colour and in the dispositions of the strigae; in some 

 examples all the wings are of an uniform fuscous, with a darker central fascia 

 on the anterior, and others are all of a whitish ash ; the strigae sometimes 

 approach close together, at others they are distant. 



Very abundant on heaths by the sides of woods in several places 

 within the metropolitan district, especially at Coombe and Darenth 

 Woods, and near Hertford. " Epping." — Mr. Douhleda^. " Baron- 

 wood."— T. C. Heysham, Esq. " Meldon-park."— G. WciUeSt 

 Esq. 



Genus CXCVIII. — Larentia, TreifschJce. 



Palpi rather long, approximating at the apex, and forming a sort of pointed 

 beak, densely squamous; triarticulate; thebasal joint curved; second shorter, 

 subacuminate ; third minute, globose : maxillw long. Antenna of the males 

 slighty bipectinated to the apex, the pectinations diminishing to the apex ; 

 of the females obscurely serrated within : head small, rounded : eyes small, 

 globose : thorax slender : loings partially expanded during repose, entire, all of 

 nearly equal size; anterior acute, with a central transverse band, composed 

 of several parallel lines, more or less undulated, and generally with an oblique 

 dark streak at the apex : abdomen rather slender ; of the males subclavate ; of 

 the females stouter and acute. Larva with 10 legs, slender, stouter posteriorly j 

 head small; pupa subterranean. 



Ge. cervinata of Hiibner being the type of the genus Larentia 

 of Treitschke, I am at a loss to comprehend Duponchel's trans- 

 position of the name to another genus (corresponding with the 

 genera Scotosia and Triphosa of my Catalogue), in which not a 

 single example of the Larentiae of Treitschke occurs, which is con- 

 trary to all precept; but notwithstanding this inconsistency of 

 Duponchel, he has recently been followed by Mr. Curtis in his, 



