116 



BRITISH MOTHS 



Bomhifx spiintlii^, Hawortli. 

 Bfnitbyx 7ii(/ricormitHs, Haworth. 

 Bomhy.r mojiUctts, Hawoitli. 

 Bomby.v subairatus, Haworth. 

 Bomby.v pectinatus, Haworth. 

 Bombyx catenalus, HawoiUi. 

 AyroHs affinix, Stephens, MSS. iilim. 



winfs, and the darker margin to the liind wings. Two females were taken in Kent, in September, 1840, 

 agreeing with tliis species, but not with a?qua ; so that more information is required before the identity of the 

 species can be admitted. 



SPECIES 4.— AGHOTIS SEGETUM. Plate XXIIL, Fic. 3, 4, 5. 



SvNONYMFs.— A''oc/Urt ncgctum, Wicu. Vei-z. ; Ochsenhcimcr (vol. 

 5, p. 155) ; HUhiier. 



^^ociua seyetis, Fnhrinus; Huhner ; Stew.irt ; Vieweg. 



Bombyx caliginosa, Espcr. 



J'arietiea. — Bombyx fuscosa, Ksjier. 



Bombyx corticus, Haworth. 



Bombyx connexuSy Haworth, 



Bombyx venosus, Haworth. 



This most variable insect measures from 1-i to nearly 2 inches in the expanse of the fore wings, which are of a 

 brown colour, very inconstant in its hue, soinetlmes being nearly black, and considerably irrorated with darker 

 shades ; near the base of the wing are several indistinct irregular darker fasciae, one of which runs more distinctly 

 across the wing at the base of the spear-shaped stigma ; the basal stigma is oval and rather small, circled with a dark 

 line; the eai'-shapcd one is large and dusky, and followed by a double undulated fascia across the wing, and the margin 

 is marked with a row of small semi-oval black spots : the position, form, and development of the fascia, beyond 

 the posterior stigma, is very variable, the varieties arising therefrom having been regarded as distinct species ; 

 as have also numerous others, produced by the general colour of the wings, the greater or less distinctness of the 

 fascitB and stigmata, &c. The female (fig. 5), is darker than the male, and both sexes have the hind wings 

 nearly white with a purplish tint, and witli the hind margin and veins dusky, especially in the female. 



The moth is extremely common and appears in June. The caterpillar is often extremely destructive to young 

 wheat, of which it devours the roots in tlie autumn and spring ; it is of a dirty brown colour, with a pale dorsal 

 and lateral lino, the latter with a reddish tinge and black dots. Mr. H. Doubleday also informs us that it is 

 very troublesome in gardens, often dcstro3'ing anemones, &c., and eating into the roots of dahlias. Sec. It is 

 also the larva of this, or one of tlie closely allied, species, which often injures the turnip crops in the autumn to a 

 very great extent, in different parts of the country. 



SPECIES 5.— AGROTIS SUFFUSA. Plate XXIIL, Fig. 2. 



Noctua Upsilon, Hufnagle. 



Bombyx spinifera, De Vill ; Haworth. 



Synonymes. — N'octua siiffusa, "Wien. Verz. ; Oehsenhcimer ; Fa- 

 bricius: Haworth; Wood, In,I. Eiit., pi. '.), fig. 1.30. 



Bombyx spinula, Espcr; Donovan, vol. 10, pi. 345, fig. 2, 3. 



This species measures from ly to 2 inches in the expanse of the fore wings, which are of a light huffish 

 brown, with the costal portion much darker, and marked with several whitish specks ; near the base are several 

 indistinct dusky waves, follovved by a double dark very much waved line, united with the very small teliform 

 stigma ; the basal stigma is small and pointed bciiind, dusky in the middle, and edged with a dark line ; the 

 second stigma is large, but almost confounded with the dusky costal patch, which here extends nearly across the 

 wings ; this stigma is followed by a short, slender, clear, black streak, pointed at the tip, behind which is a 

 double, nearly straight, wavy fascia ; the succeeding space pale, but marked opposite the stigma with two other 

 short, black, acute, longitudinal streaks, beyond whicli is a dusky marginal patch, and behind these a series of 

 acutely angled marks, not very distinct. The hind wings are white, with a purple gloss margined with brown ; 

 the frontal crest of the thorax has two brown arches ; the wings vary considerably in colour, as well as in 

 the greater or less distinctness of the stigmata and fasciae. 



