J34 BRITISH MOTHS 



rumex, &c. ; the individuals found on the elm being of a yellowish tint, whilst they arc glaucous which are found 

 on the rumex. They go underground to effect their transformations. Guenue unites it with Orthosia instabilis, 

 stabilis, &c., to form his genus Ta3niocanipa (Ann. Soc. Ent. France, 1839, p. 477)- The perfect insect is 

 vernal in the term of its appearance. 



SPECIES 1.— SEMIOPHORA GOTHICA. Plate XXVIl., Fig. 1., & Plate XXIX., Fig. 19 (Larva). 



Synonvmes. — Phal. Noel, ffolhioa, Linn. ; Fab.; Treitscbke ; Haworth ; Stephens; Wood, Ind. Ent., pi. 10, fig. 170. 

 Noctua Nun-atrum, Wicn. Vei-z. ; Fabr. ; Hiibner. 



This prettv species varies from 1} to Ig inch in the expansion of the fore wings, which are of a greyish 

 brown colour, with two black dots near the base, a black central patch, on which is placed the anterior stigma, 

 forming a deep emargination in front ; near the base of this patch is a small black dot on the costa, and from its 

 liinder edge runs a slender jiale striga, edged with brown ; the outer stigma is almost obsolete, but the 

 supplemental one is indicated by a black short dash behind the fore stigma, the space between it and the large 

 black patch being of a rich brown colour ; beyond the second stigma is a purplish brown bar, terminating before 

 and behind in a slender, pale, irregular striga ; the costa near the tip is dark-coloured, and marked with several 

 short, oblique, pale lines ; the hind wings and body are of a uniform dull palish brown colour. 



Tile caterpillar is yellowish-green, dotted with paler colour, with a white stripe on each side and a yellow back. 

 The head is spotted with white. It feeds, according to Treitschke, on Galium aperine, Quercus Robur, various 

 species of Lonicera, and other low herbs. The moth appears in April, but Boisduval gives both the spring and 

 autumn as its period of flight. 



ORTHOSIA, OCHSENHEIMER. 



The species of which this genus is composed, in the works of English Lepidopterists, are characterised by the 

 thickness and woolly clothing of the thorax, the shortness of the body, the slight marking of the wings, and the 

 porrocted palpi, with the last joint clothed with scales. The hind wings are rather small, and the antennas long 

 and setaceous, being, however, pectinated in the males of some species, and simply serrated in others. The 

 thorax is not crested ; the fore wings are either rounded or slightly acuminated at the tips. 



The caterpillars are smooth and naked, with longitudinal ))ale stripes ; they feed either on the leaves of trees 

 or upon low-growing plants, and the moths are either vernal or autumnal in the period of their appearance. 



Those species of which Mr. Stephens has composed his first section with the character — " Anterior wings 

 somewhat rounded at the tip, antenna? of the males more or less pectinated " — O. instabilis, gracilis, stabilis, &c., 

 have been separated by 51. Guenee, under the generic name of Tseniocampa, the caterpillars having all the 

 longitudinal striga? very distinct. Ho has, however, added to these Semiophora gothica, and Glsea rubricosa. 

 Boisduval, on the other hand, forms two sections in the genus Orthosia, characterised by the characters. Larva? 

 herbicolas, and Larvas arboricohe, placing the two last-mentioned species in the former section, whilst the other 

 comprises the rest of M. Guenee's species of Ta^niocampa. 



SECTION I.— T.^NIOCAMPA, Guenee. 



SPECIES "WHICH ARE VERNAL IN THE TIME OF THEIR APPEARANCE IN THE WINGED STATE. 



SPECIES 1.— O. (T^NIOC.-VMPA) INSTABILIS. Plate XXVIL, Fig. 2, :{, 4. 



Synony.mes. — Noctua inslabilis. Wicn. Vera. ; Fabr. ; Hiibner; Noctua subsetacea, Haworth (vaiiety). 



Treitschlve; Buisdiiv:il ; Stephens ; Wood, Ind. Ent. pi. 10, fig. 171; 

 Albiu pi. 76, fig. a — d. 

 Noctua conlructa, Esper. 



This very variable insect measures from IS to If inch in the expanse of the fore wings, which vary from a 



Noctua nehulosa, Hawortli (variety). 

 Noctua fuscata, Haworth (variety). 

 Noctua angusta, Haworth (variety). 



