140 BRITISH MOTHS 



maro-iiicd witli a red line, ami a very slender bright red striga towards tiie apical margin of tlie wing, outwardly 

 edo-ed with whitish, and angulated near the costa. The hind wings are brown. The anterior stigma is 

 also occasionally marked with a dusky patch, as in Wood's figure, and there is also a black dot at the base of 

 the wings. 



The caterpillar is described by Fabricius as being of an ashy colour, with black and white lines, and whitish 

 dots. It feeds upon the willow in the spring, and the moth is found in the autumn. It is rare in the woods 

 round London, but occurs in various otlier parts of the country. 



SPECIES 15.— ORTHOSIA UPSILON. Pl.^te XXVII., Fig. 12. 



SvNONYMEs. — Noctua I psilon^ Wicn. A'ciz. ; Iliibner; Trcit&chke; I Noctua corlicea, Esper. 

 Stephens ; Wood, Iiid. Eiit. j>l. 10, fig. 187. I N octiia Jissipuncta, Hawortb. 



This species measures from \\ to lA inch in the expansion of the fore wings, which are of an ashy brown 



colour, slightly clouded with darker shades ; the costa interrupted with pale and dark dots indicating the origin 



of the ordinary strigje, which are obsolete, except the submarginal one, which is pale and much waved, marked 



on the inside, particularly in the middle, with brown patches ; the stigmata are concolorous, with a slightly paler 



margin, preceded and followed by black markings, the space between them forming a triangular patch, open in 



front; towards the base of the wing is a blackish dash, occasionally obsolete ; and in the place of the supplemental 



stigma are two blackish lines, united in the middle, but becoming wider apart towards the base of the wing ; 



along the apical margin of the wing is a row of small black dots. The hind wings are paler brown, rarely 



marked with a central lunule and a dusky margin. All the markings of the fore wings are, however, liable to 



obliteration, except the subapical pale striga, and occasionally the ground colour is almost black. The antennw 



arc simple. The caterpillar is dusky brown, with pale longitudinal stripes down the back, and darker dots on 



the sides; it feeds under the bark of willows and poplars, and the moth appears in July (Boisduval). It is by 



no means a rare species in the south of England, occurring in marshy places. 



SPECIES IC— ORTHOSIA MACILENTA. Plate XXVIII., Fig. t)..'. 



SvNoNYMEs. — JVocftm mnfifen^a, Hiibner ; Oclisenbeimer ; Treit- I Noctua flaviIinea,\\^\voTi\\; Curtis; Stephins, 111. 2, p. 148, 

 ficbke; Stepb.Ul. H. (3. p. 68) (but not tbe macilenta of Hawortb). 1 pi. 19, fig. 2 ; Wood, lad. Ent. p!. 10, fig. 185. 



This species measures about 14- inch in the expansion of the fore wings, which are of a reddish ground-colour, 



with the ordinary strigie very indistinct, and with the stigmata slightly distinct and rather distant, obsoletely 



iiavescent, with a black spot on the hind part of the posterior one in most specimens, a black dot near the base of 



the wings, and a nearly straight subapical reddish slender streak, angulated near the costa, where it is rather more 



obscure and outwardly edged with a pale yellow line. The hind wings are dark brown, with the cilia reddish. 



The antenna; of tlie males are " hirto-pectinatcd," without elongated ravs. Tlie caterpillar feeds on plantain and 



chickwecd, and the imago appears at the end of the autumn, but is rare ; it, however, occurs in the southern 



part of the country, where it is widely distributed, and was also captured in Norfolk by Mr. Burrell. 



DESCRIPTION OF PLATE XXIX. 



Insects Fig. 1. Mytbimna turca (tbe double line). 2. The Caterpillar. 



" Fig. 3. Mytbimna conigcra (the brown line bright eye). 4. Tbe C.itcrpiilar. 



" Fig. 5. My thiinua grisea (the bright eyed clay). 



" Fig. 6. Mytbimna lithargyria (tbe ochraceous biown). 7. Tbe Caterpillar, 



'* Fig. 8. Mytbimna imbecilla. 



