•200 BRITISH MOTHS 



This is also an extremely variable species both in the intensity of the markings and the ground colour of the 

 wings ; the hind wings are ashy white, with a central dusky lunule and a dusky border, in which are sometimes 

 a row of white dots. The Caterpillar is yellowish gray, w-ith a black head ; it feeds on lichens, and the moth 

 appears in -July and August, sitting on walls and palings. It is a very common species round London and 

 elsewhere. 



SvNONVMEs. — Noclua Orion, Esper; Curtis, Brit. Ent., \i[. 404 ; 

 Harris, Aiirelian, pi. 42, %. e ; Stcplieus; Wood, Ind. Ent., pi. 14, 

 fig. 324. 



DIPHTHERA. Hubner. 

 The antennaj are alike in both sexes, the underside slightly crenulated ; the palpi are rather long and slender, 

 the head clothed with compact scales, the maxillary spiral tongue nearly as long as the antenna3. The thorax 

 rounded, the abdomen rather slender and tufted ; the fore wings ample and beautifully varied in colours and 

 mai'kings ; and the caterpillars clothed with long hairs like those of the ArctiidiB : they feed upon the leaves of 

 trees. 



SPECIES 1.— DIPHTHERA ORION. Plate 41, Fig. H, and Plate 42, Fig. 112. 



y^octua ruidca, Gmelin ; Ochsenheimer ; Haworth. 

 Fh. Noct. aprilina, Fabricius ; Hiibncr ; Panzer; Donovan, 

 vol. 10, pi. 347, fig. 1. 



Like the species of the genus just described, the present insect is very variable in its markings, which has 

 led to much confusion in its synonymes ; and I believe English authors are not yet decided whether our native 

 specimens do not constitute two species, although a contrary opinion prevails on the Continent. The expansion of 

 the fore wings is between 1^ and 11 inch, and they are of a lovely green colour, with two longitudinal white 

 stripes, and various black markings. The basal striga is obsolete ; the second is composed of a semicircular 

 series of black confluent patches ; there are also two large black patches of irregular form in the middle of the 

 wing, the front one of which comprises the two stigmata and extends to the costa. The third striga is formed 

 of a broad, irregular, black crenulated bar, bearing several white spots within and two brown patches without, 

 and with two or three subapical black dots, and a row of black and white marginal spots. The hind wings are 

 brown, with a broad dark border ; the cilia of all the wings spotted with black and white. The caterpillar is 

 blackish brown, with three pale stripes across the back, and each segment with a row of red piliferous tubercles 

 between, and a row of small white dots. It feeds on the oak, birch, &c. in the autumn, and the perfect insect 

 appears in May and June, being found on the trunks of trees. It is a rare species, although very widely dispersed 

 throughout tlie country. 



P/talcena Noctua ludifica, Linna3us (Wood, Ind. Ent., pi. 54, fig. 46), has been improperly introduced into the 

 British lists. Its fore wings are greenish white, with various black markings, and its abdomen yellow, spotted 

 with black. It is a native of the middle of Europe. 



THYATIRA, Ochsenheimer. 

 The antenna are nearly alike in both sexes, clothed beneath with short hairs ; the palpi are longer than the 

 head, and porrected, with the third joint exposed ; the head rather broad ; the thorax with a transverse crest ; the 

 abdomen slender and tufted at the tip ; the wings broad and obtuse, with the ordinary characteristic markings of the 

 family obliterated. Two species have been united together under this generic name, but not only do they 

 ditfer very materially from each other in their general appearance, but also in the structure of their feet, T. Batis 

 h.aving the fore legs fasciculose, and T. derasa the intermediate ones. The caterpillars also are so much unlike 

 each other, that it is with groat hesitation that I leave them under the same generic name. 



