222 BRITISH MOTHS 



colour, variable in intensity, with a broad white or whitish irregular, longitudinal vitta placed behind the middle 

 of the wing, and extending from the base to the cilia, but which is occasionally almost obsolete ; the costal 

 portion is reddish brown, with an ashy shade, which insensibly blends into the ground-colour of the wing, three 

 small whitish gray dots being more conspicuous near tiie tip of the costa ; there are also the traces of various 

 fine lines, which cross the wing, and which are also more or less visible on the disk of the wing, three especially 

 near the tip being more distinct, which are of a redder colour than in any of the allied species ; along the inner 

 margin of the wing is a dark bar, composed of confluent strigte, interrupted before the anal angle by two white 

 crescents ; the hind wings are reddish brown, with the base and anal margin pale. The caterpillar is slaty, or 

 greenish white, with four largo dots of black, forming a square on the back of each segment, the anterior pair 

 being round or oval, and the hind pair transverse ; they are variable in size, and are sometimes confluent ; along 

 the sides of the body are a number of smaller black dots, four on each side being more conspicuous ; besides 

 which, there is a double row of yellow spots on the back, as well as a lateral series of similar spots ; the head is 

 yellow, spotted with black. The caterpillar is found from May to the end of August. It feeds on the species 

 of Blattaria, Scrophularia and Verbascum, more especially V. Thapsus, and it is the only species which seems to 

 prefer the leaves to the flowers ; the moth appears in May, and is a comparatively common species. 



SPECIES 2.— CUCULLIA SCROPHULARIA. Plate XLVIII., Fw. 9, 10. 



Synonymes. — Noctua ScropkularitBy Iliibner ; Ochsenheimer ; Treitschkc; Engranialle ; Stephens ; Rambur, Ann. Soc. Ent. de France, 1833, 

 pi. I, fig. 1 ; Wood, lud. Eut. pi. Ill, fig. 377. Ph. N. Verhasci, Wilkes, 7, pi. 15; Donovan, 8, pi. 257 ? 



This species measures about li inch in the expanse of the fore wings, (this, therefore, is smaller than the 

 preceding species, with which it has been often confounded), which are of a more bufiish-yellow colour, and not 

 so brown as in C. Verbasci ; the costa is ashy brown, sometimes blackish ; tlie lines at the tip of the wing are 

 less tinged with red, and there is a fourth well-marked line arising from the margin, and which is not apparent 

 in that species ; the median vein is slightly dotted, there are five or six of these dots, some placed near the costa. 

 The lines which cross the wing are less distinct, and the dark streak alonw the inner margin is of a brown shade, 

 traversed by two whitish crescents. The hind wings are of a brown colour, but slightly tinged with red ; the 

 crest of the thorax is margined with red brown, and the tippets are powdered with red scales, forming a slight 

 bar. The caterpillar closely resembles that of C. Verbasci, but it is always smaller ; the two black posterior 

 spots on each segment are more elongated, sometimes touching the dot above the spiracles ; they are generally 

 confluent together, as well as with the anterior pair of dots, in that case forming a X-like mark on the back. 

 The small black lateral marks are obsolete, and there is only a single row of yellow dorsal patches. The 

 caterpillar feeds exclusively on Scrophularia nodosa and aquatica, and Verbascum Blattaria and Blattariodes, 

 preferring the flowers and seeds. It is found at the end of the summer, and the moth appears in May. It is 

 widely dispersed, but more rare than the preceding insect. 



SPECIES 3.— CUCULLIA THAPSIPHAGA. Plate XLVIII., Fig. 11, 12. 



Synonyme. — CucuUia tliapsipha</a, Tieitsclike ; Stephens, (but not of Wood); Dupouehcl ; Boisduval ; Rambur, in Ann. Soc. Ent. 



de France, 1833, pi. 1, fig. 2. 



This species measures rather more than li inch in the expanse of the fore wings, which are of an ashy-buflf 



colour ; the costa and inner margin brown ; the former is gradually shaded oft' to the ground colour of the wing, 



and is marked with numerous reddish-brown, slightly distinct spots and lines, and by three more distinct whitish 



dots near the tip ; along the front margin of the median vein are several small dark dots, as well as at the 



extremity of the discoidal cell ; the dark margin along the inside of the wing, is interrupted by the pale crescents 



