AND THEIR TRANSFORMATIONS. 231 



as well as the margin itself; the hind wings are brown, rather darker along the margin, and with a sliort fascia 

 near the middle. The caterpillar is green, with a dark dorsal and pale lateral lines, and black setigerous tubercles. 

 It feeds on Aconitum lycoctonum aud Thalietrum aquilcgifolium, in May and June, when it forms a delicate 

 cocoon, and tlie moth appears in -lime and July. Formerly taken in some numbers on Salisbury Plain, and since 

 in South AVales, by ]Mr. Donovan. 



DESCRIPTION OF PLATE LIT. 



Insects. — Fii;. 1. Plusia Iota (tlie beautiful golden Y). 2. The Caterpillar. 



" Fig. 3. I'lusia circumtlc.ta (the Yorkshire Y). The Caterpillar is figured in Plate LI. 



" Fig. 4. I'lusia clialevtis. 



" Fig. 5. Plusia aurifera (the slender burnished brass). 



" Fig. G. Plusia Chrysiiis (the burnished brass). The Caterpillar is figured in Plate LI. 



" Fig. 7. Plusia orichalcea (tlie scarce h\irnished brass). 



" Fig. 8. Plusia braetca (the gold spangle). 



Plusia Iota, Chalcj-tis, and aurifera, arc from specimens in the British Museum ; circumflexa is from the unset specimen in the cabinet of 

 Mr. J. F. Stephens ; P. orichalcca and P. bractea are from specimens in the collection of JNIr. S. Stevens ; and the others are from specimens 

 furnished me by Mr. H. Doublcday ; the caterpillar is from Hiibncr. H. N. H. 



SPECIES 2.— PLUSIA IOTA. Plate LIL, Fig. I, 2. 



SvNONYMEs. — PhalanaNoclua Iota, hinuifus; Fabricius ; Iliib- Xoclua inlerrogationis,EsfeT. 



ncr ; Treitschkc; Haworth ; Stephens. | P/iisia percoH<a«w«is, Wood, Ind. Ent. pi. 10, fig. 397. 



This species measures rather more than li inch in the expanse of the fore wings, which are of a rich purplisli- 



brown colour, varied with dark brown, and fidvous ; near the base of the wing is a slender, waved, pale striga, 



followed by a transverse dark fascia, and a second undulated striga ; the discoidal cell is purplish, with the 



anterior stigma small, and placed obliquely ; it is brown, and slightly edged with golden scales behind ; the 



outer stigma is brown, and deeply notched on the outside, and with a slender golden edging ; the characteristic 



space behind the stigmata is dark-brown, varied with fulvous, and bears two gold spots, one like the letter V, 



and the other an oval dot i)laced longitudinally ; the tliird striga is slender, pale, and margined with brown 



lines, and angulated towards the inner margin ; the apical portion of the wing is varied with the colours above 



mentioned, with a golden gloss in the middle, and bears the fourth slender, dark-brown striga, which is deeply 



bidentate in the middle ; hind wings roddisli-ash, with the veins, margin, and central fascia, brown. The 



caterpillar is green, with whitisli lines and stripes. It feeds on burdock, nettle, &e. The moth is far from rare, 



and widely dispersed, affecting woods, and occurring in July. 



SPECIES 3.— PLUSIA PERCONT.\TIONIS. Plate LI., Fig. 4. 



Synonvmes Plusia percontatiouis. Oehsenheimer ; Stephens. 



JVncliia Iota, Esper ; Donovan, 8, pi. 2.iG, fig. 1 ; Hawortli ; Wood, Ind. Ent. ]d. 16, fig. 3!)B. 



This species is rather larger, and less variegated, than tlie preceding species, the fore wings being of a rich 



rosy brown, varied with dark-brown patches ; the strigai are much less undulated and plainer, the third being 



nearly straight towards the anal angle ; the stigmata are very obsolete, and destitute of the golden edging of the 



preceding species ; the golden markings behind the median vein are much smaller ; the fourth or subapical striga 



is obscure, and but slightly bidentate in the middle. The hind wings are not so strongly marked with the 



brown veins as in P. Iota. It has been considered by many writers as a variety of the last-named species, but 



Mr. Stephens is fully persuaded of their distinctness. The present species appears at the end of June, frequenting 



lanes in preference to woods,— a peculiarity mentioned by the late Mr. Standish, sen., to Mr. Stephens. 



