248 BraxiSH jioths 



SPECIES 1.— MORMO MAURA. Plate LV., Fio. 1, 2. 



SvNONvMrs. — Phalcena Noctua maura, LinnaMis ; Hiibner; i fig. a, b ; Stephens; M'ood, Ind. Eiit. pi. 17, fig. 438. 

 Hawoith; Donovan, 7, pi. 30, f. 1; Ilairls, Exposition, pi. 1, | Noctua Lemur, \inUag\e. 



This conspicuous insect measures from 2 : to 3 inches in the expansion of tlic fore winog, which are of a dark- 

 brown or gray-brown colour, and very sliining ; the costa with seven small black conical patches, followed 

 towards the tip by three white specks; the base of the wing is varied by shining black patches, followed by a 

 very broad black bar, occupying the middle of the wing, and extending nearly to the costa, in which are placed 

 the two ordinary stigmata, which are distinct, with pale edges ; the apical portion of the wing is paler, havinw a 

 broad, dark, irregularly -dentate striga, rimning nearly parallel with the apical margin, and shaded off inwardly 

 into the ground-colour of the wings ; the hind wings are dark brown, with a slender pale fascia runninw 

 obliquely across them, and extending nearly to the anal angle. On the under side they recall to mind the under 

 side of the Camberwell Beauty butterfly, in the pale margin of all the wings. The caterpillar is dark brown on 

 the back, with a slender pale line, the sides prettily marbled witli dark and light markings ; the spiracles orange. 

 It feeds on lettuce and other low-growing plants, but occasionally is found on trees ; it forms a cocoon of silk 

 and leaves, or moss, and the chrysalis is powdered with a purplisli bloom, as in the Catocalse. The perfect 

 insect is common and very widely distributed, appearing about the end of July, and entering houses at nicrht, 

 attracted by the lights. 



CATOCALA, SciiR.^NK. 

 The splendid species of which this gonus is composed are very numerous, inhabiting the moderate northern 

 climes both of the old and new world, and distinguished by the beautiful contrast of the colours of their wings ; 

 the hind ones being cither blue, or.inge, or bright red, with black bars, and the upper ones mottled gray or brown, 

 with dentatcd markings and clouds ; the palpi are elevated, with the terminal joint oval and small ; the antenna 

 setaceous, and alike in both sexes; the abdomen attenuated at the tip, and tufted on the back. The caterpillars 

 lialf-loopers, very flat on the under side, with the sides fringed with fine hairs, and sixteen-footed ; they feed upon 

 the leaves of trees, on the twigs of which they lie close when at rest, their colours so closely resembling those of 

 the bark as to render them scarcely perceptible ; the chrysalis is powdered with a purple bloom, and is inclosed 

 in a cocoon formed of leaves. 



SPECIES ].— CATOCALA FRAXINI. Plate LV., Fig. 3, 4. 



SvNuNV.MES. — Pliultcna Noclua Fra.rini, Ij^nnxas ; Hiibner; Huwortli ; Donovan, 5, pi. 1/1 and 172; Wilkes, pi. 90 ; Harris, Aurelian 



pi. 31, fig. a— e; Stephens; Wood, Ind. Ent. pi. 17, fig. 439. 



This, the most splendid of European Noctuidffi, measures about 4 inches in the expansion of the fore win<rs, 

 which arc ashy-coloured, with whitish and brown clouds, and flexuous strigce ; the hind wino-s black, with a bar 

 of pale blue beyond the middle. The caterpillar is ashy, irrorated with black ; it feeds on poplar, ash, elm, and 

 other trees, and the moth appears in the autumn. It is a rare, although very widely-dispersed, species. A very 

 fine specimen was taken at the beginning of September last, by S. Stevens, Esq., in his garden at Hammersmith, 

 attracted by the sugar daubed upon fruit-trees, and captured at night by means of a lantern. Other specimens 

 have also occurred near London ; likewise near Birch Wood, at Shalford, near Guildford, near Beverley, 

 Scarborough, and Ilolderness, in Yorkshire ; near Lowestoft, in Suffolk, by G. R. Waterhouse, Esq. ; also in 

 Essex, and at Chichester, attracted by a bottle of sweets, placed to destroy wasps, near wall-fruit trees, as I am 

 informed by Mr. S. Stevens. The first specimen recorded as captured in this country, was taken at Clifden in 



