^■■■■■MMHBMMHHMWV^^b^hibvbbb**" 1 * 



HOMHHHMa^B^m 



MMaHMHMHHHIPMm 



The wftG?er side is similar to the upper. 



The caterpillar is black and yellow, as at (e) and feeds upon hay grass, changes to the 

 chrysalis, in a silken case, as at (f) about the end of May : and the moth appears at the end of 

 fourteen days. They remain during the winter in the caterpillar state. The chrysalis is seen at (i). 



The caterpillar of this moth is sometimes stung by a small musca, [one of the numerous 

 species of the modern Dipterous genus Tachina] termed by Aurelians Ichneumon (as they call 

 all those without exception, which feed on the inside of caterpillars) ; which laying its eggs, or 

 injecting them into the body of the caterpillar, there hatch, and the young ones feed on its flesh, 

 till they arrive at full size ; when, eating their way out through the skin, they change into 

 round black chrysalides, leave the caterpillar shrunk and dying : and in about ten days small 

 flies appear in the likeness of the parent. See the figures at (k) (I) (in) (n). This moth, when 

 first taken, will lie in the hand as if dead, although unhurt. 



Expansion of the wings 1 



1 J inch. 



This insect is very abundant throughout the country. It flies by day in the 

 brightest sunshine in grassy places; but its flight is slow and heavy, and quite 

 unlike that of the Hawk-moths. 



PTEROPHORUS PENTADACTYLUS. THE WHITE PLUMED MOTH. 



Plate I. fig. o- 



-q- 



Synonyms. Phalaena (Alucita) pentadactyla, Syst. Nat. ii. 900. Donovan Brit. Ins. 4. pi. 110. 

 Pterophorus Pentadactylus, Fabricius, Leach, Curtis, Stephens. 



The moth is totally white, and the wings are as if composed of feathers. 



The caterpillar feeds on grass, is green, having a whitish stripe on the side, as at (p), and 

 changes to the chrysalis, in the manner shewn at (p), the beginning of June ; the moths appear 

 about the end of that month. They haunt about the sides of ditches. 



Expansion of the wings one inch. 



This is a very common species ; frequenting grassy places, and flying in the 

 twilight. When at rest the feathers of the wings are folded upon each other, so as 

 to appear to consist of only a single feather. The mode of suspension of the chrysalis 

 is especially interesting ; agreeing in this respect with various butterflies, and quite 

 unlike the majority of the moth-tribes. 



SPHINX LIGUSTRI. THE PRIVET HAWK-MOTH. 



Plate II. fig. a—h. 



Synonyms. Sphinx Ligustri, Linn. Syst. Nat. ii. 799. Donovan Brit. Ins. 8. pi. 248. Albin's Lis. 

 pi. 7. Wilkes Eng. Moths, pi. 22. Duncan Brit. Moths, pi. 4. f. 2. 



Upper Side. The antennae, head, and sides of the thorax are of a reddish-ash colour, the 

 nose or ends of the palpi dark brown. The upper part of the thorax, is almost black, the middle 

 being of a purplish grey. The abdomen is of a deep rose-colour, the annuli being strongly marked 

 with bars of black, which are interrupted by a broad list down the upper part, reaching from the 

 thorax to the anus. The superior wings are of a light brown toward the sector edge, but toward 



