141 



THE GREAT TIGER MOTH. 



Phalwna Caja. 



PLATE xcv. 



Plialffiiia Caja, Linn. Syst. Nat. ii. p. 819. — Turlon's Linni, 

 iii. p. 223. — Donovan's Brit. Ins. i. pi. 15..— .ArctiaCaja, 

 • Stephens. — Rennie's Conspectus of Butterflies, p. 42. 



The superior wings of the male are two inches 

 two-thirds to eleven -twelfths ; and those of the 

 female two inches and three quarters to three 

 inches ; they are of a cream colour, with large iiTe- 

 gularly shaped black patches, which vary consider- 

 ably, both in shape and size, and frequently two 

 are united to form one. The inferior wings, and 

 finnulations of the body, are of a rich orange, which 

 also admit of equal variety ; the spots near the 

 thorax are often united, and the small black stripes 

 on the back are fewer in some specimens than on 

 others ; the back and thorax are of a raw umber 

 brown, thickly beset with fine hairs and bristles ; 

 under the head is a semilunar stripe of a fine pale 

 crimson. 



The caterpillar is solitary ; of a high coloured 

 chestnut, sometimes black ; thickly covered with 

 long hairs of nearly the same colour ; each of the 



