172 



THE YOUNG NATUKALXST. 



brown blotches, and others with the fore-wings uniformly dark greyish 

 brown; the grey brown, dark clouded A. Iritici, with a black quadrate spot 

 between the stigma, a whitish streak from the base near the costa, and three 

 wedge-shaped black spots preceding the " subterminal line ;" the dark olive- 

 brown local Tethea return, distinguishable from the more generally distributed 

 T. subtusa by the fact that the " inner line i? and the " elbowed line R are 

 almost parallel instead of converging at the inner margin ; the pale orange or 

 the ochreous yellow Euperia fulvago, the local reddish brown Cosmia pyralina, 

 with grey hind wings ; the whitish grey Folia chi, with a distinct mark like 

 the Greek letter X on each forewing ; the grey, yellowish-looking P. flavo- 

 cincta, the very rare nigrocincta variety of P. xanthomista, which at this 

 time of the year occurs, chiefly at the Isle of Man ; the greenish grey 

 obscura variety of Epunda lichenea ; the rare brownish ochreous Heliothis 

 armigera, the hind wings of which have a narrow greyish central lunule, 

 which is also the case with H. peltigera, but this latter has a black dot at the 

 anal angle, which is absent in armigera it also flies much earlier in the 

 summer, and there is no probability of meeting with it now ; the golden 

 brown, silver-blotched, Plusia festucce, fond of reed beds and their neighbour- 

 hood; the reddish-grey and orange Herald Moth {Gonoptera libatrix), and 

 the rare narrow- winged dark grey Stilbia anomala. To these may be added 

 Noctua bella, N. Xanthographa and the heath frequenting N, neglecia* 



To turn now to the Deltoides and Pyralides, the second brood of Herminia 

 derivalis appears in August, as does also the little ochreous brown Stenia 

 punctalis. It has oblong, rather lanceolate fore-wings, white reniform stigma, 

 and short hind wings. In size it expands ten lines. The legs are so very 

 long that it is known as the Long-legged Pearl. Paraponyx stratiotalis 

 may also still be taken this month by the side of streams and ponds where 

 water aloe (Stratioles) , and water star- wort (CallitricAe) grow, and at the 

 beginning of the month the little Acentropus niveus, the larva of which is 

 truly aquatic, and feeds on potamogeton, breathing by branchise. The moth 

 has narrow whitish-ochreous, semi-transparent, fore-wings, with the veins 

 distinctly darker, and white hind ones. Besides these, Ebulea sambucalis, 

 Pionea slramentalis, Spilodes sticticalis, S. cinctalis, Scopulea lutealis, 

 Scoparia cembralis, 8. truncicolalis, S. crategallalis and S. phceoleucalis are 

 still out, and the little Scopula ferrugalis and Scoparia lineolalis also fly in 

 August. The former is ochreous in colour, with distinct stigmata and lines, 

 and expands nine or ten lines, lineolalis has narrow fore-wings, with the dark 

 grey first line very obliquely placed. 



Crambus inquinatellus is one of the " Grass Moths w flying in August. It 

 is brownish ochreous in colour, with two transverse brown lines, which are 



