THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 65 



Doubleday consigned it to the " Reputed British Noctuse." Not having the 

 work of Fabricius to refer to, I do not know what his Artemisia really was. 

 No reference to Eabricius appears in Staudinger, and Artemisia, W.V. was 

 the name given in Stephen's when he introduced it to the British Lists. 

 This insect is described in Stephen's as follows : 



!1 Sp. 13. Artemisia. Alis anticis viridibus, maculis argenteis; posticis albidis, mar gin e 

 dilution einereo (Exp. alar, i unc. 6 lin.) 



No. Artemisia?, Wien. V. — Cu. Artemisia?. Steph. Catal. part ii. p. 104. No. 6366. 



Head and thorax silvery-white, with greenish transverse lines ; anterior wings bright 

 clear green, with seven or eight silvery spots, one placed at the base, very large, and 

 giving off a twig on the inner margin of the wing, then a geminated one, divided by a 

 longitudinal dusky streak, and edged on the inner margin with the same ; this is follow- 

 ed by a second geminated spot of an ovate form and smaller size, also divided by a 

 dusky streak ; on the costa, at the apex, is a large flexuous one, and parallel with the 

 hinder margin is a linear elongate one ; the hinder margin is silvery ; and the cilia 

 white ; posterior wings white with a pale dusky border ; cilia also white. 



Caterpillar slightly pilose, green, spotted with white, with a dorsal and lateral series 

 of red tubercles— it feeds on the Artemisia sylvestris— the pupa is green, and folliculated ; 

 the imago appears in June, 



This conspicuous insect evidently differs considerably from its congeners, both in its 

 primary and final stages ; its larva being pilose and warty ; and the imago having its 

 wings adorned with brilliant metallic scales, and being of a different form to those of 

 other species, by the former character beautifully leading the way to the brilliantly 

 ornamented Plusiae. I have, however, not thought proper to discriminate it further 

 from the other Cucullise. 



One example only of this remarkably beautiful insect has hitherto been captured in 

 Britain: this was taken about 20 years ago, near ' Dedingstone, by Mr. Shelton." — 

 Dr. Leach," 



I have quoted Stephens in full that it may be clearly understood what the 

 insect was, that was supposed to be British, and also, that only one example 

 of it was known. The cabinet specimens then introduced were supplied by 

 dealers, and were unquestionably foreign. Mr. Doubleday, in his investi- 

 gations in preparing his list, found that the species known here and in Trance 

 as Artemisia, Eab., was known in Germany as Argentea of Hufnagle, Bottem- 

 urg, Knock, and Esper. A specimen is before me as I write, with the label 

 in Mr. Doubleday's well-known handwriting, " Cuciillia argentea (artemisia)." 

 The name was allowed to stand among the reputed Noctuse without synonymy, 

 and it appears there in both editions of the List simply as ff Artemisice, Fab." 

 To have added other names and authorities would have only increased the 

 error, as it was not intended to recognise any such species as British. Be- 

 sides as Doubleday did not adopt the nomenclature of Hufnagle and Rottem- 

 burg, Artemisice, the name in the "Vienna Catalogue, would still have had 

 precedence, indeed I do not understand why it was not Artemisia, W.Y.. 

 from the first, as it was in Stephens. A friend of mine suggests that some of 



