106 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



Before I do so, however, it will perhaps be as well to say a few words about 

 the characters of the tortricina. Doubtless most lepidopterists are familiar 

 with the shape of the wings of the moths of this group. Their short blunt 

 fore-wings at once distinguish them from others, allthough some, as the com- 

 mon Sciaphila nubilana, have the wings more than twice their breath in 

 length, and in Aphelia osseana (pratana) they are as much as three times 

 as long as broard. The palpi are also as a rule very short, but in both the 

 species just mentioned and in some others, they are longer than the head ; 

 nevertheless in spite of these exceptions, the tortrices are, generally speaking, 

 possessed of broad blunt fore-wings and short palpi. 



If we attentively examine the fore-wings of these little moths we shall see 

 a certain series of markings generally present. First we notice a patch of 

 colour at the base of the wing and this is called the Basal patch. In many 

 species there is a decided contrast in colour between the basal half and 

 the rest of the wing, the colour of the basal patch extending as far as 

 the middle of the wing or farther. Thus in Pardia tripunctana the basal 

 portion as far as the centre of the wing is smoky brown ; the other half is 

 whitish clouded with grey and the tip of the wing is dark grey, also in the 

 common Spilonota suffusana which we may see in most places at rest on 

 the hedges, the basal part is dark grey-brown and the rest of the wing white 

 mottled with grey. 



In both these species we may observe an ocellated patch of lead colour 

 near the anal angle of each fore-wing. This is known as the Ocellus and is 

 another of the distinctive markings of the tortricina ; there is also present in 

 many species a central fascia and some have a spot on the costa near the tip. 



In Amphysa gerningiana which occurs on moorlands and heaths in 

 Scotland and the North of England, the central fascia is distinct and dark 

 brown in colour, and the costal spot is also dark brown, with brown reticula- 

 tions beneath it. The basal patch in this species is indistinct and the ocellus 

 absent altogether. The ground colour of the fore-wings is yellowish brown, 

 darker behind, and their expanse rather less than two thirds of an inch. 



In Hypermecia angustana, the larva of which I described last month, 

 when the specific name was erroneously printed Angustana, the basal patch 

 is not always very distinct, but is in some specimens of a darker shade than 

 the ochreous grey ground colour of the fore-wings, and extends nearly to the 

 middle of the wing. Both the central fascia and the costal spot are in this 

 species reddish brown in colour, and their is an extension of the latter which 

 unites with the central fascia ; sometimes there is a straw-coloured patch on 

 the costal margin, just before the costal patch. The expanse of wings is 

 half-an-inch or a trifle over. 



