12 
the equally favourable February of 1893, for the emergence of the 
perfect insect. 
Hispidaria is a Vienna Catalogue name but, as that work contains no de¬ 
scription of the insect, we take the following, made from Schiffermiiller’s 
specimens by Fabricius ( Mant. Insect., ii, p. 191, no. 59), as the type. 
“ Phalaena pectinicornis alis cinereo-fuscis: striga undata obscuriore, 
margine alba punctato, antennis flavis. Nimis affinis P. hirtariae at 
paullo minor. Corpus hirtum griseo-fuscum. Antennae flavse. Alae 
obscurae striga media undata obscuriore. Margo albo punctatus.” 
Hiibner ( Samml . europ. Schmett., iv., fig. 177), figures the insect as pale 
brown (not greenish), the fore wings with three and the hind wings 
with two transverse lines. Hind wings, pale; outer margin of fore 
wings, yellowish-white. Treitschke ( Schmet. v. Europ., vi., 1, 247), 
seems to have been the first author to mention the 5 ; to a diagnosis 
similar to that of Fabricius he adds “foemina aptera.” Duponchel 
(Hist. Nat., vii., 154, 3), describes the fore wings as being of a rather 
dark bistre, with a band of a clearer tint at the outer margin, traversed 
by three blackish diverging lines, of which two are curved and the 
third is sinuous and toothed; and the hind wings as being pale bistre, 
with two blackish lines, one being faintly marked. The figures agree 
well with this description. Herrich-Schaeffer, in 1844 ( Syst. Bearbeit., 
iii, fig. 14), figures the 7 . 
Turning now to British authors :—Donovan (Brit. Insects, xiii, pi. 
447), in 1808, figures and minutely describes the species under the name 
of Plialaena ursularia (the thick-haired moth). Both sexes are said to 
be represented in the plate, but the figures are all of males. Donovan 
would have referred it to the Bombyces “ without scnqfle .... but for 
the authority of Mr. Drury, who was so fortunate as to rear it from the 
caterpillar, and which, being of the looper kind, decidedly proves it to 
be of the Geometry, instead of Bombyx family.” Donovan thought 
the specimens bred from these larvae and preserved in Drury’s cabinet 
(which Donovan possessed) were unique. It seems rather curious that 
he should have thus re-named the insect, as he was acquainted with the 
Mantissa, and especially as he says “ our present insect has some re¬ 
semblance . . to the sp. liirtaria, but is smaller,” while Fabricius writes 
“ Nimis affinis P. hirtariae at paullo minor.” Newman, in the Entomo¬ 
logical Magazine for 1833 (vol. i, 413), described the pale form as a new 
species, under the name of Nyssia tauaria. His description is as follows:— 
“ Fusco grisea, metathoracis margine anteriori, lineaque centrali longi- 
tudinali nigris, $,” and he mentions as specific characters by which to 
distinguish it from hispidaria and pilosaria, “ its superiority in size to 
the former of these ; the T on the mesothorax, formed by the transverse 
and longitudinal black lines ; the broad pale margins of the front wings, 
and lastly, the fact that the specimen emerged at such a different time 
of the year from other members of the genus (which, Guene'e states, all 
appear in March, or earlier), it having been taken by Newman’s father, 
in June, 1832, at Leominster, in a perfectly recent state, and had 
apparently never flown.” 
Wood ( Index Entomologicus, fig. 1675) figures this specimen as Nyssia■ 
tauaria, but there is a note by Westwood, “ hispidaria var.” Wood 
gives reference to Entom. Mag. and to Stephens (III. Haust., iv., p. 391). 
He also delineated hispidaria (No. 466), his figure being of a dirty 
brownish-grey colour, the inner margin clouded with a darker shade, 
