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70 BRITISH MOTHS 
wings, and the elongated and upturned tail, give the insect, when at rest, a singular appearance (as figured in 
my Introduction to the Modern Classification of Insects, vol. ii., p. 385, fig. 4). The wings have the outer 
margin denticulated. The females have the antenne bipectinated. The larva is smooth, depressed, without 
conical tubercles, and attenuated at each end. 
SPECIES 1.—PTEROSTOMA PALPINA. Puare XIV., Fie. 6. 
Synonymes.—Phal. (Bomb.) palpina, Linneus ; Haworth. Pterostoma palpina, Germar; Stephens (App. vol. 4, p. 385) ; 
Ptilodontis palpina, Hiibner ; Stephens; Boisduval; Wood, Ind. | Curtis, Cat. 
Ent. t. 6, f. 32. 
This species measures from 13 to 21 inches in the expanse of the fore wings, which are of a very pale buff 
colour, marked with numerous blackish stripes and spots, especially along the veins of the wings ; a rather dark 
brownish cloud runs obliquely across the middle, between which and the hind margin is a double row of 
punctures. The hind wings are brown, with the base pale. 
The caterpillar is green, with several pale lines, freckled with black along the back, and a yellowish lateral . 
one freckled with red. It is found at the end of May and September upon poplars, willows, &c., and the moth 
appears at the beginning of those months, It is by no means a rare species, and is occasionally found in the 
woods round London. 
PETASIA *, Srernens. ASTEROSCOPUS, Botspuvat. 
This genus differs in wanting the lobe on the hind margin of the fore wings (which have only a tuft of scales 
in its place), and the crest on the thorax. The fore-wings are elongate-triangular, opaque, with dark longitudinal 
streaks, and not dentated on the margin ; the antenne of the males bipectinated, and dentato-crenulated in the 
females. The caterpillars, which are naked, fleshy, longitudinally striped, and with the extremity of the body 
conical above, have the habit of stretching themselves out and assuming the attitude of the sphingideous larve. 

SPECIES 1.—PETASIA CASSINIA. Puare XIV., Fie. 7, 8. 
Svnonymes.—Phal. (Bomb.) Cassinia, Wien. Verz.; Fabricius; | | Asteroscopus Cassinia, Boisduval, Ind. Meth. 
Haworth; Donovan, vol. xii., pl. 379, fig. 2; Stephens; Wood, Ind. |  Brachionicha Cassinia, Hiibner, Verz. bek. Schm. 
Ent. pl. 6, fig. 36 (Petasia C.) Bombyx Sphinx, Esper, pl. 49, fig. 1—3. 
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This moth has much the habit of one of the Noctuide ; indeed Ochsenheimer unites it with the genus Xylina 
belonging to that family. It measures from 1} to nearly 2 inches in the expanse of the fore wings, which are of 
an ashy-brown colour, with numerous black short lines, one of which at the base, and another along the hind 
margin, are more distinct ; besides which there is a faint interrupted pale stripe at the hinder margin, which is some- 
times quite obliterated. The hind wings grey with a dark central patch, and the margin spotted with black. 
The caterpillar is green, with yellow longitudinal lines, two of which unite at the anal prominence ; it feeds 
on the oak, beech, and other forest trees in May, and the moth appears in September and October. The species 
is widely dispersed through the country, but is most ordinarily found in the woods of the south of England, 
although rare, especially in the winged state. 

* Derived from the Greek, and alluding to the outstretched attitude of the Sprawler, as the caterpillar is named by collectors. 

