THE NATURAL HISTORY OF BRITISH INSECTS; EXPLAINING THEM IN THEIR SEVERAL STATES, WITH THE PERIODS OF THEIR TRANSFORMATIONS THEIR FOOD, OECONOMY, &c.
TOGETHER WITH THE HISTORY OF SUCH MINUTE INSECTS AS REQUIRE INVESTIGATION BY THE MICROSCOPE.
THE WHOLE ILLUSTRATED BY COLOURED FIGURES, DESIGNED AND EXECUTED FROM LIVING SPECIMENS.
BY E. DONOVAN.
VOL. IX.
LONDON: PRINTED BY BYE AND LAW, ST. JOHN'S SQUARE, CLERKENWELL, FOR THE AUTHOR, And for F. and C. RIVINGTON, No 62, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD. MDCCC.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennae thickeſt in the middle. Wings deflexed, the outer margin declining towards the ſides.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Wings entire; poſterior pair yellow, barred acroſs with brown. Abdomen yellow, with black rings.
The Sphinx Atropos is a magnificent creature, and the largeſt of the European Lepidopterous Inſects. The characteriſtic marks of this ſpecies are very ſingular; on the thorax in particular the figure of a human ſkull is ſtrongly depicted. Theſe Inſects have been deemed a preſage of ſome approaching calamity, by the peaſantry in countries where they have appeared by chance; and Linnaeus has himſelf named it after one of the three Fates, of the Heathen My⯑thology.
This ſpecies ſeems no where common. In this country it is rare. We have an Engliſh Specimen in the winged ſtate, and once met with its larva, of a full ſize, but it died before it became a pupa.
This Specimen was found on the Jaſmine, the latter end of Auguſt. It is ſaid to feed alſo on Potatoes and Green Elder. It appears in the Fly ſtate in July.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Six Feet. Eyes two. Mouth contains a ſting. Antennae length of the Thorax.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Body ſlender, thickeſt towards the end, whitiſh, a ferruginous line along each ſide.
This is the kind of Louſe found on the common Pigeon. It differs ſpecifically from thoſe of other Birds and Animals, as may be conjectured from its ſignificant name, P. Columbae.
[8]It is ſuppoſed that almoſt every creature has its peculiar ſpecies of Pediculi, but not more than fifty diſtinct ſpecies have been hitherto aſcertained; and nearly the whole of theſe belong to the feathered tribe. Redi, Linnaeus, Fabricius, and other Authors diſtinguiſh many of theſe Inſects by the names of thoſe creatures they infeſt, as P. Vulturis, Orioli, Cuculi, Cygni, Pavonis, Phaſiani, &c. &c.
FIG. I. Natural Size. FIG. II. Magnified.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennae clubbed. Wings erect when at reſt. Fly by day.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Wings indented, above orange variegated with black and white; beneath, four eyes on the poſterior pair.
The Painted Lady Butterfly is a local ſpecies, and therefore not very common. In ſome ſeaſons, theſe Inſects appear in conſider⯑able numbers, and then again are not ſeen for ſeveral years. They [10] were taken in abundance in the ſummer of 1795, in many parts of the kingdom, and particularly in Mancheſter; but ſince that time, few, if any, have been met with.
In point of beauty, this ſpecies has an immediate claim to the notice of Engliſh Entomologiſts. Its larva feeds on nettles, thiſtles, docks, and other herbage by the ſides of ditches, and changes to the pupa ſtate about the middle or latter end of July; the winged Inſect ap⯑pears twelve days after.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennae taper from the baſe. Wings in general deflexed when at reſt. Fly by night.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Antennae ſetaceous. Wings white, with a double row of pale black ſpots acroſs the middle: a ferruginous brown ſpot at the baſe, and another at the poſterior margin of the firſt pair: a ſimilar ſpot in the interior margin of the ſecond pair alſo.
This ſpecies bears ſome affinity to the Phalena Groſſulariata, or Currant Moth. It is very rare, and has been hitherto found only in Yorkſhire. It appears the third week in June. The larva feeds on the elm: it is green, ſtreaked with black, and has a black head; the pupa blueiſh.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Antennae ſetaceous. Wings white, with a deep irregular brown margin of interrupted ſpots.
Phalaena Geometra Marginata* is rather common. It lives on the nut, and is found in the winged ſtate in May.
Male, Plate 23. Br. Inſ.
The male of Phalaena Prunaria is repreſented and deſcribed in the early part of our Britiſh Inſects; but it differs ſo conſiderably from the ſingular variety of the ſame ſpecies now before us, that we pre⯑ſume to introduce it in the annexed plate of Geometrae.
GENERIC CHARACTER. The mouth formed by a ſoft fleſhy proboſcis, with two lateral lips. No palpi.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Antennae furniſhed with a lateral hair. Wings white, with four ſomewhat connected black bars acroſs. Scutellum yellow.
Found in the middle of ſummer on thiſtles, and is an elegant object for the microſcope.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennae clubbed at the ends. Wings erect when at reſt. Fly by day.
Plebeii Urbicolae.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER. Wings entire, divaricated, brown, having a black ſtreak along the middle of the anterior pair. Beneath, ſpotted with white.
In the beginning of Auguſt, 1772, a brood of theſe Inſects were taken near Lewes in Suſſex, by the late Mr. Green; and we believe no other ſpecimens have been taken ſince that period.
It is not very unlike the Papilio Sylvanus of Fabricius, but may be readily diſtinguiſhed from it by the ſquare ſpots on the under-ſide being perfectly white.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennae thickeſt in the middle. Wings deflexed when at reſt. Fly ſlow, morning and evening.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Wings entire. Greyiſh white: three contiguous black lines in the middle of the anterior pair. Abdomen browniſh, with bands of white.
We have only a traditionary report that Sphinx Pinaſtri has been ſometimes found in Scotland; but as it is generally admitted, on that authority, to a place in the cabinets of Engliſh Inſects, we cannot refrain inſerting it in the preſent work.
It is an European Inſect, and in particular is found in the Pine foreſts of Germany. Roeſel has figured it with the larva and pupa, [20] in the plate above quoted; and as we may, perhaps, never meet with it in that ſtate, we conceived the copies of them in the annexed plate, would at leaſt be ſatisfactory to ſuch ſubſcribers as have not the works of that German author.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Roſtrum inflected. Antennae longer than the thorax. One wing-caſe folded over the other. Feet formed for running.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Black. Wing-caſes variegated with black and white; a ſemi-circular white ſpace in the middle. Wings tranſparent and whitiſh.
The natural ſize is repreſented at Fig. I.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennae taper from the baſe. Wings in general deflexed when at reſt. Fly by night.
* * Noctua.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Thorax creſted. Wings deflexed; firſt pair greyiſh, with a double ferruginous arch; at the baſe, and another in an oppoſite direction near the apex.
This Inſect is remarkable for a fanciful kind of marking that encircles the eyes, and ſeems to reſemble a pair of ſpectacles. It is found in the winged ſtate the fourth week in June.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennae taper from the baſe. Wings in general deflexed when at reſt. Fly by night.
* * Noctua.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Wings deflexed, greyiſh: two undulated white waves acroſs the anterior pair: a white ſpace in the middle, having a lunar black mark in its center.
A ſcarce ſpecies; it is found on the nut-tree.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Head lengthened out. Upper jaw arched. Palpi two, curved, longer than the head. Proboſcis ſhort, and bent inwards.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Shining black. Wings whitiſh, with a central dark ſpot in the anterior margin. Thighs ferruginous.
We met with both ſexes of this uncommon Inſect in Coombe Wood, Surry, in the beginning of June, 1798.—The ſpecimen Fabricius deſcribed was taken in this country alſo, May 13, on a fruit-tree.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennae ſetaceous. Jaws advanced and armed with teeth. Eyes prominent. Thorax roundiſh and margined.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Greeniſh, bronzed, with many excavated round ſpots on the wing-caſes.
We found this beautiful ſpecies in ſome plenty in a little marſhy ſpot behind the town of Newton, on the ſea ſhore of Glamorgan⯑ſhire. Gmelin ſays it is found in wet places, and obſerves that its colour often varies.
It is a minute inſect, and is repreſented magnified in the annexed plate.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennae clubbed at the ends. Wings erect when at reſt. Fly by day.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Wings dentated, fulvous, with black ſpots. Twenty ſilver ſpots on the under ſide of the poſterior wings.
A very beautiful and not uncommon Britiſh ſpecies; the Larva feeds on the Violet, &c.; it is of a dirty black colour, ſpotted with brown, and armed with long ſpines, as in P. Antiopa. This Larva is found in May, changes to the pupa ſtate the latter end of the ſame month, and appears twenty-one days after a winged inſect.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennae either ſetaceous, or furniſhed at the end with a perfoli⯑ated capitulum. Hind feet formed for ſwimming, and hairy.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Black brown. Thorax yellow with two black points: wing-caſes variegated with yellow and brown.
Fabricius deſcribes this as a German inſect. It has not been figured by any author, and is uncommon in Great Britain. Lives in the water.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennae taper from the baſe. Wings in general deflexed when at reſt. Fly by night.
* Noctua.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Thorax creſted. Wings deflexed: white, faſciated and ſpotted with black in a ſomewhat quadrangular manner.
Phalaena Abiſinthii is certainly an elegant ſpecies, and particularly intereſting as a native of this country. A few years ſince it was very highly eſteemed by collectors of Engliſh natural hiſtory, and at pre⯑ſent it holds a diſtinguiſhed rank amongſt the more valuable inſects of our cabinets. Has been found on ſome wormwood in Bunhill⯑fields, about twenty years ago.
[36]The larva is beautifully variegated with red, and tender ſhades of green and yellow on a whitiſh ground: it feeds on the wormwood, and becomes a pupa within a caſe, or ſpinning. Found in the winged ſtate in July.
* * Saperda.
GENERIC CHARCTER. Antennae articulated, tapering towards the ends. Thorax either armed with ſpines, or gibbous. Wing-caſes throughout of equal breadth.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Cylindrical: Thorax without ſpines, yellow, with two black ſpots. Wing-caſes grey with linear ſtreaks of excavated black points.
This inſect is deſcribed and figured, by ſome of the continental writers on entomology, as a native of France, Italy, and Germany, but has not, we believe, been hitherto noticed as a Britiſh ſpecies. Like other local inſects it is ſaid to be extremely common in the Iſle of Ely, Cambridgeſhire, and perhaps is not found in any other part of the country.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennae taper from the baſe. Wings in general deflexed when at reſt. Fly by night.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Thorax ſmooth. Wings depreſſed, yellow, with two dark blue ſpots on the anterior pair.
The larva of this ſpecies rarely occurs, and the winged Inſect is not common. Linnaeus has taken his specific character of this Moth from the four blue ſpots on the anterior wings: it is therefore neceſ⯑ſary to obſerve, that the other ſex has no ſuch ſpots, and has erro⯑neouſly been made a diſtinct ſpecies by the ſame author, becauſe it was deſtitute of them.—Found in the winged ſtate in May and June.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennae taper from the baſe. Wings in general deflexed when at reſt. Fly by night.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Brown: an irregular pale ſtreak acroſs the anterior pair, and a ſmaller one near the baſe. A ſingle pale ſtreak acroſs the poſterior pair.
We ſeldom meet with this intereſting ſpecies, for it is found both in the larva and perfect ſtate in the ſeaſon, when few collectors are diſpoſed to ſeek for it. It feeds on the white-thorn, becomes a pupa in November, and the Moth appears in December as its trivial Engliſh name implies.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennae moniliform. Elytra not half the length of the abdomen. Wings folded, and concealed under the elytra.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Black. Wing-caſes, antennae, and legs red.
Found in general in moiſt or ſandy places.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennae taper from the baſe. Wings in general deflexed when at reſt. Fly by night.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER. Wings deflexed greyiſh: a broad ferruginous ſpace acroſs the an⯑terior wings, marked in the middle with two black points encircled with white.
Found on the nut-tree in Coombe Wood in the larva ſtate in May: and formed a fine web within the leaves, where it became a pupa. The Moth appeared in July.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennae taper from the baſe. Wings in general deflexed when at reſt. Fly by night.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER. Antennae feathered; ſetaceous at the apex. Wings angulated, green, with two equidiſtant whitiſh bars acroſs: margin of alternate ſpots of brown and white.
A very common and pretty little ſpecies. Is found on the jaſ⯑mine and honeyſuckle.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennae taper from the baſe. Wings in general deflexed when at reſt. Fly by night.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Thorax creſted. Wings incumbent. Firſt pair variegated brown and grey. Second pair yellow, with a black band near the margin.
The larva of this beautiful, though common Moth, is found in the month of May, feeding on the roots of graſs, &c. &c.; changes to the pupa, and appears in the winged ſtate in Auguſt.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennae clubbed at the end. Wings erect when at reſt. Fly [...] day.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Wings indented. Upper ſide fulvous brown with black ſpots. [...] border of ſilver ſpots on the underſide.
An elegant ſpecies. Is common in woods, and appears in the [...]inged ſtate in May.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennae ſetaceous. Thorax heart-ſhaped truncated at the apex. [...]lytra margined.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER. AND SYNONYMS. No wings. Elytra rugged, with ſeveral longitudinal ridges, green margin reddiſh gold. Legs black.
The Carabus nitens is a very rare and recently diſcovered ſpecies [...]n Great Britain. It is leſs uncommon in other parts of Europe, [...]nd eſpecially in Germany, from whence the Engliſh collectors are uſually furniſhed with ſpecimens for their cabinets.
The ſmalleſt figure denotes the natural ſize.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennae thickeſt in the middle. Wings deflected when at reſt. Fly ſlow, morning and evening.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Wings entire, variegated with yellow and purple. Body red, with white ſpots on the under ſide.
A ſpecimen of this Inſect in the winged ſtate was found in Hyde Park this ſummer; it is one of the ſcarceſt of the Britiſh Sphinges, and was found by Harris many years ſince in ‘meadows—Oſterly Wood, near Brentford, May 27th.’
[56]The larva is of an uniform dull brown, with three eye-ſhaped ſpots on each ſide, and is furniſhed with a tail; it feeds on the epilobium, and changes to Chryſalis about the end of July.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Head depreſſed or flat. Mouth armed with two teeth, and fur⯑niſhed with four palpi. Three ſtemmata. Wings deflected. An⯑tennae long as the thorax, anterior part of which is lengthened out and cylindrical. Tail of the female terminated by a flexible crooked briſtle.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER. Thorax cylindrical; a brown marginal ſpot on each wing.
We can ſcarcely conceive what motive induced Fabricius to con⯑found the Raphidia Ophiopſis and notata as one ſpecies in his laſt work, after having deſcribed both with accuracy in his former pub⯑lication: it appears indeed, that his names were erroneous, and his ſynonyms miſapplied; but it was needleſs to correct one error by committing another.
[58]The firſt ſpecies of Raphidiae known, was figured in the works of Roeſel, Die Fleine Landhaelſige. Lanlibelle fig. 6. 7. pl. 21, it was deſcribed in the Fauna Suecica, by Linnaeus, under the ſpecific name Ophiopſis; and again in the Syſtema Natura of the ſame author, with a reference to the only figure of it then extant, that of Roeſel. Hence it appears that the true Raphidia Ophiopſis of Linnaeus, is that figured by this author. In later editions, the works of Sulzer, Schaeffer, Geoffroy and Scopoli, were added to the ſynonyms, but the figures thus quoted, evidently include two ſpecies, one with wings perfectly clear, the other having a marginal black ſpot on each. Linnaeus ſeems to have conſidered the two as varieties of the ſame ſpecies, but he is evidently miſtaken, for the two ſexes of both kinds are now clearly aſcertained.
Fabricius has followed Linnaeus in his Species Inſectorum, has indiſcriminately adopted all the ſynonyms, and thereby confounded all the figures of the two Raphidae that have been noticed by authors on European Inſects, under the name of Ophiopſis: and after this he deſcribes that very ſpecies which has ſpots on the wings as a new and unfigured kind, under the name of notata. Thorace cylindrico alis macula marginali fuſca. Habitat in anglia. Had he referred to the volumes of Roeſel, he muſt have known that his notata was the Linnaean Ophiopſis, and if either Inſect was new, it muſt certainly be that deſtitute of ſpots.
Gmelin in his Syſtema Natura perpetuates the ſame error; he follows the Species Inſectorum of Fabricius, and gives the characters thus: "R. Ophiopſis alis immaculatis. Fab." & ‘R. notata, alis macula marginali fuſca. Fab.’ but whilſt the works of Gmelin are preparing for publication, Fabricius alters his opinion; and in the laſt work. Syſt. Ent. emendet et aucta, aboliſhes his ſpecific cha⯑racters, and merely ſays there is no difference between his former ſpecies "Raphidia notata, nullo modo diſtincta." Fab. Ent. Syſt. T. 2. p. 99.
[59]As we have all the ſpecies deſcribed by thoſe authors before us, we ſhall endeavour to reſtore them to order, and that by retaining the former deſcriptions of Fabricius, changing the names, and di⯑viding the ſynonyms, for both are ſufficiently characteriſtic; that with marginal ſpots is figured by Roeſel, Schaeffer and Scopoli, and the immaculated or clear-winged kind by Geoffroy and Sulzer. The firſt we deem the true R. Ophiopſis, and the latter as a diſtinct inſect, which may be called the Raphidia Immaculata with propriety.
Both ſpecies of this ſingular creature are extremely rare. Geoffroy, ſpeaking of the unſpotted kind, ſays he never found it but twice, and then in woods *. The larva is unknown; in the pupa ſtate it is furniſhed with legs, and runs faſt.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennae taper from the baſe. Wings in general deflexed when at reſt. Fly by night.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Wings incumbent, brown. Two white ſpots on the firſt wings; one placed on the anterior, and the other nearly oppoſite, on the poſterior margin. Female without wings.
The Phalaena Gononſtigma, and Phalaena Antiqua are very ſimilar both in the larva and winged ſtate, as well as in the extraordinary appearance of the apterous female. Hence former collectors of Engliſh inſects denominated them trivially the Scarce and Common Vapourer Moths. It is evident from thoſe alluſive names, that the [62] latter was more frequently taken than the other; at this time Pha⯑laena Antiqua is found very common, but the latter ſo rarely, that we never met with it, in the winged ſtate, till this ſummer.
Once found the larva on an oak in Coombe Wood, Surry, but it died ſoon after.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennae taper from the baſe. Wings in general deflexed when at reſt. Fly by night.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Thorax creſted, wings deflexed, dark and clouded. A white kidney-ſhaped ſpot, with a yellow lunar pupil in the middle on each.
A very common inſect; and is often obſerved near fruit trees.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennae taper from the baſe. Wings in general deflexed when at reſt. Fly by night.
* Alucita. Linn.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Wings divided into plumes, brown, barred with white. Anterior wings conſiſts of two feathers, poſterior pair of three.
The larva of this very ſingular creature is ſaid to feed on the convolvulus and Geo rivali. We have conſidered it as one of the ſcarceſt ſpecies of the Plume-Moths found in this country: our ſpecimen was taken in Epping Foreſt, in June It is a moſt beau⯑tiful object for the microſcope.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennae thickeſt in the middle. Wings deflected when at reſt. Fly ſlow, morning and evening.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Anterior wings greeniſh, with five red ſpots. Poſterior wings red, bordered with fine blue.
This beautiful little ſpecies may be eaſily confounded with the Sphinx Filipendula, figured in the ſixth plate of this work; its ge⯑neral reſemblance is ſtriking, and it differs chiefly in the number of red ſpots that adorn the ſuperior wings. Sphinx Filipendula has in⯑variably ſix ſpots on each wing, and the latter as conſtantly only five.
[68]Some readers may be inclined to deem it a mere variety of the ſort, from its general appearance, but it will be perceived by the ſynonyms quoted above, that all the continental writers on the ſub⯑ject admit it as a diſtinct ſpecies; nor can we for a moment heſitate to agree in the ſame opinion.
It is rare in this country, and the larva unknown, or at leaſt is undeſcribed.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennae clubbed at the end. Wings erect when at reſt. Fly by day.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Wings dentated above, brown beneath, firſt pair yellowiſh, with a black eye-ſhaped mark, ſecond pair browniſh, with two ſmaller eye-ſpots.
Linnaeus deſcribed the two ſexes of this Butterfly as diſtinct Species under the names of Janira and Jurtina. The firſt is the male and the latter the female inſect.
[70]The larva is hairy, green, with a lateral white line and bifid tail, and feeds on graſs. It is very common in the winged ſtate, fre⯑quenting meadows, &c. whence it is called the Meadow Brown Butterfly.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennae compoſed of globular articulations which become larger towards the ends.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Black. Thorax and wing-caſes teſtaceous brown, without ſpots.
We have frequently obſerved this ſpecies amongſt the Inſects of Germany, where it is probably not uncommon. In England it is very rare, having been found only by the Rev. John Buriel of Letherinſet, near Holt, Norfolk. In one ſex the thorax is red, in the other black.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Bluiſh green. Antennae black.
Found in June.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennae clubbed at the end. Wings in general erect when at reſt. Fly by day.
Plebeii rurules.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER. Wings entire brown, without ſpots; beneath grey, with a row of eye-ſhaped ſpots.
This pretty Inſect is found late in June. Its larva is unknown.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER. Wings entire brown. An equal marginal row of red ſpots both on the upper and underſide. A black ſpot in the middle of the anterior wings.
This inſect muſt not be confounded with the Papilio Idas of Linnaeus. The Linnaean P. Idas is evidently the female of P. Argus, a circumſtance unknown to that author, who conſiders them as a diſtinct ſpecies from their very diſſimilar appearance. In one ſex the upper ſurface is brown, and in the other a fine blue; this is not, however, peculiar to the P. Argus, for ſeveral of the Papilio tribe known amongſt Engliſh collectors by the trivial name Blues differ in the ſame manner.
We ſuſpect that our Inſect has not been deſcribed by any author; it is certainly unnoticed by Fabricius in his laſt Syſtem of Entomo⯑logy, and the ſpecific name Idas omitted. This name is therefore preferred for our Inſect, which ſeems to approach nearer to the female Argus deſcribed by Linnaeus as Idas, than to any other. Found in May.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennae terminate in a club, which is divided longitudinally into laminae or plates.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Scutellum, thorax and head black. Wing-caſes pale brown, ſtriated, and ſomewhat teſſellated with linear black marks.
Fabricius deſcribes this ſpecies from a ſpecimen in the cabinet of Sir J. Banks, and notes its habitat England. From this circum⯑ſtance we may infer that it is not common in other countries, though we are certain it is a native of Denmark and Germany.
GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennae ſetaceous. Wing deflexed when at reſt. Fly by night.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Thorax creſted. Anterior wings greyiſh, undulated, ſpotted with brown. Poſterior pair crimſon, with two black bars acroſs. Abdomen grey.
In the deſcription of Phalaena Nupta, we have offered ſome re⯑marks on the Sponſa, Nupta, and Pacta of Linnaeus and Fabricius; and have only to add in this place, that an accurate figure of P. Pacta is given in Fueſl. Archiv. tab. 15. fig. 3. This figure is ſmaller than the ſpecies found in Great Britain, and in particular has the upper ſurface of the abdomen crimſon, as authors have de⯑ſcribed it.
[78]The Synonyms of the three ſpecies, as they ſtand in the works of Linnaeus and Fabricius, are very incorrect. We venture to retain that to Roeſel's plate, vol. 4. t. 19. in which the larva we have figured is given.
The Caterpillars feed on the tops of the higheſt Oaks, change to the pupa ſtate in June, and appears a winged Inſect early in the month following.