NYCTALEMON PATROCLUS.Plate VII. fig. 1. (Upper Side). Plate VIII. fig. 1. (Under Side). Order: Lepidoptera. Section: Nocturna. Family: UraniidÆ, Westw. Genus. Nyctalemon, Dalman. (Prod. Monogr. Castn.) Urania. Divis. C. Latr. et God. Papilio (Equit. Achiv. Linn.), Noctua, Fabr. (Subgenus. Orontes, Swainson, Zool. Illustr. 2d. series, 125.) Nyctalemon Patroclus. Alis supra fuscis, subtus griseis fusco undatis, utrinque fasci communi mediÁ rect albÂ, posticis caudatis. (Expans. Alar. fere 6 unc.) Syn. Papilio (Eq. Achiv.) Patroclus, Linn. Syst. Nat. 2. 749. No. 24. Cramer, Pap. pl. 198. fig. A. pl. 109. fig. A. B. Herbst. Pap. tab. 54. fig. 2. 3. tab. 55. f. 1. Noctua Patroclus, Fab. Ent. Syst. 3. 2. p. 8. No. 2. Urania Patroclus, Latr. et God. Enc. MÉth. ix. 710. Habitat: China (Drury). Java, Amboyna (Enc. MÉth.). Upper Side. The antennÆ are about an inch long, slender, setaceous, and gradually diminishing from the base to the extremities. The head is small. The thorax is clothed with long soft hair, and, Under Side. The bars or lines, which form the triangle on the upper side, are not visible on this; but the inclosed triangular field appears of a light greyish brown, darker at the borders, and thickly beset with small brown streaks, parallel to each other, and surrounding the body. The costal nerve of the anterior wings composes an edging in each, about an eighth of an inch broad, which diminishes as it approaches the external angle, white, and beautifully marked with black streaks, but smaller than those seen on the upper side. Outside the triangle, both in the anterior and posterior wings, is a broad border of white, which softens into a brown, but lighter than that on the upper side. Both in the white, and in the brown, are some small dashes of black, very thinly dispersed. The internal margin of the posterior wings is furnished with a deep fringe, and the black marks situated below the abdomen, are larger and broader than those on the upper side. The tails are whitish, bordered with brown, and appear as on the upper side. This is one of those anomalous forms, whereof examples occur in every tribe of animals, baffling the skill of the most profound systematists. By LinnÆus, and many other authors, it was considered as a butterfly, and certainly the genus Urania (in which it is placed by Latreille), as we learn from Mr. W. S. MacLeay's valuable memoir upon that genus, published in the first volume of the Transactions of the Zoological Society of London, is composed of day-flying species. Fabricius, however, regarded it as a moth, belonging to the genus Noctua, and nearly related to the genus Erebus, of which the Erebus Odora, figured in the third plate of the present volume, is a conspicuous species; and when we examine the structure of the palpi, and the spurs upon the posterior tibiÆ, we find good reason for adopting this relation, admitting, at the same time, that the group in question is one which, from its various affinities and analogies, it is very difficult to assign to any single section. CALLIMORPHA PHYLLIRA.Plate VII. fig. 2. Order: Lepidoptera. Section: Nocturna. Family: ArctiidÆ, Steph. Genus. Callimorpha, Latr. Leach. Hypercompa, Steph. Heraclia, Hubner. PhalÆna Bombyx, Drury. Callimorpha Phyllira. Alis anticis nigris lineis albidis apicalibus, literam B referentibus; posticis sanguineis maculis nigris. (Expans. Alar. 1 unc. 6 lin.) Syn. PhalÆna (Bombyx) Phyllira, Drury, Append. v. 2. Olivier, Enc. MÉth. 5. 94. 236. Abbot and Smith, Ins. Georg. tab. 64. Habitat: New York; taken on the 12th day of July. Upper Side. The antennÆ are black, small, and thread-like, near half an inch long; the head and thorax cream-coloured. Behind the head are two black spots, and on the thorax are three others, longer, and running parallel with it. The abdomen is scarlet, and on each segment is a black mark, forming a row, united together in the middle. All the wings are entire. The anterior ones black, with cream-coloured cilia; the interior edge, and part of the anterior, next the body, are margined with cream colour. A line of the same colour, runs from the body, parallel with, and near to the posterior edge, quite to the external one, where, suddenly returning, in a zigzag manner, it ends at the anterior edge, near the tips, and forms two angles, like a B, with a line placed across its top, or upper part. The posterior wings are scarlet, having a thin border of black, running along their external edges, with four black spots above it, those nearest the abdomen, being in shape like hearts. Under Side. Like the upper: but the colours are more faint and less distinct. The caterpillar of this species is brown, with small dorsal and lateral diamond-shaped yellow spots, emitting fascicles of hairs. It feeds, according to Abbot, on the cross-wort, corn, peas, wheat, &c. One of the caterpillars spun up on the 4th of April, and the moth appeared on the 29th. Another spun up on the 27th of May, and came out on the 16th of June. It continues breeding during most part of the summer. SPILOSOMA NAIS.Plate VII. fig. 3. Order: Lepidoptera. Section: Nocturna. Family: ArctiidÆ, Steph. Genus. Spilosoma, Steph. Arctia, p. Schrank. Eyprepia, p. Ochs. PhalÆna (Noctua), Drury. Spilosoma Nais. Alis anticis nigris lineis tribus longitudinalibus fusco-fulvescentibus, duabus superioribus externÈ connexis, posticis pallidioribus margine irregulari nigro. (Expans. Alar. 1 unc. 9 lin.) Syn. PhalÆna (Noctua) Nais, Drury, Append. v. 2 Habitat: New York; taken on the 24th day of June. Upper Side. The antennÆ are black, and pectinated; the head and body are of a light yellowish brown. On the thorax are three black marks, running parallel with it, with several black spots on the abdomen. The anterior wings are black; the cilia of a light yellowish brown, which colour is continued along the interior edges, up to the body; some broad lines, of the same colour, occupy about two-thirds of the wing, running parallel with the anterior and interior edges. The posterior wings are of the same light yellowish brown, with a faint black spot on each, having a broad irregular border, of a faint black. Under Side. Exactly like the upper, but the colours are less brilliant. This species is nearly related to our common British species, Spilosoma lubricepida. |