THE NATURAL HISTORY OF BRITISH INSECTS VOL 07, DONOVAN

THE

NATURAL HISTORY
O

F

BRITISH INSECTS;
IN

EXPLAINING THEM
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 EIVING SPECIMENS,

By

E.

DONOVAN.

VOL.

VII.

LONDON:
Printed for the Author,

And

for F,

and

CRivington, N°

62, St,

M DCC XCVIIL

Paul's Church-Yard.


QL

.

St*37
M

S9

[

PLATE

3

CCLXXIV;

FIG.
PHAL^ENA humuli,
I. II.

Ghost MoTti.

GENERIC CHARACTER.
Antennae taper from the bafe

:

wings

in general defle&ed

when

at

Fly by night.

reft.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND

SYNONYMS.
Female yellow, with fulvous marks.

PhaljENA Humuli
Syji.

:

alis flavis

fulvo

Male fnowy white.

ftriatis

maris niveis.

Linn*

Nat. 2. Si3. £4>.—Fn. Sv. 1147.

Hepialus Humuli:

tab. Ent. SyJi.T. S. p. 2.5. fp.

1.

Degeer, Inf. 1. tab.t. fig. 5, 6.
Sulz. Hifl. Inf. tab. 22. Jig.

1.

The male and female of Phalana Humuli are very dimmilar, and
may eafily be miftaken for diftina fpecies. The male is perfeaiy
the abdomen, antennas, and margin of
white, with a glofs like fatin,
The female is of a
are reddifh brown.
the wings excepted, for thefe
fine yellow

fomewhat

colour,

with feveral fulvous or orange marks

;

and

is

larger than the other fex.

roots of the Burdock and bop.
larva lives in the earth, at the
with a brown head, and has
colour,
of a very pale or whitilh

The
It is

fixteen feet.

fs

no.


PLATE

60

F

CCLXXIV.

G.

I

III.

PHAL^NA

H ECTA.

Golden Swift Moth.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND

SYNONYMS.
Wings

yellow, the anterior pair with

two yellow bands of

inter-

rupted dots.

Phal^naHecta:

lutea, alls deflexis

primoribus

:

Fn. Sv.

albidis obliquis punctata interruptis.

Gmel. Linn.

Hepialus Hectus.

S\jl.

This fpecies

is

1

148.—

Nat. Ent. p. 2617. fp. 85.

Fab. Ent. Syji. T.S.p. 2. p. 6. Sp. 4.

Degeer. Inf.

The

duabus

fafciis

7. fig. 11.'

1. tab.

common

in the fkiits of

colours in the male In feci: are

more

woods

in

May

and June.

vivid than the female, and

the fpots on the anterior wings in particular are of fuch a beautiful

yellow, that Englilh collegers have termed this kind

the

Golden

Swift Moth.

It

commences

its

flight earlier in the

the nofturnal lepidopterous infefts.

Its

evening than any other of

manner of

lingular, and attracted the notice of Linnseus,
it

to the

The

who

flying

is

ver

aptly compare!

motion of the pendulum of a clock.

larva

is

unknown

*.

it

is

fuppofed to feed on the roots
of

plants under ground.

PLATE






15

C

1

PLATE

CXIV.

PHALiENA COSSUS.
Goat Moth,
lepidoptera.

GENERIC CHARACTER.
Wings

Antennas taper from the bafe.
at reft.

m

general contracted

when

Fly by night.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER,

AND
STNONTMS-

1

Grey> with

fliort

black irregular curved lines on the upper wings.

Antennas feathered.

Phaljena Cossus.

Bomhyx

elinguis,

thorace

Nat.

PHALiENA

2.

fafcia

504. 40.

pe&inicornis elinguis,

alis

nigris.

Geoff.

Inf. 2.

nebulofis,

deflexis

edit.

Linn.

Syjl.

10.

albo cinereis,

nebulofis

Degeer

alis

poftica atra.

ftriis tranfverfis

abdomine annulis

albis.

102. 4.

Inf. Vers.

Merian. Eur op.

Germ.

2. I.

268.

I.

tab. 36.

Roef. Inf. i.phal. 2. tab. 18.

Reaum.
(

Inf. 1. tab. ij.fig. I. 5*

Albin. Inf. tab. 35. fig. 56.

Lyonet Traite de Chenille.
Schceff. Icon. tab. 61. fig. 1. 2.

Goed. Inf. 2. tab, 33.

The


PLATE

16

The

Caterpillar of the

of willow trees

we

;

it is faid

Goat Moth

CXIV.
feeds

to be alfo found in the

have never difcovered any

internal fubftance

on the

body of the oak, but

in fuch a fituatiom

The

eggs are

-laid

as foon as

the Caterpillars are hatched,

they begin to pierce into the folid wood.

In moft parts of England

in the crevices of the trees

Worms

Auger

they are called

timber appearing as

if

;

;

;

when

full

fed

it

very flefhy, and without hairs
fharp forceps

which

it

;

the cafe

is

is

the head

;

web

;

it

Fly

;

it

armed with very

of wood and faw-duft

infide is
it

transformed

the body appears

black, and

bits

is

lined

pafTes to the

with a

pupa

fine

ftate in

has perforated in the caterpillar ftate, within
three

or four inches of the opening
ftate before the

is

the

.finooth white filmy fubftance, like fattin

which

before

four inches long,

compofed of

unites with a ftrong

the cavity

in the

bored with that Inftrument.

It lives in the Caterpillar ftate three years

to a pupa

make

the holes which they

is

:

it

remains only two months in that

produced.

Is found in chryfalis in

May

;

in the fly ftate, the latter

end of June,

©r in July.

PLATE





/J1


[

27

]

PLATE

CLII.

PHAL^NA AESCULI.
Wood

Leopard Moth.

Lepidoptera.

GENERIC CHARACTER.
Antennae taper from the bafe.
reft.

Wings

in general deflexed

when at

Fly by night.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER
A

SS

SYNONYMS.
Wings

white, with

many

dark blue round fpots.

Six fpotsonthe

Thorax.

Phalana Aesculi

:

elinguis lasvis nivea, antennis thorace brevio-

ribus, alis punftis numerofis cceruleo nigris, thorace
fenis.

Bombyx

Man/.

Aejculi.

Hepialus Aejculi.

Lin. Syji. Nat. 2. 833. 83

— Fn. Sv.

1

150.

Inf. 2. 116. 85.

Fab. Spec. Inf. 2. 208. 146. 4.

Coflus Aefculi.

Wien. Vsrzeichn.tab.

/it.

prof. AclaSoc. BeroJ.phyf.

3. tab. I. fig- 1. 2.

Pod. Inf. 88. 16.

Wood

It is to

Leopard Moth.

Harris

Inf. ang'l.

a very Angular and trivial circumftance

the fpecimens of

both the male and female of

They were obferved

we

are indebted for

this

rare fpecies.

together on the bark of an elm tree in the Mall

in St.

James's Park, by fome ignorant perfons,

their

extraordinary appearance,

who

being

terrified at

attempted to deftroy them,

but a

gentleman


PLATE

88

who happened

gentleman

by

juft before

come out of

in a raoft perfeft ftate,
loft

one of

its

We muff

conclude they could
chryfalides, the female being

and the male equally

it

may

fine,

except that

it

had

upper wings.

readers for the minutenefs with

but,

their

it

ferve to remind

detailed fuch trifling

which we have

can indeed afford very

many who

lecting Infects, that their occafional

of our

fcientific part

more

claim the indulgence of the

circumftances;

from touching

We

them, took them up, and prefervedthem.

have but

having

the fame inftant,

at

curiofity or lefs apprehenfion of danger

more

either

to pafs

CLIL

little

amufement

to them,

are not in the habit of col-

endeavours would be likely to

extend the Science of Entomology; for

often happens that the

it

moft affiduous Naturalifts are indebted to fuch perfons for the

rarefl

fpecimens their cabinets poffefs.

The Moths were found

late in

On

examining the crevices

we found

a quantity of the eggs;

June.

of fome of the trees near the fpot,

they were rather of an oval form, and linked together like a chain,
as

fhewn in the

plate;

and having carefully preferved them in a

branch of a plumb-tree * under the bark,

fome young

to fee

owing

to the

foon

after,

fize.

The

produced

Caterpillars

in a

we had

the fatisfaclion

But

few weeks.

want of proper food or good management they

except two or three, and thefe never arrived
Caterpillar

from which the Figure

the

in

either

all died.

at their full

annexed

is

copied, was found under the bark of one of the elm-trees in St.

James's Park, but being difturbed,
Caterpillar

makes

a

cafe, of the

and cements together, and in
The head of the Caterpillar

this
is

it

never became a Pupa.

it

duff,

of the

lies

wood which

it

The

gnaws,

concealed beneath the bark.

hard, and the

firft

ring

is

furnifhed

with a ilrong horny fubilance,

Harris, about twenty years ago, was

Moth from

the

fo fortunate as to breed
this
and we are not acquainted with
any

find, when the Plant of an InfeS b
unknown,
when they rcfufe other food.

* T frequently
the Plumb-tree,

Caterpillar,

that thev will live

on

fimilar

PLATE
fimilar inftance

fo that

were

it

is

given, but without either

it

vol. 4. a

Pupa or Moth,

not for the reference and authority of Linnaeus, and

fince his time, of Fabricius,

Infeft

29

In the Plates of Roefel,

fince that time.

Figure of the Caterpillar

CLII.

belonged.

The

it

eggs

would fcarcely be known

we have

to

what

not found either figured or

defcribed, though they are fo very Angularly united together, and

would certainly have been noticed by

the ingenious Roefel if he had

met with them.

The Antennae

of the female are fetaceous, or

that part of the male

is

both lingular and

like a briftle,

beautiful

;

it is

but

elegantly

feathered next the bafe. and terminates in a briftle, like the female.

PLATE