Volume 14, Plate XXII / Entomology (Insects)

Broad-Bordered Yellow Underwing & Large Sword-Grass Moth

Triphæna Fimbria & Calocampa Exoleta

1. Broad-Bordered Yellow Underwing. Nearly the size of the Great Yellow Underwing, the head, thorax, and forewings greyish or dark liver-coloured with four transverse pale lines and two pale disk rings, the under wings light orange-yellow with a very broad black posterior band not reaching the edge. The large rough ochrey-yellow caterpillar, with a pale dorsal line and black-ringed stigmata, feeds on potato, violet, and primrose, this species found June and July in widely scattered localities.
2. & 3. Large Sword-Grass Moth. Expanding frequently upwards of two inches, the prevailing colour pale ochreous inclining to reddish-brown, the upper wings striated with dusky lines and bearing two ear-shaped black-relieved spots near the middle, the hinder wings dusky-grey, the insect rolling its wings round it like dead wood when made to fall. The beautiful rich green caterpillar feeds on almost any plant but prefers spinach, found in summer and autumn in marshy places.