Our second example of this family is the Silver Y, which may be found in abundance everywhere from June to October. Its fore wings are of a shiny grey colour, beautifully marbled with a rich dark brown; and just below the orbicular spot is a brilliant silvery spot, in form something like the Greek letter γ placed obliquely. The base of the hind wings is grey; along the margin is a broad and dark smoky brown band, and the fringe is very light grey, barred with the dark tint of the band. This moth is commonly driven out of its hiding places among low plants as we walk in waste places, and when thus disturbed it takes a short and rapid flight, generally disappearing so suddenly among the herbage that it is difficult to locate it correctly.
The caterpillar is thickest at the twelfth segment, and tapers gradually from this point towards the head. Its body is green, with several thin longitudinal white stripes, and a thin yellow stripe along the spiracles. It may be found from June to October, feeding on many kinds of low plants.
Family—Euclidiidæ
The Mother Shipton (Euclidia Mi)
Passing over a few small and less important families, we come to the Euclidiidæ, which contains only two British moths. One of these is the Mother Shipton, a very common insect that flies in June.
The fore wings of this species are very dark brown with whitish markings. The latter include a peculiarly tortuous line, the character of which will be made out more easily from our illustration ([Plate XI], fig. 4) than from a written description. The hind wings are
also very dark brown, and rather prettily spotted with an ochreous tint.
The caterpillar is pale grey, with four white stripes, and has only three pairs of claspers. It feeds in May on clovers (Trifolium pratense and T. repens) and other plants.