_The Poplar Grey_ (_Acronycta megacephala_) This is also a very common moth, to be found in all the southern and midland counties, wherever poplars abound, during June and July. [Illustration: FIG. 140.--THE POPLAR GREY.] Its fore wings are grey, marbled with a very dark grey. A little inside the middle of these wings, near the costa, is a round spot with a dark centre. This spot is represented in a large number of the _Noctuae_, and is known as the _orbicular_. It will be observed that in the present species it is very distinct. The caterpillar is dark grey, with a line of black dots down the back; and it has a number of little warts, bearing hairs. On the back of the eleventh segment is a rather large pale spot. It feeds during August on various species of poplar, and changes to a chrysalis in a crevice of the bark. _The Figure of Eight_ (_Diloba caeruleocephala_) The fore wings are brownish grey. Near the middle of the wing, but nearer the costa than the inner margin, are two whitish spots that resemble the figure 8. The hind wings are dull brownish grey, with darker wing rays, and a dark spot near the centre. [Illustration: FIG. 141.--THE FIGURE OF EIGHT.] This moth is common in all parts, and flies during September. The caterpillar emerges from the egg in spring, and is fully grown in May or June. It is of a very pale colour--yellowish or greenish--with a broad and broken yellow stripe down the back, and a bluish or greenish stripe on each side. Its head is blue (hence the specific name) with two black spots. It feeds on the hawthorn (_Crataegus oxyacantha_) and various fruit trees; and on the twigs of these (especially the hawthorn) the little clusters of eggs may be seen during the winter. Family--LEUCANIIDAE In this family we have a number of rather small moths, with, generally, no markings on their wings, save, perhaps, a few dots or streaks. Their larvae feed principally on grasses and reeds, and change to the chrysalis state either in a cocoon among the food plants, or under the surface of the ground. Several of these insects are very common, and most of them abound in fens and marshes. _The Brown-line Bright-eye_ (_Leucania conigera_) The fore wings are yellowish brown. The 'brown line' is a transverse line parallel with the hind margin, and distant from it about one-fourth the length of the wing. Another dark brown line, describing a sharp bend, passes across the wing near the base. The 'bright eye' is a light spot just outside the centre of the wing, nearer the costa than the inner margin. This is another of those marks that occur very constantly in the wings of the _Noctuae_. It lies beyond the _orbicular_ spot, and is usually somewhat kidney-shaped, and is consequently named the _reniform_. [Illustration: FIG. 142.--THE BROWN-LINE BRIGHT-EYE.]