BRITISH AXD EUROPEAN BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. 



35 



outer transparent area is square. Hinil wings 

 with blue-black margins and nervures, dusted 

 with red beneath. Head and antennae blue- 

 black; back of the head yellow. Collar blue- 

 black, edged with yellow beneath : tegulse 

 bUie-black, edged with yellow internally, and a 

 yellow transverse line behind the scutellum. 

 Abdomen blue-black, with a yellow anal tuft 

 in the male and a blue-black one in the female. 

 Femora and tibiae black, the front of femora 

 being yellow on the inner side. It is rather a 

 scarce species in Central Europe, found sitting 

 on the trunks of oak trees. It appears from 

 Maj- to July. The larva feeds in diseased 

 oak trees. 



S. asiliformis, Rott. The Yellow-legged 

 Clearwing. Fore wings Avith the opaque part 

 blue-black, dusted with orange, and with a 

 yellow spot at the base. Central band bright 

 orange, with straight edges, bordered with black 

 on the inner side. Marginal band concave 

 internally. The outer transparent space is 

 large and broad, and is composed of five cells. 

 The hind wings are black on the margins and 

 nervures and yellow on the costa. The head is 

 black, with white spots in front of the eyes, 

 and is bordered with yellow behind. Antennae 

 blue-black. Tegulae yellow on the inner side. 

 Thorax blue-black, yellow behind. Abdomen 

 blue-black, with yellow lateral spots. Anal tuft 

 l)lack in the male, yellow in the female, below 

 and at the sides of the opposite colours. Tibiae 

 yellow, with the base black. It appears in 

 June and July, and is distributed over Central 

 and Southern Europe. It is found in many 

 parts of England where oaks are plentiful. 

 The larva feeds in the stumps of oak trees. 



S. myopaeformis, Bork. The Red-belted 

 Clearwing. Fore wings with the opaque part 

 blue-black, sometimes dusted with yellow ex- 

 ternally. On the under side the margins and 

 central spot are thickly dusted with orange- 

 The hind wings have the costa and triangular 

 spot dusted with orange beneath. Head 

 blue-black, with a white spot in front of the 

 eyes. Thorax black, with large yellow spots 

 on the under side in front. Abdomen blue- 

 black, with a broad central vermilion ring. 

 Anal tuft black in the male, yellow in the 

 female. Legs steel-blue. The moth is common 

 in gardens and orchards in many parts of 



Great Britain, including the suburbs of London, 

 and is fond of sitting on fruit trees and shrubs. 

 It appears in June and July. The larva feeds 

 in the bark of apple trees. 



S. culiciformis, Linn. The Large Red- 

 belted Clearwing. PL XVI. fig. 8. is distin- 

 guished from myopaformis by its larger size and 

 by having the inner margin of the fore wings 

 reddish towards the base. It is widely distri- 

 buted in Northern and Central Europe, and is 

 common in birch-woods in many parts of the 

 British Isles. The larva feeds in the inner 

 layer of the bark of birch trees, and especially 

 in stumps, often gregarious!}'. 



S. stomoxyformis, Hiibn. Fore wings 

 with the opaque portions blue-black, slightly 

 dusted with orange ; central band broad; costa 

 yellow. Thorax black, with the inner margins 

 of the tegulae orange. Abdomen blue-black, 

 with a red belt across the middle. Anal tuft 

 blue-black, with the sides white beneath. Legs 

 blue-black, the front tibiae spotted with orange 

 above. It is a rare insect, which is found in 

 Southern and Eastern Europe in June and July. 



S. formicaeformis, Esp. The Red-tipped 

 Clearwing. Fore wings with blue-black ner- 

 vures, the costal and inner margins brilliant red, 

 the hind margins with a broad vermilion band 

 traversed by black nervures, and bounded 

 externally by a narrow black band. The outer 

 transparent space is composed of five cells. 

 Tlie hind wings have the margins black. The 

 abdomen is blue-black, with yellow sides, and 

 a broad central vermilion band above and 

 two beneath. The anal tuft is edged with 

 white at the sides. The front tibiae are white 

 on the inner side, the others white in the 

 middle and at the end, and all the spines are 

 white. The moth is found in many parts of 

 Europe, but is extremely local. It was at one 

 time common in the neighbourhood of London, 

 on willows and osiers. It appears from May 

 to August. The larva feeds in the stems and 

 stumps of osier, and assumes the pupa state 

 in Spring. 



II. Species in which ihe tvanspavcnt space of 

 the fore wings does not extend to the transverse 

 band, and is generally more or less thickly covered 

 it'ith scales, especially in the female. 



S. ichneumoniformis, Fabr. The Six- 

 belted Clearwing. Fore wings with the opaque 



