68 



BRITISH AXD EUROPEAN BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. 



Europe in May and August. The larva is 

 brown, with two warts on the head, two small 

 pointed ones on the third, and two larger 

 ones on the fourth segment, as well as a pair 

 of small ones on the twelfth. On the back 

 is a white spot with a black dot in the middle. 

 It feeds in June and September on sloe. The 

 pupa is slender, and of a brown colour, bluish 

 at the end. 



FAMILY 



NOTODONTID^. 



Fore wings narrow with twelve nervures; 

 hind wings with short fringes, a frenulum, 

 and two submedian nervures. There are seven 

 and occasionally eight nervures. Nervure 5 is 

 of uniform thickness and midway between 4 and 

 6; it is sometimes wanting. Nervures 6 and 7 

 are stalked. The costal nervure is free from 

 the base. The antennae are bipectinated in 

 the males; slightly pectinated, serrated, or 

 ciliated in the females. They are middle- 

 sized moths which fl}' by night, and rest on 

 trees, fences, etc., in the daytime, with sloping 

 wings, and generally with the front legs ex- 

 tended. The larvae have fourteen or sixteen 

 legs, the claspers being sometimes wanting, 

 or replaced by caudal appendages. The pupae 

 are short and stout. 



Genus Harpyia, Ochs. 



Middle-sized or large moths, the wings 

 with the margins entire, and with black spots 

 on the hind margins between the nervures. 

 The fore wings have twelve nervures, nervure 

 8 rising from 7, 9 from 8, 10 from 7, and 11 

 from the subcostal nervure. At the origin of 

 nervures 6 and 7 an appendicular cell is formed 

 by a small transverse nervure. Hind wings with 

 eight nervures, nervure 5 being as thick as the 

 rest. The antennae are bipectinated to the tips. 

 In the female thej' are shortly pectinated. The 

 eyes are large. There are no ocelli, and the 

 front is covered with erect hairs. The legs are 

 covered with long hair. The female has a 

 woolly anal tuft. The larvae have a long fork 

 instead of claspers. There is a hump on 

 the fourth or fifth segment, a triangular spot 

 on the neck, and a broader one reaching to 

 the extremity. The pupae are formed in a 



strong cocoon, constructed of wood-shavings, 

 on trees. 



H. bicuspis, Borkh. The Alder Kitten. 

 F"ore wings white, with scattered black dots, 

 and a row of similar ones at the base. There 

 is a blackish band dusted with white and 

 yellow, which is broader at the inner margin 

 than at the costa, and which is bounded on 

 both sides by a dark irregular line, bordered 

 with yellow. In the centre is a black spot, 

 behind it two faint zigzag transverse lines, 

 and at the apex a black spot dusted with 

 paler. On the hind margin is a row of black 

 dots. The hind wings are white, with a row 

 of black dots on the hind margin, a black 

 transverse stripe, which ends at the anal angle 

 as a black spot, and an indistinct central spot. 

 The antennae are black, with a white shaft. 

 The thorax is orange, with four black trans- 

 verse stripes, and the abdomen is grey. The 

 moth is found in Central Europe, but is scarce. 

 It appears in June and frequents birch-woods. 

 The larva is pale green, with a pyramidal 

 reddish-brown spot edged laterally with white, 

 which commences with a broad base on the 

 head, and ends in a hump on the third seg- 

 ment. There is a similar diamond-shaped 

 spot, beginning in a point, on the fifth segment, 

 and expanding gradually to the eighth, where 

 it is broadest, and extending down to the spira- 

 cles. From here it again narrows to the anal ex- 

 tremity, where it ends in a shining black plate. 

 The fork is long and spiny. The caterpillar 

 lives in August and September on birch and 

 alder. The pupae are brown, with a strong 

 cocoon. They may be found on the trunks 

 of birch trees about five or six feet from the 

 ground, but it requires much practice to distin- 

 guish the cocoon, which resembles the bark 

 to which it is attached. 



H. bifida, Hiibn. The Poplar Kitten. PI. 

 XXII. fig. 2. is conmion, especially in poplar 

 avenues, in Central and Southern Europe. 

 The larva is green, with a violet triangular 

 spot on the neck, bordered with reddish brown 

 and yellow wavy lines. It is dotted with 

 white, and is divided by a white line in the 

 middle. It ends on the third segment. On 

 the back is a broad oval violet-brown spot 

 which becomes gradually narrower. It is divided 

 by a dark median line and edged on both 



