286 



COMMON BRITISH MOTHS 



Tlic Beautiful Carpet {Melanthia alhtciUafa) 



The Beaiitifnl Carpet belongs to the same genus as Bicolorata. 

 Its wings are of a rich creamy white, clouded with grey along the 

 hind margin. The basal blotches of tlie 

 fore wings are large, of a dark brown 

 colour, and marbled ^\■ith a light tint. 

 Near the tips of these wings is another 

 conspicuous blotch of the same colour, 

 I'rom which a delicate wavy dark line runs 

 to the inner margin. A small dark spot 

 also lies near the middle of the costal 

 margin of each of the four wings. 



The caterpillar is green, with a white 

 line along tlie sj^iracles, and a triangular reddish spot on the back 

 of segments four to ten inclusive. It feeds on the bramble (Rubus 

 fruHcosus), raspberry (B. Idceus), and wild strawberry [Fragaria 

 vesca). It may be found in Jime and July. 

 The moth tiies in June. 



Fig. 202.- The Beauti- 

 ful Carpet. 



Tlic Common Carpet (Melanippe sociat 



The genus Melanippe contains twelve species, some of which 

 3,re extremely common. One of tliese moths— the Common Carpet 

 — is represented in iig. 203. Its wings are 

 all of a smoky-brown colour, crossed by 

 numerous white lines, the arrangement of 

 which may be gathered from our illustration 

 better than from a written description. It 

 is a double -brooded insect, appearing first in 

 May, and then again about the end of July. 



The caterpillar is mottled with shades of 

 brown and grey. On the back are five or six 

 greyish-white lozenge-shaped marks, and there are a few white dots 

 on the back of each segment. It feeds on the hedge bedstraw 

 {Galium Mollugo), and when full grown it changes to a chrysalis 

 in a light cocoon on the ground. 



Fig. 20.S.— The 

 Common Carpet. 



The Silver Ground Carpet {Melanippe onontanata) 



In this species the ground colour is silvery white. Tlie bases of 

 the fore wings are blotched with pale brown, and a dark brownish- 



