136 European Butterflies and Moths. 



black dots towards the base and hind margin, and blackish transverse lines beyond the 

 middle, which are much dcntated. There is often a broad dark-grey transverse band, bordered 

 with black and yellow, and the hind-wings are whitish. The larva; have only fourteen legs. 

 They are naked ; green, with a large, smooth, retractile head, and a pyramidal elevation on 

 the 4th segment, from which a triangular violet or brown spot bordered with white runs to 

 the head, and an irregularly-broad streak of the same colour runs to the tail. The abdomen 

 terminates in two long slender tubes, from which soft threads can be protruded. The larvK 

 live on trees from July to September, and change to pups in a firm cocoon composed of 

 fragments of wood, and the moths appear from May to July. 



* I. C. Vimcla (Linn.), {Puss Moth). — Fore-wings white, suffused with greyish, with dull 

 dark-grey transverse lines, which are much dentated. The thorax is spotted with black, and 

 there are two rows of black spots on the abdomen. The Lapland variety Phantoma (Dalm.) 

 is almost entirely black. Expands from 2\ to 3 inches. Common throughout Europe and 

 Northern and Western Asia. The larva is blackish when young, and pale green when full- 

 grown; the head is bordered with red, and the spot behind it and the streak on the back 

 are varied with greyish-brown or red; the streak is much widened in the middle, and varied 

 with greenish. It feeds on poplars and willows. When irritated it discharges an acrid fluid 

 from an opening in the throat. The transformations are figured at PI. 30, Fig. 4, a — c. 



2. C. Ertninca (Esp.). — Resembles C. Vinula, but the fore-wings are of a purer white, with 

 more distinct black zigzag lines, and the abdomen is black almost to the extremity, with a 

 white stripe on the back. Size of Vinula. Widely distributed in Central and North-Eastern 

 Europe, though generally rare, but absent in the north-west. The larva also resembles that 

 of Vinula, but the streak on the back is bluish-grey and narrower, and a white transverse 

 stripe runs from it to the legs on the 8th segment. It feeds on poplars and willows. The 

 moth is figured at PI. 30, Fig. 5. 



* 3. C. Bifida (Hiibn.). — Fore-wings white, suffused with grey, with dark zigzag transverse 

 lines beyond, and a broad dark-grey transverse band before the middle, which is straight in 

 front and slightly hollowed behind. The thorax is dark grey, varied with rusty-yellow. 

 Expands about ij inches. Widely distributed throughout Europe, and not scarce. The 

 Spanish variety Urocera (Boisd.) is darker and more uniform in colour. The larva is pale 

 green, and the head is not bordered with red. The spot on the back of the neck is reddish- 

 brown, and that on the back, which does not touch the other, is violet-brown ; and the anal 

 appendages are green, tipped with red. It feeds on poplars, and attaches its cocoon to the 

 trunks. The moth is figured at PI. 30, Fig. 6. 



*4. C. Furcula (Linn.). — Smaller than Bifida (expands from \\ to \\ inches); the fore- 

 wings are greyer, and the grey transverse band is irregularly hollowed on the outside. Common 

 in Northern and Central Europe. The larva resembles that of Bifida, but the spot on the 

 neck and the dorsal stripe are connected. They are violet, spotted with red and yellow, and 

 the hindmost is sometimes rose-coloured. The anal forks are ringed with brown and yellow. 

 It lives on sallow and aspen. 



*5. C. Bicuspis (Borkh.). — Resembles the last two species, but the fore-wings are pure white, 

 and the grey transverse band is much indented on both sides beyond the middle. Expands 

 if inches. Widely distributed throughout Central Europe, but always scarce. The larva 

 differs from those of its allies by the dorsal streak, which widens as far as segment 8, 

 where it touches the spiracles ; the streak is reddish-brown, and is not connected with the 

 spot on the neck, but terminates in a black plate. It feeds on birch, and sometimes beech 



