SILVER-GROUND CARPET. 193 



The moth flics throughout the summer, possibly in two 

 generations, as, when reared in confinement, moths appear in 

 May, and from eggs obtained from these, caterpillars feed in 

 June and July, and attain the perfect state in August. Like the 

 last species, its chief resting-places are the rocks, in its favourite 

 haunts, in gorges among the hills and moorlands. It has been 

 recorded from few parts of northern England, but one specimen 

 is said to have been taken in Dovedale, Derbyshire. In Lanca- 

 shire it has been noted as scarce about Clougha ; and in 

 Yorkshire one example was taken on Malham Moor in August, 

 1876, and one at Hutton Buscel Moor, near Scarborough, 

 July 16, 1 89 1. It is more plentiful in Scotland ; in Clydesdale 

 it is local, but not uncommon, the localities mentioned being 

 Lochgoilhead, and watercourses above Ardentinny ; more 

 frequent in Perthshire, thence to Sutherland, and it occurs also 

 in the Hebrides and the Orkneys. In Ireland, it is found in 

 Co. Antrim ; and Mr. Thomas Greer informs me that it is 

 common at Murlough Bay, Fair Head. 



^ f^^^^ Silver-ground Carpet {Xanthorhoe montanata). 'Ti('^^p'Ut( 



^^^ Figs. 7 and 8 on Plate 80 represent the most usual form of this — ■ 



[^^^ species, which is variable in the amount of clouding on the i/^*^ 

 fore wings and in the intensity of the cross marking. In some %a(/j. 

 specimens, chiefly from southern localities, the fore wings are ^i.^,/^ 

 almost clear white, and the central band is broadly blackish 

 (Fig. 9). Shetland specimens, on the other hand, are much 

 clouded or suffused with ochreous brown, and the central band 

 is greyish brown (ab. shetlajtdica^ Weir (Fig. 10)). Then there is 

 variation in the central band, which is often entire, but more 

 frequently broken up by bandlets ; or it may be considerably 

 narrowed, especially from the middle to the inner margin, and 

 not altogether rarely it is completely severed below the middle, 

 and the lower part almost or quite absent. A specimen with all 

 Series II. O 



