258 THE MOTHS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



ochreous brown on the upper portions of the middle rings ; a 

 darker irregular line along the back, and a whitish line on each 

 side, the latter edged above and below with a fine black line ; 

 below the spiracles is a pale pinkish brown stripe. Varies in 

 the tint of ground colour and in the markings. It feeds, after 

 hibernation, on bedstraw {Galium palustre^ G. saxatile, etc.), 

 and caterpillars from eggs laid in June may be reared on 

 clematis, wild or cultivated. 



The moth is out in May and June, sometimes later, and a 

 second generation appears in August and September ; the 

 individuals of the later brood are often smaller than those of 

 the first brood. Its haunts are fens, marshes, and water-meads, 

 but in Middlesex I have taken a specimen or two flying along a 

 weedy ditch. Widely distributed throughout the British Isles, 

 but not noted in Scotland north of Moray. 



The Gem {Fermoptilofa fluviata). 



Also known in the vulgar tongue as "The Narrow-barred 

 Carpet." As will be seen on reference to Plate 102, the male 

 (Fig. 12) is pale brown with a dark central band ; and the 

 female (Fig. 11) is purplish brown, the central band rather 

 blackish, and on it is the discal mark, a black centred white 

 spot. The specimens figured are rather small. 



The following aberrations have been named — ab. marginata^ 

 Mathew, with the fringes of all the wings conspicuously pinky- 

 grey ; ab. olivacea, Mathew, a form of the female with olive 

 brown fore wings ; ab. obsoleta, Mathew, a form of the male 

 with the dark central band nearly or quite absent. 



The caterpillar is greyish, sometimes tinged with pink, and 

 sometimes with green ; three dusky lines on the head and first 

 three rings of the body, a series of blackish outlined, whitish 

 marks on the middle rings, and blackish marks on the other 



