304 THE MOTHS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



in the London district, in the north and east of which the dark 

 forms occur ; but it is found more or less frequently over the 

 greater part of England, and in South Wales ; single specimens 

 were taken at Hartlepool, Durham, in 1874 and 1875. One 

 example has been recorded from Kincardineshire, Scotland; 

 and one from Enniskillen, Ireland. 



Ringed Carpet {Boarmia dnctaria). 



Two specimens are shown on Plate 130. Fig. 3 represents 

 the more or less typical form, and Fig. 4 depicts an example in 

 which the central area is almost free of dark speckling, so that 

 the whitish ground colour comes out distinctly. There is a good 

 range of variation in the direction of both darker and paler 

 forms than those figured. In some specimens with a clear 

 white central area, the basal and outer marginal areas of the 

 fore wings, and the outer area of the hind wings, are black or 

 blackish ; similar aberration is sometimes found in the more 

 speckled specimens also. Occasionally, there is a projection 

 from below the middle of the second black line to the basal 

 band. 



The caterpillar is green, with darker green and whitish lines 

 along the back and sides. It feeds on birch, sallow, and heath 

 {Erica cinered)^ and may be reared on knot-grass. The moth 

 is out in May, sometimes late April or early June. The New 

 Forest in Hampshire is the district par excellence for this 

 species, the most favoured locality being the heathy tract near 

 Lyndhurst, where the moths are very common, in some years, 

 on tree-trunks, especially birch, and on heather. Other localities 

 in England are Poole Heath, Parley Heath, and Bloxworth in 

 Dorset ; Tilgate Forest, etc., in Sussex ; Reading district in 

 Berks, first noted in 1891. In Ireland, it is widely distributed, 

 and is abundant at Killarney and some other parts of Kerry. 



The range abroad extends to Amurland and Japan. 



