206 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS 



pale ochreous-grey blotch ; the orbicular stigma seems 

 entirely suppressed; the hind- wings are red, with a broad 

 deep black border before the white cilia, and with a broad, 

 though much indented, central black band. 



The larva elongate and flattened, with fleshy filaments 

 on the sides ; above the legs is greenish-grey, with a 

 double wavy whitish line along the back ; the subdorsal 

 line is whitish, and there are slight rosy humps across 

 the back of the fifth to twelfth segments. It feeds in 

 May and June on willows and poplars. 



The perfect insect appears at the end of July and 

 in August, and may sometimes be noticed at rest on 

 palings or trunks of trees ; occasionally we see it sport- 

 ing on the wing in the daytime, when it is extremely 

 showy from the contrast of black and white on the 

 under- side of the fore-wings. 



GEOMETRINA. FAMILY I. ORAPTERYD^. 



OURAPTEETX SAMBUCARIA. THE SWALLOW- 

 TAIL MOTH. 



This conspicuous insect is common generally in the 

 south of England, but seems scarcer as we advance 

 northward ; in Ireland it is comnron, but has not been 

 noticed in Scotland. 



The expansion of the wings is about 2 inches. All 

 the wings are of a pale sulphur, with numerous, short, 

 slender, transverse, pale olive streaks ; the fore-wings 

 are traversed by two dull olive streaks, the first of which 

 is also continued across -the hind- wings ; these have in 

 the middle of the hind margin a tail-like projection, 

 above which is a small red spot, edged with dark grey. 



The larva is yellowish or reddish-brown, with paler 



