DESCRIPTIVE NOTICES OF CONSPICUOUS SPECIES 239 



FAMILY IX. HYDBOCAMPID^E. 



CATACLYSTA LEMNATA. THE SMALL 



CHINA-MAKE. 



(Plate XII., Fig. 4 <?, 5 ? .) 



This neatly-marked little species is common through- 

 out the country. 



The expansion of the wings is rather less than J inch 

 in the male, rather more in the female. The male has 

 the fore-wings white, with scarcely any perceptible 

 markings except a blackish central spot and a pale 

 fuscous cloud along the hind margin ; the hind-wings 

 are white, with a dark grey central spot and some greyish 

 transverse lines, and nearly in the middle of the hind 

 margin is a conspicuous black blotch, enclosing four 

 or five silvery dots. The female has the fore-wings 

 pale brown, with a darker central spot, and some in- 

 distinct darker transverse markings ; the hind- wings 

 are very similar to those of the male, but the trans- 

 verse grey markings are broader and more strongly 

 expressed. 



The larva is sooty-brown, paler between the seg- 

 ments ; the head is brownish-yellow, above velvety- 

 black ; it feeds in April, May, and June on duckweed, 

 beneath the surface of the water, and constructs a case 

 of leaves of the duckweed and bits of grass. 



The perfect insect appears in June and July, and flies 

 over the surface of duckweed-covered ponds ; on a sultry 

 day the male looks deliciously cool in his snowy-white 

 dress, just skimming above the surface of the water ; 

 towards dusk they may be noticed more freely on the 

 wing, but the female is much more sluggish than the 



