52 



BRITISH MOTHS. 



is a rather darker transverse band across the 

 middle of the fore wings, and this is bordered 

 on each side by a still darker line ; the hind 

 wings have a central transverse-angled darker 

 line, and within this a central dark dot : head, 

 thorax and body olive-brown. The caterpillar 

 is whitish-grey, with several still whiter mark- 

 ings on the back ; two of these are on the 

 sixth segment and one each on the seventh, 

 eighth, ninth and tenth. It feeds on the 

 bilberry. I have never found the caterpillar, 

 but the moth is very abundant every year in 

 Birchwood, Kent, at the beginning of July ; 

 it seems, however, to be a rare species. It is 

 a delicate insect and very difficult to obtain 

 in perfect condition. (The scientific name is 

 Epione advenaria.) 



107. The Brimstone Moth (Rumia cratosgata). 



107. THE BRIMSTONE MOTH. All the 

 wings bright canary-yellow ; the costal mar- 

 gin of the fore wings is adorned with, several 

 conspicuous red-brown spots, one is situated 

 just about the middle, and has a whitish 

 centre, and the largest is at the tip of the 

 wing ; the head, thorax and body are canary- 

 yellow. The caterpillar has eight claspers 

 instead of four, but the first an second pairs 

 seem of little or no use when the creature is 

 walking; it has three humps on the back, 

 one on the seventh and two on the ninth seg- 

 ments. It feeds on white-thorn and black- 

 thorn, and spins a thick silken cocoon, gene- 

 rally near or on the ground. The caterpillar 

 and moth are found throughout the summer, 

 and are common everywhere ; it is asserted 

 that there are three broods in the year, but I 

 have never proved the assertion. (The scien- 

 tific name is Rumia cratcegata.') 



108. THE SPECKLED YELLOW. All the 

 wings deep orange-yellow, with a number 

 of purple-brown blotches, the position and 



108. The Speckled Yellow Two Varieties (Venilia 

 maculata). 



size of which are very correctly shown in 

 the figure, but are very difficult to describe. 

 There is a beautiful and extremely rare variety, 

 which is pure yellow, with four dark spots on 

 the costal margin. (See the lower figure.) The 

 caterpillar is pale olive-green, with a darker 

 green line down the very middle of the back, 

 bordered on each side with white ; there is 

 also a whitish line along each side touching 

 the spiracles. It feeds on a variety of her- 

 baceous plants, almost invariably in woods. 

 The caterpillar is found in August and Sep- 

 tember, the moth in June. (The scientific 

 name is Venilia maculata.) 



Male. 



Female. 

 109. The Orange Moth (Angerona prunarla). 



109. THE ORANGE MOTH. The wings of 

 the male generally rich orange, those of the 

 female yellow ; in both sexes there is a short 

 central transverse streak near the middle of- 



