58 



BRITISH MOTHS. 



123. The August Thorn (Ennomos anyularia). 



123. THE AUGUST THORN. All the wings 

 are angulated, but not acutely ; very varia- 

 ble in colour, but generally ochre-yellow, with 

 numerous delicate, very short transverse 

 streaks of brown ; the fore wings have two 

 very oblique transverse brown lines, that 

 nearest to the base of the wing sharply bent 

 backwards near the costal margin ; between 

 these, and near the costa, is a distinct brown 

 spot ; hind wings paler ochreous than the fore 

 wings, and having a very slight indication of 

 a transverse brown line across the middle. 

 Extremely difficult to distinguish from the 

 preceding, but the inner brown line always 

 seems more decidedly angled, and the cater- 

 pillars of the two are described as decidedly 

 different. The caterpillar of this species is 

 red-grey, marbled with brown, and having, 

 on the sixth and seventh segments, three 

 warts or humps ; one of these is on the middle 

 of the back, and one on each side ; the ninth 

 segment has a large hump on the middle of 

 the back, and the twelfth has two small warts. 

 It feeds on oak, birch, elm, lilac, &c., in June, 

 and the moth flies in August and September 

 and is a visitor to every gas-light in the neigh- 

 bourhood of London during those months. 

 (The scientific name is Ennomos angularia.) 



124. THE FEATHERED THORN. The fore 

 wings are pointed at the tip, but have no 

 other conspicuous angle ; margin of the hind 



124. The Feathered Thorn (Himera pennaria). 



wings only scalloped ; fore wings pale red- 

 dish-brown, sprinkled all over with small 

 brown dots, and having a round white spot 

 near the tip, very bright and conspicuous in 

 the males, but obscure in the females : they 

 have also two oblique transverse lines of a 

 darker brown, the outer of which, that near- 

 est to the hind margin, is accompanied by 

 a pale line on the outside ; between these 

 transverse lines, and rather near the costal 

 margin of the wing, is a very distinct brown 

 spot ; hind wings pale, except near the 

 hind margin, where they are the same 

 colour as the fore wings ; across the mid- 

 dle of the hind wings is a nearly straight 

 transverse brown line, very indistinct, and 

 between this and the base of the wing is a 

 brown spot : head red-brown, eyes very black, 

 antennae of the male beautifully feathered, 

 shaft snowy white, the plumes red-brown ; 

 thorax red-brown, the body pale. The cater- 

 pillar is a pale whitey-brown colour, and with- 

 out humps or warts, except two red points 

 just before the tail ; in some specimens I have 

 seen the diamond-shaped spots along the 

 middle of the back mentioned by Hubner, 

 but generally they are scarcely perceptible. 

 It feeds on oak in May, and the moths come 

 to gas-lamps in October. (The scientific name 

 is Himera pennaria.) 



