GEOMETERS. 



87 



a short, oblique, lateral, black streak on th 

 third and fourth segments ; a black spot on 

 the side of the sixth, seventh, eighth, and 

 ninth segments, above the whitish spiraclea" 

 It feeds on the leaves of the sloe. 



This MOTH was originally discovered in 

 abundance near Colchester, and for many years 

 subsequently it was unobserved until again 

 discovered on Dartford Heath, flying about 

 the sloe when in blossom ; it has since 

 been found in Epping Forest, also frequent- 

 ing the flowers of the sloe, but has not 

 been reported from the middle or north 

 of England, from Scotland, or from Ireland. 

 (The scientific name is Aleucis pictaria.) 



204. The Sharp-angled Peacock (Maca/ria alternata). 



204. THE SHARP- ANGLED PEACOCK. The 

 antennae are simple in both sexes ; the fore 

 wings angled, and having a deep semicircular 

 notch just below the tip ; hind wings angled. 

 All the wings are gray, sprinkled with nume- 

 rous minute short transverse streaks rather 

 darker than the ground colour of the wing, 

 but still extremely pale and indistinct. The 

 fore wings have a short curved transverse line 

 near the base, and a second at a short distance 

 suffused and often indistinct, and beyond this 

 a third, always accompanied by a broad trans- 

 verse band, which, although pale, is slightly 

 darker than the ground colour of the wing; 

 the costal extremity of this band is conspicu- 

 ously darker, and it also contains a dark blotch 

 near the middle ; the crescentic notch on the 

 hind margin is strongly bordered with brown ; 

 the hind wings have two broad transverse 

 bands corresponding with those on the fore 

 wings, and between them is a dark central 

 spot. The head and neck are brown, the 

 thorax and body gray, the latter is sprinkled 

 with dark dots, and has two conspicuous 

 brown spots on the base of each segment. 



The CATERPILLAR is light green, and 

 ornamented with three triangular reddish- 

 brown marks on the sides of th* 



segments ; it changes to uniform reddish- 

 brown before entering th ground ; the legs 

 and claspers are reddish-brown. It feeds on 

 sallow. 



The MOTH is apparently rare, occurring only 

 in the south-west of England, in July, and 

 not having been found to my knowledge in 

 Scotland, Wales, or Ireland. (The scientific 

 name is Maca/ria alternata 



205. The Peacock (Macaria notata). 



205. THE PEACOCK.* The antennae are sim- 

 ple in both sexes ; the fore wings are angled 

 and have a deep semicircular notch just below 

 the tip on the hind margin ; hind wings 

 angled ; all the wings gray, sprinkled with 

 numerous minute short transverse streaks 

 rather darker than the ground colour of the 

 wing, but still extremely pale and indistinct; 

 they have also three transverse lines of the 

 same colour as these little streaks, the first 

 short, curved, and very near the base of the 

 wing ; the second rather longer, curved in the 

 same direction, and just beyond the first ; the 

 third is rather beyond the middle of the wing ; 

 each of these transverse lines terminates in a 

 dark spot on the costal margin; between this 

 and the outer margin are t*f o very conspicuous 

 dark blotches, one of them is on the costal 

 margin, and is just outside of the third trans- 

 verse line, the other is below this, and is about 

 equidistant from the costal, hind, and inner 

 margins ; it is darker than the costal blotch, 

 and is composed of five smaller spots crowded 

 closely together ; the third transverse line 

 seems almost to pass through this blotch ; the 

 hind margin itself is strongly marked with 

 dark brown, especially in the semicircular 

 notch already described ; the hind wings have 

 two transverse lines which correspond with 

 the seeond and third on the fore wings, and 

 between them is a dark central dot ; the hind 

 margin itself is delicately edged with rich dark 

 brown just within the fringe. The head is 



