BRITISH MOTHS. 



the female simple : the fore wings are orange- 

 yellow, with the hind margin black-brown; 

 the costal margin is also sprinkled with the 

 same black-brown colour ; the orange-yellow 

 and brown being in nearly equal proportions; 

 the middle of the wing and the inner margin 

 are entirely of the orange-yellow colour and 

 unspotted; the hind wings are of a dingy 

 orange-brown, the margins thickly sprinkled 

 with darker brown; the head and thorax are 

 brown; the body variegated with yellow-gray 

 and dark brown. The underside of the fore 

 wings is dull orange, sprinkled transversely 

 with short dark brown lines ; the underside 

 of the hind wings is variegated with orange 

 and brown, and has six direct, longitudinal, 

 silver stripes, the third and sixth of which 

 extend from the hind margin to the base of 

 the wing. 



The CATERPILLAR if undisturbed rests in a 

 straight posture, but if touched or annoyed 

 assumes a curved position; its head is rather 

 wider than the body, stretched forward, and 

 divided on the crown ; body uniformly cylin- 

 drical without warts or humps ; head slightly 

 shining, pale brown, with black markings, 

 emitting about thirty short, slender, but rigid 

 hairs; body greenish smoke-colour, striped 

 longitudinally, and emitting short scattered 

 hairs; a narrow stripe down the middle of the 

 back smoke-coloured ; on each side of this is a 

 pair of very narrow, waved, approximate 

 stripes also smoke-coloured on a greenish 

 ground; then on each side of the body a broad 

 blackish stripe ; then a veiy distinct and con- 

 spicuous yellow stripe which encloses the 

 spiracles; the belly has a pale stripe along the 

 middle, and the space between this and the 

 bright lateral stripe is greenish smoke-colon red, 

 traversed by very slender pale waved stripes. 

 These insects pass ten days in the egg state, 

 and the caterpillars are full fed about the 

 end of August, feeding on the common broom 

 (Cytisus scopariiis). 



The MOTH occurs plentifully in Suffolk, in a 

 few localities only, and flies in July; it is 

 unknown in Ireland. (The scientific name is 

 Fidonia conspicuata.) 



219. The Drab Geometer (Minoa euphorbiata) . 



219. THE DRAB GEOMETER. The antenn 

 of the male are very slightly pubescent ; those 

 of the female simple : all the wings are of a 

 uniform delicate drab, perfectly without mark- 

 ings : the head, thorax, and body are of the 

 same colour. 



The CATERPILLAR has a bright red head, and 

 either a bright green or smoky brown body, 

 with a darker but interrupted medio-dorsal 

 stripe, and a series of bright yellow spots on 

 each side; it may be found throughout the 

 autumn in our Kentish woods on the cypress 

 spurge (Euphorbia cyparissias), on which it 

 feeds : when full fed it descends to the ground, 

 and forms a little cell on the surface, com- 

 posed of earth and silk, in which it changes to 

 a CHRYSALIS. 



The MOTH appears in June, and is not un- 

 common in woods in the south of England, but 

 has not been observed in Scotland or Ireland. 

 (The scientific name is Minoa euplwrbiata.) 



220. The Black-Veined (Scoria dealbata). 



220. THE BLACK- YEINED. The antennae are 

 simple in both sexes : all the wings, as well 

 as the head, thorax, and body, are white, with 

 a tinge of gray; the antennae, eyes, and costal 

 margin of the fore wings black : all the wing- 

 rays are also tinged with smoke colour, and 

 there is an extremely slender black line round 

 all the wings, just within the fringe. Beneath, 

 the wing-rays, as well as margins of all the 

 wings, are black, and the fore wings have a 

 crescent-shaped black mark near the middle, 

 and a narrow smoke-coloured band parallel 

 with the hind margin. 



