GEOMETERS. 



Ill 



eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh segments ; 

 the apex of each mark points towards the 

 head ; the sides of these marks are not 

 quite closed at this point, but allow the 

 passage of a fawn-coloured stripe which 

 expands immediately after entering the 

 area enclosed by the V, and is again re- 

 stricted to a mere line where it approaches 

 the boundary of the segment; the remainder 

 of the area enclosed by the V is of a lovely 

 rose-colour ; each side of the V is bordered 

 with rich brown ; anterior to each V, that 

 is, adjoining the anterior margin of each 

 segment, are four short parallel lines, pale 

 in the brown variety, perfectly white in the 

 green one ; the lateral skinfold in both 

 varieties is almost white, and thrown up in 

 bold relief by contrast with the ground 

 colour immediately adjoining it ; the belly 

 is of the prevalent ground colour ; the legs 

 are semi-transparent and pinkish ; the clas- 

 pejs of the prevailing ground colour. It 

 spins a slight cocoon amongst the leaves of 

 its food-plant, and changes to a CHRYSALIS 

 in May. 



The MOTH appears on the wing about 

 midsummer, and is very abundant in the 

 northern counties of England, as Durham, 

 Lancashire, Cumberland, &c., and also in 

 Scotland ; it is generally distributed in 

 Ireland. (The scientific name is Larentia 

 coesiata.) 



244. The Yellow-ringed Carpet (Larentia ruficinctata) . 



244. THE YELLOW-RINGED CARPET. The 

 antennae are almost simple in both sexes ; 

 the fore wings are grayish lead-colour, with 

 five transverse yellowish bars, equidistant 

 from each other, and also numerous dotted 

 lines ; the hind wings are paler lead-colour 

 with obscure darker bars towards the hind 

 margin. 



The CATERPILLAR, according to Freyer, 

 feeds on the white meadow saxifrage, in 

 May ; it is of a tawny or olive- green ground 



colour, with a medio-dorsal series of tri- 

 angular red spots, each of the spots edged 

 with white. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in July, 

 and is confined to a few localities, in Lanca- 

 shire, Westmoreland, Cumberland, and 

 Perthshire ; it has not yet been discovered 

 in Ireland. (The scientific name is Larentia 

 ruficinctata.) 



Obs. In reference to the extreme difficulty 

 experienced by southern entomologists in 

 obtaining this and other northern species, 

 I strongly recommend the collectors of our 

 British lepidoptera to make their wants, as 

 .well as their superabundance, known 

 through the pages of " The Entomologist : " 

 by this means alone can anything approach- 

 ing a perfect collection be formed. I have 

 established that little Journal with this 

 especial object, and also for the convenience 

 of answering any questions as to names, 

 &c. It only costs sixpence a month, and 

 is a means of communication between all 

 our principal entomologists ; the miscel- 

 laneous information it contains would be 

 out of place in a systematic work like the 

 present. 



245. The Striped Twin-spot Carpet (Larentia tali- 

 cata). 



245. THE STRIPED TWIN-SPOT CARPET. 

 The antennae are pubescent in the male, 

 simple in the female ; the fore wings are 

 grayish lead-colour, with numerous zigzag 

 transverse markings, some of which unite 

 in forming a transverse median bar, which 

 is divided by a paler space, enclosing a dark 

 dot near its costal extremity ; the hind wings 

 are pale lead-colour, with darker waved 

 markings near the hind margin. 



The CATERPILLAR, in a state of nature, 

 feeds on several species of bedstraw, and in 

 confinement it not only feeds on bedstraw, 

 but thrives equally well on sweet woodroof , 

 a plant much to be recommended as growing 



