GEOMETERS. 



129 



hairs. The dorsal, sub-dorsal, and lateral 

 blotches, spots, and lines are sometimes almost 

 or entirely wanting, leaving the caterpillar 

 of a uniform pale yellowish green. 



"This caterpillar tapers towards the head, 

 and has a slightly wrinkled appearance. 

 When full-fed and ready to spin it turns 

 pink." 



It feeds on the blossoms of the wild angelica 

 (Angelica sylvestris), and common hog-weed 

 (Heracleum sphondylium). The CHRYSALIS is 

 enclosed in a slight earthen cocoon; its thorax 

 is yellowish green, and the wing-cases dark 

 green, furrowed and wrinkled ; the body is 

 tapering, rough, and of a dull red colour ; it 

 has a slight ventral protuberance. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in May and 

 June, and has been taken in Suffolk, Kent, 

 and Derbyshire, but not in Scotland or Ire- 

 land. (The scientific name is Eupithetia albi- 

 punctata, under which it was first described 

 by Haworth (Lep. Brit. 360), but Herrich- 

 Schseffer (Supp. p. 77, fig. 461) has called 

 it E. tripunctaria, and Guenee (Uran. tit 

 Phal p. 315, No. 1,412) and Mr. Crewe 

 (Zool. 7,567 and 7,762) have adopted that 

 name ; the older name must be restored.) 



275. THE VALERIAN Pua "All the wings 

 are ashy brown, with the ordinary diacoidal 

 spot in the centre of the fore wings, and a 

 very indistinct pale waved line at the hind 

 margin ; the hind wings are pale brown, with 

 very faint waved lines." 



The CATERPILLAR is thus described by Mr. 

 Crewe : " Rather short, but tapering very 

 considerably towards the head ; the ground 

 colour is bright green, and very translucent ; 

 the central dorsal and sub-dorsal lines are 

 dark green but varying considerably in 

 breadth, and in intensity of colour ; the seg- 

 mental divisions are yellow ; the belly is 

 generally destitute of markings, but is occa- 

 sionally traversed longitudinally by two slen- 

 der faint sub-ventral lines, rather darker than 

 the ground colour; the spiracular line is 

 whitish green; when young, the ground colour 

 is greenish white ; it feeds on the flowers and 

 seeds of the common valerian ( Valeriana ofiici- 

 a), in woods and osier beds, and is full-fed 



from the middle of July to the middle of 

 August. 



The MOTH appears in May, and occurs in 

 Buckinghamshire, Dorsetshire, Derbyshire, 

 Devonshire, and Herefordshire. (The scien- 

 tific name is Eupithecia valerianata.) 



Obs. This insect is the Eupithecia vimi- 

 nataof Mr. Doubleday formerly, but Hubner's 

 is the prior name, and is very appropriate, 

 as the caterpillar feeds on valerian. I have 

 copied Mr. Doubleday's original description 

 of the moth. 



276. THE LARCH PUG. The fore wings 

 are long, rather pointed, and of a dark, smoky- 

 gray colour, with several transverse pale gray 

 markings, and a distinct transverse discoidal 

 black spot j the principal pale markings are a 

 vague band just outside the black discoidal 

 spot, a waved bar beyond this, which is 

 double, or intersected throughout by a slender 

 dark smoke-coloured line, and a single slender 

 line, half-way between this and the hind 

 margin ; there is a delicate interrupted black 

 line on the hind margin itself, and the fringe 

 is very indistinctly spotted with two shades of 

 gray ; the hind wings are much the same 

 colour as the fore wings, but paler at the 

 base ; they have a rather indistinct crescentic 

 discoidal spot, and a double series of gray dots 

 parallel with the hind margin ; there is the 

 same interrupted black line on the mai'gin as 

 in the fore wings, and the fringe is indistinctly 

 spotted ; the head, thorax, and body are 

 sprinkled over with the two shades of gray, 

 the dark smoky-gray greatly prevailing ; at 

 the base of the thorax is a semi-circular 

 whitish spot. 



Mr. Crewe has described two varieties of 

 the caterpillar as under : 



" Far. 1. The ground colour is brightgrass- 

 green, somewhat darker on the centre of the 

 back ; the central dorsal line is dark green : 

 the anal tip of the central dorsal line reddish ; 

 the sub-dorsal lines are wanting, or so faint 

 as to be scarcely visible ; the spiracular line 

 is whitish, or pale straw-colour ; the seg- 

 mental divisions are yellowish ; the belly i 

 whitish, with a dark green central line ; it is 

 a long slender caterpillar, tapering towards 



M 9 



