156 



BRITISH MOTHS. 



but does not include, the jet black spiracles ; 

 the ventral is paler than the dorsal area, buc 

 is thickly sprinkled with yellow-brown dots, 

 some of which form a narrow medio ventral 

 stripe, while others form oblique lines, one on 

 each segment. About the 20th, or from that 

 to the end of July, these caterpillars spin 

 together the little stems of the bedstraw close 

 to the ground, and, forming the slightest 

 covering, they change to brown and shining 



CHRYSALIDS. 



The MOTH appears in June, in England, 

 Scotland, and Ireland. (The scientific name 

 is Melanthia ocellata.) 



318. The Beautiful Carpet (Melanthia albiciUata). 



318. THE BEAUTIFUL CARPET. The fore 

 wings are creamy-white, with a large brown 

 blotch at the base, and a triangular brown 

 blotch on the costal margin, near the tip of 

 the wing ; from the lower extremity of the 

 blotch, two delicate waved lines extend side 

 by side to the inner margin, both of them 

 clearly defined, but the inner is much the 

 more distinct of the two ; beyond these is 

 a series of somewhat semicircular smoke- 

 coloured markings, and the hind margin and 

 fringe are also smoke-coloured ; the hind 

 wings are creamy-white, with a broad smoke- 

 coloured hind margin, and two delicate lines 

 occupying a similar position to those on the 

 fore wings ; the discoidal spot is faintly indi- 

 cated on all four wings ; the head, thorax, 

 and base of the body are dark brown ; the 

 rest of the body is mottled with various shades 

 of brown. 



Writing the life-history of this species, Mr. 

 Beauchamp says : " Some eggs sent me from 

 the North hatched about the end of June, 

 and some that I procured in Sussex hatched 

 about a week later. I had no bramble or 

 raspberry at hand, so I tried them with 



several other plants, of which they took 

 readily to wild strawberry. 1 soon, however, 

 transferred them to bramble, on which they 

 fed up very fast, being full-grown by the 

 end of July. I should describe them thus : 

 Velvety deep green, with a few short and 

 rather bristly hairs ; head greenish brown, 

 with three pale vertical stripes ; the inter- 

 stices of the segmente yellowish, especially 

 on the sides ; on the back, at the posterior 

 part of each of the segments from the fourth 

 to the tenth inclusive, there is a triangular 

 rather bright yellowish brown spot (looking 

 red by contrast with the green ground colour), 

 the apex towards the head bordered with dark 

 brown, and having a dark brown tapering 

 streak up the centre ; the surface of these 

 spots appears corrugated. Claspers and pos- 

 terior part of anal segment brown, spiracular 

 line whitish, edged beneath on the first four 

 and on the tenth and eleventh segments 

 with brown ; the belly is green, with numer- 

 ous whitish lines and dots. The usual posi- 

 tion of the larva is that of a bow, but it has a 

 trick, especially when changing its skin, of 

 hanging down with the body bent backwards 

 almost at a right angle behind the fourth, and 

 again behind the ninth segment, so as to 

 resemble the outline of a very lanky letter E. 

 The back is round, and the belly very flat ; 

 the body tapers rapidly from the fifth segment 

 to the head." 



The MOTH makes its appearance in June, it 

 has been taken in many English counties, 

 and in the Irish counties Wicklow, Kerry, 

 and Gal way, but I do not recollect having 

 seen Scotch specimens. (The scientific name 

 is Melanthia albicillata.) 



Obs. Mr. Beauchamp adds the following 

 note respecting this species : " Its vivid colour 

 and velvety texture render this a very beau- 

 tiful larva ; but the perfect insect, when 

 bred, seems to me almost without a rival 

 for purity and exquisite delicacy of design. 

 I should doubt whether, in the range of 

 natural objects, a more beautiful line is to 

 be found than that exquisite cool gray streak 

 upon the rich creamy ground of the fore 

 wing." 



