GEOMETERS. 



183 



hatched on the 22nd of June, fed upon the 

 small-leafed sloe, and went to earth on the 

 2nd of October, having grown so very slowly 

 that for a long time I fancied especially as 

 they did not appear at all unhealthy that 

 they would hybernate. They had the ground 

 colour of a yellowish green, and the sub-dorsal 

 stripe greenish yellow ; on the third to the 

 fifth segment, and again on the eleventh to 

 the tail, there is a dark reddish brown dorsal 

 stripe ; on each of the intermediate segments 

 are four very fine brown dots arranged in 

 pairs, with a fine dash on each segment, and 

 at each segmental division ; the spiracles are 

 white, the middle ones having between them 

 a row of four brown spots ; the belly is 

 sprinkled with very fine brown dots, arranged 

 in lines." Mr. Hellins, in the Zoologist for 

 1864, adds to this information that this is 

 the only British species of Cidaria that has 

 the head bifid ; it is singular also in having 

 but one anal point. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in June, 

 and seems to be abundant in most parts of 

 England, Scotland, and Ireland. (The scien- 

 tific name is Cidaria corylata.) 



354. The Marsh Carpet (Cidaria sagittata). 



354. THE MARSH CARPET. The palpi are 

 very short and scarcely perceptible from 

 above ; the antennae are simple in both sexes ; 

 the fore wings are black at the tip, their 

 ground colour is the most delicate isabelline 

 or fawn-colour, with a basal blotch and me- 

 dian band of a rich dark olive-brown, almost 

 black ; there is a delicately-white line on both 

 sides of the basal blotch, and also on both 

 sides of the median band, the middle of which 

 emits an elongate and sharp angle towards 

 the middle of the hind margin, which it 

 almost reaches, but a small and vaguely-de- 

 fined white blotch intervenes ; the discoidal 



spot is present in the central band, but so 

 nearly of the same colour as the band, that 

 it cannot be distinguished without difiiculty 3 

 the fringe is pale, with seven dark spots : 

 the hind wings are very pale, with a distinct 

 discoidal spot, a very slender hind-marginal 

 line, and a spotted fringe : the face is black, 

 the crown white, the thorax isabelline, with a 

 central brown blotch ; the base of the body has 

 a black band followed by a white belt ; the 

 rest of the body is rich brown, with a median 

 dark dot on. each segment 



The EGGS are laid in July, in little batches 

 of three or four, on the partial stalks or flowers 

 of the subcorymbose panicle of common mea- 

 dow-rue (Thalictrum flavum), a plant which 

 grows abundantly by the sides of some of the 

 fen-drains near Chatteris, in Cambridge- 

 shire ; they are opalescent when laid, but 

 become yellow before the young CATERPILLARS 

 emerge, which emergence generally takes 

 place during the first week in August The 

 young caterpillars are at first orange- 

 coloured, but soon acquire a more variegated 

 appearance. They feed almost entirely on the 

 seeds of the meadow-rue, but sometimes they 

 also nibble round the partial stalks of the 

 panicle, denuding them of their cuticle, and 

 causing small white patches ; and Mr. Fryer, 

 to whom I am indebted for a bountiful supply 

 of these caterpillars, as well as many parti- 

 culars of their economy, informs me that 

 in confinement they will eat the dried or 

 withered leaves of Thalictrum glaucum, or, 

 Thalictrum aquilegifolium, the latter a spe- 

 cies very commonly cultivated in gardens, and 

 remarkable for its abundantly floriferous 

 panicle, so attractive to the beautiful rose- 

 beetle (Cetonia aurata), and other insects. 



Mr. Fryer has observed that if, when the 

 caterpillars have attained about half their 

 growth, they are supplied with Thalictrum 

 glaucum, they will bite half through the foot- 

 stalks of the leaves, thus causing the leaf to 

 droop and wither, and in this state they will 

 feed on it as a substitute for their natural 

 food, the seeds of Tlialictrum flavum. In 

 their progress towards maturity, the cater- 

 pillars undergo considerable change, the ex- 



