GEOMETERS. 



201 



The head of the CATERPILLAR is pale 

 green and unicolorous ; the dorsal area is a 

 deep green colour, with certain stripes dis- 

 tinctly marked ; the medio-dorsal stripe is 

 dark between two lines of bright green ; 

 on each side of this is a whitish stripe 

 shaded below with dark green ; below this, 

 in the region of the spiracles, is a white 

 stripe ; the spiracles above are reddish and 

 surrounded with pale yellowish green ; the 

 ventral area is green with three white 

 stripes. It feeds on the common broom 

 (Spartium scoparium) . I have freely trans- 

 lated this from Guenee's description (Uran. 

 et Phal, vol. ii. p. 506). 



The MOTH appears on the wing in Sep- 

 tember; it has been taken in the north, 

 south, east, and west of England, and near 

 Glasgow, and Mr. Birchall informs us there 

 is a specimen in the late Mr. Tardy's Irish 

 collection, but its habitat is unknown. 

 (The scientific name is Chesias spartiata.) 



877. The Broom Tip (Chesias obliqttaria). 



377. THE BROOM TIP. The antennae are 

 simple in both sexes ; the palpi rather long 

 and porrected, in the form of a beak ; the 

 fore wings are long, obtusely pointed, and 

 narrow, with two indistinct angled lines 

 before the middle, and a dark abbreviated 

 band beyond the middle ; this band origi- 

 nates on the costal margin, and is con- 

 spicuous half-way across the wing, whence 

 it is continued as a very indistinct double 

 line to the inner margin ; between the 

 abbreviated band and the tip is a smoky 

 costal blotch ; there is a broad hind-mar- 

 ginal band of a smoky- gray colour inter- 

 sected by a submarginal pale scalloped line ; 

 the head, thorax, and body are of the same 

 colour as the fore wings. 



Mr. Machin beat seven or eight of the 

 CATERPILLARS off common broom (Spartium 

 scoparium) in 1856, and bred, the perfect 



insect in 1857: it closely resembles the 

 caterpillar of C. spartiata, but is of a rather 

 darker green, and wants the yellowish tinge ; 

 Mr. Machin also thought it thicker towards 

 the head, and not quite so smooth. It feeds 

 exclusively on the common broom (Spartium 

 scoparium) . 



The MOTH continues on the wing from 

 the middle of May to the middle of July ; 

 Mr. Machin took it without intermission 

 from the 20th of May to the 7th of July. 

 It occurs in Surrey, Kent, and Suffolk, and 

 has also been taken in Scotland. (The 

 scientific name is Chesias obliquaria.) 



Obs. This insect is called "the Chevron" 

 by Donovan, a name which belongs properly 

 to Cidaria testata ; and " the Broom Buff 

 tip" by Harris and Stephens : I have 

 adopted Haworth's English name in order 

 to avoid confusion. 



378. The Chimney Sweeper (Tanagra chcerophyllata). 



378. THE CHIMNEY SWEEPER. The fore 

 wings are rather ample and rounded at the 

 tip ; their colour is sooty black, the fringe 

 snowy white at the tip and interspersed 

 with white on the hind margin : the hind 

 wings, head, thorax, and body are sooty 

 black. 



Mr. Buckler has thus described the 

 CATERPILLAR from specimens found by Mr. 

 Howard Vaughan, to whom we are indebted 

 for the discovery of its food-plant : " When 

 full-grown, is nearly three-quarters of an 

 inch in length, cylindrical, short in propor- 

 tion, and almost equally thick throughout, 

 rather shining, and with distinct lines, as 

 follows : Ground colour of the back green 

 or bluish green, becoming on the sides 

 gradually paler towards the spiracular 

 regions. The dorsal line is darker green, 

 and on the anal segment becomes dark red 

 and thicker, forming a very conspicuous 

 mark. The sub-dorsal stripe is of a darker 

 green than the ground colour, running be- 

 tween two fine lines of pale whitish-green, 



