CUSPIDATES. 



229 



404. The Lesser Swallow Prominent (Notodonta 

 dicta aides), 



404. THE LESSER SWALLOW PROMINENT. 

 The antennae are moderately pectinated 

 in the male, very slightly so in the female ; 

 the fore wings are rather long and narrow, 

 the costal margin nearly straight ; the tip 

 is rather prolonged and obtuse, and the 

 hind margin sinuous ; the inner margin 

 has a small and inconspicuous lobe or angle 

 about the middle ; their colour is pale 

 whitish-brown in the middle, the costal 

 margin darker, the darker portion being 

 very narrow at the base, but expanding 

 into a broader although still narrow choco- 

 late-brown blotch near the tip ; near the 

 inner margin, and extending from the middle 

 of the base to the hind margin, is a rich 

 chocolate tint, the upper margin of which 

 shades off into the pale median area ; the 

 hind margin has three slender lines, the in- 

 terior very pale, the next very dark, and the 

 third or exterior line is intermediate in tint 

 between the other two ; these lines are in- 

 tersected by the whitish wing-rays ; at the 

 anal angle is a long wedge-shaped white 

 mark, its tip pointing towards the base of 

 the wing ; opposite the lobe is another 

 white mark in the form of a compressed 

 crescent, and near the base a white streak 

 which touches the thorax : the hind wings 

 are very pale, with a compound brown blotch 

 at the anal angle : the thorax is umber- 

 brown tinged with gray ; the body grayish- 

 brown. 



The CATERPILLAR has rather a large head, 

 slightly notched on the crown, brown and 

 shining ; the body is almost uniformly cylin- 

 drical until the twelfth segment, which is 

 humped, the hump terminating in a some- 

 what sharp and very shining papilla ; the 

 thirteenth segment is rugose above ; the 

 colour of the back is purple-brown, very 

 shining when full-fed; on each side is a 



distinct yellow stripe, which includes the 

 spiracles, excepting that on the twelfth 

 segment ; the spiracles are black, the 

 ventral is much paler than the dorsal area. 

 This caterpillar, when compared with that 

 of Notodonta dictxa, may be distinguished 

 by its somewhat more slender proportions, 

 by its more glabrous skin, by its uniformly 

 possessing the purple-brown hue, and by 

 the greater brightness and distinctness of 

 the lateral stripe. It feeds on birch (Betula 

 alba), and is full-fed at the end of Septem- 

 ber, when it descends to the ground, spin- 

 ning a slight cocoon between the surface of 

 the earth and a fallen leaf : it remains in 

 the CHRYSALIS state all the winter. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in June, 

 and has been found in most of the English 

 counties, but not commonly : Mr. Birchall 

 records its occurrence in the county Wick- 

 low, in Ireland. (The scientific name is 

 Notodonta dictseoides.) 



Obs. My plan of describing each moth 

 in full, without reference to any other, has 

 compelled me to write two descriptions 

 almost exactly similar; the principal dis- 

 tinguishing character between this and the 

 preceding moth is to be found in the anal 

 angle of the fore wings : in Dictcea the white 

 mark is almost linear, but very sharp- 

 pointed ; in Dictceoides it is wedge-shaped* 

 and decidedly more conspicuous. 



405. The Iron Prominent (Notodonta dromedarius). 



405. THE IRON PROMINENT. The an- 

 tennae of the male are slightly pectinated, 

 those of the female quite simple ; the fore 

 wings are nearly straight on the costa, blunt 

 at the tip, slightly scalloped on the hind 



