230 



BKITISH MOTHS. 



margin, and having a conspicuous lobe or 

 angle near the middle of the inner margin ; 

 their colour is dull purplish-brown, with a 

 pale blotch at the base, and two pale waved 

 transverse bars, one before, the other be- 

 vond the middle, and midway between these 

 is a transverse oblong discoidal spot, which 

 has pale margins and dark centre ; the outer 

 pale bar expands into a decided pale spot 

 on the costa ; beyond the outer pale bar, 

 and midway between this and the hind 

 margin, is a rust-coloured bar frequently 

 broken up into spots ; the pale bars are 

 generally accompanied by rust- coloured 

 markings ; the hind wings are smoky- 

 brown, with a darker discoidal spot, a 

 darker anal angle, and two paler transverse 

 bars, the first below the middle of the wing, 

 the second on the hind margin; all the 

 wing-markings are obscure and confused : 

 the head and thorax have the colours of the 

 fore wings ; the body is dingy -brown. 



The head of the CATERPILLAR is broader 

 than the second segment, and bifid on the 

 crown, the lobes being blunt and rounded ; 

 it is shining and of a brown colour, speckled 

 with darker brown ; the sides are rather 

 paler ; the body is not regularly cylindrical, 

 but uneven, being humped on the fifth, 

 sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth segments ; 

 the hump on the eighth segment is the least ; 

 those on the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth, 

 have obtuse summits directed backwards ; 

 that on the twelfth segment is erect; the 

 colour of the body is yellow-green, with 

 purplish-brown markings, which form a 

 conspicuous stripe on the back of the 

 second, third, and fourth segments, and 

 which crown all the five humps and fill 

 the interstices between the second and third, 

 and between the third and fourth ; on the 

 fifth hump this purple-brown colour forms 

 a mere line, and there is a similar line on 

 the last or thirteenth segment ; a very 

 similar colour occupies nearly the whole of 

 the ventral area, which is darkest on the 

 tenth, eleventh, and twelfth segments. It 

 feeds on birch (Betula alba), and is full-fed 

 about the 20th of September, when it de- 

 scends the tree, and generally spins a slight 

 cocoon on the earth, attaching the upper 

 side of the cocoon to a fallen leaf ; in this 



situation it remains in the CHRYSALIS stat 

 all the winter. 



The MOTH appears in June, and has oc- 

 curred not uncommonly in most of our 

 English counties, and also in Scotland and 

 Ireland. (The scientific name is Notodonta 

 dromedarius.) 



Obs. The Irjsh specimens of this insect 

 are much darker than the English ones, and 

 have been described as a distinct species 

 under the name of Notodonta perfusca. Mr. 

 G-reene states that he found nine chrysalids 

 at the roots of alder (Alnus glutinosa) . 



406. The Three-Humped (Notodonta trilophus). 



406. THE THREE - HUMPED. The an- 

 tennae are slightly pectinated in the male, 

 and simple in the female ; in both sexes 

 there is a fascicle of longish scales at the 

 base ; the fore wings are blunt at the tip, 

 and have a prominent angle or tooth about 

 the middle of the inner margin ; their pre- 

 vailing colour is umber-brown, with various 

 markings of other tints between the base 

 and the discoidal spot ; a double transverse 

 line, waved but almost direct, crosses the 

 wing from the costa to the inner-marginal 

 lobe ; the interior portion of this line is 

 light, the outer dark ; the discoidal spot is 

 very conspicuous, transverse, and oblong 

 the middle is rust-coloured, the exterior 

 gray ; parallel with the hind margin is an 

 oblique and rather vague ferruginous band, 

 bordered exteriorly with gray ; at the anal 

 angle this band turns inwards and upwards 

 towards the discoidal spot, but is lost before 

 reaching it ; above the discoidal spot is a 

 pale costal blotch, and beyond this a short 

 gray oblique streak : the hind wings are 

 gray, tinged with brown, and having a con- 

 spicuous but vague blotch at the anal angle, 

 which extends some distance along the inner 



