234 



BEITISH MOTHS. 



wrinkled ; it has two yellowish and very 

 narrow stripes near together down the 

 middle of the back ; these under a lens are 

 seen to be composed of yellow dots ; two 

 similarly-dotted stripes are observable out- 

 side these, but not extending beyond the 

 sixth segment ; on each side of the cater- 

 pillar, extending from the head to the anal 

 point, is a raised pale stripe, which is 

 alternately pink and pale yellow, and which 

 includes the spiracles. It feeds on oak 

 (Quercus robur), and is full-fed about the 

 4th of September, when it spins a slight 

 cocoon on the surface of the ground, and 

 changes to a CHRYSALIS, in which state it 

 remains throughout the winter. 



The MOTH appears in May : it occurs in 

 Kent, Essex, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, 

 and Gloucestershire, in the South, and in 

 Cumberland, Lancashire, and Westmore- 

 land, in the North of England. Mr. 

 Birchall says it is not uncommon at Kil- 

 larney, in Ireland. (The scientific name is 

 Notodonta dodoncea.) 



411. The Figure-of-Eight Moth (Diloba caruleo- 

 cephala). 



411. THE FIGURE-OF-EIGHT MOTH. The 

 antennae of the male are pectinated, those 

 of the female simple : the costal margin of 

 the fore wings is nearly straight, the tip 

 blunt ; their colour is leaden-brown, glossed, 

 in recently disclosed specimens, with mother- 

 of-pearl reflections ; they are traversed by 

 two angulated black lines, the first of which 

 is nearly direct, and situated near the base 

 of the wing ; the second is beyond the 

 middle of the wing, very oblique, and very 

 much bent and angulated, and, although 

 very distant from the first on the costa, 

 almost joins it on the inner margin: be- 

 tween these two lines are two very large 

 kidney-shaped white spots with double 

 nuclei ; these remarkable spots bear a super- 

 ficial resemblance to figures-of -eight, whence 



the name of the moth : the hind wings are 

 dingy-brown, with darker wing-rays, an 

 indistinct discoidal spot, and a dark, almost 

 black, blotch at the anal angle : the head 

 and thorax are gray -"brown ; the body 

 brown. 



The EGGS are laid in September in clus- 

 ters of six or eight at the base of the lateral 

 shoots of whitethorn (Cratxgus oxyacantha), 

 or blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) , the leaves 

 of these shoots being the earliest to expand 

 in the spring, when the caterpillar emerges 

 from the egg-shell. When full-grown, which 

 is usually in May or June, the CATERPILLAB 

 has a small head of a blue-green colour 

 with two black spots on the crown ; the 

 general colour of the body is glaucous- 

 green above, tinged with smoke-colour, and 

 having a median rather broad yellow stripe 

 interrupted at each junction of two seg- 

 ments ; on each side, just below the spira- 

 cles, is another yellow stripe seated on a 

 longitudinally-raised fold of the skin ; be- 

 low this the body is smoky-green, shading 

 off to yellow-green on the ventral area ; on 

 every segment are numerous black warts, 

 each of which emits a single black bristle ; 

 the most conspicuous of these warts are 

 four on the back of every segment ; the 

 anterior nearer together than the posterior 

 pair : the yellow median stripe passes be- 

 tween them, leaving two on each side : each 

 of the warts seems to acquire a greater 

 intensity of colour from its being surrounded 

 by a paler space : the legs are shining, 

 glaucous, and black-spotted; the claspers 

 opaque green, with two black spots on each. 

 It feeds on whitethorn (Cratxgus oxya- 

 cantha), and is full-fed about the middle of 

 June, when it spins an oblong cocoon formed 

 of minute particles of the rind of the white- 

 thorn twigs, small fragments of the green 

 leaves, and an abundance of silk ; this is 

 generally attached to the underside of a 

 small hawthorn twig : in this it changes to 

 a CHETSALIS, and remains in that state 

 about two months. 



The MOTH appears in September, and is 

 common throughout England, but Mr. 

 Birchall says it is not abundant in Ireland. 

 (The scientific name is Diloba cseruleo- 

 cephala.) 



