286 



COMMON BRITISH MOTHS 



The Beautiful Carpet (Melanthia albicillata) 



The Beautiful Carpet belongs to the same genus as Bicolorata. 

 Its wings are of a rich creamy white, clouded with grey along the 

 hind margin. The basal blotches of the 

 fore wings are large, of a dark brown 

 colour, and marbled with a light tint. 

 Near the tips of these wings is ano 1 her 

 conspicuous blotch of the same colour, 

 from which a delicate wavy dark line runs 

 to the inner margin. A small dark spot 

 also lies near the middle of the costal 

 margin of each of the four wings. 



The caterpillar is green, with a white 



line along the spiracles, and a triangular reddish spot on the back 

 of segments four to ten inclusive. It feeds on the bramble (Rubus 

 fruticosus], raspberry (R. Idczus), and wild strawberry (Frag aria 

 vesca). It may be found in June and July. 

 The moth flies in June. 



FIG. 202. -THE BEAUTI- 

 FUL CARPET. 



The Common Carpet (Melanippe sociat 



The genus Melanippe contains twelve species, some of which 

 are extremely common. One of these moths the Common Carpet 

 is represented in fig. 203. Its wings are 

 all of a smoky-brown colour, crossed by 

 numerous white lines, the arrangement of 

 which may be gathered from our illustration 

 better than from a written description. It 

 is a double-brooded insect, appearing first in 

 May, and then again about the end of July. 



The caterpillar is mottled with shades of 

 brown and grey. On the back are five or six 



greyish-white lozenge-shaped marks, and there are a few white dots 

 on the back of each segment. It feeds on the hedge bedstraw 

 (Galium Mollugo), and when full grown it changes to a chrysalis 

 in a light cocoon on the ground. 



The Silver Ground Carpet (Melanippe montanata) 



In this species the ground colour is silvery white. The bases of 

 the fore wings are blotched with pale brown, and a dark brownish- 



FIG. 203. THE 



COMMON CARPET. 



