8 



BRITISH MOTHS. 



gradually growing wider until it reaches the 

 margin, where it is very broad : hind wings 

 pink, with a black blotch at the base, and a 

 black band half-way between this black blotch 

 and the margin, and a snowy- white blotch at 

 the anal angle : thorax and body olive-brown, 

 with a white line on each side of the thorax 

 just at the base of the wings ; this line runs 

 on each side along the head just above the 

 eye, and the two meet at the nose ; the body 

 has on each side at the base two square black 

 spots and two square white spots, and beyond 

 them, nearer the apex, and also on each side, 

 are three white lines. The caterpillar is 

 smooth and black, with innumerable whitish 

 dots ; there arc also eleven large spots of the 

 same colour arrayed in a row on each side of 

 the back, and beneath these as many spots of 

 the same size and of a bright coral-red colour ; 

 the head is of the same coral-red colour, and a 

 line of the same colour runs all along the back, 

 from the head to the horn ; the horn is red 



at the base and black at the tip. It feeds on 

 the sea-spurge at Appledore and Braunton 

 Burrows, near Barnstaple, where it was found 

 by the late Mr. Raddon in abundance many 

 years ago. The perfect insect has never been 

 found in this country. The chrysalis is pale 

 brown and delicately lined and dotted with 

 black in the manner of network; it buries 

 itself in the loose dry sand on the sea coast. 

 The eggs are covered with liquid gum, which 

 enables them to stick on the small leaves of 

 the spurge. In a fortnight these hatch and 

 produce little black caterpillars ; the white 

 and red spots appear as the caterpillar increases 

 in size, and in a few weeks it becomes a most 

 beautiful object, and so conspicuous as to at- 

 tract the sea-gulls and terns, which devour 

 them in numbers. We have never had the 

 pleasure of finding either the caterpillar or per- 

 fect moth. Our description of the caterpillar 

 is taken from the Entomological Magazine. 

 (The scientific name is Deilejphila Euphorbia.} 



8. The Bedstraw Hawk-Moth (Deilephila Oalii). 



tf. THE BEDSTEAW HAWK-MOTH. Fore 

 wings olive-brown, with a broad, irregular, 

 whitirh stripe along the middle ; hind wings 

 black at the base ; then a broad pinkish- white 

 band, quite white near the 1 body, and bright 

 pink about the middle ; then a distinct black 

 band, and then a grey margin ; thorax and 

 body olive-brown, a white line on each side of 

 the thorax just at the base of the wings ; this 

 line runs on each side along the head just 

 above the eye ; sides of the body with black 

 and whitish spots. The caterpillar is smooth, 

 bluish-green above, inclining to pink beneath, 

 sometimes brown and sometimes black, but 



uivajs having a pale, almost yellow, line down 

 the middle of the back, and a row of ten con- 

 spicuous eye-like yellow spots, on each side ; 

 the head is green, brown, or black, according 

 to the colour of the caterpillar, but the horn 

 above the tail is invariably red. Feeds on 

 the Ladies' Bedstraw on sand-hills by the sea- 

 coast, especially near Deal, and is not uncom- 

 mon, but requires to be diligently sought after. 

 The chrysalis is brown, and is found in the 

 sand. The caterpillar feeds in Augus* and 

 September, and the Moth appears about Mid- 

 summer. (The scientific name is Deilephila 

 Gain.) 



