24 



BRITISH MOTHS. 



rouud, quite by itself : hind wings crimson 

 red, with a broad black border; antennae, 

 thorax, and body black ; the antennae are 

 club-shaped, and blunt at the tip, but not 

 quite so blunt as in the Transparent Burnet. 

 " Caterpillar green or yellowish green, with 

 two dorsal rows of black spots on each side ; 

 it feeds on the horse-shoe vetch, Hippocrepis 

 comosa, bird's-foot trefoil, Lotus corniculatus, 

 and Trifolium procumbent." The caterpillar 

 is found in May and the Moth in June. (The 

 scientific name is Zygwna Trifolii.) 



4. The Narrow- bordered Five-spotted Burnet (Zyg*na 

 Lonicerx). 



44. THE NARROW-BORDERED FIVE-SPOTTED 

 BURNET. Fore wings blackish green, glitter- 

 ing in the sun, and having red spots ; two of 

 them, close to the base, are' of an oblong form, 

 two others, of a roundish form, are placed 

 side by side about the middle of the wing ; 

 these two are generally quite distinct and 

 separate, and beyond them, towards the tip 

 of the wing, is a fifth, almost round ; hind 

 wings crimson-red with a black border ; 

 antennae black and club shaped, but the club 

 is pointed ; thorax and body black. This 

 insect, as may be seen both by the figure and 

 description, is very much like the last, and 

 when you have only a single specimen it is 

 difficult to say to which it properly belongs ; 

 but when you have ten or twenty of each, 

 you will see that the antennae of this are 

 more pointed, the fore wings rather more 



pointed also, and the border of the hind 

 wings distinctly narrower. The caterpillar 

 is hairy, yellowish green speckled with black, 

 yellow on the sides, paler as it becomes full- 

 grown ; it feeds on clover and grasses ; the 

 chrysalis is brownish ; it is contained in a 

 yellow silken cocoon, which is spun on the 

 stem of the clover or a blade of grass. The 

 caterpillar is found in May, and the Moth in 

 June. (The scientific name is Zygcena 

 Lonicerce.} 



45. The Six-spotted Burnet (Zyyxna Filipendulx). 



45. THE SIX-SPOTTED BURNET. Fore wings 

 glossy, metallic blackish green, with six 

 bright red spots placed exactly as you observe 

 them in the figure ; that is, two oblong ones 

 near the base, two roundish ones near the 

 middle, and two roundish ones nearer the tip 

 of the wing ; hind wings crimson red, with a 

 narrow black border ; antennas club-shaped 

 and rather sharp-pointed ; antennae, thorax, 

 and body black, beautifully tinged with green. 

 Caterpillar dingy yellow, stout and rather 

 hairy ; on each segment are two rows of black 

 spots : it feeds chiefly on the Crowfoot Trefoil, 

 and, when full fed, crawls up the flowering 

 stem of some grass, and on this it spins a 

 shuttle-shaped yellow silken cocoon, very sharp- 

 pointed at both ends ; within this it changes 

 to a black chrysalis : the Moth appears the 

 begining of June, and is a very beautiful 

 object when flying in the sunshine. (The 

 scientific name is Zygv&na Fitipend-ttiv,. \ 



NOTE. 



The spots on the wings of the Burnet Moths frequently coalesce, and then the 

 In flint r,ns four spots make one band. 



