GEOMETEBS. 



55 



114. The Early Thorn (Selenia illunaria). 



also a very obscure halfmoon-shaped darker 

 mark at the very tip ; the hind wings are of 

 the same colour as the fore wings, and are 

 sprinkled in the saire manner ; and across the 

 middle they have a very indistinct paler band: 

 the head, thorax and body are of exactly the 

 same colour as the wings. The caterpillar 

 is brown, variously mottled and clouded, the 

 eighth and ninth segments are rather swollen ; 

 on the back there are two rather paio streaks 

 along each side, the upper one almost on the 

 back ; it feeds on willow principally, but when 

 in gardens where it is common, on twenty 

 different plants. It is double-brooded, the 

 first brood appearing on the wing about the 

 1st of April, the second about the 1st of July ; 

 and these two broods are so exceedingly dif- 

 ferent in appearance that almost all authors 

 have regarded them as two distinct species ; 

 calling the spring brood by the name of the 

 Early Thorn, and in science Selenia illunaria; 

 and the July brood by the name of the July 

 Thorn, and in science Selenia Juliaria. Mr. 

 Haworth, the author of that excellent work 

 " Lepidoptera Britannica," unfortunately 

 written in Latin, considered them distinct ; 

 but Mr. Doubleday has proved the contrary, 

 and all entomologists accept his decision. 

 (The scientific name is Selenia illunaria.) 



115. The Lunar Thorn (Selenia lunaria). 



115. THE LUNAR THORN. All the wings 

 with sharp angles; pale wainscoat colour: 

 ibre wings witha dark brown half-moon-shaped 



mark at the very tip ; across the middle of 

 the wings is a straight line, and the portion of 

 the wing between this line and the hind mar- 

 gin is paler than the portion between the 

 line and the base ; just within this line near 

 the middle of the wing is a white crescent- 

 shaped mark ; and nearer to the base of the 

 wing is a very distinct narrow transverse 

 waved line ; hind wings coloured very much 

 like the fore wings, and having a rather 

 obscure dark band across the middle ; in 

 the middle of this band is a crescent-shaped 

 whitish mark surrounded by a dark-brown 

 line: head, thorax and body pale brown. 

 The caterpillar is pale bi own, but by no means 

 constant in colour, and has humps on the 

 third, sixth and ninth segments : it feeds on 

 blackthorn, and is to be found in August, the 

 moth in May and beginning of June. (The 

 scientific name is Selenia lunaria.) 



116. The Purple Thorn (Selet'ia illustraria). 



116. THE PURPLE THORN. Wings angled ; 

 all wings with the basal half rich purple- 

 brown ; the marginal a half pearly grey with 

 a delicate rosy tinge : the fore wings have a 

 pure white crescent-shaped spot just within 

 the boundary of the darker half, and a large 

 purple-brown halfmoon-shaped mark at the 

 very tip of the wing : the hind wings have 

 also a slender white crescent in the dark por- 

 tion : head, thorax and body brown, thorax 

 of the male very hairy. The caterpillar is a 

 rich vinous-brown colour, with a lighter head ; 

 there is a bifid hump on the fifth, sixth, 

 eighth and ninth segments ; it feeds on birch 

 and oak. When about to change, .it spins a 

 slight cocoon among leaves near or on the 

 surface of the ground. This beautiful Moth 

 is double-brooded, the first appearing in May, 

 the second in August : they differ in colour; 

 the late Mr. Stevens described the latter under 

 the scientific name of Odontoptera dclunaria. 

 (The scientific name is Selenia Illustraria.) 



