GEOMETERS. 



57 



a slight cocoon under a leaf or on the ground, 

 and mingles husks of corn in its cocoon 

 whenever it can procure them. (The scientific 

 name is Ennomos alniaria.) 



120. The Canary-shouldered Thorn (Ennomos tiliaria). 



120. THE CANARY-SHOULDERED THORN. 

 All the wings with slightly scalloped and 

 angled margins ; orange-yellow, marked with 

 minute short streaks of brown ; the fore 

 wings have two very oblique dark lines ex- 

 tending from the costa to the inner margin, 

 both of them slightly curved, and the inner 

 one slightly angled near the costa ; between 

 these two lines, and equally distant from 

 both, is a short central transverse mark of 

 the same colour ; head and thorax very hairy, 

 of a beautiful canary-yellow ; body yellow. 

 The canary-coloured thorax is the distin- 

 guishing mark of this species. I know 

 nothing of the caterpillar of this moth. 

 Mr. Stainton, translating Treitsche, says it 

 is wrinkled, brown, marbled with darker 

 brown, with humps on the sixth and tenth 

 segments gradually increasing in size ; it 

 feeds on birch, oak, &c. The caterpillar is 

 found in June, the moth in August. (The 

 scientific name is Ennomos tiliaria.) 



121. The Dusky Thorn (Ennomos fuscantaria). 



121. THE DUSKY THORN. Wings slightly 

 scalloped and angled, dull ochre frequently 

 becoming almost lead-colour towards the hind 

 margin ; fore wings with two very oblique 

 transverse lines, which are distant on the 

 costa, but gradually approach until they al- 

 most touch on the inner margin ; between 



them is a slight indication of the usual cen- 

 tral mark ; the hind wings have scarcely any 

 indication of marking ; head, thorax and 

 body brownish. The eggs are almost square, 

 with the angles rounded ; they are laid close 

 together on the twigs of the ash-tree, gene- 

 rally near the tip is formed a curious series, 

 a good deal resembling a tape-worm. The 

 young caterpillar at first is a dark opaque 

 green, but becomes lighter with age, and, 

 when full grown, is a uniform pale green, 

 with scarcely any trace of markings ; it eats 

 round holes in the ash-leaves, very much like 

 those we commonly see cut out of rose leaves 

 by the leaf-cutter bee ; the chrysalis is sus- 

 pended within a curled-up leaf, it is green, 

 but assumes a purplish tint two days before 

 it changes to a moth. (The scientific name 

 is Ennomos fuscantaria) 



122. The September Thorn (Ennomos erosaria). 



122. THE SEPTEMBER THORN. All the 

 wings are angulated, but not acutely ; varia- 

 ble in colour, but generally ochre-yellow, and 

 with delicate short transverse streaks; the 

 fore wings have two transverse lines of dark- 

 ish brown, the first of them is very slightly 

 bent backwards near the costal margin ; hind 

 wings paler than the fore wings, and having 

 a very pale indistinct brown line across the 

 middle. Caterpillar very clouded and mar- 

 bled with brown, with humps on the back 

 of the third, sixth, eighth, ninth and twelfth 

 segments, and on the sides of the seventh. 

 It feeds on birch, oak and other trees. The 

 moth flies in August and September, coming 

 to gas-lights ; it used to be common near 

 London, but has disappeared within the last 

 few years ; it still occurs in many parts of 

 thekingdom, particularly in the New Forest, 

 in Hampshire. (The scientific name is 

 Ennomos erosaria.) 



