GEOMETERS. 



67 



the markings. The usual food-plant is oak 

 (Quercus Robur), but they feed freely on the 

 leaves of the plum in confinement, and are 

 full-fed the first week in July. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in April, 

 and generally again in July; its geographical 

 range in this country is, without doubt, very 

 extensive, hut unascertained on account of the 

 difficulty entomologists find in distinguishing 

 between this and the preceding species. (The 

 scientific name is Tephrosia biundularia.} 



144. The Brindled White-spot (Tephrosia extersaria). 



144. THE BRINDLED WHITE-SPOT. The 

 antennae are nearly simple in both sexes: the 

 wings are smoky-gray, sprinkled all over 

 with smoky-brown: the fore wings have 

 four transverse blackish lines, the first near 

 the base is slightly curved, the second crossing 

 the middle of the wing is of the same shape 

 as the first; between these two is a crescent- 

 shaped blackish mai'knot always very distinct ; 

 the third transverse line is generally broken 

 up into black spots; the fourth is exactly 

 half-way between the third and the tip of 

 the wing; it is accompanied on the outside 

 by a slender zigzag white line, and both the 

 black and white lines terminate in a con- 

 spicuous white blotch, which is situated 

 half-way between the costa and the anal 

 angle : the hind wings have several transverse 

 markings, but these are far less conspicuous 

 than those I have described in the fore wings : 

 the head, thorax, and body ar.' gray-brown. 



The CATERPILLAR is gray, clouded with red- 

 dish brown; it feeds on birch; it is found 

 in September, and remains in the CHRYSALIS 

 state during winter, the moth making its 

 appearance the following June. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and 

 has been taken in Cornwall, New Forest, 



Hampshire, Dorsetshire, Sussex, Surrey, 

 Essex, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxford- 

 shire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, and 

 Suffolk, but not in Scotland or Ireland. (The 

 scientific name is Tephrosia exlersaria.) 



145. The Gray Birch (Tephrosia punctulata). 



145 THE GRAY BIRCH. The antennae in 

 both sexes are simple: the wings are gray 

 sprinkled over with smoky-brown; on the 

 costal margin of the fore wings are four very 

 conspicuous black spots, nearly equally distant 

 from t-ach other; these spots are long and 

 narrow, arzd fade into interrupted dotted black 

 lines, which terminate on the inner margin; 

 there are some transverse markings on the 

 hind wings, but they are very indistinct : the 

 he id, thorax, and body are smoky-gray. 



The CATERPILLAR is smooth,and of a reddish 

 colour, with white spots or blotches on the 

 bark of all the segments; it feeds on birch 

 (Betula alba), and may be met with through- 

 out the month of August. 



The MOTH app< ars on the wing in May and 

 June. It is a very common species round 

 London, paiticularly at Birch and Darent 

 Words in Kent, and has occurred more or less 

 plentifully in all our English oountie--, from 

 Devonshire and Sussex to Yorkshire. I have 

 seen no Scottish specimens; but Mr. Birchall 

 reports it from the counties Wicklow and 

 Kerry in Ireland. (The scientific name is 

 Tephrosia punctulata.} 



146. THE ANNULET. The antennae <>f the 

 male are very slightly ciliated, those of the 

 female simple: the wings vary in colour from 

 pale pearly-gray to very dark smoky-biown, 

 almost black, but the fore wings invariably 

 have two transverse zigzag black lines, and 

 the hind wings one; between these transverse 

 lines ou each fore wing is a black ring or 

 an.n^ 1 ~\ "*"* on each hind wing, very ne<ir the 



