GEOMETERS. 



91 



218. The Gray Scalloped Bar (Scodionabelgiaria), 



male. 



212. THE GRAY SCALLOPED BAR. The an- 

 tennae of the male are strongly pectinated, of 

 the female simple; the wings are simple ; in 

 the male all the wings are of a pale whitish- 

 gray; the fore wings have two nearly black 

 scalloped transverse lines, the first crosses the 

 wing in almost a direct line at about one-third 

 of the distance between the base and the tip, 

 the second rather obliquely, and at about two 

 thirds of the distance from the base to the tip. 

 Between these two transverse lines, and equi- 

 distant from both, is a transversely oblong spot 

 almost black ; outside of the second line, but 

 closely adjoining to it, are two large dark 

 blotches. The hind wings have one scalloped 

 transverse dark line, and a dark spot between 

 this and the base. Head, thorax, and body 



The Gray Scalloped Bar, female. 

 almost white. In the female, which is much 

 smaller than the male, the colour of the wing 

 is much darker, being almost smoke-coloured, 

 but the markings are the same, except that 

 bhe two blotches outside the second transverse 

 line are scarcely to be perceived. 



The EGGS are laid in June on the common 

 ling, on which plant the CATERPILLAR feeds : 

 this caterpillar hybernates very early in the 

 autumn, and begins to feed again the following 

 April; it then grows very rapidly, and is full- 

 fed about the 1st of May. It falls off its food 

 and rolls in a ring when handled or disturbed, 

 and will often remain in this position for an 

 hour without moving. Its shape is uniformly 

 cylindrical, with two small warts placed trans- 

 versely on the back of each segment. There 

 is a conspicuous conical horn on the twelfth 



segment, and a pair of slender closely approxi- 

 mate horns pointing backwards on the thir- 

 teenth. Its colour is very dull brown, 

 obscurely variegated, mottled and streaked 

 with gray ; on the outside of the first pair of 

 claspers is a white stripe, and a faint appear- 

 ance of a similar stripe on the hinder pair. 

 It spins a slight cocoon on the surface of the 

 ground, and therein changes to a CHRYSALIS, 

 and to a perfect insect at th end of May. 

 During June it flies over heaths in England, 

 Scotland, and Ireland. (The scientific name 

 is Scodiona belgiaria.) 



213. The Bordered Gray (Selidosema pl/uma/ria) . 



213. THE BORDERED GRAY. The antennae 

 of the male are very strongly pectinated, quite 

 plumose; those of the female simple ; all the 

 wings are plumbeous- gray, and have a broad 

 dark band along the hind margin; the fore 

 wings have two transverse darker bars, the 

 first near the base, and the second near the 

 middle ; the female is very much less than the 

 male, but in colour and markings the sexes are 

 very similar. The head, thorax, and body are 

 of the same colour as the wings. 



W^ 



The Bordered Gray, female. 



The CATERPILLAR is figured by Hubner as 

 uniformly cylindrical, and without warts, is 

 of a brown colour, variegated with darker 

 spots, and having a very dark medio-doraal 

 stripe, which grows wide at the posterior 

 margin of each segment, forming a small 

 blotch. It changes to a CHRYSALIS under the 

 surface of the earth. 



The MOTH appears in July in the New 

 Forest, Hampshire, in Cheshire, and Lanc 



