100 



BRITISH MOTHS. 



of the third, fourth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, 

 and thirteenth segments, is of the same 

 orange-red colour as the lateral stripe ; 

 alc/ng the middle of the back is a series of 

 large, but irregular, black spots ; these are 

 generally three in number, two amorphous, 

 transversely placed, and small, the third 

 trapezoid, much larger, and quite as broad 

 as the other two ; they assume an altered 

 form on the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth 

 segments ; below these is a series of small 

 streak-like black spots, and again below 

 those, but above the lateral orange stripe, 

 is an irregular series of rather large amor- 

 phous black spots.; below the orange stripe 

 is an interrupted black stripe on each side, 

 and on the belly are two distinct and con- 

 tinuous black stripes ; legs black ; claspers 



blotched with black. Feeds in gardens on 

 the gooseberry and black currant, and more 

 rarely on the red currant, greatly preferring 

 those trees of all three species when trained 

 against a wall ; in woods and hedges it may 

 be found on black-thorn, which I believe to 

 be its natural food ; it is full-fed in May, 

 when it spins a very slight and perfectly 

 transparent cocoon, in which it fastens itself 

 by the tail and changes to a chrysalis, the 

 web or cocoon in no way hiding the CHRYS- 

 ALIS, which at first is entirely yellow, but 

 soon becomes black and glabrous, with 

 seven yellow bands, three of which, the 

 first, second, and third are dorsal only ; the 

 others are complete circles ; the tail ter- 

 minates in three or more very distinct hooks, 

 which constitute its means of attachment to 

 the interior of the cocoon. 



The MOTH appears on the wing about mid- 

 summer, and is only too common in all our 

 gardens, both in England and Ireland. (The 

 scientific name is Abraxas grossulariata.) 



227. The Clouded Magpie (Abraxas ulmata). 



227. THE CLOUDED MAGPIE. The an- 

 tennae of the male are almost simple, having 

 a very slight and almost imperceptible 

 pubescence; those of the female are per- 

 fectly simple ; the fore wings are white, 

 with a large yellow-brown blotch at the base ; 

 and another similar blotch on the inner 

 margin near the anal angle ; in each of 

 these large blotches is a silvery cloud, com- 

 posed of scattered silvery scales ; beside 

 these principal markings there are other 

 dark-gray spots and blotches, the largest of 

 which is on the costal margin, and at two- 

 thirds of the distance between the base and 

 the tip ; hind wings white, with a large 

 yellow-brown blotch on the inner margin, 

 having a silvery cloud in it like the blotches 

 in the fore wings ; there are several dark- 

 gray spots on the wing, some of which 

 form a transverse band across the middle ; 

 head and thorax brown ; body yellow, with 

 a row of black spots down the back, two 

 rows down each side, and two rows down 

 the belly. 



The CATERPILLAR is beautifully figured by 

 Sepp, and its life-history given with great 

 minuteness and accuracy ; its head is black, 

 its body gray, inclining to blue on the sides, 

 and covered with black dots, which are 

 arranged in series ; it has a yellow stripe 

 on each side, in the region of the spiracles ; 

 it feeds on elm during the autumn. 



The MOTH appears in June and July, and 

 is very common in the south-west and some 

 of the midland counties of England, and 

 has been taken in the county Wicklow, in 

 Ireland, by Mr. Bristow. (The scientific 

 name is Abraxas ulmata ; it is also the 

 Abraxas pantaria of all British authors, but 

 not of continental ones, who give that name 

 to a totally different species.) 



