GEOMETEKS. 



228. The Scorched Carpet (Ligdia adustata). 



228. THE SCORCHED CARPET. Antennae 

 of the male almost simple ; those of the 

 female quite so ; the fore wings are white, 

 with a large blotch at the base, and abroad 

 transverse band beyond the middle, of a 

 rich purple-brown ; the band is very much 

 bent ; halfway between the blotch and the 

 band are several short transverse marks of 

 the same colour; and beyond the band, 

 that is, nearer to the hind margin, are other 

 similar markings ; on the margin itself is a 

 row of brown spots ; the hind wings are 

 white, with three waved scalloped brown 

 bands, of a very pale brown colour, within 

 which, that is, nearer the base, is a central 

 brown spot; there are also a number of 

 brown spots, more or less delicately marked, 

 near the inner margin ; the head and thorax 

 are dark brown, the body dingy white. 



The CATERPILLAR is described by Guenee 

 as being of a beautiful green colour, and 

 having the head, the ventral claspers, and 

 some lateral spots on the sixth and seventh 

 segments of a deep red, mixed with yellow ; 

 the tenth and eleventh segments have also 

 yellow patches spotted with red. It feeds 

 on the skewer-wood (Euonymus europseus) 

 in May and June. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in June 

 and July, and is rather common in England, 

 and in the counties of Wicklow and Galway 

 in Ireland. (The scientific name is Ligdia 

 adustata.) 



229. The Clouded Border (Lomaspilis marginata). 



229. THE CLOUDED BORDER. The an- 

 tennae of the male are almost simple ; those 



of the female quite so. All the wings are 

 white, with smoky-black borders, the outer 

 edge of which is bounded by the margin 

 of the wing, but the inner edge is variously 



indented with the white, which, in the fore 

 wings, runs up in two places nearly to the 

 costa ; the hind wings have usually a median 

 belt of black spots. The head, thorax, and 

 abdomen are smoky-black. An extremely 

 variable insect, scarcely two specimens being 

 alike in the distribution of the black mark- 

 ings ; four figures are given to show the 

 extent and character of the variations. In 

 the first of these there is a transverse black 

 band crossing the middle of every wing; 



in a second, this band is continuous only 

 on the hind wings, and in the other two 

 there is scarcely any black in the hind wings ; 

 indeed, it would be impossible, from an in- 

 spection of the hind wings only, to form 

 any opinion as to the species to which these 

 specimens belong. 



The CATERPILLAR is of a dark-green colour, 

 with slender medio-dorsal and lateral stripes, 

 which are sometimes yellow and sometimes 

 white ; there is a broader pale stripe along 

 the spiracles ; the head is green, with two 



black spots on the face ; the legs and claspers 

 are green. It feeds on many species of 

 willow, more particularly on the common 

 sallow (Salix caprsea). 



The MOTH appears on the wing in May, 

 June, July, and August, and is very abun- 



