110 



BKITISH MOTHS. 



242 The Mottled Gray (Larentia multistric/ata). 



242. THE MOTTLED GRAY. The antennae 

 are slightly pubescent in the male, quite 

 simple in the female ; male much larger 

 than the female : the wings in both sexes 

 ample ; fore wings gray, transversely barred 

 with darker gray ; sometimes the ground 

 colour has an ochreous tinge ; the trans- 

 verse markings are irregular, waved, and 

 interrupted, and rather like series of dots 

 than consecutive lines ; the hind wings are 

 pale gray, transversely marked with dark 

 but indistinct waved lines towards the hind 

 margin. 



The EGG is laid in April, on the different 

 species of lady's bedstraw, but feeds freely 

 on sweet woodroof in confinement ; it rests 

 in a nearly straight or slightly arched posi- 

 tion, the feet as well as the claspers generally 

 attached, and the head prone and tucked 

 under. The head is as wide as the second 

 segment, and not notched on the crown ; 

 the body is uniformly cylindrical, the seg- 

 mental divisions well marked, and the 

 lateral skinfold rather prominent. The 

 colour of the head and body is gray-brown, 

 occasionally tinted with pink or yellow ; a 

 narrow medio-dorsal clearly-defined darker 

 stripe runs from the second segment to the 

 tip of the anal flap; three broader, less 

 regular, and less clearly-defined stripes run 

 along the sides parallel with the medio- 

 dorsal stripe, and between this and the 

 spiracles ; ventral surface paler than the 

 dorsal surface, and having an extremely 

 slender and delicate medio-ventral stripe ; 

 and between this and the spiracles are three 

 other stripes, all of which are waved, and 

 that nearest the medio-ventral is double ; 

 the spiracles are intensely black ; in addi- 

 tiou to the stripes are numerous extremely 

 small warts, darker than the general sur- 

 face, and each emitting a minute bristle. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in early 

 spring, and is found in most parts of Eng- 



land and Scotland, and in the county Dublin, 

 in Ireland. (The scientific name is Larentia 

 multistrigata.) 



243. The Gray Mountain Carpet (Larentia ccesiata). 



243. THE GRAY MOUNTAIN CARPET. The 

 antennae are almost simple ; the fore wings 

 gray with numerous darker, transverse, zig- 

 zag markings ; across the middle of the 

 wings these darker markings form a trans- 

 verse median bar, the costal extremity of 

 which is divided, and encloses a gray space, 

 which contains an oblong central dark spot ; 

 the hind wings are very pale, with an oblong 

 dark spot above the middle, and three 

 transverse waved lines towards the hind 

 margin. 



The EGG is laid on the slender stalks of 

 the wort, whortleberry, or bilberry (Vacci- 

 nium Vitis-Idxa), in July and August, and 

 the young CATERPILLAR emerges in about 

 twelve days, but soon hybernates on the 

 surface of the earth, at the roots of the 

 food-plant ; it begins to feed again in April 

 of the ensuing year, and is full-fed by the 

 second week in May ; it then rests on the 

 stalk of its food-plant by day, generally 

 with the head downwards, and in a per- 

 fectly straight position ; on the approach 

 of evening it turns round, re-ascends the 

 stalk, and feeds on the leaves during the 

 night. When full-grown the head is prone, 

 scarcely so wide as the second segment, and 

 without any manifest notch on the crown ; 

 the body is of uniform substance through- 

 out, and having a perceptible lateral skin- 

 fold along the region of the spiracles ; each 

 segment has a few small warts, and each 

 wart emits a short and feeble bristle. The 

 colour of the head is umber-brown, in some 

 specimens inclining to red ; the body is 

 velvety red-brown, or velvety olive-green ; 

 in both varieties there is a series of medio- 

 dorsal V-shaped markings of great beauty, 

 these occur on the fifth, sixth, seventh, 



