112 



BKITISH MOTHS. 



luxuriantly in London and country gardens, 

 and as furnishing an acceptable food to 

 nearly all those caterpillars which, in a 

 state of nature, feed on the different species 

 of bedstraw. The caterpillars of Larentia 

 salicata* when full-fed, rest with the clas- 

 pers attached tightly to the food-plant, and 

 from the abdominal pair the body ascends 

 at a right angle, the anterior segments being 

 bent gracefully over ; when annoyed the 

 peculiarities of this posture become intensi- 

 fied, the anterior segments assuming the 

 form of an Ionic volute, of which the tightly 

 tucked-in head is the centre; this figure 

 becomes more and more rigid as the annoy- 

 ance continues, until the caterpillar aban- 

 dons its hold on the food-plant, rolls itself 

 in a compact ring, and, feigning death, 

 falls to the ground. The head is rather 

 small, semi-porrect, not notched on the 

 crown, and beset with a few hairs ; the body 

 is of uniform thickness throughout, with- 

 out humps or warts, but beset with scat- 

 tered hairs, and having a rather remarkably 

 conspicuous tuberculated double skinfold 

 along each side below the spiracles. The 

 head is pale, semi-transparent, and of an 

 umber-brown colour, spotted with darker 

 umber-brown ; the body is umber-brown, 

 with four narrow approximate parallel 

 whitish stripes, extending the entire length 

 of the back ; on each side below the spira- 

 cles, and comprising the skinfold already 

 noticed, is a broad pale somewhat flesh- 

 coloured stripe ; the ventral surface is rather 

 pale along the middle, but darker on the 

 sides, where it touches the pale lateral 

 stripe ; it also exhibits traces of four parallel 

 narrow stripes, of which the inner pair are 

 very obscure ; the feet and claspers are 

 similar in colour to the darker parts of the 

 body. When full-grown, these caterpillars 

 in my cages spun together the leaves of the 

 woodroof, incorporating particles of cocoa- 

 nut husk, provided for their accommoda- 

 tion, and constructing tough cocoons. 



The MOTH appears on the wing early in 

 June and again in August, it is common in 

 a few localities in the west and north of 

 England, also in Scotland, and at Killarney 

 and in the county Galway in Ireland. (The 

 scientific name is Larentia salicata.) 



246. The Beech-green Carpet (Larentia olivata). 



246. THE BEECH-GREEN CARPET. An- 

 tennae very slightly pubescent in the male, 

 quite simple in the female ; fore wings olive- 

 green, and having a nearly triangular blotch 

 at the base, and a central serrated bar much 

 darker ; and beyond and immediately ad- 

 joining this bar is a double zigzag white 

 line, and again beyond the double white 

 line is a transverse series of three dark 

 spots near the angle of the wing ; the hind 

 wings are brownish lead-colour, without 

 any conspicuous markings. 



The EGGS are laid at the end of August, 

 on a species of bedstraw (Gatium mollugo), 

 and the CATERPILLARS are red when first 

 hatched, but soon become rugose and dingy- 

 coloured ; they hybernate very early at the 

 roots of the bedstraw. 



The MOTH appears on the wing about 

 midsummer, and is generally distributed, 

 but is not common ; it is occasionally taken 

 in most of the English counties and also in 

 Scotland and Ireland. (The scientific name 

 is Larentia olivata.) 



247. The Green Carpet (Larentia pectinitaria). 



247. THE G-REEN CARPET. The antennae 

 are very decidedly pectinated in the male, 

 but simple in the female ; the fore 

 wings are rather pointed, and have a de- 

 cided and very beautiful green tint ; at 

 the base they have a somewhat triangular 

 blotch, which has black margins and a 

 pale centre, and is bordered by a white line ; 

 across the middle of the wing is a trans- 

 verse band, wide at the costal, and narrower 



