GEOMETERS. 



117 



or the seeds themselves, making the seed-pod 

 a dwelling place, in which they are effectually 

 protected from all inclemencies of the weather. 

 This propensity, or more properly speaking 

 economy, is of course detrimental to the 

 beauty of flowers, and, moreover, destructive 

 to seeds and fruit. M. Guenle has devoted 

 much time, thought, and attention to the in- 

 vestigation of these ravages, and has given a 

 very complete account of them, as regards 

 one of the more numerous species, an ac- 

 count to which I must again recur in a proper 

 place. 



When full-fed, the caterpillars usually de- 

 scend to the ground, and there each constructs 

 a delicate little cell, composed of silk and 

 particles of earth, polishing the interior, but 

 leaving the exterior in a rough and unfinished 

 state, looking merely like a little lump of 

 earth, and thus eluding the researches of mice, 

 birds, beetles, and cockroaches, all of' which 

 evince great affection cupboard love, it may 

 be called for the delicate morsel contained 

 in the interior. A few of the species construct 

 their cocoons in the seed-pods themselves, 

 after consuming all the provender laid up 

 therein by a bounteous nature for the preser- 

 vation of the plant from generation to gene- 

 ration. 



The chrysalis in this genus is remarkable 

 for the brightness and vividness of its colours ; 

 greens, brown, and reds, of every shade, are of 

 almost constant occurrence these colours are 

 not unfrequently found on the same chrysalis 

 and some so abound in ornamentation as 

 to become really beautiful objects, and to form 

 rather a striking contrast to the somewhat 

 plain coloured chrysalids of the majority of 

 geometers. 



The moths themselves are peculiar in ap- 

 pearance, and are to be recognised at a glance ; 

 they sit by day on walls, fences, and trunks 

 of trees, with the wings expanded, and so 

 closely appressed to the surface that they 

 seem part and parcel of the object on which 

 they are resting ; the fore wings are generally 

 stretched out at right angles with the body, 

 exposing almost the whole of the hind wings. 

 Tbel" antennae are short, and those of the 



males are very slightly fringed, or pectinated ; 

 in this respect I find them so uniform that I 

 have thought it almost unnecessary to men- 

 tion the antennae at all in my descriptions of 

 the numerous species. There is also a general 

 similarity in the ornamentation of their wings, 

 which consists of numerous transverse lines, 

 of a different shade as to light or dark, but 

 generally of the same colour, the difference 

 being only in intensity. Longitudinal mark- 

 ings are of less common occurrence, but are 

 sometimes present, and, intersecting the trans- 

 verse markings, combine with them in covering 

 the wing with the appearance of network. 

 The transverse lines are not unfrequeutly con- 

 fluent, and when two or three of them are 

 thus united, I have described them as " bars," 

 but when four or five are thus united, I call 

 them " bands " terms which are somewhat 

 arbitrary, but which will I trust convey my 

 meaning to the English reader. A discoidal 

 spot is also generally present on the fore 

 wings, its length is almost invariably greater 

 than its breadth, and its position transverse ; 

 it is situated about half-way between the base 

 and tip of the wing, and two-fifths of the 

 way between the costal margin and the anal 

 angle. I have observed that the ornamenta- 

 tion of the fore wings, of whatever character 

 it may be, is usually continued or repeated in 

 the hind wings; all the markings combine 

 together to constitute a pattern, which would 

 be incomplete if either wing were absent ; 

 generally, however, there is an evident etiola- 

 tion, or diminution of colour, in the hind 

 wings, so that the ornamentation of the hind 



O ' 



wings, when contrasted with that of the fore 

 wings, is as an echo, or, as the second rainbow 

 when compared with the first a repetition, 

 with diminished intensity. The head, thorax, 

 and body have the prevailing tint of the 

 wings generally some shade of brown, but it 

 is not uncommon for the collar, scutellum, or 

 a belt at the base of the body, to have a more 

 conspicuous colour, as white, or bright rust- 

 colour. 



Owing to the small dimensions of these 

 moths, their extreme similarity to each other, 

 and the great number of species, the task 



