120 



BRITISH MOTHS. 



the extremity, with a medio-dorsal series of 

 small black spots. 



Four varieties of the CATERPILLAR are thus 

 described by Mr. Crewe : 



" Var. 1. The ground colour is dull yel- 

 lowish ereen; the central dorsal line is broad, 

 continuous, and of a dull, dingy purple 

 colour; the sub-dorsal line is also dull, dingy 

 purple it is narrow and interrupted on the 

 anal segments; the ypiracular line is narrow, 

 broken, and dingy purple colour, marked 

 with lines, or spots, of a deeper shade ; the 

 belly is whitish green, with a whitish central 

 line ; the whole body is st rewed thinly with 

 whitish hairs, and occasionally suffused and 

 clouded with dull, dingy purple ; in shape it 

 resembles the cater pillar of E. linariata, in 

 markings that of E. centaureata. 



" Var. 2. The ground colour is dull yel- 

 lowish, or whitish green ; the central dorsal 

 line, dusky green ; the segmental divisions 

 arc yellowish ; the spiracular line is very 

 narrow, and faint, dull green ; the belly is 

 whitish, without lines or markings. 



" Var. 3. The ground colour is pale prim- 

 rose-yellow, slightly suffused with green ; the 

 central dorsal line dull faint green, nearly 

 evanescent on the posterior segments; the 

 sub-dorsal lines are dull faint green, much 

 broken, having more the appearance of de- 

 tached spots; the spiracular line is very faint, 

 pale yellow ; the belly whitish. 



" Var. 4. The ground co'our is bright, 

 yellowish green; the central dorsal line, pale 

 olive, rather broad ; the sub-dorsal lines, pale 

 olive, and narrow ; the spaces between the 

 central dorsal and sub-dorsal lines are bright 

 yellow ; the spiracular line is dusky green, 

 faint and broken ; .the belly is sea-green." 



These caterpillars fee< I on the flowers of the 

 common foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), and 

 are full fed from th* middle of July to the 

 beginning" of August. They spin together 

 the mouth of the corolla, and, in the habita- 

 tion thus constructed, devour the stamens, 

 pistils, unripe seeds, and capsules ; those 

 flowers which contain a caterpillar remain on 

 the stem long after the others have fallen ; 

 the caterpillars appear to seek the s" rf ace of 



the ground before undergoing their change, 

 and the CHRYSALIS is found enclosed in a slight 

 earthen cell ; its thorax and wing-cases are 

 transparent yellowish green, and its body 

 reddish yellow ; the divisions of the body and 

 the tip are dark red. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in May and 

 June, and occurs in England, Scotland, and 

 Ireland, in almost every locality where the 

 foxglove abounds. (The scientific name is 

 Eupithecia pidchellata.) 



Obs. This beautiful little moth is so 

 similar to the preceding, that many naturalists 

 have declined to consider it distinct. Guenee 

 hesitates to record it as a species, but is in- 

 duced to do so from the fact of Mr. Doubleday's 

 having bred a large number of E. linariata, 

 without finding a single example of E. pui- 

 chellata amongst them. Our only English 

 author on Lepidoptera, Haworth, appears to 

 me to have described it as linariata ; he cer- 

 tainly has not separated the two ; still, from 

 the difference of caterpillars, now distinctly 

 ascertained, I cannot avoid the conclusion that 

 the two species are perfectly distinct. 



260. The Lime Speck (Eupithecia centaureata). 



260. THE LTME SPECK. The fore wings 

 are almost white, with two delicate transverse 

 zigzag black lines, and a crescentic black spot 

 between them ; the costal margin has twelve 

 or fourteen short brown markings, three or 

 four of which, uniting with the discoidal, black 

 spot, form a dark and conspicuous blotch ; 

 very similar markings occur on the inner mar- 

 gin ; the hind margin is occupied by a fawn- 

 coloured band, intersected throughout by a 

 white line ; the hind wings are nearly white, 

 with several transverse brown markings on 

 the inner margin ; the thorax is nearly white; 

 the body variegated with white, brown, and 

 black. 



The CATERPILLAR is long, rather slender, and 

 tapering towards the head ; it has a slightly 

 wrinkled appearance. In colour it is very 



