GEOMETERS. 



127 



spotted : the hind wings are of ne<u ly the 

 same Colour as the fore wings, with a crescen- 

 tric discoidal spot ; the hind margin and fringe 

 are as in the fore wings ; the head, thorax, and 

 body are of the same colour as the fore wiugs; 

 the body has a medio-dorsal series of double 

 black spots. 



The MOTH appears on the wing at mid- 

 summer, and is said to have been taken in 

 Wales. It seems to be very rare. I have 

 never seen a specimen, but there is one in the 

 cabinet of Mr. E. C. Buxton. (The scientific 

 name is Eupithecia egenata.) 



Obs. In this instance, my description is not 

 taken from the insect itself, but chiefly from 

 Herrich-Schaeffer's figures. (Geom. Europ. 

 279, 280.) 



272. The Gray Png (Eupithecia castigata). 



272. THE GRAY PUG. The fore wkigs are 

 snoky gray, with several paler gray waved 

 transverse lines, three of which are double, 

 that is, intersected throughout by a distinct 

 darker line ; the fourth line nearest the hind 

 margin, is single aud more interrupted, and 

 zigzag ; it is of the same gray colour as the 

 rest, and has a very indistinct pale spot at the 

 anal angle ; there is a small and rather incon- 

 spicuous discoidal spot, and a slender inter- 

 rupted black line on the hind margin; the fringe 

 is smoky gray, and longitudinally, but indis- 

 tinctly intersected by a darker line ; the hind 

 wings are paler at the base, darker towards 

 the hind margin, and have a small, but dis- 

 tinct, discoidal spot ; the head, thorax, and 

 body are smoky gray. 



The CATERPILLAR is thus described by Mr. 

 Crewe : " Long, slender, and tapering ; the 

 ground colour is pale or dusky olive, or reddish 

 brown x with a chain of dusky lozenge-shaped 

 dorsal spots, becoming confluent on the ante- 

 rior and posterior segments; the segmental 

 divisions are reddish; the body is thickly stud- 

 ded with minute white tubercles, and clothed 

 more sparingly with short bristly hairs ; the 



belly has a central blackish or purple line 

 running from tip to tail. It feeds indifferently 

 on almost every tree, shrub, and flower, in 

 August and September. In almost every 

 particular-, it closely resembles tlie caterpillar 

 of E. vulyata. The CHRYSALIS is enclosed in 

 an earthen cocoon ; its body is slender, taper- 

 ing, and of a reddish or greenish yellow ; its 

 thorax and wing cases yellow; the latter more 

 or less suffused with green." 



The MOTH appears on the wing in May, 

 and occurs in most of our English counties, 

 and also in Scotland, and Mr. Birchall says, 

 that in Ireland it is common and generally 

 distributed. (The scientific name is Eupithecia 

 castigata.) 



273. The Golden Rod Png (Eupithecia virgawreata). 



273. THE GOLDEN ROD PUG. Fore wings 

 br own-gray with a slight tendency to fulvous 

 in the middle ; on the costal margin are 

 several, four to eight, short transverse black 

 markings, which extend distinctly only as far 

 as the subcostal ray, but are slightly indicated 

 on the disk of the wing ; thei e is a pale, irre- 

 gular, and interrupted line parallel with the 

 hind margin, and this terminates in a rather 

 conspicuous gray mark ; all the wing- rays are 

 more or less dotted with black ; there is also 

 a slender interrupted black line on the hind 

 margin, and the discoidal spot is dark and 

 conspicuous ; the hind wings are of much the 

 same colour as the fore wings, but are paler 

 on the costal margin, and have a number of 

 short transverse lines on the inner margin. 



The following description of the CATERPIL- 

 LAR was written by Mr. Crewe : 



" Fulvous, with a series of black dorsal 

 triangular spots ; becoming confluent towards 

 the head, and faint or altogether evanescent 

 on the caudal segment. On either side is a 

 row of conspicuous, slanting whitish or yel- 

 lowish stripes, forming a sort of margin to the 

 dorsal spots ; the belly is dusky, reddish ki 



