GEOMETERS. 



129 



hairs. The dorsal, sub-dorsal, and lateral 

 blotches, spots, and lines are sometimes almost 

 or entirely wanting, leaving the caterpillar 

 of a uniform pale yellowish green. 



"This caterpillar tapers towards the head, 

 and has a slightly wrinkled appearance. 

 When full-fed and ready to spin it turns 

 pink." 



It feeds on the blossoms of the wild angelica 

 (Angelica sylvestris], and common hog-weed 

 (Heracleum sphondylium). The CHRYSALIS is 

 enclosed in a slight earthen cocoon; its thorax 

 is yellowish green, and the wing-cases dark 

 green, furrowed and wrinkled ; the body is 

 tapering, rough, and of a dull red colour ; it 

 has a slight ventral protuberance. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in May and 

 June, and has been taken in Suffolk, Kent, 

 and Derbyshire, but not in Scotland or Ire- 

 land. (The scientific name is Eupitheda albi- 

 punctata, under which it was first described 

 by Haworth (Lep. Brit. 360), but Herrich- 

 SchsefFer (Supp. p. 77, fig. 461) has called 

 it E. tripunctaria, and Guenee (Ura/n. tt 

 Phal p. 315, No. 1,412) and Mr. Ore we 

 (Zool. 7,567 and 7,762) have adopted that 

 oame ; the older name must be restored.) 



275. THE VALERIAN PUG. "All the wings 

 are ashy brown, with the ordinary discoidal 

 spot in the centre of the fore wings, and a 

 very indistinct pale waved line at the hind 

 margin ; the hind wings are pale brown, with 

 very faint waved lines." 



The CATERPILLAR is thus described by Mr. 

 Crewe : " Rather short, but tapering very 

 considerably towards the head ; the ground 

 colour is bright green, and very translucent ; 

 the central dorsal and sub-dorsal lines are 

 dark green but varying considerably in 

 breadth, and in intensity of colour ; the seg- 

 mental divisions are yellow ; the belly is 

 generally destitute of markings, but is occa- 

 sionally traversed longitudinally by two slen- 

 der faint sub-ventral lines, rather darker than 

 the ground colour; the spiracular line is 

 "whitish green ; when young, the ground colour 

 is greenish white ; it feeds on the flowers and 

 seeds of the common valerian ( Valeriana offid- 

 talis), in woods and osier beds, and is full-fed 



from the middle of July to the middle of 

 August. 



The MOTH appears in May, and occurs ir 

 Buckinghamshire, Dorsetshire, Derbyshire, 

 Devonshire, and Herefordshire. (The scien- 

 tific name is Eupitheda valerianata.) 



Obs. This insect is the Eupitheda vimi- 

 nataoi Mr. Doubleday formerly, but Hubner's 

 is the prior name, and is very appropriate, 

 as the caterpillar feeds on valerian. I have 

 copied Mr. Doubleday's original description 

 of the moth. 



276. THE LARCH PUG. The fore wings 

 are long, rather pointed, and of a dark, smoky- 

 gray colour, with several transverse pale gray 

 markings, and a distinct transverse discoidal 

 black spot ; the principal pale markings are a 

 vague band just outside the black discoidal 

 spot, a waved bar beyond this, which is 

 double, or intersected throughout by a slender 

 dark smoke-coloured line, and a single slender 

 line, half-way between this and the hind 

 margin ; there is a delicate interrupted black 

 line on the hind margin itself, and the fringe 

 is very indistinctly spotted with two shades of 

 gray; the hind wings are much the same 

 colour as the fore wings, but paler at the 

 base ; they have a rather indistinct crescentic 

 discoidal spot, and a double series of gray dots 

 parallel with the hind margin ; there is the 

 same interrupted black line on the margin as 

 iu the fore wings, and the fringe is indistinctly 

 spotted ; the head, thorax, and body are 

 sprinkled over with the two shades of gray, 

 the dark smoky-gray greatly prevailing ; at 

 the base of the thorax is a semicircular 

 whitish spot. 



Mr. Crewe has described two varieties of 

 the caterpillar as under : 



" For. 1. The ground colour is bright grass- 

 green, somewhat darker on the centre of the 

 back ; the central dorsal line is dark green : 

 the anal tip of the central dorsal line reddish ; 

 the sub-dorsal lines are wanting, or so faint 

 as to be scarcely visible ; the spiracular line 

 is whitish, or pale straw-colour ; the seg- 

 mental divisions are yellowish ; the belly IE 

 whitish, with a dark green central line ; it is 

 a long slender caterpillar, tapering towards 



M 9 



