152 



BRITISH MOTHS. 



312. The Pine Carpet (Thwa firmata). 



312. THE PINE CARPET. The antennw of 

 the male are strongly pectinated ; the fore 

 wings are chesnut-gray, very pale. There is 

 a basal blotch and a median band of a rather 

 brighter chesnut, but these are scarcely dis- 

 tinguishable from the general ground colour 

 of the wing, and they have neither dark 

 margins nor rays, but the inner margin of the 

 wing is slightly bordered with dark smoky- 

 brown ; the hind wings are pale wainscot- 

 brown, without markings. 



The CATERPILLAR rests in a nearly straight 

 position on the needles of the fir, but with the 

 head slightly bent under, so that the mouth is 

 closely approximate to the legs, but does not 

 assume the involute form. The head is dis- 

 tinctly exserted, and yet slightly narrower 

 than the second segment; there is scarcely 

 any indication of a notch on the crown ; the 

 body is uniformly cylindrical, with the excep- 

 tion of a lateral skinfold, and is quite smooth ; 

 the thirteenth segment terminates beneath the 

 anal flap, in two points directed backwards. 

 The colour of the head is ferruginous red, 

 with a darker line on each cheek near the 

 crown; the dorsal area of the body is dull 

 grass-green, with a slightly darker medio- 

 dorsal stripe ; on each side is a slender stripe 

 of a dingy white, and below the spiracles is 

 another slender line, also whitish, but becom- 

 ing yellow from the ninth to the terminal 

 segment ; the ventral area is brighter green, 

 with three pale slender stripes which extend 

 from the third pair of legs to the ventral 

 claspers ; these are tinged with brown, and 

 have a reddish line on the outeide. It feeds 

 on the common fir. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and 

 occurs not uncommonly in England and Scot- 

 land, but is not reported from Ireland. (The 

 scientific name is Thera firmata.) 



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313. The Buddy Highflyer (Ypsipttea rubtrata). 



313. THE RUDDY HIGHFLYER. The palpi 

 are porrected in front of the head and very 

 long ; the antennae are simple in both sexes ; 

 the fore wings are gray, confused and marbled 

 with numerous transverse markings ; at the 

 base of the wing there is usually a triangular 

 space, rather pale; this is followed by a 

 broad darker band which contains a median 

 bar still darker, and on each side of this, but 

 separated by a bar of the usual gray ground 

 colour, is an interrupted waved ferruginous 

 bar, rather indistinct; then follows a pale gray 

 bar, which includes the discoidal spot, which 

 is long, narrow, and black; and again beyond 

 this pale gray bar are two interrupted waved 

 ferruginous bars, separated by a gray bar. 

 There is an oblique black mark at the apical 

 angle of the wing, and many markings not 

 described; but all the markings are so obscure 

 and ill-defined that it is difficult to find words 

 which will render them intelligible. The 

 hind wings are pale brownish gray, with a 

 faint discoidal spot and two faint transverse 

 bars. 



The CATERPILLAR is described by Mr. 

 Machin as rather hairy, and of a dirty-white 

 or grayish colour. Mr. Doubleday informs me 

 that it changes to a shining black CHRYSALIS 

 in the autumn, and remains in that state 

 through the winter. 



The MOTH appears in May, and has a wide 

 range in England, having been taken at Cam- 

 bridge in the east, Barnstable in the west, 

 and Birkenbead in the north ; but I have no 

 account of its occurrence in Scotland or 



