GEOMETERS. 



155 



The colour of the head and body is apple- 

 green, the latter with a rather broad medio- 

 dorsal stripe, considerably darker than the 

 ground colour; on each side is a yellowi.-h or 

 whitish green stripe, but all the colours 

 must be characterized as green. It feeds on 

 blackthorn and bullace, and occasionally in 

 gardens on the cultivated damson It spins a 

 very loose and shapeless web, and therein 

 changes to a smooth brown CHRYSALIS. 



The MOTH appears in July in most of our 

 English counties, in several Scotch localities, 

 and in the counties Dublin and Wicklow in 

 Ireland. (The scientific name is Melanthia 

 rubiginata). 



Obs. I possess specimens in which the 

 smoky-blue colour of the hind margin is more 



Melanthia rubiginaja, var. Plurribaia. 



or less spread over the wing, and one in which 

 the wings are entirely of this colour. This is 

 represented in the second figure, and is the 

 variety Plumbata of Mr. Doubleday's list. 



317. The Purple Bar (Melanthia ocellata). 



317. THE PURPLE-BAR. The palpi are 

 rather long and porrected in the similitude of 

 a beak ; the fore wings are creamy-white, 

 with a triangular blotch at the base, and a 

 broad median band, both of a rich dark brown 

 glossed with purple; the band has a rather 

 sharp angle on its outer margin, and is con- 

 siderably indented on its inner margin ; it 

 includes the discoidal spot, which is very large 

 and of unusual form, somewhat like an arrow- 

 head <>r a fleur-de-lis, and pointing towards 

 the hind margin ; between the basal blotch 

 and median band are a few smoke-coloured 



markings, and there are some similar ones 

 between the median band and the tip of the 

 wing; the hind margin is clouded with similar 

 brown, and there is a slender very dark line 

 on the hind margin, which is continued also 

 on the hind wings; these are white with a 

 discoidal spot ; the head, thorax, and base of 

 the body are black ; the remainder of the 

 body creamy-white, with two nearly square 

 black spots placed transversely on each seg- 

 ment. 



The EGGS are laid on lady's bedstraw 

 (Galium verum) in June, and the CATERPILLAR 

 is full-fed by the middle of July, when it rests 

 in a somewhat bent position on its food-plant ; 

 the head is pointed, the back slightly arched, 

 and the legs diiected forwards; on being 

 annoyed, the head is altered into a prone 

 position, and bent under, the back increasingly 

 arched, and the caterpillar falls to the ground 

 as though lifeless, and frequently remains as 

 much as an hour perfectly motionless; the 

 head is about the same width as the second 

 segment, perhaps rather narrower, and there 

 is no apparent notch ou the crown ; the body 

 is almost uniformly cylindrical, but slightly 

 increases in size towards the anal extremity; 

 it is wrinkled transversely, and has numerous 

 small warts, each of which is surmounted by 

 a bristle. The colour of the head and body is 

 yellowish-brown, with a slight tinge of olive- 

 green ; the head has three parallel longi- 

 tudinal stripes almost white, and the spaces 

 between these are dotted with darker brown ; 

 the body has numerous and very distinct 

 white markings ; there is a pair of white 

 and closely approximate medio-dorsal stripes 

 on the second, third, and fourth segments ; 

 and the slender darker stripe which separates 

 them is continued to the anal extremity, 

 passing through the points of five very distinct 

 white V-shaped markings, whose points are 

 directed backwards; these Vs are bordered 

 by a darker gnnmd colour, which renders 

 them very conspicuous ; the dorsal area is 

 bordered by a very distinct white stripe, 

 which, commencing at the mouth, extends to 

 the extremity of the anal claspers, emits a 

 branch into the ventral claspers, and touches, 



