186 



BRITISH MOTHS. 



lines, one median, the other marginal ; this is 

 followed by a sienna-brown bar, bordered on 

 both sides by a delicate white line ; next fol- 

 lows a broad median bar, which is generally 

 pale gray in the middle, and darker towards 

 each margin ; it includes a narrow oblique 

 discoidal spot and four zigzag black lines, 

 the exterior of which is produced in the 

 middle into a bifid angle or lobe ; this black 

 boundary line of the median band or area is 

 followed by a zigzag white line, which widens 

 into an oblique white blotch on the costa, 

 and is immediately followed by a sienna- 

 brown zigzag bar, and this again by a zigzag 

 white line ; the hind margin of the wing is a 

 mixture of gray and smoky-brown : the hind 

 wings are pale grayish brown : the head and 

 thorax are of the same colour as the fore 

 wings : the body of the same colour as the 

 hind wings. 



This moth has been made into two book 

 species, which I will call varieties. 



Far. 1. The Dark Marbled Carpet (Cida- 

 ria immatiata). The median area of the fore 

 wings is very dark brown, almost black. 



Var. 2. The Marbled Carpet (Cidaria 

 marmorata). The median area of the fore 

 wings is pale whitish gray. 



This species is uniformly single-brooded : 

 the EGGS are laid in August, on the leaves of 

 wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca) ; they are 

 rather flat, and of a primrose-yellow colour, 

 in some instances with a reddish tinge ; the 

 young CATERPILLARS emerge towards the end 

 of March of the following year, and are then 



yellow, but after the first month acquire a 

 green tint, and the colour continues to change 

 as the spring advances, until the end of May 

 or beginning of June, when they are full-fed, 

 and then are almost precisely of the same 

 colour as the leaf on which they are feeding; 

 when young they drill small circular holes in 

 the strawberry leaf, but when older feed in 

 the usual manner at the edges. 



The position in which the adult caterpillar 

 rests is usually perfectly straight, but on 

 being annoyed it raises the anterior part of its 

 body and tucks in its head, which is brought 

 into contact with the legs, and the whole 

 crowded together : if the annoyance is con- 

 tinued, the anterior part of the body is curled 

 into a compact volute. The head is about 

 the same width as the second segment, is not 

 notched on the crown, and is slightly hairy ; 

 the body is almost uniformly cylindrical, but 

 somewhat restricted immediately behind the 

 fourth segment, which is produced ventrally 

 into a lump, on the summit of which are 

 seated the third pair of legs : the thirteenth 

 segment below the anal flap is produced into 

 two parallel " bluntly " pointed processes 

 directed backwards. The colour of the head 

 is uniform dingy green, the ocelli black and 

 conspicuous : the body is apple-green, with 

 narrow inconspicuous stripes of a darker 

 hue ; the principal of these is medio-dorsal ; 

 the others in the region of the spiracles are 

 extremely difficult to distinguish, and have a 

 median, hair-like, whitish line ; a transverse 

 skinfold at each segmental division is yellow : 

 the body is beset with minute white warts, 

 each of which emits a slender white hair, and 

 is surrounded by a green space rather darker 

 than the rest of the body ; the tips of the 

 anal processes are rosy ; the legs and claspers 

 are green, tinged at the extremities with 

 purple. 



When full-fed the caterpillar either goes 

 down into the moss usually kept in the 

 breeding-cage, or selects a dried leaf, fastening 

 the moss or the edges of the leaf together 

 with a few silken threads; within this flimsy 

 retreat it changes to a smooth, green, semi 

 transparent CHRYSALIS. 



