CUSPIDATES. 



231 



margin; this blotch is almost confined to 

 the fringe ; the head and thorax are umber- 

 brown, spotted with gray ; the body brown 

 and unspotted. 



The CATERPILLAR rests with the anal ex- 

 tremity elevated, and the anal claspers not 

 touching the food-plant ; the head is about 

 equal in width to the second segment ; the 

 fifth, sixth, and seventh segments have each 

 a medio-dorsal pyramidal hump ; the twelfth 

 segment is almost produced into a kind of 

 dorsal hump ; the colour of the head is 

 brown, of the body glaucous-green, This 

 description is made from Hiibner's figure. 



The caterpillar was once taken at St. 

 Osyth, in Essex, by Mr. Douglas, who suc- 

 ceeded in rearing the moth. One or more 

 European specimens are sometimes sold as 

 British in the sales of British insects by 

 auction in London. (The scientific name 

 is Notodonta trilophus.) 



Obs. The name has been changed into 

 Tritophus by modern entomologists, but I 

 think without reason ; indeed, I have a 

 great objection to the change of a specific 

 name under any circumstances, unless it be 

 a duplicate name in the same genus : the 

 derivation is from the Greek word Trilophia, 

 that is, bearing three crests, lobes, or humps, 

 in allusion to three dorsal protuberances of 

 the caterpillar. (See fig. 13, p. 203.) 



407. The Pebble Prominent (Notodonta, ziczac). 



407. THE PEBBLE PROMINENT. The an- 

 tennae of the male are slightly pectinated, 

 those of the female quite simple ; the fore 

 wings are nearly straight on the costa, blunt 



at the tip, and have a decided tooth or angle 

 near the middle of the inner margin ; their 

 colour is clear ochreous-brown, except a large 

 pale gray blotch occupying the middle third 

 of the costal margin ; this blotch is bounded 

 towards the base of the wing by a straight 

 dark line extending half way across the wing, 

 and towards the tip it is bounded by a dark, 

 crescentic mark, the cusps of which are 

 turned towards the hind margin, and this 

 crescentic mark combines with other darker 

 and lighter markings in forming a large eye- 

 like ornamentation, which occupies the apical 

 portion of the wing ; there is a slender dark 

 line on the extreme hind margin, and a 

 brown fringe beyond this : the hind wings 

 are dingy-brown, with an indistinct cres- 

 centic discoidal spot, and an indistinct 

 transverse pale bar: the head is plain 

 brown, the thorax variegated with different 

 shades of brown, and the body uniform 

 dingy-brown. 



The CATERPILLAR has a large head, and 

 its body has one hump on each of the sixth, 

 seventh, and twelfth segments ; that on the 

 sixth is largest, and points backwards ; the 

 colour of the head is brown : of the body 

 purple-brown, with darker patches on the 

 back of the second, third, and fourth seg- 

 ments, also on the front of the dorsal 

 humps ; these darker patches are bordered 

 with paler margins, and there are also paler 

 oblique lines on the sides of the segments : 

 the eleventh and twelfth segments are 

 yellowish, dorsally marbled with brown : 

 there are two pale approximate lines on the 

 back of the eighth, ninth, and tenth seg- 

 ments. It feeds on several species of poplar 

 (Populus), and sallow (Salix), and is full- 

 fed at the end of September, when it spins 

 its sli ght cocoon on the surface of the earth, 

 and remains in the CHRYSALIS state all the 

 winter. (8e fig. 12, p. 203.) 



The MOTH appears on the wing in May, 

 and in our breeding-cases continues to 

 make its appearance throughout June, July, 

 and August. It occurs in all parts of 

 England, and Mr. Birchall says it is not 

 uncommon in Ireland. (The scientific name 

 is Notodonta ziczac, so called from the ex- 

 traordinary appearance, of th caterpillar 

 when at rest.) 



