242 



BRITISH MOTHS. 



versed; the wing is traversed by several 

 transverse dark lines, two or three of them 

 before, and four or five beyond, the figure 

 of eighty; there is a short oblique dark 

 stripe at the tip : the hind wings are dingy 

 brown, with two or three slender darker 

 lines across the middle, and a darker hind 

 margin : the head, thorax, and body are 

 gray-brown : the body is stout. 



" The CATERPILLAR is very pale yellowish- 

 green, with greenish dorsal line, and green- 

 ish line along the spiracles, which are 

 reddish ; a row of black dots above the 

 legs (Frey). It feeds on aspen (Populus 

 tremula)." Stainton's Manual, vol. i. p. 

 175. " The CHRYSALIS is black and stout, 

 enclosed in an extremely delicate open net- 

 work of a rusty-brown colour ; it is very 

 difficult to find ; it frequently nay generally 

 spins on the surface of the spreading 

 moss, or barely beneath it, sometimes be- 

 tween two leaves ; in this latter case it is 

 soon blown away, and, in the former, falls 

 an easy prey to the first prowling mouse : it 

 should, therefore, be sought for as soon as 

 possible after the change ; this, I think, 

 should certainly not be later than the first 

 week in October. ... I have found 

 the following a very good method of ob- 

 taining it. Instead of turning up the sod, 

 lay hold of the grass lying close to the 

 trunk, and pull it (the sod) from the tree 

 about an inch or so, and the chrysalis, if 

 there, will almost invariably be found 

 attached to the tree, or else among the 

 blades of grass which lie close to it. Its 

 presence may be detected by the open net- 

 work alluded to above. If, after pulling 

 the grass from the trunk, small pieces of 

 bark are found loosely attached to it, i.e., 

 the trunk, they should be carefully removed 

 and examined, as behind them the caterpillar 

 frequently spins up." Greene's Insect Hun- 

 ter's Companion, p. 19. 

 The moth appears on the wing at the end 

 of June, and has occurred in Norfolk, 

 Suffolk, Essex, Buckinghamshire, and 

 Worcestershire, but is always esteemed a 

 rarity. Mr. Greene has taken it in Ire- 

 land. (The scientific name is Cymatophora 

 ocularis.) 



419. The Yellow-Horned (Cymatophora flavicornis). 



419. THE YELLOW-HORNED. The an- 

 tennae are stout, particularly in the males, 

 and of an ochreous-yellow colour : the fore 

 wings are rather narrow, the costa nearly 

 straight, the tip blunt ; their costal area is 

 gray from the base to the middle ; the re- 

 mainder of the wing is dark smoky-gray, 

 the orbicular spot is large, but rather indis- 

 tinct ; the renif orm spot imperceptible ; the 

 wing is traversed by seven or more trans- 

 verse dark lines, three of these are before 

 the discoidal spots ; these lines are perfectly 

 separate at the inner margin, but united on 

 the costa ; two others are beyond the dis- 

 coidal spots, and much bent ; again, nearer 

 the hind margin, are two others, waved and 

 indistinct : the hind wings, head, thorax, 

 and body, are gray-brown : the thorax is 

 very stout, the body rather so. 



The head of the CATERPILLAR is pale 

 wainscot-brown, with a black spot on each 

 cheek, near the mouth ; the body is dingy 

 yellowish- green, the second segment having 

 six black spots, all of them close adjoining 

 the head, and the two dorsal ones being 

 larger than the rest ; on each of the follow- 

 ing segments are five black spots, the largest 

 of which form a dorsal series ; the second, 

 smaller, constitute a supra-spiracular series ; 

 and the third, the smallest, an infra- spira- 

 cular series ; each of the larger black spots 

 has a row of three white dots above it, and 

 one white dot below ; the third and fourth 

 segments have a transverse band or belt of 

 twelve white dots. It feeds on birch (Betula 

 alba) , of which it rolls up the leaves into a 

 kind of case, and only conies partially out 

 to eat : it is almost impossible to beat this 

 caterpillar : in order to obtain it, the rolled- 

 up leaves must be sought out and picked : 

 it is full-fed in the beginning of July. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in March, 



