138 



THE SMALL MAGPIE MOTH. 



Phaltzna Urticata. 

 PLATE XCV. 



Phalaena Urticata, Linn. Syst. Nat. ii. p. 873. TvrtoiCi 

 Linne, iii. p. 269. Donovan's Brit. Ins. pL 349, fig. 2. 



THE head, throat, and abdomen are rich yellow 

 as is that part of the superior wings near the shoulder | 

 all the wings are white, finely spotted with black. 



The larva conceals itself in a kind of cylinder* 

 which it forms by rolling up the edges of nettle 

 leaves, on which it feeds. It is whitish, with a dark 

 dorsal line ; head black, and two spots of the same 

 colour on the segment next the head. It continues 

 in this way till the cold weather sets in, when it 

 changes to a red colour, and spins a buff coloured 

 case, through which it may be distinctly seen ; in 

 about a month it changes to a yellow colour. In 

 the following May it assumes the chrysalis state, and 

 transforms in June. 



