73 



THE DARTFORD EMERALD MOTH. 



Plmlana Lucidata. 



PLATE XXV. 



Phalaena lucidata, Donovan's British Insects, iii. p. (>7. 

 pi. 97 Rennie's Conspectus, p. 17. 



THIS pretty insect is of a fine lucid emerald 

 green, with two waves across the upper, and one 

 across the under wings. The wings extend one 

 inch and one-fourth, to five-twelfths. 



Donovan says, " This species we have ever found 

 peculiar to the woods about two or three miles be- 

 yond Dartford, in Kent, particularly on the skirts 

 of Darnwood, and near the banks of the river 

 Thames, at Queenhithe. It has probably never 

 been taken elsewhere, or the name Dartford Eme- 

 rald would not have been so generally adopted by 

 collectors. 



I am not certain whether in the larva state it 

 feeds on the convolvulus, although I found it on a 

 plant of that kind, as its climbing stalks and tend- 

 rils were so intricated with branches of white thorns, 

 oak, and brooms, as to prelude any accurate deter- 

 mination." 



The head of the caterpillar is gray, with black 



VOL. III. F 



