BRITISH BUTTERFLIES AND INIOTHS 



most part, and may there be discovered. The greenish 

 larva has a white stripe down the back, and white markings 

 along the sides. It may be Hghter, or darker, in body 

 colour as the case may be. It feeds upon bilberry, 

 blackthorn, hawthorn, and plum. The male imago is 

 light sooty-brown, with paler hind wings, but the female 

 is wingless. 



Spring Usher. — {Hyhernia leucophcearia.) Although 

 of local occurrence, this early Spring rover is fairly 

 widely distributed. The neighbourhood of oak trees is 

 frequented, the food-plant consisting of the leaves in 

 question. The green larva has yellowish lines down the 

 back, and there may also be brown ones along the sides, 

 or dark marks upon each segment. The female imago 

 is very small and wingless. The male has greyish to 

 brownish forewings, and lighter hind ones, and several 

 varieties exist. 



Dotted Border. — {Hyhernia marginaria.) This plain- 

 looking moth (Fig. 42) is quite a common species almost 



Dc^tttd-bor-der umbar' Fig 4-1. 



everywhere, and appears in March and April. It resorts 



to hedgerows, but the wingless female is not often espied. 



The larva feeds upon alder, birch, blackthorn, hawthorn, 



oak, and sallow, and may be greenish-brown, olive-green, 



or dull yellow. It has several dark grey X-shape marks 

 90 



