GEOMETERS. 



67 



the markings. The usual food-plant is oak 

 (Quercus Rolur}, but they feed freely on the 

 leaves of the plum in confinement, and are 

 full-fed the first week in July. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in April, 

 and generally again in July ; its geographical 

 range in this country is, without doubt, very 

 extensive, but unascertained on account of the 

 difficulty entomologists find in distinguishing 

 between this and the preceding species. (The 

 scientific name is Teplirosia liundularid). 



144. The Brindled White-spot (Tephroaia extersaria]. 



144. THE BRINDLED WHITE-SPOT. The 

 antenna? are nearly simple in both sexes : the 

 wings are smoky- gray, sprinkled all over 

 with smoky -brown : the fore wings have 

 four transverse blackish lines, the first near 

 the base is slightly curved, the second crossing 

 the middle of the wing is of the same shape 

 as the first ; between these two is a crescent- 

 shaped blackish mark not always very distinct ; 

 the third transverse line is generally broken 

 up into black spots ; the fourth is exactly 

 half-way between the third and the tip of 

 the wing ; it is accompanied on the outside 

 by a slender zigzag white line, and both the 

 black and white lines terminate in a con- 

 spicuous white blotch, which is situated 

 half-way between the costa and the anal 

 angle : the hind wings have several transverse 

 markings, but these are far less conspicuous 

 thau those I have described in the fore wings ; 

 the head, thorax, and body are gray-brown. 



The CATERPILLAR is gray, clouded with red- 

 dish-brown ; it feeds on birch ; it is found in 

 September, and remains in the CHRYSALIS 

 state during winter, the moth making its 

 appearance the following June. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and 

 has been taken in Cornwall, Kew Forest, 



Hampshire, Dorsetshire, Sussex, Surrey, 

 Essex, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxford- 

 shire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, and 

 Suffolk, but not in Scotland or Ireland. (The 

 scientific name is Teplirosia extersaria.} 



145. The Gray Birch (Tephrosia punctulata}. 



145. THE GRAY BIRCH. The antennae in 

 both sexes are simple : the wings are gray 

 sprinkled over with smoky -brown ; on the 

 costal margin of the fore wings are four very 

 conspicuous black spots, nearly equally distant 

 from each other ; these spots are long and 

 narrow, and fade into interrupted dotted black 

 lines, which terminate on the inner margin ; 

 there are some transverse markings on the 

 hind wings, but they are very indistinct ; the 

 head, thorax, and body are smoky-gray. 



The CATERPILLAR is smooth, and of a reddish 

 colour, with white spots or blotches on the 

 back of all the segments ; it feeds on birch 

 (Betula alba}, and may be met with through- 

 out the month of August. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in May and 

 June. It is a very common species round 

 London, particularly at Birch and Darent 

 Woods in Kent, and has occurred more or less 

 plentifully in all our English counties, from 

 Devonshire and Sussex to Yorkshire. I have 

 seen no Scottish specimens ; but Mr. Birchall 

 reports it from the counties Wicklow and 

 Kerry in Ireland. (The scientific name is 

 Tephrosia punctulata.} 



146. THE ANNULET. The antennae of the 

 male are very slightly ciliated, those of the 

 female simple : the wings vary in colour from 

 pale pearly-gray to very dark smoky-brown, 

 almost black, but the fore wings invariably 

 have two transverse zigzag black lines, and 

 the hind wings one ; between these transverse 

 lines on each fore wing is a black ling or 

 annulet, and on each hind wing, very near the 



