90 



BRITISH MOTHS. 



210. The Brown Silver Line (Panagra petraria) . 



210. THE BROWN SILVER LINE. The an- 

 tennae of the male are slightly pectinated, 

 those of the female quite simple ; the fore 

 wings are pointed, the hind wings rounded : 

 the colour of the wings is pale wainscot-brown, 

 sprinkled with rather darker brown, and 

 having two transverse darker lines, both of 

 which are bordered on the outer side with a 

 pale and almost silvery line ; neither of these 

 double transverse lines quite reaches the costal 

 or inner margin of the wing, but the outer or 

 longer one does so more nearly than the inner 

 or shorter one ; between these two lines is an 

 oblong dark central spot, and parallel with the 

 hind margin is a decided indication of a third 

 transverse line, also of two shades, but this 

 is indistinct. The hind wings are very pale, 

 with a slight iridescent gloss as if of mother- 

 of-pearl, with a very faint transverse line 

 across them in the middle, scarcely percep- 

 tible except on the inner margin. Head, 

 thorax, and body very pale wainscot-brown. 



We learn from Mr. Hellins that the EGGS 

 when laid are straw-coloured, but- subse- 

 quently become bright red, and afterwards 

 dingy. 



The CATERPILLARS, which emerge at the 

 end of May, feed on the common brakes 

 (Pteris aquilina). When full-fed their length 

 is rather more than an inch ; the ground 

 colour of the back is olive green, of the belly 

 paler ; the white body is covered with slender 

 chocolate-brown longitudinal lines arranged in 

 pairs; there is a double medio-dorsal stripe, 

 and three double stripes on each side, the 

 lowest darkest and broadest. The spiracles 

 are black, and below them is a creamy- white 

 stripe. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in June 

 in most of the English counties, and in the 

 county Wicklow, in Ireland. (The scientific 

 name is Panagra petraria.} 



211. The Barred Umber (Numeria pulvercvria). 



211. THE BARRED UMBER. The antennae 

 are very strongly pectinated in the male, but 

 simple in the female. All the wings reddish 

 umber-brown, sprinkled with darker brown, 

 the fore wings having a broad transverse cen- 

 tral band of rich umber-brown ; this band is 

 much broader at the costal than at the inner 

 margin, the narrowing taking place just about 

 the middle. The hind wings have no band, 

 but a faint central transverse line. 



Mr. Merry field has described the general 

 colour of the CATERPILLAR as purplish-brown, 

 varied with ochreous ; the head is bifid, light 

 ochreous-brown, especially in front ; a brown 

 ochreous stripe, lightest at the upper edge, 

 along the upper part of the side of the fifth 

 segment. On each segment from the fifth 

 (inclusive) backwards, is a pair of very small 

 points, which are light in front and dark 

 behind, besides smaller points just behind the 

 spiracles. A pair of large warts on the back 

 of the ninth segment, a pair much smaller on 

 the back of the tenth and twelfth, and a pair 

 smaller on the back of the eleventh segment. 

 The tenth, eleventh, and twelfth segments 

 have some dark arrow-head lines (not, how- 

 ever, quite meeting in a point) on the back, 

 margined outwardly with ochreous ; sides 

 wrinkled, especially in the fore part of the 

 body ; belly purplish-brown, with ochreous 

 blotches on each side, the claspers underneath 

 being dark bluish-green, and the space be- 

 tween each pair of claspers yellowish ; some- 

 times a lighter line down the middle of the 

 belly. It feeds on sallow, spinning up among 

 leaves and moss when full-fed. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in the 

 spring April and May. It occurs in some 

 of the English counties, in Ayrshire, in Scot- 

 land, and at Powerscourt, in Ireland. (The 

 scientific name is Numeria jmlveraria.) 



