GEOMETEES. 



97 



October are certainly a second brood. It 

 occurs very sparingly in the south of England, 

 and !Mr. Birchall records the occurrence of 

 one specimen in Ireland in 1864. I ought to 

 add, that from the singular varieties of this 

 moth bred from the egg by the Rev. John 

 Hellins, I am inclined to think it comprises 

 many of the so-called species described by 

 continental entomologists as distinct, such, for 

 instance, as Sanguinaria of Esper, Labdaria of 

 Cramer, Rosearia of Treitschke, &c. &c. (The 

 scientific name is Sterrha sacraria.} 



223. The Grass Wave (Agitates strigillaria}. 



223. THE GRASS WAVE. The antenna? of 

 the male are pectinated throughout their 

 length ; those of the female are simple ; the 

 margin of the hind wing is slightly scalloped. 

 All the wings are gray, sprinkled with 

 innumerable dots, each consisting of a single 

 scale, of a dark-brown colour; the fore wings 

 have three pale, but distinct, very oblique 

 brown bars ; and the hind wings have three 

 transverse bars of the same colour ; the head, 

 thorax, and body are gray. 



The EGG of this moth is laid in the autumn 

 on. the common ling (Calluna vufgaris), on 

 which plant the CATERPILLAR feeds. This is 

 very small at the approach of winter, and 

 then hybernates at the roots of heath and 

 grass ; in the spring it feeds again, and when 

 full fed, in April and May, it rests in nearly a 

 straight posture, but falls from its food, and 

 feigns death when touched or disturbed ; the 

 head is stretched forward, simple, and undi- 

 vided on the crown, and is rather narrower than 

 the body ; the body is uniformly cylindrical, 

 emitting here and there, throughout its length, 

 short black bristles ; it has two small dorsal 

 warts on the eighth segment ; two larger and 

 nipple-shaped humps on the ninth segment, 

 and two still smaller execrescences on the tenth 



segment, besides many other minute warts on 

 different parts of the body ; on the thirteenth 

 segment, immediately above the anal claspers 

 and below the anal aperture, are two points 

 directed backwards. The colours are very 

 obscure gray-brown of different shades, pro- 

 ducing a somewhat mottled appearance, and 

 the lighter colour assuming the form of narrow 

 longitudinal stripes. It spins a slight web 

 among the twigs of its food-plant, and therein 

 changes to a CHRYSALIS. 



The MOTH, which is common on heaths in 

 the south of England, appears on the wing 

 about midsummer. It is very abundant in 

 Ireland. (The scientific name is Aspilates 

 striffillaria.) 



224. The Yellow Belle (Aspilates, citraria). 



224. THE YELLOW BELLE. The antennaa of 

 the male are pectinated throughout their 

 length ; those of the female are simple ; the 

 fore wings are yellow, obscurely spotted with 

 purplish brown, and having two transverse 

 lines of the same colour ; the first of these is 

 short and somewhat scalloped, the second is 

 somewhat bent and more oblique ; between 

 these transverse lines is a spot of the same 

 colour ; hind wings paler, almost white, with 

 a transverse waved gray line extending from 

 the costal margin two-thirds of the way to the 

 inner margin ; there is a round spot of the 

 same pale colour in the middle of the wing ; 

 the shaft of the antennas is white, the fringe 

 black : the eyes are black, the head and 

 thorax yellow, the body white. 



The insect is double-brooded ; the eggs of 

 the first brood are laid about the 20th of 

 August, and probably during the ensuing 

 fortnight, and those of the second brood are 

 deposited in May on the wild carrot, bird's- 

 foot trefoil, and several other plants : the 

 young caterpillar of this second brood emerges 

 about the 17th of June, and is full-fed at the 



EDWABD XE\VM \N'S BRITISH \ 

 MOTHS. No. 7, PRK-K GD. j 



i LONDON : W. TWKEDIK, 

 ( :v.~, STRAND. 



