GEOMETERS. 



101 



228. The Scorched Carpet (Ligdia admtata}. 



: 



228. THK SCORCHED CARPET. Antennae of 

 the male almost simple ; those of the female 

 quite so ; the fore wings are white, with a 

 large blotch at the base, and a broad trans- 

 verse band beyond the middle, of a rich 

 purple-brown ; the band is very much bent ; 

 half way between the blotch and the band 

 are several short transverse marks of the same 

 colour ; and beyond the band, that is, nearer to 

 the hind margin, are other similar markings ; 

 on the margin itself is a row of brown spots ; 

 the hind wings are white, with three waved 

 scalloped brown bands, of a very pale brown 

 colour, within which, that is, nearer the base, 

 is a central brown spot ; there are also a 

 number of brown spots, more or less delicately 

 marked, near the inner margin ; the head and 

 thorax are dark-brown, the body dingy white. 



The CATERPILLAR is described by Guenee as 

 being of a beautiful green colour, and having 

 the head, the ventral claspers, and some 

 lateral spots on the sixth and seventh seg- 

 ments, of a deep red, mixed with yellow ; 

 the tenth and eleventh segments have also 

 yellow patches spotted with red. It feeds 

 on the skewer-wood (Euonymus europceus] in 

 May and June. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in June and 

 July, and is rather common in England, and 

 in the counties of Wicklow and Galway in 

 Ireland. (The scientific name is Ligdia adus- 

 tata.} 



229. The Clouded Border (Lomaspilis marginata). 



229. TUB CLOUDED BORDER. The antennae 

 of the male are almost simple ; those of the 



female quite so. All the wings are white, 

 with smoky-black borders, the outer edge of 

 which is bounded by the margin of the wing, 

 but the inner edge is variouslv indented with 



the white, which, in the fore wings, runs up 

 in two places nearly to the costa ; the hind 

 wings have usually a median belt of black 

 spots. The head, thorax, and abdomen are 

 smoky -black. An extremely variable insect, 

 scarcely two specimens being alike in the 

 distribution of the black markings ; four 

 figures are given to show the' extent and 

 character of the variations. In the first of these 

 there is a transverse black band crossing the 



middle of every wing ; in a second, this band 

 is continuous only on the hind wings, and in 

 the other two there is scarcely any black in 

 the hind wings; indeed, it would be impos- 

 sible, from an inspection of the hind wings 

 only, to form any opinion as to the species to 

 which these specimens belong. 



The CATERPILLAR is of a dark-green colour, 

 with slender medio-dorsal and lateral stripes, 

 which are sometimes yellow and sometimes 

 white ; there is a broader pale stripe along 

 the spiracles; the head is green, with two 



black spots on the face ; the legs and claspers 

 are green. It feeds on many species of willow, 

 more particularly on the common sallow (Sah'x 

 caprcea). 



The MOTH appears on the wing in May, 

 June, July, and August, and is very abundant 



