104 



BEITISH MOTHS. 



darker coloured than those of the male, and 

 have two brown transverse bars on each ; the 

 body is orange-brown with two dark brown 

 spots on each segment. 



The CATERPILLAR has been described by Mr. 

 Hornby : when first hatched it is of a deep 

 yellow colour, which grows gradually darker 

 until it becomes nearly black, excepting a 

 medio-dorsal yellow stripe ; when full-fed it 

 is dusky greenish black, with a light-brown 

 medio-dorsal stripe ; it feeds chiefly by night 

 on the leaves of the whitethorn, and also occa- 

 sionally on birch and oak, and spins a slight 

 cocoon on the surface of the earth before 

 changing to a CHRYSALIS, which is of a reddish- 

 brown colour, with a dark medio-dorsal stripe. 

 It is to be found in May and June, 



The -MOTH appears on the wing in October 

 and November, and is not uncommon in most 

 of our English counties. Mr. Birchall says it 

 is common in Ireland. (The scientific name 

 is Hylernia aurantiaria.} 



234. The Dotted Border (Hybernia progemmaria]. 



234. THE DOTTED BORDER. The antennae 

 of the male are slightly pectinated, of the 

 female quite simple ; the wings of the male 

 are ample, those of the female very short and 

 incapable of flight ; the fore wings of the male 

 are pale reddish brown, with three transverse 

 darker lines ; the first and second of these 

 are very short, and near the base of the wing ; 

 the third is much longer, more oblique, and 

 bent towards the hind margin, at a third of 

 the distance from the costa; beyond this the 

 ground colour of the wing is darker, and be- 

 tween the second and third lines is a dark, 

 transversely-linear spot ; on the hind margin, 

 but within the fringe, is a series of distinct 

 dark dots ; the hind wings are pale, with a 

 dark central spot, and a waved line outside 



the spot ; the short wings of the female are 

 pale brown, with two darker bars across the 

 fore, and one across the hind wings. 



The CATERPILLAR is full grown in May, when 

 it rests in nearly a straight position, generally 

 holding to its food-plant by both feet and 

 claspers ; the head is semi-porrect, and broader 

 than the body ; the body is of uniform sub- 

 stance throughout, without prominent warts 

 or excrescences, but each segment bears a few 

 scattered bristles, each bristle seated on an 

 extremely minute wart; the colour of the 

 head is generally brown, sometimes inclined 

 to yellow ; it has two indistinct paler bars 

 across the face ; the colour of the body is 

 extremely various, but the prevailing shade 

 always brown ; the middle of the back gene- 

 rally paler, and forming a broad stripe ; on 

 each side is also a pale stripe, which includes 

 the black and shining spiracles ; this stripe is 

 generally continuous, but sometimes divided, 

 and then forms a series of pale spots. I have 

 found these caterpillars in great abundance, 

 feeding on hornbeam in Epping Forest. They 

 turn to CHRYSALIS just below the surface of the 

 earth between the 24th of May and 1st June ; 

 the chrysalis is brown and shining. 



The MOTH does not appear on the wing until 

 the following February .and March. It is 

 common in Great Britain and Ireland. (The 

 scientific name is Hylernia progemmaria]. 



235. The Mottled Umber (JRybernia defoliari/i) male, 

 variety of male, and female. 



235. THE MOTTLED UMBER. The antenna 

 are pectinated in the male, simple in the 

 female ; the wings are ample in the male, of a 

 pale wainscot-brown colour, with two dark 

 brown bands ; the first of these is short, cres- 

 cent-shaped, and near the base ; the second is 



