112 



BRITISH MOTHS. 



London and country gardens, and as furnishing 

 an acceptable food to nearly all those cater- 

 pillars which, in a state of nature, feed on the 

 different species of bedstraw. The caterpillars 

 of Larentia salivata, when full-fed, rest with 

 the claspers attached tightly to the food-plant, 

 and from the abdominal pair the body ascends 

 at a right angle, the anterior segments being 

 bent gracefully over ; when annoyed the pecu- 

 liarities of this posture become intensified, the 

 anterior segments assuming the form of an 

 Ionic volute, of which the tightly tucked-in 

 head is the centre ; this figure becomes more 

 and more rigid as the annoyance continues, 

 until the caterpillar abandons its hold on the 

 food-plant, rolls itself in a compact ring, and, 

 feigning death, falls to the ground. The head 

 is rather small, semi-porrect, not notched 

 on the crown, and beset with a few hairs ; 

 the body is of uniform thickness throughout, 

 without humps or warts, but beset with scat- 

 tered hairs, and having a rather remarkably 

 conspicuous tuberculated double skinfold along 

 each side below the spiracles. The head is 

 pale, semi-transparent, and of an umber-brown 

 colour, spotted with darker umber-brown ; the 

 body is umber-brown, with four narrow ap- 

 proximate parallel whitish stripes, extending 

 the entire length of the back ; on each side 

 below the spiracles, and comprising the skin- 

 fold already noticed, is a broad pale somewhat 

 flesh-coloured stripe ; the ventral surface is 

 rather pale along the middle, but darker on 

 the sides, where it touches the pale lateral 

 stripe ; it also exhibits traces of four parallel 

 narrow stripes, of which the inner pair are 

 very obscure ; the feet and claspers are similar 

 in colour to the darker parts of the . body. 

 When full-grown, these caterpillars in my 

 cages spun together the leaves of the wood- 

 roof, incorporating particles of cocoa-nut husk, 

 provided for their accommodation, and con- 

 structing tough cocoons. 



The MOTII appears on the wing early in June 

 and again in August, it is common in a few 

 localities in the west and north of England, 

 also in Scotland, and at Killarney and in the 

 county Galway in Ireland. (The scientific 

 name is Larentia salicata.} 



246. The Beech-green Carpet (Larentia olivata). 



246. THE BEECH-GREEN CARPET. Antennrc 

 very slightly pubescent in the male, quite 

 simple in the female ; fore wings olive-green, 

 and having a nearly triangular blotch at the 

 base, and a central serrated bar much darker ; 

 and beyond and immediately adjoining this 

 bar is a double zigzag white, line, and again 

 beyond the double white line is a transverse 

 series of three dark spots near the angle of 

 the wing ; the hind wings are brownish lead- 

 colour, without any ( onspicuous markings. 



The EGGS are laid at the end of August, on 

 a species of bedstraw (Galium mollugo}, and 

 the CATERPILLARS are red when first hatched, 

 but soon become rugose and dingy-coloured ; 

 they hybernate. very early at the roots of the 

 bedstraw. 



The MOTH appears on the wing about mid- 

 summer, and is generally distributed, but is 

 not common ; it is occasionally taken in most 

 of the English counties and also in Scotland 

 and Ireland. (The scientific name is Larentia 

 olicata. } 



247. The Green Carpet (Larentia pcctinitaria). 



247. THE GREEN CARPET. The antenna? 

 are very decidedly pectinated in the male, but 

 simple in the female ; the fore wings are rather 

 pointed, and have a decided and very beauti- 

 ful green tint ; at the base they have a some- 

 whattriangular blotch, which has black margins 

 and a pale centre, and is bordered by a white 

 line ; across the middle of the wing is a trans- 

 verse band, wide at the costal, and narrower 



