GEOMETERS. 



123 



264. Guenee's Pug (Eupithecia. fcniotata]. 

 264. GUKNEK'S PUG. The fore wings 

 of a delicate pearly gray colour, with an 

 ochreous tinge diffused uniformly over the 

 entire surface, which is also traversed by 

 numerous transverse lines, all of them more or 

 less waved, and more or less oblique ; these 

 transverse lines are paler than the ground- 

 colour, but not very conspicuously so, neither 

 are they quite continuous; the wing-rays 

 are spotted with dark brown ; there is also a 

 series of transverse dark markings between the 

 costal and sub-costal rays, and a slender inter- 

 rupted dark brown line on the hind margin ; 

 the hind wings are of a pearly gray colour, 

 without the ochreous tint, but their markings 

 are very nearly the same as those of the fore 

 wings. I am unable to find the usual discoidal 

 spot on either of the wings; the fringe is 

 spotted ; the head, thorax, and body are ochre- 

 ous-brown, speckled with darker brown, and 

 there is an evident darker belt at the junction 

 of the thorax and body : it is a large and in- 

 teresting species ; although the colours are very 

 ibdued, and present no strong contrast, the 

 ittern, so to speak, is very elegant; when 

 resh from the chrysalis the specimen de- 

 eribed had a distinct reddish marginal band on 

 all the wings. 



The only specimen I have seen is in Mr. 

 Doubleday's collection ; it was bred from a 

 caterpillar which was found by Mr. Machin, 

 feeding on the flowers of the golden rod. (The 

 scientific name is Eupithecia pernotata.} 



265. The Lead-coloured Pug (Eupithecia plun.beolata]. 

 265. THE LEAD-COLOURED PUG. Ail the 

 wings are lead-coloured, with slightly darker, 

 delicate, transverse waved lines, but these are 

 very indistinct, and tend rather to increase 

 than diminish the plain lead-coloured appear- 



ance of the insect ; there is a slender inter- 

 rupted black line on the hind margin, just 

 within the fringe ; the hind wings are rather 

 paler than the fore wings. I am unable to 

 find any trace of the discoidal spot on either 

 of the wings. The head, thorax, and body 

 are of the same colour as the fore wings. 



The CATERPILLAR is thus described by Mr. 

 Crewe : 



" Somewhat short and stumpy ; the ground- 

 colour is pale yellowish green ; the central 

 dorsal line broad, continuous, dull purplish 

 red, enlarged into a somewhat pear-shaped 

 blotch on the centre of each segment ; sub- 

 dorsal lines narrower, sinuous, dull purplish 

 red ; dorsal and subdorsal lines sometimes 

 merged into one, leaving the whole back and 

 sides suffused with purplish red ; a few slender 

 yellowish hairs sprinkled over the dorsal and 

 lateral segments; the belly is naked, pale, 

 dull greenish yellow ; central ventral line 

 wanting; subventral lines narrow, purplish 

 red. It feeds on the flowers of the common 

 cow-wheat (Melampyrum pratense) ; when 

 quite young on the stamens only, afterwards 

 on the whole corolla tube ; it is full-fed from 

 the middle of July to the middle of August. 

 The CHRYSALIS is enclosed in a slight cocoon, 

 either in a dry corolla tube, or in the surface 

 of the earth ; its general colour is golden yel- 

 low, with the abdominal divisions and tip red." 



The MOTH appears on the wing at the end 

 of May, and occurs in most of our English 

 counties, also in Scotland; and Mr. Birchall 

 informs us it is common at Killarney, in Ire- 

 land. (The scientific name of this homely 

 little moth has been changed a great many 

 times ; it has been called Plumleolata, Pusil- 

 lata, Scabiosata, Begrandaria, and Talerianata, 

 but I think the oldest intelligible description 

 is Ha worth's, under the name of Eupithecia 

 plumbeolatu .) 



266. Haworth's Pug (Eupithecia isogrnmmata}. 



266. HAWORTH'S PUG. All the wings are 

 brownish gray, the colour being given by 

 numerous waved and closely approximate 



