GEOMETERS. 



129 



hairs. The dorsal, sub-dorsal, and lateral 

 blotches, spots, and lines are sometimes almost 

 or entirely wanting, leaving the caterpillar 

 of a uniform pale yellowish green. 



"This caterpillar tapers towards the head, 

 .nd has a slightly wrinkled appearance. 

 "When full-fed and ready to spin it turns 

 pink." 



It feeds on the blossoms of the wild angelica 

 (Angelica sylvestris), and common hog- weed 

 (fferacleum sphondylium). The CHRYSALIS is 

 enclosed in a slight earthen cocoon ; its thorax 

 is yellowish green, and the wing-cases dark 

 green, furrowed and wrinkled ; the body is 

 tapering, rough, and of a dull red colour; it 

 has a slight ventral protuberance. 



The MOTH appeal's on the wing in May and 

 June, and has been taken in Suffolk, Kent, 

 and Derbyshire, but not in Scotland or Ire- 

 land. (The scientific name is Enpithecia albi- 

 punctata, under which it was first described 

 by Kaworth (Lep. Brit. 360), but Herrich- 

 Schojffer (Supp. p. 77, fig. 461) has called 

 it E. tripunctaria, and Guenee (Uran. et 

 Phal p. 315, ]S T o. 1,412) and Mr. Crewe 

 (Zool. 7,567 and 7,762) have adopted that 

 name ; the older name must be restored.) 



275. THE VALERIAN PUG. "All the wings 



e ashy brown, with the ordinary discoidal 

 pot in the centre of the fore wings, and a 

 very indistinct pale waved line at the hind 



argin ; the hind wings are pale brown, with 

 ery faint waved lines." 



The CATERPILLAR is thus described by Mr. 

 Crewe : "Rather short, but tapeiiug very 

 considerably towards the head; the ground 

 culour is bright green, and very translucent; 

 the central dorsal and sub-dorsal lines are 

 dark green, but varying considerably in 

 breadth, and in intensity of colour ; the seg- 

 nieutal divisions are yellow ; the belly is 

 generally destitute of markings, but is occa- 

 sionally traversed longitudinally by two slen- 

 der faint subventral lines, rather darker than 

 the ground colour ; the spiracular line is 

 whitish green ; when young, the ground colour 

 is greenish white ; it feeds on the flowers- and 

 seeds of the common valerian ( Valcriana offici- 

 nalis], in woods and osier beds, and is full-fed 



from the middle of July to .the middle of 

 August. 



The MOTH appears in May, and occurs in 

 Buckinghamshire, Dorsetshire, Derbyshire, 

 Devonshire, and Herefordshire. (The scien- 

 tific name is Eupithecia valerianata.} 



Obs. This insect is the Eupithecia vimt- 

 nata of Mr. Doubleday formerly, but Hubner's 

 is the prior name, and is very appropriate, 

 as the caterpillar feeds on valerian. I have 

 copied Mr. Doubleday's oiiginal description 

 of the moth. 



276. THE LARCH PTJG. The fore wings 

 are long, rather pointed, and of a dark, smoky- 

 gray colour, with several transverse pale gray 

 markings, and a distinct transverse discoidal 

 black spot ; the principal pale markings are a 

 vague band just outside the black discoidal 

 spot, a waved bar beyond this, which is 

 double, or intersected throughout by a slender 

 dark smoke-coloured line, and a single slender 

 line, half-way between this and the hind 

 margin ; there is a delicate interrupted black 

 line on the hind margin itself, and the fringe 

 is very indistinctly spotted with two shades of 

 gray ; the hind wings are much the same 

 colour as the fore wings, but paler at the 

 base ; they have a rather indistinct crescentic 

 discoidal spot, and a double series of gray dots 

 parallel with the hind margin ; there is the 

 same interrupted black line on the margin as 

 in the fore wings, and the fringe is indistinctly 

 spotted ; the head, thorax, and body are 

 sprinkled over with the two shades of gray, 

 the dark smoky-gray greatly prevailing ; at 

 the base of the thorax is a semi-circular 

 whitish spot. 



Mr. Crewe has described two varieties of 

 the caterpillar as under: 



" Far. 1. The ground colour is bright grass- 

 green, somewhat darker on the centre of the 

 back ; the central dorsal line is dark green ; 

 the anal tip of the central dorsal line reddish ; 

 the sub-dorsal lines are wanting, or so faint 

 as to be scarcely visible ; the spiracular line 

 is whitish, or pale straw-colour ; the seg- 

 mental divisions arc yellowish ; the belly is 

 whitish, with a dark green central line ; it is 

 a long slender caterpillar, tapering towards 



EDWARD NEWMAN'S BRITISH 

 Moms. .No. it, PBTCK 6D. 



I LONDON: W. TWKMKI:, 

 t 337, SriiAsu. 



