GEOMETERS. 



151 



slotch and a median band rather darker ; both 

 icse markings are bounded by very dark mar- 

 ins, and come in contact with a bleached por- 

 ion of the ground colour, so conspicuous as 

 jmetimes to appear absolutely Avhite ; the 

 md contains the discoidal spot ; in many spe- 

 cimens there is a zigzag white line between 

 median band and hind macgiu : the hind 

 rings are smoky-gray. 



The Itcv. Joseph Greene thus describes the 

 ITERPILLAR : " When full-grown it is short 

 id stumpy, extremely like the caterpillars 

 of some of the pugs. The head is pale brown, 

 the ground colour of the body grass-green. 

 Dorsal line broad, pure bluish white ; this is 

 bordered on e'ich side by a slender stripe of 

 the same colour ; spiracular line the same. 

 These stripes are all very clear, and well 

 defined. Segmental divisions yellow, claspers 

 pink. There are no dots or marks. It is 

 one of the most sluggish creatures I ever saw, 

 lying for hours even days in the same 

 place, just stretching itself to get at the food 

 within reach. It remained a long time in the 

 larval state, as it was hatched the third week 

 in March, and did not spin up till June 6th. 

 It effected this change between moss and the 

 >rig of juniper, on which it was feeding, so 

 mwilling was it even then to move. The 

 IRYSALIS is dark grass-green ; abdominal 

 jgments lighter." 



The Chesnut-coloured Carpet is double- 

 Drooded ; the MOTH appears on the wing in 

 Lpril and May, and again in August, and has 

 een taken near Newcastle, Keswick, Darling- 

 ton, and Glasgow ; and Mr. Birchall reports 

 it to be common in Ireland. The scientific 

 name is Thera sitnulata.} 



311. The Shaded Broai Bar (Thera obcliscata}. 



311. THE SHADED BKOAD BAH. The fore 

 wings are brownish-gray, with a basal 

 blotch and median band darker, and yet 



brighter, having a decided tinge ot ches- 

 nut ; these markings are not bounded by 

 dark margins, but have several dark wing- 

 rays and a dark inner margin ; there is a 

 smoke-coloured tinge towards the hind mar- 

 gin : the hind wings are pale brownish- 

 gray, with a slight indication of a dis- 

 c-oidal spot, and a smoky tinge on the hind 

 margin. 



The CATERPILLAR rests in a nearly straight 

 position, lying along one of the needles of the 

 Scotch fir (Pinus sykestris], on which it feeds, 

 its claspers being always attached, but its legs 

 free ; it will not roll the anterior part of the 

 body into a volute, nor will it fall from its 

 food-plant on being annoyed ; the head is 

 exserted, and of slightly less circumference 

 than the body, and has scarcely any indi- 

 cation of a notch on the crown ; its 

 position is prone, the mouth being tucked 

 under and brought into close proximity with 

 the legs ; the body is of uniform thickness 

 throughout, and has a lateral skinfold; it 

 is otherwise uniformly cylindrical and quite 

 smooth ; the thirteenth segment terminates 

 beneath the anal flap in two short points 

 directed backwards. The colour of the head 

 is pale opaque green, of the body dull green, 

 with three white dorsal stripes, each of 

 which is somewhat double, that is, it has a 

 narrow darker median stripe vaguely defined ; 

 of the three double stripes, the middle one is 

 less distinct and less conspicuous than the 

 others ; on the lower or ventral margin of the 

 lateral skinfold is a narrow but clearly defined 

 white stripe, and there is also a narrow but 

 clearly defined medio-ventral white stripe ; 

 . the legs and mouth are pink, the claspers 

 green. 



The JIOTH appears on the wing during the 

 summer months, and is common in many 

 English counties, but is not reported from 

 Ireland. (The scientific name is Thera 

 obeliscata : it is considered by most of the 

 recent continental authors to be a variety 

 of Thera variata of the Yienna Catalogue ; 

 but as the true Thera variata has never 

 occurred in England, the two are probably 

 distinct species.) 



