GEOMETERS. 



183 



; 



atched on the 22nd of June, fed upon the 

 small-leafed sloe, and went to earth on the 

 2ud of October, having grown so very slowly 

 that for a long time I fancied especially as 

 ;hey did not appear at all unhealthy that 

 they would hybernate. They had the ground 

 colour of a yellowish green, and the sub-dorsal 

 stripe greenish yellow ; on the third to the 

 fifth segment, and again on the eleventh to 

 the tail, there is a dark reddish brown dorsal 

 stripe ; on each of the intermediate segments 

 are four very fine brown dots arranged in 

 pairs, with a fine dash on each segment, and 

 at each segmental division ; the spiracles are 

 white, the middle ones having between them 

 a row of four brown spots ; the belly is 

 sprinkled with very fine brown dots, arranged 

 in lines. Mr. Hellins, in the Zoologist for 

 1864, adds to this information that this is the 

 only British species of Cidaria that has the 

 head bifid ; it is singular also in having but 



r anal point. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in June, 

 nd seems to be abundant in most parts of 

 England, Scotland, and Ireland. (The scien- 

 tific name is Cidaria corylata.} 



3-54. The Marsh Carpet (Cidaria sagittata}. 



554. THE MARSH CARPET. The palpi are 

 very short and scarcely perceptible from above ; 

 the antenna3 are simple in both sexes ; the 

 fore wings -are black at the tip, their ground 

 colour is the most delicate isabelline or fawn- 

 colour, with a basal blotch and median band 

 of a rich dark olive-brown, almost black ; 

 there is a delicately-white line on both sides 

 of the basal blotch, arid also on both sides of 

 the median band, the middle of which emits 

 an elongate and sharp angle towards the middle 

 of the hind margin, which it almost reaches, 

 but a small and vaguely-defined white blotch 

 intervenes ; the discoidal spot is present in the 



central band, but so nearly of the same colour 

 as the band, that it cannot be distinguished 

 without difficulty ; the fringe is pale, with 

 seven dark spots : the hind wings are very 

 pale, with a distinct discoidal spot, a very 

 slender hind-marginal line, and a spotted 

 fringe : the face is black, the crown white, the 

 thorax isabelline, with a central brown blotch ; 

 the base of the body has a black band followed 

 by a white belt ; the rest of the body is rich 

 brown, with a median dark dot on each seg- 

 ment. 



The -EGGS are laid in July, in little batches 

 of three or four, on the partial stalks or flowers 

 of the subcorymbose panicle of common mea- 

 dow-rue (Thalictrum favuni), a plant which 

 grows abundantly by the sides of some of the 

 fen-drains near Chatteris, in Cambridgeshire ; 

 they are opalescent when laid, but become 

 yellow before the young CATERPILLARS emerge, 

 which emergence generally takes place during 

 the first week in August. The young cater- 

 pillars are at first orange-coloured, but soon 

 acquire a more variegated appearance. They 

 feed almost entirely on the seeds of the meadow- 

 rue, but sometimes they also nibble round 

 the partial stalks of the panicle, denuding 

 them of their cuticle, and causing small white 

 patches ; and Mr. Fryer, to whom I am in- 

 debted for a bountiful supply of these cater" 

 pillars, as well as many particulars of their 

 1 economy, informs me that in confinement they 

 | will eat the dried or withered leaves of Thalic- 

 trum g j aucum, or Thalictrum aquilegifolium, the 

 latter a species very commonly cultivated in 

 gardens, and remarkable for its abundantly 

 floriferous panicle, so attractive to the beau- 

 tiful rose-beetle (Cetonia aurata), and other 

 insects. 



Mr. Fryer has observed that if, when the 

 caterpillars have attained about half their 

 growth, they are supplied with Thalictrum 

 glaucum, they will bite half through the foot- 

 stalks of the leaves, thus causing the leaf to 

 droop and wither, and in this state they will 

 feed on it as a substitute for their natural food, 

 the seeds of Thalictrum Jlavum. In their pro- 

 gress towards maturity, the caterpillars undergo 

 considerable change, the exquisite colouring 



