CUSPIDATES. 



207 



The Scarce Hook-tip (Platypteryx sicula). 



380. THE SCARCK HOOK-TIP. The palpi 

 ire verv short, entirely concealed when the 

 insect is viewed from above ; the antennae are 

 strongly pectinated in the male, simple in the 

 female ; the fore wings are falcate and sharply 

 pointed, and the hind margin is deeply con- 

 cave below the tip. The colour is isabelline, 

 or testaceous fawn-colour, with darker clouds 

 of the same colour ; these are in the centre of 

 the wing ; and near the hind margin, and 

 parallel with the hind margin, are certain 

 pure black markings which assume a some- 

 what crescentic form. 



The CATEiiriLLAii rests with the anal ex- 

 2inity elevated, the feet and ventral claspers 

 idling the food-plant. The head is slightly 

 aader than the second segment ; the body is 

 icwhat shuttle-shaped ; the anal extremity 

 lering to a sharp point, and the anal clas- 

 :TS being entirely absent ; there are two 

 rramidal papilhe placed transversely on the 

 of the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth 

 Clients, making eight in all ; the colour of 

 head is reddish, with two transverse 

 ritish bars ; the dorsal area of the body, 

 including the papilla), is ochreous ; the papill?e 

 are tipped with white; the ventral area is 

 glaucous ; the two areas are separated by a 

 white stripe, which is intersected throughout, 

 by a delicate pink line ; there is a medio- 

 dorsal series of linear black streaks, and then' 

 are two oblique linear black streaks on eacli 

 side of each segment : the legs are greenish ; 

 the claspers are glaucous, concolorous with the 

 ventral area ; each segment has also two 

 white dots on each side of each segment ; the 

 CHRYSALIS is rather stout, with a bifid head 

 and a very sharp-pointed tail. 



The MOTH appears on the wing at the end 

 of May and beginning of June. It occurs in 



Leigh Woods, near Bristol, where a few speci- 

 mens only have been taken. (The scientific 

 name is Platypteryx sicula.} 



381. The Pebble Hook-tip (Platypteryx falculd). 



381. THE PEBBLE HOOK-TIP. The antenna? 

 are pectinated in the male, almost simple in 

 the female : the wings are broad and ample, 

 the fore-wings pointed and falcate, the hind 

 margin without teeth or angles ; their colour is 

 wainscot brown, frequently suffused with a 

 richer, redder brown ; there is an oblique bar of 

 this richer tint from the tip of the wing to the 

 inner margin, and there are four transverse 

 zigzag dark brown lines, which are equidistant 

 at the costal margin, but diverge more or less 

 on the disk of the wing ; between the second 

 and third of these are two small discoidal 

 spots placed longitudinally; just within the 

 third line, and nearly in the centre of> the 

 wing, is a large roundish blotch ; the fourth, 

 or outer, zigzag line crosses the oblique bar 

 near the tip of the wing, and running parallel 

 with the hind margin is broken up into dots : 

 the hind wings are paler, and have five trans- 

 verse zigzag lines, four of which are per- 

 ceptible only on the inner margin, the fifth 

 or outer one is very distinct. 



The CATEUPitLAtt is pointed at the tail, the 

 anal claspers are absent. There are two promi- 

 nent and distant papilla) or nipple- shaped 

 warts on the back of the third, fourth, fifth, 

 and sixth segments ; those on the fifth segment 



