CUSPIDATES. 



227 



401. The Scarce Prominent (Notodonta Car melt to). 



401. THE SCARCE PROMINENT. The palpi 

 are very small and inconspicuous ; the an- 

 tenna? are slightly pectinated in the male, 

 quite simple in the female : the fore wings 

 have the costa nearly straight, the tip pointed ; 

 the hind margin very slightly scalloped, the 

 inner margin with a small median projection ; 

 their colour is pale purplish-brown throughout 

 the costal area, shadingto purplish gray through- 

 out the inner-marginal area ; on the costa 

 itself is a very conspicuous crescentic white 

 spot at one-third of the distance between the 

 tip and the base ; and half way between this 

 and the base is a small and insignificant whitish 

 spot, sometimes scarcely perceptible ; two 

 transverse series of triple spots cross the disk 

 of the wing ; these are seated on the wing- 

 rays, and each is composed of a whitish dot, 

 accompanied by a darker dot on each side ; 

 the fringe is alternately brown and whitish, 

 and the extreme margin within the fringe is 

 indicated by a scalloped brown line : the hind 

 wings are purplish gray, with a darker cloud 

 at the anal angle and a spotted fringe : the 

 head and thorax are purple-brown, the latter 

 with a whitish blotch at the base of the body, 

 which is uniformly brown. 



The head of the CATERPILLAR is pale semi- 

 transparent green, with two approximate 

 longitudinal yellow lines on the face, sepa- 

 rated only by the usual suture ; the dorsal 

 surface of the body is apple-green, with raised 

 pale yellow markings variously situated ; 

 there is a bright stripe along each side, being 

 a dilated skinfold, and including the spiracles, 

 which are black ; this stripe is of three colours, 

 white, yellow, and pinkish-red, the colours 

 being clearly defined ; it commences imme- 

 diately behind the head, and extends the 

 entire length of the caterpillar, passing below 



the anal flap ; the belly, legs, and clasrers are 

 glaucous-green. It feeds on birch (Beluga 

 alia}, and is full-fed in June or July, when 

 it buries itself in the earth and changes to a 

 CHRYSALIS. 



The MOTH: usually appears in April, some- 

 times in March. It has been taken at Birch - 

 wood, in Kent, West Wickham, in Surrey, 

 Hurstpierpoint, in Sussex, Epping. in Essex, 

 and Cockermouth, in Cumberland. (The scien- 

 tific name is Notodonta Carmelita.} 



402. The White Prominent (Notodonta bicolor). 



402. THE WHITE PROMINENT. The antenna 

 are slightly pectinated in the male, quite 

 simple in the female : the fore wings have 

 the costal margin very slightly arched, the 

 tip obtuse, and the inner margin has a alight 

 angle or notch about the middle ; their colour 

 is white with two oblique transverse series of 

 black spots, one before, the other beyond the 

 middle of the wing : neither extremity of the 

 first series quite reaches tho costal or the 

 inner margin ; it is accompanied on its outer 

 side by two orange blotches, the upper of 

 which is double and very short, the lower is 

 also double at the end nearest the body, but is 

 prolonged almost to the anal angle, crossing 

 the second transverse series of black spots : 

 the hind wings are light and spotless ; the 

 head, thorax, and body are white ; the last is 

 sometimes tinged with fawn-colour. 



Hiibner figures the CATERPILLAR in a nearly 

 straight position : the head narrower than the 

 second segment, and rather porrected ; the 

 body almost uniformly cylindrical, the divi- 

 sions of the segments being conspicuously 

 marked. The colour of both head and body is 

 green, rather approaching to olive-green, and 

 adorned with a bright yellow stripe on each 

 side, commencing immediately behind the 



