CUSPIDATES. 



229 



404. The Lesser Swallow Prominent (Xotodonla 

 dictceoides). 



404. THE LESSER SWALLOW PROMINENT. 

 The antennae are moderately pectinated in the 

 male, very slightly so in the female ; the fore 

 wings are rather long and narrow, the costal 

 margin nearly straight ; the tip is rather pro- 

 longed and ohtuse, and the hind margin 

 sinuous ; the inner margin has a small and 

 inconspicuous lobe or angle about the middle ; 

 their colour is pale whitish-brown in the 

 middle, the costal margin darker, the darker 

 portion being very narrow at the base, but 

 expanding into a broader although still narrow 

 chocolate-brown blotch near the tip ; near the 

 iuuer margin, and extending from the middle 

 of the base to the hind margin, is a rich choco- 

 late tint, the upper margin of which shades 

 off into the pale median area ; the hind margin 

 three slender lines, the interior very pale, 

 next very dark, and the third or exterior 

 is intermediate in tint between the other 

 FO ; these lines are intersected by the whitish 

 ig-rays ; at the anal angle is a long wedge- 

 iped white mark, its tip pointing towards 

 base of the wing ; opposite the lobe is 

 other white mark in the form of a compressed 

 crescent, and near the basea white streak which 

 touches the thorax : the hind wings are very 

 pale with a compound brown blotch at the anal 

 angle : the thorax is umber-brown tinged with 

 gray ; the body grayish-brown. 



The CATERPILLAR has rather a large head, 

 slightly notched on the crown, brown and 

 shilling; the bod}' is almost uniformly cylin- 

 drical until the twelfth segment, which is 

 humped, the hump terminating in a somewhat 

 sharp and very shining papilla; the thirteenth 

 -'^iiient is rugose above; the colour of the 

 hack is purple-brown, very shining when full- 

 fed ; on each side is a distinct yellow stripe, 



which includes the spiracles, excepting that 

 on the twelfth segment; the spiracles are 

 black, the ventral is much paler than the 

 dorsal area. This caterpillar, Avhen compared 

 with that of Notodonta dichea, may be distin- 

 guished by its somewhat more slender propor- 

 tions, by its more glabrous skin, by its 

 uniformly possessing the purple-brown hue, 

 and by the greater brightness and distinctness 

 of the lateral stripe. It feeds on birch (Be tula 

 alia}, and is full-fed at the end of September, 

 when it descends to the ground, spinning a 

 slight cocoon between the surface of the earth 

 and a fallen leaf: it remains in the CHBYSALIS 

 state all the winter. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and 

 has been found in most of the English counties, 

 but not commonly : Mr. Birchall records its 

 occurrence in the county Wicklow, in Ireland. 

 (The scientific name is Notodonta dictceoides. } 



Obs. My plan of describing each moth in 

 full without reference to any other, lias com- 

 pelled me to write two descriptions almost 

 exactly similar; the principal distinguishing 

 character between this and the preceding moth 

 is to be found in the anal angle of the fore 

 wings : in Dict&a the white mark is almost 

 linear but very sharp pointed ; in Dictceoides it 

 is wedge-shaped, and decidedly more conspi- 

 cuous. 



405. The Iron Prominent (Xotodonta dioiiicduritis). 



405. THE IKOX PROMINENT. The antenna? 

 of the male are slightly pectinated, those of 

 the female quite simple; the fore wings are 

 nearly straight on the costa, blunt at the 



