426 



BRITISH MOTHS. 





and circular ; the reniform is large and dis- 

 tinct, and has a white circumscription and a 

 white centre separated from the circumscrip- 

 tion by a smoky margin, which completely 

 encloses it ; there is a zigzag white line 

 parallel with the hind margin, and on this 

 rest two very distinct and acutely-pointed 

 wedge-shaped spots, pointing towards the base 

 of the wing; the hind wings are smoky gray; 

 the head, thorax, and body are also dingy 



gray. 



The CATERPILLAR is dark reddish-brown, 

 with the slender dorsal broad spiracular line 

 (bordered with blackish-brown) and dorsal 

 spots pale yellow, the latter placed on a row of 

 blackish blotches (Hub.). On bilberry (Vac- 

 cinium). (Stainton's Manual, vol. i. p. 281.) 



The MOTH appears on the wing in August, 

 arid is exceedingly local. We are informed 

 by Mr. Reading that Lieutenant Reed, of the 

 12th Regiment, took a specimen on sugar at 

 Torquay, but its favourite counties are Lan- 

 cashire, Cheshire, and Yorkshire. It is not 

 mentioned in Mr. Birchall's Irish list. (The 

 scientific name is CloantJia Solidaginis.) 



661'. The Red Sword-grass (Calocampa vebiista,). 



G61. THE RED SWORD-GRASS. The palpi 

 are scarcely porrected beyond the head, their 

 terminal joint being hardly distinguishable 

 from the second joint; the antennse are almost 

 simple in both sexes, and rather unusually 

 long : the fore wings ai'e long and narrow, 

 the costal margin nearly straight, the tip 

 obtuse, the hind margin waved ; their colotir 

 is wainscot-brown throughout the costal half, 

 rich umber-brown throughout the hind mar- 

 ginal half; the reniform somewhat interrupts 

 the division between these distinct shades; 

 the orbicular is scarcely to be traced : the 



hind wings are smoky-brown with an ochreous 

 iridescence : the head and collar are wainscot- 

 brown; the disk of the thorax is veiy square, 

 and entirely dark rich umber-brown ; the 

 body is pale reddish-brown. 



The EGGS are laid in March and April, but the 

 CATERPILLAR does not attain its full size until 

 July, and then rests in a nearly straight position 

 on the stems of scabioiis and other field plants, 

 but rolls in a ring and falls to the ground 

 if annoyed : the head is narrower than the 

 second segment, smooth and somewhat trian- 

 gular; the body is stout and uniformly cylin- 

 drical: the colour of the head -is dull apple- 

 green, the second segment has a doi'sal plate 

 of nearly the same colour; the rest of the 

 body is also dull green, with a medio-dorsal 

 and two lateral yellow stripes on each side ; 

 between the medio-dorsal and upper lateral 

 stripe is a series of circular white dots, each 

 of which is delicately bordered with black ; 

 the second segment is without these dots, the 

 third and fourth have but two each, and the 

 following segments as far as the eleventh have 

 each three; the lower lateral stripe is deeper 

 yellow, inclining to orange, and is bordered 

 above by a very fine dark brown stripe ; the 

 spiracles are orange encircled with black ; the 

 legs are tinged with red ; the claspers dull 

 green; the belly glaucous. It feeds on sedge, 

 dock, and various species of trefoil and scabious. 

 When full-fed it constructs a cocoon of silk and 

 particles of earth on the surface of the ground, 

 and changes to a dark-brown shining CHRYSALIS, 

 armed with a black obtuse anal point, and 

 two approximate spines of the same colour. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in Septem- 

 ber and October, coming freely to sugar, and 

 also to the blossoms of the ivy. Mr. Reading 

 gives a number of Devonshire localities, and 

 going thence -northwards it has been found in 

 most of the English counties, and still further 

 north in the Highlands of Scotland, and in 

 the Scottish Isles. Mr. Birchall says it is 

 common in the counties Wicklow and Dublin, 

 in Ireland. (The scientific name is Calocn ////> 

 vetusta. ) 



