450 



BRITISH MOTHS. 



the terminal straight ; the scales on. both are 

 short, so much so on the terminal joint as to 

 make it appear almost naked ; the antennae are 

 delicately pubescent but otherwise simple in 

 both sexes : the fore wings are straight along 

 the costa until near the tip, when they are 

 slightly curved and pointed ; their colour is 

 inclined to gray both at the base and hind 

 margin, the median area being brown, and 

 being also bounded on both sides by a double 

 transverse line ; the discoidal spots are im- 

 perfectly outlined in brown, the orbicular is 

 the larger of the two, oblique and reniform ; 

 the tip of the wing is dark brown : the hind 

 wings are glossy black-brown, rather paler at 

 the base : the head, thorax, and body are 

 gray brown ; the thorax and body are crested. 

 The CATERPILLAR never rolls in a ring, but 

 sometimes feigns death and falls off its food- 

 plant when disturbed, assuming a bent pos- 

 ture : it is slender at the anterior extremity 

 the second, third, and fourth segments being 

 particularly attenuated and stretched out 

 leech-like in crawling ; the fifth, sixth, and 

 seventh segments are tumid on the back, but 

 scarcely humped ; the eight, ninth, and 

 tenth segments are rather tumid and very 

 convex on the back ; the twelfth segment is 

 humped, and terminates in two sharp short 

 distant points directed backwards ; between 

 this bifid hump and the thirteenth segment 

 the body is slightly concave, and the hind 

 claspers are passed under the body in crawling ; 

 the prevailing colour is clear pale green, mixed' 

 with white-green on the back, and not varied 

 with brown ; the clear green forms an inter- 

 rupted median stripe of shuttle-shaped mark- 

 ings down the back, one on each segment ; 

 also, two oblique marks of the same green on 

 each segment, distant in front but approxi- 

 mate behind, and forming something like 

 V-shaped markings pointing backwards ; there 

 is a narrow white stripe along the middle of 

 each side on the fifth, sixth, and seventh seg- 

 -ments; this is connected by a very distinct 

 white line with the white on the back : it feeds 

 on the stinging-nettle ( Urtica dioica), and is 

 full-fed in September, when, it spins up amongst 

 "the leaves. 



The MOTH appears on the wing twice in the 

 year, in Jiine and August, and occurs in all 

 our English, Scotch, and Irish counties so 

 far as they have been investigated by ento- 

 mologists. (The scientific name is Abrostola 

 Urticce.) 



m 



696. The Dark Spectacle (Abrostola iriplasia). 



696. THE DARK SPECTACLE. The palpi are 

 long and slender, not directly porrected, but 

 obliquely ascending : the second joint is bent, 

 the terminal joint straight, the scales on both 

 are short, so much so on the terminal joint as to 

 make it appear almost naked ; the antennse are 

 delicately pubescent, otherwise simple in both 

 sexes : the fore wings are straight along the 

 costa, where they are slightly curved and 

 pointed, their hind margin is waved ; their 

 colour is chocolate-brown, the general area of 

 the wing is divided into three compartments 

 by two compound transverse lines ; the median 

 area is almost uniformly brown and contains 

 indications of the usual discoidal spots ; the 

 basal area is paler, being tinged with cchreous ; 

 the apical area has a blackish cloud near the 

 tip, and an ochreous blotch near the anal angle j 

 a pale zigzag transverse line, panJlel with the 

 hind margin, parsing through both of these : 

 the hind wings are dark smoky-brown, paler 

 at the base; the outer portion of the fringe 

 is silvery-brown : the head, thorax, and body 

 are brown, the thorax and body crested. 



The CATERPILLAR never rolls in a ring, but 

 feigns death when disturbed, and falls to the 

 ground, assuming somewhat the figure of a 

 pot-hook, or letter S. The body is attemiated 

 in front, the second, third, and fourth seg- 

 ments being elongated and stretched out leech- 

 like in crawling; the fifth and sixth segments 

 are humped and elevated in crawling; the 

 claspers are ten in number, the anterior pair, 

 those on the seventh segment, being generally 



