458 INSECTS AT HOME. 



the colours of this Moth are entirely black and white, mostly 

 arranged as seen in the illustration, though there is some varia- 

 tion in diiferent specimens. Even the body is black and white, 

 and the very antennae are black, with white rings. 



The larva is rather variable, but is generally very dark brown, 

 with a series of small black dots along each side, and another 

 row of crescent-shaped white marks below the spiracles, each 

 of which is sm-rounded with a white ring. It feeds on several 

 trees and plants, such as the birch, and always lives in conceal- 

 ment, drawing together with silk the leaves of the plant on 

 which it feeds, and living within this shelter. It is full-fed 

 towards the middle of the autumn, and the perfect insect appears 

 at the beginning of the following summer. 



Another species of this beautiful genus is shown on the same 

 Woodcut, Fig. 4. This is the Silver Ground Carpet {Mela- 

 nippe niontand). 



The upper wings of this Moth are cream-white, and across 

 them is drawn an irregular stripe of dark ochre-grey, which 

 mostly has a whitish patch upon it near the costal margin of 

 the wing. There is a small triangular patch of similar colour 

 at the base of the wing. There is a smoky grey edging to 

 the wing, through which is drawn a waved whitish line. These 

 markings look rather too black in the figure. The larva feeds 

 on the common primrose, and is pale brown, covered with a 

 variety of markings, the most conspicuous of which are three 

 large black spots shaped something like the letter V, upon the 

 seventh, eighth, and ninth segments. The caterpillar is full- 

 fed about the end of March or beginning of April. All the 

 Moths represented in this Woodcut belong to the family of the 

 Larentidse. 



On Woodcut LI. Fig. 1, is shown the Eoyal Mantle {An- 

 ticlea sinuata), a name which was given to the little Moth on 

 account of the beauty of its colouring. The markings of this 

 pretty insect are so many and so complicated that they cannot 

 fully be described, but are generally as follows. The groimd 

 coloiur of the upper wings may be considered as creamy grey, 

 and at the base is a large triangular patch, divided by sever il 

 bars of a lighter colour. Towards the tip of the wing is a 



