AND THEIR TRANSFORMATIONS. 9 



loncitudinally striped witli black and white, and the abdomen has slender orange edges to the segments. Tlie 

 female is black, clothed with whitish hairs, and the abdominal segments are margined with orange ; the wings 

 appear in the shape of four small hairy scales. The caterpillar is green, the middle part of the segments being 

 palest above, with a yellow longitudinal stripe on each side, and with a small and black ocellus on each side 

 of the abdominal segments. The larvw vary however, as some, which were hatched from eggs sent me by 

 Mr. Gregson, were darker than in lliibner's figure, copied in our plate. It feeds on Acliillea millefolia, and 

 other low herbaceous plants, and the perfect insect is found in the months of February, March and April, and 

 again in June and July, in various situations on the banks of the river Mersey, especially near Black Rock, 

 where it has occasionally appeared in considerable numbers, and where it was first discovered in 1829. The 

 chrysalides are buried at 2 or 3 inches' depth below the surface of the sand, as I am informed by 5Ir. Gregson of 

 Liverpool. 



' Stnonymes. — Phalana zonaria, Wicn. Verz. ; Hijbncr ; Treitschkc; Duponchel ; Curtis, Brit. Ent. pi. 615 ; Wood, fig. 1674, a — n. 



BISTON, Leach. AMPHIDASIS, Boisduval. 

 These insects are the most robust of all the Geometridae, having much the appearance of some of tiie 

 Bombycidae ; the antennre of the males are strongly bipectinatcd, the pectinations not extended quite to the tip, 

 except in B. prodromarius ; the palpi very short and hirsute ; the spiral tongue almost obsolete ; the head not 

 very prominent ; the wings strong ; the abdomen thick and conical ; and the female furnished with fully- 

 developed wings. The caterpillars are long, cylindrical, slightly tubercled, with the head more or less bifid. 

 They feed on the leaves of trees, and the pupa is buried beneath the surface of the ground. 



Species 1. — Biston prodromarius.* (Plate LVIII., Figs. 8, 9, 10). — This handsome insect varies from l^to 

 rather more than 2 inches (the female exceeding the male in size), in the expanse of the fore wings, which have 

 the ground thickly irrorated with black scales, and a black transverse striga, much waved, near the base of the 

 fore w^ing, preceded by a reddish-brown bar ; a second red-brown broad fascia crosses the wings obliquely beyond 

 the middle, edged on each side with an irregular, dentate, black striga ; a dusky fascia crossing the hind wings 

 beyond the middle. The female is large, with the markings more strongly indicated. The antennae of the 

 males are pectinated to the tip, and of a reddish-gray colour ; the central bar alternately black and white. The 

 caterpillar is ashy or brown coloured, with darker markings, and with white dots and tubercles, varying in size. 

 It feeds on the oak, birch, &c., in the summer, and the moth appears in the following March and April, 

 frequenting oak woods, and occurring in various places, but by no means abundantly. 



' Synonvmes — Phaliena prodromaria^ Wicn. Vcrz. ; Fabricius ; I Geometra marmoraria, Esper. 

 Harris, Exp. pi. xiii. f. 4 ; Ponoran, 7, pi. 219 ; Haworth; Stephens; Plialiena sirataria, Hufimgie. 



Wood, fig. 467. I 



Species 2. — Biston betularius.' — (Plate LVIII., Figs. II, 12, 13). — This species measures from H to 2i- 

 inches in the expanse of the fore win"s, which, as well as the body and hind wings, are of a white colour, thickly 

 sprinkled with black dots, forming clouds, and sometimes also two angulated streaks, one before and the 

 other behind the middle, and irregular blotches running from the costa ; there is also a submarginal series of 

 dark patches, which also extend along the margin of the hind wings, the latter having a central lunule and a 

 slender flexuous streak ; the extent of these irroratiors is very variable, causing the wings to have a paler or darker 

 appearance ; the antennae of the males are not pectinated quite to the tips. The female is larger than the male. 

 The caterpillar is cylindrical, greenish, hazel, ochraceous brown, or very deep brown, with paler stripes, and tlie 



VOL. II. c 



