30 BRITISH MOTHS 



also a slender dash of the same colour running from the apex, and extending into a pale slightly distinct and 



dentated subapical striga ; and the hind wings are paler, with a slender dusky central striga. The ground colour 



of the wings, distinctness and position of the strigse, are very variable, the latter sometimes approximating ; the 



middle ones occasionally united into a broad dark central bar. This is a common and widely dispersed species, 



frequenting heaths near woods, and appearing in May, and again in August. 



" Synonymes. — PhaliBna plumbaria, Fabricius ; Stewart ; Ha- I Phaliena Geometra palumbaria, Wien. Verz. ; Hiibner. 

 worth ; Stephens ; Wood, fig. 543. I Phalana mucronata, Scopoli. 



LARENTIA, Stephens. EUBOLIA, pars. Duponchel, Bdv. 

 As restricted by Mr. Stephens, this genus seems too closely allied to the preceding, having like it the palpi 

 long and forming an acute beak, but with the terminal joint very minute, and the fore wings acute at the tip ; 

 but these are marked with a central transverse dark bar, formed of several parallel lines more or less undulated, 

 and generally vyith a dark streak at the apex. The antennae of the males are slightly bipectinated. Tlie 

 caterpOlars are naked, and rather thickened behind, having ten feet. 



Species 1. — Larentia cervinaria". — (Plate LXII., Figs. 16 and 12.) — This species measm-es from If 

 to nearly two inches, and has the fore wings reddish'brown ; the space from the base to the first striga, and the 

 broad bar between the second and third strigas dilated at the costa and dark brown, the edges of which are waved 

 and bordered with a slender whitish line ; within this bar are inclosed several dark lines ; the apical margin is 

 dark, but has a very slender undulated whitish line, and at the apex is a dark oblique dash ; the cilia have a 

 whitish line at the base. The hind wings are pale brownish, the basal portion lighter, with a slight dusky fascia 

 beyond the middle, and the apical margin reddish brown, wjth a slightly defined whitish undulated line. The 

 caterpillar is dull green, with darker longitudinal lines, and transverse rows of white dots ; it feeds on the 

 common mallow ; and the moth appears in the middle of October, and is a widely dispersed though not 

 common species. 



" Synonymes. — Geometra cervinaria, Wien. Vera. ; Trcitschke ; Curtis, Brit. Ent. pi. 707 ; Stephens ; Wood, fig. 544. 



Geometra clavariaj Haworth. 



Species 2. — Larentia chenopodiata °. — (Plate LXII., Figs. 17 and 22.) — This species measures from 



lA to 1^ inch in the expanse of the fore vdngs, which are of a dark, tawny yellow, or brown colour, the base, 



middle, and apical portion of the vnng being darker brown ; towards the base are several incurved, slender strigae ; 



beyond this is a narrow, red-brown fascia, with the edges nearly straight, followed by a small black dot in the 



middle towards the costa ; beyond the middle of the wing is a broader red-brown striga, waved on the edges, 



and dilated towards the costa ; and beyond this a slender, dark striga, the apical portion of the wing being 



darker, and with a slender, oblique dash at the apex. The hind wings are pale brown, with tvvo slender strig® 



running across them beyond the middle. The caterpillar is yellowish green, with dark lateral spots, and the 



under side of the body and feet flesh-coloured ; it feeds upon grasses of different kinds, and the moth appears 



in July and August. It is a very common and vvidely-dispersed species. From its abundance, it was named 



by the old collectors the " Aurelian's Plague." 



Geometra mensitraria, Wien. Vera. : Hiibner. 

 Phalcena limitata, Scopoli. 



° Synonymes — Phalce/ia Geometra chenopodiata, Linnaius ; 

 Haworth ; Stephens ; Curtis ; Wood, fig. 545 ; Harris, Aurelian, pi. 

 33, fig. n. 



Species 3. — Larentia bipunctariaP. — (Plate LXII., Fig. 18.) — This species measures about 1^ inch in 

 expanse, and has the wings of an ashy white colour, traversed by very numerous, slender, wavy, darker strigae, 



