THE YOUNG 



them paler. Beyond the paler portion 

 there is sometimes a darker band, leaving 

 hind margin paler. I have one darkish 

 specimen, nearly unicolourous. Mr. Carter 

 has one with a dark marginal border of a 

 purplish tint, which, I should think, is quite 

 abnormal, and likely to be a rare form. 



The larva is one I have never seen, nor 

 have I a note of any satisfactory description. 

 Stainton, translating Hubner, says, " dull 

 grey-green ; sub-dorsal line whitish ; head, 

 anal segment and legs ochreous. Newman 

 says, " Described by Mr. Hornby. When 

 first hatched it is of a deep yellow colour, 

 which grows gradually darker until it be- 

 comes nearly black, excepting a medio- 

 dorsal yellow stripe; when full fed it is 

 dusky greenish black, with a light medio- 

 dorsal stripe " Owen Wilson quotes the 

 above but given no description of his own. 

 It appears to feed on a variety of trees, 

 Birch, Oak, Elm, Whitethorn, &c, &c. 



PROGEMMARIA. 



The Dotted Border. 

 This is, perhaps, the most abundant 

 species of the genus,' and that most gener- 

 distributed. Like leucophearia, it emerges 

 in the early part of the year, appearing 

 towards the end of February or in March. 

 The males are readily found on palings, tree 

 trunks, &c, by day, and in the usual way at 

 night. The females, which are conspicuous 

 from the peculiar appearance of their little 

 wings— which stand out as if set for the 

 cabinet — must conceal themselves with some 

 care, for I have rarely found them except at 

 night, when they may be obtained with a 

 light, as they crawl about the leafless twigs 

 and branches. The males have the fore- 

 wings light reddish ochreous, the space 

 between the lines paler, and the hind margin 

 darker. By imperceptible gradations these 

 shade into darker forms, until they are uni- 

 formly dark greyish-brown, with the central 

 portion as dark as the rest of the wing. It 



NATURALIST. 19 



may always be recognized by the " dotted 

 border," a row of small dots, close to the 

 hind margin of all wings, and easily seen in 

 the darkest specimens. The hind wings of 

 these dark forms are very much darker than 

 those of what may be considered the type. 

 The wings of the female, as stated in the 

 table, are comparatively of considerable 

 size, and are exactly as if a specimen, set 

 for the cabinet, had had its wings cut off 

 about quarter of an inch from the body ; 

 they are, however, perfect wings, with 

 fringes and markings exactly as in the males. 

 Even of the unicolourous form, there is a 

 similarly marked female. 



The larva is very slender, and presents a 

 great variety of colour and markings. It 

 varies from brown to grey, the lines are 

 paler, and the head and legs reddish. Some- 

 times there are oblique lines on the centre 

 segments, diamond shaped marks on the 

 back, or other differences not easily to des- 

 cribe briefly. It feeds on a variety of trees, 

 not seeming very choice in its diet. It is 

 full fed in June or July, and changes to pupa 

 below the surface. 



DEFOLIARIA. 

 The Mottled Umber. 

 I do not know whether this insect takes 

 its name from the fact that it appears just 

 after the trees have been defoliated by the 

 blasts of winter, or because the larvae are 

 at times so abundant as to strip the foliage 

 from the trees in midsummer. Either 

 derivation would be appropriate enough. 

 In habit, this insect somewhat resembles 

 aurantiaria. It emerges from the pupa 

 about mid-day, and may then be found 

 with the wings limp on the trunks of trees, 

 an easy prey to the collector, and there it 

 remains until the time for flight. Like 

 aurantiaria, also, it often conceals itself 

 during the day, and when on tree trunks it 

 frequently sits rather high up. The females 

 are to be found later at night, like all the 



