30 tHte EiitOM0L0GIST*S RECORD. 



and until last summer (1897) was supposed to be extinct ; On/ijia 

 Hoiiustii/ma is sca,vce and locdbl; Dasi/v/iirafascelina is still plentiful in 

 some seasons, where it occurs, the north-west coast of England being 

 its best known locality ; Psilura monar/ia is local, but, I believe, fairly 

 widely distributed in the south of England. Of the remaining species, 

 P. similis is widely distributed, and common in the south and 

 east of England, but I am uncertain as to its distribution in the 

 north and west ; in Scotland, I believe it to be rare. On/i/ia antiqua 

 is very abundant in the south of England (especially in the London 

 district), and probably throughout the country. Leucoma salicisi is 

 generally distributed around London, and in the south and east of 

 England. Dasijr/tira piuUbunda is really, I fancy, a woodland species, 

 though it is said to be abundant in hop-fields (the larva in Kent being 

 known as the " hop-dog," that of O. antiqua as the " hop-cat") ; it 

 appears to be widely distributed, and fairly common wherever it 

 occurs. 



Another species, Leucoma v-nujra, is included by Stainton as 

 British, but it seems to have very slender grounds for ever having been 

 considered British ; it is dropped by Newman, but in Kirby's Eurupean 

 Butte ijiies and MotJis is still mentioned as occurring in the south of 

 England. One other species must not be forgotten, viz., Deiuas conjli, 

 the position of which has recently been discussed by certain eminent 

 authorities. 



Kirby gives the following particulars as to the distribution of the 

 British species outside Britain : Ocneria dispar, abundant in most parts 

 of Europe, and northern and western Asia, as far as Japan. Psilura 

 monacha, a common and often destructive insect throughout Europe. 

 Leucoma salicis, common throughout Europe and northern Asia. 

 Porthesia similis, common in southern and central Europe, and 

 northern and western Asia. P. cJmjsorrhoea, common in central and 

 southern Europe, north Africa, and western Asia. Dasijchira pudihunda, 

 common in most parts of Europe. D. fascelina, common in Europe 

 and the Altai Mountains ; there is also a var. obscura of this species 

 found in Lapland. Oryijia rionostiijma, common in most parts of 

 Europe and Siberia. 0. antiqua, abundant in Europe, also occurs in 

 America and north Africa. L. coenosa, widely distributed throughout 

 central Europe, in marshy places, but extremely local everywhere. 



I have, as a matter of convenience, adopted a provisional re- 

 arrangement of the family, based on the larval characters. The 

 British representatives I thus divide into five genera : (1) Ocneria — 

 monaclia, dispar and salicis. (2) Purthesia — similis and c/tri/sorrhoea. 

 (3) Dasychira — pudihunda and fasct'lina. (4) Orgyia — antiqua and fjono- 

 stigma. (5) Laelia — caenosa. The latter might, perhaps, be included 

 in Oripjia, judging from larval characters alone, but the imago 

 differs in such a marked manner that I have placed it in a separate 

 group. 



Ova of the various species. — The ova of 0. monacha, dispar and 

 salicis are, in shape, very like a tangerine orange ; the shell is nearly 

 transparent after hatching ; they are laid in batches. Those of 

 monacha and dispar are dark grey, or grey-brown, the former squeezed 

 into crevices and cracks in a tree trunk, the latter covered with down 

 from the body of the J . The eggs of salicis are covered with a white 

 frothy-looking substance, which looks very similar to "cuckoo-spit," 



