64 THE MOTHS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



the ruptured material with a softening fluid so that the insect 

 is able to force its way out of the cocoon ; the chrysalis case 

 remains in the cocoon. 



The moth is on the wing in May and June, and sometimes 

 July. Three specimens that I reared this year (1907) from eggs 

 found on a leaf of poplar last year, emerged on June 4th, loth, 

 and July 12th. They all pupated about the same time, and side 

 by side on cork bark. 



I believe this species has not been recorded from the Orkneys 

 or the Shetlands, but with these exceptions it seems to occur in 

 more or less frequency throughout the United Kingdom. It is 

 widely distributed in Europe, and its range extends to Siberia. 

 In Lapland, Amurland, Japan, and North Africa it is repre- 

 sented iDy named forms. 



The Lobster {Sfauropus fagi). ^ 



The English name of this insect does not apply to the greyish 

 brown or sometimes blackish moth (Plate 26), but to its remark- 

 able caterpillar, the figures of which, on Plate 27, are reproduced 

 from drawings by Mr. Alfred Sich. In colour this curious-shaped 

 creature is always some shade of brown, the head is marked in 

 front with reddish, the ring divisions of the body are darker 

 brown, and the hind rings are reddish brown. 



The late Mr. W. H. Tugwell, referring to the early history of 

 these caterpillars, states that a female of the blackish form 

 received from Reading in May was kept alive for seven days, 

 during which time she laid a few eggs on oak leaves each night ; 

 " all told " she produced forty eggs. As she was then quite 

 exhausted, a good many had probably been laid previously. 

 The eggs when first laid are of a pale cream colour, hemi- 

 spherical in shape and flattened beneath. About the seventh 

 day a circular depression, and a dark spot, appear, and 



