THE ROUND-WINGED MUSLIN. 175 



tint on the outer margins. Occasionally all the wings have a 

 smoky tinge. The moth is shown on Plate 95, Figs. 3, 6, and 

 the caterpillar and chrysalis on Plate 94, Fig. 2. 



The caterpillar is greyish, with a broad whitish or yellowish 

 stripe along the back, divided down the centre and edged by 

 blackish lines ; a velvety black mark on ring se\en ; raised warts 

 and hairs dark greyish. Head black, shining ; face yellowish. 

 It may be found in April and May, after hibernation, on rocks, 

 stone walls, especially those formed of loose cobbles or shale, 

 trees, bushes, and even gate posts. I have beaten them from 

 an old hawthorn hedge bordering a damp meadow in Middlesex, 

 and collected them in numbers from the hollows of field 

 boundary walls in North Devon. They feed on the tiny lichen 

 that grows in such places as those indicated. The green, or 

 yellowish-green chrysalis, is enclosed in a rather loose muslin- 

 like silken cocoon, and is not difficult to obtain, especially from 

 walls. It appears to be pretty generally distributed throughout 

 England and Wales, except perhaps the midland and eastern 

 counties ; it occurs in the east and west of Scotland. In 

 Ireland it is common, and often abundant, locally. 



Distribution : Northern and Central Europe. 



The Round-winged Muslin {Comacla scncx). 



As indicated by the English name given to it by Haworth, 

 the wings of this moth are rounder in outline than those of the 

 Muslin, also named by Haworth. In general colour it agrees 

 with that species, but it differs in having a larger central dot, 

 and the cross lines arc represented by blackish dots which, 

 however, are not always well defined (Plate 95, Figs, i, 4). 



The caterpillar, as described by Buckler, is deep reddish-grey, 

 thickly covered with hairs which are of two kinds ; the majority 

 are pale brown with black points and slightly feathered, others 

 are longer, black, and densely feathered with soft pale-brown 



