THE DINGY FOOTMAN. l8l 



Stripe, edged with black and traversed by a dark central line 

 along the back. Head blackish and glossy. From August to 

 June on lichens growing on stems and branches of yew, oak, 

 and beech. 



A local species, and although recorded now and then from 

 several other parts of the country, and once from Killarney in 

 Ireland, seems to be pretty much confined to the counties of 

 Surrey, Sussex, Hants, Dorset, and Devon. The moth, which 

 is out in July, rests during the day upon the boughs and among 

 the foliage of oak, beech, and yew, the latter especially in the 

 Dorking district of Surrey. 



Distribution : Central Europe, Southern Scandinavia, Livonia, 

 Northern Italy, Roumelia, and Russia. 



The Dingy Footman {Lithosia griscola). 



Haworth's English name for this moth was the " Dun Foot- 

 man." In its typical form the fore wings are pale greyish with 

 a yellowish front edging ; the latter most distinct towards the 

 base ; the hind wings are whitish ochreous more or less suffused 

 with grey. The pale form, var. /lava, Haw. = straiiiijicola, 

 Doubl. at one time considered a distinct species (the Straw- 

 coloured Footman of Haworth), has pale straw-coloured fore 

 wings and white ochreous hind wings. ^ Plate 97, Figs. 4, 5.) 



Caterpillar, sooty brown, with a darker line dow n the middle 

 of the back and an interrupted yellow or orange line or stripe 

 on each side of it ; dark brown hairs arising from dark warts ; 

 head glossy black (described from a skin). It may be looked 

 for in the spring months on the lichens affecting alders and 

 sallows growing in fens and marshy places. (Plate 98, Fig. 2.) 



The moth is abundant in the Cambridge and Norfolk fens, 

 and is common in boggy places in the New Forest, but it 

 probably occurs in all suitable places throughout England and 

 Wales. It does not seem to have been observed in Ireland, 



