194 



THE MOTHS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



curious clubbed hairs are its distinguishing feature. Although 

 named after the alder, it feeds on the leaves of most trees and 

 bushes in July and August, sometimes earlier or later. The 



moth is out in May and 

 June, but although an 

 occasional specimen has 

 been taken at sugar or 

 light, once resting on 

 nettles, it is rarely met 

 with. Caterpillars also are 

 not by any means common, 

 and any one who may ob- 

 tain even a single example 

 in a season may congratu- 

 late himself on a good find. 

 They are perhaps most fre- 

 quent in the Hampshire 

 Fi^'- 26. (New Forest) district and 



Caterpillar of the Alder-Moth. some of the Sussex wood- 

 ( Photo by W. J. Lucas.) j^^^^^ ^^^ j^^^^ occurred 



now and then in almost every county of England up to 

 Yorkshire ; also in Glamorganshire, Carmarthenshire, and at 

 Trefriw in Wales. The only Irish locality is Powerscourt, Co. 

 Wicklow. The range abroad extends to Armenia, Amurland, 

 and Japan. 



The Marsh Dagger {Acronyda strigosa). 



This little moth, known also as the "(irisctte," seems confined, 

 as a British species, to the country around Cambridge ; but it 

 has been twice recorded from Norfolk, two specimens have 

 been reported from Worcestershire, and one from Gloucester- 

 shire ; the latter at sugar in June, 1897. The latest records that 

 I have seen refer to a moth taken at sugar near Chatteris 



