THE FEATHERED GOTHIC 255 



Figs. 15, - 9 ) a netted appearance, which, apart from the dif- 

 ferent ground colour and clouding, distinguishes it from the 

 Ciothic, with which it is sometimes confused. The antenna?, too, 

 of the male are only fringed with minute hairs, whilst those of the 

 male Gothic are broadly pectinated. The caterpillar is greenish 

 or pinkish ochreous, mottled with darker, and with slightly 

 paler lines on the back and sides ; head light brown. It will feed 

 in July and August on knot-grass ; and soapwort {Saponaria)^ 

 Silcjic iiiflata^ and Dianihus^ have been mentioned as food 

 plants. The moth is out in June and July. The species occurs 

 in nearly all the counties of England to Yorkshire, but except in 

 Cambridgeshire, and perhaps Oxfordshire, it is not common in 

 any of the southern or eastern counties, although more frequently 

 found in them than northwards. It has not been recorded from 

 Scotland, and seems to be rare in Ireland, as it has only been 

 noted from Co. Dublin and Co. Cork. 



*'%'t'^ The Feathered Gothic (Epincnronia popularis). 



^ n The male of this species (Plate 127, Fig. 3) is strongly attracted 

 by light, and frequently seen in houses, and is no doubt a familiar 

 object to most residents in the country, and even in the suburbs 

 of London. The female (Fig. 4) does not visit light, l3ut this 

 sex, and the males also, may be found sitting after dark upon 

 the upper erect leaves of the hard grasses, such as the matweed 

 {Nardus strida). Of course a lantern will be required to throw 

 a light on the business of collecting them, and it is curious to 

 note that even the brilliant glare of the acetylene lamp does not 

 seem to disturb the moths very much, if at all. 



The caterpillar is dark greenish brown and rather glossy, 

 with a dusky plate on the first ring upon which are traces of 

 the five dark-edged pale brownish stripes which traverse the 

 body and meet on the last ring ; the latter has a black plate. 

 The spiracles are black, and the head is brownish, marked with 



