274 LEPinOPTERA. 



ovate, pale slate-grey; markings obscurelj- the same grey- 

 brown. Hind wings rather darker. 



Underside of the fore wings light smokj^ brown; apical and 

 hind-marginal areas dotted with pale yellow. Hind wings 

 smoky white. 



Usually' not very variable, but in I^embrokeshire male 

 specimens of a lovely creamy-white ground-colour are not 

 rare, flying with normal examples. 



On the wing in February and Marcli, and in the north in 

 April. 



Larva rather sluggish, short, and stumpy ; dorsal region 

 dull red, more greenish between the segments and yellowish- 

 white beneath ; raised spots large, white, with a black centre 

 from which arises a small hair; head dull yellowish-brown, 

 dorsal plate similar, with a white front edging and black 

 margins at the sides ; dorsal line distinctly white, and below 

 are fainter subdorsal lines. 



June and -July; on oak, hawthorn, and lime, living under a 

 turned-down portion of a leaf feeding on the adjacent parts 

 of the leaf. Sorhagen says also on birch, blackthorn, hazel, 

 and hornbeam. 



Pupa dark red-brown, with double rows of dorsal spikes on 

 each segment, and four upon the cremaster ; in a tough 

 cocoon of earth and silk in the ground. In this condition 

 through the autumn and winter. 



The male is exceedingly active in the day time, flying 

 briskly in the woods in the sunshine, and giving the country 

 a lively appearance in the earliest spring, but sits quietly on 

 the branches of the trees when the weather is dull; even then 

 it will fly when disturbed if the temperature is not very low. 

 The female is much more sluggish, and when beaten out of a 

 tree usually drops to the ground. Not wholly confined to 

 woods but may sometimes be seen in roads and lanes were 

 oaks are common. At night it may be found, the female 



