SERICORIDA^—LITHO GRA PHI A . 105 



red-brown ; on the costal margin is a series of white twin 

 dots ; apical and hind marginal areas rippled with mingled 

 black and grey and containing a faint ocellus ; cilia grey, 

 tipped with black. Hind wings smoky brown, the base and 

 cilia paler. Female similar, but often larger, and with the 

 costa always plain. 



Underside of the fore wings glossy leaden brown ; costal 

 dots white. Hind wings leaden brown. 



Extremely variable, as already shown ; and often having 

 a long red-brown or dark brown streak or blotch from the 

 base along the dorsal margin or toward the costa, or a 

 wedge-shaped black cloud lying along the disk, but the 

 shape of the fore wings always reliably the same. 



On the wing in July and August. 



Larva apparently undescribed. From March till May in 

 the catkins of sallow. 



The moth, in my own experience, almost always frequents 

 sallows ; occasionally it may be seen to sit on a neighbouring 

 tree-trunk, but usually it is hidden in a large sallow bush, 

 and very often one which grows in the hedge of a damp lane ; 

 when disturbed, by hard beating, it darts straight out, and 

 with great swiftness makes long zig-zags before hiding in a 

 similar bush ; indeed, its flight is so sharp that it is not a 

 very easy insect to catch. At sunset it is on the wing on its 

 own account, and from this time till dusk flies swiftly over 

 sallows. 



Very widely distributed, but not usually found in any 

 abundance; yet existing apparently in every county of 

 England, and in most parts of Scotland — at least to the 

 Edinburgh district, Perthshire, and Dumbartonshire. In 

 Wales I have found it in Pembrokeshire ; and in Ireland it 

 has been found in Wicklow, Cork, Enniskillen, and Tyrone. 

 Abroad its distribution is not large— Central Europe, Italy, 

 and Spain. 



