STIGMONOTID^— ASTHENIA. lyy 



silvery-white dorsal blotcla faced by another, less distinct, 

 upon the costa ; beyond are two broken, pale yellow, narrow 

 stripes or successions of streaks commencing on the costa ; 

 hind margin edged with a black line; cilia olive-brown. 

 Hind wings faintly reddish-brown, whiter at the base ; cilia 

 dull white. Female similar. 



Underside of the fore wings leaden-black, clouded with 

 white toward the costa. Hind wings leaden-white. 



On the wing from the end of April till June. 



Larva cylindrical, moderately long, and attenuated 

 behind ; clear, semi-transparent, shining white, obscured by 

 the contents of the intestinal canal ; raised dots black and 

 conspicuous ; head, dorsal, and anal plates and legs deep 

 black. 



June and July on oak-bushes, feeding between united 

 leaves, spun flatly together by their surfaces, and having in 

 addition a frass-lined gallery within. Here the larva resides 

 and feeds on the inner surfaces of the leaves, never eating 

 them quite through. When full fed it leaves this shelter 

 and burrows into any woody substance near at hand — bark, 

 the marble-shaped galls of Gynips lignicola, oak-apples (galls 

 of Andricus terminalis) or decayed wood — there passing the 

 winter in the pupa state. (Dr. J. H. Wood.) 



The moth hides during the greater part of the day in oak- 

 bushes, sometimes visibly sitting upon the lower portion of 

 the stem of an oak sucker or of oak undergrowth ; also 

 occasionally on the trunks and branches of oak trees and 

 may now and then be induced to fly, though much more 

 accustomed to fall to the ground when disturbed. From 4 

 to 7 P.M. on a fine afternoon it flies vigorously over the 

 branches of oak, at a good height, in the sunshine. It is 

 said also to be attracted, at this time, by the flowers of the 

 holly. Apparently to be found, and often commonly, in every 

 ■county of England in which oak is plentiful, the records 



VOL. XI. M 



