3 oo LEPWOPTERA. 



black ; prolegs with brown. Just before spinning-up the 

 general colouring is more pink. (W. Buckler.) 



July to September on oak — at least this is the food upon 

 which fed the one larva described above ; and Mr. Buckler 

 states distinctly that it changed to pupa on the nineteenth of 

 September, and that the moth came forth on the 5th of June 

 following ; by which it would appear that the pupa-state lasted 

 through the winter. Were this usual in the group to which 

 this species belongs this statement would be satisfactory, 

 but this is by no means the case, and I cannot but think 

 that Mr. Buckler possibly made a mistake in the date of 

 pupation. Hofmann says that it lives in the autumn, and 

 through the winter, upon fallen leaves of hornbeam, or more 

 frequently upon raspberry and blackberry bushes; and that 

 it spins up in May among moss. Nettle and sorrel are also 

 given as food-plants. There appears to be here an opportunity 

 for further investigation. 



Pupa three-eighths of an inch in length, moderately stout, 

 very glossy, deep chestnut-brown; paler at the abdominal 

 divisions and attached to its web by the tip of the tail, which 

 is furnished with two central bristle-like spikes, recurved at 

 their tips, and near their base surrounded by three or four 

 others, very much shorter and extremely fine. In a thin 

 web of whitish-grey silk, which holds the upper surface of a 

 leaf folded together at the ends, and the sides drawn up a 

 little, so as to form a hollow in the middle. (W. Buckler.) 



The moth frequents bushes generally, in woods, hedges, 

 lanes, even gardens, or often will hide among the herbage of 

 a hedge-bank, and is readily disturbed and induced to fly in 

 the daytime. At night it flies gently and rather lazily in 

 similar spots and shows no very special habits or tendencies, 

 or, if any, they seem to have escaped notice. 



Generally distributed and rather common throughout the 

 southern half of England, including the Eastern and some 

 of the Western Counties, probably all, though records are 



