156 LASIOCAMPA. By Dr. K. Grunberg. 



group vvitli ever.smfinni, naim, diividis, terreni and josun. wliioh are greyish yellow or predominantly grey steppe- 

 forms witJi dark bands; and lastly, af/ecoZomY/t-group eniliracing the forms without markings, decolorata., dntini, 

 grisea spec. nov. and staudingeri. The species of the two last groups occur in the eastern Mediterranean countries, 

 with the exception of tlie Algerian staudingeri. 



Larvae of a dark ground-coloiu', bluish gi'ey or black, usually with light dorsal longitudinal lines aixd 

 light lateral obhque stripes, the hair being variously coloured, of even length, the back bearing moreover short 

 fclty hair; incisions without hair. 



J']) thin skimied, with olitusc. unarmed tail-end, in a hard })arehmoi^t-likc baiiel-shaped cocoon. 



a. quercus-group. 



L. quercus L. (25 a, b, c). Sexes very different in size and colour. ^ deep reddish broAvn to choco- 

 late, a broad band on the wings and the fringes of the liindwing brownish yellow. Forewing ^\^th a sharply 

 marked white discal spot. 5 oclireous to hght reddish brown, the transverse band proximally with dark border, 

 distally diffuse, discal spot of forewing edged with blackish brown. Underside of (^ and $ as above, the proxim- 

 al lialf dark and the marginal area pale. The species is extraordinarily variable. Besides the geograpiiical 

 forms and those colour-varieties which have the character of constant forms, numerous aberrations of individual 

 value only have received names, as have also specimens combining in their coloiu- and pattern charn.cteristics 

 of some varieties, and it goes without saying that all intergradations occur. The species is distributed over the 

 larger proportion of the Palearctic Region, occurring from the Altai to the Canaries, and from Lapland to Sicily, 

 only being absent from the southern districts of the Balkan Peninsula. — Egg deposited singly and not firmly 

 fixed, oval-cylindrical, greyish black, the colour somewhat variable in the various forms, having a yellowish 

 tint in viburni Chien. and being reddish in meridionalis Tuft. The j'oung larva is black, with regular quadran- 

 gular dark yellow dorsal spots. The full-grown larva likewise blackish, densely clothed ^v^th hair which varies 

 from greyish yellow to greyish brown ; the incisions, which are bluish in the young larva, are very broad and black, 

 each belt bearing two subdorsal white spots, which are sometimes indistinct; at the sides of segments 4 — 11 

 whitish or more yellow oblique streaks which emanate from a white lateral stripe, which is separated into sliort 

 bars and usually prominent, more rarely less distinct. Stigmata wliite. Head dark, with black mp,rkings, 

 segment 1 dorsally reddish j^ellow, spotted \vith black, 2 and 3 each with a lateral, prominent, red-centred 

 white ocelUform .spot. The larvae emerge in August, are still small when they hibernate, and grow fast in the 

 spring, pupatiiig in May. In cUstricts with a mild winter, e. g. in the South of England, they are about feeding 

 on warm siinny days during the winter. Besides Oak, Birch and Willow they live on various species of Prunus, 

 as well as on Rubus, Calluna, Sarothamnus, and other low plants. Pupation in a regularly ovate, hard, parch- 

 ment-like, dark brown cocoon. Pp thick, blackish brown, with light brown intersegmental incisions. The pupal 

 stage lasts as a rule only a few weeks, but in the high mountains and the high North the pupa regularly liiber- 

 nates twice. The moths are on the wing in Central Europe from early July until the end of August. The 

 (JcJ fly by day very swiftly in a zigzag course, particularly during the sunny hours of the afternoon, searching 

 quercus. for th3 $, The latter only lays eggs after it has been on the wing. — In truo quercus L. (25 a) the ^ is reddish 

 brown, wth a broad yellow, shglitly curved transverse band, which has a siiarply defined dark proximal border, 

 is distally somewhat more cUffuse, and narrower on the hindwing; the forewing with a rather small cbscal spot, 

 $ lighter or darker yellowish brown, the basal half of the wings darker with a more or less pronounced reddish 

 tone; tlie band likewise jialcr than in the o and proximally sharply bounded. The numerous forms can be 

 an-anged in two natural groups, which are also geographically separated, though the distribution-areas overlaj) 

 in Centra,l Europe: broad-banded forms, among wliich is true quercus and which inhabit the northern 

 half of Europe, andna,rrow-banded for^ns wliich inhabit the southern half of Europe, sparlii Hbn. being typical 

 for this gi-oup. TuTT (Brit. Lep. vol. 3) classifies the various forms, especially those occurring in Great Britain, 

 according to the different tint of the ground-colour, which arrangement of course also appUes to Central Euro- 

 pean examples. Witliin the various groups the scheme of markings is more or less faithfully repeated. The 

 majority of the forms resulting have natru-ally only individual value. He distinguishes — 1) (J-f o r m s: the 

 first group has a reddish brown or rust-brown ground-colour and here belong true quercus L.. further ab, ^ 

 curvala. cufvata Tutt with a narrow, strongly curved, yellow or ochreous transverse band; ab. latovirgata Tutt with 

 lalovirgata. conspicuously broad band ; ab. :J semimarginata Tutt with the band normal in the forewing and extended to the 

 ""'"uaia. tlistal margin, in the hindwing; ab. q marginata Tutt with the band extended to the distal margin in both wings; 

 marghwia. and lastly ab. cj basipuncta Tutt with yellow basal spot on the forewing ; — the second group of ,^^ has the 

 bnsipuHcla. ground-colour dark chestnut and here belong, besides the narrow-banded spartii Hbn.. the broad-banded roho- 

 ris and ab. guillemotii Trim, (cf, below), the last two corresjjonding to ab. latovirgata and seniimdrginata of 

 the first group, while spartii-curvata Tutt, spartii-marginata and spartii-basipuncta correspond to the forms 

 of the first group bearing the same designation; — the third group comprises forms with deep purple or chocolate 



