THE SCARCE VAPOURER. 95 



the deeper brown colour of the fore wings and the blacker hind 

 wings, the male of this species has a white mark near the tip of 

 each fore wing, and this character will distinguish it from the 

 same sex of the Common Vapourer. 



The caterpillar is blackish with star-like tufts of hair, white 

 on the back and greyish on the sides ; on rings four to seven are 

 brushes of brown hairs ; a pencil of black hair on side of the first 

 ring pointing forward, and a thicker one on the back of ring eleven 

 directed backward ; the interrupted stripes along the back and 

 sides are reddish orange, approaching vermilion ; those along the 

 back are united in front of the pencil on ring eleven, and those 

 of the sides unite behind the pencil. Head glossy, black. The 

 foliage of sallow, willow, and oak, is perhaps the more usual 

 food, but it has been known to eat beech, elm, hawthorn, 

 sloe, and nut, and has been found on meadow-sweet. The 

 chrysalis is brown, inclining to yellowish between the rings, 

 and the back is hairy ; enclosed in a cocoon spun up among 

 leaves or in any suitable cranny. The male and female moths 

 are figured on Plate 40 (Fig. 3, 5), and the caterpillar and 

 chrysalis on Plate 41. 



The moths emerge in June, and from their eggs caterpillars 

 result in July. These, feeding up quickly, attain the perfect 

 state in late July or early August. Caterpillars from this 

 second generation usually go into hibernation when quite small, 

 and feed up in the following April and May ; in confinement 

 they may, however, get through their metamorphosis and 

 reach the moth state in September or October. Sometimes it 

 happens that a part of the summer brood of caterpillars will 

 feed up straight away and produce moths in August ; others, 

 feeding and growing more slowly, assume the winged state in 

 November ; whilst a third portion will remain small and go into 

 hibernation. 



This very local species used to be obtained in the Wimbledon 

 district, but it has not been seen there for some years past. 



