Io6 THE MOTHS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



at night, and may be seen resting by day on the trunks of trees. 

 Although it occurs in most of the counties of England from 

 Yorkshire southwards, and in some parts of Wales, it is nowhere 

 so often met with as in the New Forest, Hants. 



Distribution, Central Europe extending to parts of Northern 

 Europe, and southwards to North Italy and Greece, and east- 

 wards to Ussuri and Japan. 



Lackeys and Eggars {Lasiocampidce). 



Staudinger in his catalogue of PaLnsarctic Lepidoptera refers 

 twenty genera comprising sixty-three species to this family. 

 Of these, eleven species belonging to ten genera occur in the 

 British Isles. According to some authorities a twelfth species, 

 Deiidrolimus pint, Linn., should be included. This is the Eiitri- 

 cha pini of Stephens (1828) and the "Wild Pine tree Lappet 

 moth " and " Pine tree Lappet " of the more ancient authors. 

 The claim of this species to a place in the British list rests 

 chiefly on a specimen captured in the Norwich Hospital, in 

 July, 1809, by Mr. Sparshall. Wilkes (1773) states that he once 

 found a caterpillar near Richmond Park, but the moth was not 

 reared. For generations the species now classified as Lasio- 

 campidas have been referred to Bombycidae, but the silkworm 

 {Bombyx inori) is typical of that family, which has but few genera 

 in it, and none of them occur in Europe. Although some of 

 the moths are of considerable size, most of them are not large. 

 The general colour is some shade of brown. Both sexes have 

 the antennas bipectinated, but more strongly in the male 

 than the female. 



In his treatment of the species here included under Lasio- 

 campidas, Tutt. (" A Natural History of the British Lepidoptera," 

 vols, i., ii.) separates them into two families, Lachneidas and 

 Eutrichidas. The first family is divided into five sub-families 

 and the same number of tribes. The latter family has three 



