THE FOX MOTH. 121 



substitutes for kidney-vetch {Anthyllis vulneraria) upon which 

 the caterpillars were feeding when found (Plate 57). 



The brownish chrysalis is enclosed in a hard but somewhat 

 brittle, brown, oval cocoon, and when spun upon the surface 

 of the ground, protected by an outside covering of loose silk 

 webbing. In August and early September the moths appear. 

 Emergence from the chrysalis usually takes place soon after 

 midday ; the males are early on the wing, and when reared in 

 captivity they should be secured as soon as the wings are dry, 

 or they may spoil themselves in their efforts to escape. Reared 

 females are apt to be deformed, but for " assembling " they may 

 probably be as useful as more perfect examples if the rearer 

 happens to be able to exhibit the attraction in a locality for the 

 species. Both sexes have been taken at electric light. 



The best known localities for the species in England are, 

 besides those already mentioned, the sand hills on the Cheshire 

 and Lancashire coast. It is, or has been, found also on the 

 coast of Cumberland ; Lyndhurst and Ringwood, in Hampshire ; 

 Isle of Purbeck, Poole, Swanage, and Bloxworth, in Dorset- 

 shire ; Devonport, Bolt Head, and Salcombe, in Devonshire ; 

 and Penzance and the Scilly Isles. Its range extends through 

 Central and Southern Europe to Asia Minor and North Africa. 



The Fox Moth {Macrothylacia riihi). 



The male is reddish brown, and the female generally greyish 

 brown, but sometimes is of a reddish grey coloration ; the fore 

 wings in both sexes are crossed by two pale ochreous lines on 

 the central area (Plate 59). 



The ground colour in the male ranges in tone from foxy red 

 to dullish red brown or to greyish red brown. The cross lines 

 in either sex may be widely apart, near together, or even united 

 throughout their length, forming a band {\3.r.fasdafa, Tutt) ; 

 sometimes one of the lines (var. unili7iea^ Tutt), or both lines, 

 are absent from the fore wings, or from one of them. 



