128 THE MOTHS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



which they have grown up are covered with grey hchen. Some- 

 times the caterpillar has been reported as destructive in orchards ; 

 two or three large ones feeding on a small apple tree would cer- 

 tainly afiford evidence of their presence in the shape of denuded 

 twigs, but it is doubtful if they ever occur in sufficient numbers 

 to cause any very serious damage to fruit trees. 



The chrysalis is dark brown, inclining to blackish, and 

 covered with a whitish powder, which does not shake off. It is 

 enclosed in a long, grey-brown, tight-fitting cocoon of silk and 

 hairs of the caterpillar, which is generally spun up among the 

 lower twigs, or to the stem of the food plant. 



The moth emerges in June or July, and is on the wing at 

 night, when it may be sometimes netted as it flies along or over 

 hedgerows. When caught in this way it dashes about so wildly 

 in the net that it is rarely of much value for the collection. 

 The same may be said of examples taken by light, which at 

 times attracts the moths freely. When resting in the daytime, 

 it very closely resembles a withered bramble-leaf or bunch of 

 leaves. The fore wings are folded down, roof-like, over the hind 

 wings, which are flattened out and their edges project beyond 

 the margins of the fore wings. It is, however, very rarely seen 

 in the open at such times. 



The species does not seem to have been recorded from Ireland 

 or from Scotland, but it has a wide distribution in England, 

 although much less frequently met with in the north than in the 

 south. In the Cambridge fens it is perhaps more plentiful than 

 elsewhere, but it is not uncommon in some parts of Berkshire, 

 Huntingdonshire, and Kent. The range abroad extends through 

 Central, Southern, and Eastern Europe, to Armenia, Tartary, 

 Siberia, and Amurland ; it is also represented in China, Corea, 

 and Japan. 



