1 82 THE MOTHS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



but has been recorded from Moray in Scotland. The yellow 

 variety, which by the way is not known to occur abroad, is 

 found, with the ordinary form, chiefly in the Norfolk fens and 

 in the New Forest ; but it is also to be obtained, though less 

 frequently, in Surrey (Weybridge district), Berkshire (Reading 

 district), and still more rarely elsewhere. It is out in July. 



Distribution : Central Europe, South Russia, Ural, Altai, 

 Amurland, Corea, Japan, and West Africa. 



The Common Footman {Lithosia Iwideold). 



Fore wings, leaden grey with a yellow stripe terminating in a 

 point at the tip of the wing ; the hind wings are pale ochreous 

 yellow. It appears in July, sometimes at the end of June. 



Caterpillar, dark greyish covered with blackish hairs ai'ising 

 from black warts on the back, and yellowish hairs from similar 

 coloured warts on the sides ; three black or blackish lines on 

 the back, and an orange stripe along the sides from the fourth 

 to eleventh rings ; head black. August to June. Generally 

 supposed to feed, in a state of nature, on lichen growing on 

 trees and bushes. It has been reared on the foliage of sallow, 

 apple, and oak ; also known to eat buckthorn, clematis, dog- 

 wood, etc. I have occasionally beaten it from old hedgerows, 

 and have frequently seen it on trunks of poplar and ash upon 

 which not much in the way of lichen could be seen. Such 

 caterpillars, when taken, have almost invariably spun up soon 

 afterwards. The moth is shown on Plate 97, Fig. 6, and the 

 early stages on Plate 96, Fig. 2. 



This species is perhaps the commonest and most generally 

 distributed member of the genus in England. It becomes 

 much less frequent in northern pants of Lancashire, and in 

 Yorkshire it is local, but recorded as common in the south-east 

 of that county. It occurs in Scotland, whence it has been 

 recorded from Clydesdale, Aberdeenshire, and Moray. Kane 



