THE ALDER. I93 



The Poplar Grey {A crony da megacephala). • 



This moth is somewhat Uke that last noticed, but the fore 

 wings are darker grey ; the whitish orbicular mark is margined 

 with black, and has a dark central dot. Sometimes the fore 

 wings are clouded with blackish, and occasionally entirely 

 suffused with black. In several species of Aero iiy eta newly 

 disclosed specimens have a faint pinky tinge, but this is 

 especially noticeable in the present species. (Plate 100, Fig. 6.) 



The caterpillar is ochreous or grey brown, marked with 

 blackish ; a conspicuous character is a black-edged whitish 

 or ochreous patch on ring ten ; the hairs are whitish, those 

 on the sides rather long. It feeds from July to September on 

 the foliage of poplars. (Plate loi. Fig. i). 



This well-known cockney species is on the wing from late 

 May to mid-August. Has been bred in September from a 

 caterpillar taken in July, also in October from August larvae. 

 It is often abundant on poplars (especially the caterpillars) in 

 London and suburbs. Common all over the southern* parts 

 of England, except perhaps in Devon and Cornwall ; its range 

 extends through Northern England to Ross in Scotland ; and 

 it is found in the south of Ireland. 



The Alder {Acronycta alni). 



The sexes of this black-clouded grey moth are shown on 

 Plate 100, Figs. 8 and 9 ? . Except that the black clouding 

 sometimes spreads over a greater area of the fore v/ings, there 

 is little to note in aberration, at least in a general way. In 

 1906 a melanic specimen was bred from a chrysalis taken from 

 alder in Delamere Forest, Cheshire ; this is probably referable 

 to var. ste inertly Caspari. 



The caterpillar (Fig. 26) is black, marked with yellow ; the 



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