THE SWEET-GALE MOTH. I97 



Kent and Sussex; the districts mentioned being those of 

 Rochester, Canterbury, Hailsham, and Hastings. 



The caterpillar is figured on Plate 102, Fig. 2. It is slaty- 

 grey in colour with a black plate on the first ring ; on the back 

 of each ring is a broad black band, and four orange warts from 

 which arise golden-yellow silky hairs ; the hairs on the sides 

 are pale drab (adapted from Buckler). It feeds in June and 

 early July, sometimes in September, on oak, birch, various kinds 

 of Rnbus, such as blackberry and raspberry, and also on bil- 

 berry ( Vacci7iium). The moth is out in late April and in May ; 

 occasionally late July and in August. It is rarely seen in the 

 day time, but has been found resting on tree trunks. The 

 range abroad extends to Southern Russia and Siberia. 



The Sweet-Gale Moth {Acronycta euphorhicc var. myriccE). 



Our form of this species — var. myrica^ Guenee (Plate 103, 

 Fig. 4), is rather larger and much darker than the type ; but 

 although it is generally somewhat smaller than the Alpine var. 

 montivaga^ Guenee, it is not otherwise separable from that form. 

 So far as concerns the British Isles, it is only found in Scotland 

 and, rarely, in Ireland. It was first obtained in Perthshire, in 

 1846, by Weaver, and it is now known to occur more or less 

 commonly through Scotland from Ayr to Sutherlandshire. In 

 Ireland it occurs in Cork, Kerry, Galway, and Sligo, and Kane 

 considers that specimens from Markrea, and Lough Gill in the 

 latter county are referable rather to var. vwntivaga^ than to 

 var. myriccE. The moth is out in April, May, and June. 



The dark greyish caterpillar has a deep black, broken, 

 stripe along the middle of the back, and a series of pale yellow 

 marks on each side of it ; along the black-margined white 

 spiracles there is a reddish orange line, or broken stripe ; pale 

 brownish hairs arising from yellowish warts on the back, and a 

 cross-bar of reddish orange near the head. It feeds on sweet 



