SESIID^. 105 



burrow thicker than a goose-quill being visible in many of 

 the larger sallow-poles when cut down. In these the larvae 

 or pup« may often be found, but are not easily reared. In 

 its more northern and western localities the poplar seems to 

 be selected, and the larva, after feeding at first in the bark, 

 eats deeply into the solid wood, leaving a hole in the surface 

 through which the excrement is cast, so that it lies like little 

 heaps of sawdust on the lower projections. In the north of 

 Ireland larvae have been found, by the Rev. J. Bristowe, in 

 colonies, in the trunks of willow trees (Salic vwmudis), 

 feeding in all respects as in the poplars, and by Mr. J. N. 

 Milne in the usual manner in sallow-poles. 



Pupa long and of tolerably even width, with a small 

 projecting point in front, the wing-cases short, the antenna 

 and leg-cases rather long and free at their extremities, and 

 the abdominal segments with double or single rows of 

 minute hooks. Colour bright chestnut with the rows of 

 hooks blackish. In a stronsr cocoon of white silk and 

 gnawings of wood, in a cavity formed at the extremity of the 

 burrow and just inside the bark, which is gnawed very thin. 

 By means of its strong abdominal hooks the pupa thrusts 

 itself through this covering and projects far out of the hole 

 when ready for the emergence of the moth. This takes 

 place on sunny mornings between seven and ten o'clock : if 

 the weather is dull, sometimes later. 



The moth sits on the trunk of the tree or on the leaves of 

 the sallow bush, and sometimes on plants growing below, and 

 looks most deceptively like a hornet. It also flies in the sun- 

 shine, but is rather sluggish. 



Common in Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Hants ; scarce, though 

 widely distributed, in Devonshire ; common in Essex, 

 Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire, Derby- 

 shire, Herefordshire, Cheshire, Lancashire, and Yorkshire; 

 also in Pembrokeshire, and most likely to be found, where its 

 food grows plentifully, in almost every English and Welsh 



