NO LID ^. 187 



Larva stout ; thickest at the third and fourth segments, 

 tapering behind, flattened beneath. Head round, grey-black ; 

 body pale buff or pinkish-buff; dorsal stripe yellowish or 

 pinkish-white, broad, and edged with brownish -grey ; sub- 

 dorsal lines brownish-grey, interrupted between the segments ; 

 the usual spots all edged with brownish-grey, and bearing 

 tufts of radiating hairs. On the seventh segment is a con- 

 spicuous blackish-grey blotch across the back, dividing the 

 dorsal line ; sides pinkish-red, densely covered with hairs ; 

 under surface pinkish, hairs in front mixed, pale brown and 

 dark grey, but after the fourth segment yellowish, and on 

 each side of the last segment are a few very long hairs, 

 pointing and curving back so as to resemble a forked tail. 

 (Condensed from Buckler.) 



April to June — and probably also feeding (very small) in 

 the autumn, and hybernating — feeding on oak, principally 

 upon the under surface of the leaves, which are not bitten 

 through. 



Pupa not stout, but with rather long wing-cases ; dull dark 

 brown, with wing-cases reddish-brown. In a small, silken, 

 boat-shaped cocoon, about one-third of an inch long, and 

 assimilating perfectly in colour with the surface of the bark 

 upon which it is constructed. (Buckler.) 



The moth sits in the daytime upon the trunks and branches 

 of oaks, with its head downwards and its wings in a close 

 triangle, and from its grey colour is extremely inconspicuous. 

 It flies in the evening and at night, and comes occasionally 

 to sugar when spread on the oak trunks. Usually scarce, 

 though in the year 1871 it was very plentiful in the New 

 Forest, and rather common in 1877 ; in 1881 it was common 

 in Abbotts Wood, Sussex ; but these cases are exceptional. 

 Always extremely local, confined to oak woods, and has 

 been found in Surrey, Sussex, Kent, Hants, Berks, Glouces- 

 tershire, Somerset, Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk. In Ireland 

 it was recorded at Killarney by Mr. E. Birchall, but this has 



