3© LEPIDOPTERA. 



through the winter, and this also is the case in Cheshire 

 and Lancashire ; yet so far north as Dumfries a larva found 

 feeding in May has been known to produce the moth in 

 August of the same year. On the other hand, larvae found 

 in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight have fed up slowly and 

 remained in pupa through the winter. Such instances as 

 these last are rare, and, broadly speaking, the transforma- 

 tions of this species occupy one year in the south, two in 

 the north. The hairs of this larva are slightly brittle, and 

 minute portions of them are apt to break off and stick into 

 the thin skin between the fingers when the larva is handled. 

 To persons of very sensitive skin, irritation and inflammation 

 is sometimes caused in this manner. 



Pupa lively and very stout, incisions of segments deep ; 

 antenna- and limb-cases very distinct, spiracles prominent, 

 anal extremity blunt and pubescent. Purplish-brown, 

 abdomen paler ; spiracles black. In a hard papery shell-like 

 cocoon, oval in shape, spun in a slight web among the stems 

 of plants near the surface of the ground, or occasionally 

 beneath the surface. The inside of the cocoon is lined with 

 smooth white silk. As already intimated, in pupa either for 

 a very short time — about three weeks — or else through the 

 winter and for a period of ten months ; very rarely for an 

 additional year. 



The male flies with great swiftness, in the sunshine, over 

 heaths, and at the sides of woods and fields, in eager search 

 for the female. No other species assembles in greater 

 numbers or with equal eagerness. A reared female carried in 

 a box in the hand, or the pocket, or in the box of a vehicle, 

 will bring together the males from every direction, some 

 flying steadily to the spot and fluttering or running all over 

 the place in which the female is hidden, or flapping here and 

 there all round, or sweeping backwards and forwards in wide 

 beats ; while others go quite frantic, dash themselves on the 

 ground among heather or plants, spin on their heads, or twirl 



