■ 98 LEPIDOPTERA. 



tions of the Entomological Society of London, 1886 and 

 1887. 



The moth flies only at night and is readily attracted by a 

 strong light. In the daytime it is most sluggish, sitting on a 

 paling, or the trunk, or branch, of a tree, or on the low- 

 growing dwarf sallows of a sandhill or fen. In such a 

 situation a specimen, or more conspicuously a pair, of the 

 moths, bears the most extraordinary resemblance to a bunch 

 of bursting, cottony catkins of the sallow. No one would 

 imagine the accuracy of this mimicry without actually seeing 

 it. The fluffy legs, the downy mai-gin of the hind wings 

 projecting outside the fore wings, the grey markings on the 

 latter, and the spots on the thorax produce a most remarkable 

 and unexpected harmony of appearance with the bunches of 

 catkins all around. 



Apparently to be found throughout the United Kingdom, 

 except the Orkney and Shetland Isles ; and in most districts 

 moderately common, though hardly ever abundant ; rare in 

 the Hebrides, and some other parts of Scotland, but in Ire- 

 land extending to Malin Head, Donegal, Abroad it is found 

 nearly all over the Continent of Europe, Western Asia, 

 Siberia, and in some parts of Northern Africa. Specimens 

 agreeing most accurately with our own, but named fclinci 

 (a most felicitous synonym for our " Puss Moth "), are found 

 in Japan, and a slightly more dusky variety from the North- 

 West Himalayas, China, and Japan, has received the name 

 of Himalciijana. 



Genus 2. STAUROPUS. 



Antennas one-third the length of the fore wings ; in the 

 male pectinated to three-fourths of their length, thence 

 simple ; in the female simple ; abdomen crested with upright 

 tufts of scales ; dorsal margins of both fore and hind wings 

 edged with long scales which are raised into a rather 

 prominent tuft when the wiugs are closed. 



