1 78 LEPIDOP TERA. 



wing, unless attracted to a light. This seems to occur only 

 on very warm, close autumn nights, and the moths almost 

 instantly settle down and remain inert for the rest of the 

 night. On one occasion I saw nearly one hundred specimens 

 in one night sitting quietly on the frames of gas-lamps at 

 Norwich, yet I scarcely saw one flying. They were sitting 

 closely pressed to the frame as though shrinking from 

 observation. In the daytime it probably sits in hedges or on 

 branches of trees, and is seldom noticed. 



The larva has been aspersed as a ferocious cannibal, but 

 apparently without sufficient grounds. It may occasionally 

 devour a smaller relative when not allowed sufficient moisture, 

 but in this respect it is certainly less culpable than very many 

 other species. Miss Lilian Gould has shown by careful 

 experiments, communicated to the Entomological Society of 

 London, that it is extremely distasteful to birds ; yet Kollar 

 states that it is much relished by some birds on account of 

 its rather smooth fleshy body. It is quite credible that 

 different birds may have differing tastes ! 



In the South of England this species is usually very com- 

 mon, extremely so in the Eastern Counties and in some of 

 the Western, though not so in Devon ; extending in fair 

 numbers through Cheshire, Lancashire and Cumberland ; also 

 widely distributed in Yorkshire, but apparently hardly 

 noticed in some of the Midland Counties. In Scotland it has 

 been found at MoncriefF Hill, ]^erthshire, and in Clydesdale, 

 but seems to be very local. In Ireland widely distributed 

 from Cork and Galway to Derry, yet scarce, and only recorded 

 as abundant in one spot on the Londonderry coast. Abroad 

 it is found throughout the Continent of Europe, except the 

 extreme north and south, and is looked upon as a great pest 

 from the devastation which its larva effects upon the fruit 

 trees. It occurs also in Asia Minor and Armenia. 



