THE AUTUMNAL MOTH. 1 89 



flies lazily and will occasionally visit ivy then, and even sugar, 

 but is more frequently attracted by light. 



The species is pretty generally common throughout England 

 and Wales, Scotland up to Moray, and Ireland. 



The Autumnal Moth {Oporabia {Epirrita) mitunuiata). 



Three examples of this species are shown on Plate ']Z. 

 Figs. 6 ^ and 7 $ represent the typical form except that the 

 male should be rather more silvery white in the ground colour of 

 the fore wings, and the cross bands more distinctly separated. 

 Fig. 8, also a female, is very close to ab. sandbergi, Lampa, 

 in the character of the central cross bands of the fore wings. 

 Ab. gueneata, Prout {auttimnata^ Guende, not Borkhausen), is a 

 form with the typical coloration, but with fainter cross bands. 



The caterpillar is somewhat similar to that of the last species, 

 but there is a yellowish tint in the general green coloration, 

 and it is rarely marked with reddish. It is found chiefly on 

 birch, alder, fir, and larch, but will eat hawthorn, and probably 

 the foliage of other shrubs and trees. May and June. 



The moth is out in September and October, sometimes later. 

 It may be dislodged from trees in the daytime, but it seems to 

 be rarely noticed at rest on the trunks. 



The species is so often confused with that previously mentioned 

 that its distribution in our islands has not, so far, been clearly 

 ascertained. However, it certainly occurs in the following 

 northern counties of England — Lancashire (Liverpool district) ; 

 Cheshire (Delamere Forest) ; Yorkshire (Cleveland district) ; 

 North Durham (Birch woods) ; Cumberland (Carlisle). In 

 Scotland it is found in Clydesdale, Perthshire, where it was 

 first noted by Weaver in 185 1, Kincardineshire, Aberdeen, and 

 probably further north ; in Ireland at Belfast and Enniskillen. 

 Prout notes that he has seen a specimen from Swansea in 

 South Wales. 



