THE LUNAR UNDERWING. IT 



in Britain, although it is known to occur in the Isle of Man, 

 and has been recorded from Ripon, Skipworth, and York^ 

 also from Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Notts, Lincoln, and 

 Gloucestershire. The caterpillar is brownish, inclining to 

 greyish above and to greenish grey beneath, freckled with 

 darker brown ; of the three whitish lines along the back, the 

 central one is widest, but is only really distinct on the middle 

 part of each ring ; the lines are margined with black, the 

 edging of the central one irregular, but' of the others more 

 complete ; the spiracles are whitish, and the area above them is 

 dark grey-brown enclosing paler spaces on each ring ; head, 

 shining grey-brown freckled with blackish. It feeds, in April, 

 May, and June, on ash, and until the leaves expand it is content 

 with the buds. After dark it may be beaten from saplings in 

 the hedgerow, as well as from full-grown trees. By day it hides 

 among moss or litter, or in the crevices of bark, and at dark 

 may be found crawling up the trunks of ash trees. 



The moths are out in August and September, and in the late 

 afternoon may be seen, newly emerged from the chrysalis, on 

 ash trunks, or on twigs and herbage immediately around the 

 tree stems. When on the wing at night it is attracted by light, 

 especially electric, and by sugar. Now that the habits of the 

 species are better known than formerly, it has been ascertained 

 to occur in most English counties. In Scotland it is widely 

 distributed up to Argyll and Perthshire ; it has been recorded 

 from several parts of Wales, and in Ireland is found in counties 

 Antrim, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Down, Armagh, Louth, West- 

 meath, Wicklow, Sligo, Galway, Tipperary, and Cork. 



The Lunar Under wing {^Omphalos cells {A?ic/iocelis) 

 lunosa). 



In the general colour of the fore wings, this species, of which 

 four figures will be found on Plate 7, ranges from pale ochreous 



