THE RED-HEADED CHESTNUT. 2J 



from eggs laid by a female taken at sallow in Darenth Wood, 

 Kent. 



The caterpillar (Plate 6, Fig. i) is pale ochreous brown, 

 inclining to orange, finely freckled with brown, and with 

 brown V-marks on the back of rings 4 to 1 1 ; the line along 

 the middle of the back is pale yellow, and there are two pale 

 yellow spots on ring 11 ; head, pale brown, freckled with 

 darker brown, and sometimes rosy tinged. It feeds on oak, 

 and may be found in May and June. 



The moth flies in September and October, and then visits 

 ivy bloom and sugar at night ; after hibernation it comes to 

 sallow bloom. It has been found during the winter between 

 dry leaves on oak twigs in the hedgerows. Females taken late 

 in the spring and enclosed in a chip box will probably deposit 

 a good supply of eggs ; caterpillars hatching from them are not 

 difficult to rear. 



The species does not appear to have been noticed in the 

 eastern or northern counties of England, but it occurs from 

 Worcester southwards to Somerset, Dorset, Devon, and Corn- 

 wall. From Herefordshire it spreads into Wales. North of 

 London it is found in Hertfordshire, Middlesex, and to the 

 south in Kent, Surrey, Sussex, and Hampshire. 



It is represented in Japan by sericea, Butler, which is con- 

 sidered a distinct species by some authors. 



The Red-headed Chestnut {Orrhodia {Conistra) 



erythrocephald) . 



The portraits of this species on Plate 1 1 are from Austrian 

 specimens. Fig. i is typical and Fig. 2 is ab. g-ladra, Hiibner. 



A specimen was captured at Marlow, Bucks, in October, 

 1859, by Mr. A. H. Clarke, who presented it to the British 

 Museum in 1903; but perhaps the earliest-known British 

 specimen was one taken near Brighton in 1847. Between the 



