THE ELACKNECK. 83 



The caterpillar is of a greenish-tinged greyish coloration, 

 freckled with darker grey, and with yellowish brown patches 

 on rings 4, 8, and 9. It feeds, at night, on oak, boring into 

 the buds at first, but afterwards attacking the foliage: May 

 and June. The moth occurs in oak woods in July and August, 

 but it does not seem to be met with anywhere in England so 

 frequently as in the New Forest, Hampshire. Even in that 

 favourite locality it is seen but rarely in some seasons. It is, or 

 has been, found in several other southern and eastern counties, 

 but, as a rule, only in a casual way. 



The Blackneck {l^oxocaiiipa pasHnum), 



In some examples of this species (Plate 32, Fig. 3) the ground 

 colour of the fore wings, usually pale grey sprinkled with brown, 

 is inchned to whitish, and but little powdered with brown, except 

 the outer fourth, upon which there is generally some brown 

 shading. The reniform stigma varies in shape ; in some 

 specimens it is lunular, and in others triangular, with the 

 apex directed inwards ; the orbicular, represented by a black 

 dot, is occasionally absent ; the cross lines are usually trace- 

 able, but the central shade is not often distinct. 



The caterpillar is rather long, and tapers slightly from the 

 middle towards each end. In colour it is greyish, inclining to 

 ochreous on the back, and dusted with black ; there are three 

 reddish lines along the back, the outer ones edged below with 

 white ; the spiracles are black, and the line along their area is 

 white. It feeds at night on the tufted vetch {Vicia cracca), and 

 after hibernation attains full growth about May, when it pupates 

 in a cocoon among leaves on the plant, or on the ground. The 

 moth comes out in June and July, and in its haunts, which are 

 the borders of woods or the clearings therein, it flutters about 

 at early dusk, when it can be easily netted. Unlike the species 

 next referred to, it does not seem to have any great partiality 



