MOTTLED UMBER. 293 



on the back, most distinct on rings 5-1 1 ; the spiracles are 

 white, each placed in a black cloud, and the spaces between 

 them paler, sometimes yellowish ; the last ring is often brown 

 without marking, and the front rings have a purplish stripe 

 above ; under surface, paler throughout. It feeds, in April and 

 May, as a rule, but has been found later, on hawthorn, sloe, 

 oak, birch, alder, sallow, etc., and may be obtained in the 

 daytime. 



The moth is out in March and April ; and after their short 

 evening flight the males may be seen in numbers on hedgerows 

 and the twigs of trees. It is not infrequent at sallow catkins, and 

 sometimes is not scarce on palings and tree-trunks. The female 

 may occasionally be detected in the crevices of bark on tree- 

 trunks, but is more easily obtained on the twigs at night. 



The species is common over the whole of England and Wales, 

 also in Ireland. As regards Scotland, it is abundant in the 

 south, but its range does not seem to extend beyond Aberdeen ; 

 the \ 3.1. fiiscata occurs in Renfrewshire. 



Mottled Umber {Hybemia defoliaria), 



A female (Fig. 3) and four examples of the male of this 

 variable species are shown on Plate 122. The ground colour of 

 the fore wings in the male varies from whitish, through ochreous 

 brown to dull russet brown ; the cross bands (when present) 

 range in colour from reddish brown to dark purplish, almost 

 blackish, brown ; in all the paler specimens the ground colour 

 is more or less sprinkled or suffused with brownish ; the darker 

 specimens are sprinkled with dark purplish or blackish. Ab. 

 obsairata, Stand., is almost uniformly dull brownish, and an 

 example approaching this form is represented by Fig. 4. 



When deposited the eggs (Plate 125, Fig. ib) were deep straw 

 yellow. 



