THE GENERA OF BRITISH MOTHS. 23 
PLATE VIII. 
No. 1.~—The Small Chocolate-tip (Clostera Recluvsa). No. 5.—The Caterpillar of the Oak Eggar-Moth. 
No. 2.—The Caterpillar of the Small Chocolate-tip. No. 6.—The Small Oak Eggar-Moth (Trichiura Cratwgi). 
No. 3.—The Oak Eggar-Moth (Lasiocampa Quercus), No. 7.—The Caterpillar of the Small Eggar-Moth. 
No. 4.—The Female of the Oak Eggar-Moth. No. 8.—The December-Moth (Pacilocampa Populi). 
THE genus Clostera contains three British species. The antenne are bipectinated in both sexes ; the anterior wings 
are rather short, and somewhat square at the external margin, though rounded off near the hind-wings. They have 
all a large patch of chocolate colour towards the tip of the front-wings, from which they derive their popular 
name. The Caterpillars form a web, in which they reside, and in which the chrysalis is formed. 
The first species, Closterw Reclusa (No. 1), is the smallest of the genus, and the chocolate patch, which does 
not quite extend to the tip of the wing, has within it a smaller one of brightish orange. The Caterpillar (No. 2), 
which is represented without its web, feeds on Aspen or Willow, beneath the bark of which it sometimes takes 
shelter in the autumn ; and the Moth appears in the following June, July, or August. It is a rare species, but is 
widely distributed, being sparingly found in woods in various parts of the country. 
2. Clostera Anachoreta (the Searce Chocolate-tip) is thought by some to be a Continental species ; but as the 
specimens in the British Museum are well known to have been captured by the late Mr. Spratt near Salisbury, it 
cannot be struck out of our lists; and it is probable that, though extremely rare, other specimens may yet be taken. 
It very closely resembles C. Reclusa, but is considerably larger ; the patches of chocolate at the tips of the front- 
wings enclose three orange dots, and behind them is a well-defined black spot. The Caterpillar, as described by 
Continental authors, is gray, with a row of brown spots at the sides, and two black lines down the back, with fulvous 
dots. It is distinguished also by a conspicuous tubercle of bright brown on the fourth and on the anal segments. 
It feeds on Willow and Poplar, and is found in June and October, the early brood producing the perfect Moth in 
July, and the second not till the following May. 
3. Clostera Curtula (the Chocolate-tip). This insect was very frequently taken by our entomologists of the 
last generation, but it appears to have become yery scarce. It is the true Chocolate-tip of the old collectors. 
The chocolate patch is indeed much larger and more accurately defined than in the preceding species, being nearly 
enclosed by a somewhat irregular whitish line. It is also entirely brown, without spots of orange, is of a 
rich chesnut tone in fine specimens, and very much in the form of the pale yellowish mark of similar character 
in the Buff-tip. The Caterpillar is ashy-coloured, with four rows of dots of a deep orange colour, and on the back 
are two small black tubercles, one on the fifth and one on the twelfth segment. It is found in autumn on Willows 
and Poplars, The Chocolate-tips are grouped with the Buff-tip in the Museum collection, see page 16. 
The genus Lasiocampa contains some of our largest native insects, especially the Owk-Eggar, so named from 
the compact oval cocoon formed by the Caterpillar. The antenne are conspicuously bipectinated in the males, and 
* serrated in the females. The males fly with amazing rapidity by day. The Caterpillars are covered with tufts of 
silky hair, as indicated in the generic name, derived from the Greek. 
