66 OAK BEAUTY. 



caterpillars. Eiglit specimens were sent to me 

 in one box, so that the Moth can now scarcely 

 take rank among the rarities. 



A closely-allied species, the Small Brindled 

 Beauty (Nyssia hispidaria), is common in several 

 localities, and in the I^ew Forest, where the 

 caterpillar may be found feeding on the oak, and 

 the pupa dug from the roots of that tree. This 

 Moth, though much smaller, is exactly like the 

 Pale Brindled Beauty. 



Next we come to the handsome, though not 

 brilliantly - coloured insect, the Oak Beauty 

 (Am2)hydasis prodromaria). The fore-wings are 

 whitish-grey, speckled, and in parts clouded, with 

 black. The hind-wings are similarly marked, 

 but paler. The thorax and abdomen are stout 

 and strikingly hairy. As is the case with many 

 Moths, the antennae of the male are feathered, 

 while those of the female are simple. The ex- 

 panse of wing is about two inches. 



The caterpillar is one of the many oak-feeders, 

 and the Moth flies at the beginning of spring. 

 A male insect is shown at Plate Y. fig. 6. The 

 wings of the female are somewhat different in 

 their markings. 



At fig. 7 of the same plate is seen a figure 

 Df the female Peppered Moth (J-mphydasis |or 



