DESCRIPTIVE NOTICES OF CONSPICUOUS SPECIES 145 



and may often be found resting on the trunks of trees 

 or on palings. 



There are three smaller species of the genus Cerura 

 in this country termed Kitten Moths, the largest is 

 less than 2 inches in the expansion of the wings ; all 

 three have a broad dark grey band in the centre of the 

 fore-wings; but the differences between them are too 

 minute to be detailed here. 



FAMILY III. NOTODONTID^:. 

 8TAUBOPU8 FAGI. THE LOBSTER MOTH. 



A scarce species, though less so than formerly ; it has 

 occurred in various parts of the country, thus at Bland- 

 ford, Epping, Exeter, Halton in Buckinghamshire, 

 Lewes, Lyndhurst, Plymouth, etc. 



The expansion of the wings is about 2| inches. The 

 fore-wings are pale brown, more grey at the base, and 

 with a reddish tinge towards the inner margin ; at the 

 base is a black dot ; beyond the middle is a waved, in- 

 dented, yellowish transverse streak ; towards the hind- 

 margin is a row of blackish spots ; the hind- wings are 

 greyish-brown, paler towards the base. 



The most singular larva is reddish-brown, with two 

 humps on each segment from the fifth to the ninth ; 

 the anal segments are carried erect, at right angles to 

 the rest of the body ; on the last segment are two short 

 tails ; there are no anal prolegs, and the second and 

 third pairs of the anterior legs are remarkably long (a 

 peculiarity by which the larva may be recognized at 

 once) ; it feeds, in August and September, on beech, 

 oak, and birch. 



The perfect insect appears towards the middle of June, 



L 



