146 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS 



and may sometimes be found sitting on palings or trunks 

 of trees ; occasionally it is attracted by light. 



FAMILY III. NOTODONTHLE. 



NOTODONTA ZIGZAG. THE PEBBLE PROMI- 

 NENT. 



(Plate IV., Fig. 2.) 



This insect seems pretty generally distributed through- 

 out England, and occurs in the western part of Scotland ; 

 in Ireland it is not uncommon. 



The expansion of the wings is from 1J to If inch. 

 The fore-wings are pale brown, with a faint rosy tinge 

 towards the costa, and beyond the middle there is a 

 large oval patch of various shades of purple and brown, 

 with a strongly marked curved dark brown line on its 

 basal edge ; near the middle of the inner margin is a 

 short tuft of projecting black scales; the hind- wings are 

 whitish-grey in the male, of a pale sooty-grey in the 

 female. 



The eccentric-looking larva is purplish-brown, with 

 humps on the back of the sixth, seventh, and twelfth 

 segments, and with darker patches on the front of these 

 humps; on the sides are some paler oblique lines. It 

 feeds, in June and September, on sallows, willows, and 

 poplars ; when resting, the head and tail are both 

 elevated, which with the dorsal humps gives it a most 

 singular appearance. 



The perfect insect appears towards the middle of 

 May, 'and? again in August ; it may sometimes b<? found 

 at rest on palings or trunks of trees, and it comes 

 rather freely to light. 



