166 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS 



Closely allied to this, and sometimes reputed a simple 

 climatic variety of it, is the Lasiocampa callunse (Heath 

 Eggar), which abounds on the heathery hills of Scotland 

 and also occurs in Cornwall and Devonshire. 



The perfect insect is darker ; it flies in June ; the 

 larvaa are full fed in September, and having passed one 

 winter as young larvae, pass the second winter in the 

 pupa state. 



FAMILY VII. BOMBYCIM:. 



ERIOGASTER LANESTRIS. THE SMALL 

 EGGAK. 



This insect seems generally distributed throughout 

 the country, but is of rare occurrence in Scotland, 

 where it has been noticed down the Clyde; it is not 

 scarce in Ireland. 



The expansion of the wings is about 1^ inch. The 

 fore-wings are of. a pale purplish- chocolate, with a white 

 spot at the base and another in the centre of the disk ; 

 towards the hinder margin is a slender, rather wavy, 

 pale band. 



The larva is blue-black, with a row of tawny tufts on 

 each side of the back, a pale yellow sinuous lateral line 

 and a pale yellow transverse streak from it at the hinder 

 edge of each segment, almost meeting on the back ; legs 

 black, the prolegs brick-red ; it feeds gregariously (two 

 or three hundred together) on sloe, hawthorn, etc., in 

 May and June. 



The perfect insect appears in February, but I fancy it 

 is not often met with at large. 



