VOL. XIX. (2) 
ORDINARY WINTER MEETINGS 
«5 
The Mottled Umber or Great Winter Moth {Hybernia defoliaria) ia about 
twice as large as the Winter Moth. The male has the fore wings pale brown 
or brown-yellow, each with two dark bands. The* hind wings are junior, 
and have a brown spot near their middle. All the wings are sprinkled with 
small dots. This is a most variable species, and hardly two specimens are 
identical. The wings of the female are practically abortive. 
I have often found the caterpillar, but have very seldom succeeded 
in rearing the moth. It seems to be very delicate in confinement. 
Mr Davis says in litt. : — “ They seem unable to withstand the ill treat- 
ment of an artificial existence.” Specimens have been taken by me in 
Gloucester on various ^occasions. 
My earliest date appears to be the 7th November, and my latest the 
20th December. 
Mr Morley records the following Ichneumonidee from this species : — 
Platylabus pedatorius. Fab., on the Continent; Microcryptus nigrocinctus , 
Fab., in Devon ; Casinaria moesta, Grav., in Britain ; A nilasta clausa, Briscli., 
in Devon; Agrypon flaveolatum, Grav., in Germany; Paniscus vir gains, 
Fourc., in London. Braconidae : Apanteles solitarius, Ratz and A. sale- 
brosus, Marsh. 
The authoi’s of the previously mentioned work on parasites record 
Blepharidea vulgaris, Fall, as having been reared from this species. They 
also mention 48 other species which have been recorded as the host of this fly. 
I have reared it myself from Carpocapsa pomonella , so that it is apparently 
parasitic on no less than 50 species of Lepidoptera. 
Mr Davis says in Hit. : — “ I have taken H. defoliaria freely at light here, 
where it is melanic to a more or less degree — at least, the prevailing form is 
much darker than the specimen first figured in Newman. My notes of the 
larvae are : Not uncommon on sloe, oak, and hawthorn in 1899. Beaten 
freely from oak in 1900.” 
The March Moth (A nisopteryx csscularia) has a brownish head. The fore 
wings are brown or yellow-brown with transverse bands ; the hind wings are 
pale greyishrwhite, with a darker zig-zag line running across them. The 
moth measures about three-quarters of an inch in length and up to one-and-a- 
half inch in spread of wings. The female is wingless, brownish yellow, and 
has a pencil or tuft of hairs at the tail. The March moths appear typically, 
as the name indicates, in March, but they may be found earlier. 
My earliest date for finding the imago is the loth February and the 
latest the 27th April. The male has a curious resting habit. It folds its 
fore wings over its body and assumes a triangular shape. Its favourite 
position in the day time is clinging to a wooden fence, amongst the splashes 
of mud, to which it bears a wonderful resemblance. I have frequently found 
it in such a situation. 
Mr Davis tells me that it occurs not uncommonly at light in the Stroud 
district. He has found it as difficult to rear from the larva as the previous 
species. Mr Morley informs me that the following Ichneumonidae have been 
recorded from it ; ” Sagaritis incisa, Bridg., in Britain ; Cymodusa cruentata, 
Grav. in Devon, Labrorhychus tenuicornis, Grav., in Devon, and the following 
Bracon ; Meteorus piilchricornis , Wesm. 
REFERENCES. 
Stainton’s Manual (1859), vol. ii., pp. 71, 76; Newman’s “Butterflies 
and Moths” (1869-71), pp. 104-106; Meyrick’s “Handbook of British 
Lepidoptera ” (1895), pp. 222, 252, 275 ; and Barrett's “ British Lepidoptera ” 
(1907), vol. vii., pp. 231, 247, and vol. viii., p. 388. 
2. — The Flora of the Gloucester Docks.’ By J. W. Haines. 
I Printed pp. 119-124 following. 
