and yellow interrupted line, followed by a light yellow stripe under the spiracles; raised spots blackish, some white; hairs blackish brown. Head black.
It feeds, in the sunshine, on the black and yellow lichens growing in the haunts of the species, which are edges of cliffs and rough stony places near the sea, and also on hillsides. The species occurs, perhaps, more abundantly on the Kentish and Sussex coast than inland, but it is certainly not confined to the cliffs at Dover and Folkestone in Kent, or at Ventnor, Isle of Wight. Among inland localities for it are Box Hill, Ranmore, Reigate, and other places on the Surrey hills. It has also been recorded from the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire; the Isle of Man; St. Davids, South Wales; Aberdeenshire, Sutherlandshire, and the Tweed, Tay, Clyde, and Argyll districts in Scotland. For Ireland, Kane gives Mayo; "Ardrahan, County Galway, and west through the Burren of Clare, widely spread."
The Four-dotted Footman (Cybosia mesomella).
Fore wings pale creamy white, the margins yellowish: a black dot near the costa, and another below near the inner margin; hind wings suffused with blackish grey. Rarely the fore wings are yellow with a whitish central shade, and the hind wings are yellowish. (Plate [95], Figs. 8, 10.)
The caterpillar is velvety blackish grey; warts thickly set with densely feathered blackish hairs. Feeds in April and May, after hibernation, on lichens growing among heather. In confinement it will, according to Buckler, eat heather and fresh or withered leaves of sallow.
Fairly well distributed over England. It appears to be absent from Ireland, but in Scotland it is known to occur in the Clyde, Solway, and Moray districts, and has been recorded from Aberdeenshire. In the South of England it affects heaths and the more open woods; sometimes not uncommon in
such places. The moth, in June, may be disturbed from bushes, or put up from the heather as one walks through. As the sun goes down it may often be seen on the wing, but later in the evening is its chief time of activity. In Lancashire and Cheshire it is found on the mosses, and Cannock Chase in Staffordshire is a noted locality for it. Still obtained in Chippenham fen, but Barrett states that it is now supposed to be extinct in the fens of Wicken, Yaxley, and Burwell, in all of which it used to abound.
The Four-spotted Footman (Œonestis quadra).
The sexes of this species are very different in appearance. The fore wings of the male are grey tinged with yellowish, except on the outer fourth; the basal fourth is yellow. The female is larger and yellow in colour; each fore wing has two black spots, sometimes unusually large, sometimes mere dots, and more rarely absent altogether. (Plate [95], Figs. 11, 12.)
Caterpillar blackish with four wavy yellow lines along the back, the spaces between the lines powdered and freckled with yellow giving a grey appearance; raised spots on the back red, those on the sides greyish; a black cross on rings three, seven, and eleven; hairs grey mixed with black. Head black and glossy. It feeds, after hibernation, in May and June, on lichens, preferring those upon oak trees. In the breeding cage it is apt to eat its companions, especially when many are crowded into a small receptacle. (Plate [94], Fig. 3.)