Prominents (Notodontidæ).
In the majority of our moths belonging to this family there is a tooth-like tuft of scales projecting from about the middle of the inner margin of the fore wings; these, when the moth is resting, are brought together and raised above the level of the closed wings (see Fig. 11, page [11]). The antennæ of the male are bipectinated in most of the species, but those of Odontosia, Lophopteryx, and Phalera are dentated and each tooth has a little tuft of short hair.
The moths are not often seen in the day time, but a few species are sometimes met with at rest on tree trunks, palings, etc. All fly at night and are pretty rapid on the wing; possibly if it were not for the fact that a bright light has a powerful attraction for them, the perfect insects would be rarely captured.
Specimens, when caught, except females which it may be well to keep for eggs, should be killed and pinned at once, as many kinds become very restless when imprisoned in a box and soon damage themselves. Females usually deposit their eggs freely, and in most cases the caterpillars are not difficult to rear when once they begin to feed. Sometimes it is not easy to induce them to commence this very necessary business. The caterpillars, except those of Phalera and Pygæra, are without hairs on the body; those of the true Prominents generally have one, or more, hump on the back; in some kinds the anal prolegs or hind claspers, are small. When resting the hinder part of the caterpillar is more or less raised, several of them elevate the front portion also, and frequently the posture assumed is a most curious one.
The caterpillars of Cerura, Dicranura, and Stauropus have the hind claspers transformed into tail-like appendages, which in the case of the Puss and Kittens take the form of a pair of slender tubes furnished with flagellæ, or whips, which can be protruded or withdrawn as occasion may require. These organs are presumably for defensive purposes, but are not always effective in combating the attack of parasitical flies, as these evidently manage to deposit their egg on the caterpillars not infrequently.
The pupa, or chrysalis, of some kinds is enclosed in a hard cocoon on tree trunks, and others in a soft cocoon generally underground; sometimes, however, the cocoon is spun up between leaves; occasionally, as for example that of the Buff-tip, the chrysalis is found in the ground without any protecting covering, although the cell in which it was formed may have been flimsily lined with silk.
Nearly one hundred species are referred to this family in Staudinger's "Catalogue of Palæarctic Lepidoptera," and of these twenty-five occur, or have been taken, in the British Isles, nearly all of which are accepted as indigenous. Two of the
three species not generally regarded as true natives have been found in the caterpillar state, and the third was reared from an egg obtained with others of the same kind in Norfolk.
The Alder Kitten (Cerura bicuspis).
This moth (Plate [22], Fig. 3) differs from either of the two next following in being whiter, and in having both margins of the central band of the fore wings angled or bent inwards above the middle; this is markedly so on the outer side. The band itself is black, inclining to purplish rather than grey. Barrett mentions a specimen without central band or cloud towards tip.