The caterpillar is green, with two yellow lines on the back, and a yellow one along the spiracles, the latter edged above with reddish. It feeds on oak, and may be found from July to September; stated to hide by day in the chinks of the bark. The reddish brown chrysalis is enclosed in a cocoon of earth held together with silk. It may be searched for at the roots of grass, etc., around the foot of oak trees growing in parks or in the more open parts of woods. The moth appears in May.

Although nowhere really common, it seems to occur pretty generally over the southern portion of England, and as far north

as Derbyshire and Staffordshire. Farther north, and in Wales and Scotland, it has been rarely met with. Recorded by Birchall to be not uncommon at Killarney; but Kane states that he has never seen an Irish specimen.

The species occurs locally throughout Central Europe, also in Transylvania, Northern and Central Italy, and Eastern Armenia. In Ussuri, and Japan, it is represented by the form dodonides, Staud.

The Lunar Marbled Brown (Drymonia chaonia).

The fore wings of this moth (Plate [28], Fig. 2) are dark fuscous, almost blackish, a short white line near the base; the central third is white clouded with the ground colour and limited by white edged black wavy lines; a black crescent just above the centre of the wing. Hind wings smoky grey with a pale curved line. The egg, which is bluish white in colour, is of the usual Notodont shape. Caterpillar green, merging into bluish-green on the back; the lines are pale yellow, or creamy white, that along the black margined spiracles is rather broad and is sometimes tinged with reddish on the three front rings. Head green, mouth marked with pale yellow. Feeds in June, July, and August on oak. From about a dozen eggs that I had in May, 1907, the caterpillars hatched on the 13th of the month. Only one got through safely to the chrysalis stage which it reached at the end of June. On June 26th some half-grown and smaller caterpillars were received from the New Forest, only one of these was seen on July 19th, but it was then nearly full grown and appeared to be quite healthy, and others had pupated or died.

The chrysalis is deep red brown, enclosed in a silken cocoon covered with particles of earth; generally found at the roots of isolated oak trees (Plate [29], Figs. 1, 1a).

Pl. 28.
1.Marbled Brown Moth.2.Lunar Marbled Brown.
3.Dusky Marbled Brown.4.Swallow Prominent, female; 5 male.
6. Lesser Swallow Prominent.