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The moth is out in October and November in the South, but earlier in the North. It is an inhabitant of woodlands, and may be disturbed from bushes, trees, and sometimes may be seen on the trunks of the latter, and on fences. At night it flies lazily and will occasionally visit ivy then, and even sugar, but is more frequently attracted by light.
The species is pretty generally common throughout England and Wales, Scotland up to Moray, and Ireland.
The Autumnal Moth (Oporabia (Epirrita) autumnata).
Three examples of this species are shown on Plate [78]. Figs. 6 ♂ and 7 ♀ represent the typical form except that the male should be rather more silvery white in the ground colour of the fore wings, and the cross bands more distinctly separated. Fig. 8, also a female, is very close to ab. sandbergi, Lampa, in the character of the central cross bands of the fore wings. Ab. gueneata, Prout (autumnata, Guenée, not Borkhausen), is a form with the typical coloration, but with fainter cross bands.
The caterpillar is somewhat similar to that of the last species, but there is a yellowish tint in the general green coloration, and it is rarely marked with reddish. It is found chiefly on birch, alder, fir, and larch, but will eat hawthorn, and probably the foliage of other shrubs and trees. May and June.
The moth is out in September and October, sometimes later. It may be dislodged from trees in the daytime, but it seems to be rarely noticed at rest on the trunks.