The caterpillar and chrysalis are figured on Plate [101], Figs. 1, 1b; the former is creamy white, marked on the back with black blotches and dots, and lines of black dots on the sides; between the lower two rows is a broad reddish line; head, black; sometimes the whole body is black. It occurs in gardens, and sometimes is a serious pest where currants and gooseberries are cultivated; it frequently abounds on Euonymus japonicus. In the open country it feeds on sloe and hawthorn; sometimes it is found on elm (low growth in hedges), apple, navelwort (Cotyledon umbilicus), orpine (Sedum telephium), and in the Hebrides, on ling (Calluna). August to May, or early June, are the months in which it is found as a rule; occasionally it does not hibernate, but feeds up and attains the moth state in the autumn of the year that it hatches from the egg. The moth is out, normally, in July and August, and is generally distributed over the greater part of the British Isles.

The range abroad extends to East Siberia, China, and Japan.

Clouded Border (Lomaspilis marginata).

Figs. 1 and 2 on Plate [107] represent the more usual forms, in both sexes, of this rather common, but pretty, little moth. Occasionally, specimens are obtained in which, with the exception of a dark patch or two on the front margin, the wings are entirely white or slightly tinged with pale yellowish (ab. pollutaria, Hübner); a modification of this form is shown in Fig. 3.

2 Pl. 104.
1-5.Magpie Moth varieties.6-8.Clouded Magpie varieties.

2 Pl. 105.
1.Scorched Carpet: caterpillar.
2.Clouded Border: caterpillar.
3.Common White Wave: caterpillar.

Ab. nigrofasciaria, Schöyen, has a rather broad blackish band across the central area of each wing, and indications of such bands, in the shape of spots or dots, are seen in many examples of the species; occasionally, the irregular dark border of the outer margin of the wings is traversed by an interrupted whitish line.