(Photo by H. Main.)
The caterpillar is pale green with a rather darker line along the back, and yellowish lines along the sides. It feeds on hawthorn, sloe, privet, lilac, currant, plum, cherry, rose, etc., also on oak, hornbeam, and some other trees: April to June. The figure of the caterpillar on Plate [125], Fig. 4, is from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich.
The moth is out in the spring, and may be found on palings, tree-trunks, etc., in the daytime, and more freely flying about, or sitting on hedges, at night, when the spider-like wingless female is more frequently obtained. The male is attracted by light, and sometimes is not uncommon on gas lamps.
Except that it seems not to have been noted north of Perthshire in Scotland, the species is generally distributed over the British Isles.
Pale Brindled Beauty (Phigalia pedaria).
The fore wings of this species (Plate [122], Figs. 9 ♀, 10, 11 ♂) are greyish, tinged with greenish or brown, and sprinkled with darker grey or brownish; the irregular cross lines are blackish. Occasional specimens in the north of England are more or less sprinkled with yellow buff or orange buff, and in these the cross-markings may be present or absent. A more frequent form of aberration in the north is a general darkening of the colour in
the direction of ab. monacharia, Staud., which is smoky black with the veins black, and occurs chiefly in South Yorkshire.
The caterpillar, figured on Plate [126], Fig. 1, from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich, is dull reddish brown, relieved with rust red mottling; the notched head is greyish brown. It feeds, in the spring, on birch, oak, elm, lime, poplar, sallow, hawthorn, sloe, plum and other fruit trees, rose, etc.
The moth is out as a rule during the first two or three months of the year, but it has been noted in November and December, and also in mid-June. It may be seen in the daytime on tree-trunks, palings, etc., but the female secretes herself in any convenient cranny, and is not easily detected. The male flies at night, and comes freely to light.
The species is pretty generally distributed throughout England and Wales, and Scotland up to Aberdeen. In Ireland, it has a wide distribution, but Kane states that, except in the Belfast district, it is decidedly scarce in the country.