and Berkshire. It has been recorded from Buckinghamshire, Wiltshire, and Dorsetshire; and as local and scarce in the Lancaster district.
The range abroad extends to Amurland and Japan, and in both countries it is represented by var. conferenda, Butler.
Speckled Beauty (Cleora angularia).
Stephens, who in 1831 figured this insect as Cleora viduaria, Wien. Verz., remarks, "All the examples I have seen of this beautiful species were captured in the New Forest: the first about June, 1822, the remainder in 1825 and 1826: I believe in the vicinity of Lyndhurst." Barrett states that the late Mr. Samuel Stevens obtained a number of specimens "by sweeping the upper branches of oak trees in the New Forest with a long pole." This was in 1849; and between that year and 1872, about which time it seems to have disappeared, the moth was found, by those who knew where to look for it, in the Forest between Brockenhurst and Lyndhurst. Specimens have also been taken, in the past, in Tilgate Forest, Sussex, by the late William Tester, and by Mr. Merrifield, at Holm Bank, near Henfield, in the same county. There have been recent rumours of its reappearance in the New Forest, but I have been unable to ascertain anything definite about this. The specimen depicted in Plate [134], Fig. 2, has been kindly lent by Mr. R. Adkin.
The caterpillar, stated by Hofmann to feed on lichen growing upon oak and birch, is brownish variegated with paler shades.
Brussels Lace (Cleora lichenaria).
The greenish grey species shown on Plate [136], Figs. 1 ♂, 2 ♀, varies in tint; the fore wings are often clouded with olive, and occasionally with blackish; there is frequently a tinge of
ochreous between the black cross lines, but sometimes this area is flushed with orange.
Two figures of the caterpillar will be found on Plate [133], Fig. 2. In colour and marking it so closely resembles the greenish-grey lichen upon which it feeds, that its detection thereon is not always easy. May and June are the best months in which to collect the caterpillars (although they may be found during the autumn and early spring), and they may then be jarred from the lichen (Usnea barbata), etc., growing on branches of trees and bushes, or searched for among the lichen on the tree trunks, or on wooden pales and fences.
The species is widely spread over the southern half of England, but is more or less rare from the Midlands northwards. It has occurred in South Wales; and Kane states that it is widely distributed and locally common in Ireland. In some parts of South Scotland it is not uncommon, and its range extends to Aberdeen and Ross.