The caterpillar, which feeds on elm from April to June, is of a pale green, inclining to whitish green above, the raised dots white; there are three white lines on the back, the central one broader and clearer white than the others; the lines along the area of the black spiracles are whitish; head green and glossy, legs black, pro-legs greenish marked with reddish. It feeds at night, and conceals itself between leaves during the day.
The moth appears in July and August, is very partial to sugar and "honeydew," and has been taken at light. It lurks among the foliage of trees and bushes in the daytime, and may occasionally be dislodged therefrom when the boughs are jarred. Although its range extends northwards into Yorkshire, where it is local and scarce, the species seems to be chiefly obtained in the eastern and southern counties of England. No doubt it flourishes best where the elm (Ulmus campestris) is most plentiful. In Wales it has been noted from Glamorganshire and Flint.
Kane states that it is very rare in Ireland, and I fail to find any record from Scotland.
The range abroad extends to Japan.
The White-spotted Pinion (Calymnia diffinis).
This pretty species is shown on Plate [2], Figs. 6 ♂ and 7 ♀. Its colour and marking are little prone to variation. Sometimes the ground colour has less red and rather more purple in its composition, and in some specimens the white marks on the front margin are larger than in others.
The caterpillar is pale green, with three whitish lines along the back; the central of these is rather yellowish, agreeing in tint with the usual raised dots, and the outer ones are edged above with bluish green; head, brownish, inclining to black below. It feeds at night, in April, May, and early June, on the common elm, and rests during the day on the undersides of the foliage or between leaves. (Plate [3], Fig. 3.)
The moth is out in July and August, and is obtained at sugar or at light, in almost all parts of England where its favourite tree grows freely. It seems to be more local in the Midlands, and appears to be but little known in the northern counties, although a specimen was taken at sugar in Hazleden Dene, Durham, in the autumn of 1898.
The Dun-bar (Calymnia trapezina).
On Plate [2] will be found portraits of four specimens of this variable species. Figs. 8 and 9 represent a male and a female of the more ordinary forms. Specimens of the typical whitish or greyish buff colour vary in the matter of cross lines, which are well defined in the type, but absent in ab. pallida, Tutt. Some examples have a reddish central band, and in others the band is blackish or black; the latter are referable to ab. badiofasciata,