The caterpillar feeds on the wood of various trees—elm, apple, pear, ash, alder, poplar, horse chestnut, birch, lilac, and several others. It is yellowish, with black shiny spots, and a black plate on the second segment.
The moth appears in July, and is widely distributed. It is attracted by bright lights, but the best way to obtain it is to search the trunks and branches of trees that are known to harbour the larvæ early in the morning, and so obtain newly emerged specimens.
Family—Liparidæ
Passing over the two small species which are the only British representatives of the family Cochliopodidæ, we come to the interesting Liparidæ, the remarkable feature of which is that most of the caterpillars are adorned with brush-like tufts of hair, and even the chrysalides are hairy.
The perfect insects are not brilliantly coloured, but generally display very pale tints; and the antennæ of the males are pectinated or feathered.
The Brown Tail (Porthesia chrysorrhœa)
The family contains two moths—the Brown Tail and the Yellow Tail—that are very similar in appearance and habits. Both have
white wings, and their bodies also are white with the exception of the tuft of coloured hair at the tip of the abdomen, which gives the names to the species. Their larvæ may both be found feeding on the same trees (whitethorn), and both change to a brown hairy chrysalis within a loose cocoon among the leaves.