The caterpillar is very variable in colour, but is usually grey or reddish brown. A deep purple band lies between the second and third segments, and another between the third and fourth. On the twelfth there is a small hump, and a pale stripe, more or less distinct, runs along each side. It feeds on the blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), buckthorn (Rhamnus catharticus), and the white willow (Salix alba).
The moth is not uncommon, and is on the wing in June.
Family—Endromidæ
The Kentish Glory (Endromis versicolor)
The beautiful Kentish Glory is the only British representative of its family. The male is shown in [Plate X] (fig. 7); the female is larger and similarly marked, but its colours are not so bright.
This moth is not common, but may be seen occasionally in the birch woods of the southern counties. The males fly rapidly in the bright sunshine, but the females must be searched for on the bark and branches of the trees.
The eggs are laid in April on the twigs of the birch (Betula alba), and the young caterpillar emerges early in May. It is gregarious at first, but loses its social tendencies as it gets older. When full grown, it is of a pale green colour, with white spiracles, a dark green line down the back, and an oblique white stripe on each side of each segment. The sides are dotted with black and brown, and there is a conspicuous hump on the top of the twelfth segment.
When fully grown it spins a cocoon among the dead leaves beneath the tree, and in this it spends the winter months in the chrysalis state.
Family—Saturniidæ
The Emperor Moth (Saturnia pavonia)
Here is another family with but one British member; but in this, as in the last case, the only representative is a really beautiful insect. The male Pavonia is shown on [Plate X] (fig. 8), and will need no written description as an aid to its identification. The female is larger, and similarly marked, but the ground colour of the wings is pale grey.