This is chiefly a northern insect, occurring most commonly on the Cheshire, Lancashire, and Cumberland coast. It is more generally distributed in Scotland and is often abundant on the moorlands. In Ireland three caterpillars were found by Mr. Kane in the Bog of Allen, and the species has also been recorded from Tullamore and Mullingar. Distribution: Northern and Central Europe, extending to the Altai.
THE PALE TUSSOCK (_Dasychira pudibunda_).
This moth is much commoner and more widely distributed in England than that last mentioned. The central area of the greyish white fore wings is subject to variation in width and also in tint; this latter may be darker or lighter than the example shown on Plate 40, and the cross lines are in some specimens black and very distinct. The colour of the female ranges from pale greyish white through various tones of grey, and the bands on the hind wings may be as well defined as in the male. Black males of the species have been recorded.
The hairy caterpillar is green or yellow, the former mottled with whitish and the latter with greenish; on rings 4 to 7 are thick brushes of yellow hairs, and on ring 11 there is a tuft of reddish hair; the back is marked with black between the brushes, and there are black spots on the sides of the hind rings. Sometimes the caterpillar is light or dark brownish and the brushes are then greyish, or tinged with pale reddish or blackish. Altogether it is a pretty creature, and as it is, or was previous to the modern "washing," common in hop gardens at picking time, it was christened the "hop dog." It may be found from July to September on the foliage of birch, hazel, oak, and many other trees, as well as on hop. The moth appears in May and June, and rests by day on herbage, especially on bracken in woods (see Fig. 6, p. 7); at night it comes readily to light, but specimens so obtained are generally of the female sex.
Pl. 42. 1, 1a. YELLOW-TAIL: _caterpillars_. 2. BROWN-TAIL: _caterpillar_. 3, 3a. DARK TUSSOCK: _caterpillar and chrysalis_.
Pl. 43. 1. BROWN-TAIL MOTH, _male_; 2 _female_. 3. YELLOW-TAIL MOTH, _female_; 4, 5 _males_. 6. WHITE SATIN MOTH, _female_.
{ 99} It is most at home in the southern portion, but occurs throughout England and Wales, to Cumberland. Only doubtfully recorded from Scotland, but in Ireland it has occurred in Galway, Kerry, Waterford, Cork, and Wicklow.