The caterpillar is thickest on the twelfth segment, and gradually tapers from this towards the head. Its colour is pale green, with a white stripe just below the spiracles, which are black. On each side of the back are a number of oblique lines, which meet in the middle line, thus forming a series of V-shaped marks pointing towards the tail. It feeds on the common bracken fern (_Pteris aquilina_), foxglove (_Digitalis purpurea_), and the male fern (_Lastraea Filix-mas_), in August and September. _The Angle Shades_ (_Phlogophora Meticulosa_) [Illustration: FIG. 168.--THE ANGLE SHADES.] This moth is so common and so widely distributed that it is almost sure to be taken by the young collector during his first season. Its wings are scalloped on the hind margin, and their colour light ochreous, often tinged with pink or olive green, and marked with dark brown as shown in the illustration. It is double brooded, the first brood appearing in May and June, and the second in September and October. The caterpillar is green or olive brown, and thickly covered with white spots. It feeds on groundsel (_Senecio vulgaris_) and many other low plants, the first brood throughout the winter from November to April, and the second in July and August. _The Grey Arches_ (_Aplecta nebulosa_) The fore wings of this moth vary from greyish white to a rather dark smoky tint. The markings are of a darker colour, and are also subject to considerable variation. The orbicular and reniform spots are large, and paler than the ground colour; and several zigzag or scalloped lines, more or less distinct, cross the wings transversely. [Illustration: FIG. 169.--THE GREY ARCHES.] The larva is brown, with a lighter line down the back. On each of the segments five to eleven is a dark lozenge-shaped spot, bisected by the dorsal line; and on the second segment is a shining plate and a triangular mark. It feeds on the dock (_Rumex_), and various other low plants during the autumn; and, after its hybernation, on the leaves of the sallow (_Salix Caprea_), birch (_Betula alba_), and whitethorn (_Crataegus oxyacantha_). It is full grown in May, when it burrows into the ground to undergo its metamorphoses. The moth flies during June and July, and is common in nearly every part of Great Britain. Large numbers may be obtained by searching fences and tree trunks about midsummer. _The Shears_ (_Hadena dentina_) The Shears is another very common moth of the same family. The ground colour of the fore wings is very variable, but is generally a lighter or darker shade of grey. Sometimes, however, it has a very decided brownish tinge. Across the centre of the wing is a darker band, wider on the costal side, containing the orbicular and reniform spots, as well as a light patch beneath them, and bordered on each side by a pale zigzag line. There is another similar line near to and parallel with the hind margin. The hind wings are smoky grey or smoky brown, darker towards the hind margin.