Caterpillar, dark brown with a purplish tinge, the hairs, arising in spreading tufts from black warts, are dark brownish; spiracles white; head black and glossy. Feeds in July and August on a variety of marsh plants, among which are yellow loosestrife (_Lysimachia vulgaris_), mint (_Mentha aquatica_), lousewort (_Pedicularis_), water dock (_Rumex hydrolapathum_), and iris. It seems to affect plants growing under bushes, rather than those more exposed. It is, presumably, not difficult to rear in confinement, as there is a record of eight broods belonging to three generations, and all descendants of a captured female, having been reared by Mr. Bacot. Chrysalis dark reddish brown, in a cocoon similar to that of the last species. [Illustration] Pl. 76. BUFF ERMINE MOTH. _Eggs, natural size and enlarged; caterpillar, chrysalis and cocoon._ [Illustration] Pl. 77. BUFF ERMINE MOTH _and varieties_. {151} The moth, which emerges in June, is rarely seen away from its favourite haunts, which are marshes and fens; its English name is therefore a very appropriate one. It is not often observed in the daytime, but is on the wing early in the evening, and later on is pretty sure to be attracted to any strong light that may be set up in its neighbourhood. The best localities for the species seem to be the fens of Norfolk and Cambridge, but it used to be fairly plentiful in many suitable parts of East Kent, and no doubt still occurs in some of the marshes between Dartford and Gravesend: it is found in Sussex in the Lewes and Brighton districts, and has been recorded from Kimmeridge in Dorsetshire, from the Isle of Wight, from near Burton-on-Trent, from the Lancaster district, and from Pembrokeshire, South Wales. In Scotland it is rare, and, with the exception of one example reported as taken in an illuminated moth trap at Clonbrock, May, 1896, not known to occur in Ireland. The distribution abroad extends over Central and Northern Europe, through South Russia to Amurland. THE BUFF ERMINE (_Spilosoma lubricipeda_).