Pl. 32. 1, 1a, 1b. PALE PROMINENT: _egg, caterpillar and chrysalis_. 2, 2a. WHITE PROMINENT: _caterpillar and chrysalis_. 3, 3a, 3b. COXCOMB PROMINENT: _egg, caterpillar and chrysalis_. 4. MAPLE PROMINENT: _chrysalis_. 5, 5a. SCARCE PROMINENT: _chrysalis and cocoon_. [Illustration] Pl. 33. 1. WHITE PROMINENT. 2, 3. COXCOMB PROMINENT. 4. MAPLE PROMINENT. 5. SCARCE PROMINENT. 6. PALE PROMINENT. 7. PLUMED PROMINENT, _male_; 8, _female_. {79} THE PLUMED PROMINENT (_Ptilophora plumigera_). The thinly scaled fore wings are ochreous brown in the male, and purplish brown in the female, and the markings, which are most in evidence in the male, are yellowish. Hind wings, more sparsely scaled than the fore wings, are pale ochreous brown in the male and darker in the female. It varies in the tint of general colour and in the intensity of the yellowish markings. In the female the antennæ are simple, but in the male they are very plume-like, hence the English name. Buckler describes the caterpillar as whitish blue-green, with a broad deep green stripe down the middle of the back, and a narrow yellow line on each side of it; spiracular line slender, white, and wavy; head rather small, glossy, yellowish green. When quite full grown and mature it changes to a uniform semi-transparent green, like the underside of a leaf of maple, upon which, and also sycamore, the caterpillar feeds in May and early June. Maple bushes growing in hedgerows are usually selected by the female moths when laying their eggs. These are placed on the twigs near a bud, and may be searched for at any time from November until April. The moth is shown on Plate 33. This species was figured by Stephens (1828) as _Ptilophora variegata_ and the only locality then known to him was Darenth Wood, where, he states, the caterpillar was obtained almost every year. It still occurs in Kent and possibly in its old haunt; it is also recorded from Watergate, Sussex; South Devon (Torquay district); and Gloucestershire. In Bucks, Berks, and Oxfordshire it is more frequent than in either of the counties previously mentioned, and in all it seems to be found chiefly in chalky localities. The moth, which is on the wing in November {80} or sometimes in late October, has rarely been taken when flying at night or resting by day. Light has an attraction for the male, but apparently not for the female. Distributed through Central Europe, its range extends to Southern Scandinavia, Northern Italy, Livonia, Bulgaria, S.E. Russia, and Japan. THE PALE PROMINENT (_Pterostoma palpina_).