The caterpillar is yellowish, inclining to ochreous, lined with brown on the back, and striped with purplish on the sides; underside, dark purplish brown, inclining to blackish, and striped with yellowish. It feeds in the spring, sometimes to June, on oak, birch, blackthorn, etc., and may be found on the leaves during the day. The moth is out in the latter part of the year, from October, and is best obtained at night, when sitting on the twigs of trees and bushes, but a specimen or two may be found on tree-trunks, palings, etc., in the daytime. The species is widely distributed over England, and in some parts it is common in woods; also occurs in Wales. In Scotland it is very rare and local in Roxburghshire; local and uncommon in the Clyde area, and has been recorded from other parts of the country up to Aberdeen. Rare in Ireland, but noted from {292} Tyrone (local among birches at Cookstown), Monaghan, Fermanagh (Enniskillen), and Galway. DOTTED BORDER (_Hybernia marginaria_). On Plate 120 four specimens of this rather variable species are depicted. Figs. 8 [male] and 10 [female] show the more usual form; Fig. 12 represents the northern English, blackish var. _fuscata_, Harrison, and Fig. 11 an intermediate form resulting from a cross-pairing of _fuscata_ [female] with a southern [male]. Somewhat similar forms to the last have been captured in Wear Dale, Durham. [Illustration: FIG. 10. DOTTED BORDER, MALE.] [Illustration: FIG. 11. DOTTED BORDER, FEMALE.] (Photos by H. Main.) The caterpillar is figured on Plate 125, from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich. It is described by Fenn as dull yellow, olive green, or greenish brown; a series of dark grey X-like marks on the back, most distinct on rings 5-11; the spiracles are white, each placed in a black cloud, and the spaces between them paler, sometimes yellowish; the last ring is often brown without marking, and the front rings have a purplish stripe above; under surface, paler throughout. It feeds, in April and May, as a rule, but has been found later, on hawthorn, sloe, oak, birch, alder, sallow, etc., and may be obtained in the daytime. [Illustration] 2 Pl. 122. 1-5. MOTTLED UMBER. 6-8. MARCH MOTH. 9-11. PALE BRINDLED BEAUTY. [Illustration] 2 Pl. 123. 1. SHARP-ANGLED PEACOCK: _eggs and caterpillar_. 2. TAWNY-BARRED ANGLE: _caterpillar and chrysalids_. {293} The moth is out in March and April; and after their short evening flight the males may be seen in numbers on hedgerows and the twigs of trees. It is not infrequent at sallow catkins, and sometimes is not scarce on palings and tree-trunks. The female may occasionally be detected in the crevices of bark on tree-trunks, but is more easily obtained on the twigs at night. The species is common over the whole of England and Wales, also in Ireland. As regards Scotland, it is abundant in the south, but its range does not seem to extend beyond Aberdeen; the var. _fuscata_ occurs in Renfrewshire.