Richard South

“ The caterpillar, which feeds in July and August on the leaves of oak, beech, sloe, and apple, etc., is reddish, inclining to yellow on the back, which is traversed by black lines, the central double and interrupted on rings seven to nine by rusty V-shaped marks.
The moth flies in May and June.
This species appears to have a wider distribution than either of the others. It is the only one known with certainty to occur in Ireland, and it is widely spread in that country. In Scotland it is found in Perthshire and Ayrshire, and probably is present in other parts. ”

“ The time of flight is after dark, and the moths occasionally visit the sugar patch. The caterpillar has only eight false legs (prolegs) , the first pair being the absent ones; the body is clothed with tufts of hair, the hairs of the front and rear tufts longer than the others. When full grown it spins a more or less spindle-shaped, toughish cocoon of silk mixed with the larval hairs, which is usually coated with particles scraped from the surface of twig or stem upon which it is spun up.
The Short-cloaked Moth (Nola cucullatella) . ”

“ Fore wings white, largely light brown between the obscure cross lines; outer marginal area clouded, and front margin dotted with light brown; three tufts of raised scales placed as in previous species; hind wings of the male, greyish white, browner on the outer margin; of female, brownish grey. Varies in the amount of light brown, and sometimes this is much reduced; more rarely it disappears entirely (Plate 73) .
The caterpillar varies in colour from ochreous with pink tinge to bone white; the warts are set with pale hairs and those along the back and at each extremity are longest ”