This pretty moth is peculiar to the Islands, measuring
rather more than two inches across the wings. It is
red in colour, the hind-wings being brighter than the
fore-wings. These latter are marked with longitudinal
dark stripes in the female, dark spots being substituted for
the stripes in the male. The head is dark red, shading off
to lighter red on the richly-feathered body. The antennæ
are red, being thicker and more feathered in the male than
the female. The caterpillars are brown, thickly covered
with long silky hairs, and are found mostly in barrancos,
feeding on the dock and sorrel singly. They are also
found in gardens, feeding somewhat indiscriminately on
cabbage or hollyhock. When kept in captivity they can
be reared on cabbage, and after attaining their full size
of about one and a half inches, they make a slight hairy
cocoon under a thin covering of earth. The caterpillar
stage lasts about twenty days. They are found in
January and hibernate in the pupa state till well on in
the summer, sometimes as late as October or November,
though some taken in January were brought to England
and turned to moths on the 24th of June following.
After being kept for a time the chrysalides become a
very dark brown, almost black, so that there is a temptation
to throw them away as dead, since they show
so little life; but on opening the hard, stick-like skin,
the creature is found to be quite fresh.