34 IIAU.STEI.T.ATA. I.El'lDOPTKRA. 



All the species of this elegant genus are remarkable for the lively 

 purple tinges -which adorn their wings, which, added to the rich con- 

 trast of their golden yellow markings, renders them very conspicuous: 

 they are of small size, frequent grassy hedges, and gambol (as so 

 usual with gaily coloured insects) in the bright sunshine : they are 

 mostly double brooded, the first brood appearing towards the end of 

 May, and the second about the middle of August. 



A. Wings of dull and sombre colours, sometimes enlivened with bright spots 



and fasciae: — Leimonia, Huhner. 

 Sp. 1. cespitalis. Alls aniicis nigricante-fuscis, Jlavo nebiihsis et strigatis, 

 posticis nigricantibus strigis dunhiisjlavis. (Exp. Alar. 6 — 7 lin.) 



Ph. cespitalis. Fahricius. — Pyr. cespitalis. Steph. Catal. ii. 162. No. 6795. 



Anterior wings dusky-brown, with one or two small yellowish clouds or spots 

 towards the costa, and a nearly continuous slightly waved streak of a lighter 

 tint behind the middle, thickened towards the costa ; on the hinder margin 

 is a flavescent cloud, sometimes almost forming a streak; posterior wings 

 darker, with two rather distinct streaks, one in the middle, the other on the 

 hinder margin ; the base sometimes with a yellowish cloud: cilia brown, 

 with the tips whitish. 



In some examples the yellowish clouds on the wings are rather obscure. 

 Not uncommon in chalky districts at the end of June and middle 



of August, especially in the neighbourhood of Dover and Darenth 



Wood : also taken at Hertford, Ripley, Coombe Wood, &c. 



" Arthur's Seat."— i?eu. W. Little. 



Sp. 2. sordidalis. AUs cinereo-f users, nebulis sirigisque pallidioribus , posticis 

 fascia pone medium, strigaque tenuissimd marginis posiici albo-Jlavescentibus. 

 (Exp. Alar. 7— 8 lin.) 



Py. sordidahs. Hubner.—Vyr. sordidalis. Steph. Catal. ii. 163. No. 6796. 



Wings ashy-brown, clouded with pale ashy-yellow, and an indistinct streak 



of the same towards the hinder margin of the anterior ; posterior darker, 



with a whitish-yellow streak behind the middle and a very slender one of 



the same tint on the hinder margin itself, which last is sometimes edged by 



a slender dusky line ; cilia ashy-brown. 

 In some cases the wings are nearly concolorous, the clouds and strigae being 



nearly obliterated. 

 It is supposed that this insect is only the female of the foregoing ; but I 



possess the sexes of both : it is, however, possible it may be a mere 



variety. 



Found in similar places with the foregoing in June and August; 

 less frequently. 



