326 THE PYRALIDINA. 



more comfortable, the caterpillar spins a cocoon of 

 white silk in which it passes to the pnpa state, and 

 remains concealed here until the time for its appear- 

 ance in Jvily. The perfect insect, which is not un- 

 common about ponds and ditches, is of a white colour, 

 with broad, confluent, dusky bands, and the fringes of 

 the wings ashy- grey. It measures rather more than 

 an inch in expanse. This species is remarkable for 

 the great length of the anterior legs, especially of 

 their coxse. A nearly allied, but smaller species, the 

 H. Lemnata, is still more abundant in June, in the 

 same situations as the above. The caterpillar lives on 

 the lower surface of the common duck-weed (Lemna) 

 and other aquatic plants. 



But although the majority of these insects in their 

 first stage feed upon the leaves of plants, there are 

 some which present a singular exception to this 

 general rule. Thus the caterpillar of the Meal Moth 

 [Pijralis farinalis) lives in meal, flour, &c., and that 

 of the Aglossa pinguinalis feeds upon butter, lard, 

 and other fatty substances, and also upon rotten wood, 

 quitting these however when full-grown, and seeking 

 a convenient spot about the walls in which to undergo 

 their change. 



Notwithstanding the generally nocturnal habits of 

 these Moths, many of the species may be occasionally 

 seen flying in the daytime, and some of them may 

 usually be turned out by disturbing the hedge-plants 

 amongst which they take their repose. A few appear 

 to be strictly diurnal, flying about in the brightest ; 

 sunshine, and settling as soon as the rays of the sun 

 are intercepted by a cloud. The most striking of these 

 are some beautiful Moths forming the genus Pyrausta, 

 of which one (P. purpuralis) is not uncommon in the 



