70 THE entomologist's kecokd. 



a tendency to produce a common form of variation for purpones of pro- 

 tection, as this specimen of citrcKjo came from Keading where the 

 handed form of aurago is very ahmidant. Tlie pale yellow form of 

 this species is the type, the richer coloured orange form being known 

 as var. aurantiago, whilst that in which the central line becomes fascia- 

 ted is the suhflava of Eversmann recorded by Staudinger from " Ural 

 and Petropolis." The imago hides away in the day among the leaves 

 and herbage beneath or near the lime trees, flies at night al)out the 

 trees, and is best taken by sugaring the twigs of the trees. This 

 species does not hybernate. It lays its eggs in the autumn, on the buds 

 of the lime, and these hatch with the bursting of the buds in sjiring. 

 They live at fii'st in the buds, but the young larva> soon leave these (in 

 early May) and may then be found between two flat leaves of lime, 

 \vhich have been fastened by silk, or otherwise the leaf is doubled over 

 in part on itself. By standing under the trees so as to get the leaves 

 between the eye and the sky, the young larvae may l)e readily detected. 

 They come out to feed at night and can then be beaten. IMr. Fenn says 

 tliat they do not always hide between leaves, but go into crevices of 

 bark, etc. This is now sujDposed to be a difference of habit due to 

 a difference of age, the wandering haliit increasing as the larvae get 

 full-fed. The larva forms its cocoon in the flrst Aveek of June, but 

 does not pupate for nearly t^vo months after doing so, the moth appear- 

 ing in September or October. Captain Robertson states that Mr. 

 Holland found a larva of this species feeding on *' nut " (Ent. Bee, i.. 

 p. 342). 



Citrago appears to occcur in almost all our English counties, and is 

 so abundant in some Yorkshire localities, that one is astonished not to 

 find records from Scotland. It occurs in Ireland, being recorded from 

 county Wicklow. I have, however, never seen Irish specimens and 

 cannot say if they differ from those obtained in England. Staudingei- 

 gives as the range of the siiecies : — " Central and Northern Europe 

 (except Polar Region) ; Pj'renees ; Piedmont ; S. and E. Russia." 



Xanthia aurwjo. — Although this species is certainly not so closely 

 allied to flavago, fidvago and gilvago as they are to each other, yet it is 

 much more closely allied to them than to either of the species Ave have 

 already considered. The different arrangement of the darker colour in 

 the formation of bands gives a very different general a^^pearance to 

 this species, but the arrangement of the transverse lines, etc., closely 

 approximates, and so it does in other particulars. Very few of us had 

 any idea of the beautiful forms this sjiecies Avas capable of producing 

 until Mrs. Bazett, Mr. Holland and other Reading lepidopterists 

 supplied us freely Avith the species. It is a very variable species, 

 much more so than any other of its congeners, the only other really 

 A'arial>le Xanthia being fnhago. The palest form of the ground colour 

 of this species is a clear primrose yelloAv, in some rather inclining to 

 Avhite. From this it passes through pale orange to a rich orange tint, 

 richer and redder than the tint of croceago. I once saw one of the 

 pale yelloAv specimens Avith scarcely the faintest trace of a dark mark. 

 This Avas taken by Mr. Chittenden near Ashford in Kent, and I believe 

 that no specimen of this form has ever been captured among the 

 hundreds taken by the Reading collectors. Generally speaking, the 

 ground coloiu* is confined to the central area, the basal s^iace and the 

 outer area (beyond the elboAved line) being of a darker hue. This darker 

 colour is generally red, but occasionally deep i)urple, the bands of either 

 colour contrasting strongly Avhen the ground colour is pale yelloAv, but the 



