126 Lloyd's natural historv. 



everywhere local, and is very rare in Britain. It expands 

 from an inch and a half to an inch and three-quarters. 



The head is grey with a black collar, and the thorax grey, 

 passing into brownish, with scattered black dots. The legs 

 and abdomen are yellowish-grey, the latter with a rather long 

 anal tuft. The antennas are brown, with white scales. 



i 



The Scarce Black-necked Moth. 



The fore-wings are of a delicate bluish-grey colour, with a 

 reddish shine. The first transverse line consists of black zig-zags, 

 generally interrupted. There are slight traces of a half-line 

 and of a central shade, rising from dark marks on the costa. 

 The reniform stigma consists of several black spots arranged 

 in a crescent, the interspaces being filled in with brown. The 

 second transverse line is whitish, and the marginal area is 

 first light and then dark brown, beyond which is a whitish 

 sub-marginal line. The fringes are unicolorous, bordered with 

 a whitish line, in front of which are small black dots, and 

 minute lunules. The nervures are pale yellowish, and the 

 whole of the surface of the wings is dusted with black atoms. 

 The hind-wings are yellowish-grey, with paler nervures and 

 yellow-bordered fringes. 



The larva lives on the tufted vetch {Vicia cracca) and the 

 wood vetch (K sylvatica), in June and July. When seen 

 from the side it appears of uniform width, but, when looked 

 at from above, it appears to taper to both extremities. It is 

 light brown with a dark brown dorsal stripe, widest on the 



