PYRAUSTID.-E—BOTYS. 185 



Larva dirty white with three bright black warts on each 

 segment ; head black-brown ; dorsal plate yellowish and 

 black-brown, divided by a white stripe. 



May and September in the stems of hop, both wild and 

 cultivated, hemp, Italian-rye, and millet, feeding on the pith. 

 (Hof tnann.) Well known on the Continent from the damage 

 caused bj' it to the millet crop. Schmidt says " the young 

 caterpillar eats a way for itself immediately into the soft 

 stem of the plant, where it feeds on the pith, thereby causing 

 the millet to wither and die. When it has consumed the 

 pith of one plant, it eats into another, proceeding always 

 from the ear towards the root ; and thus at the time of 

 reaping the millet, the caterpillars being near the root, 

 remain in the stubble. Although the caterpillar is fully 

 grown in the autumn, it does not become a pupa till the 

 ensuing spring." 



Pupa light brown ; apparently not further described. 



There has been little opportunity of observing the habits 

 of this species here, since it is one of our rarest insects. 

 From confusion of names it is not easy to make sure of the 

 species intended by some of the only records, but there are 

 specimens of British origin in the collection of the late Mr. 

 H. Doubleday at Bethnal Green Museum, and in that of the 

 late Mr. P. Bond, now in Mr. Sydney Webb's possession at 

 Dover. Moreover there is a definite record, confirmed by 

 Mr. H. T. Staintou, of the capture of two specimens by the 

 Rev. P. H Newnham at Sandown, Isle of Wight, on July 0, 

 1853. On July 9, 1874, 1 had myself the good fortune to cap- 

 ture a male specimen, as it sat in the late evening, attracted 

 apparentljf by a light, on the outside of a window in Peck- 

 ham, South London. Another was taken in June 1891, 

 flying over Silene and other sea-side plants at Hartlepool, 

 Durham, by ]\Ir. .J. Gardner; and there are records of 

 •captures at Manchester, and at Padstow, Cornwall. Abroad 



