P YRA USTW.^—MARGARODES;. 2 5 1 



" Larva common and gregarious, feeding on a species of 

 Cassia " ; and at Gibraltar Mr. J. J. Walker found it similarly, 

 feeding on Betama.. 



Pupa apparently undescribed, in a white cocoon under a 

 stone, or attached to the stem of the plant. (A. Schmidt.) 



The moth is said by Mrs. Wollaston to love the grassy 

 slopes of hills, where sometimes it occurs in abundance. 

 In this she refers to St. Helena, where it is common. With 

 us it is so rare that its habits are scarcely observed. In 

 South Africa my sister takes it at the blossoms of peach and 

 apricot in the evening. 



Excessively rare in these Islands ; first recorded as British 

 by J. F. Stephens in his " Illustrations " under the name of 

 diversalis. He says: "The only example I have seen of this 

 beautiful and distinct species is in the collection of the 

 British Museum, it was taken near Bristol, in July 1815." 

 In the year 1856 one was taken in the Isle of Wight and 

 another in Susses ; in 1869 one by the Eev. A. H. Wratislaw 

 at Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk ; in 1877 two were taken near 

 Deal, Kent, by Mr. W. H, Tugwell, both at night, one on a 

 flower of rush, the other on that of hemp-agrimony. With 

 the addition of a specimen obtained in Somerset in 1885, this 

 is the whole number of captures known to me in the British 

 Isles. There is nothing in them to indicate that it is a con- 

 stant resident — these captures seem to indicate only a casual 

 and occasional immigrant. Abroad it has an immense range 

 including almost all Europe, Palestine, Asia Minor, Syria, 

 India, Ceylon, Aden, St. Helena, the Canaries, Madeira, 

 Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, and South Africa ; Mr. E. Meyrick 

 records it in Australia, and speaks of it as " cosmopolitan." 



Genus 9. MARGARODES. 



Antennte simple ; palpi broad, flattened at the sides ; head 

 much flattened above ; thorax smooth ; abdomen shining, 



