l6o THE MOTHS OF THE BRITISH ISLES 



to deal with during hibernation, so that it would always be to 

 the advantage of the rearer to get it through to the perfect state 

 the same year, whenever possible. 



The species is widely distributed over the south and east of 

 England, and South Wales. It occurs in Cheshire in all suit- 

 able places ; in Lancashire it is common on the moorlands, as 

 at Witherslack and Methop, and it is not uncommon near 

 Quernmore, Clougha, and other places, in July. Local and 

 somewhat scarce as a rule in Yorkshire, but recorded as not 

 uncommon in the Scarborough district. In Scotland it is 

 found in Roxburghshire, and northwards to Aberdeen ; and, 

 according to Kane, it is widely spread, although local, in 

 Ireland. 



The Garden Tiger {Arctia caia). 



How frequently the collector has had introduced to his notice, 

 by some non-entomological friend, or worthy cottage dame, a 

 "fine butterfly," only to find that the supposed prize, usually 

 imprisoned under an inverted tumbler, was just an ordinary 

 specimen of the gaudy, but common, Garden Tiger. Few 

 persons living in the country, and at all interested in the natural 

 objects around them, will fail to recognize the portraits on 

 Plate 82 ; other figures, however, on Plate 84 will appear 

 strange, and yet they only portray some of the many forms 

 which the moths assume. Possibly it would be true to say that 

 no two specimens could be found that were exactly identical in 

 tint and marking. Even the markings of any one example are 

 frequently not precisely alike on corresponding wings. Nor- 

 mally the fore wings are white or creamy-white with dark brown 

 markings, and the hind wings are red with deep blue centred 

 black spots, often ringed with yellow. The dark markings of 

 the fore wings are most inconstant in size and in form ; in some 

 cases they are so greatly enlarged that these wings might be 



