THE CINNABAR. 17 I 



parasitical flies and other enemies. Anyway, the Crimson 

 Speckled seems quite unable to increase and multiply to any 

 extent even for a season in any part of England. Along the 

 African and European borders of the Mediterranean there are 

 evidently several generations of the moth in each year ; the 

 life cycle of the summer broods being short, but more protracted 

 in the later brood. Brcwnlow states that egj^s laid on October 

 20, hatched on the 22nd of the same month, and the caterpillar 

 stage lasted until P^ebruary of the following year. Distribution : 

 Southern Europe, Africa, Canaries, Madeira ; Asia Minor, 

 Armenia, Central Asia ; India, and Australia. 



Meyrick and others refer this species to Uic/hc/sa, Hiibn. 



,vJ/'<^" .j,C! The Cinnabar {Hipocrita Jacobcece). 



\^^ This species was named the Cinnabar by Wilkes in 1773, 

 such name of course referring to the more or less vermillion 



^ colour of the hind wings and the markings on the greyish black 

 fore wings. The hind wings are often pinkish in tint, and 

 probably it was to such specimens that Moses Harris yave the 

 name " Pink Underwing."' Ver)' rarely the stripe on the front 

 ^n\'i^c of the fore wings unites with the upper hind marginal 

 spot ; still less frequently there are some crimson scales in 

 addition connecting the two hind marginal spots. A specimen 

 has been recorded from Hants in which the usual red colour is 

 replaced by bright )ellow. The moth is shown on Plate 92, 

 Figs. I, 2, and the earl)- stages on Plate 93, Fig. i. 



The caterpillar is orange yellow and each ring is banded with 

 purplish black ; the scanty hairs are short and blackish in 

 colour. Head black. Feeds in July and August on ragwort 

 {Senecio jacobccci) and sometimes occurs in such numbers as to 

 completely clear large patches of the plant of e\ cry j^article of 

 green, leaving nothing but the tougher portions of the bare 

 stems. 



