THE SMALL RANUNCULUS. 253 



one above ; head wainscot brown dotted with black. It may be 

 found on its food plant from late July to early September. The 

 moth flies in June and July, but seems to have been very rarely 

 met with in the open, although large numbers of the caterpillars, 

 which are frequently " ichneumoned," are collected almost every 

 year. A specimen, recently presented to the Lincoln Museum, 

 is said to have been reared from a caterpillar found on 

 viper's bugloss in the neighbourhood of East Ferry in North 

 Lincolnshire. 



The Small Ranunculus {Hccatcm chrysozojia). 



Except thcit the general grey coloration of the fore wings of 

 this moth (Plate 125, Fig. 2) may be whiter or of a darker grey 

 tint, there is little in the way of variation to refer to. Usually 

 the area between the cross lines is dark grey, sometimes marked 

 with yellow on the reniform and towards the inner margin. A 

 series of yellow dots on the submarginal line is almost always 

 present, but may be absent. The caterpillar is pale reddish 

 brown ; three fine double blackish lines and two rows of black 

 dots on the back ; a fine blackish line along the black spiracles. 

 Head pale brown and glossy. In another form the general 

 colour is some shade of green ; yellowish to olive. It feeds in 

 July and August on the flowers and seeds of the wild lettuce 

 {Lactnca saligiui^ and L. virosa\ hawk's-beard (Crepis)^ and 

 also on those of the garden lettuce. The moth is out ilate in 

 June and July, and at dusk may be seen at the blossoms of 

 various plants in gardens and elsewhere, but seems to be most 

 partial to those of spur- valerian {CeiitrantJius ruber). It is found 

 in the eastern counties, especially in Cambridgeshire ; Surrey, 

 and (rarely) in Sussex and Dorsetshire. Other English counties 

 in which it has been noted are Hertford, Huntingdon, North- 

 ampton, Oxford, Berks, Somerset, and Hereford. 



