282 THE MOTHS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



stigmata are outlined in black, but are rarely paler than the 

 ground colour. The caterpillar is reddish brown with yellow 

 and black dots ; three lines along the back, the central one 

 white with a black edging, and the others blackish ; head 

 brown and glossy, marked with black ; a blackish plate on 

 first ring is also glossy, and is followed by a black mark on the 

 next ring, both streaked with white. It feeds on dock, sorrel, 

 and plants of the genus Polyi^oiii/ni, in July and August. The 

 moth fliies in late May and June, sometimes as a second genera- 

 tion in August or September. It occurs more or less commonly 

 in most southern and eastern counties from Oxfordshire. In 

 other parts of England, and in Scotland, it seems to be local or 

 absent. 



The Purple Cloud (Cloantha polyodo7i). 



This moth is figured on Plate 137, Fig. 7. The first recorded 

 IJritish specimen was taken at Yarmouth, in June, 1839. In 

 1855 a specimen, found in a spider's web at Ashford, Hampshire, 

 was exhibited at a meeting, held in May, of the Entomological 

 Society of London. Two specimens were taken in 1892 ; one 

 at Folkestone, Kent, at sugar, and the other outside Norwich, 

 in Norfolk, at a gas lamp. In the Eiitoiiwlogist for 1894, there 

 is a record of a specimen cajitnred at sugar, July, 1891, at 

 Clonbrock, Co. Gal way, Ireland. The species has a wide 

 range abroad, extending eastward to Amurland and Japan. 



The Deep-brown Dart {AporopJiyla lutuknta). 



In the south of England the species (Plate 137, Figs. 9, 10) 

 is generally of a dark brown coloration on the fore wings, and 

 the markings are often indistinct ; but blackish forms also 

 occur, although the latter arc more frequent northwards, and in 

 Scotland and Ireland are the prevailing form of the species. 

 In black or blackish specimens, usually referred to hmeburgensis^ 



