ACIDALIID.f.—ACinALIA. 37 



short black mark and this again with a white one, the black 

 markings becoming more and more developed towards the 

 twelfth segment ; the dorsal diamonds much more faint and 

 none of them clouded or merged together ; the anterior pairs 

 of tubercular dots black and the hinder pairs white, finelj- 

 ringed with black. 



September till May, and a second generation in July or 

 August, very irregular in its time of feeding ; on dandelion, 

 especially the withered leaves, also those of knotgrass and 

 Cmtranthus n'hrr ; probably on many kinds of withered leaves. 



Pupa stout, the head rather truncate ; anal segments 

 tapering considerably ; eyes very prominent ; aual extremity 

 provided with hooked bristles ; pale brown, dotted, dusted, 

 and shaded with dark brown. In a slight cocoon of silk and 

 earth, among rubbish, or immediately under the surface of 

 the ground. (C. Fenn.) 



This little moth is one of our most common and familiar 

 objects. Here in London, especially, where species are few, 

 this one places itself conspicuously in evidence. It hangs 

 in the daytime by its rather long legs, with vrings flat- 

 tened, to any weed, flowering-plant or shrub in the garden, 

 or balances itself against the garden-wall. If disturbed it 

 has a rather buzzing flight, actively looking for a similar 

 hiding-place close by, and by no means alarmed by the 

 intrusion ; at dark it flits in the quietest manner about the 

 bushes, never ascending to any great height above the 

 ground and keeping to the corner in which it has made itself 

 at home. Away from gardens it is equally common in lanes, 

 hedges, and waste spots, but does not so much frec[uent 

 woods ; abundant in the South and East of England, and 

 moderately so in the West except perhaps Cornwall, where 

 it is said to be scarce ; rather more local in the Midland 

 Counties, but becoming again common towards the North, 

 even to the borders of Scotland. Strange to say I can find 

 no record for Wales, nor can I recollect that I ever saw it in 



