LARENTID.-E—SCOTOSIA. 319 



spike on the sides of which are small hoops (Hofmann). 

 Only a few weeks in this state, in the ground in a cocoon of 

 earth and silk. 



The moth hides during the day in holes and corners, under 

 timber, and sometimes about buildings, and is not easily 

 found at that time. In some parts of the coast, where it is 

 abundant, it will conceal itself in multitudes in caves in the 

 rocks, but otherwise its hiding places are well chosen, and 

 it is seldom observed. At dusk and at night it flies a little, 

 and has been taken at the flowers of ragwort and clematis, 

 at heather-bloom, ivy-blossom, and about autumn flowers in 

 gardens, also at light, yet is not usually much in evidence in 

 the autumn. In spring it is quite frequently met with — 

 will come to sallow-bloom, or may often be taken flying 

 along hedges at dusk. It still exists in the London suburbs, 

 and occurs almost throughout England — though I find no 

 record from Durham or Northumberland ; in some parts of 

 the Midlands it is common. Doubtless, this is the case also 

 in Wales, since Mr. Vivian records it in Glamorganshire, I 

 have found it flying in the gardens in Pembroke, and 

 it is recorded from Denbigh and Flint. But in Scotland it 

 seems not to occur far beyond the extreme south ; I have 

 seen it from Roxburghshire and Wigtownshire, and Dr. 

 White recorded it only from the districts of the Tay and 

 Solwaj'. In Ireland it has been taken in Dublin County, in 

 Wicklow, Galway, Louth, and Deny, therefore has probably 

 a wider distribution. Abroad its range is through Central 

 Europe, Northern Italy, Sicily, Livonia, Finland, Roumania, 

 Armenia, Central and Western China, and Japan ; also in 

 North America, found in Canada, Maine, Massachusetts, and 

 California. Large and handsome examples from this last 

 locality and from Vancouver are known under the varietal 

 name of ha-^itata. 



b. S. certata, Ifuh. — Expanse U to LJ inch. Fore 

 wings broad, not silky, crenulated behind ; pale purple- 



