76 LEPIDOPTERA. 



When young paler yellow, striped longitudinally with 

 slate-grey; and sometimes this becomes the ground colour 

 at full growth, the dorsal and subdorsal lines being then 

 indicated in cloudy darker grey. 



April to July or August upon the pith of stems of 

 burdock, thistles of various kinds, ragwort, hemp-agrimony, 

 mullein, figwort {Scroj^hnlaria aquatica), foxglove, fleabane, 

 ground-elder, millfoil, angelica, nettle and even potato, 

 feeding only within the stems, filling the space behind it 

 with its excrement, and moving when necessary to another 

 stem. 



The winter is passed in the egg state. 



Pupa rather slender, the abdomen much elongated ; head 

 produced in front into a sort of beak — apparently for forcing 

 its way out of its habitation — yellow-brown dusted with 

 black, edges of wing-covers and of segments paler ; anal 

 segment tapering to a point, and armed with two short 

 spikes. In the stem in which it has fed as a full-grown 

 larva, the passage having been somewhat enlarged to furnish 

 sufficient room for the change ; often at about three inches 

 from the ground. 



The moth seems to hide among herbage in the daytime, 

 and is then rarely observed, though sometimes it sits on the 

 stem from which it has just emerged. It flies at dusk, and 

 comes to light, but does not seem to be attracted by flowers 

 or food of any kind. It appears to be present in all parts of 

 England and Wales, and in many districts abundantly, espe- 

 cially so where burdock and thistles grow in plenty. In 

 Scotland it is common in the Edinburgh district and in 

 Perthshire, and is found so far as the Clyde "S'alley in the 

 West, and Aberdeen in the East. In Ireland the only definite 

 records seem to be in the counties of Wicklow, Galway, and 

 Sligo, but it must surely occur more generally in that 

 country. Abroad it has a wide range — Central Europe, 

 South Sweden, North Italy, Livonia, Corsica, South Russia, 



