2 54 LEPIDOPTERA. 



white, ringed with black ; undei^surface, legs and prolegs 

 green. Rather variable, the dorsal line being sometimes 

 indistinct, and the subdorsal very obscure ; or the ground 

 colour is pale purple or yellow-green. 



March or April to June on sallow, willow, fennel, straw- 

 berry, Artcmcsia, Se/Tatula, and herbaceous plants generally. 

 Very fond of the blossoms of garden flowers, and apparently 

 of yellow flowers, whether cultivated or wild ; I have noticed 

 its liking for the handsome yellow blossoms of Eschscholtzia 

 Californica, in the hollow of which it will lie through the 

 day and eat the petals at night. The winter is passed 

 in the egg state. 



Pupa stout and rather short ; eye-covers shining, prominent ; 

 limb-covers very closely packed and smooth, but dull with 

 fine sculpture of incised lines ; wing-covers more completely 

 covered with this fine sculpture, which becomes distinct and 

 in strong lines toward the margins ; dorsal and abdominal 

 seo-ments very glossy, with but little sculpture ; cremaster 

 conical and armed with two strongly recurved bristles, which 

 are surrounded by others much smaller. In a tough silken 

 cocoon among leaves, rubbish, or earth. 



The moth likes to hide itself during the day in buildings, 

 comes into windows and hides among curtains or in corners, 

 running nimbly away when disturbed. In woods it will sit 

 on trunks of trees rather high up, always keeping a bright 

 outlook, and I know hardly anything more comical than the 

 action of this moth, when sitting on a pine tree at a dozen or 

 twenty feet from the ground, as it watches the intruding 

 collector and edges sideways round the tree-trunk, obviously 

 tryiuo- both to keep watch upon and elude him. When this 

 fails it will fly to another tree and try the same tactics. It 

 hides also under thatch, in sheds, and under any convenient 

 shelter, also in holes in trees, which probably are its more 

 especial haunts. At dusk it will come to sugar, though not 

 abundantly, frequents flowing sap of trees, honeydew, ragwort 



