TRIFID^. 261 



a cocoou, but this is not, so far as I can ascertain, the rule. 

 The cocoon is usually formed on the surface of the ground 

 among vegetable refuse. 



This moth is one of the most local of our species. With 

 us it has hitherto only been found on the north coast of 

 Devon, in rocky places near Lynmouth, It was there dis- 

 covered in the year 1861, by the late Eev. E. Horton of 

 Worcester. His account of its habits, though short, is in- 

 teresting : " The moth, when disturbed in the daytime, Hies 

 rapidly for a short distance, and buries itself among the 

 grass and low plants ; the best time to take it is in the even- 

 ing, from 8.30 to 9.30, when it flies slowly and steadily, and 

 spends most of its time in sucking the sweets, or bitters, of 

 the Wild sage (its great favourite), the Hemp agrimony, and 

 other flowers. I once took three at one sweep on a tuft of 

 wild sage. When captured it is quiet in the net, and does 

 not knock itself about in a pill-box. A female which I kept 

 for eggs was still a good specimen a week after her capture. 

 The eggs are globular, flattened at one pole, and ribbed 

 from pole to pole as with raised meridians ; at first white, 

 then dirty-white. They are probably dropped loosely 

 among the herbage, for a female confined in a roomy 

 box scattered them broadcast about the bottom, although 

 a sprig of the food-plant was kept fresh in a bottle for 

 her use." Still found in the same district, sometimes not 

 uncommonly. 



Abroad it inhabits many portions of Central and Southern 

 Europe, Livonia, Asia Minor, Armenia, Tartary, Kirghistan, 

 and the mountain regions of Central Asia to North-Western 

 India. 



Genus 63. ACOSMETIA. 



Antennee simple, almost naked ; eyes naked, without 

 lashes ; thorax narrow, smooth, without crests ; abdomen 

 short and slender, not crested ; fore wings short, broad, and 



