TRTFID^. 369 



Th(? moth often sits quite exposed in the daytime upon 

 stiff plants such as knapweed, though it doubtless usually 

 hides among herbage. At dusk it comes willingly to sugar, 

 honeydew, the flowing sap of a bleeding tree, ripe black- 

 berries, and the flowers of ragwort, nettle, and hop, and does 

 not despise rotten apples where obtainable, but is rarely 

 taken at light. It seems to be scarce in Cornwall, and 

 uncommon or local in Dorset, but is found throughout 

 England and Wales, and in many districts in plenty. In 

 Scotland I find no record farther north than Dumbartonshire, 

 Perthshire, Inverness-shire, and Moray ; in Ireland it is widely 

 distributed in Kerry, Waterford, Wicklow, Galway, West- 

 meath, Sligo, Monaghan, Tyrone, Armagh, Antrim, Donegal, 

 and Londonderry. Abroad it has an immense range, through 

 Central Europe, South Sweden, Finland, Livonia, Northern 

 Italy, Southern Russia, Armenia, Eastern Siberia, the moun- 

 tain regions of Central Asia, British Columbia, Canada, the 

 north of New York State, and other portions of the Northern 

 and Eastern United States of America. 



4. X. aurago, >S'c/w/.— Expanse 1| to U inch. Fore 

 wings broad behind but pointed and fairly retuse, yellow 

 or orange with a purple band at the base, a very broad one 

 along the hind margin, and two or three cloudy spots between. 

 Hind wings yellowish-white shaded with purple-red. 



Antennae of the male simple, but prettily ciliated with 

 minute tufts of fine bristles simulating pectinations, purple- 

 red ; palpi rather porrected, broadly tufted, purplish-orange, 

 apical joint rather distinct, paler ; eyes black ; head thickly 

 tufted, bright orange ; collar similar but edged with purple ; 

 remainder of the thorax orange-yellow shaded with purple, 

 more distinctly so at the back, where are two small flattened 

 points ; fascicles yellowish-white ; basal portion of the abdo- 

 men abundantly covered with similar long scales ; remainder 

 pale purplish-ochreous, on the dorsal ridge are purple spots 

 imitating crests; lateral and anal tufts spreading, deeper 



VOL. V. 2 A 



