138 LEPinOPTERA. 



clowuwavds, apparently to assist the pupa in moving. (E. 

 I'arfitt.) In a stout strong silken cocoon among the wax on 

 which the larva has fed. Usually a large number of cocoons 

 are massed together. 



The moth is not often seen. It flies at night about old 

 bee-hives, but apparently is more at home on its feet. The 

 speed with which it runs over and among the honeycomb is 

 wonderful, even exceeding the swiftness of the larva, and 

 rendering it a by no means easy insect to capture, though it 

 will not save itself b}^ flyiug away from the comb. Probably 

 this e.itraordinary activity secures it from any attack by 

 the bees, even while in the hive — indeed, no bee could 

 catch it. 



A widely distributed species, yet very often overlooked ; 

 recorded in Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Hants, Dorset, Devon, 

 Cornwall, Berks, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire 

 and Herts ; also iu Yorkshire, but while no records ap)pear 

 for intermediate counties, there is no reason to believe it 

 absent from them. In Wales it has been found near Tenby, 

 but here also it is doubtless well distributed. In Ii'eland it 

 is common, but apparently is not known in Scotland. 

 Abroad it is widely distributed, extending throughout 

 Europe, Western Asia, South Africa and Madeira ; also 

 North and Central America — to which continent it is said to 

 have been introduced about a century ago. 



Genus 2. APHOMIA. 



Antennas simple, normal ; palpi very short iu the male 

 and concealed by long scales ; in the female longer and more 

 distinct ; tongue minute ; abdomen a little flattened, but 

 with the thorax, moderately slender ; fore wings elongated but 

 broad, iu the male having the bases of the costal and sub- 

 costal nervures thickened and hollowed beneath, and the 

 discal cell so enormously extended as to occupy great part 



