256 LEPIDOFTERA. 



in furze and in bracken fern, and the male is readily dis- 

 turbed by the footstep, especially in the afternoon sunshine. 

 Towards dusk it flies of its own accord and the female may 

 then be taken. Individuals of this sex may be found, not 

 rarely, sitting upon tree-trunks and palings. Plentiful in 

 many parts of the coast and in chalky districts ; formerly to 

 be found in the southern suburbs of London, though now 

 apparently absent ; still locally common throughout the 

 Southern and Eastern Counties to Herts, Oxfordshire, and 

 Norfolk ; also in Gloucestershire, Derbyshire, Cheshire, 

 Lancashire, and Yorkshire ; but I do not know of its occur- 

 rence in Wales. In Scotland it has been found rarely in 

 the east near Aberdeen and Inverurie ; in Ireland in Kerry, 

 Sligo, and Antrim. Abroad distributed through Holland, 

 North-west Germany, Southern Spain, Sardinia, Greece, the 

 Canaries, and Asia Minor. 



Genus 3. SCIAPHILA. 



Antennae thickened, simple ; palpi porrected but diver- 

 gent, moderately thick ; fore wings devoid of the costal 

 fold, elongated, often rather glistening ; a small tuft of fine 

 hair-scales occupies the middle of the base of the hind 

 wings. Sexes fairly similar. 



The species in this genus are singularly difticult and un- 

 satisfactory of definition from the utter instability of the 

 markings and shades of colour ; consequenth- authorities 

 differ widely as to which forms may be considered to be 

 fixed species and which only permanent varieties. I do not 

 presume to say that the following series of species is con- 

 clusive, it is only the result forced upon my own mind by 

 constant observation and study of them for many years. 

 An attempt at a table of the species maj- be of some use. 



A. Fore wings ver}' long and narrow, hind margin very 



oblique, markings conspicuous. 



B. Ground colour white. S. hella.na. 



