I30 LEPIDOPTERA. 



described ; but even more so in size, specimens of the infre- 

 quent second generation being only about one-third the size, 

 or little more than one-half the expanse of normal specimens, 

 while those which have the good fortune to inhabit sea- 

 marshes and the adjacent ditches, where Scirpv.s maritwms 

 abounds, are so much larger than usual, that, again and again, 

 this form has been mistaken for a novelty, and has only 

 escaped being brought forward as a distinct species, because, 

 excepting size, no single character can be found by which to 

 separate it from the present. 



On the wing from the latter part of May to July ; and a 

 very small and partial second generation in September. 



Larva greenish ; head and dorsal plate both black ; each 

 segment after the second contains six plainly visible blackish 

 spots. (A. Thurnall.) 



April and May on Cypen's lom/us, Juncus conglomeratvs 

 and other rushes, and the large variety on Scirpus maritimus 

 and S. lacustris ; feeding in the stems. Second generation in 

 Ju\y and August. 



Pupa remarkably straight and cylindrical, amber yellow. 

 (R. F. Logan.) In the larval habitation, in a light silken 

 cocoon. 



I have never, so far as I can recollect, walked into a bed 

 of rushes at the proper time of year, without disturbing this 

 species. It tlies out equally vigorously at any time of the 

 day and is on the wing quite late in the night ; and is the 

 most universally present, in suitable places, of any species 

 with which I am acquainted. Not only is this the case 

 throughout England, Wales, and Ireland, but in Scotland it is 

 common in the Shetland Isles, as in all other districts. Abroad 

 it abounds throughout Europe and Northern Africa, also 

 found in North America in Texas, and is said to exist 

 throuo-hout the North Temperate region of the World. There 



