132 LEPIDOPTERA. 



Here it sits on the little rush-like plants of ElcocUaris 

 acicularis and E. 'pahistrk and flies quietly about them in the 

 afternoon, continuing briskly on the wing till sunset and 

 near dusk. A very obscure-looking little species and easily 

 overlooked ; abundant where it occurs and very probably to 

 be found, if searched for, in many districts from which we 

 have, at present, no records ; since a little wet spot at the 

 edge of a pond furnishes it with plenty of space in which to 

 exist. Known to occur in Kent, Sussex, the Isle of Wight, 

 Wilts, Devon, East Cornwall, in Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, 

 Cambs, Leicestershire, Cheshire, and Yorkshire ; in Wales I 

 find it in plenty at Pembroke ; in Scotland it is on record 

 from the Edinburgh district, Perthshire, Argyll, Arran, and 

 Renfrew ; and Mr. A. F. Griffiths found it " abundantly in a 

 marshy hole in one of the Hebrides." In Ireland it is re- 

 ported from Kerry, Cork, and Donegal. Abroad it is dis- 

 tributed through Central Europe, Spain, Central Italy, Rou- 

 mania, Sweden, and Southern Russia ; and in North America 

 it is said to occur in Massachusetts. 



Genus 23. PiEDISCA. 



Antenna thick, closely notched, ciliated ; palpi rather long, 

 slender, drooping ; thorax smooth ; fore wings somewhat 

 elongated and bluntly pointed ; costa folded from the base ; 

 hind wings ample, furnished with a ridge of hair-scales upon 

 the median nervure. 



We have four species. 



A. Fore wings slate-black with two black dorsal spots. 



P. o'pli t ha Irii ica na. 

 A-. Fore wings dull brown, with a large, sharply defined 

 dorsal blotch. P- soJandriana. 



A^. Fore wings shining silky brown with various markings. 



P. scmifmcana. 



