142 LEFID OP TERA . 



and cilia white, shaded with brown. Hind wings pale 

 smoky brown, shading to white at the base ; cilia white. 

 Female very different, rather smallrr ; the fore wings without 

 fold, black, mottled with blue-black and reddish-brown ; 

 dorsal spot much smaller and squared, ocellus rather 

 obscured ; costal dots smaller ; hind wings brown-black with 

 white cilia. 



Underside of the fore wings of the male smoky black, 

 shading to white on the dorsal and hind margins ; costal 

 Avhite dots very large, undivided. Hind wings white with 

 black dusting in front. Female black or smoky black, with 

 white costal dots. 



On the wing from the end of May till July, 



Larva bright pink, paler beneath ; head heart-shaped 

 shining black ; dorsal plate also shining black, with the 

 anterior margin pale, also divided by the dorsal line ; anal 

 plate oval, shining black ; raised dots oval, shining brown. 

 (Wilkinson.) 



From the autumn till May on various thistles, especially 

 those growing in wet places — Cnicus palustris, C. lanceolatvs, 

 Carduus nvtans and other large species, feeding when young 

 in the axils of the leaves, or in the flower-heads ; later in the 

 stem, in which also it passes the winter. 



Pupa about five lines long, dark brown, in a rough cocoon 

 of white silk mixed with the gnawed pith, in old thistle 

 stems. (Wilkinson.) 



This handsome moth is almost always to be found near the 

 large strong growing thistles, and very commonly in damp 

 places, but hides either in them or in an}- other rough plants, 

 and is readily stirred up bj^ the footstep in the dajtime, 

 dashing boldly away with a fine and striking appearance. At 

 dusk it flies freely, and the female is then more commonly 

 seen. Common in wild, rough open ground, especially when 

 partly marshy, also in open woods, and to be found throughout 



