STIGMONOTID^—SEMASIA. 165 



Devon, Somerset, Essex, Cambs, Herefordshire and Wor- 

 cestershire. So far as I know this is the extent of its range 

 in these Islands. Abroad it is found through Southern and 

 Central Europe, and in Asia Minor. 



3. S. obscurana, 8tc^h ; ravulana, E.-8. ; tomiana, 

 Ze//.— Expanse \ inch (12 mm.). Wholly obscure brown- 

 black, except a faintly paler double dorsal blotch. 



Antenna black-brown; palpi, head, and thorax grey- 

 black ; abdomen black. Fore wings rather narrow, costa 

 gently arched, apex bluntly angulated ; dark grey-brown 

 or black-brown ; costa faintly dotted with white ; on the 

 middle of the dorsal margin is a faint obscure upright blotch 

 formed of two contiguous dusky grey streaks ; before the 

 hind margin is a faint curved white line ; cilia grey-black. 

 Hind wings, with their cilia, smoky-black. Female similar. 



Undersides of all the wings pale leaden-grey. 



On the wing in May and -June. 



Larva apparently unknown. 



A very rare species with us, and one of which the habits 

 are but little known. It certainly flies in the afternoon 

 sunshine, usually around and over trees, and seems to be 

 more particularly attached to birch. Originally described 

 by the late J. T. Stephens in his " Illustrations," but lost 

 sight of, and introduced as a new species, under the name of 

 rcmidana, in 1867. It seems to be confined to woods and 

 woody heaths, and may probably prove in time to be well 

 distributed in this country. It has hitherto been taken 

 rarely in Kent, Sussex, and Essex ; more frequently in 

 Norfolk, and casually in Lancashire and Yorks. In Scot- 

 land a single specimen has been taken in the Edinburgh 

 district and another is reported from Renfew. In Ireland 

 Colonel Partridge has taken a lovely specimen near Ennis- 

 killen, and it is said to have occurred at Killarney. Abroad 



