S riGMONO TIDAL— A S J HEN I A . 185 



incomplete; hinder area faintly speckled with yellowish 

 dots ; cilia brownish white. Hind wings and their cilia 

 smoky brown. Female similar or rather more distinctly 

 marked. 



Underside leaden brown; costa of fore wings faintly dotted 

 with white. 



On the wing from the end of June till August. 



Larva slender, dark red-brown, with black head and 

 undivided dorsal plate ; when full grown, dirty yellow. 

 (Ratzeburgh.) 



April and May, mining the leaves (needles) of Pinus abies 

 and F.picea, hollowing out five to eight needles and spinning 

 them together. (Sorhagen.) Assuming the pupa state in a 

 cocoon among the fallen fir-needles or in the ground. 



The moth hides during part of the day, often all day, 

 in the branches of spruce fir {Pimts abies), frequently in great 

 numbers in the lower branches or in stunted bushes, but in 

 the afternoon sunshine will fly about the outer branches and 

 twigs. Yet by no means so active as previous species, and 

 often sluggish, flying back to the thick shelter of the spruce 

 twigs at once, when beaten out. Sometimes very abundant, 

 and probably to be found, wherever spruce fir occurs, through- 

 out England and the Lowlands of Scotland to the hills of 

 Perthshire, but I have no record for Wales and for Ireland 

 only in Antrim. Abroad it seems to be common throughout 

 Central and Northern Europe. 



12. A. vacciniana, FiscJi.— Expanse f inch (10 mm.). 

 Fore wings narrow, with two large whitish transverse 

 clouds ; outer margin of dark basal blotch rounded. 



Antennee black-brown; palpi whitish brown; head dull 

 pale ochreous ; thorax black-brown dusted with white ; 

 abdomen dull black-brown. Fore wings narrow, costa flatly 

 arched, apex bluntly angulated ; basal blotch large, black- 



