THE CRESCENT DART. 205 



Fig. 2, which closely approaches a form figured and described 

 as jadiola by Stephens in 1829. Fig. 5 represents the typical 

 blackish-brown female. Gynandrous specimens, one side 5 

 the other ^ , have been recorded. The caterpillar feeds on 

 dandelion, lettuce, knotgrass, and other low-growing plants, 

 from September to April ; probably full grown before hiberna- 

 tion. The moth, which is out in July and August, sometimes 

 in May, is partial to low-lying, marshy ground and meadows, 

 and is widely distributed over the whole of the south of England, 

 but it is seemingly rare in the north, and still more so in Scotland 

 and Ireland. Barrett states that it has been found commonly in 

 Carmarthenshire, Wales. 



The Crescent Dart {Agrotis {Euxoa) lunigerd). 



Although its position in classification is that of a local form 

 of A. tnix^ Hiibn., this moth, which is figured on Plate 105, 

 Fig.s. I 5 , 2 $ , may here retain the name that was given to it by 

 Stephens in 1829. Except that it has been reported to occur in 

 the north of France, it seems to be peculiar to the British Isles. 

 The earliest known specimens were captured near Cork in 

 Ireland, June, 1826, and it is now found not only on the coasts 

 of Cork and Kerry, but also on the Hill of Howth, near Dublin. 

 In England it occurs in the Isle of Wight, Dorsetshire (Port- 

 land), Devonshire (Torquay), Cornwall, and the Scilly Isles. 

 Reported from Sussex in 1918. In Wales it is to be found above 

 Barmouth, and in various parts of South Wales ; and in Scotland 

 around Edinburgh and on the Moray coast. The moth is out in 

 July and August. Mr. A. E. Gibbs, writing of this species in 

 Cornwall, remarks, "It is generally stated that A. Itoiigera is 

 only to be taken on steep and dangerous clififs, in places where 

 sugaring is by no means a safe occupation ; but its abundance 

 at Polzeath showed that this is not invariably the case. Here 

 it was found on posts and flower heads in the valley at some 



