THE ROSY MARSH MOTH. 217 



to tlie hills and mountains of North Wales, and found chiefly at 

 Llangollen, Penmaenmawr, and Snowdon. The colour of the 

 fore wings varies from pale dove colour to dark slaty grey. 

 The caterpillar is blackish, or dark slate colour, with two series 

 of velvety black spots, or dashes along the back ; head reddish 

 brown. It feeds on various low-growing plants, among which 

 are rock- rose, wild thyme, sheep's sorrel, bedstraw, etc. Towards 

 the end of April, in Flint, they feed freely and crawl about their 

 food plants in the day time as well as at night (E. W. H. Blagg). 

 The moth has been reared ia. November and December from 

 eggs found in July, about the second week ; the caterpillars 

 having been supplied mainly with sallow, with the addition of 

 dock, groundsel, plantain, and knot grass (R. Tait). On another 

 occasion moths were bred in October from eggs laid by a female 

 reared from caterpillars taken in North Wales in the spring 

 (A. Harrison). The moth is out in July and August and in its 

 rugged haunts, may be disturbed from among the loose rubble, 

 and from chinks in the rocks ; but as they come freely to 

 sugared herbage, captives in this way would probably be more 

 numerous. Discovered at Llangollen in 1853, by Mr. Joseph 

 Ash worth after whom it was named by Doubleday in 1855. 



Note. — Barrett mentions the following Agrotids as having 

 occurred in the British Isles. 



A. crassa, Hiibn., "one specimen in the cabinet of Mr. S. 

 Stevens." A. spi)iifcra^ Hiibn., a specimen taken in the Isle of 

 Man, August, 1869. A.fennica, Tauscher, a specimen recorded 

 in the Zoologist for 1850, as captured in Derbyshire. 



The Rosy Marsh Moth {Noctua {Co^nophild) snbrosca). 



The last two moths were respectively productions of Scotland 

 and Wales ; the present one is exclusively English, at least it 

 was, because now and for perhaps the last fifty years it has been 

 extinct in its old fenny haunts at Whittlesea, in Cambridgeshire. 



