SATVh'/n.!:. 237 



any rate to so greatly !<lope its closed wint-s as to appear 

 prostrate. Occasionally it will settle ou bracken or lieatii, or 

 on dead leaves, but never seems to remain for a moment with 

 wings opened. Where fir woods exist in its haunts it sits 

 often upon their trunks, and is said even to sip the resinous sap 

 exuding from them. Mr. McLachlan has noticed specimens 

 so engaged in the darkest portions of the forest of Fontaine- 

 bleau, in France ; and Mr. H. Goss has seen them on the fir 

 trees in the New Forest, highly appreciative of the sugary 

 mixture placed on the trees on the previous evening to 

 attract Noctu®. Yet it never seems to frequent flowers for 

 their nectar, nor does the most intense heat drive it from its 

 favourite stony haunts, nor induce it to seek moisture in 

 cooler or damper spots. All it appears to care for is to sit in 

 a hot place and be baked ; so seldom does it fly of its own 

 accord that scores may be around and not one visible until 

 disturbed. Found in suitable places in all parts of the 

 United Kingdom, except perhaps the extreme north and the 

 Scottish Isles, but hardly ever seen on rich, cultivated land. 



Abroad it is abundant throughout the temperate regions of 

 Europe, North Africa, and Northern and Western Asia. 



Genus 4. PARARGE. 



Antennas moderately long with a narrow or somewhat 

 spatulate club ; head, palpi, and eyes hairy ; fore wings 

 rounded and having the sub-costal and median nervures 

 dilated near the base ; hind wings slightly elongated, with 

 faintly scalloped margins. 



Larv^ smooth and elongated ; with two anal points. 



PuP^ stout, angulated, with two points to the head ; 

 suspended by the tail. 



1. P. ^geria, Z.— Expanse, If to 2 inches. Dark 



