THE MANY-PLUME MOTH. 529 



There are nearly thirty species of this genus known to 

 inhabit England, the handsomest of which is certainly the 

 KosE Plume {Pterophorus rhododactylus). This is really a 

 very lovely insect. It is only partially plumed, the upper 

 wings being without any divisions, and only the lower pair 

 feathered. The whole of both wings is rosy pink, except the 

 basal half of the upper wings, which are golden, yellow, white, 

 and the darkest possible chestnut brown. 



The plainest and simplest of all these Moths is probably the 

 Stone Plume [Ptei^ophorus pterodactylus\ which is drawn on 

 Plate XVII. Fig. 6. This insect is simply brown, and the 

 darkest of all the species. The upper wings are without 

 plumes. The habits of all the species are very similar. 



The last of the Plume Moths, and indeed, the last JMoth in 

 our list of British Lepidoptera, is the beautiful little insect 

 which is called various names, only one of which is in any way 

 correct. In some places it is known by the name of the 

 Thousand Plume, in others by that of the Twenty Plume, and 

 in others the Many-Cleft Plume, sometimes abbreviated into 

 Many Plume. This last name is the only one which is correct in 

 any way, and, after all, its correctness is only owing to its vague- 

 ness, which is almost a literal translation of its scientific name, 

 Alucita polydactyla, or the Many-fingered Moth. In real 

 fact the Moth has twenty-four plumes, which radiate from the 

 body, so that, when the insect is at rest, its outline is almost 

 semicircular. 



It is but a little insect, the largest specimen measuring 

 barely half an inch across the outspread wings. In its habits 

 it is quite different to the Plume Moths. They are always to 

 be found in the open air, whereas the Many-Plume Moth is 

 almost invariably taken in outhouses or similar buildings. I have 

 frequently found it on the windows of my own rooms, its peculiai 

 shape immediately betraying it. It can easily be taken by the 

 plan called 'pill-boxing,' i.e. putting an empty pill-box over 

 the Moth, slijDping a piece of card or paper under it, and then 

 putting on the lid of the box as the card is withdrawn. The 

 box can then be put into the laurel bottle, or into a vessel in 

 which a few drops of chloroform have been placed, and in a few 

 minutes a perfect specimen will be at the collector's disposal. 



M M 



