I02 LEPIDOPTERA. 



yellow belt being faintly visible, but broken ; antennae faintly 

 yellowish beneath. 



A variety has been found, though rarely, in which the 

 yellow belts are absent. On the wing in June and the 

 beginning of July. 



Larva five-eighths to three-quarters of an inch long. Head 

 broad, slightly flattened ; body pellucid, plump, smooth, and 

 shining, tapering a little to the tail. Head and narrow 

 dorsal plate reddish-brown ; body dirty brownish-white, with 

 the dark grey internal vessel showing, as a dorsal line, to the 

 tenth segment ; anal plate yellow ; some minute black dots 

 above the spiracles (Buckler). Burrowing in the thickest 

 part of the root-stock of sorrel and dock {Rumecc acetosa, 

 R. acetosella, B. crispus, B. obtusifolius). Full fed in May, 

 but probably feeds during two years. 



Pupa long, and rather even in thickness, antenna-cases 

 prominent and but slightly attached, glossy chestnut, with 

 the hinder segments rather darker. In the upper part of 

 the burrow of the larva, in the root, in a cocoon of silk and 

 gnawed material, the top of which is sometimes raised above 

 the top of the root, forming a sort of dome on the surface of 

 the ground. 



The moth emerges from the pupa in the forenoon, and 

 flies in the midday sunshine, when, from its brilliant colour, 

 it is far more conspicuous than most of its allies. It also 

 frequents the flowers of UmhelliferK occasionally, and has 

 been taken over those of Ecliium vulgare, and about plants 

 of sorrel and dock. 



It appears to have been noticed in this country as early as 

 1802, but the records are not very clear, and that of the cap- 

 ture of a specimen " in a thick grove " seems too glaringly 

 contrary to the known habits of the moth to be at all pro- 

 bable. The capture of a specimen near Haslar Hospital was 

 recorded in 1851, and in 1856 one was taken between Dover 



