252 LEPIDOPTERA. 



and coast districts of the South of England, it is said to feed 

 on Cyiioglossum officinale (Hound's-tongue), and also on sting- 

 ing nettle ; but in the fens of Cambridgeshire its favourite 

 food is ^Salix rcpcns, though it greedily eats blackthorn, 

 bramble, other species of sallow, groundsel, meadowsweet 

 {Spircea uhnaria), and various other low growing plants. 



Pupa stout ; head blunt and rounded ; tail having several 

 stout bristles placed side by side ; dark red, shaded on the head 

 back and abdomen with blackish. In a slight cocoon of white 

 silk among leaves and rubbish on the ground. (C. Fenn.) 



The moth appears to fly only in bright sunshine, and I have 

 even seen it flying over trees at the edge of a wood on a very 

 hot day, but usually it seems to be sluggish and to sit about 

 among the herbage, making itself far less conspicuous than 

 appears probable in so gorgeous an insect. Formerly it must 

 have been far more abundant and widely distributed than at 

 present ; Stephens says that it was at one time plentiful near 

 Charlton and Blackheath, but then (1829) was getting scarce 

 near London. It was also most plentiful at Whittlesea Mere 

 and Burwell Fen, but was nearly exterminated in those 

 localities when they were drained. It still lingered in Wicken 

 Fen, and in 1873 had become abundant there, so that larv£e 

 were seen in thousands ; but has since been less common in 

 that district. In 1858 it was most plentiful at Deal, and still 

 occurs, though seldom in profusion, in that neighbourhood. 

 It is found, here and there, in marshy places in Hants, Dorset, 

 and Devon, and very rarely in Sussex. In Gloucestershire 

 and Monmouthshire more widely distributed, and probably 

 through South Wales, since I have found it in wood-paths in 

 Pembrokeshire. In Berkshire it has been found in the 

 marshy meadows near the Kennet and formerly extended up 

 the Thames valley to near Oxford. In Wiltshire it has been 

 found plentifully near Salisbury. Rare in Hertfordshire, 

 Suffolk, and near Cambridge. In 1878 two specimens were 

 taken at Burgh near Aylsham, Norfolk, but these may 



