TRIFIDA£. 383 



burnet grow in small isolated patches. It is conspicuous 

 stretched out upon a shoot, and its markings with the paler 

 dorsal line look curiously like the leaves upon a spray of 

 thyme. On cold days searching is almost useless. In 

 captivity also it eats a great deal in the daytime, though 

 some keep concealed beneath the soil." This supports Mr. 

 Gregson's statement, made more than twenty years ago, that 

 he had found the larva in every hour of the day from 5 a.m. 

 to 2 P.M. 



Pupa of the usual rounded form, with a minute tubercle 

 covering the points of the palpi ; whole surface very glossy ; 

 wing and limb cases closely appressed ; abdominal segments 

 rounded and deeply separated ; anal segment finished off with 

 a broad flattened black projection, on which are two short 

 points or spikes ; below this the anal structure is visible. 

 General colour bright red-brown ; wing covers less strongly 

 coloured and semi-transparent, showing internal structure ; 

 spiracles black ; anal points deep black. In a chamber of 

 earth underground, or under stones or moss on the rocks. 



The moth sits in the daytime on limestone rocks, or hides 

 among loose stones. In appearance it closely resembles the 

 blue limestone, and it has the sagacity to hide itself in chinks 

 and crevices, where this resemblance greatly assists in its con- 

 cealment. In very hot sunshine, however, it becomes excite- 

 able and may be disturbed. At night it comes forth and sits 

 on the rocks or on grass stems, and flies vigorously rather 

 late, coming eagerly to sugar sprinkled upon plants in its 

 favourite haunts. These are exclusively limestone rocks, and 

 usually at considerable elevations. The tops of the hills and 

 portions of mountains throughout North Wales, but especially 

 in the counties of Denbigh and Flint, are composed of 

 carboniferous limestone, forming in some of them successive 

 escarpments and plentiful rock faces and masses of fallen 

 stone, and here is the home of the present species. — 

 Llangollen, Penmaenmawr, Snowdon, and doubtless in all 



