THE SUSPECTED. 7 



The Suspected {Dysckorisfa siispectd). 



Of this species (Plate 4, Figs. 2 and 3) there are two groups 

 of forms — plain and variegated. To the first belongs the type 

 with reddish-brown fore wings ; a dark modification of this 

 form is ab. nigrescejis^ Tutt, which has the fore wings blackish 

 red ; a brighter red form is ab. rufa, Tutt. Of the variegated 

 sections three forms have been named, but the most important 

 of these is var. congener^ HUbn., with the inner and the outer 

 marginal areas of the reddish fore wings ochreous ; two other 

 modifications have the ground colour redder or dark purplish 

 inclining to blackish. 



The caterpillar, which feeds on birch and sallow in April and 

 May, is purplish brown above, and obscure greenish beneath ; 

 there are three lines along the back, the central one white and 

 distinct, the others less defined but noticeable on the black 

 plate on ring nearest the head ; on each side of the central line 

 are blackish marks ; head, ochreous brown, streaked with black. 



The moth flies in July and August, and is partial to sugar 

 and to the flowers of heather and ragwort. Its chief British 

 quarters appear to be in Yorkshire, in which county it was first 

 noted in 1841 ; thence it extends into Lancashire, Cumberland, 

 and Durham, but is local and scarce in the latter county. 

 Southwards it is found in the counties of Cheshire (locally not 

 uncommon on moors and mosses), Derby, Nottingham, Stafford, 

 Shropshire, Warwick, Gloucester (rarely) ; more locally in 

 Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, and Kent (once at West Wickham). 

 In 1896 it occurred in numbers in the New Forest, Hants, and 

 I believe that a solitary specimen was secured in Hayling 

 Island in 1901. In Scotland it occurs up to Inverness and 

 Aberdeen ; and Kane states that in Ireland it is doubtfully 

 recorded from Londonderry, but that he has seen lovely forms 

 of the species from Killarney. It also occurs in Co. Wicklow. 

 The range abroad extends to Siberia, Amurland, and Mongolia. 



