THE SMOKY WAVE. I3I 



knotgrass, etc. Sometimes as a second generation in June and 

 July. 



According to Stephens, who figured this species in 1831, a 

 specimen was taken, near Dover, somewhere about 1825 ; he 

 also refers to Yorkshire specimens, one of which he had in his 

 collection. Since that time the species has been obtained in 

 Lancashire (Ashton-on-Mersey), and it was noted, not un- 

 common from the first to third week in July, 1875, on low 

 heathery ground at Winch Bridge, Upper Teesdale, Durham. 

 Casual specimens have also been recorded from Folkestone, 

 Kent ; Hastings, Sussex, and South Devon. The last concerns 

 a specimen taken in the Newton Abbot district in 1902. What 

 may be termed the British home of the species is, however, the 

 Breck sand district in the eastern counties, where, since i860, it 

 has been found in greater or lesser plenty, in June, each 

 year up to the present time. The best known localities are 

 Tuddenham, Brandon, Thetford, and Bury St. Edmunds. It 

 sits among the vegetation in fields or the borders thereof, and 

 also on heaths. Occasionally, it indulges in flight in the after- 

 noon, but it is more often put up as the collector approaches its 

 place of retreat. At night it is usually active, and light has a 

 strong attraction for it. 



Abroad, its range extends to Amurland and Corea. 



The Smoky Wave {Add alia {Pylarge) fumata). 



The sexes of this greyish-white moth are figured on Plate 50, 

 Figs. 4 J , 5 ? . It will be seen that the female is smaller than 

 the male. The caterpillar is very slender, and finely wrinkled ; 

 pale ochreous brown, with three pale lines along the back, each 

 of which is shaded on both sides with brown. Beneath the ridge, 

 low down along the sides, is a dark stripe, and the under surface 

 is pale. It feeds on bilberry, sallow and heather, and will eat 

 knotgrass, chickweed, and dandelion. Hatching in August, it 



