THYME PUG. 229 



The moth is out in June and July, and in the late afternoon is 

 occasionally put up from among its food plant or the herbage 

 around, but such specimens are rarely worth keeping, unless of 

 the female sex, when eggs may be obtained. 



The species has a wide distribution in England, especially in 

 the southern half; it occurs in Wales, and also in Ireland, but 

 not in Scotland. 



Thyme Pug [Eupithecia distindaria). 



This dehcately marked species, better known, perhaps, as 

 co7istrictata, Guenee (Plate 95, Fig. 4), has the fore wings whitish 

 grey, with three slender blackish curved cross lines, and some 

 less distinct greyish ones ; the outer margin is slightly darker, 

 and traversed by a wavy whitish line; discal spot black and 



conspicuous. 



I have not seen specimens from the Hebrides, but, accordmg 

 to Barrett, these have a more decided grey tint. 



The rather long, wrinkled caterpillar is dark green, inclining 

 to yellowish between the rings, with a broad purplish red line 

 along the back. It feeds on the flowers of wild thyme {Thymus 

 serpylluni)^ in August and September. 



The moth is out in June and July, and inhabits dry places 

 w^here there is an abundant growth of wild thyme. It is easily 

 alarmed, and quickly rises on the wing from its hiding-place 

 among the herbage. 



The species is, or has been, found in most of the southern 

 counties of England, from Sussex to Cornwall, on the western 

 side from Somerset to Westmorland, including North Wales 

 and the Isle of Man ; also recorded from Buckinghamshire, 

 Yorkshire (Richmond), and Northumberland. In Scotland it 

 occurs chiefly on the west to Ross, and in the Hebrides ; m 

 Ireland it is widely spread, but most frequently met with on the 

 coast. 



