GOLDEN-ROD PUG. 235 



the markings are indistinct or absent, but the small black 

 discal dot and a white spot above the outer angle of the fore 

 wing remain fairly clear. (Plate 97, Figs. 4, 7, ab. sicbfiiscata^ 

 Haw.) The caterpillar (Plate 92, Fig. 3) is brownish, inclining 

 to reddish, dotted with white ; a series of dirty green marks 

 along the back, and a pale yellow wavy line low down along the 

 sides. It feeds on the leaves of sallow, hawthorn, bramble, 

 bilberry, ragwort, golden-rod and various other plants. There 

 are at least two broods in the year, one in June and July, and 

 the other in the autumn. The moth flies in May and June, and 

 again in August, and is often common, almost everywhere, over 

 the greater part of the British Isles. 



The range abroad extends to Eastern Siberia and Arnurland. 



Golden-rod Pug [E^Lpithecia virgaureata). 



The fore wings of this obscurely marked species (Plate 97, 

 Fig. 10) are pale greyish brown inclining to ochreous; the discal 

 spot is black, the veins are marked with dark brown and white, 

 and the whitish submarginal line terminates in a white spot 

 above the inner angle. 



The caterpillar varies in colour from grey brown or purplish 

 grey to reddish brown ; a series of blackish triangular spots on 

 the back, and yellowish oblique stripes on the sides. It feeds 

 on the flowers of the golden- rod {Solidago virgaicred)^ in the 

 autumn ; also on ragwort (^Senecid). The moth is out in May 

 and early June, but in captivity there is apparently a second 

 emergence in July and early August. The caterpillars from 

 which these smaller and rather darker specimens result, hatch 

 from the ^g% in May and feed on the flowers of beaked parsley 

 {Anthriscus sylvestris). 



Widely distributed in England, Wales and Ireland. 



The range abroad extends to north-east Siberia; and the 

 species has been recorded from Japan. 



