THE BORDERED STRAW. 5 1 



seeds are preferred in almost all cases, and flowers of the 

 garden marigold will be found useful when these caterpillars 

 are reared in confinement. 



From eggs deposited by a female moth taken at Deal in the 

 evening of June 17, 1904, the caterpillars hatched out in due 

 course, fed up on wild convolvulus, pupated at the end of July, 

 and the moths emerged during the last week of August and the 

 first week of September. In another case, moths were developed 

 in about forty-seven days from eggs laid in mid- July. In 1907 

 six caterpillars were found in South Devon during the second 

 week in August, and one of these attained the moth state on 

 September 3. Previous to 1906, which was a notable one for 

 the species, the moth seems not to have been observed earlier 

 than June, but in the year mentioned several were taken at the 

 flowers of valerian during May, at Torquay. Caterpillars were 

 plentiful on restharrow in the same district during June and 

 July, and an example, presumably, of a second generation was 

 captured at bramble blossom on August 11. In the same 

 year and on the 15th of the month just noted, a specimen 

 was reared from a caterpillar found on Ononis^ July 18, and 

 another specimen captured, August 24, as it flew in the 

 sunshine on a slope of the South Downs. In Clarendon Wood, 

 near Salisbury, Wilts, one example was taken at sugar, Sep- 

 tember 2, 1906. The species seems to be of fairly regular 

 occurrence in Devonshire and Cornwall, but it has also been 

 observed, more or less rarely, in many other English counties, 

 chiefly those on the coast ; in Pembrokeshire and Glamorgan- 

 shire, South Wales ; a few specimens have occurred in Co. 

 Cork, and one in Co. Wicklow, Ireland. All that appears to be 

 known of this species in Scotland is that one specimen has 

 been recorded from Markton, Ayrshire. 



Abroad, its distribution is extensive, ranging from Africa, the 

 Canaries, and Madeira to Central and Southern Europe, and 

 through Asia to India. 



