54 THE MOTHS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



The species has an extensive range abroad, being found in 

 Southern Europe and North-west Africa to Madeira and the 

 Canaries ; also in Central Europe, through Western and Central 

 Asia to North India and East Siberia. 



The Four-spotted {Acontia (Tarache) luctuosd). 



The fore wings of this species (Plate 19, Fig. 10) are some- 

 times finely powdered with white, but more often the outer 

 marginal area is distinctly flecked with white. The conspicuous 

 central spot is usually white, but occasionally it has a pinkish 

 ochreous tinge ; very rarely it is reduced to a narrow streak 

 with a short spur from its outer edge. The white band on the 

 hind wings is sometimes narrowed and contracted below the 

 middle. 



The eggs are shown on Plate 23, Fig. 2. They were, when 

 laid on June 17, whity brown marked with reddish brown. 



The caterpillar is ochreous greyish inclining to reddish or 

 brownish ; three dark-edged stripes along the back, a dark- 

 brown line along the black spiracles, with two finer wavy Imes 

 above it ; lower down there is a broad stripe of reddish brown ; 

 head marked with four lines of black dots. It feeds, at night, 

 during June, July, and August (later in some seasons), on the 

 small bindweed {Co7ivolvulus arvensis)^ and although it will eat 

 the leaves when nearly full grown it prefers the flowers and 

 seeds in its infancy. 



The moth appears in May and June, and a second generation 

 in August and September. In the sunshine it is active on the 

 wing, but in dull weather it hides under herbage, in clover 

 fields, chalky slopes, and rough places where its food plant occurs. 



The female will often lay her eggs in a chip-box when she is 

 thus secured after capture ; the caterpillars are not difficult to 

 rear if flower buds of the bindweed can be obtained to start 

 them upon. 



