61 



THE MOTHS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



QUADRIFIN.E. 

 The Golden Plusia {Plusia monetd). 



The British history of the grey tinged pale golden species, 

 shown on Plate 22, Fig. 4, dates back only to 1890. [n that 



year, on July 2, Mr. 

 Christy, of Watergate, 

 Emsworth, found a 

 specimen in his illumi- 

 nated moth trap ; this 

 was noted in the En- 

 toinologist for August, 

 1890. From subse- 

 quent records it ap- 

 pears that a specimen 

 had been taken on the 

 same date at a gas 

 lamp near Reading, 

 by Mr. W. Holland ; 

 whilst one was cap- 

 tured, at a light, near 

 Tunbridge Wells on 

 July I. The earliest 

 British specimen, how- 

 ever, was one netted 

 whilst hovering over 

 flowers of Delphinium 

 at Dover, on June 25 

 of the same year, but 

 this was not announced 

 until October. Since 

 its arrival here the species seems to have spread over 

 England at a great rate, and it has been reported from 



Fig. 2. 



G-olden Flusia at rest. 



(Photo by H. Main.) 



