WEAVER'S WAVE. I09 



ACIDALIIN^. 

 Purple -bordered Gold {Hyria muricata). 



Two forms of this pretty little species (known also as 

 aurorarid) are shown on Plate 45. Fig. i represents the 

 more usual form, but between this and the almost entirely- 

 purple variety (Fig. 4), which occurs chiefly in the north, there 

 are various modifications. Then again, especially in the south 

 of England, there is a tendency to become entirely yellow, the 

 purple, inclining to crimson in such specimens, being confined 

 to the front margin and cross lines on the fore wings, and a 

 narrow band on the outer margin of all the wings. 



The caterpillar is pale brownish, inclining to ochreous at each 

 end, marked with irregular blackish lines on the back, and dots 

 and streaks on the sides. The Hon. N. C. Rothschild records 

 Comarum palustre as its natural food plant, but when reared 

 from the ^%% the caterpillar will eat knotgrass, and sometimes 

 a few will feed up and attain the moth state the same year. 

 August to May. 



The moth occurs in late June and in July, and frequents fens, 

 boggy heaths, and mosses. Although odd specimens may, 

 occasionally, be flushed during the day, the collector will need 

 to be up early in the morning if he would see this species on 

 the wing, as it seems to fly most freely about sunrise. The 

 New Forest in Hampshire is a noted district for it, as also 

 are Ranworth, Horning, etc., in Norfolk, and Witherslack in 

 Westmoreland. In Ireland, it is found in counties Galway, 

 Kerry, and Mayo. 



Abroad, the range extends to Amurland, China, Corea, and 

 Japan. 



Weaver's Wave {Acidalia {Ptychopodd) contiguaria). 

 The earliest known British specimen of this species (Plate 45, 

 Figs. 2 and 5) was taken in North Wales by Weaver, in 1855, 



