358 THE MOTHS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



and is fond of a leaf as a resting place. Like the rest of its 

 kind, it is very alert, and skips off quickly on one's approach. 

 Probably the species is more widely distributed in England, 

 but from the records, it only appears to have been noted from 

 Kent, Hampshire, Somersetshire, Gloucestershire, Hereford- 

 shire, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, 

 and Essex. 



Six-belted Clearwing (^Sesia ichneumoniformis). 



The inner and outer margins of the fore wings are tinged with 

 orange, and there is an orange mark on the outer edge of the 

 cross bar ; the body of the male has seven yellow belts, and 

 that of the female one less. (Plate 155, Fig. 6.) 



The caterpill^ feeds in the roots of bird's-foot trefoil {Lotus 

 corniculatus), and kidney vetch {Anthyllis vuhierarid) ; it is full 

 grown about June. July and August are the months for the 

 moth, and its haunts are on cbalk downs, and on banks by the 

 sea ; it seems partial to the edges of chalk pits, sloping banks, 

 and broken ground of undercliffs, etc. In such places it is to 

 be seen on the wing in the early evening, and, I believe, in 

 the early morning also. It has frequently been obtained by 

 sweeping the net over herbage in the vicinity of the food plants. 



Mr. W. H. Flint records (1902) the species from the Forest 

 of Dean district, where, he states, he could easily have captured 

 two dozen a day, as they flew over trefoils, etc. 



The species occurs in most of the southern seaboard counties 

 of England, from Kent to Cornwall and including the Isle 

 of Wight; Surrey, Bucks., Essex, and other eastern counties, 

 including Cambridge ; and it has been recorded from York- 

 shire. On the western side of the country it is found in 

 Somerset, Gloucester, Hereford, Worcester, Staffordshire, and 

 in South Wales. 



