456 Mr. R. M‘Lachlan’s Observations on 
that it has been observed in Australia. In Europe it is common 
in the South, chiefly in the autumn months, and Mr. G. F. 
Mathew has recorded (“ Weekly Entomologist,” vol. ii. p. 83), 
that in October at Lisbon and Gibraltar it was the most common 
Lepidopterous insect. Duponchel, however, mentions June as the 
time of its appearance, and says “Elle se tient suspendue a 
lextrémité des tiges de gramen dans l'état de repose” (“¢ Lépidop- 
téres de France,” tom. vili. pl. 178, fig. 7). In Sweden it was 
recorded as long since as 1784 by Thunberg (Dissert. Ent. 
Insect. Suecica, pt. 1, p. 14), but I am uncertain if it has since 
been observed there; indeed Herrich-Schaffer (Schmett. von 
Europ.) doubts the correctness of Thunberg’s observation, but 
the latter’s description and remark, “ Pyralis sacralis—mag- 
nitudine et facie omnino P. forficalis,” can surely leave no uncer- 
tainty on this point. In England it has only been observed in the 
south and was unknown until 1857. Since then about twenty 
- specimens have been taken, all in the autumn, and often at gas- 
lamps; the year 1865 has produced at least half of the native 
examples. It has not been observed further north than London, 
but several have been found in the suburbs of the metropolis. 
Thus Africa may be considered its head-quarters, and it is almost 
invariably found in boxes of insects from thence. 
The position of the insect in repose has been remarked by 
several writers, and is in itself sufficient to separate Sterrha from 
Aspilates, in which latter genus sacraria was at one time placed. 
It would seem to rest head downwards, after the manner of a 
Crambus, with its wings crossed at a very acute angle, and in this 
respect it has been compared by Zeller (Isis, 1847, p. 492) to the 
well-known Cilia spinula, and Hellins (Ent. Mo. Mag. vol. ii. 
p- 135) also makes the same comparison, without being aware of 
Zeller’s observation. 
We have yet almost everything to learn of the habits of the 
creature. Are there two broods or only one brood in the year ? 
Does it hibernate in the imago state? For my part I shall not be 
surprised if it prove to be only single-brooded, the imago hiber- 
nating and not appearing after hibernation until the summer is 
well advanced. | 
I now come to the subject of the recorded variability of the 
species. The figures given by Esper, Duponchel, Freyer, &c., 
vary little, and Guenée (Phalénites, vol. ii. p. 175) says, ‘ Elle 
se retrouve, sans autre différence que le bord terminal un peu plus 
droit, en Algérie, dans l'Afrique centrale, en Abyssinie, et dans le 
nord de I'Inde.” I have examined thirty-two examples in the 
collection of the British Museum, chiefly from Africa and India, 
