DESCRIPTIVE NOTICES OF CONSPICUOUS SPECIES 163 



hind- wings. The female is entirely of a smoky- white 

 (very different from the creamy colour of the White 

 Ermine) ; the wings are spotted with black, as in the 

 male. The whitish colour of the abdomen spotted with 

 black readily distinguishes it from the White Ermine, 

 in which the abdomen is yellow, spotted with black. 



The larva is greyish- brown, with a paler dorsal line, 

 and with the head and legs reddish ; it feeds on various 

 low plants in the autumn. 



The perfect insect appears towards the middle of May 

 and beginning of June. The female may sometimes be 

 found flying by day ; the male is more frequently taken 

 at night ; it comes occasionally to light, 



FAMILY VI. CHELONID^. 



CALLIMORPHA JACOB^JE. THE CINNABAR 

 MOTH. 



A pretty species, and common throughout England 

 and Ireland ; it occurs in Scotland, but not in any plenty. 



The expansion of the wings is about 1J inch. The 

 fore-wings are of a smoky-grey, with a narrow red stripe 

 near the costa, and two red spots towards the hind 

 margin; the hind-wings are red, with the margin 

 blackish. 



The larva is slightly hairy, black, with orange-yellow 

 rings ; it feeds in July and August on the ragwort 

 (Senecio Jacobsea), generally in great numbers together, 

 so that where found it is always easy to collect a 

 hundred or two of the larvae. On the sandhills at 

 Braunton Burrows it occurs literally in thousands. 



The perfect insect makes its appearance at the end 

 of May and beginning of June, 



