CATALOGUE OF MOTHS. 59 



6. Hepialus Humuli, (Linn.). The Ghost Swift. 



Hepialus Humuli.. Staint. Man., vol. i., p. 111. 



„ „ ^N'ewm. Erit. Moths, p. 20. 



,, ,, Barr. Lep. Brit. Is., vol. ii., p. 165. 



,, ,, Meyr. Hdbk. Brit. Lep., p. 801. 



Laeva. Buck., vol. ii., pi. xxx., fig. 3 ; 0. Wils., pi. ii., 



figure not numbered. 



This is the commonest and most Avidely distributed of all the 

 Swifts. The larva feeds underground on the roots of many 

 common plants, and can thus find food almost everywhere. 



The imago may be seen in early twilight in midsummer, swing- 

 ing like a pendulum, not as Hectus, which selects a secluded 

 nook, but openly, in the most conspicuous position it can find. 

 Like Hectus, a faint odour is emitted as it flies, and the female, 

 attracted to the place by the perfume, flies to the male by sight, 

 the silvery colour of that sex being very conspicuous in the fading 

 light. As the species really occurs everywhere, except perhaps 

 in the wetter moorlands, I do not give localities. 



Family. CHLOEPHOEID^, Steph. 

 HALIAS, Duponch. 



7. Halias Prasinana, (L.). Gkeei? Silverlines. 



Chloephora Prasinana. Staint Man., vol. ii., p. 187. 

 Halias ,, Barr. Lep. Brit. Is., -vol. ii., p. 175. 



,, . ,, Meyr. Hdbk. Brit. Lep., p. 36. 



This pretty species is not very common, though widely dis- 

 tributed in our district. It is generally found in open woods, 

 but is said to occur in hedgerow trees in well-wooded districts. 

 The male is one of the few lepidopterous insects that can pro- 

 duce a sound, resembling iu this case, a pin passed over the teeth 

 of a comb. If beaten out of a tree, it opens the wings on one 

 side only, and falls to the ground with a spinning motion, like 

 the seeds of certain trees. If caught as it falls, it feigns death. 

 It is recorded in the Twizell list ; Mr. Maling found it else- 

 where in ^Northumberland, but I have not the exact locality ; 



