/O CAlALOGUiS OF JtOTHS* 



22. Spilosoma lubricepeda, (Linn.). 33urF Ermine. 



Spilosoma lubricepeda. Stain t. Man., vol. i., p. 148. 



Arctia ,, Kewm. Brit. Moths, p. 35. 



Spilosoma ,, Barr. Lep. Brit. Is., vol. ii., p. 281. 



Diacrisia ,, Meyr. Hdbk. Brit. Lep., p. 40. 



Laeva. Buck.,vol. iii., pl.xlv., fig.4; O.Wils., pl.xii.,fig.3. 



This species is common over the greater part of Britain, ex- 

 tending in the west to the extreme north of Scotland, but in 

 the east it appears to reach the extremity of its northward range 

 within the boundaries of our counties. It is very abundant in 

 Durham along the river Tees, from its mouth by Stockton where 

 Mr. Sibson found it freely, by Darlington where Mr. Backhouse 

 met with it, and Barnard Castle where Mr. Greenwell took it, 

 to the extreme of the upper valley of the river, where Dr. Lees 

 found it plentifully. Again from the Tees northward, it is 

 common at Greatham and Hartlepool; Mr. Corder obtained it 

 abundantly at Sunderland, Mr. Brady at Jarrow, and Mr. Hed- 

 worth, who collected mostly on the Durham side of the Tyne 

 above Gateshead, reports it as abundant throughout this district. 

 It is in the list in Ornsby's Durham, and Mr. Maddison still finds 

 it around that city. These records practically cover the entire 

 county. In ^Northumberland Mr. Wasserman found it on the 

 coast as far as Cullercoats, where he resided, but does not record 

 it any further north. Mr. Henderson also found it at Jesmond, 

 and Miss Eossie at Kenton, while this year (1897) Mr. Howse 

 sent me larvae which were found in great numbers in a garden 

 at Gosforth, feeding on Convallaria majalis. Mr. Maling col- 

 lected much about INewbiggin but did not find Lubricepeda 

 there. Messrs. Patterson, Brady, Corder, Hhagg, and others 

 who have collected at "Warkworth, Alnmouth, Bamborough, and 

 elsewhere on the ^Northumberland coast do not record it from 

 any of these places, nor is it on the Twizell list. Mr. Finlay 

 never met with it about Morpeth, Meldon Park, or elsewhere in 

 his district, and he was so good a collector that it is reasonable 

 to assume it did not occur where he failed to find it. It thus 

 appears thut its north-eastern boundary is the valley of the Tyne. 



