SESIA STELLATARUM. 23 



flowers in hundreds, in June, 1899, at Galashiels (Haggart), rhodo- 

 dendron at Bettws-y-Coed (Bland), Allium ursinum in Roslin Glen 

 (Grimshaw), Astragalus hypoglotlis, Salvia verbenaca, Lotus corniculatus 

 between Burntisland and Kinghorn (Evans), eight at once on a small 

 patch of vetch at Swanage (Kemp), Ononis at Yarmouth (Lockyer), 

 fuchsias at Swanage (Hall), jessamine, red valerian, petunias, gerani- 

 ums, bugloss, Galium and verbenas are mentioned repeatedly by 

 various observers as being exceedingly attractive, although one 

 suspects that the visitors to Galium are largely $ s for the purpose 

 of oviposition. Bower's observation (Ent. Eec, xiii., p. in) on 

 November 6th, 1901, as to the way this species extracts nectar 

 from fuchsia flowers is interesting ; the flowers of fuchsia being 

 pendulous it would be difficult, if not impossible, for the moth 

 to insert its proboscis into the nectary in the same way that it 

 does when feeding at those of geranium, verbena, &c, so it very 

 cleverly thrusts it in through the small spaces formed by the 

 tapering of the petals at their bases. Gatcombe records (Ent., 

 v., p. 146) that, whilst holding a flower of Habenaria bifolia near 

 his face, a specimen hovered over it and inserted its proboscis in 

 every flower, beginning at the bottom and going to the top in a spiral 

 direction, &c, whilst Merrifield observes that a specimen flew to a 

 flower of scabious in a lady's dress and searched every floret for honey, 

 returning a second time before flying away. Haworth observed one fly- 

 ing in and out of a room to the flowers of white Campanula placed on a 

 table in Hull. The moth appears sometimes to be attracted by colour; 

 Vallette notes (Aim. Soc. Ent. Belg., xxi., p. lxvii) a specimen 

 flying into rooms to artificial flowers ; exceedingly abundant at 

 Angmering in 1899, hundreds might have been taken, and they 

 appeared frequently to be attracted by colour, and were often seen 

 hovering over the gaily painted tops of croquet sticks standing in 

 the turf (Dollman), one attracted by a gaudily printed poster, at 

 Gloucester, on which it rested some time (Merrin), one hovering 

 over a brass door knob on which the sun was shining (Bartlett). 

 The habit of flying up and down quite bare stone walls exposed to 

 the sun, and occasionally resting thereon, is very remarkable. We 

 once saw more than a score flying at one time up and down, 

 in apparently the most purposeless manner, a bare stone wall 

 outside one of the Savoy stations, probably St. Pierre d'Albigny, and 

 occasionally resting under the coping, and they kept up their almost 

 ceaseless journeyings up and down and along the wall, all the 

 while we observed them. We have noticed them dozens of times, 

 both in England and on the Continent, engaged in the same 

 apparently purposeless pursuit. Norman says that, in July, 1865, the 

 insect swarmed in Guernsey, large numbers settling on the walls and 

 cliffs by the wayside, and, on one gravelly hillside, fully 30 specimens 

 were seen in about five minutes; Evans records them as careering over 

 the rocks of Arthur's Seat on June 19th, 1899; Chaumette stated 

 that he had found them flying against walls exposed to the sun, 

 and considered that they did so for the purpose of oviposition on the 

 Galium growing in such situations ; Eaton considers that the habit 

 is due to the increased heat afforded by the walls. McLachlan has 

 observed that the walls especially frequented are often those most 

 free from any vegetable growth, except the lowest forms of lichens; and 



