SESIA STELLATARUM. 25 



August, 1865, whilst it was raining; Cooper notes it hovering over 

 valerian in the pouring rain at Ilfracombe, July 5th, 1892 ; Walde- 

 grave observed specimens hovering over flowers during a sharp 

 shower of rain at Chewton Mendip. Daws observes that in 1899 

 he could have taken hundreds at the fuchsia flowers at Penzance ; 

 they flew chiefly from 8 a.m. —10.30 a.m., and again from 5 p.m. 

 to dusk, fewer being observed in the middle of the day ; Riding 

 notes the moth as abundant in 1899, at Buckerell, preferring flowers 

 of lavender and scarlet geraniums, a luxuriant bed of petunias 

 being completely ignored, and states that they flew most freely in early 

 morning and evenings ; Gordon notes it as very abundant at Corse- 

 malzie at rhododendron blossom between 3.30 p.m. — 5.30 p.m., as 

 many as seven being seen at one plant at the same time, but a few 

 were also on the wing in the morning. Zeller also observes it as flying 

 in the evening at flowers of Echium and Salvia in the Engadine. 

 Mason's observation (Ent. Record, xii., p. 53) that the moths flew up 

 and down outside a conservatory in their attempt to get at the orchid 

 blossoms inside, suggests their being attracted by sight rather than 

 scent. There are two records of its having appeared at light, Studd, 

 on one occasion, took it in his light-trap at Oxton, and Blakeborough 

 records one at light at 10.30 p.m., on August 2nd, 1900, at 

 Brighouse. Oldham notes (Ent., xxxii., p. 255) that, on August 

 24th, 1899, he saw one mobbed by sparrows. Little is known 

 about the pairing of this species. Mathew notes that he saw a pair 

 in copula at Gibraltar flying across one of the paths on the Rock, 

 on February 16th, 1866, whilst many others were hovering about, 

 and one suspects that, although, usually, pairing takes place soon 

 after emergence in summer, the autumnal and winter emergences 

 may put off the operation for some little time; feeding seems to 

 be an absolute necessity for the development of the eggs. 



Habitat. — To suggest habitats for this species is practically useless 

 — the highest Alpine passes are traversed in a very short time, and the 

 valleys are sometimes full of them ; roadsides, woods, gardens, fields, 

 hills, moors, fens, cliffs, and marshes are the haunts of this species, 

 which we may meet anywhere. It even stays to sip the nectar from 

 the flowers in the hands of the. flower-sellers of Cannes and to 

 extract its share from the flowers in the window-sill ot a London 

 garret. 



Time of appearance. — In Britain, occasionally in January, 

 February, March and April, often abundant in May and June, 

 again in July-August, again in late September-November, and 

 occasionally in December. In some years entirely absent, sometimes 

 for several years in succession, in other years large numbers of 

 immigrants appear in May and June, and spread all over the 

 British Islands. In the southern and hotter parts of its range 

 the species is continuously-brooded and has no real hybernating 

 period, e.g., the species is abundant all round the Mediterranean 

 littoral, and, except for brief intervals between the broods, occurs 

 all the year round — e.g., in most parts of the Mediterranean littoral, 

 particularly the western portion, such as the north African coasts, Spain, 

 mid and southern Italy, Greece, Turkey, Asia Minor, Egypt and 

 all the islands. At Malta, where most of the low-growing vegetation 

 dries up during the summer months, it is very abundant during 



