94 BANKIA BANKIANA. 



Bankia BANKIANA. 

 Plate 01, fig. 4. 



This pretty and active little Noctua, of which nothing 

 had been heard for a long interval of time, was in the 

 season of 1882 re-discovered by Mr. (now the Rev.) 

 Gr. H. Raynor,* who found it in some abundance near 

 Ely, and succeeded in obtaining a good number of 

 eggs, and most kindly sent a liberal supply of them to 

 my friend the Rev. J. Hellins and myself ; those I 

 received were laid within a glass-topped box, to which 

 they adhered, as well on the glass as on the paper, 

 beiug sprinkled over both surfaces singly, with occa- 

 sionally two together. 



The eggs arrived on the 7th of June, 1882, and 

 began to hatch on the 9th, while yet the exact nature 

 of the proper food-plant for the larvae seemed some- 

 what uncertain ; a low plant had indeed been suggested 

 to me by Mr. Raynor for trial, since although Gruenee 

 had distinctly stated grasses to be the food, he had not 

 mentioned any particular species of grass ; I soon 

 found, however, the low plants refused, and then tried 

 a small Gar ex ; they fed a little on this and on coarse 

 grasses, but the little larvae began to die off; when, 

 fortunately, before all had hatched out and died, it 

 was found that Poa annua, a common grass growing 

 almost everywhere, was quite to their taste, and the 

 fact was at once kindly imparted to me both by Mr. 

 Hellins and Mr. Raynor. 



The larvae throve very well on the Poa up to the 

 third week in July, when, as often happens with this 

 grass indoors, it was attacked by mould, which caused 

 the death of almost all my larvae ; however, Mr. 

 Hellins most kindly sent me several of his, which had 

 been kept in the open air, so that I was able to con- 



* Or rather by Messrs. W. Warren and Cross (see E.M.M., October, 

 1883, p. 117). 



