84 GPLECHID®. 
in the early spring, flitting about the leafless hedges. Most of 
the species appear at the end of summer, and, after having hyber- 
nated, are met with in March and April in rather wasted condi- 
tion. There is a peculiarity in the perfect insects of this genus, 
that they have the power of sliding about when laid on their 
backs, shooting forwards much in the style of Noctua Tragopogonis. 
The larvae are extremely active, and feed on a variety of sub- 
stances, some feeding in rolled-up leaves of composite plants, 
some in the leaves and others in the umbels of the Umbellifere ; 
many of the latter descend from the plant on the slightest agita- 
tion of it, and considerable caution is necessary in the attempts to 
collect them. ‘The full-fed larvae descend to the ground, and 
change to the pupa state among the fallen leaves; the larva of 
Heracliana frequently enters the stem of the Heraclium Sphondy- 
lium, undergoing its changes there. 
The extreme similarity of many of the species renders the deter- 
mination of them a matter of some difficulty, and unfortunately 
the genus hardly admits of a good subdivision; the best I have 
been able to accomplish is by the following table :— 
a. Anterior wings dusted and spotted, or veined, but not with nume- 
rous short longitudinal streaks. 
6. Anterior wings whitish. Species 11. 
6 6. Anterior wings pale greyish-ochreous. Sp. 6, 12, 19, 20, 24. 
66. Anterior wings ochreous. Species 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10. 
666 6. Anterior wings reddish-ochreous. Species 7, 17, 18. 
66665. Anterior wings reddish-fuscous. Species 21, 22, 23. 
666666. Anterior wings purplish-fuscous. Sp. 13, 14, 15, 16. 
a. Anterior wings with numerous short longitudinal streaks. Species 
25-37. 
a 
1. costosa, Haw. L. B. 508 (1812); Step.; Sta. — Spartiana, 
Hiib.—depunctella, Hib. ; Treit.; Dup. Alis anticis acutiuseulis, dilute 
ochreis, rufo-fusco nebulosis, punctis duobus disci ante medium nigris, 
nebula pone medium fere costam tangente saturate fusca, in ea puncto 
disci albo ; ciliis rufo-fuscis, angulum analem versus griseis, Exp. al. 
10 lin. 
Head and face pale ochreous. Palpi pale ochreous; second joint 
beneath fuscous ; terminal joint with a narrow ring before the apex, 
and the extreme apex fuscous. Antenne fuscous. Anterior wings 
rather acute, pale ochreous, clouded with reddish-fuscous, with an ob- 
lique dark fuscous streak near the base of the inner margin, not reach- 
ing to the subcostal vein; on the dise before the middle are two 
black spots, of which the anterior and upper one is frequently obsolete ; 
beyond the middle is a dark reddish-fuscous blotch, almost touching the 
costa, and in it on the dise is a white spot; the pale hinder fascia is 
