262 



THE BRITISH NATURALIST. [December 



in all probability in the company of others, up to its doom. Both Mr. 

 Percy Russ (of Sligo) and Mr. Reid (of Aberdeenshire) inform me 

 that they have found it during the day on Ragwort flowers and also at 

 night; for the first time I captured the species on thistle 2 miles 

 away from the moors the other day. It has also been '''taken at 

 "sugar" in Scotland, ("Entomologist's Monthly Magazine," 1880, 

 p. 258). 



Although I cannot assert definitely, yet there seems to me no doubt 

 that Haworthii deposits its eggs singly on the plant of its choice. I 

 have, at various times, been in possession of the ova, which hatch 

 about the middle of April, and the young caterpillar at once enters 

 the young shoots of the cotton grass, little given to wandering, and 

 where it can afterwards be traced by the moulds of frass, which can 

 be seen on the surface of the ground, for all the world like Schultz's 

 powder. 



Mr. Reid says of the larvae that he has found them resting on the 

 extreme tips of the cotton grass on fine nights in June ; but omits to 

 say whether they were feeding or not. When full fed this larva forms 

 a delicately constructed cocoon, and the pupa can be found from July 

 to the middle of October, in tufts of its pabulum, under stones, &c. 

 For a description of the larva I must refer you to an elaborate sketch 

 by the late Mr. Buckler, which is to be found on pages 195-7 of ^^e 

 E.M.M. for 1872. The perfect insect flies during the months of 

 August, September and October. 



Turning to the subject of variation, we find that there are three 

 distinct varieties; namely lancea, triptmcta, and kihernica, to which 

 are added morio and erupta, by Mr. Tutt. The variety hihernica differs 

 from the type as being of a more ferruginous tint, less marked 

 with white, and the obicular concolorous and indistinct. Variety 

 lancea seems only to be a miniature form of hiberuica ; it is said to be 

 only half an inch in expanse, almost uniformly coloured fore-wings, 

 with the scarcely waved posterior strigae, and paler hind-wings. 

 Variety tvipimcta was first described and figured by Humphreys and 

 Westwood as having both stigmata distinct and pale, as well as a 

 patch resting upon the subapical strigae near the costa of the fore- 

 wings. I have carefully examined and compared the figure with the 



*During the discussion which followed, Mr. Collins (of Warrington) stated that he 

 took it very freely by " sugaring." 



