THE BRITISH NATURALIST. 



[August 



Ventral surface, legs and pro-legs uniformly pale yellowish-green. 

 Var. 2 has the ground-colour brownish-yellow ; head also brownish- 

 yehow freckled with brown ; medio-dorsal stripe broad bright 

 purple ; sub-dorsal stripes also broad, but of a much less distinct dull 

 pale purple, and having a fine white line running through them ; a 

 narrow purple line, edged above with white, extends along the 

 spiracular region. Ventral surface legs and pro-legs uniformly pale 

 yellowish-brown. Feeds on the fiowers of Erythvcm centauren'' 

 (" Entomologist's Monthly Magazine," Vol. XX., p. 228). 



Pupa — Mr. Gregson describes the pupa as: — "Purplish flesh- 

 colour ; the wing-cases change to dark purplish-brown about two 

 weeks after making up and the moth emerges a few days after " 

 ("Entomologist," Vol. IV., p. 350). In the same Magazine, Vol. 

 XXII., p. 185,1 wrote: "The pupae vary almost to the same extent as 

 the larvae ; some are green, others quite red, with intermediate 

 forms." They are hung up by the a-nal segment among the food- 

 plant. Mr. Porritt says : — " The pupa is slender and nearly (if not 

 quite) as long as the full-grown larva, it is of almost uniform width, 

 the last two segments only tapering to the anal point. It is glossy 

 and cylindrical, but there is a depression on the thorax and front 

 abdominal segments; the snout and top of the thorax are prominently 

 and sharply defined ; the leg-cases extend a long distance down the 

 front of the abdomen, but before the end become detached from it. 

 The ground-colour is yellow, but is almost hidden with a deep pink, 

 W^hich is suffused all over the surface, and almost forms a stripe from 

 the head through the abdominal segments ; wing and leg-cases dingy 

 olive, tinged with pink. All the imagos (a fine series) emerged from 

 August 23rd to September ist." ("Entomologist's Monthly Magaz- 

 ine," Vol. XX., p. 228). 



Habitat — The species seems widely distributed. Stainton gives 

 near 8outliport in the "Manual." It occurs very freely near Dover, 

 Folkestone, Canterbury and other Kent localities, near Dorchester 

 (Porritt) ; "occasionally in various localities in the neighbourhood of 

 Wareham, also at Portland" (A. W. P. Cambridge) ; Howth, 

 Portmarnoch (^Sinclair), Ventnor (South). It will probably be found 

 wherever Ery/hrcea centaureuin is abundant. 



Time of Appearance —There was some discussion as to the time 

 of appearance of this species, a few years ago in " The Entomologist." 

 Mr. South, Vol. XXII., p. 35, made the moth appear in August and 

 the larvae in September thus suggesting that the larvae hatched as 

 soon as the eggs were laid and hybernated as larvae or otherwise 

 pupated before the winter. Relating to this, I wrote : — " May I kindly 

 ask whether Mr. South has ever bred imagos from the larvae of loewi 

 collected in September from the flowers of Eiythrcea centaitreum ? or 



