28 



THE BRITISH NATURALIST. [February 



Pupa — Mr. Porritt does not describe the pupa, but states that it 

 " is attached by the tail only, and laid fiat along the top of the cage " 

 (" Entomologist," Vol. XV., p. 91). The pupa is thns described by 

 Mr. South : " Green at first, afterwards pale dingy-brown, more or less 

 suffused with reddish-brown along the dorsal area. Dorsal and lateral 

 lines interrupted, blackish-brown ; warts and hairs as in tiie larva 

 except that some of the dorsal series are blackish. Head flattened 

 marked with brown, and thickly covered with short hairs. Wing- 

 cases yellowish-green, faintly streaked with brown. Attached by 

 anal segment to stem of food plant or other object near"' (" Entomo- 

 logist," Vol. XVIII., p. 277). 



Time of Appearance — I have met with this species every month 

 in the year except in January. I have found quite freshly emerged 

 specimens in my own garden in November and December, and 

 hybernated specimens in February to June. About July 7th, 

 apparently freshly emerged specimens are taken almost every year in 

 Chattenden, and specimens continue to emerge until December. I 

 used to think there was a succession of broods throughout the summer 

 and that some of the hybernating specimens laid their eggs early, 

 whilst others did so much later, and that the early-laid ova produced 

 the early moths, the later ones producing the later moths, but close ob- 

 servation of a little colony which has existed for some years on a couple 

 of Convolvulus plants, in my garden, has quite convinced me that there 

 are two distinct cycles of existence in a year, the^ first moths emerging 

 from July to September, these laying eggs which hatch and emerge as 

 moths from October to December, and that it is the specimens of 

 the latter brood which hybernate and lay their eggs in the spring. 

 There appears to be a general tendency among our "plumes" to form 

 double broods, but very few of the species hybernate in the perfect state. 



Habitat — Perhaps "everywhere" can be better said of the 

 distribution of this species in Britain, than of any other. It occurs 

 abundantly in all our woods in the south of England. It is found in 

 the Fens, and on the moorlands of the Midlands and North of 

 England. It occurs commonly around Glasgow and in Aberdeenshire, 

 also in Wales. It extends into Sligo in Ireland, and I doubt very 

 much whether there is any part of the British Islands where its food- 

 plant grows, where the species is not to be found. Probably this is 

 the most generally distributed in Britain of all our " plumes." In 

 Staudinger and Wocke's ' Catalog,' the localities given are " Europe, 

 Armenia, Hyrcania 'North Persia]," without limitation as to the 

 species being restricted to any particular parts. It appears to occur 

 from the Arctic circle, to the borders of the Mediterranean Sea ; on 

 the Swiss Alps ; and to extend well beyond the Urals into Asia. 

 Altogether.it has a very wide area of distribution. 



