87 
BOMBYX TRIFOLII. 
Plate XV. Figure 1. 
This insect measures from a little under two inches 
to about two inches and three quarters in expanse. 
Male: fore wings reddish-brown, with a white spot 
near the middle and towards the upper edge, and a pale 
streak across beyond the middle, forming in some speci¬ 
mens the outer bound of a cross bar contained within it 
and another towards the inner corner, but in others 
this is wholly wanting. Hind wings reddish-brown. 
Female : fore wings reddish-brown, with a white spot 
near the middle and towards the upper edge. Hind 
wings reddish-brown. 
Localities for this species are The Land’s End, Rams¬ 
gate, Plymouth, Birkenhead, Durham, New Brighton, 
Lytham, Blandford, Lymington, Teignmoutli, Eastbourne, 
and, it is said, the New Forest, 
The perfect insect appears in August. 
The caterpillar is black, with an orange-red spot on 
the third and fourth segments, a bluish-white line on 
each side of the back, which is covered with pale tawny 
hair, and the remainder greyish. 
The date of the appearance of the caterpillar is from 
September to June. 
It feeds on the bird’s-foot trefoil {Lotus corniculatus), 
the plantain {Plantago lanceolata) i the medick {Medi- 
cago falcata ), and the melilot {Melilotus officinalis ). 
