21 
commonest species. It abounds in many localities, and has an equally 
wide range with fulvago, to which it is very closely allied. Strange to 
say, however, this is, compared with the latter, a most constant species, 
The ground colour is a very little richer than the orange form of 
fulvago, and the red markings do not undergo anything like the range 
of variation of its ally, in fact, with the exception that the dots form¬ 
ing the central band are sometimes much broken up, whilst in others 
they are united, and the band becomes solid, there is no variation 
noticeable. The tint of red is occasionally very bright = var. ochreago, 
Bork.; the normal form, with an almost complete and rather dark 
central band is the jlavago of Fabricius, whilst that in which the band 
is much broken is the togata of Esper. The name of this species has 
recently been altered by Scandinavian writers to lutea, Strom. 
The life-history of this species runs quite parallel with that of 
fulvago. The eggs are laid in rows of three to ten along the sallow 
and willow buds, in the autumn, and they hatch in the spring as the 
catkins begin to expand. They live inside the catkins, and although 
the larva is to be generally distinguished from that of fulvago when 
young, separation seems impossible when they get older. The larva 
lives on the ground when nearly full-fed, forms a cocoon in May, and 
remains unchanged until July, when it pupates. Mr. Reid remarks 
that this species and fulvago invariably emerge in the afternoon. 
It is widely distributed in Britain, occurring abundantly in some 
seasons both at sugar and flowers (especially those of certain grasses). 
Its distribution in Scotland is practically identical with that of fulvago, 
and it is abundant in certain Irish localities—Wicklow, Dublin and 
Derry. The prettiest forms of var. ochreago I have ever seen came from 
Morpeth, where they were bred or captured by Mr. Finlay. Staudinger 
gives as its range :—“Central Europe; S. Sweden; Livonia; Finland; 
N. Italy ; S. Russia; Armenia; Altai; Eastern Siberia.” 
Xanthia gilvago. —This appears to be a somewhat near ally to X. 
fulvago, although its habits and the plants it affects make a duller 
colour more useful for protective purposes. Thus we find the speci¬ 
mens of a much duller orange tint—almost brown, and the darker 
shades on the wings are of a somewhat smoky hue. In one of the 
Continental forms the ground colour is reddish yellow and there is no 
smoky shading : this is the palleago of Hiibner, and Guenee very aptly 
compares this form with the flavescens form of fulvago. On the other 
hand, there is a form in which the whole central area of the wing and 
even the basal area and inner margin are decidedly smoky in colour; 
this is known as var. suffusa, and appears to be more common in 
Britain than the type, which has the central area simply shaded with 
fuscous spots without being developed into banded form. Guenee 
refers to it as being “ exceedingly variable, less, however, than ocellaris X 
He also differentiates it from ocellaris (vide, British Nocluce and their 
Varieties, iii., p. 14.) On the other hand gilvago and ocellaris are 
united by Fuchs and Rossler (vide, British Noctuce, etc., iv., p. 122). My 
ignorance of the latter species prevents me giving an opinion on the 
matter. 
The egg is laid in the autumn, hatching the following spring. It 
feeds at first on the seeds of wych-elm, and is exceedingly like the larva 
of Mellinia ferruginea (circellaris ) when full grown. Buckler describes the 
larvae in the Ent. Mo. Mag., iv., p. 156. The Rev. G. H. Raynor records 
