THE LESSER BROAD-BORDER (_Triphæna ianthina_).
Fore wings violet or purplish grey with blackish cross bands and brownish suffusion, the latter more especially on the basal area; reniform and orbicular stigma outlined in whitish. (Plate 116, Fig. 3.) In another form the bands and suffusion are reddish-brown. The black clouding on basal area of hind wings sometimes extends further towards the marginal band. The caterpillar (Plate 118, Fig. 3) is of a greenish tinged ochreous brown colour, with a pale central line and series of dusky dashes along the back, these dashes becoming blackish on the hind rings; the white spiracles are set in a blackish mark, and under them is a pale ochreous stripe. It feeds in the autumn on primrose, bramble, dock, etc., and in the spring on the young growth of sallow, elm, hawthorn, etc. The moth flies in July and August, frequenting lanes, hedgerows, and woods. It is pretty generally distributed throughout England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland as far north as Moray.
THE LEAST YELLOW UNDERWING (_Triphæna interjecta_).
Fore wings, dull reddish brown with darker cross lines and shades, often faint. On the inner margin of the yellow hind wings, two dusky shades run from the border to the base; these { 235} are not infrequently as black as the border, which is often broader than in the specimen shown on Plate 116 (Fig. 4). The caterpillar is ochreous brown dotted with black; on the middle of the back is a brown stripe enclosing a whitish central line. A brown stripe along the sides is edged above with whitish; the head is pale ochreous brown lined with darker. Stated by Barrett to feed on grasses and low plants, or, in the spring, on young shoots of sallow; said also to eat primrose and dock. September to May. The moth is out in July and August, and affects lanes and hedgerows. I have found it more frequently on flowers of ragwort, and on "honey-dew," than on the sugar patch; but have met with it occasionally darting along some particular bit of hedgerow, in the late afternoon. Although apparently uncommon in the Midlands, it occurs more or less freely throughout England to Durham. In Ireland it has been found in counties Dublin, Wicklow, Waterford, Cork, Louth, Westmeath, Galway (Kane), and, Barrett adds, Antrim.