[Illustration] Pl. 125. 1. VIPER'S BUGLOSS. 2. SMALL RANUNCULUS. 3, 4. BROAD-BARRED WHITE. 5, 6. MINOR SHOULDER-KNOT. 7, 8. MINOR SHOULDER-KNOT _varieties_. {253} THE SMALL RANUNCULUS (_Hecatera chrysozona_). Except that the general grey coloration of the fore wings of this moth (Plate 125, Fig. 2) may be whiter or of a darker grey tint, there is little in the way of variation to refer to. Usually the area between the cross lines is dark grey, sometimes marked with yellow on the reniform and towards the inner margin. A series of yellow dots on the submarginal line is almost always present, but may be absent. The caterpillar is pale reddish brown; three fine double blackish lines and two rows of black dots on the back; a fine blackish line along the black spiracles. Head pale brown and glossy. In another form the general colour is some shade of green; yellowish to olive. It feeds in July and August on the flowers and seeds of the wild lettuce (_Lactuca saligna_, and _L. virosa_), hawk's-beard (_Crepis_), and also on those of the garden lettuce. The moth is out late in June and July, and at dusk may be seen at the blossoms of various plants in gardens and elsewhere, but seems to be most partial to those of spur-valerian (_Centranthus ruber_). It is found in the eastern counties, especially in Cambridgeshire; Surrey, and (rarely) in Sussex and Dorsetshire. Other English counties in which it has been noted are Hertford, Huntingdon, Northampton, Oxford, Berks, Somerset, and Hereford. {254} THE BROAD-BARRED WHITE (_Hecatera serena_).