The caterpillar is green, with a darker line along the middle of the back, and a fine white line on each side of it; there is a dark green stripe low down along the sides, edged below with white, and oblique white lines run from it to the central line on rings 3-11. It feeds on hemp-agrimony (_Eupatorium cannabinum_), hibernates when small, and completes its growth in May or early June. The moth is out in July and August, and is said to be occasionally seen, on sunny days, flying about, or resting on, the flowers of the hemp-agrimony and other plants. Night, however, is its more usual time of activity, and it may also be found at the blossoms of the larval food plant, and at those of honeysuckle, etc. {67} The species has been found, chiefly in the past in most of the southern counties of England from Kent (Deal district) to Cornwall, also in Gloucestershire, and in South Wales. Chippenham fen in Cambridgeshire is the most noted locality for it in the present day, and it has been found in Norfolk and Suffolk. There is even a record of a specimen having been beaten out of honeysuckle near Preston, Lancs., but this happened nearly forty years ago. The range abroad extends to Amurland and Japan. THE GOLD SPANGLE (_Plusia bractea_). The purplish brown fore wings of this moth have a bright solid-looking golden mark on the upper edge of a velvety, deep brown patch. This metallic "spangle" varies a little in size and in shape, but not to any noteworthy extent (Plate 24, Fig. 2). The caterpillar is bright green, dotted with white, above, and dull darker green below; there is a fine dark green line along the middle of the back, some indistinct and irregular white lines followed by a whitish stripe lower down, along the sides. It seems to feed upon a variety of low-growing plants, among which are groundsel, dandelion, white dead-nettle (_Lamium album_), and stinging nettle, also on honeysuckle, from August to May. In a state of nature, it hibernates when small, and becomes full grown in May or early June, but when reared from the egg it can be induced, by keeping it in a warm place, to continue feeding, grow up quickly, pupate, and assume the winged state in the late autumn. Under such artificial conditions it is said to eat lettuce and plantain. Normally, the moth is out in June and July, and has been met with in August. Like all members of this group it is partial to flowers, and has been frequently taken at those of the honeysuckle, although all sorts of blossoms, down to the lowly _Viola cornuta_, have attraction for it. {68} The species is more especially a denizen of Ireland and Scotland, but it occurs in most of the northern counties of England, and has been recorded from Worcestershire and Herefordshire; also from Carmarthenshire in South Wales. Abroad, its range extends to Central Asia; and in Amurland and Japan it is represented by P. excelsa, Kretschmar. THE GOLD SPOT (_Plusia festucae_).