feeding on the caterpillars and chrysalids of other reed insects (Hofmann). The moth flies from late June to early August. It occurs in the fens of Norfolk and Cambridge, but in the former county it has been taken at Merton and King's Lynn. Dr. Wheeler states that it is usually found in the thicker reed beds where stems of the previous year's growth still remain. Specimens were obtained among reeds in the Harwich district, Essex, in 1902, and the species has also been recorded from Tring, Hertfordshire, Surrey, Sussex, and the Isle of Wight.
The Flame Wainscot (Meliana flammea).
The original British specimen, which Curtis in 1829 named, described, and figured, was stated to have been taken "near Lewisham, towards Lee, in July." Now it is only known to occur in Huntingdon, Norfolk, and Cambridgeshire, chiefly in the fens; in Wicken fen in the latter county it is most plentiful. (Plate [145], Figs. 5, 6.) The caterpillar is greyish ochreous brown, rather paler beneath, with paler lines along the back and sides, the central one edged on each side with darker; spiracles whitish, outlined with black, and a greyish drab spiracular stripe with paler edges; head shining, and faintly netted with darker grey. (Condensed from Buckler.) Hides by day in the old stems of reed (Phragmites), and feeds at night on the leaves, August to October.
The Small Wainscot (Tapinostola fulva).
The fore wings vary in colour from almost whitish through various shades of grey brown and reddish brown (Plate [145], Figs. 12 to 14). The caterpillar, pale shining pinkish ochreous; central stripe pale, bordered on each side with greyish brown. Head pale brown, marked with darker, shining. June and July in stems of sedges (Carex). The moth flies in August and
September, and is found in fens and marshy ground pretty well all over the British Isles, including the Hebrides.
The Concolorous (Tapinostola extrema).
This species (Plate [146], Fig. 3) was at one time subsequent to 1844, when it was first discovered in Yaxley Fen, not at all scarce in that locality and in other fens in Huntingdonshire and Cambridgeshire. It then disappeared from all its old haunts, some of which were destroyed; but a few years since it was met with again in Hunts, and apparently not uncommonly.
Bond's Wainscot (Tapinostola bondii).
The whitish moth shown on Plate [146], Fig. 4, was first taken at Folkestone, Kent, by Dr. Knaggs, in 1859, and named and described by him in 1861. It still occurs in that locality and also on the Devon and Dorsetshire coast, the known localities being Charmouth, Lyme Regis, and Sidmouth.