88 THE GOLDEN-EIGHT MOTH IN GREAT BRITAIN.
Yorkshire, but I have seen no records from Scotland, Ireland,
Wales or the Isle of Man.
The first recorded capture of the moth in Essex was in 1893,
by our member, the late Charles Oldham, of Woodford, who
took it flying over honeysuckle in his garden3a. The next
record was at Mucking by the Rev. C. R. N. Burrows in 19024,
and in 1904 the Rev. W. Claxton found about 2 dozen cocoons
on Delphinium at Navestock in June5. Then we have Mr. B.
G. Cole's note in the Essex Naturalist (vol. xiv. p. 136) in
1905, and finally a record6 by Mr. J. W. S. Harrison of cocoons
found, in June 1907, at Ilford, on the underside of leaves of
Aconitum lycoctonum, a yellow-flowered continental species
of monkshood frequently cultivated in gardens. I myself
have found it more or less commonly in the larval state on
the plants of monkshood and larkspur in my garden at Hale
End every year since 1905, and have taken the moth at the lark-
spur flowers on many occasions. The Plusiids appear to have
strong emigratory instincts, and seem on the whole to be a very
restless lot. Several species show a tendency to emigrate steadily
in a westerly direction and moneta has made itself very con-
spicuous in this respect. In a note in the Essex Naturalist
for 1905 (p. 273), our senior secretary says : "It is one of the
most remarkable instances of a species spreading across Europe
in a southern migration. In about 50 years it has spread from
Russia . . . . to England." In the Entomologists'
Monthly Magazine for 1891 (p. 21), Mr. A. Hoffmann writes
that it was known to be common in S. and S.E. Germany, but
was not recorded from the N.W. until 1875, when it commenced
to invade that district, and in 1882 had reached Holland. Ac-
cording to Duponchel, however, it was known in Normandy
previous to 1829, and was taken regularly at Falaise.
An idea of the rapidity with which the insect has become
common and generally distributed in this country may be
gathered from the sales of British collections of lepidoptera.
In 1897—seven years after its invasion—bred specimens fetched
2s. 6d. a piece, whilst in 1905 they could be had for half that
price. In a list just to hand they are priced at 6d. !
3a Essex Naturalist, VII., p. 127.
4 Ent. Rec. XIV., p. 285.
5 Ent. XXXVII., p. 214.
6 Ent. Rec. XX., p. 214.