The Moths of the British Isles Second Series/Chapter 2
THE MOTHS OF THE BRITISH ISLES.
NOCTUIDÆ.
TRIFINÆ (continued).
The Heart Moth (Dicycla oo).
A male specimen of the ordinary form of this moth is shown on Plate 2, Fig. 1. Ab. renago, Haworth has the space between the central shade and the submarginal line more or less suffused with dusky or reddish grey. An intermediate form (Fig. 2) has a transverse band of darker colour between the second and submarginal lines of the fore wings (ab. ferruginago, Hübn.). The ground colour varies from a whitish or straw-yellow to reddish yellow (ab. rufescens, Tutt), and the markings are more distinct in some specimens than in others.
The caterpillar, which feeds from April to early June on the foliage of the oak, is black above and brownish beneath; there are three white lines on the back, the central one widest and more or less interrupted; the stripe along the black-outlined reddish spiracles is yellowish-white; head, and plate on first ring of the body, black and shining.
The moth appears about the end of June or early July, and has been noted, in good condition, as late as August 17. It seems to be of very local occurrence in England, but some of its known haunts nearest to London are Bromley in Kent, Richmond Park and Norbury in Surrey. At Palmer's Green, Middlesex, a specimen was found on an oak trunk, July 27, 1902, and a female example came to light in West London in 1906. In 1888 it was plentiful at sugar in the Bromley district. The New Forest in Hampshire is a noted locality for the species, but although it may abound there in some years, in other years it is scarce or entirely absent. It is rather more constant in Epping, Romford, and some other of the Essex woodlands, and occurs also in Berkshire, Huntingdonshire, Northamptonshire, Gloucestershire, and Devon. Odd specimens have been recorded from Tarrington, Herefordshire; St. Albans, Hertfordshire; and from Tuddenham, Suffolk. The var. renago, and its modifications, has been chiefly obtained in Essex and Huntingdonshire, but it has been found also in the Reading district, and elsewhere.
The Lunar-spotted Pinion (Calymnia pyralina).
There are two colour forms of this species; var. corusca, Esp., is rather brighter in colour than the female specimen shown on Plate 2, Fig. 3, which approaches more nearly the duller coloration of the type as described by Vieweg. The latter is perhaps the least frequent in England generally, but it occurs sparingly in Middlesex.
The caterpillar is green, with whitish warts emitting fine hairs, and has three lines along the back, the central one white and stripe-like; a yellow stripe low down along the sides is edged above with black. It feeds in April and May on elm, oak, apple, plum, etc., among the leaves of which it hides by day, and may be dislodged therefrom by jarring the boughs. (Plate 3, Fig. 2, after Hofmann.)
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The moth is out from about mid-July to mid-August. On some nights it will come freely to sugar and on others it seems more partial to honeydew. It is obtained most frequently perhaps in Berkshire, Middlesex, Surrey, and Hampshire, but it is also known to occur in Devon, Dorset, Sussex, Essex, Suffolk, Cambs., Hunts, Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and South Wales. A specimen has been taken at a gas lamp in Chester.
Abroad, the range extends to Japan.
The Lesser-spotted Pinion (Calymnia affinis).
This species varies in the ground colour of the forewings from reddish (typical) to greyish brown (var. suffusa, Tutt). A pale ochreous-brown form has been named ochrea, Tutt. The cross markings and stigmata are sometimes all well defined, but often the latter are hardly traceable, the cross lines only distinct on the front margin, and the outer one frequently is conspicuously widened. One example of each sex is shown on Plate 2, Figs. 4 ♂ and 5 ♀.
The caterpillar, which feeds on elm from April to June, is of a pale green, inclining to whitish green above, the raised dots white; there are three white lines on the back, the central one broader and clearer white than the others; the lines along the area of the black spiracles are whitish; head green and glossy, legs black, pro-legs greenish marked with reddish. It feeds at night, and conceals itself between leaves during the day.
The moth appears in July and August, is very partial to sugar and "honeydew," and has been taken at light. It lurks among the foliage of trees and bushes in the daytime, and may occasionally be dislodged therefrom when the boughs are jarred. Although its range extends northwards into Yorkshire, where it is local and scarce, the species seems to be chiefly obtained in the eastern and southern counties of England. No doubt it flourishes best where the elm (Ulmus campestris) is most plentiful. In Wales it has been noted from Glamorganshire and Flint. Kane states that it is very rare in Ireland, and I fail to find any record from Scotland.
The range abroad extends to Japan.
The White-spotted Pinion (Calymnia diffinis).
This pretty species is shown on Plate 2, Figs. 6 ♂ and 7 ♀. Its colour and marking are little prone to variation. Sometimes the ground colour has less red and rather more purple in its composition, and in some specimens the white marks on the front margin are larger than in others.
The caterpillar is pale green, with three whitish lines along the back; the central of these is rather yellowish, agreeing in tint with the usual raised dots, and the outer ones are edged above with bluish green; head, brownish, inclining to black below. It feeds at night, in April, May, and early June, on the common elm, and rests during the day on the undersides of the foliage or between leaves. (Plate 3, Fig. 3.)
The moth is out in July and August, and is obtained at sugar or at light, in almost all parts of England where its favourite tree grows freely. It seems to be more local in the Midlands, and appears to be but little known in the northern counties, although a specimen was taken at sugar in Hazleden Dene, Durham, in the autumn of 1898.
The Dun-bar (Calymnia trapezina).
On Plate 2 will be found portraits of four specimens of this variable species. Figs. 8 and 9 represent a male and a female of the more ordinary forms. Specimens of the typical whitish or greyish buff colour vary in the matter of cross lines, which are well defined in the type, but absent in ab. pallida, Tutt. Some examples have a reddish central band, and in others the band is blackish or black; the latter are referable to ab. badiofasciata, Teich. Ab. ochrea, Tutt, is of a reddish-tinged ochreous colour with clearly defined cross lines; and ab. rufa, Tutt, is red with distinct cross lines. Perhaps the rarest form of all is ab. nigra, Tutt, which in ground colour is deep blackish grey, with the cross lines faint.
The caterpillar is green with black, glossy, raised dots, each encircled with white; there are three whitish lines along the back, the central one rather wider than the other two; a pale yellowish line along the area of the black spiracles; head, green, tinged with dark brown or black about the jaws. It feeds, from April to June, on the foliage of elm, oak, sallow, and other trees and shrubs; also, be it noted, on other caterpillars. The larvæ hunter should therefore get to know this cannibal on sight, so that he may exclude it from the common receptacle.
The moth, which frequents woods and woody country generally, is out in July and August.
The species appears to be common throughout England and Wales, the south of Scotland, and more or less frequent northwards up to Moray. It is widely spread in Ireland.
Angle-striped Sallow (Cosmia paleacea).
From the typical pale yellowish ochre, the fore wings range in tint to a deeper buff, inclining to orange. The transverse lines are brown, or sometimes reddish, but are not always distinct, especially in the male. The stigmata are not infrequently obscure, but the blackish spot of the reniform is generally present. In some examples, chiefly of the female sex, there is an angulated dark shade crossing the central area, and some dark clouds or dashes on the outer area. (Plate 4, Fig. 1 ♂.)
The caterpillar is pale dingy green, dusted with whitish, and yellow between the rings; three white lines along the back, and a double white line along the region of the purplish-edged white spiracles; head, pale yellow, the jaws black, and a small red spot on each side above them. (Adapted from Porritt.) It feeds, from April to June, on the foliage of birch and aspen, and may be found in the daytime between the lower leaves.
The moth flies in August and September, and at night will visit the sugar patch and also heather blossom. It has but few fixed localities in England, and these are chiefly in Nottinghamshire (Sherwood Forest), and Yorkshire (woods near Doncaster, Huddersfield, and Sheffield). There are, however, records of its occurrence in the south of England. Stainton obtained one at Lewisham in 1846, and Barrett notes one at Highgate in 1870. One or two specimens have occurred in Essex, Somersetshire, and Gloucestershire. From its headquarters in Notts and Yorks. it seems to find its way occasionally into some of the adjoining and other counties. Forsythe states that he bred the moth from larvæ obtained from oak at Methop, Lancs., and it has been reared from a caterpillar taken in North Shropshire. It has occurred on Cannock Chase, Staffs., and rarely in Worcestershire.
From Porritt's List of the Lepidoptera of Yorkshire we learn that the occurrence of this species in Yorkshire was not noted until 1880 (Doncaster), but it seems to have since extended its range in the county, as in 1900 it was found in the Huddersfield district, and a few specimens occurred near York in 1903. As stated, it has been bred at Methop, Lancs., and, according to Barrett, it is not scarce in Cumberland. Southwards from its Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire headquarters it has been noted, more or less rarely, in Staffordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, and Somerset; and on the east side in Lincoln, Norfolk, Essex, and Kent. In Scotland it appears to be not uncommon in Moray, and it is occasionally recorded from Inverness and Perth. The range abroad extends to Amurland and to North America.
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The Suspected (Dyschorista suspecta).
Of this species (Plate 4, Figs. 2 and 3) there are two groups of forms—plain and variegated. To the first belongs the type with reddish-brown fore wings; a dark modification of this form is ab. nigrescens, Tutt, which has the fore wings blackish red; a brighter red form is ab. rufa, Tutt. Of the variegated sections three forms have been named, but the most important of these is var. congener, Hübn., with the inner and the outer marginal areas of the reddish fore wings ochreous; two other modifications have the ground colour redder or dark purplish inclining to blackish.
The caterpillar, which feeds on birch and sallow in April and May, is purplish brown above, and obscure greenish beneath; there are three lines along the back, the central one white and distinct, the others less defined but noticeable on the black plate on ring nearest the head; on each side of the central line are blackish marks; head, ochreous brown, streaked with black.
The moth flies in July and August, and is partial to sugar and to the flowers of heather and ragwort. Its chief British quarters appear to be in Yorkshire, in which county it was first noted in 1841; thence it extends into Lancashire, Cumberland, and Durham, but is local and scarce in the latter county. Southwards it is found in the counties of Cheshire (locally not uncommon on moors and mosses), Derby, Nottingham, Stafford, Shropshire, Warwick, Gloucester (rarely); more locally in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, and Kent (once at West Wickham). In 1896 it occurred in numbers in the New Forest, Hants, and I believe that a solitary specimen was secured in Hayling Island in 1901. In Scotland it occurs up to Inverness and Aberdeen; and Kane states that in Ireland it is doubtfully recorded from Londonderry, but that he has seen lovely forms of the species from Killarney. It also occurs in Co. Wicklow. The range abroad extends to Siberia, Amurland, and Mongolia.
The Dingy Shears (Dyschorista fissipuncta).
In its typical form this species (Plate 4, Fig. 4) has the fore wings pale greyish brown, but occasionally they assume a reddish tinge. Var. corticea, Esp., is of the latter colour, and has the black edges of the claviform extended to beyond the middle of the wing. In another form the fore wings are dark grey brown (Fig. 5), leading up to var. nigrescens, Tutt, with blackish fore wings and the hind wings darker than usual. Besides the forms just mentioned, I have a bred specimen from Canterbury in which the fore wings are of a pale whity brown, with very faint markings, and the hind wings are almost white; it is rather below the average size, and possibly is an abnormal aberration. This species is the ypsilon of Borkhausen, and the upsilon of other authors.
The caterpillar is brown, sometimes inclining to reddish marked with black above, and the under surface is paler; there are three pale lines along the back, and one low down along each side; head, pale brown freckled with darker brown. It feeds in April and May on willows, chiefly the narrow-leaved kind, and also, although less frequently perhaps, on poplar. These caterpillars may often be found in the daytime under loose bark of the willow, or lurking among grass roots or débris around the trunk. (Fig. 1 on Plate 3 is from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich.)
The moth is out from late June through July. It is a constant visitor to the sugar patch, and will put in an appearance even when other species refuse to be drawn thereto. It appears to be pretty well distributed over England, and in the southern half at least is not uncommon, wherever there are old-established willows. In the northern counties it seems to be much less frequent, but it is recorded as common or plentiful in one or two Cheshire localities, and is said to be taken by all the Newcastle collectors. In Scotland it has been noted in only a few localities. Abroad, the range extends to Amurland.
Mesogona acetosellæ, Fabricius.—Mr. R. Adkin has a specimen of this Central and South European species. It was taken at sugar on the evening of October 26th, 1895, by Mr. T. Salvage, in his garden at Arlington, Sussex (Entomologist, xxviii. p. 316).
The Double Kidney (Plastenis retusa).
This olive-brown species, shown on Plate 4, Fig. 7, has a reddish-tinged form—ab. gracilis, Haw.—but otherwise there is little to be noted in the way of variation. The caterpillar is pale green with three whitish lines on the back, and a narrower and more irregular whitish line low down along the sides; head, yellowish green, or dark brown. Sometimes the body has a yellowish tinge at each end. It feeds on the foliage of sallow and willow, from April to June, drawing together the terminal leaves of a shoot as a retreat.
The moth is on the wing in July and August, and is more frequently attracted at night to the aphis secretion known as "honeydew" than to the sugar patch, although it does not ignore the latter altogether, and occasionally enters the illuminated moth trap. Barrett states that he has found it at the flowers of figwort (Scrophularia aquatica). Apparently a local species, but found more or less frequently in most of the southern and eastern counties of England, and through the Midlands to Cheshire, Lancashire, and Yorkshire; it is, however, rarely seen in the three last-named counties.
The range abroad extends to Amurland and Japan.
The Olive (Plastenis subtusa).
This moth is shown on Plate 4, Fig. 6. It is somewhat similar in general appearance to the last mentioned, but the colour of the fore wings is greyer; the cross lines are not parallel, and the outer margins of these wings are less irregular. The caterpillar is greenish, with black dots, and white lines along the back and sides; the head and plate on the first ring of the body black. It feeds, on poplar and aspen, in April and May. By day these caterpillars may be found spun up between two leaves or in a folded leaf. The moth is out in July and August, but is rarely noticed in the daytime, although at night, when it becomes active, it may be obtained, sometimes not altogether uncommonly, at honeydew, or in much fewer numbers at sugar or light. The best way to obtain the species is to search for the caterpillars, which are not at all difficult to rear. Most of them, however, prefer the higher foliage of well-grown aspen or poplar, where they may be seen but not readily secured; but I have generally found as many as I wanted within reach.
The species seems to have a wide distribution throughout England, and Scotland up to Moray, its occurrence in any locality depending on the presence of the poplar or aspen. The range abroad extends to Eastern Siberia.
The Centre-barred Sallow (Cirrhœdia (Atethmia) xerampelina).
The typical form of this pretty species has the fore wings yellow, with a purplish-red central band. The band, which fills up the space between the first and second lines, is rarely carried through to the front margins of the wing, but usually is only fragmentary above the reniform stigma, which forms part of it; it also varies in the intensity of the purple tint. In most British specimens the band varies as indicated above, but the general colour of the fore wings is orange-yellow (Plate 4, Fig. 8)—ab. centrago, Haw.—the hind marginal band agreeing in colour with that of the central band. Or the fore wings may assume the colour of Fig. 9, var. unicolor, Staud., but this form is rare in Britain, although it is known to occur in the Isle of Man, and has been recorded from Ripon, Skipworth, and York, also from Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Notts, Lincoln, and Gloucestershire. The caterpillar is brownish, inclining to greyish above and to greenish grey beneath, freckled with darker brown; of the three whitish lines along the back, the central one is widest, but is only really distinct on the middle part of each ring; the lines are margined with black, the edging of the central one irregular, but of the others more complete; the spiracles are whitish, and the area above them is dark grey-brown enclosing paler spaces on each ring; head, shining grey-brown freckled with blackish. It feeds, in April, May, and June, on ash, and until the leaves expand it is content with the buds. After dark it may be beaten from saplings in the hedgerow, as well as from full-grown trees. By day it hides among moss or litter, or in the crevices of bark, and at dark may be found crawling up the trunks of ash trees.
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The moths are out in August and September, and in the late afternoon may be seen, newly emerged from the chrysalis, on ash trunks, or on twigs and herbage immediately around the tree stems. When on the wing at night it is attracted by light, especially electric, and by sugar. Now that the habits of the species are better known than formerly, it has been ascertained to occur in most English counties. In Scotland it is widely distributed up to Argyll and Perthshire; it has been recorded from several parts of Wales, and in Ireland is found in counties Antrim, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Down, Armagh, Louth, Westmeath, Wicklow, Sligo, Galway, Tipperary, and Cork.
The Lunar Underwing (Omphaloscelis (Anchocelis) lunosa).
In the general colour of the fore wings, this species, of which four figures will be found on Plate 7, ranges from pale ochreous brown to dark blackish grey. The typical form (lunosa, Haworth) has the ground colour pale, or bright, reddish (Figs. 1 and 3); the markings are well defined, and the wing rays are sometimes pale ochreous, or whitish. Four modifications of this form have been named; one of these has pale veins, but the general colour is red brown (ab. brunnea, Tutt); in another (Fig. 2) the colour is ochreous brown, the veins pale, and the other markings distinct (ab. humilis, Humph. and Westw.). Of the greyish forms, var. agrotoïdes, Guenée, is the darkest (Fig. 4).
The caterpillar is brownish, inclining to greenish beneath; there are three whitish lines along the back, the outer edged below with blackish; a thin whitish line along the sides is shaded above with blackish. It feeds on meadow grass (Poa annua), and other kinds of grass, from October to May. The moth appears in September and October, sometimes at the end of August. It is partial to light and to sugar, and where the latter is smeared over the foliage of trees and bushes it seems better attended by this, and other autumnal moths, than when painted on tree-trunks in the usual manner.
The species seems to be pretty generally distributed throughout Southern and Western England, and in some seasons it is very common. Eastward and through the Midlands it is perhaps less frequent; in the northern counties it is scarce on the east, but locally common on the west. It occurs in Wales; also in Scotland up to Perthshire. According to Kane, it is widely distributed in Ireland, but most common on the coast.
Abroad, it appears to be confined to France and Spain, although it has been recorded from North-west Africa.
The Red-line Quaker (Amathes (Orthosia) lota).
In its typical form this species is of a leaden-grey coloration on the fore wings, but these wings sometimes have a reddish tinge (ab. rufa, Tutt). In others the ground colour is blackish (ab. suffusa, Tutt), and a rarer form (ab. pallida, Tutt) has the fore wings whitish grey with a distinct black reniform stigma, and red submarginal line. (Plate 7, Figs. 5, 6.)
The caterpillar is ochreous brown, sometimes tinged with reddish or purplish brown on the sides; of three whitish lines along the back, the central one is composed of spots, and the outer ones are not well defined, except on the dark first and last rings; the line along the sides is reddish. Head, glossy, pale reddish brown, marked with darker brown. It feeds on willow and sallow, and may be found among the foliage from April to June, and especially the topmost leaves of a twig, which it spins together with silk to form a retreat during the day. (Plate 5, Fig. 2.)
The moth comes freely to sugar in September and October, sometimes even later. It may be found pretty freely also at ivy bloom, and at the flowers of Tritoma. Although apparently commoner in the south, it is generally distributed throughout England, Wales, and Scotland up to Perthshire and Aberdeen. In Ireland it is widely distributed, but local.
The Yellow-line Quaker (Amathes (Orthosia) macilenta).
The typical coloration of this species (Plate 7, Figs. 7 and 8) is pale ochreous brown, inclining to reddish in some specimens; the lower part of the reniform stigma black. Sometimes, the black spot is absent (ab. obsoleta, Tutt). Another form has the ground colour pale yellowish brown, and this, with the black lower portion of the reniform present, is ab. straminea, Tutt, while specimens of the same tint, but minus the black spot, are referable to ab. obsoleta-straminea of the same author.
The caterpillar is reddish brown with white dots, and three white lines on the back; the line along the spiracles is whitish with a dusky edge above. Head, ochreous brown; plate on first ring blackish lined with white. It feeds on beech, oak, and heather. When approaching full growth it probably feeds on low-growing plants, and it may be found from April to June.
The moth flies in September and October, sometimes in November. Decaying apples seem to have a stronger attractive influence at times than either sugar or ivy bloom. Except that it appears to be local or scarce in the Midlands, the species occurs, in many parts commonly, throughout England, Wales, and Scotland to Moray. In Ireland it is generally distributed and abundant in some localities.
The Brick (Amathes (Orthosia) circellaris).
Yellow or ochreous is the typical coloration, but the most frequent form of this common species in Britain is ab. ferruginea, Hübn., which is ochreous tinged with rust colour. Sometimes, the fore wings are more or less suffused with blackish, and with the markings black, such specimens are referable to macilenta as figured by Hübner, Noct., Fig. 688. The more usual form is shown on Plate 7, Figs. 9, 10.
At the time it is freshly laid, the egg (Plate 5, Fig. 3a) is yellowish, but changes in about a week to purplish with a more or less distinct pearly sheen.
The caterpillar is brown inclining to yellowish, the head is reddish, and the plate on first ring blackish; there are three pale lines along the back, the central one more or less interrupted by dusky V-shaped marks, the others with an interrupted edging above; the stripe along the region of the blackish spiracles is yellowish grey. It lives on wych-elm and ash, eating the flowers, seeds, and leaves, but has a decided preference for the first two. It may be beaten in May and early June, sometimes in numbers, from the seeds (Plate 5, Fig. 3).
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| 3. Red Sword-grass: caterpillar. |
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The moth is out from late August well on into October, and is to be found, wherever its favourite trees are established, throughout the British Isles.
The Flounced Rustic (Amathes (Orthosia) helvola).
On Plate 9 is shown a male specimen of the typical form (Fig. 1). In ab. ochrea, Tutt, the general colour of the fore wings is ochreous with a greenish tinge, and so it differs from the type, in which the ground colour is reddish. In another ochreous form the cross bands are of a purplish tint (ab. punica, Borkhausen), and in ab. rufina, Hübner, the bands are also purplish, but the ground colour is of a somewhat brighter red than in the type. Ab. unicolor, Tutt, is dull reddish with indistinct cross markings, and seems to be a modification of the almost unicolorous form of a bright red colour, ab. rufa, Tutt. (Fig. 2.)
The full-grown caterpillar feeds, in April and May, on the foliage of the oak, the elm, and some other trees; also on sallow, hawthorn, and, according to Barrett, on bilberry and heather. In general colour it is brownish, often tinged with red, and more or less flecked with dark brown; a fine whitish line along the middle of the back is only clearly traceable on the front rings, but there is a very distinct white stripe along the region of the black spiracles. In an earlier stage it is green with three whitish lines on the back, and another on the sides.
The moth is out in September and October, rather earlier in Scotland. Though much commoner in some districts than in others, this species is found in woodlands throughout the greater part of England, Wales, and the mainland of Scotland. In Ireland it appears to be rare, and has only been recorded, chiefly in single specimens, from Waterford, Wicklow, Galway, Armagh, and Derry.
The Beaded Chestnut (Amathes (Orthosia) lychnidis).
The name of this variable species (Plate 9, Figs. 3-6), long known as pistacina, is now recognised as the lychnidis of Schiffermiller, so, as the latter name has page priority over the former, it has to be adopted. Fig. 3 on the plate represents a well-marked reddish specimen of the typical form. A great many forms have been named, but only a few of the more distinct of these can be referred to here. Fig. 4 shows the greyish ochreous aberration known as serrina, Fab. Ab. ferrea, Haworth (Fig. 5) has almost uniform reddish fore wings, and ab. venosa, Haworth has the fore wings greyish brown with the veins whitish.
When newly laid the egg (Plate 5, Fig. 1a) is yellowish, but changes to olive-brown. The caterpillar (Plate 5, Fig. 1) is green inclining to yellowish, freckled with greyish, and dotted with whitish; there are three fine whitish lines along the back, and a broad white stripe along the sides. It is found from March to June, and feeds on grasses, dandelion, groundsel, buttercup, and a variety of low plants; it will also eat sallow.
The moth is out from September to November, and is often abundant at sugar and ivy bloom, and not uncommon on gas lamps or around electric lights. Generally distributed and plentiful over the greater part of England and Wales, but from Yorkshire northwards and through Scotland to Perthshire it is very local, and apparently not at all frequent. In Ireland it is widely spread and common.
The Brown-spot Pinion (Amathes (Orthosia) litura).
On Plate 9 are shown specimens from Scotland (Figs. 8 ♂, 9 ♀). The male, which has the basal area of the fore wings pale, is referable to ab. borealis, Sparre-Schneider, whilst the female is more nearly typical. In England the majority of the specimens belong to ab. rufa, Tutt, which is reddish in the coloration of fore wing (Fig. 7). Sometimes the basal area in this colour form is pale also.
The caterpillar is green, sometimes tinged with olive and freckled with darker green; there are three dark-edged pale-green lines along the back; the under surface is tinged with yellowish, and is separated from the green colour of the upper surface by a whitish stripe, edged above with black; head, brownish, with darker freckles. It occurs in April and May, when it feeds on bramble, rose, oak, sallow, and some low-growing plants.
The moth is found in September and October throughout England, and Scotland up to Moray.
The Orange Sallow (Cirrhia (Xanthia) citrago).
The ground colour of the fore wings is generally yellow, but in some districts the specimens exhibit a tendency towards orange-red. The latter tint is very decided in var. aurantiago, Tutt. There is but little variation in marking, but the central cross line is broader in some specimens than in others. (Plate 10, Fig. 1.)
The caterpillar is dark olive-grey above, with white dots, and obscure greenish beneath; of the three whitish lines along the back, the central one is rather wider than the other two, which are edged above with black; along the region of the spiracles the colour is whitish grey. Head, brown, shining, and darker on the mouth; a black mark on ring of body next the head. (Adapted from Porritt.) It feeds on lime (Tilia vulgaris) in April and May, and conceals itself between two spun-together leaves during the daytime. In such retreats I have frequently detected them by simply standing under the branches and looking upwards and outwards from the trunk. When nearly full grown they more often descend the tree, and hide by day among the undergrowth, etc., at the base of the trunk, whence they return to their feeding quarters by crawling up the tree at dusk.
The moth is out in August and September, and although it does not seem to care much about the collector's sugar when spread on tree trunks in the usual way, it seems to accept it freely enough when daubed on the foliage. The leaves of the lime are, however, generally well coated with a sweet substance proceeding from Aphides, and commonly known as honeydew. This in itself is very attractive to the moths. The species seems to be widely distributed over England, and will perhaps be found in most districts where limes flourish. In Wales it has occurred in Flintshire, Denbighshire, and Carnarvon. McArthur obtained a specimen in the Isle of Lewis in 1887, and Renton records it as found in Roxburghshire. Little is known of it from Ireland, but it has been noted from Wicklow and Galway.
The Barred Sallow (Ochria (Xanthia) aurago).
The ground colour of the fore wings, which in the type is pale yellow, ranges through various shades of yellow to deep orange. The basal and outer marginal bands are pale purplish, in the type, but in the more orange forms the bands are rather more reddish purple. In ab. fucata, Esper, the purplish colour of the bands spreads over the orange central area, and in ab. unicolor, Tutt, the orange invades the basal and outer marginal regions, so that the bands are pretty well obliterated, and the fore wings assume a more or less uniform orange coloration. The latter form is uncommon, but a rarer one in this country is ab. lutea, Tutt, which has the fore wings almost entirely orange-yellow. (Plate 10, Figs. 2 and 3, the latter inclining to ab. unicolor.)
The caterpillar is reddish brown with pale dots, and with three whitish lines along the back; a pale stripe along the sides. Head, pale brown, shining. May be found from April to June on beech, or on maple where this occurs around beech woods. At first it feeds on the buds, but later on the leaves; for protection during the day it spins together two of the leaves, and so forms a suitable resting place. Sycamore, it may be mentioned, is acceptable to this caterpillar when reared in captivity.
The moth is out in September and early October, and is chiefly found in the neighbourhood of beech woods, especially those in chalky districts in Oxford and adjoining counties, Hertfordshire, Middlesex, Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Wilts, Somerset, Dorset, and Devon. It also occurs in the counties of Hereford, Worcester, and Cheshire; it has been found in Yorkshire since 1890 in several localities, including Barnsley, Doncaster, Huddersfield, and Rotherham. At least one specimen has been recorded from Pembrokeshire, and others from Flint and Denbighshire, in Wales.
The Pink-barred Sallow (Xanthia lutea (flavago)).
In some examples of this species (Plate 10, Figs. 4, 5) the oblique band of the fore wings is purplish, and in others red or reddish; the former are typical, and the latter are referable to ab. ochreago, Borkhausen. Often the band is incomplete, and sometimes it is only indicated by three more or less regular series of reddish dots (ab. togata, Esper). I have one example of this form from the Isle of Hoy, and another specimen from the same locality is somewhat similar, but the spots are not so well separated, and are purplish in colour.
The eggs (Plate 6, Fig. 3) are yellowish when laid, but become purplish later, and the ribs then appear whitish.
The caterpillar when young lives on catkins of the sallow, and when these fall it feeds on low-growing plants, but it will eat the leaves of sallow and the seeds of wych-elm. It may be found from March to June.
The moth appears in September and October. It is widely distributed, and often common at the sugar patch, over the whole of England, Wales, Scotland up to Moray, and Ireland.
The range abroad extends to Amurland, Japan, Kamtschatka, and North America.
The Sallow (Xanthia fulvago).
A typical male and female of this species are shown on Plate 10, Figs. 7, 8; Fig. 6 on the same plate represents ab. flavescens, Esper. Sometimes the fore wings are orange-tinged, and such examples having the typical markings well defined are referable to ab. aurantia, Tutt. In cerago, Hübner, the markings are fainter than in the type, and the orange-yellow modification of this form has been named imperfecta, Tutt.
The caterpillar is brown above with a tinge of red or purple, and freckled with darker; there are three pale lines along the back, but only the central one is distinct, and this is more or less interrupted by clusters of darker freckles; there is a darker stripe composed of freckles on the sides, and below this is a pale brownish stripe; head, brown, plate on the first ring of the body blackish with pale lines upon it. It feeds when young in sallow catkins, and later on low-growing plants, also leaves of sallow and seeds of wych-elm. Early stages are figured on Plate 6. The moth is out in September and early October. It is widely distributed, and generally common, throughout England and Wales, Scotland to Moray, and Ireland. Its range abroad extends to Amurland and Japan.
Note.—It may be stated here that the present species, together with aurago, lutea, fulvago, gilvago, and ocellaris, are referred to Cosmia, Ochs. and Treit., by Hampson (Cat. Lep. Phal. vi. 497).
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The Dusky-lemon Sallow (Mellinia (Xanthia) gilvago).
Two examples of this species are shown on Plate 10, Figs. 9 and 10. The purplish-brown mottling or clouding and greyish suffusion of the fore wings is much denser in some specimens than in others. Often the suffusion is quite absent, and the purplish brown is only seen as spots. Again, in an almost unicolorous form the ground colour is of a pale orange tint, the cross markings and outlines of the reniform are as in the type, and the series of blackish points on the submarginal line, usually present in the type, are more conspicuous, owing to absence of the other usual dark markings; this seems to be the palleago of Hübner, which has been considered a distinct species; I think, however, that it is only a form of gilvago. The earliest recorded British specimen of this form was taken at Brighton in 1856, and it and others captured in the same district were then thought to be examples of M. ocellaris, but their true identity was established by Doubleday in 1859. Very few specimens of this form have been reported from other parts of England, but I have recently seen one that was taken at light in the Canterbury district, Kent, on October 3, 1907. In its typical form this species has an extensive range in England, spreading from Yorkshire to Surrey and Sussex. The earliest known British specimens were captured in the neighbourhood of Doncaster over sixty years ago, but its occurrence in Surrey seems not to have been noted until comparatively recent times.
The caterpillar is pinkish grey-brown, with three paler lines and a series of purplish diamonds along the back; the sides are mottled with purplish brown above the black spiracles, and striped with ochreous grey below them. According to Buckler, whose description is here adapted, the four pale raised dots circled with dark brown, placed within the dark marks on the back of each ring, serve to distinguish this caterpillar from its allies. It feeds on the seeds of wych-elm, and may be beaten or jarred from the branches in April and May. The moth is out in the autumn.
The Pale-lemon Sallow (Mellinia (Xanthia) ocellaris).
Although sparsely marked yellowish examples of the last species have been mistaken for the present one, the true M. ocellaris was not known to occur in Britain until 1893, when three specimens were taken at Wimbledon and Twickenham. In 1894 a specimen was recorded from Bognor in Sussex, and another in West Dulwich. The following year one specimen was taken at Richmond, Surrey, and one at Ipswich, Suffolk. Three specimens were obtained at sugar in 1899, and five others in 1900, in a locality in North Kent. Odd specimens have also been noted as follows:—Suffolk, Beccles (1898), Woodbridge (1899); West Norfolk (1904 and 1906); Cambridge (1907). The caterpillar, which is ochreous grey with black dots, feeds on poplar, and is stated by one continental author to live in the buds and catkins when young, and afterwards on low plants. So far, it has not been detected in England.
A German specimen of the moth is depicted on Plate 10, Fig. 11. From the last species this one is easily separated by the more pointed fore wings, by the white dot at lower end of the reniform stigma, and by the different shaped cross lines.
The moth has been taken at sugar or light in September and October.
The Orange Upper-wing (Xantholeuca (Hoporina) croceago).
This species is shown in its typical form on Plate 10, Fig. 12. Occasionally a dull reddish-brown form (ab. latericolor, Raynor) occurs, of which I some years ago reared several examples, from eggs laid by a female taken at sallow in Darenth Wood, Kent.
The caterpillar (Plate 6, Fig. 1) is pale ochreous brown, inclining to orange, finely freckled with brown, and with brown V-marks on the back of rings 4 to 11; the line along the middle of the back is pale yellow, and there are two pale yellow spots on ring 11; head, pale brown, freckled with darker brown, and sometimes rosy tinged. It feeds on oak, and may be found in May and June.
The moth flies in September and October, and then visits ivy bloom and sugar at night; after hibernation it comes to sallow bloom. It has been found during the winter between dry leaves on oak twigs in the hedgerows. Females taken late in the spring and enclosed in a chip box will probably deposit a good supply of eggs; caterpillars hatching from them are not difficult to rear.
The species does not appear to have been noticed in the eastern or northern counties of England, but it occurs from Worcester southwards to Somerset, Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall. From Herefordshire it spreads into Wales. North of London it is found in Hertfordshire, Middlesex, and to the south in Kent, Surrey, Sussex, and Hampshire.
It is represented in Japan by sericea, Butler, which is considered a distinct species by some authors.
The Red-headed Chestnut (Orrhodia (Conistra) erythrocephala).
The portraits of this species on Plate 11 are from Austrian specimens. Fig. 1 is typical and Fig. 2 is ab. glabra, Hübner.
A specimen was captured at Marlow, Bucks, in October, 1859, by Mr. A. H. Clarke, who presented it to the British Museum in 1903; but perhaps the earliest-known British specimen was one taken near Brighton in 1847. Between the last-named Sussex locality and Eastbourne in one direction, and Lewes in the other, one or more specimens of the type or of ab. glabra have occurred from time to time, but there are no records from the county for a number of years now. The species has also been noted from Hampshire (New Forest and Bournemouth), Somerset, Devon, Kent (Darenth), and Hertfordshire (St. Albans). The most recent records refer to two captures at Bournemouth in 1902.
The Chestnut (Orrhodia (Conistra) vaccinii).
Figure 3 on Plate 11 represents this species in its typical form, which is of a dark chestnut colour, and almost without markings. The brighter red modification of this form has been named ab. rufa, Tutt; while another assuming the blacker hue of O. ligula has been described as ab. unicolor, Tutt. In some of the redder forms the cross lines are dark and conspicuous, thus approaching ab. spadicea, Hübner, which has distinct black lines as seen in Fig. 6. It should be noted that the figure just referred to is from a German specimen, as I was unable to obtain a suitable British example of the form. Another far more frequent form of this variable species is ab. mixta, Staud. (Fig. 4), in which the ground colour is ochreous, more or less tinged with red; the more yellow-coloured examples of this form have been separated under the name ochrea, Tutt. Figure 5 shows a form that is rather less common than either of those just adverted to; the specimen is one of a short series from Kent that I have labelled ab. suffusa, Tutt; as will be noticed, the band on the outer area is in strong contrast to the rest of the fore wings. Apart from the above and other named forms, there is considerable aberration in the markings, and more especially as regards the stigmata. The lower extremity of the reniform is usually black or blackish, but it may be very faint or entirely absent, and as a contrast to this, the orbicular sometimes has a blackish dot at its lower end.
The caterpillar feeds, in May and June, on oak, elm, etc., and also upon low-growing plants. It is reddish brown above, and greenish beneath, sometimes the upper surface is tinged with green also; the back is freckled with pale brown, and the three lines along it are faintly paler, the raised dots are whitish; head, glossy pale brown, freckled with reddish-brown, and lined with darker brown.
The moth occurs at sugar, ivy bloom, etc., in the autumn and early winter, also at sallow catkins in the spring, in probably almost all wooded localities throughout the British Isles.
Its range abroad extends to Japan.
The Dark Chestnut (Orrhodia (Conistra) ligula).
Four examples of this species are shown on Plate 11. The typical form has a white band on the outer area of the fore wings (Fig. 7); sometimes this band is ochreous (ab. subnigra, Haworth), and a modification of this, in which the outlines of the stigmata and the veins are pale, is var. ochrea, Tutt. Ab. polita, Hübner (Fig. 9), has a whitish-grey submarginal band and greyish cross lines, and ab. spadicea, Haworth (Fig. 10), is a dark form without any distinct markings. This species has long been incorrectly known as spadicea, Hübner, which, as noted above, is a form of vaccinii, L. Staudinger, probably to prevent confusion, deposed spadicea, Haworth, and set up subspadicea in its place.
Fig. 8 represents a specimen from North Kent that somewhat suggests ab. suffusa, Tutt, of the previous species. On comparing the outer marginal contour of the fore wings of these closely allied species, it will be noted that in all forms of ligula the margin below the tip is always slightly concave, thus giving the wings a decidedly pointed tip, a character which will serve to distinguish ligula from vaccinii in nearly every instance.
The caterpillar is reddish brown, freckled with paler; the three pale lines along the back are distinctly white on the plate on ring 1, the outer lines edged below with brownish; spiracles outlined in black, and the stripe along them is reddish ochreous. It feeds in spring and early summer, at first on oak, sallow, and hawthorn, and afterwards on low-growing weeds.
The moth flies in October and November, and as it lives through the winter is seen at sugar on any mild night, but it does not seem to turn up at the sallow catkins in the spring. The species is rather less generally distributed than the last, but it is not uncommon in the southern and eastern counties, and is found throughout England to the Tyne. Recorded from very few localities in Ireland, and apparently not noticed in Scotland.
The Dotted Chestnut (Orrhodia (Dasycampa) rubiginea).
A pair of typical specimens are represented on Plate 11, Figs. 11 and 12. A form of the species occurring in Somersetshire has the fore wings reddish brown, and the usual black dots are largely absent (ab. unicolor, Tutt).
The caterpillar (Plate 6, Fig. 2) is purplish brown freckled with blackish; there are three obscure paler lines along the back from ring 3, and a central series of black spots; the head is black, and the fine hairs of the body are yellowish brown. It feeds, in May and June, on apple, plum, dandelion, etc. The fact has been noted that, if supplied with apple until about half grown, and afterwards with dandelion, it attains full size more quickly than when kept to one kind of food only.
The moth appears in October and November, retires during the cold weather, and comes forth again in the spring. When reared in confinement, it emerges from the chrysalis about a month earlier. Ivy bloom, ripe yew berries, and also sugar attract it in the autumn, and in the spring it visits the blossoms of sallow, damson, and sloe. There are several records of its having been taken at light, perhaps the latest of these being that of a specimen captured at Exeter on April 11, 1906.
Except in Devonshire, where it is of more regular occurrence, the species is far from common in England, but is taken in, or has been recorded from, the counties of Dorset, Wilts, Gloucester, Hereford, Monmouth (S. Wales), Hants and Isle of Wight, Sussex, Surrey, Berks, Bucks, and Cambridge. In Ireland it is noted from Dublin, King's County, Kerry, Wicklow, and Galway.
It is represented in Japan by the larger ab. fornax, Butler.
The Satellite (Eupsilia (Scopelosoma) satellitia).
An example of each sex of this species is shown on Plate 12, together with a less common form. Although specimens vary in the amount of red in the colour of the fore wings, there is more striking aberration in the colour of the lunular marks representing the reniform stigma; these are frequently white, but may be yellow (typical), or reddish orange in either sex. The dull brownish specimen (Fig. 3) is from Yorkshire, and appears to be referable to var. brunnea, Lampa.
The caterpillar is dark brown, with indistinct paler lines on the back; the line along the spiracles is white or whitish, but often reduced to a series of spots on rings 1, 2, 5, and 11. Head, ochreous-brown, darker about the mouth. It feeds, in May and June, on the leaves of oak, beech, elm, and other trees, also on low plants; and has a keen appetite, it is said, for other caterpillars when the opportunity offers.
The moth is out in September, and may be seen at ivy bloom or sugar during that month, and also in October and November if the weather is favourable; it is early on the wing again in the spring.
Although apparently uncommon in some few parts, the species seems to be generally distributed and plentiful throughout England, Wales, Scotland up to Ross (recorded from Stromma, Orkney), and Ireland.
In Japan, a greyish form with larger spots (ab. tripuncta, Butler) occurs.
The Tawny Pinion (Lithophane (Xylina) semibrunnea).
An example of this species is represented on Plate 12, Fig. 4. The black streak from above the middle of the inner margin towards the hind margin should be noted, as this character distinguishes semibrunnea from dark forms of the following species—L. socia.
The caterpillar is yellowish green, with a broad creamy stripe along the middle of the back, and two indistinct fine lines on each side; below the black-outlined white spiracles is a yellow stripe. Head, bluish green, freckled with darker green. It feeds on ash in May and June.
The moth appears on the wing, and may be seen at ivy bloom and sugar, from September to November, and is sometimes captured at sallow, after hibernation, in March or April.
It is on record that two specimens taken in November were kept in confinement, and three other captives were added in February. All continued to live until June, and two were still alive on the 23rd of that month.
Although this species is found more or less regularly in most of the English counties south of Worcester on the west, and Huntingdon on the east, it is always very local, and never plentiful. It has been reported from Carmarthenshire in South Wales; and Kane states that in Ireland it has been taken in Galway and Kerry.
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The Pale Pinion (Lithophane (Xylina) socia).
The pale ochreous-brown insect shown on Plate 12, Fig. 5, is without the dark, sometimes blackish suffusion on the inner area which is characteristic of the type of this species. Var. rufescens, Tutt, is a reddish form.
The caterpillar is pale green with three white lines, the central one broad and stripe-like; the line along the spiracles is yellow. Head, pale green, variegated with white. (Adapted from Porritt.)
The moth comes to ivy bloom, sugar, etc., in September and October, and even later if the weather is mild. After hibernation it reappears as early as February, and visits the sallows as soon as the catkins open.
Although it seems to be absent from the eastern counties, except Cambridge—where, however, it is scarce—this species is found in most of the other counties mentioned for the last species. It is generally more plentiful, especially in the west. Occasionally specimens have been taken in Cumberland, and single examples have been recorded from the Liverpool and Hartlepool districts. It seems to be not uncommon in South Wales, and has been reported from Capel Curig, in Carnarvonshire. As regards Ireland, Kane says that there are few Irish localities where this species is not found.
The Conformist (Graptolitha (Xylina) furcifera).
The typical form of this species has the fore wings of a pale slaty grey colour; this, however, does not seem to occur in Britain. Our form, var. suffusa, Tutt (shown on Plate 13, Figs. 1 and 2), is much darker grey with blackish mottling, a yellowish mark at the base and a reddish cloud in the reniform stigma; the outer area is more or less tinged with violet, and this tint sometimes spreads over the whole of the fore wings; the inner margin is tinged with reddish orange at the base, or along the basal half, and there are some clouds of the same colour on the black submarginal line. This is conformis of British authors.
The caterpillar (drawn from a skin, Plate 8, Fig. 1) is olive brown, tinged with green above, and paler brown, tinged with pink beneath; the dots are yellowish in black circles, and there is a dark olive-brown mark on ring 1; there are three yellow lines along the back, the central one interrupted by darker brown freckles, clustered so as to form a series of diamond-shaped patches, and the others are edged above with dark olive. It feeds on alder, from April to June.
The moth is out in September and October, and, after hibernation, in March and April. Ivy bloom and sugar attract it in the autumn, and it has been taken at sallow catkins as well as at sugar in the spring.
Since 1861, when its occurrence in Wales was first announced, it has been found more or less regularly in Glamorganshire, South Wales, or the adjoining English county of Monmouth. The latest record is that by Mr. P. J. Barraud, who took a male specimen at sallow bloom in the Wye Valley on March 31, 1907. The capture of a specimen at sugar, near Brighton, September 13, 1898, has been reported. One specimen has been recorded from Yorks., another from Westmoreland; and in 1902, two from near Lancaster. Wales, however, appears to be the home of this species in the British Isles.
The Nonconformist (Graptolitha (Xylina) lamda).
The example of this species shown on Plate 13, Fig. 3, is of the typical form, and hails from the Continent. Of the six specimens observed in England the majority have been recorded as zinckenii, Treitschke, a form having the fore wings more variegated with white. Another form, ab. somniculosa, Hering, has most of the typical markings, especially on the outer area, absent.
The earliest occurrence of this species in Britain appears to have been that of a specimen on the trunk of a poplar tree in the northern environs of London, October, 1865. Then on September 30, 1866, one was detected on the bole of a willow tree in a locality not indicated more definitely than "near New Cross"; another specimen was taken in the same year in the Guildford district, at sugar. On October 3, 1870, a fourth was found on the reverse side of a tree that had been sugared, at Dartford, Kent; and a specimen, labelled Erith, September, 1875, was in the collection of the late Mr. Bond. Lastly, a specimen came to sugar at Copdock, Ipswich, in late September, 1895.
The range of this species abroad extends through Scandinavia, Belgium, North Germany, and North Russia, to East Siberia, and Amurland. It is found in North America, where it is known as thaxteri, Grote.
The Grey Shoulder-knot (Graptolitha (Xylina) ornithopus).
The moth, of which a portrait will be found on Plate 12, Fig. 6, emerges from the chrysalis in the autumn, and may then be found at night on ivy bloom or at the sugar patch; and in the daytime it may frequently be seen on tree trunks, palings, etc. After hibernation, it is again seen in the spring, on fences, pales, etc., and visits the sallow catkins at night. Females of this species, and other hibernating kinds, taken in the spring generally deposit fertile eggs pretty freely; often such specimens are not in the best condition, but one female, if she has not already parted with most of her eggs, will as a rule deposit quite as many as the collector is likely to need.
The caterpillar is of a blue-green colour with whitish freckles; three broken whitish lines along the back; head, green, with a paler mark on each cheek. It is to be found in May and early June on the leaves of oak.
The species is widely distributed throughout England and Wales, but is more frequently met with in the south than in the north. It is found in Scotland, but only rarely, and the same remark applies to Ireland generally, although the species is not uncommon in some parts of Wicklow, Cork, and Kerry.
Its range abroad extends to Amurland and Japan.
The Golden-rod Brindle (Lithomoia solidaginis).
On Plate 12, Fig. 8 represents a Lancashire specimen, whilst Fig. 9 is taken from an Aberdeen example. The first, having the central area suffused with brown, is more nearly typical, and the other varies in the direction of ab. virgata, Tutt, in which form the central shade is black. Other named forms are—ab. cinerascens, Staud. = pallida, Tutt (pale ashy-grey, central shade almost or quite obsolete), ab. suffusa, Tutt (similar to virgata, but the basal area also black or blackish).
The caterpillar is brown, with a purplish or violet tinge, and freckled with grey; an indistinct line along the middle of the back and a creamy stripe along the sides, the latter is edged above with black; head, shining reddish-brown, freckled with darker brown. It feeds on bilberry, bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), heather, sallow, birch, and hawthorn, and is to be found from May to July.
The moth is out in August and September, and in its woodland and moorland haunts is to be seen sitting about on the dead stems of bracken, charred twigs and stems of heather, or on birch trunks, rocks, walls, etc. When thus resting, however, they very closely resemble twisted birch bark, grouse droppings, and other common objects occurring in the haunts of the species, so that its detection is not easy at first.
In England this species is found from Shropshire and Staffordshire northwards to Cumberland; thence through Scotland to Aberdeen and Sutherland. In Wales it has been obtained commonly near Rhos in the north.
Abroad its range spreads to Amurland; and it occurs in North America, where it is known as germana, Morrison.
The Early Grey (Xylocampa areola).
A typical specimen of this widely distributed and, at least in the southern half of England, rather common species, is shown on Plate 12, Fig. 7. A dark form has been named ab. suffusa, Tutt, and one with the fore wings of the typical grey colour, but with a pinkish flush, is ab. rosea, Tutt.
The caterpillar (figured from a skin, on Plate 8, Fig. 2) is yellowish-brown, with a fine pale central line along the back, often only distinct on rings 1, 11, and 12, and always obscured by dark brown patches on 7 and 8; a blackish line low down along the sides. The body tapers towards each end, and especially so towards the small head. It lives upon honey-suckle, and feeds on the leaves at night, during May and June, or sometimes later.
Early Grey at rest.
(Photo by W. J. Lucas.)
Fig. 1.
Early Grey at rest.
(Photo by W. J. Lucas.)
The moth appears in March and April, and, in the daytime, is often met with at rest on posts, fences, and the trunks of trees; also upon stone walls, but seemingly less frequently, probably owing to the moth being then less easy to detect. At night it flies around sallow bushes and sometimes settles on the catkins, but is always on the alert.
The Sword-grass (Calocampa exoleta).
Except that the pale grey brown fore wings are more clouded with blackish in some specimens than in others, there is little of importance to note. Usually there are two black wedges pointing inwards from the indistinct submarginal line, but occasionally one, or more rarely both, may be absent. (Plate 14, Figs. 3 ♂ and 4 ♀.)
The caterpillar is green, with two series of white spotted black marks, the line below these is yellow, and that lower down on the side is bright red; the spots between the lines are white, encircled with black. From April to May it feeds, often in the sunshine, as well as at night, on restharrow, thistles, stonecrop, groundsel, dock, in fact on almost all low-growing plants, as well as the foliage of some trees. The caterpillars of this and the next species are exceedingly pretty creatures, and are sure to attract attention whenever met with. Dr. Chapman notes that the caterpillar will feed on stale leaves.
The moth emerges in the autumn, and seems to be on the wing until quite late in the year, and is seen again as early as March, and thence on until May. One male and two females captured at sugar, March 12 and 13, were placed in a glass cylinder with various food plants, and a sprig of sallow catkins, moistened occasionally with syrup, afforded nourishment for the moths every evening. On April 13, two batches of eggs were noted on nettle, but these were not fertile. On April 15 and 20 pairing took place; and by May 3 over three thousand eggs had been deposited. On May 13 the two females, being still alive, were set at liberty (Goodwin).
Although it certainly appears to be less frequently seen in the south than northwards, the species is known to occur pretty well all over England and Wales. In Scotland, where it is generally commoner than in England, except perhaps in the northern counties of the latter, its range extends to the Orkneys.
Abroad, it is found throughout Europe (except the most northern parts); Asia to Japan; and the Canaries.
The Red Sword-grass (Calocampa vetusta).
In this species the ground colour of the fore wings varies from whity brown to ochreous brown with a slight reddish tinge. A greyish shade spreads from the base along the median vein to below the reniform stigma in the paler and more typical specimens; the inner area is dark brown, but widely broken below the reniform by the grey suffusion. The specimens figured on Plate 14 (Figs. 1 ♂, 2 ♀) are from Sligo, Ireland, and are referable to var. brunnea, Tutt. The inner area in this form is red-brown, or inclining to blackish brown.
The caterpillar is green, with three yellow lines along the back, and a reddish orange stripe along the area of the spiracles; a series of black-circled white dots on each side of the central line; in the form figured (from a skin) on Plate 8, Fig. 3, the lines on the back are white, and the spaces between them black, dotted with white; the stripe along the reddish spiracles also white, edged above with black; head, shining light reddish brown. It feeds, from May to July, on various low herbage, such as dock, persicaria, knotgrass, etc., also sedges and yellow flag.
The moth appears in September and October, and again in March and April, but seems to have been noted at various times both earlier and later. Mathew records that a female captured at sugar on June 11, deposited 36 eggs during the following week. These were laid in a chip box, and the caterpillars hatched out on June 24, fed up quickly on knotgrass, attained full growth by July 24, and pupated about that date. One moth emerged September 29, and five others, including three cripples, later.
This species is most frequent in Ireland and Scotland, being distributed throughout the latter country to Orkney and Shetland. It has been noted from almost every part of England, but does not seem to be plentiful generally in the country.
The distribution abroad ranges to East Siberia and to North America.
The Mullein (Cucullia verbasci).
Two specimens, representing both sexes, of this species are shown on Plate 15, Figs. 1 ♂, 2 ♀. Sometimes the darker colour on the marginal areas, especially the inner, inclines to blackish; while in some specimens the whole of the fore wings is suffused with brownish.
The caterpillar is white with a greenish tinge, each ring of the body is banded with yellow, has four black spots on the back, and some black dots and lines on the sides; the head is yellowish, dotted with black. It may be found in June and July quite exposed on mullein (Verbascum thapsus, and V. pulverulentum); also figwort (Scrophularia nodosa, and S. aquatica). Barrett states that it has been noted on Buddlæa globosa, an American plant sometimes grown in gardens. These caterpillars are certainly attacked by parasitical flies, but do not seem to be quite so frequently "stung" as those of some other species of the "Sharks." The caterpillar figured on Plate 18, Fig. 1, was obtained at Box Hill by Mr. Norman Riley.
The moth is out in late April and in May, and, except an occasional capture at light, is rarely seen in the open. The caterpillars are probably obtainable in most English and Welsh counties, especially the southern ones of both countries, wherever there is an abundance of its food plants. Except that McArthur found the species in the Isle of Lewis, in 1901, there is no record from Scotland. In Ireland it has been recorded from Dublin by Birchall; and in 1901 three moths were taken at Timoleague, Co. Cork, and caterpillars later on were plentiful in the district.
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The Water Betony (Cucullia scrophulariæ).
A good deal of confusion exists both in Britain and on the Continent as to the identity of the Cucullia figured and described by Capieux in 1789, and by most authors since that time. I have received over twenty specimens from Austria, Germany, and other parts of Europe, sent to me as scrophulariæ. As I have been unable to separate the majority of these specimens from C. lychnitis, and the others from C. verbasci, Mr. F. N. Pierce has been good enough to examine the genitalia of six of the males, and of these he reports four are C. lychnitis, and two are C. verbasci.
In England we certainly have a Cucullia sometimes appearing in the moth state rather later than C. verbasci and always earlier than C. lychnitis; the caterpillar producing it feeds on Scrophularia nodosa in July. It is, however, very local, and is found chiefly in North Kent, and occasionally in the Eastern Counties. Mr. Pierce finds that the male genitalia of a North Kent scrophulariæ sent to him do not differ from these parts in C. verbasci, but Dr. Chapman informs me that he detects a slight difference in one that he examined.
It must be admitted that the identity of the North Kent and East Anglian Cucullia with the scrophulariæ of Capieux is very doubtful, but we evidently shall not be greatly opposed to Continental methods if we continue to allow April and May moths resulting from Scrophularia nodosa caterpillars to do duty for C. scrophulariæ. I have therefore figured as this species a specimen that was reared, with others, in April and May, 1877, from larvæ obtained in the Dartford marshes. (Plate 15, Fig. 3.)
The caterpillar is of a whitish-grey colour; along the middle of the back is a series of broad deep yellow triangles pointing backwards, each edged on both sides by large confluent deep black spots, usually forming a somewhat C-shaped marking, which encloses another yellow spot, and below is followed by several black spots; behind all these, on each segment, is a deep green transverse spotless band. The forms of the black markings, composed of united spots, vary in the degree of union of these spots; each anterior spot is confluent with the posterior one below it, but does not unite transversely with the others; in one variety they resemble tadpole forms united by the tails, in another these tails are as thick as the spots and form blotched curves; and in still another they are so thick and confluent as to include some of the side spots, thus completely edging two sides of the yellow triangle with a blotched black border. (Adapted from Buckler.)
The Striped Lychnis (Cucullia lychnitis).
An example of each sex of this species is shown on Plate 15, Figs. 4 and 5. The general colour of the fore wings is paler, and the streaks along the front and inner margins are darker than in C. verbasci; and the outer margins of the wings are less jagged.
The caterpillar (figured on Plate 18, Fig. 2, from a photo by Mr. H. Main) is greenish white or yellow; the rings are cross banded with yellow and spotted with black; usually the spots are united as in the figure, sometimes they are smaller and well separated, and occasionally all but those low down along the sides are absent. Coupled with decrease in size and number of the black spots, there is variation in the width of the yellow bands. Verbascum nigrum is the more usual food plant in Britain, but it will also eat V. lychnitis. It feeds, in July and August, on the flowers and unripe seed capsules in preference to the foliage.
Between sixty and seventy years ago, the late Mr. Samuel Stevens obtained the caterpillars on mullein growing in a chalk pit at Arundel in Sussex, and this seems to be the earliest notice of the species occurring in Britain. It is now known also to inhabit Hampshire, Surrey, and Oxfordshire; has been reported from Norfolk, Suffolk, and Gloucestershire.
The Star-wort (Cucullia asteris).
The silvery-grey fore wings of this moth (Plate 15, Fig. 6) are broadly suffused with reddish brown along the front margin, and more narrowly with purplish brown inclining to blackish along the inner margin; the latter is separated from a purplish brown blotch at the outer angle by a whitish edged black curved mark.
The caterpillar (figured on Plate 18, Fig. 3, from a photo by Mr. Main) is green with a black-edged yellow stripe along the back, and another along the white spiracles; between these stripes are two pale greenish lines; head, green, sprinkled with blackish. In another form the body is suffused with reddish, inclining to purplish on the back; yellow markings pretty much as in the green form. It feeds chiefly on golden-rod (Solidago virgaurea) and sea star-wort (Aster tripolium), showing a decided preference for the flowers, but will eat the foliage of the plants mentioned. In confinement it can be reared on garden asters and Michaelmas daisy. It may be obtained on its food plants from July well into September.
The moth emerges in June and July as a rule, sometimes in early August, but has been known to come from the chrysalis during September up to the 23rd of that month. The species is found often abundantly in the caterpillar state in the seaboard counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Kent, Sussex, Hants, and Dorset. In Surrey it has occurred at Haslemere, and in the Croydon district (?); and it has been recorded from Herefordshire and North Lancashire.
The range abroad extends to East Siberia, Amurland, and Japan.
The Shark (Cucullia umbratica).
On the fore wings of this greyish species (Plate 16, Figs. 5 ♂ and 6 ♀) there is some variation in the short black streaks on the basal and outer areas, and in the dots around the stigma; the front margin is sometimes brownish tinged. The hind wings of the female are always darker than those of the male.
The caterpillar feeds on plants of the sowthistle (Sonchus) kind, also on garden lettuce and the wild species. It may be found in August and early September, but, as it feeds only at night, it should be searched for in the daytime on the undersides of the lower leaves. In general colour it is ochreous inclining to greyish, with an intricate raised pattern in blackish on the upper surface; the head is black, and there is a yellow spotted sooty brown plate on the first ring of the body.
The moth is to be seen in June and July, sitting on the upper parts of palings, and other kinds of wooden fencing; also on tent pegs, etc.; but it is not easy to detect even when its whereabouts is indicated. At night it visits flowers of campion, sweet william, honeysuckle, etc.
Widely distributed throughout the British Isles to the Orkneys, but seemingly more plentiful and regular in occurrence in the south of England than in the north.
The Chamomile Shark (Cucullia chamomillæ).
Although somewhat similar to the last species, this moth may be distinguished by the more brownish tinge of its grey fore wings. The hind wings are also brown-grey in both sexes, but darkest in the female.
Sometimes the central area of the fore wings is clouded with blackish from the front to the inner margin; such specimens are referable to ab. chrysanthemi, Hübn. (Plate 16, Figs. 1 typical, 2 ab.)
The caterpillar, which may be found in the summer months, is greenish white with zigzag olive markings, the lines on the back meeting in the middle of each ring, where there is a small pinkish blotch; head, pale yellowish, striped with brown on the face. It feeds on wild chamomile (Matricaria), stinking mayweed (Anthemis), and Pyrethrum (Plate 18, Fig. 1). The Rev. Miles Moss, writing his experience of this species at Rossall, near Fleetwood, Lancashire, notes that until half-grown the caterpillars live exposed, and are then found lying in a half-circle on the crowns of unexpanded flower heads. At this time they are green with dark and also white markings. He adds that caterpillars measuring about an inch in length when collected, were preparing for pupation a week later.
The moth is out in April and May, and has been captured even in July. When chrysalids are kept indoors, but not dry, the moths sometimes emerge in March, and occasionally in the earlier months of the year. A habit more or less general among the species of this genus is to remain in the chrysalis state for two or more winters; the present species has been known to emerge during March of the first, second, and third years following that in which the caterpillars were found.
Widely distributed over England and Wales, but apparently most frequent in the seaboard counties. In Scotland it occurs up to Perthshire, and it is found on various parts of the Irish coast.
The Cudweed (Cucullia gnaphalii).
Portraits of two specimens of this very local species, kindly lent by Mr. R. Adkin, will be found on Plate 13, Figs. 4 and 5. The general coloration is usually silvery grey, but occasionally it inclines to yellowish. The moth has rarely been noted by day, and only one specimen seems to have been captured on the wing. Even caterpillars are by no means common in their best-known localities, and of those obtained after much labour a large proportion may frequently prove to have been the victims of parasitic flies.
The caterpillar is green, inclining to olive green, thickly freckled with pale yellow atoms; a purplish-brown stripe along the middle of the back and two faint purplish lines along the sides; a pale yellow line along the region of the black-edged spiracles, which are set in purplish-brown blotches. (Adapted from Buckler.)
Its food plant is golden-rod (Solidago) and it feeds at night and hides by day, low down on the stems or under the leaves: July to September. In confinement the caterpillars will eat garden aster and Michaelmas daisy.
The British haunts of the species are chiefly in Kent (Sevenoaks, Tunbridge Wells, etc.), and Sussex (Tilgate Forest, etc.); but according to Barrett it is also known from Hampshire, Surrey, and Essex. Abroad, the range extends through Central Europe to Southern Scandinavia, Livonia, Southern Russia, the Altai Mountains, Italy, and Armenia; but the species is nowhere plentiful.
It may be mentioned here that a very closely allied, and on the Continent common, species—C. xeranthemi, Boisduval—might easily be mistaken for C. gnaphalii.
The Wormwood (Cucullia absinthii).
This moth is shown on Plate 16, Fig. 4. The fore wings are usually tinged with purplish over the greyish ground colour; black dots on the stigmata give to each of these marks some resemblance to the figure 8.
The caterpillar, which feeds on the flowers and seeds of wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) and will eat mugwort (A. vulgaris), is best found on sunny days. It is yellowish green, suffused with purplish grey on the back of each ring; there are three pale green lines along the back, and an ochreous grey plate on ring 1. To be found in August and early September, but on dull days it must be sought for among the lower leaves, or on the ground. When resting among the flowers it so closely harmonises with them that it might easily escape detection.
The moth is out in July.
The species is perhaps most abundant on the South Devonshire coast, but its range extends into Cornwall, and eastward to the Isle of Portland and the Isle of Wight; it is not uncommon along the coasts of North Devon (Lee and Croyde), Somerset (Minehead), and South Wales. It has also been recorded from North Wales, and from parts of the Suffolk coast. In Ireland, a specimen was taken in a garden at Cromlyn, Westmeath, in 1873, and more recently two specimens of the moth, and also some caterpillars, were obtained at Timoleague, Cork.
Cucullia artemisiæ (abrotani).
This species, of which a Continental example is represented on Plate 16, Fig. 3, is apparently exceedingly rare in this country, and most probably is not a native.
In the collection of the late Dr. Mason, which was dispersed at Stevens' in 1905, there were three specimens, each of which had seemingly been included among series of C. absinthii purchased at three separate sales. A fourth specimen, also mixed with C. absinthii, was in the collection of the late Rev. H. Burney. Two other specimens have been reported from Devonshire, where, it is said, they were found sitting on a fence.
The caterpillar feeds, in August and September, on wormwood and other kinds of Artemisia. It is green with red raised spots, a white line along the middle of the back, and a yellow stripe low down along the sides; head, brown inclining to blackish above. The moth is out in June and July.
The Beautiful Yellow Underwing (Anarta myrtilli).
In its typical form (Plate 17, Figs. 1, 2) this species has the fore wings purplish brown or blackish brown, whilst in var. rufescens, Tutt, the general colour of the fore wings is reddish inclining to crimson, and the white markings are clearly defined. In some dark specimens the markings are more or less obscure, and in others only the central white dot is distinct.
The caterpillar is green, dotted and marked with white; there are three rows of yellowish bars along the back, those forming the outer series slightly curved. It is to be found on ling (Calluna vulgaris), also on heath (Erica), from July to October, but it seems to be more frequently obtained in early autumn. Occasionally it has been found in the spring. Hawthorn has been mentioned as a food-plant (Plate 20, Fig. 1).
The moth has been taken in each month from April to August, but it is perhaps most plentiful from May to July. The species occurs on heath and moorlands throughout the British Isles, but so far it has not been recorded from the Shetlands. It flies on sunny days and is very active on the wing, but when the sun is obscured, or towards evening, it may be found at rest on the heather sprays, usually at their tips.
The Small Dark Yellow Underwing (Anarta cordigera).
The pretty moth represented on Plate 17, Fig. 7, is only found in the British Isles, on the mountains of Scotland, chiefly in Perthshire and Aberdeenshire. Sometimes the basal area of the fore wings is suffused with black, and to a lesser extent the outer area also (var. æthiops, Hoffm. = suffusa, Tutt); on the other hand, typical examples have both basal and outer areas silvery grey, and the central area black. A form, which I have not seen, is described as having the black central area broken by an ashy cross band passing between the stigmata (var. variegata, Tutt).
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The caterpillar is reddish brown, with three white lines along the back, and a reddish-freckled ochreous stripe low down on the sides. Sometimes the general colour is blackish. It feeds on bearberry (Arctostaphylos) in June and July; also said to eat Vaccinium uliginosum; in confinement it will thrive on Arbutus unedo, commonly known as the "strawberry tree."
The moth is out in May, when it flies in the sunshine, and in dull weather sits about on the rocks, stones, lichen, etc. Mr. Cockayne notes that at Rannoch he met with it from May 17 in numbers, but always in isolated spots where bearberry was plentiful. Here the moths were either feeding on the flowers or settled on the ground. He further remarks that this species occurs at the comparatively low elevation of 800 to 900 feet, whereas the next species ascends to 2000 feet.
The distribution abroad extends to Amurland and Labrador.
The Broad-bordered White Underwing (Anarta melanopa).
This species has the ground colour of the fore wings greyish in the type and brownish in var. wiströmi, Lampa. Specimens with the fore wings more or less typical, but with the normally white area of hind wings dark greyish, are referable to ab. rupestralis. I remember seeing a specimen of the last-named form in the collection of the late Mr. S. Stevens, but I believe that it is very rare in the British Isles. In all forms there is variation in the stigmata, and in the orbicular especially. (Plate 17, Figs. 5 ♂ and 6 ♀.)
The caterpillar is of a purplish pink colour, with a black-edged ochreous-brown line along the middle of the back, broken up by reddish-brown triangles; the stripe along the region of the black spiracles is yellowish white flecked with red; the sides of the body above the stripe are flecked with reddish, and above them is a yellowish-white line and some black marks. Head, brownish, freckled with darker. It feeds at night, in July, on bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus), cowberry (V. vitis-idæa), and can also be reared on strawberry tree, sallow, knotgrass, etc. In the daytime it must be searched for under the leaves.
The moth is out in May and the early part of June, and is most active in the sunshine, but flies on dull days when the weather is warm. It seems confined to the higher level of the mountains, and its habits are similar to those of the last species, but its range extends to the Shetland Isles. The species was not recognised as British until about 1830, and the same remark applies to A. cordigera.
The Small Yellow Underwing (Heliaca tenebrata).
The fore wings are a little more reddish in some specimens than in others, and occasionally the yellow of the hind wings is much reduced in area by the expansion of the black border, or it may be suffused with blackish. (Plate 17, Figs. 3 and 4.)
The caterpillar is green, with three lines along the back, the central one dark green and the others whitish, bordered below with dark green; the stripe low down along the sides is yellowish white, edged above with dark green. It feeds, in June and July, on mouse-ear chickweed (Cerastium), devouring the blossom and seeds, when young boring into the unripe capsule.
The moth flies on sunny days in May and early June, and is more or less common in grass-bordered lanes, hay meadows, etc., in most counties throughout the southern part of England. In the midland counties it appears to be far more local, thence to Durham (its northern limit in England) it is generally scarce. It has been recorded from Pembrokeshire and Flintshire, in Wales. A specimen has been reported from Robroyston, near Glasgow, in Scotland. As the species has been obtained in Kerry and Sligo, the probability is that it occurs in other parts of Ireland.
The Pease-blossom (Chariclea delphinii).
The beautifully tinted moth represented by Figs. 8 and 9 on Plate 17 was known as British to Haworth (1802), but it had been figured by Wilkes in 1773, and by Moses Harris in 1775. In 1829 Stephens remarked that there were then but few native specimens in British cabinets, among which were examples from the Windsor district "caught about fifteen years since, in June." He adds, the interest and value of these, and older specimens, was lessened by "the execrable practice of introducing Continental insects into collections." Stainton (1857) refers to the Windsor specimens only, and Newman (1869) ignores the species altogether. In 1902 two specimens were presented to the British Museum by Mr. J. F. Bennett, and are now in the National Collection of British Lepidoptera. These were obtained at Brighton in 1876 by the donor's father, but whether captured or reared is not known.
The Bordered Sallow (Pyrrhia umbra).
The fore wings of this species (Plate 17, Figs. 10, 11) in its typical form are yellow inclining to orange, with the outer area more or less tinted with purplish. In a paler form, ab. marginata, Fab., the fore wings are without the orange tint, and the outer area is rather greyish brown.
The caterpillar (Plate 20, Fig. 4) is grey or greenish, speckled with white, and with raised black dots; there are three lines along the back, the central one white edged, broader and darker than the outer ones, which are sometimes white; a white-edged pale yellow stripe low down along the sides. In some examples the general colour is pinkish brown.
It feeds on restharrow (Ononis) in July and August, but can be reared on knotgrass, and has been known to thrive on the green pods of the scarlet runner bean (Phaseolus vulgaris). The moth flies at dusk in June, sometimes earlier or later. It visits the flowers of various plants, especially those of Silene and Lychnis; also comes to the sugar patch and may be attracted by light. Although not generally common, it seems to be widely distributed over England and Wales, but is most frequent in the seaboard counties, and this is more particularly the case in the north. In Scotland it appears to occur from Berwick northwards to Moray, and in Ireland it has been noted from several of the littoral counties, chiefly southern, but also from Sligo.
The range abroad extends to the North-west Himalayas, Amurland, Corea, and Japan; the species also occurs in North America from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains.
The Marbled Clover (Heliothis dipsacea).
The ground colour of this species (Plate 19, Figs. 1, 2) ranges from yellowish to ochreous with a greyish, or olive, tinge; the central band including the reniform stigma is olive, or reddish brown, terminating on the inner margin in a cloud extending towards the hind margin; submarginal line preceded by a shade-like band similar in colour to the central one, but often only well defined on costal and inner margins; the whitish area of the hind wings is sometimes much reduced. The darker specimens are typical of the species, whilst those with the paler ground colour and brighter cross bands are referable to var. maritima, Grasl.
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The caterpillar varies in colour, green of various shades, pinkish, or purplish brown; three lines along the back, the central one with dark edges, and the outer ones whitish, with dark lower edge; the line low down along the sides is often whitish; but this, and also the other white lines, may be replaced by greenish or yellowish. It feeds on various low-growing plants such as restharrow, scabious, toadflax, white campion, bladder campion, clover, etc., preferring the flowers and seeds. It has been found from July to September. Sometimes it has been reared on the pods of the scarlet-runner bean.
The moth, which is out in June and July, dashes about rapidly in the daytime, and as it is partial to the flowers of the bugloss, or those of clover, etc., it may be netted when feasting on the blossoms. It occurs in meadows, on heaths, and on sandhills by the sea, in most of the southern and eastern counties of England, but is only rarely seen northwards, and has not been recorded from other parts of the British Isles.
Distribution abroad: the whole Palæarctic region less the extreme north; also represented in North America by phlogophagus, Grote and Robinson.
The Spotted Clover Moth (Heliothis scutosa).
The very distinct-looking moth shown on Plate 19, Fig. 3, is exceedingly rare in Britain, only about eleven specimens being authenticated. The earliest-known British specimen was captured in a locality near Dalston, in Cumberland, July, 1835. The next record is of three examples near Skinburnness, also in Cumberland. Then, in 1875, one occurred in Norfolk, at the Cromer lighthouse, and this was followed by another in 1876. In 1877 one was captured as it flew over clover at Weston-super-Mare. On September 19, 1878, a specimen was netted at the flowers of ragwort on the shore of Lough Swilly, near Buncrana, Ireland, and one is recorded as taken near Aberdeen, Scotland, in July of that year. The late Dr. Mason had a specimen said to have been taken at Attleborough, in Norfolk, June, 1880. The latest recorded capture is that of a specimen taken by Mr. F. Capel Hanbury in a clover field near Dartmouth, South Devon, September 4, 1900.
The range abroad extends through Central and Southern Europe eastward to North India, North China; and southwards to North-west Africa. It occurs also in the Western United States of America.
The Bordered Straw (Heliothis peltigera).
Two examples of this species are shown on Plate 19, Figs. 4, 5. The fore wings are pale ochreous brown, with a more or less reddish tinge; the cross lines are not always distinct, but there is generally a dark dot on the costal end of the first line, and a large olive-brown spot between the second and submarginal lines; following the submarginal line is a pale band of variable width, but always with a black dot (sometimes double) towards its lower end. Very pale specimens are referable to ab. pallida, Cockerell.
The caterpillar (Plate 20, Fig. 3, figured from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich) is green, with three darker green or reddish stripes along the back; the stripe along the area of the spiracles is dark green, edged below with white, but when the other stripes are reddish this is also marked with that colour. Several other forms have been described, and the caterpillar seems to be a most variable one. It feeds, from June to August, and again in September and October, on many kinds of low-growing herbage, such as restharrow (Ononis), clover (Trifolium), Matricaria inodora, etc.; also on furze or gorse (Ulex), and thorn apple (Datura). The blossoms and unripe seeds are preferred in almost all cases, and flowers of the garden marigold will be found useful when these caterpillars are reared in confinement.
From eggs deposited by a female moth taken at Deal in the evening of June 17, 1904, the caterpillars hatched out in due course, fed up on wild convolvulus, pupated at the end of July, and the moths emerged during the last week of August and the first week of September. In another case, moths were developed in about forty-seven days from eggs laid in mid-July. In 1907 six caterpillars were found in South Devon during the second week in August, and one of these attained the moth state on September 3. Previous to 1906, which was a notable one for the species, the moth seems not to have been observed earlier than June, but in the year mentioned several were taken at the flowers of valerian during May, at Torquay. Caterpillars were plentiful on restharrow in the same district during June and July, and an example, presumably, of a second generation was captured at bramble blossom on August 11. In the same year and on the 15th of the month just noted, a specimen was reared from a caterpillar found on Ononis, July 18, and another specimen captured, August 24, as it flew in the sunshine on a slope of the South Downs. In Clarendon Wood, near Salisbury, Wilts, one example was taken at sugar, September 2, 1906. The species seems to be of fairly regular occurrence in Devonshire and Cornwall, but it has also been observed, more or less rarely, in many other English counties, chiefly those on the coast; in Pembrokeshire and Glamorganshire, South Wales; a few specimens have occurred in Co. Cork, and one in Co. Wicklow, Ireland. All that appears to be known of this species in Scotland is that one specimen has been recorded from Markton, Ayrshire.
Abroad, its distribution is extensive, ranging from Africa, the Canaries, and Madeira to Central and Southern Europe, and through Asia to India.
The Scarce Bordered Straw (Heliothis armigera).
This species (Plate 19, Figs. 6-8) has an almost universal distribution. It is found in Europe, Asia, Africa, America, and Australia. As regards the British Isles, it was first recorded by Mr. Edleston, who noted a specimen taken at Salford, Lancashire, by Mr. John Thomas, in September, 1840. This specimen, also one captured at Mickleham, Surrey, and others "taken in various localities," are referred to in the Entomologist's Annual for 1855. The following year one was reported from Exeter and one from the Isle of Wight. The summer of 1859 was a hot one (as were the two previous summers), and the species was recorded from the following localities: Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge, Edmonton, Isle of Wight, Ramsgate, Torquay, Weston-super-Mare, Worthing, and other places. Apart from the captures on the Devonshire coast, chiefly at Torquay, where the moth seems to occur pretty nearly every year, the records since 1859 are: 1866 (Scarborough); 1871 (Wakefield); 1876 (Hartlepool, and Kentish Coast); 1877 and 1881 (Gloucester); 1890 (Chatham); 1895 (Tunbridge Wells); 1901 (Isle of Wight); 1902 (Chester and Harwich); 1903 (Lewes). In all cases only single specimens. The species has been noted once in South Wales, and twice in North Wales; several specimens were secured in 1898 near Berwick-on-Tweed, and odd specimens have been recorded from Ireland.
The caterpillar is variable in colour; in one form it is green with a yellowish stripe along the sides, and in another the colour is purplish brown. The form figured (Plate 20, Fig. 2) is pinkish brown with a black-edged whitish line along the back, and a pinkish freckled and brownish edged yellowish stripe along the sides; the raised dots are white as a rule, but sometimes in the darker forms they are blackish. In some examples of the green form the dots and lines are black.
In 1869 two specimens of the moth were reared from caterpillars imported with tomatoes from Spain; twenty-three years later Mr. Arkle referred to the arrival here of H. armigera in the larval state with consignments of tomatoes, from Valencia, landed at Liverpool in the months of June and July. The late Mr. Tugwell reared larvæ, from eggs deposited by a captured female moth, on scarlet geranium; and there is a record of the finding of caterpillars on such plants, in the autumn of 1876, in the Isle of Wight. Specimens of the moth found at large in Britain occur in the autumn.
In the United States of America, where it is known as the "Cotton Boll worm," "Corn-ear worm," and "Tomato fruit worm," this caterpillar is chiefly destructive to corn crops, as of the five generations stated to occur during the year in the States three occur in cornfields. It also attacks beans, tobacco, pumpkins, melons, oranges, garden flowering-plants, and many kinds of wild plants. The British nurserymen and farmers are perhaps to be congratulated on the fact that this moth is only an accidental visitor and not a native.
The Pale Shoulder (Acontia (Tarache) lucida, var. albicollis).
Only eight specimens of this species seem to have been noted in Britain, and all these are apparently referable to the summer form, var. albicollis, Fabricius. (Plate 19, Fig. 9.) Stephens, who figured it as solaris, Wien Verz. (Haustellata iii., Plate 29, Fig. 3), states that the specimen was in Marsham's collection, but that nothing farther was known about it. He, however, mentions two other specimens "taken within the Metropolitan area about ten years ago [that would be 1820] and four others near Dover above six years ago." Dale fixes the date of Dover captures as June, 1825. On August 25, 1859, a specimen was taken in a clover field at Brighton.
The species has an extensive range abroad, being found in Southern Europe and North-west Africa to Madeira and the Canaries; also in Central Europe, through Western and Central Asia to North India and East Siberia.
The Four-spotted (Acontia (Tarache) luctuosa).
The fore wings of this species (Plate 19, Fig. 10) are sometimes finely powdered with white, but more often the outer marginal area is distinctly flecked with white. The conspicuous central spot is usually white, but occasionally it has a pinkish ochreous tinge; very rarely it is reduced to a narrow streak with a short spur from its outer edge. The white band on the hind wings is sometimes narrowed and contracted below the middle.
The eggs are shown on Plate 23, Fig. 2. They were, when laid on June 17, whity brown marked with reddish brown.
The caterpillar is ochreous greyish inclining to reddish or brownish; three dark-edged stripes along the back, a dark-brown line along the black spiracles, with two finer wavy lines above it; lower down there is a broad stripe of reddish brown; head marked with four lines of black dots. It feeds, at night, during June, July, and August (later in some seasons), on the small bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), and although it will eat the leaves when nearly full grown it prefers the flowers and seeds in its infancy.
The moth appears in May and June, and a second generation in August and September. In the sunshine it is active on the wing, but in dull weather it hides under herbage, in clover fields, chalky slopes, and rough places where its food plant occurs.
The female will often lay her eggs in a chip-box when she is thus secured after capture; the caterpillars are not difficult to rear if flower buds of the bindweed can be obtained to start them upon.
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The species is especially common in the south-west of England, chiefly on the coast, but it seems to occur in most suitable localities in nearly all the southern counties, and its range extends to Gloucestershire on the west and to Norfolk on the east. About seventy-five years ago Stephens used to obtain specimens on a chalky ridge near Hertford, and recently the moth has been found at Hitchin in North Hertfordshire.
The Purple Marbled (Thalpochares ostrina).
Two Continental specimens of this little moth are shown on Plate 21, Figs. 1 typical, 2 ab. carthami. An example of this species was obtained in June, 1825, in a lane near Bideford, Devonshire, and Stephens refers to this as the only specimen of the species that up to that time (1830) had been noted in England. Nothing more was heard of T. ostrina until 1858, when another Devonshire specimen was taken, this time near Torquay, on June 8, and during the month several others were captured on the coast; two were also secured in the Isle of Wight, and one in Ayrshire, Scotland. In 1865, a specimen was recorded as taken in July a few years previously at Pembrey, South Wales; 1880, one at Dover in September, and one near Swanage; Barrett mentions specimens taken on the Culver Cliffs, Isle of Wight, in 1859.
It seems unquestionable that examples of this species captured in Britain, and also of the other two Thalpochares to be presently referred to, are immigrants, and it is quite conceivable that besides the specimens captured here, others which have escaped detection may also have arrived with them.
The distribution abroad is extensive, embracing South Europe, Turkey, Asia Minor, Egypt, North-west Africa, Madeira, and the Canary Isles. It has also been found in France and Germany, but its occurrence in the latter country has been even less frequent than in England.
The Small Marbled (Thalpochares parva).
This species, of which a foreign example is represented on Plate 21, Fig. 3, has a similar distribution to that of T. ostrina, only it does not seem to occur in Madeira or the Canaries, and its eastward range extends to Central and Southern India.
The fore wings are pale reddish ochreous; first line, oblique, dusky, slightly waved on lower half, bordered inwardly with brownish and outwardly with white; second line, dusky and irregular.
The earliest specimen noted in Britain was captured at Teignmouth, South Devon, in July, 1844; another was said to have been captured at Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, but it has been suggested that this specimen might probably be referable to T. ostrina. Mr. E. Bankes has a specimen, taken by himself on a salt marsh in the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset, June 8, 1892. This seems to be all that is definitely known of this species in Britain, but others have been noted from the Isle of Wight and the Isle of Man.
Thalpochares paula.
The fore wings are white, clouded with pale brownish grey beyond the almost straight and rather oblique first line, and also beyond the angulated second line.
Of this species (Plate 21, Fig. 6) a specimen, now in the collection of Mr. E. R. Bankes, was taken at Freshwater, Isle of Wight, in June, 1872. Two other specimens, one of which seems to have been captured by a boy who was collecting on the south coast, were recorded in 1873; these insects were at that time in the collection of the Rev. H. Burney, and had been caught several years earlier.
The range abroad extends through Europe and Asia to South Siberia. The specimen figured is from Dresden.
The Marbled White Spot (Hapalotis (Erastria) fasciana).
The ground colour of the fore wings of this species (Plate 21, Fig. 7) is brownish grey, more or less clouded and sometimes suffused with blackish; the white patch on the outer marginal area is, in some examples, much obscured by dark-grey markings, and in occasional specimens the only trace of white on this part of the wing is a thin edging to the second line (ab. albilinea, Haworth).
The caterpillar is pale yellowish, with a greenish, sometimes red, tinged line along the middle of the back, and a brown one on each side; a reddish line under the black spiracles; head, brownish; the raised dots of the body are dusky edged with reddish. It feeds from July to September. A reddish form of this caterpillar has been noted. Buckler, from whose description the above has been condensed, states that the food-plant is blue moor-grass, or purple melic-grass (Molinia cærulea), and this is confirmed by Bignell, who remarks that in Devonshire he easily finds the caterpillars "feeding about half way up the blades" of this grass.
The moth is out in June and July, or in forward seasons in late May. It is partial to pine and larch trunks as a resting place during the day, and is local and more or less frequent in most of the southern counties, from Kent to Cornwall, through Somerset and Gloucester (extending into Oxford), to Hereford and Worcester, on the west, and from Essex to Norfolk on the east. A specimen was taken at light in Chester in June, 1901.
The range abroad extends to Japan.
The Silver Barred (Bankia (Erastria) argentula).
In its typical form this species (Plate 21, Fig. 4) has the colour of the fore wings olive brown, but occasionally it is tinged with reddish in some English, and more generally in Irish, specimens. The silvery oblique lines, or bands, vary in width, and sometimes there is a distinct spur from the lower outer edge of the first band.
The caterpillar is yellowish green, with a rather darker green line along the middle of the back, and a yellow one on each side of it. It feeds on grasses, such as Poa aquatica and P. Pratensis, etc., in July and early August.
The moth is out in June, and may be found during the day sitting about on the herbage in its marshy haunts, or flying over the vegetation towards the evening.
The species is exceedingly local in Britain. In ancient times it occurred in Norfolk, but in the present day it seems to be confined to Cambridgeshire, in which county it was first noted rarely in Wicken fen about thirty years ago, but in 1882 it was found plentifully in Chippenham fen, and in that locality (which is a private one) the species still flourishes. In Ireland it is well distributed over co. Kerry, and is especially abundant on the bogs of Killarney.
The range abroad extends to Amurland, where the brownish form var. amurula, Staud., is found.
The Silver Hook (Hydrelia (Erastria) uncula).
The usually olive brown central area of the fore wings is sometimes reddish tinged, and in fresh specimens the whitish front marginal streak is distinctly rosy; the reniform stigma, which appears to be a spur of the costal streak, is also white or rosy tinged, and sometimes encloses a greyish mark. This stigma is the so-called "hook" to which both the English name and the Latin specific name refer. (Plate 21, Fig. 5.)
The caterpillar feeds in July and early August on sedges (Carex) and coarse grasses. It is green, with three lines along the back, the central one rather darker green, and the other two whitish; low down along the sides is a broader yellowish line; the head is green with a yellowish tinge.
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| 3. Straw Dot: caterpillar. |
The moth is out from late May to early July, sometimes later.
This is also a marsh-loving species, and is generally plentiful in the fens of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire; in the Southern counties it is either very local or, owing to its small size, has escaped detection, but has been noted as occurring in Surrey (Wisley), Kent (Deal), Hants (New Forest), Dorset, Devon, Cornwall, and Somersetshire; also in Yorkshire (Askham bog), and in Cumberland. The Welsh counties in which it has been found are Pembroke, Glamorgan and Carnarvon (Abersoch). It is locally common in Clydesdale, and has also been reported from Kirkcudbrightshire, and Perthshire. In Ireland it abounds in the boggy parts of Kerry, and is more or less frequent in several other parts of Ireland. Near Castle Bellingham, co. Louth, where it is common, a second brood was observed on Aug. 1st, 1894.
Its range abroad extends to Amurland and Japan.
The Rosy Marbled (Erastria venustula).
Another local species, but a frequenter of drier localities than the last two. This delicate rosy-flushed whitish moth first became known as a native of Britain by the capture of a few specimens in Essex. Stephens, writing in 1830, remarks, "I have hitherto seen four examples only—a pair in my own cabinet; one of the latter taken, I believe, in Epping forest by the late Mr. Honey, the other by the late Mr. Bentley." No other British specimens seem to have been recorded until 1845, when the late Mr. H. Doubleday, in July, noted several of the moths disporting themselves over, or settling upon, bracken in Epping Forest. For many years Loughton and some other parts of the forest remained the only known English haunts of the species, but in 1874 it was found commonly in St. Leonard's Forest, Sussex; later still, it was discovered in the Brentwood district, Essex. It still occurs in all these localities, but appears to be now less frequently noticed in the original one than formerly (Plate 21, Fig. 9).
The caterpillar feeds in July and August on the flowers of cinquefoil (Potentilla), and is said to eat bramble blossoms also. Hellins describes it as rich brown, with a row of eight dusky-red diamonds down the back, enclosing the dorsal line of brighter red. The moth is out from the end of May and in June; it may be put up from herbage during the day, but its proper time of flight is in the early evening, and then only when the weather is favourable. If cold or damp the insects will not get on the wing. (Plate 25, Fig. 3; after Hofmann.)
The range abroad extends to Amurland.
The Straw Dot (Rivula sericealis).
This pale ochreous species, an example of which is represented on Plate 21, Fig. 8, varies in the amount of darker shading or suffusion on the outer marginal area of the fore wing; sometimes this is grey-brown or pale reddish brown, but often there is no shading whatever, and in such specimens the ground colour is usually very pale. The dark brown reniform mark is always present, but the cross lines are more often absent than present.
The caterpillar is green, with a darker green line along the middle of the back, and a white stripe on each side of it, the inner edge of each of the latter irregular; head, greenish grey, and the bristle-bearing raised dots are shining green with a dusky cap. It feeds on Brachypodium sylvaticum, but seems to accommodate itself to a diet of Phalaris arundinacea, and would perhaps eat other grasses: August to May. (Plate 23, Fig. 3; after Hofmann.)
The moth is out all through the summer months, and frequents marshes, damp rides and borders of woods, heaths, and where there is plenty of tall grass.
The species is widely distributed over England and Wales, although it appears to be rather scarce in the midlands and northwards. In Ireland it is generally abundant, but in Scotland it has only been noted from the south, and is there local and rare.
The distribution abroad includes Amurland, Corea, and Japan.
The Small Purple Barred (Prothymnia viridaria).
The fore wings of this species (Plate 21, Figs. 10 ♂, 11 ♀) range in colour from olive grey to olive brown, and are frequently adorned with two rosy-red (typical) or purplish bands (ænea, Haw.). In some specimens the bands are of a dusky hue and not very distinct, whilst in others the wings are of a uniform dingy brown tint (ab. fusca, Tutt).
The caterpillar (Plate 25, Fig. 2) is velvety-green above and paler beneath, yellowish between the rings, with a dark green slender line bordered by paler lines along the back, and three pale lines along the sides; below the yellowish spiracles there is a broader pale line becoming whitish on rings 9-12; head, green mottled with brown (adapted from Hellins).
It is to be found in August and September on the common milkwort (Polygala vulgaris). On May 31, 1906, I met with the moth in some numbers on a marshy bit of heath in Surrey, where there was a plentiful growth of lousewort (Pedicularis), but, so far as I know, no Polygala. All the moths were much below the average size, the bands were mainly purple, but in no case rosy. The moth flies in May and June, and specimens have been captured both earlier and later. Except that it does not appear to occur in the extreme north of Scotland, the species seems to be pretty generally distributed over the British Isles, and is often very common in many parts.
The eastern distribution extends to E. Siberia.
The Spotted Sulphur (Emmelia trabealis).
Although this pretty black and yellow moth (Plate 21, Fig. 12) was noted by Stephens (1830) as being occasionally captured in Battersea fields, and as occurring near Margate, and elsewhere in Kent, it was not until 1847 that the Breck-sand district of Norfolk, adjoining parts of Suffolk, and Cambridge, became known as being inhabited by The Spotted Sulphur. The vicinity of Brandon and Tuddenham is especially favoured by the species, but it occurs in several other parts of the area. Occasionally, specimens have been captured in various Kentish localities, and between thirty and forty years ago single examples were taken in Hackney Marshes, Lower Clapton (August 2), also in Wandsworth (at light, July 26). From these facts it would appear possible that the species occasionally strays from its haunts in the eastern counties and sometimes to a considerable distance. Once, indeed, a specimen was found on a gas lamp at Exeter. On the other hand, it is quite conceivable that such wanderers may have come from abroad.
Some specimens are of a paler yellow than others, but there is rather more noticeable aberration in the number and intensity of the black markings.
The caterpillar is reddish brown, with three darker lines along the back, the central one pale edged; a pale yellow stripe runs along the region of the spiracles, and has a fine brownish line running through it from end to end. Another form is green with white lines. It feeds on the bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) in July, and has a second brood in September. The moth, which rests among herbage by day, and flies towards evening, is found in June, July, and August.
The species is found throughout Central and Southern Europe, its range extending to Denmark and South Sweden; eastward it occurs in Asia Minor, Syria, and through Asia to Japan.