Part 13

The moth may be found at night, in March and April, sitting on the privet hedge, and may then be easily boxed, as it seems very disinclined to fly at that time, but earlier in the evening it flits along the hedgerows, and is equally easy to net. When resting, however, one is able to select just the finest specimens.

The species appears to be very local in Britain, but it occurs in the Brighton, Lewes, and Emsworth districts of Sussex; Hants, Wilts (Salisbury), Somerset, Devon (Sidmouth), Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire (Malvern), {153} North Lancashire, Cumberland, Northampton, Berks, Essex, and Kent. In Scotland it has been reported from Clydesdale and Arran, but has not been noted from Ireland.

THE EARLY TOOTH-STRIPED (_Lobophora_ (_Trichopteryx_) _carpinata_).

The whitish fore wings of this species are tinged with grey or greenish grey, the cross lines and bands vary in intensity, and, as a rule, are more distinct and complete in the female than in the male. A form of not infrequent occurrence in Scotland (ab. _fasciata_, Prout) has blackish bands, which show up in strong contrast with the general whitish colour of the wings. The ordinary form is represented on Plate 57, Fig. 7 [male], and Fig. 8 on the same plate shows the named variety referred to.

The caterpillar is green, with rather darker lines along the back, and a yellow stripe low down along the sides; the two points on the last ring are also yellow. It feeds, in June and July, on honeysuckle, sallow, birch, and alder. The moth is out in April and May, and seems to be more or less common in woodlands throughout the greater part of the British Isles. In Scotland it appears to be most plentiful from Perthshire northwards to Sutherlandshire, but it has not been reported from the Orkneys, Shetlands, or Hebrides. (Early stages are shown on Plate 59, Figs. 3-3b.)

The boles of trees are favourite resting places, and upon them, and also upon gate-posts, etc., the moth is often met with in the daytime.

Abroad, the range extends to Eastern Siberia.

YELLOW-BARRED BRINDLE (_Lobophora_ (_Trichopteryx_) _viretata_).

The general colour of the fore wings is olive green, varying from pale to dark, the wavy cross lines are blackish, dotted {154} with black, and sometimes there are whitish lines between them; those on the central area are often united by a blackish cloud, and so form a band, and not infrequently the basal area is also blackish marked. (Plate 58, Figs. 3 and 4.) The ground colour is very apt to fade if the insect is exposed to moisture of any kind, as, for instance, when pinned in a damp collecting box, but I have one bred specimen of a reddish ochreous colour, and I am assured that it was of this tint when it emerged from the chrysalis. An old English name was "The Brindle-barred Yellow."

The thick-set caterpillar is green, more or less tinged with pinkish; three interrupted pink lines on the back, the central one sometimes inclining to purple, and broken up into spots; the head is brown, sometimes marked with purplish, and there are two tiny points on the last ring of the body. It varies in the green tint and also in marking. It feeds on flowers and leaves of holly, ivy, dogwood, privet, etc., in June and July, and in some sheltered southern localities again in September and October.

The moth is out in May and early June, and where a second generation is developed, in August and early September. It sits in the daytime on tree-trunks, but more especially those with smooth bark; the stems of holly are a favourite resting place, but at Box Hill I have occasionally seen a specimen on the trunk of a beech tree. Barrett states that it also rests on the trunks of fir trees, and that it is then very easily seen. Night is its time of activity, and it is then attracted by light.

The species seems to be widely distributed, but locally and not generally common, throughout England, Wales, and Ireland; it has only been recorded from Rosemount, Ayr, and one or two other localities in the south of Scotland.

The range abroad extends to Western India, Amurland, and Japan.

2 Pl. 58. 1, 2. SMALL SERAPHIM. 3, 4. YELLOW-BARRED BRINDLE. 5-7. NORTHERN WINTER MOTH. 8-10. THE WINTER MOTH.

2 Pl. 59. 1. NORTHERN WINTER-MOTH: _eggs_. 2, 2a. BARRED TOOTH-STRIPED: _caterpillar and chrysalis_. 3, 3a, 3b. EARLY TOOTH-STRIPED: _eggs and caterpillar_.

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THE SERAPHIM (_Lobophora halterata_).

Fore wings whitish, with two greyish bands on the basal area; first and second lines greyish, variable in width, and sometimes only represented by marks on the front or inner margins; there is a black central dot, and the outer area beyond the submarginal line is clouded with dark grey, especially on the upper half. Sometimes the wings are so thickly stippled with the darker colour that they appear to be greyish, with interrupted and indistinct whitish cross lines. A rather frequent form has the fore wings tinged with ochreous, and of this tint is ab. _zonata_, Thnbg., which has the basal bands and outer marginal border blackish, the central area being without cross lines. (Plate 57, Figs. 9 [male] and 10 [female].)

The caterpillar is green, darker below and between the rings; the most distinct markings are two yellow lines along the back; head, notched; body wrinkled, and with two points on the last ring. It feeds on aspen, and other kinds of poplar, in June and July.

The moth appears in May, and continues out well into June, especially in its northern localities. It rests on the trunks of poplar trees, or on the stems of bushes around, and is sometimes easily alarmed, and flies off on the collector's approach, whilst at other times it sits quietly, and may be easily boxed. At dusk it may be seen flying around the poplars.

Widely distributed in the southern half of England, and only found where poplars, chiefly aspens, are well established. From Worcester its range extends northwards to Staffordshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire, and Cheshire; and it has been recorded from Yorkshire and Cumberland; also from Glamorganshire, South Wales. In Scotland it seems not to have been noted in the south, but is found more or less frequently from Perthshire to Sutherlandshire. Rare in Ireland.

Abroad, its range extends to Amurland and Japan. {156}

THE SMALL SERAPHIM (_Lobophora_ (_Mysticoptera_) _sexalisata_).

This is a much smaller species than the last. The fore wings are whitish, with brownish-grey, or blackish-grey, cross lines and bands; the central most distinct towards the front margin, where it encloses a black dot; hind wings greyish, with black central dot. (Plate 58, Figs. 1 and 2.)

The green, much wrinkled caterpillar has three whitish lines or stripes along the back, and in some examples there is a white line low down along the sides; the head, which inclines to yellowish, is notched, and there are two pinkish points on the last ring of the body. It feeds on sallow in August and September.

The moth is to be found in May and June, and, in some years, again in July and August. It inhabits woods and hedgerows where sallow is plentiful, but, perhaps, is obtained more freely in fens. Occasionally it may be beaten from the hedges, but it is active on the wing just before the close of day, and then disports itself over and about the sallow bushes. It occurs in suitable localities in most of the eastern and southern counties of England, and has been reported from some of the northern ones, and from Glamorganshire, in South Wales. Kane states that it has been found in the north, south, east, and west of Ireland, but is always local and scarce.

NOTE.--Prout considers this species to be the _sexalata_ of Retzius (1783).

WINTER MOTH (_Cheimatobia brumata_).

In orchards and gardens wherein are fruit trees one may have noticed that the trunks of the trees have broad bands around them. If these bands are examined, they will be seen {157} to be covered with a sticky compound, which has been put there for the purpose of trapping the almost wingless females of the Winter Moth, as they crawl up the tree after emergence from the chrysalis. In spite of such devices, and other precautionary measures taken to safeguard the trees from attack, the foliage of apple, pear, etc., will not be quite free from the caterpillars of this species in their season.

The male has greyish brown fore wings, which are crossed by rather darker lines, and a dark, more or less distinct, central band (ab. _hyemata_, Huene). The ground colour is very much darker in some specimens than in others, and examples of a sooty brown colour are not infrequent; Barrett mentions an almost buff-coloured specimen. In the female, the tiny affairs representing wings are brownish, with indications of a darker band towards the outer margin of the front pair.

A small, purplish brown form, reared in January, 1882, from caterpillars found in Cumberland, feeding on sweet gale (_Myrica gale_), was described as a new species under the name _myricaria_, Cooke (_Entom._, xv. 57). This has been referred by Staudinger to _C. boreata_, as a form of that species, but it is probably an aberration of _C. brumata._

The caterpillar is green, with a stripe of darker green along the back; on each side of this are two white lines, and along the black spiracles is a pale yellowish line; head, green, sometimes marked with blackish. It feeds on the foliage of trees and bushes, and sometimes abounds in April and May.

The moth appears during the winter months, and has been noted as early as October and as late as February. (Plate 58, Figs. 8-10.)

Generally distributed throughout the British Isles.

NORTHERN WINTER MOTH (_Cheimatobia boreata_).

This species is generally larger than the last-mentioned. The fore wings are marked somewhat as in that species, {158} but they are paler in colour and more glossy; hind wings whitish and glossy. In the female, the wings are useless for flying, but still they are larger than those of _brumata_. The front pair have a blackish band. (Plate 58, Figs. 6 and 7 [male], 5 [female]; ova. Plate 59, Fig. 1.)

The caterpillar is greenish, with a greyish stripe along the back, another edged above with yellow along the black spiracles, and a greyish line between the stripes; the head is black. It feeds, in May and June, on birch, and the moth does not appear until October or November.

At one time considered to be a purely northern species: the earliest known British specimens, four in number, having been captured at Petty Pool, Delamere, Cheshire, on October 31, 1848. It is now known, however, to have a wide distribution in the south of England. Northwards, its range extends throughout England and Scotland up to Moray. It is found in South Wales; also in Galway, Monaghan, and Connemara, in Ireland.

THE TISSUE (_Triphosa dubitata_).

The fore wings of this glossy species (Plate 60, Figs. 1, 2) are pale brown, tinged more or less strongly with rosy or purplish; there are numerous darker and paler cross lines, the most distinct and constant being the blackish basal, and the two forming the edges of the central band; the latter are marked with black; the submarginal line is whitish, wavy, and sometimes broken up into dots. The species varies considerably in tint, some specimens inclining to pale greyish brown, others to smoky brown. Hind wings, whitish grey, with several darker grey cross lines; in dark specimens these wings are smoky grey. Ab. _cinereata_, Stephens, is a small pale greyish form, almost without rosy tinge and with fewer cross lines.

The caterpillar (Plate 62, Fig. 1) is yellowish green with {159} darker green stripes and lines. In another form there are four pale yellowish lines along the back and a yellow stripe low down along the sides. It feeds on buckthorn (_Rhamnus_), the leaves of which it fastens together with silk, and so forms a retreat. It will also eat sloe and bird-cherry (_Prunus padus_).

The moth is out in August and through the autumn, when it sometimes visits the flowers of ivy, ragwort, etc.; after hibernation it is again seen, perhaps even more frequently, in April and May, and is then occasionally found at sallow catkins. The species seems to have been noted from nearly all the English counties, but becomes rare from Yorkshire northwards. In Wales, and in Ireland, it is apparently widely distributed, but in Scotland it seems confined to southern localities, and is only rarely met with.

Abroad, the distribution spreads to Amurland, China, and Japan.

THE SCARCE TISSUE (_Eucosmia_ (_Calocalpe_) _certata_).

This species is very similar to the last, but the wings are not glossy, only reddish on the outer margin, and the black marked lines edging the central band of the fore wings are less irregular, the inner ones usually being much straighter. On the under side of the hind wings of the male is a fold enclosing hairs; this is on the inner margin, just above the anal angle. (Plate 60, Fig. 3 [female].)

The thickset caterpillar (Plate 62, Fig. 3, after Hofmann) is greyish inclining to greenish; four white lines along the back, the central pair enclosing a dark line, the others are bordered below with dark greyish; the black spiracles are set in yellowish blotches, and the plates on first and last rings are brown; head, reddish-brown, glossy (adapted from Fenn). It feeds on the barberry (_Berberis vulgaris_) and the holly-leaved barberry (_B. aquifolium_) grown in gardens, in June and July. The moth {160} is out in May and June, but in favourable seasons has appeared in late April. When on the wing at night it is freely attracted by light, but otherwise not often noticed. The species has occurred in many of the English counties from Devon to Durham, but it seems to be only common in the eastern counties, and most frequent perhaps in Suffolk. It has been recorded from South Wales, but is seemingly absent from Ireland.

The range abroad extends to Amurland.

THE SCALLOP SHELL (_Eucosmia undulata_).

Wings pale greyish, sometimes ochreous tinted, and crossed by numerous dark-grey wavy lines inclining to blackish on the front margin of the fore wings; the waves of the central pair of lines on the fore wings often meet and so form a series of rings; sometimes the space between the eighth and twelfth lines is of a dusky hue, and occasionally it is distinctly darker and band-like; the outer margin of all the wings is brownish and traversed by a wavy white line. The male has tufts of blackish hair in a fold on the inner margin of the hind wing, this is noticeable on the upper side, but is best seen from the under side. (Plate 60, Figs. 4 [male], 5 [female].)

The somewhat dumpy caterpillar is reddish-brown with four yellowish lines along the back; a greyish stripe along the sides, and a creamy stripe along the black spiracles; head, pale brown and glossy. It feeds on sallow, aspen, and bilberry, and may be found from August throughout the autumn in spun-together leaves at the tips of the shoots. (Plate 62, Fig. 2.)

The moth is out in June and July, and occurs in woods where there is a good growth of bilberry, or in marshy spots where sallow bushes abound.

In England the species is widely distributed over the southern and eastern counties; its range extends through the Midlands to Cheshire, Lancs., and Westmorland, rarely in Lincoln and Yorks., and once recorded in Durham; it occurs in Wales and in Scotland, but only in the more southern part of each country. It is not plentiful in Ireland, but widely distributed. The range abroad includes Amurland.

2 Pl. 60. 1, 2. THE TISSUE. 3. SCARCE TISSUE. 4, 5. THE SCALLOP SHELL. 6. THE BROWN SCALLOP. 7, 8. THE DARK UMBER.

2 Pl. 61. 1. NETTED CARPET. 2. SPECKLED YELLOW, VAR. 3. DOTTED BORDER WAVE (AB. _CIRCELLATA_). 4. GARDEN CARPET (AB. _COSTOVATA_). 5, 6. YELLOW SHELL, ABERRANT FORMS. 7. TAWNY-BARRED ANGLE (AB. _NIGROFULVATA_). 8, 9. BROKEN-BARRED CARPET, SCOTTISH FORM.

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THE BROWN SCALLOP (_Scotosia vetulata_).

The male is always smaller than the female, and is noticeable for its long body with tuft of hairs at the extremity. The wings in both sexes are dingy brown, or greyish brown, and the usual lines on fore wings are blackish, the space between first and second often dusky. (Plate 60, Fig. 6.)

The caterpillar is short and stout, and in form very like that of the winter moth; the back and a central dorsal stripe are black, the latter bordered with white, the sides are yellow; the spiracular line is black, broken, and unconnected; the spiracles are black; the head is black, and the edge of the first ring of the body is yellow. (Crewe.) It feeds, in May and June, on purging buckthorn (_Rhamnus catharticus_), and is to be found between two or more leaves, which it spins together as a hiding place.

In June and July the moth may sometimes be obtained by beating bushes of buckthorn, or the herbage below and around; this plan works best when operated just before dusk. As a British insect it is only found in England, and is most frequent in the southern and eastern counties, but widely distributed in the west to Worcester, and has been found in Lancashire, Westmorland, and Yorks. In the last-named county, caterpillars were obtained freely at Askham Bogs in 1900.

When Stephens wrote of this insect in 1831 he noted its occurrence "in a lane near Fulham." Even so recently as 1906 I obtained specimens on the Putney side of Wimbledon Common.

The range abroad extends to Eastern Siberia. {162}

THE DARK UMBER (_Scotosia rhamnata_).

The blackish oblique band on the fore wings of this ochreous brown species (Plate 60, Fig. 7 [male], 8 [female]) is sometimes indicated only by the blackish lines, the space between them being hardly darker than the general colour. Sometimes all the wings are suffused with blackish brown, and in such specimens the only distinct marking is the whitish submarginal line.

The caterpillar is green, with three lines along the back, the central one dark green, and the others yellow; the hind wings are marked with purple, and a stripe of the same colour runs along under the spiracles. In another form the general colour is greyish with a reddish-brown stripe along the back, and series of spots of the same colour along the sides. It may be found in May and June, concealed between leaves that it has fastened together to form a retreat.

The moth flies in late June and in July, and may be disturbed in the daytime from buckthorn bushes. It is widely distributed, and often common in the South of England, but is rare in the north; and has also been recorded from South Wales.

NOTE.--This species has been referred to _transversata_, Hufnagel, and as this is an earlier name it may have to be adopted. According to Prout, both this and the preceding species should be placed in the genus _Philereme_, Hubner.

SMALL PHOENIX (_Eustroma silaceata_).

In its typical form (Plate 63, Fig. 3) the blackish band of the fore wings is entire, but in ab. _insulata_, Haworth (Fig. 4), this band is interrupted by two whitish lines along the median veins, and so divided into three or four portions, the smaller section placed between the lines; occasionally, the dividing lines assume stripe-like proportions, and the main portions are consequently smaller in size and further from each other, but one "island" still remains. In another form, the lower outer corner is distinctly separate from the costal portion; thus the band is broken into four parts.

2 Pl. 62. 1. THE TISSUE: _caterpillar_. 2. SCALLOP SHELL: _caterpillar_. 3. SCARCE TISSUE: _caterpillar_.

2 Pl. 63. 1, 2. THE PHOENIX. 3, 4. SMALL PHOENIX. 5-7. THE CHEVRON. 8-10. NORTHERN SPINACH.

{163} The long caterpillar is green, with a reddish-brown stripe along the back; this is broken up into spots, except on the first three rings; there are some reddish-brown spots on the sides. It feeds on various kinds of willow herb (_Epilobium_), and enchanter's nightshade (_Circaea lutetiana_) in July, and sometimes in August and September.

The moth should be looked for in beech and other woods amongst the food plants, from which, and the surrounding herbage, it is readily evicted. It flies at twilight, and later on, when it has been known to visit the sugar patch; it is also attracted by light. It is out in May and June, and specimens of a second generation sometimes occur in the South. The species occurs locally throughout England, probably Wales, and in Scotland up to Ross. In Ireland, it is widely distributed and locally common in the North, but apparently not noted in the South.

NETTED CARPET (_Lygris reticulata_).

The white veins and white lines passing through the blackish blotches at the base and on the front margin of the fore wings, give these wings a curious netted appearance; the hind wings are smoky grey, with two white lines which appear to be continuations of the white second line and sub-marginal of the fore wings. (Plate 61, Fig. 1.)

The caterpillar is green, inclining to yellowish, and more or less tinged with pinkish, especially on the sides; three lines on the back, the central one reddish, the others whitish; a central line along the pinkish spiracles. It feeds at night on yellow balsam (_Impatiens noli-me-tangere_), preferring the flowers, {164} seeds, and young foliage, and rests by day on the undersides of the leaves: September and October. (Plate 64, Fig. 2, after Hofmann.)

The moth is out in July and August, and, of course, will only be found in localities where the balsam flourishes; these are very limited, and in Britain are confined to Westmorland and the northern border of Lancashire, and North Wales. The species was first introduced as British in 1861, when the late Henry Doubleday recorded the capture of three specimens in August, 1856, on the border of one of the lakes in Westmorland, by his friend the late Thomas H. Allis. It seems that other specimens had been taken at the same time, but these passed into collections as the "second brood of _silacearia_." The caterpillar is said to have been found in North Wales, but has been more frequently obtained in the English Lake District.

The range abroad extends to Eastern Siberia, Amurland, Corea, and Japan; but in the three last-named countries it is chiefly represented by var. _aerosa_, Butt., a large form.

THE PHOENIX (_Lygris prunata_).

The English name here retained was given to this species (Plate 63, Figs. 1 [male], 2 [female]) by Harris, in 1775, but in 1782 he changed it to "Clouded Carpet."

In ground colour the fore wings are pale brown, more or less clouded with darker brown, or with reddish-brown; the basal patch, central band, and blotch on outer margin below the tip of the wing, are all chocolate brown clouded with blackish and edged with white. Hind wings, whitish, suffused with smoky grey, except on front area; three dusky whitish-edged wavy lines, inclining to blackish on the inner margin. The egg (Plate 67, Fig. 3) is yellowish when laid, and then changes to purplish with a whitish bloom.

The caterpillar is green, varying to brownish; along the {165} middle of the back is a series of purplish-edged, brown-centred, whitish, triangular markings; the third ring is swollen, and has a black collar. It feeds at night on the foliage of red and black currant, also on gooseberry, and may be found in April and May, earlier or later according to season, sitting by day upon the bushes.

The moth flies in July and August, and occurs in gardens, but is said to be partial to sloe bushes and hedges. It is always more or less local, although it is distributed over the greater part of the British Isles.

This species occurs in the Northern United States of America.

THE CHEVRON (_Lygris testata_).