Part 14

The fore wings of this rather variable species (Plate 63, Figs. 5-7) are yellowish or reddish grey, with a darker basal patch and central band; a reddish blotch below the tip of the wing is edged with white, and the central band is also outwardly edged with white. Hind wings, whitish, with two lines, and dusky hind marginal border, the latter sometimes inclining to reddish. Occasionally, the fore wings are entirely pale ochreous, and the basal patch and the central band only very slightly darker, but the limiting lines are reddish, and the patch under the tip of the wing is bright orange red. Var. _insulicola_, Staud., from the isles of Scotland, has the fore wings rather narrower, and suffused with purplish brown or deep violet grey; the hind wings are smoky grey. The female is usually smaller than the male, and often more yellow in colour.

Eggs, whitish brown, mottled with darker. The early stages are shown on Plate 67, Figs. 2-2b.

The long caterpillar is pale yellowish brown, with three lines along the back, the central one dark brown, and most distinct at each end; the others are white, irregularly shaded above {166} with reddish; another white line along the region of the spiracles. It feeds, in May or June (earlier or later in some seasons), on sallow and birch. The moth is out in July and August, and frequents heaths and bogs more especially, but is also found in or around woods, and I have captured male specimens as they flew along hedgerows bordering fields, at dusk, in Middlesex. The female is rarely seen on the wing.

The species, which ranges through Central and Northern Europe to the Ural and Altai, is generally distributed throughout the British Isles; it is found also in the Atlantic States of America.

NORTHERN SPINACH (_Lygris populata_).

The fore wings are yellow, with a reddish or purplish-brown basal patch, central band, and small patch on outer margin below tip of the wing, the central band more or less clouded or mottled with yellow. Hind wings, whitish, tinged with yellow. The female is usually smaller, the colour generally paler, and the markings frequently only represented by cross lines. Specimens from the Isle of Arran have the ground colour of fore wings more or less dappled with brown of the same tint as that of the central band and other markings; the hind wings are tinged with a smoky hue. In other parts of Scotland the brown colour becomes more and more general, until the fore wings are uniformly brown, and the hind wings dusky. On the mountains in the north nearly black specimens occur, and these seem to be referable to ab. _musauaria_, Freyer. (Plate 63, Figs. 8-10.)

The long caterpillar is variable in general colour, brown, mottled with greyish, pale grey, reddish brown, or yellowish green; all have darker or whitish lines along the back, and whitish or pinkish triangles or X-marks. It feeds, in May and June (earlier in some localities, and later in others), on bilberry, crowberry, and sallow; it may also be reared on willow.

2 Pl. 64. 1. DARK UMBER: _caterpillar_. 2. NETTED CARPET: _caterpillar_.

2 Pl. 65. 1, 2. THE SPINACH. 3-5. BARRED STRAW. 6, 7. BARRED YELLOW. 8-10. BROKEN-BARRED CARPET.

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The moth is out in July and August, and may be found on the leaves and among the sprays of _Vaccinium myrtillus_ growing in woodlands (especially the more ancient), bogs, and moorlands.

The species is widely spread, and generally abundant in suitable districts, over the greater part of the British Isles; but it seems to be more or less casual in England south of the Midlands, although its range runs through Gloucestershire and Somerset into Devon. In the last-named county it sometimes swarms at Martinhoe, on the edge of Exmoor.

The distribution abroad includes Eastern Siberia, Amurland, Labrador, and North America.

THE SPINACH (_Lygris associata_).

The fore wings are pale ochreous, more or less clouded with darker; three brownish cross lines. Hind wings, paler, with indication of cross lines on the inner margin. Fringes of all the wings chequered with brown, most distinct on the fore wings. (Plate 65, Figs. 1, 2.)

The long caterpillar is green, inclining to yellowish; three lines along the back, the central one dark green and the others whitish; there is also a whitish line low down along the sides. It feeds at night, in May and June, on currant (_Ribes rubrum_ and _R. nigrum_), and may be found on the underside of a leaf in the daytime. (Figured on Plate 67, Fig. 1, from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich.)

During July and August the moth flies in the evening, and after dark it often comes to any bright illumination. It is essentially a garden insect, and where currant bushes are there also spinach is often grown; hence it was probably connected with the vegetable rather than the fruit when Haworth named it _spinachiata_. The species seems to be found more or less frequently in suitable spots through England. In Wales it has {168} been recorded from Glamorganshire, and from Rhyl, Flintshire; in Scotland, Renton states that it is common in Roxburgh gardens; and it is also noted from Paisley. It has been doubtfully recorded from Ireland.

The range abroad extends to Amurland.

BARRED STRAW (_Cidaria pyraliata_).

In certain respects this species (Plate 65, Figs. 3-5) is not unlike that last referred to. The fore wings are yellowish straw-colour, the cross lines are brownish, but the central two are closer together, especially on the inner margin, than they are in _associata_, and are straightly oblique from the angle, or elbow, below the front margin; there is often a line of brownish dots between the second line and the outer margin, and the fringes are brown, not chequered. Occasionally there are darker clouds on the second line, at the angle, and such clouds sometimes appear in the central space. Not infrequently the markings are very faint. Staudinger and others refer this species to _dotata_, L., but there seems to be some doubt in the matter.

The caterpillar feeds, in April and May, on the common cleavers or goose-grass (_Galium aparine_) of our hedgerows, etc., but it also eats _G. mollugo_ and other kinds of bedstraw. It is to be found low down on the stems.

The moth may be disturbed from the herbage along hedges and ditches in lanes, and the borders of woods, but it seems most partial to the former.

The species is generally distributed, and often plentiful, in the southern half of England; but although widely spread in the northern half, it is only common locally. It occurs in Wales, both North and South; is common in Roxburghshire and Clydesdale, and is said to be found on the Aberdeenshire coast and in West Ross. In Ireland it is widely distributed, {169} and sometimes abundant; but more frequent on the coast than inland.

The distribution abroad includes Eastern Siberia and Amurland.

BARRED YELLOW (_Cidaria fulvata_).

This very pretty, and most distinct, little species (Plate 65, Figs. 6, 7) does not vary very greatly; there is certainly some modification in the general colour, and in that of the markings, but in both it is only a matter of tint.

The caterpillar is somewhat wrinkled, and in colour is green, with three greyish lines along the back, the central one double; the ring divisions are yellow, and there is a yellow line low-down along the sides. It feeds at night, in May and June, on the leaves of wild rose, and does not object to the garden kinds. (Plate 69, Fig. 3, after Hofmann.)

The moth is out in June and July. It hides by day under leaves in hedges, and although not often induced to get on the wing at that time, the male commences its evening flight at an early hour. It is generally a common species in England and Wales; it occurs here and there through Scotland, up to the Orkneys; and although somewhat local, it is common enough, where found, in Ireland.

BROKEN-BARRED CARPET (_Cidaria corylata_).

The fore wings have an olive-brown basal patch and central band, both are edged with white, wavy lines, and the band is contracted below the middle. (Plate 65, Fig. 9), and often broken at this point (Fig. 10); the inner marginal portion sometimes very small; the space between the basal patch and central band is pale brown, and so also is the outer marginal area; but there are dark clouds and white marks beyond the {170} white wavy submarginal line. Variable in tint and in marking, the variety generally known as _albocrenata_, Curtis (Plate 65, Fig. 8), is perhaps most frequent in Perthshire and Sutherland. Two other examples of the Scottish form, which Staudinger has named _effusaria_, are depicted on Plate 61, Figs. 8, 9.

The caterpillar is green, inclining to yellowish; three stripes on the back, the central one reddish brown and broad, but only distinct at each end, the other paler green; spiracles, white, placed in a reddish-brown stripe, which is sometimes broken up. It feeds on sloe, birch, oak, and the foliage of other trees, and may be found from July to September, and even later.

The moth is out in May and June, and is to be beaten from hedges, or may be found at rest on tree-trunks, palings, etc.

Generally distributed, but not extending to the Scottish Isles.

Abroad, the range spreads to Amurland and Japan.

COMMON MARBLED CARPET (_Cidaria truncata_).

Six examples of this very variable species are shown on Plate 66, and these have been selected to illustrate the more important forms. There are a number of modifications of each of the forms, and several of these have been named. Fig. 1 of our plate represents the typical form, and this is Haworth's _centumnotata_ (Common Marbled Carpet); Fig. 2 is ab. _commanotata_ of Haworth (Yellow Marbled Carpet); Fig. 3 is ab. _perfuscata_, Haworth (The Brown Marbled Carpet), and Fig. 4 is a modification of the same form. A specimen from Arran is shown in Fig. 5; this example agrees fairly well with that figured in Wood's _Index_ as _concinnata_ from Arran. In his description of the form, Stephens does not mention fulvous bands in his type. Fig. 6 shows a specimen from Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, which appears to be a modification of the typical form of _truncata_, but it has some of the character of _concinnata_. The latter, it may be mentioned, is considered by Mr. L. B. Prout to be a distinct species, and as the genitalia have been found, on examination by Mr. Pierce, to differ from these organs in _truncata_ and _immanata_, there seems to be reason to accept it as such.

2 Pl. 66. 1-6. COMMON MARBLED CARPET. 7-12. DARK MARBLED CARPET.

2 Pl. 67. 1. SPINACH: _caterpillar_. 2, 2a, 2b. CHEVRON: _eggs, caterpillar and chrysalis_. 3. PHOENIX: _eggs_.

{171} The caterpillar is long, slender, and wrinkled, especially on the sides; the ground colour is green, inclining to yellowish; three lines along the back, the central one dark green, and the others yellowish; sometimes a rosy stripe, or a series of dashes along the sides; the points on the last ring are green, or rosy. It feeds, in the autumn and again in the spring after hibernation, on sallow, birch, hawthorn, bilberry, wild strawberry, etc. It will also eat rose, but as the specimens resulting from caterpillars reared on rose are frequently small, such food is probably unsuitable; garden strawberry, on the other hand, is an excellent pabulum. A photograph of the caterpillar by Mr. H. Main is shown on Plate 69, Fig. 1. There is a second brood in late June and in July. The first generation of the moth is out in May and June, and the second emerges in the autumn; specimens, possibly of a third generation, have been seen in December in favourable localities.

The species, which frequents woods and hedgerows, and is pretty generally common, is to be found almost everywhere throughout the British Isles. It has not, however, been noted from Shetland.

The distribution abroad extends to Amurland, China, and Japan.

DARK MARBLED CARPET (_Cidaria immanata_).

This is another exceedingly variable species (Plate 66), and here again six examples have been chosen to illustrate something of the range of aberration. Figs. 7 and 8 are of the {172} typical form, and Figs. 9 and 10 show the form _marmorata_, Haworth (Marbled Carpet); while Figs. 11 and 12 represent specimens from Shetland, and are referable to the island race known as _pythonissata_, Milliere; neither of the specimens figured, however, quite agrees with the type of this form, but Fig. 12 does so fairly well. In some specimens the general colour of the fore wings is tawny or rust-colour, or they are strongly suffused with that tint (ab. _ferruginea_, Prout). I have such examples in my series of specimens from Lewes and the Shetlands. Ab. _thingvallata_, Staud., from Iceland, has the fore wings white, with black basal patch and central band, and I have seen at least one example from Yorkshire that closely approached this variety.

The caterpillar is not very unlike that of the last species, but it is rounder in appearance, the general green colour is paler, and the points on the last ring are blunt. It feeds from April to June on sallow, birch, bilberry, and wild strawberry. (Plate 69, Fig. 2, after Hofmann.) The moths are out in July and August, and may be found resting on tree-trunks, rocks, or stone walls; at night, when it is active on the wing, it is said to be often seen in numbers on the flowers of the rush, and this habit has been noted more particularly in Scotland.

The species affects woods and moors, and appears to be found more or less commonly throughout the British Isles.

MARSH CARPET (_Cidaria sagittata_).

The fore wings of this very distinct species are brown, with white-edged black bands at base and across the central area, the latter with a strong projection on its outer edge, almost reaching a white spot on the outer margin; sub-marginal line whitish, often only traceable on the front edge. The central band is always narrowed below the middle, sometimes divided, {173} and occasionally this part of the band is finely cut off from both upper and lower portions. (Plate 68, Figs. 7, 8.)

The caterpillar is yellowish green, merging into pinkish on the sides; the pink is edged below with black, and this is followed by a dark olive stripe; rings 1-3 and 10-12 are wrinkled, whilst all the others are ridged across the back and along the sides. It feeds, in August and September, on the unripe seeds of meadow-rue (_Thalictrum flavum_), also on _T. minus_, and, according to Barrett, on old withered leaves of columbine.

The moth is out in July, occasionally at the end of June, and occurs locally in "Fenland."

Doubleday introduced it as British in the _Zoologist_ for 1848. He there states, "A single example of this pretty species was obtained last season near Peterborough, but I believe it was not in very good condition. A splendid female was sent to me from the same neighbourhood this week (July 15, 1848)."

In 1853 and 1854 the species was discovered in the fens of Huntingdonshire and Cambridgeshire. Later it was found to inhabit the fens of Norfolk and Suffolk. It is still obtained in the Cambridge fens from Bottisham to Chatteris. Outside "Fenland" it has been recorded from Worcestershire (Bewdley Forest) and Warwickshire (Rugby).

The range abroad extends to Amurland.

RED-GREEN CARPET (_Cidaria siterata_).

The general colour of the fore wings of this species (Plate 68, Figs. 1-4) is greyish green, with more or less of rosy suffusion; the basal patch and central band are darker green, and the latter is outwardly edged with whitish below the front margin, and towards the inner margin. The female has rather more ample wings, and is generally of a darker hue, but in both sexes the basal patch and central band are blackish; the hind {174} wings are dark greyish brown, inclining to blackish in some females, and there is a blackish central dot and two or three curved lines.

The long caterpillar is yellowish green, with an interrupted red line along the middle of the back; two green points on last ring are usually pink-tipped. It feeds on oak, birch, ash, sloe, apple, etc., in July and August.

The moth occurs in woodlands, but is not easily disturbed in the daytime from its lurking-place in bush or tree. In the autumn it may be found at ivy-bloom, and in the spring, after hibernation, has been taken at sallow.

The species appears to be widely distributed over England and Wales, Scotland up to Moray, and Ireland.

AUTUMN GREEN CARPET (_Cidaria miata_).

Somewhat similar to the last, but the general colour of the fore wings is paler, inclining to whitish, and the basal patch and central band are pale green tinged with greyish; there is no rosy suffusion, but the wavy sub-marginal line is distinctly white. The hind wings are greyish white, with black discal dot, and dark-grey curved lines. (Plate 68, Figs. 5, 6.)

The caterpillar is pale green, inclining to yellowish, especially between the rings, and with a more or less distinct dark-green line along the middle of the back; the points on the last ring are pinkish brown, and there is a line of the same colour along the centre of the under surface of the body.

It feeds on alder, birch, oak, sallow, etc., and may be beaten out from June to August.

The moth is out in September and October, when it may be obtained at ivy-bloom, and in the following spring, after hibernation, it visits sallow catkins.

The range in the British Isles agrees pretty closely with that of the last species, but in Scotland it extends to the Hebrides and to the Orkneys.

2 Pl. 68. 1-4. RED-GREEN CARPET. 5, 6. AUTUMN GREEN CARPET. 7, 8. MARSH CARPET.

2 Pl. 69. 1. COMMON MARBLED CARPET: _caterpillar_. 2. DARK MARBLED CARPET: _caterpillar_. 3. BARRED YELLOW: _caterpillar_.

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NOTE.--According to Prout, _sagittata_ is not a _Cidaria_, as its larva is of a very different form; and _siterata_ and _miata_ are referred to _Chloroclysta_, Hubner.

GREY PINE CARPET (_Thera variata_).

In its typical form, the fore wings of this species are greyish, and from this the colour ranges through various tints of greyish brown to smoky brown or blackish; sometimes these wings are shades of ochreous brown. The usual markings are a basal patch, more or less clearly defined, and a central band, and these may be either brown or blackish; the band varies in width, is not infrequently narrowed or contracted below the middle, occasionally broken at this point, and more rarely only represented by a small angular spot near the front margin.

Four examples are shown on Plate 70, and of these 1 and 2 represent our ordinary form _obeliscata_, Hubner (Shaded Broad Bar, of Newman). Fig. 6 is a blackish banded specimen of the _obeliscata_ form, and Fig. 3 is the almost entirely blackish form _obliterata_, White (_scotica_, Staud.), which is not uncommon in the Paisley district, and other parts of Scotland, and also occurs in a modified form in some pine-woods in the South of England.

The long caterpillar (Plate 71, Fig. 1), which feeds on the needles of Scots pine in April and May, also in July, and sometimes in September, is bright green, with three whitish lines along the back, the central one broad, and a yellowish line low down along the sides; the green roundish head is lined with white.

The moth is generally common in pine-woods throughout the greater part of the British Isles. The May-June flight is the most abundant, but there is occasionally a good sprinkling of moths in the autumn.

Abroad, the area of distribution includes Eastern Siberia, Corea, China, and Japan. {176}

CHESTNUT-COLOURED CARPET (_Thera cognata_).

This is a generally smaller species than that last referred to, and it is more glossy in appearance. The fore wings are brown, sometimes grey-brown, more or less tinged with reddish, and the basal patch and central band are darker; these markings are usually white-edged, and there is a wavy whitish submarginal line. Hind wings whitish, tinged with smoky grey. Specimens from the Hebrides are strongly purplish; and Kane states that some he reared from Sligo caterpillars are more richly coloured than any that he has seen from Scotland. (Plate 70, Figs. 9 [male] 12 [female].)

The bright green caterpillar is stouter than that of the last species. It is of a bluish hue along the back, and marked with three lines, the central one greenish and the others whitish and broad; there are sometimes reddish markings low down on the sides, just edging the broad white spiracular line. It feeds in May and June, earlier or later in some seasons, on juniper; it turns to a dark-green chrysalis in a frail cocoon spun up among the litter under the juniper bushes.

The moth is to be found in July and August among juniper growing in the hilly and maritime haunts of the species in North England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland.

This species, long known as _simulata_, Hubner, has been referred to _cognata_, Thunberg, and as this is an earlier name it will have to be used.

PINE CARPET (_Thera firmata_).

The pale reddish-grey fore wings have a rather darker central band and round-edged basal patch, but the latter is often indistinct, and the band, which is always deeply indented about the middle of its inner edge, is sometimes not well defined. The hind wings are whitish, tinged more or less with greyish or pale brownish, but always paler than in any form of _T. variata_, with which it is often confused. (Plate 70, Figs. 10, 11.)

2 Pl. 70. 1, 2, 3, 6. GREY PINE CARPET. 4, 5, 7, 8. JUNIPER CARPET. 9, 12. CHESTNUT-COLOURED CARPET. 10, 11. PINE CARPET.

2 Pl. 71. 1. GREY PINE CARPET: _caterpillar_. 2. PINE CARPET: _caterpillar_. 3. WELCH WAVE: _caterpillar_.

{177} The caterpillar is bluish-green above, and green beneath; three lines along the back, the central one a darker tone of the ground colour, the others whitish; head reddish, marked with brown on each cheek. It feeds in April and May (June in Scotland) on Scots pine; Barrett states that there is a second brood in August. (Plate 71, Fig. 2.)

The moth is out in September and October, and may be disturbed from the pine boughs, or occasionally seen resting on the trunks, but it is more frequently met with at night when it flies naturally, and has been known to visit the sugar patch. Barrett, who considered this species to be double brooded, gives June and July for the first flight of moths. Certain it is that moths have been reared even as late as October from Spring caterpillars. As adverted to, the pale reddish forms of _T. variata_ are sometimes confused with _T. firmata_, but in addition to other differences indicated above, it may be noted that in the male of the latter the antennae are bipectinated except towards the tips. Most of the pine woods throughout England seem to produce this delicate insect more or less frequently; the same remark applies to Wales. In Scotland it is found up to Aberdeen, and also in the Hebrides. The only localities mentioned by Kane for Ireland are in counties Westmeath, Dublin, and Fermanagh.

JUNIPER CARPET (_Thera juniperata_).

On Plate 70, Figs. 4 and 5 represent the sexes of the typical form of this species, the small and rather more strongly marked Scottish form is shown by Figs. 7 and 8. In these small forms a noticeable character is the brownish band on the fore wings, between the central band and the outer margin; this band is {178} only indicated by a dusky greyish shade in the larger form. Most of the examples of the small form from the Isle of Hoy have also a dark central line on the hind wings. The central band of the fore wings is often broken below the middle, in both forms.