Part 15

The caterpillar is yellowish green, inclining to a black tinge on the back, along which are three lines, the central one dark green, and the others yellow and rather broad; a whitish stripe low down along the sides is sometimes marked with yellow and red, and there is a red thread above it; head, pink tinged; two points on last ring of the body. It feeds in July and August, on juniper. The moth is out in October and November, and may be found plentifully flying at night about the juniper bushes.

Berkshire, Kent, Surrey, and Sussex appear to be the only English counties in which it is established, and it is probably most plentiful in the last named. It has, however, been recorded from Suffolk, Lancashire, York, and Durham; also from Carnarvonshire in North Wales. It is more widely spread throughout Scotland, including the Orkneys and Shetlands, where the moths fly in July. Only doubtfully reported from Ireland.

WATER CARPET (_Lampropteryx suffumata_).

The fore wings are whitish, more or less clouded with brownish, with dark brown, inclining to blackish, basal patch and central band. The variation tends in two opposite directions; in the one the general colour is so clouded and suffused with blackish-brown, that the entire fore wings become almost entirely of that colour (ab. _piceata_, Stephens), N. England and Scotland; the other extreme is ab. _porrittii_, Robson, in which the central band and basal patch are black, and the white ground colour is almost free of brown clouding; the last named occurs at Dover {179} in Kent, and Huddersfield, Yorks. On Plate 72, Fig. 1 shows the typical form, Fig. 3 ab. _piceata_, and 2 ab. _porrittii_. The caterpillar varies from greyish, with pinkish or greenish tinge, to ochreous brown; the upper surface is rather darker than the under, and there is a series of dark V-shaped marks and arrow-heads on the back of rings 4-8; there is a whitish central stripe on 1-3, and a dark one on 9-12; head, brownish, marked with black. It feeds on goose-grass (_Galium aparine_), and other kinds of bedstraw, in May and early June. It seems to thrive best, however, on the goose-grass. (Plate 74, Fig. 1, after Hofmann.)

The moth may be found in weedy lanes and along hedgerows, pretty well throughout England, Wales, Scotland to Moray, and Ireland. It cannot, however, be said to occur in all suitable places, as although it may be found in some plenty in one lane or hedgerow in a district, it may be quite absent in similar spots just around. Wherever it is noted one year it may be almost certainly obtained there in subsequent years. April and May are the months in which it is usually seen, but it has been taken in June in late seasons, and occasionally in July.

LARGE TWIN-SPOT CARPET (_Coremia_ (_Ochyria_) _quadrifasciaria_).

The ground colour of the fore wings of this species is most often of a pale reddish brown, but sometimes it inclines to grey brown; the outwardly angled central band is often black, but more frequently perhaps the middle area is pretty much of the ground colour or greyish, with a black dot in the upper portion, and limited by two black lines which approach, or join, in the lower half. A dusky basal blotch is not always present, but it is sometimes well in evidence, as also is a dusky shade before the whitish submarginal line; frequently there are two blackish {180} or brownish dots on the upper part of this line, and a third dot above them, but nearer the outer margin. (Plate 72, Figs. 4, 5.)

The caterpillar is pale yellowish brown, finely freckled with grey, and with greyish V-shaped marks on the back; three greyish lines along the back, the central one broken, and the others most distinct at each end. It feeds on bedstraw (_Galium_) and other plants, such as primrose, groundsel, etc., from August to April. The moth is out in June and July, and should be looked for on tree-trunks growing around the borders of woods or in lanes near by. It may also be beaten out of hedgerows in the vicinity of woods.

A very local species and only found with us in the southern half of England. Its chief haunts appear to be in the counties of Kent, Surrey, Hants, Essex, Suffolk, Cambridge, and Norfolk (the Breck sand district); thence its range extends through Hertford, Buckingham, and Berkshire to Gloucester, where, however, it is scarce, as it is also in Lincoln. Abroad, the range extends to Eastern Siberia, Amurland, Corea and Japan.

RED CARPET (_Coremia_ (_Ochyria_) _munitata_).

The typical form (Plate 72, Fig. 6) has pale greyish fore wings, and these are crossed by a black-edged purplish central band. In var. _hethlandica_, Prout (Fig. 7), the ground colour is ochreous and the band is reddish; this form is frequent in the Shetlands.

The caterpillar is yellowish green, with greyish clouds around white dots, tinged with pink between the rings; three lines along the back, the central one grey inclining to blackish, broken on three of the hinder rings, and edged with whitish; the others are double, wavy, brownish, a whitish stripe bordered above with grey along the area of the spiracles; head, ochreous, dotted with dark brown (adapted from Fenn). It feeds on lady's mantle (_Alchemilla_), chickweed, groundsel, etc., from September to May.

2 Pl. 72. 1-3. WATER CARPET. 4, 5. LARGE TWIN-SPOT CARPET. 6, 7. RED CARPET. 8-12. RED TWIN-SPOT CARPET.

2 Pl. 73. 1. BEECH-GREEN CARPET: _caterpillar_. 2. STRIPED TWIN-SPOT CARPET: _caterpillar_. 3. MOTTLED GREY: _caterpillar_.

{181} The moth is out in July and August, and in England is only found in the mountain districts of Yorkshire and the more northern centres. It has been reported from the high-lying district on the border of Cheshire, between Macclesfield and Buxton (Day), and from Llantrissant, Glamorganshire, S. Wales (Evan John). Generally distributed through Scotland and the Isles. Widely spread, but local, and not always common, in Ireland.

Abroad, the range extends to Eastern Siberia, Amurland and North America.

DARK-BARRED TWIN-SPOT CARPET (_Coremia_ (_Ochyria_) _unidentaria_).

Portraits of three examples of this species will be found on Plate 75, Figs. 1-3. The ground colour of the fore wings is whitish tinged with pale ochreous or greyish; the central band is blackish with darker wavy lines running through it near the edges, and not infrequently the middle area is greyish, either on the upper half, or throughout from front to inner margins; a narrow patch at the base of the wings is of the same colour as the central band, and is followed by a reddish-brown streak; as a rule, there is an irregular reddish-brown line, commencing in a cloud on the front margin, and sometimes stripe-like, beyond the pale edging of the central band; in ab. _coarctata_, Prout, the central band is much narrowed; the two black dots on upper part of the outer margin, generally well in evidence, are occasionally united, but sometimes they are very tiny. The hind wings are whitish, more or less sprinkled with dusky scales, chiefly on the basal two thirds, and crossed by dark-grey wavy lines.

Sometimes the central band and the basal patch of the fore {182} wings are dull reddish-brown, inclining to purplish. This form which has been referred to _corculata_, Hufnagel, is pretty generally distributed abroad, but is apparently only of local occurrence in the British Isles.

The caterpillar is very similar to that of the next species, it feeds on the same kinds of plants, and during the same months of the year. (Plate 74, Fig. 2.) The first generation of moths is on the wing in May and June, and the second in August.

The species is widely distributed in England and Wales, often plentiful in some districts in the southern half of the former country, scarce and more local northwards from Yorkshire. Widely spread in Roxburghshire and Clydesdale in Scotland, but less frequent than _ferrugata_; this also seems to be the case in Ireland. The range abroad extends to North America.

NOTE.--It is to be regretted that the names by which this and the following species have been known for many years may have to be changed. It has been claimed that the reddish-banded form of _unidentaria_, Haworth, is identical with _ferrugata_ as figured by Clerck, _Icones_, Plate XI. Fig. 14, and is also referable to _corculata_, Hufnagel, both earlier names. If the red form referred to is adopted as the _ferrugata_ of Clerck, then that name will supersede _unidentaria_, Haworth, and the species now known as _ferrugata_, Clerck, will become _spadicearia_. Authorities, however, are not agreed upon this point, so the question still remains open.

RED TWIN-SPOT CARPET (_Coremia_ (_Ochyria_) _ferrugata_).

Five examples of this variable species are shown on Plate 72, Figs. 8-12. The ground colour of the fore wings is usually greyish, more or less ochreous tinted, but sometimes inclining to whitish; the basal patch and the central band are reddish brown, the latter usually entire in southern specimens, but {183} frequently broken up (ab. _spadicearia_, Borkhausen), especially in northern examples. A bright, ochreous form, with the central band much streaked, occurring in Scotland, has been referred to ab. _salicaria_, Haworth. Occasionally the central band is dark purplish. The hind wings are whitish, more or less suffused with smoky grey, and lined with the same; the outer margin is bordered with smoky grey.

The caterpillar is ochreous brown, mottled with greyish, and marked with pale diamonds and black spots on the back of the middle rings; there are wavy lines along the sides. It feeds in June and July, and also in September and October, on various low plants: knotgrass, dandelion, bedstraw, garden marigold, and ground ivy (_Nepeta_) being especially useful in captivity. The moth is usually double-brooded, at least in the southern half of England, the first flight occurring in May and June, and the second in July and August.

The species is generally distributed, and often common, over the greater part of England and Wales, but somewhat local north of the Midlands and through Scotland to Aberdeen; widely spread in Ireland.

FLAME CARPET (_Coremia_ (_Ochyria_) _designata_).

The ground colour of this rather common woodland species (Plate 75, Figs. 4-6) is pale grey, varying to whitish, or sometimes faintly brownish tinged. The purple band on the fore wings is always broadly edged in front with black, but the black outer edging is irregular, and sometimes only distinct towards the front margin of the wings; it varies in width, and in tint, being, in some specimens, faint purplish grey.

The caterpillar is ochreous, inclining to greyish on the back, which is marked with whitish lines on the front rings, and with ochreous diamonds and black dots on the other rings; there is also a row of black spots low down along the sides; head, {184} brownish, freckled with black. It feeds, in June and July, probably, in a wild state, on some kind of "cress," growing in the moister parts of woods; in confinement, it will eat cabbage, horseradish, and wallflower, among other kinds of Cruciferae. There is a second brood in August and September. (Plate 74, Fig. 3, after Hofmann.)

The moth is out in May and June, and again in August. It is fond of resting on tree-trunks in woods, especially where the ground is moist, but it may also be beaten out of hedges and bushes. It is most plentiful in the southern half of England, but is spread over the greater part of the British Isles, including the Orkneys.

Abroad, its range extends to Eastern Siberia, Amurland, Japan, and North America.

THE BEECH-GREEN CARPET (_Amoebe olivata_).

The species, depicted on Plate 75, Figs. 9, 10, when quite fresh has the fore wings greenish, and the central band more or less tinged with brown, in some specimens with blackish; the inner edge of the band is not so clearly defined as the outer, the latter being followed by a narrow whitish wavy band; a series of black dots edged with white represent the submarginal line. Hind wrings, smoky grey, with a pale band beyond the middle, and a pale line nearer the outer margin.

The roughened caterpillar (Plate 73, Fig. 1) is ochreous brown, mottled with darker brown, and lined with grey; the raised dots are black, each with a short bristle. It feeds at night on bedstraw (_Galium_), in the spring to May, after hibernation.

The moth is out, as a rule, in July and August, but sometimes much earlier. I reared specimens during the last week in May, 1907, from caterpillars sent from Torquay by Mr. Walker. It {185} lurks among the vegetation growing on banks, and the hedgerows of lanes, etc.

In the south of England the species chiefly affects the coasts of Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall; but it occurs locally in and around beech woods of Kent, and is more frequent in those of Berks, Oxford, and Bucks. From Somerset it spreads through the western counties, including part of Wales, to Lancashire. It is, however, most common among the hills and rills from Yorkshire northwards. In Scotland it is local in Roxburgh, widely distributed, and sometimes abundant in Clydesdale and throughout the Highlands to Sutherland. It has also been noted from Arran. Local in Ireland, but apparently abundant in some parts.

GREEN CARPET (_Amoebe viridaria_).

This species (Plate 75, Figs. 7, 8), also, has green fore wings, with a rather deeper green central band and basal patch. The former is limited by white lines marked with black, conspicuously so on the front and inner margins; there are also black marks on the front edge of the basal patch, and at the tips of the wings. The green colour quickly fades to a yellowish or sandy tint.

The wrinkled caterpillar is olive brown, with bristle-bearing black dots; the back has a dark central line, and is adorned with reddish V-shaped marks except on the end rings. It feeds in the spring, after hibernation, on bedstraw (_Galium_), but it is said to eat sorrel, dead-nettle (_Lamium_), etc.

The moth is out in June, earlier in the south, and later in the north. It hides among herbage during the day, and may occasionally be seen resting on tree-trunks, etc., then feeding just before dark about hedges, and on commons and heaths. Specimens have been noted in some years in September.

Except that it has not been detected in the Shetlands, the species seems to be found in all parts of the British Isles. {186}

STRIPED TWIN-SPOT CARPET (_Malenydris salicata_).

Portraits of a male and a female of this species will be found on Plate 75, Figs. 11 [male] and 12 [female]. The fore wings are greyish white, crossed by several darker grey wavy lines; the central band is rather darker, and in some specimens there is also a darker basal patch. In an almost unicolorous form the fore wings are wholly suffused with darker; Kane, who states that such specimens occur with the paler form in Ireland, refers the aberration to _unicolorata_, Gregson.

The caterpillar is brownish, with three whitish lines along the back, and a pinkish line low down along the sides. It feeds, at night, on bedstraw (_Galium_), in September and October, but may be found on the plants in the daytime. (Plate 73, Fig. 2, after Hofmann.)

The moth is out in May and June, and in some localities again in August and September. It is fond of sitting on rocks, and also on tree-trunks.

Except that it has been found, not infrequently, on Dartmoor and Exmoor, in Devon, and has also been once noted from Dorset, the species in England is chiefly an inhabitant of the northern counties. It occurs in Wales, but almost exclusively in the north. In Scotland it appears to be widely distributed throughout; and in Ireland it occurs locally in all four provinces.

MOTTLED GREY (_Malenydris multistrigaria_).

The fore wings in the typical form of this species are grey, with a slight brownish tinge; basal patch, central band, and shade before the whitish submarginal line, sometimes darker. (Plate 77, Figs. 1 [male], 2 [female].) In some specimens the central band is very much darker (ab. _virgata_, Tutt); and in some parts of {187} south-west Yorkshire a blackish form (ab. _nubilata_, Tutt) is not uncommon. (Plate 77, Fig. 3.)

The caterpillar is ochreous grey, with three brownish lines along the back, and two other lines on each side, the upper one yellowish, wavy, and edged above with dusky. It feeds on bedstraw (_Galium_) in May and June. (Plate 73, Fig. 3.)

The moth is out in March and April, and keeps pretty much to the shelter afforded by its food plant or other herbage around in its favourite haunts, which are damp woodlands, heaths, and mosses. Occasionally, however, it may be seen on the lower parts of fences, tree-trunks, rocks, etc. About dusk it may be found sitting on grass and other vegetation, and at such times is not much disposed to fly away from the collector.

Pretty generally distributed throughout the British Isles, including the Orkneys.

TWIN-SPOT CARPET (_Malenydris didymata_).

The fore wings in the male are pale greyish, more or less tinged with ochreous brown, and crossed by a dark grey, inclining to blackish, central band; the base of the wings is often banded with dark grey, as also is the outer marginal area; on the latter, above the middle, are twin black spots, and there is a black spot or streak above nearer the tip of the wing. The female is smaller, paler, often whitish, and sometimes pale ochreous; the latter form is prevalent in the Shetlands; the central band is the only distinct cross marking in this sex. On the moorlands in the north of England a blackish form of the male occurs (ab. _nigra_, Prout), and this is very similar to ab. _nubilata_ of the previous species; ab. _ochroleucata_, Aurivillius, is uniformly greyish brown, with a white submarginal line, and I have a specimen near this from Durham.

The caterpillar is green, inclining to yellowish on the back, {188} and to pinkish on the sides; three lines along the side, the central one dark green, and the others whitish. It feeds on primrose, red campion (_Lychnis diurna_), bilberry, etc., as well as on the flowers of coarse grasses; in North Devon I found it in profusion at night, on the blossoms of a wood-rush (_Luzula_), growing in a sheltered wood near the sea. April and May, later perhaps in the north. (Plate 77, Figs. 4-6 [male], 7-9 [female].)

The moth is out in July and August, and is common in almost every part of the British Isles.

NOVEMBER MOTH (_Oporabia_ (_Epirrita_) _dilutata_).

The more usual forms of this common autumnal species are those represented by Figs. 1 and 2, Plate 78. Fig. 3 is a small example of the pale form, ab. _christyi_, Prout, which, in many respects, is very similar to _autumnata_, Guenee, a form of the next species. Fig. 4 is a female approaching ab. _obscurata_, Staud., and Fig. 5 shows the uniformly blackish ab. _melana_, Prout. In some pale-coloured specimens the only conspicuous marking is a broad central band which is almost black in colour (ab. _latifasciata_, Prout).

The eggs (Plate 76, Fig. 1a) were yellowish when laid, but soon changed to crimson red.

The caterpillar is green, inclining to whitish below, often marked, more or less distinctly, with purplish red, as a central line, or series of spots, along the back, and sometimes as bands on the ring division. It feeds on the foliage of trees, such as elm, oak, birch, etc., also on fallow, hawthorn, sloe, apple, plum, and other fruit trees. April to June. (Plate 76, Fig. 1.)

2 Pl. 74. 1. WATER CARPET: _caterpillar_. 2. DARK-BARRED TWIN-SPOT CARPET: _caterpillar_. 3. FLAME CARPET: _caterpillar_.

2 Pl. 75. 1-3. DARK-BARRED TWIN-SPOT CARPET. 4-6. FLAME CARPET. 7, 8. GREEN CARPET. 9, 10. BEECH-GREEN CARPET. 11, 12. STRIPED TWIN-SPOT CARPET.

{189} The moth is out in October and November in the South, but earlier in the North. It is an inhabitant of woodlands, and may be disturbed from bushes, trees, and sometimes may be seen on the trunks of the latter, and on fences. At night it flies lazily and will occasionally visit ivy then, and even sugar, but is more frequently attracted by light.

The species is pretty generally common throughout England and Wales, Scotland up to Moray, and Ireland.

THE AUTUMNAL MOTH (_Oporabia_ (_Epirrita_) _autumnata_).

Three examples of this species are shown on Plate 78. Figs. 6 [male] and 7 [female] represent the typical form except that the male should be rather more silvery white in the ground colour of the fore wings, and the cross bands more distinctly separated. Fig. 8, also a female, is very close to ab. _sandbergi_, Lampa, in the character of the central cross bands of the fore wings. Ab. _gueneata_, Prout (_autumnata_, Guenee, not Borkhausen), is a form with the typical coloration, but with fainter cross bands.

The caterpillar is somewhat similar to that of the last species, but there is a yellowish tint in the general green coloration, and it is rarely marked with reddish. It is found chiefly on birch, alder, fir, and larch, but will eat hawthorn, and probably the foliage of other shrubs and trees. May and June.

The moth is out in September and October, sometimes later. It may be dislodged from trees in the daytime, but it seems to be rarely noticed at rest on the trunks.

The species is so often confused with that previously mentioned that its distribution in our islands has not, so far, been clearly ascertained. However, it certainly occurs in the following northern counties of England--Lancashire (Liverpool district); Cheshire (Delamere Forest); Yorkshire (Cleveland district); North Durham (Birch woods); Cumberland (Carlisle). In Scotland it is found in Clydesdale, Perthshire, where it was first noted by Weaver in 1851, Kincardineshire, Aberdeen, and probably further north; in Ireland at Belfast and Enniskillen. Prout notes that he has seen a specimen from Swansea in South Wales. {190}

SMALL AUTUMNAL CARPET (_Oporabia_ (_Epirrita_) _filigrammaria_).

This is most probably a small moorland form of _O. autumnata_, but it rarely assumes the silvery white typical coloration of that species. A male specimen and two examples of the female are depicted on Plate 77, Figs. 10 [male], 11, and 12 [female].

The caterpillar, which feeds in the spring on bilberry and heather, is green, with yellow lines, a line of darker green between the two central yellow lines along the back; head, green, inclining to brown above.

The moth appears in August and early September, and may be found on the moors, resting on rocks, stones, and even on the ground, as well as on the stems of its food plants.

As a British species it was first recorded by Weaver, who obtained it in the Isle of Arran in 1841; but Edleston, writing in 1842, states that he had taken specimens off stone walls near Staley Bridge, in the Manchester district, "every year for the last three years." It appears to be peculiar to the British Isles and is found in suitable localities from North Staffs., through Cheshire, Lancs., Yorks., and northwards over England and Scotland to the Hebrides and the Orkneys. In Ireland it is known to occur in Antrim, Derry, Mayo, Galway, and Limerick.

THE WELSH WAVE (_Venusia cambrica_).

This moth, of which two portraits are given on Plate 78, Figs. 9 [male], 10 [female], is known also by the English name of "Cambric Wave." It was not ascertained to be an inhabitant of Britain until 1839, when it was figured and described by Curtis from specimens obtained in Cardiganshire in Wales. {191}