Part 17

The whitish fore wings of this species (Plate 82, Fig. 12) are often tinged with pale ochreous brown on the lower two-thirds of the outer marginal area, and this tint sometimes invades the central portion of the bluish-black central band. Rarely the ground colour is almost entirely white, and the central band is very slender (ab. _coarctata_, Prout), and perhaps rather more frequently the band is completely severed below the middle.

The caterpillar, which feeds at night on bedstraw (_Galium mollugo_ and _G. verum_), is pale ochreous brown, or pale pinkish brown, netted with darker brown; on the back are a reddish ochreous central line, and some reddish edged pale V-marks: June and July, and sometimes again in the autumn.

The moth is out in June and early July, occasionally in late May in some southern localities. Individuals of a second emergence sometimes appear in August and September. It {204} rests by day on tree-trunks or in hedges, and flies at night. Widely distributed over the British Isles, but, except perhaps in the highlands of Scotland, not very common.

BLUE-BORDERED CARPET (_Mesoleuca bicolorata_).

The more usual form of this pretty little species is shown on Plate 82, Figs. 3 and 6. In the type the central band is only represented by a spot on the front margin of the fore wings; in ab._parvula_, Retz = _rubiginata_, Hubner, there is also a portion of the band showing on the inner margin. Ab. _plumbata_, Curtis, from Scotland has the central band entire and the ground colour inclining to creamy white. In ab. _fumosa_, Prout, the usual white parts of the wing are smoky or dark lead colour (Fig. 9). Barrett mentions a form with all the wings smoothly smoky black; markings of the fore wings olive brown, margined with slender stripes of smoky white.

The long, thin, caterpillar is green, with a darker stripe along the back, and a yellowish green stripe on each side; two points on the last ring. It feeds on alder, birch, sloe, and crab; also in orchards and gardens on plum and apple: April to June.

The moth is out in July and August. It appears to occur most freely in districts where alder is plentiful, but it is not uncommon in country lanes, especially where these are rather moist. It is one of the earliest Geometrid moths to get on the wing, as it is generally active well before dark. Decidedly more common in some districts than in others, but it may be said to be generally distributed.

The range abroad extends to Eastern Siberia, Amurland, and Japan, but the ab._fumosa_ is only known from Britain.

PRETTY CHALK CARPET (_Melanthia procellata_).

From almost any well-grown hedgerow, in which traveller's joy, or old-man's beard (_Clematis vitalba_) is plentiful, throughout the southern counties of England, this species (Plate 82, Fig. 14) may be disturbed by the beating stick. It is generally to be met with in July and early August, but may be obtained in forward seasons, or in sheltered localities, at the end of June.

2 Pl. 82. 1, 2. SHARP-ANGLED CARPET. 3, 6, 9. BLUE-BORDERED CARPET. 4, 5. CLOAKED CARPET. 7, 8, 10, 11. ARGENT AND SABLE. 12. PURPLE BAR. 13. BEAUTIFUL CARPET. 14. PRETTY CHALK CARPET.

2 Pl. 83. 1, 2. RIVULET. 3, 6. SMALL RIVULET. 4, 5. BARRED RIVULET. 9, 12. HEATH RIVULET. 10, 11, 13, 14. GRASS RIVULET. 7, 8. PRETTY PINION.

{205} On the fore wings the dark, slender and wavy cross lines are more distinct in some specimens than in others, and occasionally the blackish blotch on the front margin is traversed by a white line, sometimes by two lines.

The caterpillar is pale ochreous brown, with three darker brown lines along the back, the central one slender, spotted with black on the middle rings; usual dots, black, encircled with white; head, marked with a reddish brown triangle. It feeds on _Clematis_ in August and September.

Distribution of the species abroad extends to Amurland, and in Japan, Corea, and China it is represented by the darker _inquinata_, Butler.

THE RIVULET (_Perizoma affinitata_).

The whitish band crossing the brownish fore wings is generally fairly wide, sometimes broad, but occasionally it is very narrow; the reduction in width is mainly the result of brownish suffusion of the outer half of the band, leaving the inner half white. Kane mentions a smoky form from Co. Derry, in which the band is absent, and refers this to ab. _unicolorata_, Gregson. In a specimen from Sligo in my series, the band is tinged with brownish throughout. The hind wings are usually smoky brown, with a paler central band, but in some specimens, referable to ab. _turbaria_, Stephens, the basal two-thirds are whitish. The moths also vary in size (Plate 83, Figs. 1 and 2).

The caterpillar is pinkish-ochreous inclining to brown; three pinkish lines along the back, and a similar line along the blackish spiracles; a dark plate on the first and last rings. It feeds in the capsules, on the seeds, of red campion (_Lychnis_ {206} _dioica_), and will eat those of the white _L. vespertina_: July to September. When eggs can be obtained early, it is possible to rear moths from them in August of the same year.

The moth is out in June and July, in some southern districts in late May.

As it conceals itself during the day among its food plant, or other vegetation around, it may be put up therefrom by gently stirring the herbage; but it flies freely about sundown, and is then easily netted.

The species is widely distributed over England, Wales, and Scotland, up to Moray. In Ireland it is local and not plentiful, and the same is the case in the North of England.

SMALL RIVULET (_Perizoma alchemillata_).

This species (Plate 83, Figs. 3 and 6) is exceedingly close to the last mentioned, but in a general way it is to be distinguished by its greyish-brown coloration. A stippled whitish stripe before the central band, usually only faintly indicated in _affinitata_, is fairly distinct as a rule. Although the outer edge of the central band is rather more irregular, the middle tooth is not so prominent as in _affinitata_.

The rather plump caterpillar is purplish above and yellowish green below; three yellow lines on the back, the central one broad; the spiracles are black, and a little above them is another yellow line; head, black and glossy, and there are black shining plates on the first and last rings of the body, that on the first ring divided by the yellow central line (adapted from Porritt). It feeds, in August and September, in the seed capsules of hemp nettle (_Galeopsis tetrahit_), sometimes on the rarer _G. ladanum_, and is said to eat woundwort (_Stachys_) occasionally.

The moth is out in June and July, and, as in the case of the last species, may be stirred up from among its food plant or the surrounding vegetation, in lanes, and around wood borders. The species is widely distributed over the British Isles, except that it seems not to have been noticed in Scotland, north of Moray, although it occurs in the Hebrides.

2 Pl. 84. 1. GRASS RIVULET: _caterpillar_. 2. WAVED CARPET: _caterpillar_. 3, 3a. YELLOW SHELL: _eggs and caterpillar_.

2 Pl. 85. 1, 2. SANDY CARPET. 3. BARRED CARPET. 4-9. YELLOW SHELL.

{207}

SANDY CARPET (_Perizoma flavofasciata_).

The pale ochreous-brown, or sandy, markings on the white fore wings of this species readily distinguish it from either of its allies. Variable in size, and also in the brownish tint of the markings; the central band is usually contracted below the middle, and not infrequently it is completely severed at this point. It is the _decolorata_ of Hubner, and although more generally known by that name, the earlier _flavofasciata_, Thunberg, will have to be adopted for this species. (Plate 85, Figs. 1 [male], 2 [female].)

The stoutish caterpillar is pale reddish ochreous with browner lines; head, brown and shining, plate on first and last rings of the body brown. It feeds on the flower buds, and on the immature seeds, of the red campion (_Lychnis dioica_), and the white campion (_L. vespertina_), but is more partial to the first named; in Ireland it is said to feed on bladder campion (_Silene inflata_).

In July and August, or even later, the moth may be beaten out of hedgerows, sandy banks, and borders of woods, and sometimes disturbed from patches of the campion growing in thickets; in such places it is on the wing about sundown.

Although local to some extent, it appears to be common enough in most of the counties of England and Wales. In Scotland, it is more or less generally common in Roxburghshire and Clydesdale, and is said to have been an inhabitant of Perthshire (Moncrieffe Hill). It appears to be very local in Ireland, but is recorded from Antrim, Derry, and Kerry, and noted as common at Larne in the first-named county. {208}

GRASS RIVULET (_Perizoma albulata_).

Although some English specimens approach the larger and whiter typical form, the species as it occurs in the British Isles is generally greyer, var. _griseata_, Staudinger; two examples of this form are shown on Plate 83, Figs. 10 and 11. In the Shetland Isles, the species assumes a darker coloration, and is either well marked on the fore wings, as in Fig. 14, or almost plain, as in Fig. 13 (ab. _thules_, Weir), which is an extreme aberration of the form _subfasciaria_, Boheman. In other examples of a deep leaden grey, or brown tint, the central area is no darker than the rest of the wing. In the Isle of Lewis a white form with faint markings is prevalent, and this leads up to a clear white aberration devoid of markings, ab. _niveata_, Stephens, = _hebudium_, Weir.

The wrinkled caterpillar, which feeds, in July and August, on the seeds of the yellow rattle (_Rhinanthus crista-galli_), and lives in the capsule, is whitish, inclining to greenish, dotted with black, and striped with dark green on the back and sides; head, black and glossy; plates and first and last rings of the body dusky. (Plate 84, Fig. 1.)

The moth is out in May and June, sometimes later. It occurs chiefly in dry meadows where the yellow rattle flourishes, and is to be seen on the wing, often in large numbers, in the late afternoon about sundown. Generally abundant in suitable places, throughout the British Isles.

THE BARRED RIVULET (_Perizoma bifasciata_).

Haworth described two forms of this species, and a specimen of each is shown on our Plate 83. Fig. 4 represents _bifasciata_ (_bifaciata_, the Double-barred Rivulet), and Fig. 5 depicts {209} _unifasciata_ (the Single-barred Rivulet). The chief difference appears to be that in the type (_bifasciata_) the "rivulets" are white and distinct, thus bringing out a dark band between the central one and the base of the wing.

The stoutish caterpillar is pale brown, inclining to ochreous on the back, along which are three lines, the central one greyish, and the others whitish shaded with greyish; a whitish stripe low down along the sides; the usual dots are black, and the spiracles are black, margined with ochreous (adapted from Fenn). In September and October it feeds in the seed capsules of _Bartsia odontites_, and is often plentiful; Mr. G. F. Mathew records obtaining nearly five hundred from three small bundles of the food plant gathered in the Harwich district.

The moth is out in July and August, but is not often seen in the daytime, and is not taken very frequently, even when flying at night, but it comes to light, and visits flowers.

From chrysalids obtained from caterpillars reared in 1900, Mr. Robert Adkin bred ten moths in 1901, eleven in 1902, two in 1903, five in 1904, and two in 1905.

The species is widely distributed over England, Wales, and the south of Scotland, but it is most frequent in the south of England. Not much is known of it in Ireland, but it has been noted from counties Dublin, Louth, and Derry.

HEATH RIVULET (_Perizoma minorata_).

The British form of this species (Plate 83, Figs. 9, 12) is rather smaller and darker than typical _minorata_, Treitschke, and as Stephens has figured and described it as _ericetata_, this name should be adopted for our native race.

The white fore wings have a greyish basal patch and three bands of the same colour; the outer one is traversed by a more or less distinct wavy whitish line; the band nearest the basal patch is sometimes very faint; more rarely the markings are {210} absent from the central area of the wings (ab. _monticola_, Staud.), and a specimen approaching this form has been taken in Perthshire.

The caterpillar is pale green with a dark-green edged ochreous brown stripe along the middle of the back, and green stripes on each side; the usual dots are black, and the plates on first and last rings are brown, as also is the head. It feeds, in September, on the seeds of eyebright (_Euphrasia officinalis_).

The moth is out in July and August, and is found very locally, flying in the late afternoon among its food plant, on the moorlands and pasture-grounds of Northumberland, Cumberland, Durham, and Westmorland; and has been reported from Hawkshead, in Lancashire. In Scotland, it is common in suitable parts of Roxburghshire and several localities in Clydesdale; thence widely spread to the Orkneys. Only noted from the Mourne Mountains in the north-east of Ireland, but probably to be found in other parts of that country.

PRETTY PINION (_Perizoma blandiata_).

This species (Plate 83, Figs. 7, 8) is also known as _adaequata_, Borkhausen, the name under which it is catalogued by Staudinger. As a rule the central band on the whitish fore wings is only represented by a round, or sometimes triangular, blackish spot on the front margin, a smaller blackish mark on the inner margin, and some dusky clouding between these two portions. In specimens from the Hebrides the band is more or less complete, and in some of them it is very much narrowed, especially towards the inner margin (ab. _coarctata_, Prout).

The caterpillar is green, with three crimson lines, the outer ones bent inwards to the central one on the middle of each ring; two lines above and one below the yellowish spiracular line are pink; head green, tinged and freckled with pink. It {211} feeds in September on the flowers and seeds of the eyebright (_Euphrasia officinalis_).

The moth is out from late May to July, and its habits are similar to those of the last species. In Scotland it appears to be commoner than in other parts of the British Isles, its range extending from Clydesdale to the Hebrides, Orkneys, and Shetland; but it has been recorded from Cumberland, and once from Durham. In Wales it has been taken at Dolgelly, in Merionethshire. Prout states that in 1902 he secured two specimens near Cwm Bychan, and that the species has since been captured regularly in the locality. It is widely distributed throughout Kerry and Galway, and also recorded from Cork and Derry, in Ireland.

THE BARRED CARPET (_Perizoma taeniata_).

This species is shown on Plate 85, Fig. 3. There are two forms of the central band of the fore wings, which in the type as figured by Stephens is broad, but is narrow in ab. _arctaria_, Herrich-Schaeffer = _angustifasciata_, Staud. The colour of the bands may be greyer or browner than in the specimen figured, and the ochreous general colour of the fore wings is more tinged with brown in some specimens than in others.

The rather bristly caterpillar is light brown with a pinkish tinge; the back is marked with browner diamonds and some black dots, and there is a yellow stripe along the sides. It feeds on moss (Hodgkinson, _Entom._ xxviii. 241) growing in damp places, hibernates when quite small, and reappears about April, when it seems to prefer the fruit of the moss, but will also thrive on chickweed. The moths appear from the end of June, and may be found, but in wasted condition, up to early September.

The species is extremely local, and in its secluded haunts may be found on the trunks of holly and yew trees, or it may {212} be disturbed from the branches of such trees, or from hedgerows, etc.

In Britain the species seems to have been first noted in Castle Eden Dene, Durham (1825), and subsequently in Cumberland (Flimby, near Maryport), Westmorland, Lancashire (Arnside and Silverdale), Yorkshire (Scarborough), Derbyshire (Dovedale), Arthog in North Wales, and Tintern in Monmouthshire. The only English locality for it south of Monmouth is Watersmeet, near Lynton, in North Devon. In Scotland, it has been noted from Rannoch and Pitlochrie, in Perthshire, and from Dalmallin, in Argyllshire. It has a wide distribution in Ireland, and is common in some parts of that country, as at Killarney, Co. Kerry, and Rockwood, in Sligo.

Abroad, the range extends to Amurland; it is represented in Japan by _fulvida_, Butler, and in North America by _basaliata_, Walker.

YELLOW SHELL (_Camptogramma bilineata_).

This very common and generally distributed species is subject to a good deal of variation in the tint of ground colour, and also in the greater or lesser amount of black marking. On Plate 85 six specimens are shown; Figs. 4, 5 represent the more frequent form in most localities, but in many districts ab. _infuscata_, Gumppenberg (Fig. 6), is hardly less common; in some specimens the central band is entirely blackish, and occasionally the middle area of the band is partly or wholly whitish. Sometimes the wings are uniformly yellow without markings, but such aberrations are scarce, or have not been noted often. A small form occurring in the Hebrides and the Shetlands, var. _atlantica_, Staud., has the wings generally darkened; Figs. 7-9 depict three specimens from the Isle of Lewis. Portraits of two very local Irish forms will be found on Plate 61; one is ab. _hibernica_, Prout (Fig. 5), and the other approaches the dark ab. _isolata_, Kane (Fig. 6).

2 Pl. 86. 1-6. JULY HIGHFLYER. 7-10. MAY HIGHFLYER. 11, 12. RUDDY HIGHFLYER.

2 Pl. 87. 1. JULY HIGHFLYER: _eggs and caterpillars_. 2. MAY HIGHFLYER: _caterpillar_.

{213} The eggs, which are laid loosely, are yellowish or pale straw colour (Plate 84, Fig. 3a). Caterpillar, stoutish, green inclining to yellowish; three lines on the back, the central one dark green, and the others yellowish, as also are the ring divisions; a pale wavy line low down along the sides. In some examples the general colour is pale greyish-brown, inclining to reddish brown. It feeds on grass, dock, chickweed, and various low-growing plants, from August to May, and is often abundant in hay meadows (Fig. 3, Plate 84, is from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich). The moth occurs throughout the summer, and is very plentiful (often a pest) in almost every hedgerow and most bushy places.

JULY HIGHFLYER (_Hydriomena furcata_).

Some idea of the variable character of this species (_sordidata_, Fab., and _elutata_, Hubner) may be formed from the selection of half a dozen examples shown on Plate 86. The typical form has the fore wings greyish, with dark bands as in Fig. 1, and a modification without the dark bands seems to be ab. _cinereata_, Prout. In the form _sordidata_, Fabricius, the general colour of the fore wings is greenish, and the bands are dark; ab. _obliterata_, Prout, is of the same colour, but the bands are absent. Ab. _fusco-undata_, Donovan, has the general colour reddish, with dark bands; without dark bands it becomes _testaceata_, Prout. Blackish or sooty forms are referable to _infuscata_, Staud. (Fig. 4). Frequently in the green forms, and less often in the reddish, there is a broad whitish central stripe, and a narrow one on the basal area; in the green form again the basal and central areas are occasionally crossed by red bands, and this is one of the prettiest forms of the species and, so far as I know, occurs only in the large sallow-feeding race; {214} it possibly represents ab. _fusco-undata_, which is most frequent in the smaller moorland race.

The egg (Plate 87, Fig. 1b) when figured, February 8, 1908, was whitish as regards the shell, but the interior was dark greenish. In April the caterpillar appeared to be formed, but it did not leave the shell until early in May.

The full-grown caterpillar (Plate 87, Figs. 1, 1a) is brownish, inclining to blackish; whitish between the rings, white lines along the back and sides, and tinged with red along the spiracular region. It feeds, in May and June, on sallow, willow, poplar, hazel, bilberry, and heather. The moth is out in July and August, but I have seen the small bilberry-feeding form (Plate 86, Figs. 5, 6) on a corner of Exmoor, North Devon, in great profusion in late June, whilst in the same district the sallow-feeding, larger form appeared about a fortnight later, at which time specimens among bilberry were not numerous, and rather shabby in appearance.

Except perhaps in the Shetlands, this species is to be found in all parts of the British Isles. It is very common in hedgerows, and around the margins of woods; the smaller race frequents woods where bilberry is established, and also occurs on mountains and moors.

Abroad, the range extends to Amurland, China, Japan, and also to North America.

MAY HIGHFLYER (_Hydriomena impluviata_).

The typical and commoner form of this species is shown on Plate 86, Figs. 7 and 8. The ground colour, usually pale green, is sometimes almost white, but more frequently it is tinged with greyish brown, thus leading up to the blackish ab. _infuscata_, Prout (Figs. 9, 10).

2 Pl. 88. 1. ROYAL MANTLE. 2-4. SHOULDER-STRIPE. 5, 6. BARBERRY CARPET. 7, 8. THE STREAMER. 9, 10. THE FLAME.

2 Pl. 89. 1, 1a. SHOULDER-STRIPE: _caterpillar and chrysalis_. 2, 2a. STREAMER: _eggs and caterpillars_.

{215} The caterpillar is brownish grey, or purplish grey, dotted with black and dappled with dark brown; of the three lines along the back, the central one is black and swells out on the middle of each ring, the others are pale; a clear stripe of the ground colour below the black spiracles, and a slender line above them. The general colour is sometimes pale pinky brown or ochreous. It feeds on alder throughout the summer and autumn, and may be found in its domicile of spun-together dry leaves even in November, and sometimes later. Occasionally, a few caterpillars will feed up quickly, and attain the moth state in July or August, but the bulk do not become chrysalids until later in the year, and the moths emerge therefrom in May and early June. (Plate 87, Fig. 2.)

The species seems to occur, more or less freely, wherever there are alders throughout the greater part of the British Isles.

Abroad, the range extends to Eastern Siberia and Amurland.

RUDDY HIGHFLYER (_Hydriomena ruberata_).

This species is most readily distinguished from the last by the short oblique black streak on the tips of the rather narrower fore wings; there are also black streaks between the veins and below the tips of the wings, as in the last species, but they are generally shorter and often hardly traceable.

The ground colour ranges from pale grey (sometimes with a green tinge), through brownish grey to reddish brown; usually central and outer marginal bands of a darker shade are present, but these characters may be very indistinct or entirely lost in the general coloration. (Plate 86, Figs. 11 and 12.)

The caterpillar is pale brown, dappled with grey; three dark greyish lines along the back; spiracles and the usual dots black, the latter with fine hairs; head, reddish brown, plates on first and last rings of the body light brown. It feeds, at night, during the summer and autumn, on sallow and willow, spinning together the leaves at the top of a twig to form a retreat during the day. {216}