Part 4

A good deal of confusion exists both in Britain and on the Continent as to the identity of the _Cucullia_ figured and described by Capieux in 1789, and by most authors since that time. I have received over twenty specimens from Austria, Germany, and other parts of Europe, sent to me as _scrophulariae_. As I have been unable to separate the majority of these specimens from _C. lychnitis_, and the others from _C. verbasci_, Mr. F. N. Pierce has been good enough to examine the genitalia of six of the males, and of these he reports four are _C. lychnitis_, and two are _C. verbasci_.

In England we certainly have a _Cucullia_ sometimes appearing in the moth state rather later than _C. verbasci_ and always earlier than _C. lychnitis;_ the caterpillar producing it feeds on _Scrophularia nodosa_ in July. It is, however, very local, and is found chiefly in North Kent, and occasionally in the Eastern Counties. Mr. Pierce finds that the male genitalia of a North Kent _scrophulariae_ sent to him do not differ from these parts in _C. verbasci_, but Dr. Chapman informs me that he detects a slight difference in one that he examined.

It must be admitted that the identity of the North Kent and East Anglian _Cucullia_ with the _scrophulariae_ of Capieux is very doubtful, but we evidently shall not be greatly opposed to Continental methods if we continue to allow April and May moths resulting from Scrophularia nodosa caterpillars to do duty for _C. scrophulariae_. I have therefore figured as this species a specimen that was reared, with others, in April and May, 1877, from larvae obtained in the Dartford marshes. (Plate 15, Fig. 3.) {38}

The caterpillar is of a whitish-grey colour; along the middle of the back is a series of broad deep yellow triangles pointing backwards, each edged on both sides by large confluent deep black spots, usually forming a somewhat C-shaped marking, which encloses another yellow spot, and below is followed by several black spots; behind all these, on each segment, is a deep green transverse spotless band. The forms of the black markings, composed of united spots, vary in the degree of union of these spots; each anterior spot is confluent with the posterior one below it, but does not unite transversely with the others; in one variety they resemble tadpole forms united by the tails, in another these tails are as thick as the spots and form blotched curves; and in still another they are so thick and confluent as to include some of the side spots, thus completely edging two sides of the yellow triangle with a blotched black border. (Adapted from Buckler.)

THE STRIPED LYCHNIS (_Cucullia lychnitis_).

An example of each sex of this species is shown on Plate 15, Figs. 4 and 5. The general colour of the fore wings is paler, and the streaks along the front and inner margins are darker than in _C. verbasci_; and the outer margins of the wings are less jagged.

The caterpillar (figured on Plate 18, Fig. 2, from a photo by Mr. H. Main) is greenish white or yellow; the rings are cross banded with yellow and spotted with black; usually the spots are united as in the figure, sometimes they are smaller and well separated, and occasionally all but those low down along the sides are absent. Coupled with decrease in size and number of the black spots, there is variation in the width of the yellow bands. _Verbascum nigrum_ is the more usual food plant in Britain, but it will also eat _V. lychnitis_. It feeds, in July and August, on the flowers and unripe seed capsules in preference to the foliage. {39}

Between sixty and seventy years ago, the late Mr. Samuel Stevens obtained the caterpillars on mullein growing in a chalk pit at Arundel in Sussex, and this seems to be the earliest notice of the species occurring in Britain. It is now known also to inhabit Hampshire, Surrey, and Oxfordshire; has been reported from Norfolk, Suffolk, and Gloucestershire.

THE STAR-WORT (_Cucullia asteris_).

The silvery-grey fore wings of this moth (Plate 15, Fig. 6) are broadly suffused with reddish brown along the front margin, and more narrowly with purplish brown inclining to blackish along the inner margin; the latter is separated from a purplish brown blotch at the outer angle by a whitish edged black curved mark.

The caterpillar (figured on Plate 18, Fig. 3, from a photo by Mr. Main) is green with a black-edged yellow stripe along the back, and another along the white spiracles; between these stripes are two pale greenish lines; head, green, sprinkled with blackish. In another form the body is suffused with reddish, inclining to purplish on the back; yellow markings pretty much as in the green form. It feeds chiefly on golden-rod (_Solidago virgaurea_) and sea star-wort (_Aster tripolium_), showing a decided preference for the flowers, but will eat the foliage of the plants mentioned. In confinement it can be reared on garden asters and Michaelmas daisy. It may be obtained on its food plants from July well into September.

The moth emerges in June and July as a rule, sometimes in early August, but has been known to come from the chrysalis during September up to the 23rd of that month. The species is found often abundantly in the caterpillar state in the seaboard counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Kent, Sussex, Hants, and Dorset. In Surrey it has occurred at Haslemere, and in {40} the Croydon district (?); and it has been recorded from Herefordshire and North Lancashire.

The range abroad extends to East Siberia, Amurland, and Japan.

THE SHARK (_Cucullia umbratica_).

On the fore wings of this greyish species (Plate 16, Figs. 5 [male] and 6 [female]) there is some variation in the short black streaks on the basal and outer areas, and in the dots around the stigma; the front margin is sometimes brownish tinged. The hind wings of the female are always darker than those of the male.

The caterpillar feeds on plants of the sowthistle (_Sonchus_) kind, also on garden lettuce and the wild species. It may be found in August and early September, but, as it feeds only at night, it should be searched for in the daytime on the undersides of the lower leaves. In general colour it is ochreous inclining to greyish, with an intricate raised pattern in blackish on the upper surface; the head is black, and there is a yellow spotted sooty brown plate on the first ring of the body.

The moth is to be seen in June and July, sitting on the upper parts of palings, and other kinds of wooden fencing; also on tent pegs, etc.; but it is not easy to detect even when its whereabouts is indicated. At night it visits flowers of campion, sweet william, honeysuckle, etc.

Widely distributed throughout the British Isles to the Orkneys, but seemingly more plentiful and regular in occurrence in the south of England than in the north.

THE CHAMOMILE SHARK (_Cucullia chamomillae_).

Although somewhat similar to the last species, this moth may be distinguished by the more brownish tinge of its grey fore wings. The hind wings are also brown-grey in both sexes, but darkest in the female. {41}

Sometimes the central area of the fore wings is clouded with blackish from the front to the inner margin; such specimens are referable to ab. _chrysanthemi_, Hubn. (Plate 16, Figs. 1 typical, 2 ab.)

The caterpillar, which may be found in the summer months, is greenish white with zigzag olive markings, the lines on the back meeting in the middle of each ring, where there is a small pinkish blotch; head, pale yellowish, striped with brown on the face. It feeds on wild chamomile (_Matricaria_), stinking mayweed (_Anthemis_), and _Pyrethrum_ (Plate 18, Fig. 1). The Rev. Miles Moss, writing his experience of this species at Rossall, near Fleetwood, Lancashire, notes that until half-grown the caterpillars live exposed, and are then found lying in a half-circle on the crowns of unexpanded flower heads. At this time they are green with dark and also white markings. He adds that caterpillars measuring about an inch in length when collected, were preparing for pupation a week later.

The moth is out in April and May, and has been captured even in July. When chrysalids are kept indoors, but not dry, the moths sometimes emerge in March, and occasionally in the earlier months of the year. A habit more or less general among the species of this genus is to remain in the chrysalis state for two or more winters; the present species has been known to emerge during March of the first, second, and third years following that in which the caterpillars were found.

Widely distributed over England and Wales, but apparently most frequent in the seaboard counties. In Scotland it occurs up to Perthshire, and it is found on various parts of the Irish coast.

THE CUDWEED (_Cucullia gnaphalii_).

Portraits of two specimens of this very local species, kindly lent by Mr. R. Adkin, will be found on Plate 13, Figs. 4 and 5. {42} The general coloration is usually silvery grey, but occasionally it inclines to yellowish. The moth has rarely been noted by day, and only one specimen seems to have been captured on the wing. Even caterpillars are by no means common in their best-known localities, and of those obtained after much labour a large proportion may frequently prove to have been the victims of parasitic flies.

The caterpillar is green, inclining to olive green, thickly freckled with pale yellow atoms; a purplish-brown stripe along the middle of the back and two faint purplish lines along the sides; a pale yellow line along the region of the black-edged spiracles, which are set in purplish-brown blotches. (Adapted from Buckler.)

Its food plant is golden-rod (_Solidago_) and it feeds at night and hides by day, low down on the stems or under the leaves: July to September. In confinement the caterpillars will eat garden aster and Michaelmas daisy.

The British haunts of the species are chiefly in Kent (Sevenoaks, Tunbridge Wells, etc.), and Sussex (Tilgate Forest, etc.); but according to Barrett it is also known from Hampshire, Surrey, and Essex. Abroad, the range extends through Central Europe to Southern Scandinavia, Livonia, Southern Russia, the Altai Mountains, Italy, and Armenia; but the species is nowhere plentiful.

It may be mentioned here that a very closely allied, and on the Continent common, species--_C. xeranthemi_, Boisduval--might easily be mistaken for _C. gnaphalii_.

THE WORMWOOD (_Cucullia absinthii_).

This moth is shown on Plate 16, Fig. 4. The fore wings are usually tinged with purplish over the greyish ground colour; black dots on the stigmata give to each of these marks some resemblance to the figure 8. {43}

The caterpillar, which feeds on the flowers and seeds of wormwood (_Artemisia absinthium_) and will eat mugwort (_A. vulgaris_), is best found on sunny days. It is yellowish green, suffused with purplish grey on the back of each ring; there are three pale green lines along the back, and an ochreous grey plate on ring 1. To be found in August and early September, but on dull days it must be sought for among the lower leaves, or on the ground. When resting among the flowers it so closely harmonises with them that it might easily escape detection.

The moth is out in July.

The species is perhaps most abundant on the South Devonshire coast, but its range extends into Cornwall, and eastward to the Isle of Portland and the Isle of Wight; it is not uncommon along the coasts of North Devon (Lee and Croyde), Somerset (Minehead), and South Wales. It has also been recorded from North Wales, and from parts of the Suffolk coast. In Ireland, a specimen was taken in a garden at Cromlyn, Westmeath, in 1873, and more recently two specimens of the moth, and also some caterpillars, were obtained at Timoleague, Cork.

_Cucullia artemisiae (abrotani)_.

This species, of which a Continental example is represented on Plate 16, Fig. 3, is apparently exceedingly rare in this country, and most probably is not a native.

In the collection of the late Dr. Mason, which was dispersed at Stevens' in 1905, there were three specimens, each of which had seemingly been included among series of _C. absinthii_ purchased at three separate sales. A fourth specimen, also mixed with _C. absinthii_, was in the collection of the late Rev. H. Burney. Two other specimens have been reported from Devonshire, where, it is said, they were found sitting on a fence. {44}

The caterpillar feeds, in August and September, on wormwood and other kinds of _Artemisia_. It is green with red raised spots, a white line along the middle of the back, and a yellow stripe low down along the sides; head, brown inclining to blackish above. The moth is out in June and July.

THE BEAUTIFUL YELLOW UNDERWING (_Anarta myrtilli_).

In its typical form (Plate 17, Figs. 1, 2) this species has the fore wings purplish brown or blackish brown, whilst in var. _rufescens_, Tutt, the general colour of the fore wings is reddish inclining to crimson, and the white markings are clearly defined. In some dark specimens the markings are more or less obscure, and in others only the central white dot is distinct.

The caterpillar is green, dotted and marked with white; there are three rows of yellowish bars along the back, those forming the outer series slightly curved. It is to be found on ling (_Calluna vulgaris_), also on heath (_Erica_), from July to October, but it seems to be more frequently obtained in early autumn. Occasionally it has been found in the spring. Hawthorn has been mentioned as a food-plant (Plate 20, Fig. 1).

The moth has been taken in each month from April to August, but it is perhaps most plentiful from May to July. The species occurs on heath and moorlands throughout the British Isles, but so far it has not been recorded from the Shetlands. It flies on sunny days and is very active on the wing, but when the sun is obscured, or towards evening, it may be found at rest on the heather sprays, usually at their tips.

THE SMALL DARK YELLOW UNDERWING (_Anarta cordigera_).

The pretty moth represented on Plate 17, Fig. 7, is only found in the British Isles, on the mountains of Scotland, chiefly in Perthshire and Aberdeenshire. Sometimes the basal area of the fore wings is suffused with black, and to a lesser extent the outer area also (var. _aethiops_, Hoffm. = _suffusa_, Tutt); on the other hand, typical examples have both basal and outer areas silvery grey, and the central area black. A form, which I have not seen, is described as having the black central area broken by an ashy cross band passing between the stigmata (var. _variegata_, Tutt).

2 Pl. 16. 1, 2. CHAMOMILE SHARK. 4. THE WORMWOOD. 3. _CUCULLIA ARTEMISIAE_. 5, 6. THE SHARK.

2 Pl. 17. 1, 2. BEAUTIFUL YELLOW UNDERWING. 3, 4. SMALL YELLOW UNDERWING. 5, 6. BROAD-BORDERED WHITE UNDERWING. 7. SMALL DARK YELLOW UNDERWING. 8, 9. THE PEASE BLOSSOM. 10, 11. BORDERED SALLOW.

{45} The caterpillar is reddish brown, with three white lines along the back, and a reddish-freckled ochreous stripe low down on the sides. Sometimes the general colour is blackish. It feeds on bearberry (_Arctostaphylos_) in June and July; also said to eat _Vaccinium uliginosum_; in confinement it will thrive on _Arbutus unedo_, commonly known as the "strawberry tree."

The moth is out in May, when it flies in the sunshine, and in dull weather sits about on the rocks, stones, lichen, etc. Mr. Cockayne notes that at Rannoch he met with it from May 17 in numbers, but always in isolated spots where bearberry was plentiful. Here the moths were either feeding on the flowers or settled on the ground. He further remarks that this species occurs at the comparatively low elevation of 800 to 900 feet, whereas the next species ascends to 2000 feet.

The distribution abroad extends to Amurland and Labrador.

THE BROAD-BORDERED WHITE UNDERWING (_Anarta melanopa_).

This species has the ground colour of the fore wings greyish in the type and brownish in var. _wistromi_, Lampa. Specimens with the fore wings more or less typical, but with the normally white area of hind wings dark greyish, are referable to ab. _rupestralis._ I remember seeing a specimen of the last-named form in the collection of the late Mr. S. Stevens, but I believe that it is very rare in the British Isles. In all forms there is variation in the stigmata, and in the orbicular especially. (Plate 17, Figs. 5 [male] and 6 [female].) {46}

The caterpillar is of a purplish pink colour, with a black-edged ochreous-brown line along the middle of the back, broken up by reddish-brown triangles; the stripe along the region of the black spiracles is yellowish white flecked with red; the sides of the body above the stripe are flecked with reddish, and above them is a yellowish-white line and some black marks. Head, brownish, freckled with darker. It feeds at night, in July, on bilberry (_Vaccinium myrtillus_), cowberry (_V. vitis-idaea_), and can also be reared on strawberry tree, sallow, knotgrass, etc. In the daytime it must be searched for under the leaves.

The moth is out in May and the early part of June, and is most active in the sunshine, but flies on dull days when the weather is warm. It seems confined to the higher level of the mountains, and its habits are similar to those of the last species, but its range extends to the Shetland Isles. The species was not recognised as British until about 1830, and the same remark applies to _A. cordigera._

THE SMALL YELLOW UNDERWING (_Heliaca tenebrata_).

The fore wings are a little more reddish in some specimens than in others, and occasionally the yellow of the hind wings is much reduced in area by the expansion of the black border, or it may be suffused with blackish. (Plate 17, Figs. 3 and 4.)

The caterpillar is green, with three lines along the back, the central one dark green and the others whitish, bordered below with dark green; the stripe low down along the sides is yellowish white, edged above with dark green. It feeds, in June and July, on mouse-ear chickweed (_Cerastium_), devouring the blossom and seeds, when young boring into the unripe capsule.

The moth flies on sunny days in May and early June, and is more or less common in grass-bordered lanes, hay meadows, etc., in most counties throughout the southern part of England. {47} In the midland counties it appears to be far more local, thence to Durham (its northern limit in England) it is generally scarce. It has been recorded from Pembrokeshire and Flintshire, in Wales. A specimen has been reported from Robroyston, near Glasgow, in Scotland. As the species has been obtained in Kerry and Sligo, the probability is that it occurs in other parts of Ireland.

THE PEASE-BLOSSOM (_Chariclea delphinii_).

The beautifully tinted moth represented by Figs. 8 and 9 on Plate 17 was known as British to Haworth (1802), but it had been figured by Wilkes in 1773, and by Moses Harris in 1775. In 1829 Stephens remarked that there were then but few native specimens in British cabinets, among which were examples from the Windsor district "caught about fifteen years since, in June." He adds, the interest and value of these, and older specimens, was lessened by "the execrable practice of introducing Continental insects into collections." Stainton (1857) refers to the Windsor specimens only, and Newman (1869) ignores the species altogether. In 1902 two specimens were presented to the British Museum by Mr. J. F. Bennett, and are now in the National Collection of British Lepidoptera. These were obtained at Brighton in 1876 by the donor's father, but whether captured or reared is not known.

THE BORDERED SALLOW (_Pyrrhia umbra_).

The fore wings of this species (Plate 17, Figs. 10, 11) in its typical form are yellow inclining to orange, with the outer area more or less tinted with purplish. In a paler form, ab. _marginata_, Fab., the fore wings are without the orange tint, and the outer area is rather greyish brown. {48}

The caterpillar (Plate 20, Fig. 4) is grey or greenish, speckled with white, and with raised black dots; there are three lines along the back, the central one white edged, broader and darker than the outer ones, which are sometimes white; a white-edged pale yellow stripe low down along the sides. In some examples the general colour is pinkish brown.

It feeds on restharrow (_Ononis_) in July and August, but can be reared on knotgrass, and has been known to thrive on the green pods of the scarlet runner bean (_Phaseolus vulgaris_). The moth flies at dusk in June, sometimes earlier or later. It visits the flowers of various plants, especially those of _Silene_ and _Lychnis_; also comes to the sugar patch and may be attracted by light. Although not generally common, it seems to be widely distributed over England and Wales, but is most frequent in the seaboard counties, and this is more particularly the case in the north. In Scotland it appears to occur from Berwick northwards to Moray, and in Ireland it has been noted from several of the littoral counties, chiefly southern, but also from Sligo.

The range abroad extends to the North-west Himalayas, Amurland, Corea, and Japan; the species also occurs in North America from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains.

THE MARBLED CLOVER (_Heliothis dipsacea_).

The ground colour of this species (Plate 19, Figs. 1, 2) ranges from yellowish to ochreous with a greyish, or olive, tinge; the central band including the reniform stigma is olive, or reddish brown, terminating on the inner margin in a cloud extending towards the hind margin; submarginal line preceded by a shade-like band similar in colour to the central one, but often only well defined on costal and inner margins; the whitish area of the hind wings is sometimes much reduced. The darker specimens are typical of the species, whilst those with the paler ground colour and brighter cross bands are referable to var. _maritima_, Grasl.

2 Pl. 18. 1. MULLEIN: _caterpillar_. 2. STRIPED LYCHNIS: _caterpillar_. 3, 3a. STARWORT: _caterpillar and chrysalis_. 4. CHAMOMILE SHARK: _chrysalis and cocoon_.

2 Pl. 19. 1, 2. MARBLED CLOVER. 3. SPOTTED CLOVER. 4, 5. BORDERED STRAW. 6-8. SCARCE BORDERED STRAW. 9. PALE SHOULDER. 10. THE FOUR-SPOTTED.

{49} The caterpillar varies in colour, green of various shades, pinkish, or purplish brown; three lines along the back, the central one with dark edges, and the outer ones whitish, with dark lower edge; the line low down along the sides is often whitish; but this, and also the other white lines, may be replaced by greenish or yellowish. It feeds on various low-growing plants such as restharrow, scabious, toadflax, white campion, bladder campion, clover, etc., preferring the flowers and seeds. It has been found from July to September. Sometimes it has been reared on the pods of the scarlet-runner bean.

The moth, which is out in June and July, dashes about rapidly in the daytime, and as it is partial to the flowers of the bugloss, or those of clover, etc., it may be netted when feasting on the blossoms. It occurs in meadows, on heaths, and on sandhills by the sea, in most of the southern and eastern counties of England, but is only rarely seen northwards, and has not been recorded from other parts of the British Isles.

Distribution abroad: the whole Palaearctic region less the extreme north; also represented in North America by _phlogophagus_, Grote and Robinson.

THE SPOTTED CLOVER MOTH (_Heliothis scutosa_).