Part 6

Although this pretty black and yellow moth (Plate 21, Fig. 12) was noted by Stephens (1830) as being occasionally captured in Battersea fields, and as occurring near Margate, and elsewhere in Kent, it was not until 1847 that the Breck-sand district of Norfolk, adjoining parts of Suffolk, and Cambridge, became known as being inhabited by The Spotted Sulphur. The vicinity of Brandon and Tuddenham is especially favoured by the species, but it occurs in several other parts of the area. Occasionally, specimens have been captured in various Kentish localities, and between thirty and forty years ago single examples were taken in Hackney Marshes, Lower Clapton (August 2), also in Wandsworth (at light, July 26). From these facts it would appear possible that the species occasionally strays from its haunts in the eastern counties and sometimes to a considerable distance. Once, indeed, a specimen was found on a gas lamp at Exeter. On the other hand, it is quite conceivable that such wanderers may have come from abroad.

Some specimens are of a paler yellow than others, but there is rather more noticeable aberration in the number and intensity of the black markings.

The caterpillar is reddish brown, with three darker lines along the back, the central one pale edged; a pale yellow stripe runs along the region of the spiracles, and has a fine brownish line running through it from end to end. Another form is green with white lines. It feeds on the bindweed (_Convolvulus arvensis_) in July, and has a second brood in September. The moth, which rests among herbage by day, and flies towards evening, is found in June, July, and August.

The species is found throughout Central and Southern Europe, its range extending to Denmark and South Sweden; eastward it occurs in Asia Minor, Syria, and through Asia to Japan. {63}

GONOPTERINAE.

THE HERALD (_Scoliopteryx libatrix_).

Haworth (1802) gave this attractive species the English name of "Furbelow Moth," but Harris (1782) had named it Herald Moth (Plate 22, Fig. 1).

In the majority of specimens the purplish, or grey-brown fore wings, are more or less reddish tinged throughout, but occasionally the outer marginal area is free of this tint; the orange red marks on the central and basal areas are brighter in some specimens than in others.

The caterpillar, which feeds on sallow, osier, willow, and probably poplar (a chrysalis having been found in a curled leaf of black poplar), is a long, rather thin, greenish creature without any distinct markings, except that when full grown the front rings have two black spots. It may be found reposing on the upper leaves of its foodplant, from June to August. (Plate 25, Fig. 1, from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich.)

The moth may be obtained at sugar, ivy-blossom, etc., from August to October, and it seems that the earliest to emerge are those that first take up hibernating quarters in barns, outhouses, roofs, belfries, and under arches. In the spring it reappears, and may be met with even in June. A specimen was taken at sugar on July 20, 1899, but whether this is to be regarded as a very late date or an unusually early one, I cannot say. Generally distributed throughout Great Britain and Ireland, but of the Scottish Isles only recorded from Shetland. Abroad it ranges through Europe to North-West Africa, and through Asia to Amurland and Japan; also in temperate North America.

NOTE.--Stephens (1829) referred this species to the genus _Calyptra_, Ochs., but in 1831 he adopted _Scoliopteryx_, Germar (1811). _Gonoptera_, Latr., which has been frequently used, only dates from 1825. {64}

QUADRIFINAE.

THE GOLDEN PLUSIA (_Plusia moneta_).

The British history of the grey tinged pale golden species, shown on Plate 22, Fig. 4, dates back only to 1890. In that year, on July 2, Mr. Christy, of Watergate, Emsworth, found a specimen in his illuminated moth trap; this was noted in the _Entomologist_ for August, 1890. From subsequent records it appears that a specimen had been taken on the same date at a gas lamp near Reading, by Mr. W. Holland; whilst one was captured, at a light, near Tunbridge Wells on July 1. The earliest British specimen, however, was one netted whilst hovering over flowers of _Delphinium_ at Dover, on June 25 of the same year, but this was not announced until October. Since its arrival here the species seems to have spread over England at a great rate, and it has recently been reported from Cheshire. In some southern gardens the caterpillars abound to such an extent that they are regarded as a plague. On the continent it is said to feed on sunflower, artichoke, burdock, and cucumber.

2 Pl. 24. 1. SCARCE BURNISHED BRASS. 2. GOLD SPANGLE. 3, 4. GOLD SPOT. 5, 6. BEAUTIFUL GOLDEN Y. 7, 8. PLAIN GOLDEN Y.

2 Pl. 25. 1. HERALD: _caterpillar_. 2. SMALL PURPLE-BARRED: _caterpillar_. 3. ROSY-MARBLED: _caterpillar_.

{65}

The caterpillar is green, dotted with white; a dark line along the back and a white one along the sides. In the early stage it is black or sooty brown, and hides itself among the spun together flower buds, or in a turned down tender leaf. It feeds in May and June, occasionally found in late April, after hibernation, and a second generation sometimes occurs in July and August. Monkshood (_Aconitum_) and larkspur (_Delphinium_) are the usual food plants, and it is curious to note that whilst some observers state that larkspur alone is eaten, others say that monkshood is the only food. The moth flies in June and July, and sometimes there is an emergence in August and September. It visits the blossoms of various garden plants, and is also attracted by light.

The caterpillar, represented on Plate 27, Fig. 1, was found with others on larkspur in Mr. Herbert Smith's garden at Wallington, Surrey. The cocoon and chrysalis is from a photo by Mr. H. Main. Another photo by Mr. Main shows the young caterpillar constructing its retreat.

According to Duponchel this species occurred in Normandy, Central and Northern Europe, as far back as 1829. A much paler form inclining to silvery, var. _esmeralda_, Oberthur, is found in Ussuri, North China, and other parts of East Asia.

THE BURNISHED BRASS (_Plusia chrysitis_).

Two forms of this metallic-looking species are represented (Plate 22); 5 is typical and 6 shows the ab. _juncta_, Tutt. Between these are various intermediate stages leading to the complete division of the central band. The broken central band is a character of var. _nadeja_, Oberthur, from Amurland and {66} Japan, but that form has also a more or less complete series of ochreous-brown dots on the outer area. The metallic colour is sometimes greenish in all forms.

The caterpillar is pale green, with a darker green line along the middle of the back, bordered on each side by an irregular white line; an oblique white streak on the sides of each ring from 4-11; a stripe low down along the sides is white; head, yellowish tinged. It feeds on stinging nettle, probably on other plants, and after hibernation attains full growth about May. In favourable seasons caterpillars also occur in July and August. The moth is out in June, July, and August, less frequently in September, and may be found flying along the sides of hedges and ditches, especially where flowering weeds are plentiful, throughout the British Isles; so far, however, it has not been recorded from the Hebrides, Orkneys, or Shetlands.

THE SCARCE BURNISHED BRASS (_Plusia chryson_).

The more or less square golden (sometimes green-tinged) patch on the velvety purplish brown fore wings, distinguish this species (Plate 24, Fig. 1) from any other British _Plusia_.

The caterpillar is green, with a darker line along the middle of the back, and a fine white line on each side of it; there is a dark green stripe low down along the sides, edged below with white, and oblique white lines run from it to the central line on rings 3-11. It feeds on hemp-agrimony (_Eupatorium cannabinum_), hibernates when small, and completes its growth in May or early June.

The moth is out in July and August, and is said to be occasionally seen, on sunny days, flying about, or resting on, the flowers of the hemp-agrimony and other plants. Night, however, is its more usual time of activity, and it may also be found at the blossoms of the larval food plant, and at those of honeysuckle, etc. {67}

The species has been found, chiefly in the past in most of the southern counties of England from Kent (Deal district) to Cornwall, also in Gloucestershire, and in South Wales. Chippenham fen in Cambridgeshire is the most noted locality for it in the present day, and it has been found in Norfolk and Suffolk. There is even a record of a specimen having been beaten out of honeysuckle near Preston, Lancs., but this happened nearly forty years ago.

The range abroad extends to Amurland and Japan.

THE GOLD SPANGLE (_Plusia bractea_).

The purplish brown fore wings of this moth have a bright solid-looking golden mark on the upper edge of a velvety, deep brown patch. This metallic "spangle" varies a little in size and in shape, but not to any noteworthy extent (Plate 24, Fig. 2).

The caterpillar is bright green, dotted with white, above, and dull darker green below; there is a fine dark green line along the middle of the back, some indistinct and irregular white lines followed by a whitish stripe lower down, along the sides. It seems to feed upon a variety of low-growing plants, among which are groundsel, dandelion, white dead-nettle (_Lamium album_), and stinging nettle, also on honeysuckle, from August to May. In a state of nature, it hibernates when small, and becomes full grown in May or early June, but when reared from the egg it can be induced, by keeping it in a warm place, to continue feeding, grow up quickly, pupate, and assume the winged state in the late autumn. Under such artificial conditions it is said to eat lettuce and plantain.

Normally, the moth is out in June and July, and has been met with in August. Like all members of this group it is partial to flowers, and has been frequently taken at those of the honeysuckle, although all sorts of blossoms, down to the lowly _Viola cornuta_, have attraction for it. {68}

The species is more especially a denizen of Ireland and Scotland, but it occurs in most of the northern counties of England, and has been recorded from Worcestershire and Herefordshire; also from Carmarthenshire in South Wales.

Abroad, its range extends to Central Asia; and in Amurland and Japan it is represented by P. excelsa, Kretschmar.

THE GOLD SPOT (_Plusia festucae_).

In this species (Plate 24, Figs. 3 and 4) the fore wings are golden brown, clouded with purplish brown; sometimes the purplish brown is confined almost entirely to the broad area. Besides the large central metallic marks, there are more or less conspicuous patches of metallic colour at the base of the costa, on the middle of the inner margin, and towards the tips of the wings. Usually the central spots are clearly apart, but I have one example from Bishop Auckland, Durham, in which they are only separated one from the other by a slender brown line.

The caterpillar is green, with a white-edged dark-green line along the middle of the back, and some slender yellowish lines on each side of it; a whitish or yellow tinged stripe low down along the sides; head, tinged with brown.

It feeds on sedge, coarse grasses, bur-reed (_Sparganium ramosum_), and yellow-flag (_Iris pseudacorus_); also said by Collins to eat water plantain (_Alisma plantago_): April to June, and in some localities and seasons, again in July and August. The black chrysalis is enclosed in a rather long greyish cocoon, spun up on the undersides of the leaves of sedge or reed; usually placed towards the tip of the leaf, which droops over and so hides it.

The moth is out in June and July, and in some years there seems to be an emergence in August and September; this has been more particularly noted in Cheshire, where Arkle has had moths emerge in June, July, August, and September. A second flight has been noted in Ireland by Kane and others; and late examples have also been recorded from Scotland.

2 Pl. 26. 1, 2. SILVER Y. 3. NI MOTH. 4, 5. SCARCE SILVER Y. 6, 7. MOTHER SHIPTON. 8, 9. BURNET COMPANION.

2 Pl. 27. 1, 1a, 1b. GOLDEN PLUSIA: _caterpillars and chrysalis_. 2. DARK SPECTACLE: _caterpillar_.

{69} Although it has been recorded from some of the southern counties, it is most frequent in the eastern and northern parts of England, and in South Wales. Occurs throughout Scotland up to Moray; and in Ireland it is found in most localities, though not often common, except by the sea in Co. Kerry, and in Connamara, Co. Galway.

Abroad, it extends to East Siberia, Amurland, and Japan.

THE PLAIN GOLDEN Y (_Plusia iota_).

In typical specimens the metallic mark is V-shaped, with a dot below and a little to one side (Plate 24, Fig. 8). In ab. _percontationis_, Treit. (Fig. 7), these spots are united and form a Y-like mark. Sometimes the spot is absent and the V-mark much reduced, and more rarely the V also disappears (ab. _inscripta_, Esp.).

The larva is yellowish green, white dotted, with a white-edged darker line along the middle of the back; a band composed of whitish irregular lines runs along the sides, and a thin yellow line along the area of the spiracles. It hatches from the egg in the late summer, hibernates when quite small, and feeds up in the spring. The food plants comprise the dead nettles (_Lamium_), woundwort (_Stachys_), mint, stinging nettle, honeysuckle, hawthorn, etc. There is a record of sixteen larvae which hibernated among dead leaves of _Lamium album_, resumed feeding on February 18, spun up April 23-25, and produced moths May 27-June 4. Usually the moth is on the wing in June and July.

The species seems to be pretty widely distributed throughout the British Isles to the Orkneys; it was not known to occur in the Hebrides until 1901, when McArthur obtained it in the Isle of Lewis. {70}

THE BEAUTIFUL GOLDEN Y (_Plusia pulchrina_).

This species (Plate 24, Figs. 5 and 6) so closely resembles the last that it has been considered a variety thereof; there is no question, however, that it is quite distinct. The fore wings in both species are somewhat similar in general tints, but the following points of difference distinguish _pulchrina_--the darker colour is less evenly displayed, and gives the wings a more mottled or marbled appearance; the cross lines, especially those on the basal area, are almost invariably golden edged; the second cross line is more acutely bent inwards above the inner margin, the reniform has a more or less complete golden outline, and it is placed in a dark cloud; the golden V-mark and dot below are generally thicker. As a rule, the fringes of all the wings are more distinctly chequered, but this feature cannot be relied on alone in separating one species from the other. In ab. _percontatrix_, Aurivillius (= _juncta_, Tutt), the golden V and dot are united and so form a Y-mark (Fig. 5).

The caterpillar is green with a broad central white stripe and several finer white lines along the back; a yellowish-tinted white stripe low down along the sides; head shining, marked with black on each side of the mouth. This caterpillar has the bristles rather more in evidence than they are in the larva of _P. iota_. It feeds on various low-growing plants, such as the dead nettles, groundsel, etc., also on honeysuckle and bilberry.

The moth occurs in June and July, and is found more or less frequently all over the British Isles to Orkney, but in England is more plentiful from the Midlands northwards than in the southern counties.

The range abroad extends to Amurland.

THE NI MOTH (_Plusia ni_).

The present species (Plate 26, Fig. 3) bears a strong resemblance to a small pale specimen of _P. gamma_; but, as {71} will be noted, the silvery central Y-mark is differently formed. Here it is made up of a curve somewhat like the letter U, and an oval or round spot, the latter very close to and sometimes, as in the example figured, united with the former.

The caterpillar, which feeds on cabbage and other Cruciferae, also on lettuce, tomato, etc., is green, inclining to yellowish green and dotted with white; three white lines along the back, and a white stripe along the sides. It is said to be more slender in form than the caterpillar of _P. gamma_. (Plate 28, Fig. 1.)

The earliest British specimen was taken at flowers of red valerian in a garden at Exeter, August, 1868. The next year a specimen occurred, also in a garden, at Penzance. Then followed captures in Dorset, one 1885, and one (Isle of Portland) 1888. Two caterpillars were found in the Isle of Portland in 1894, and these produced moths in September of that year. At least eight moths were secured at Penzance in 1894, and specimens were subsequently reared from caterpillars found on cabbages in the gardens around Lynwood. In May, 1896, one example of the moth was taken by Mr. Percy Richards at Norbiton, Surrey. The last recorded capture appears to be that by Mr. Finzi of a female specimen at Tenby, South Wales, on June 9, 1906. She deposited a few eggs in the collecting-box, and the caterpillars that hatched from them were reared on broccoli and lettuce, and produced moths, July 24-30.

_Plusia ni_ ranges through south-east and southern Europe, to Asia Minor, North Africa, and the Canaries. In the Isle of Capri it is said to be almost as common as _P. gamma_. _Brassicae_, Riley (1870), is a well-known _Plusia_ in America, where it is classed among noxious insects. It is somewhat larger and browner in colour than European _ni_, but in every other respect it seems to agree so exactly that it can hardly be considered specifically distinct. {72}

THE SILVER Y (_Plusia gamma_).

This species, represented by portraits of two specimens on Plate 26, Figs. 1 and 2, varies somewhat in the ground colour of the fore wings, which ranges from a whitish grey through various tints of grey and brown to velvety black. The melanic form last referred to is very rare, but I caught one example of it at Eastbourne in the late summer of 1888, and I saw, but did not secure, another near Esher in the autumn of 1906; one taken at Dartmoor in September, 1894, is in Mr. F. J. Hanbury's collection.

Occasionally a purplish red tinge, often present below the silvery Y, spreads over a larger area of the fore wings. The Y-mark is well defined as a rule, but now and then specimens are found in which only the tail of the Y is distinct.

The caterpillar varies in general colour from pale green to a dark olive green approaching black. In the white dotted paler green forms there are several transverse whitish lines, some of them wavy, between the yellowish spiracular line and the dark green line along the middle of the back; head, marked with black on each cheek. It will eat almost every kind of low-growing vegetation, either wild or cultivated, and in some years may be found throughout the summer. Small larvae were recorded as seen at the end of October, 1901. The blackish chrysalis is enclosed in a whitish cocoon, often placed under leaves of thistle, burdock, etc.

The moth is seen in the spring and early summer (most probably immigrants), and again in the autumn, when it is generally more abundant.

This well-known migrating species has been observed in greater or lesser numbers over the whole of the British Isles. Its distribution abroad embraces the Palaearctic Region, North Africa, and North America. {73}

THE SCARCE SILVER Y (_Plusia interrogationis_).

Portraits of two examples of this species will be found on Plate 26, Figs. 4 and 5. The metallic central marks on the fore wings vary a good deal in size and in form, and are sometimes almost absent; these wings have the general greyish colour more clouded or suffused with blackish in some specimens than in others. Kane states that Irish specimens, when freshly emerged, have a tinge of violet purple, and Tutt notes some British specimens as beautifully tinted with rose colour (ab. _rosea_).

The caterpillar, which feeds on heather (_Calluna_) and bilberry (_Vaccinium_), is green inclining to blackish on the sides and underparts, with six white lines along the back; two of which are irregular; the raised dots are white and the bristles therefrom dark; head, green dashed with purple, shining. (Fenn.) After hibernation it may be found without much difficulty in May and June on its food plants, either in the daytime, or by the aid of a lamp at night. Large numbers fall victims to parasitical flies. (Plate 28, Fig. 2.) The white cocoons enclosing the black chrysalids are spun up on or under the twigs of bilberry and heather. The moth is out in July and August, and may be found on moorlands, in the north of England from Shropshire (with Radnor) and Staffordshire on the west, and Lincolnshire on the east, through Scotland to Sutherland, and in all suitable localities in Ireland.

THE DARK SPECTACLE (_Abrostola triplasia_).

The fore wings of this moth are blackish grey inclining to purplish and rather shining; the basal area is pale reddish brown, edged by a curved dark chocolate brown cross line; a reddish grey band on the outer area clouded with ground colour {74} and edged above the inner margin by a dark chocolate brown curved line; raised scales on the central area and on the cross lines. Two oval reddish brown marks on the front of the collar have some resemblance to a pair of spectacles, hence the English name. (Plate 22, Fig. 2.)

The caterpillar is green, sprinkled with white dots; on rings 4, 5, and 11 are whitish-edged darker marks, and there is a dark line, also whitish-edged, along the middle of the back between rings 5 and 11; a white line on the back from ring 4 to the brownish head, and white-edged dark oblique lines on the sides of rings 6 to 11; the line low down along the sides is whitish with an ochreous tinge. A purplish brown form also occurs (Plate 27, Fig. 2), in which the pale markings are ochreous tinged. It is found from July to September on nettle and hops, the latter more especially. The earlier caterpillars, in some years, attain the moth state in August or early September, but the bulk of them remain in the chrysalis state during the winter, the moth emerging in June or July of the following year.

The species is not uncommon in most southern English counties, but becomes less frequent or more local northwards from the Midlands to Cumberland, Northumberland, and South Scotland. It occurs in Wales, and is widely spread in Ireland.

The range abroad extends to Amurland.

THE SPECTACLE (_Abrostola tripartita_).

This species, known also as _urticae_, Hubner, has the basal and outer marginal areas of the fore wings whitish grey, finely mottled with darker grey; the central area is greyish brown, mottled with darker brown. The spectacle mark in front of the thorax is whitish grey, ringed with black, and the raised scales on the cross lines and central area of the fore wings are more distinct in this species (Plate 22, Fig. 3). The {75} caterpillar is pale green, with white-edged dark-green V-shaped marks along the back, most in evidence on rings 4-11; two slender whitish lines on each side, only distinct on rings 1-4; a white stripe low down along the sides, edged above with dark green and with whitish streaks from it to the white edging of the marks on the back. Head, green, rather shining, with dusky marks on each cheek (adapted from Fenn). It feeds in July, at night, on the common stinging nettle, from the foliage of which it may be beaten out, or, by searching, found on the undersides of the leaves. In some years there is a second brood in September.