Part 7

The moth is out in June, sometimes late May, and, when there is a second emergence, in August. Occasionally it is seen on fences, etc., but at night it visits the blossoms of various plants, both wild and cultivated; the flowers of spur-valerian (_Centranthus ruber_), honeysuckle, and woundwort (_Stachys_) being especially attractive, as also they are to the Dark Spectacle, and most of the species of _Plusia_.

Although apparently commoner in some counties than in others, this species ranges over the British Isles to the Orkneys.

The distribution abroad extends to Amurland.

THE MOTHER SHIPTON (_Euclidia mi_).

The ancient fathers of British Entomology were sometimes happy in their selection of names in the vernacular for those of our moths that were known to them at the time, and the present species is a fair example of this. Moses Harris first dubbed it the Shipton Moth, but afterwards changed the name to the "Mask Moth." Both names refer to the peculiar shape of the markings which adorn the fore wings and bear a more or less fanciful resemblance to a grotesque mask, and even more closely to the profile of an historical dame yclept {76} Shipton. This character, also supposed to be like the letter M, hence the specific name _mi_, stands out very distinctly in the paler specimens, but in some of the darker individuals it is somewhat obscured. On the hind wings the spots are whitish or yellowish, and those composing the central series are sometimes united, and form a band. (Plate 26, Figs. 6 [male], 7 [female].)

The egg is greenish, and the caterpillar is pale ochreous-brown, with darker brown lines along the back and sides: head, ochreous, with brown lines. It feeds on clover and grasses, in July, August, and September, and the chrysalis, which is covered with a whitish powder, is enclosed in a brownish cocoon spun up in a blade of grass. All the early stages are figured on Plate 30. The enlarged chrysalis, Fig. 1, is from a photo by Mr. H. Main. The moth flies in May and June, and is often common in meadows, on railway banks, and other sloping banks and such-like places where wild flowers abound. The species is widely distributed over England, Wales, and South Scotland; also Ireland.

The range abroad extends to Amurland.

THE BURNET COMPANION (_Euclidia glyphica_).

The ground colour of the fore wings is purplish brown, sometimes becoming greyish on the outer area; the space between the dark brown or blackish cross bands is sometimes filled up with the darker colour. Some specimens are much greyer than others, and all the examples in a series from the Lake district that I have seen were distinctly grey, with very dark bands. The yellow on the hind wings sometimes inclines to orange, and sometimes it is so pale as to be almost whitish; there is also variation in the amount of black marking and shading on these wings. (Plate 26, Figs. 8 [male], 9 [female].)

The caterpillar is somewhat similar to that of the last species; it feeds on clovers and trefoils in July and August, but so far does not seem to have been noted to eat grasses.

2 Pl. 28. 1. THE NI MOTH: _caterpillar_. 2. SCARCE SILVER Y: _caterpillar_.

2 Pl. 29. 1. LUNAR DOUBLE STRIPE. 2. THE ALCHYMIST. 3. CLIFDEN NONPAREIL.

{77} The moth is on the wing at the end of May and in June, and inhabits similar kinds of places to those mentioned for the last species, often in company with it, and also with the Burnet moths. Widely distributed over the greater part of the British Isles; common in some southern localities. Its distribution abroad extends to Amurland, and in Japan it is represented by the larger and paler form _consors_, Butler.

_Leucanitis_ (_Ophiusa_) _stolida_, Fab.--An example of this species, which is a native of Africa and South Europe, was captured by Mr. J. Jager in the neighbourhood of Dartmouth, S. Devon. It was in fine condition, and came to sugar on September 23, 1903.

THE LUNAR DOUBLE STRIPE (_Pseudophia lunaris_).

The portrait of this species on Plate 29, Fig. 1, is taken from a Spanish example. Exceedingly few British specimens have been recorded. The earliest seems to be the following: "Among my cabinet specimens there is one example of _Ophiodes lunaris_, captured at the Lowestoft Light in 1832. I conclude this is a great rarity, having seen many cabinets without it.--E. Chawner." _Entom._ vi. p. 147 (1872-73). Presumably this is the same specimen as that mentioned by Stainton (1857), Newman (1869), and later authors, as taken in Hants by Captain Chawner. In 1860 one example was obtained at sugar at West Wickham; and in 1864 Bouchard caught two specimens at Killarney. On June 17, 1873, one came to sugar in Abbots Wood, Sussex; one at Brighton in June, 1874, and another in Sussex, May, 1875. One specimen came to light in Norfolk, May, 1878; and one to sugar at Folkestone, May, 1892. In June, 1901, a specimen was secured in Delamere Forest, Cheshire, also at sugar. Dr. B. White's record of a capture at Perth makes a total of eleven specimens. {78}

The caterpillar is ochreous brown, sprinkled and lined with reddish brown; a stripe low down along the sides is reddish orange. It feeds, in July and August, on the leaves of oak and poplar, but it has not been found in our Isles.

THE ALCHYMIST (_Catephia alchymista_).

This moth seems to have been known as a British species to Haworth, but he, and subsequently Stephens (1830), referred it to _Noctua leucomelas_, Linn. At all events, Stephen's description of the specimen in Haworth's cabinet bearing this name applies exactly to _C. alchymista_. In the _Ent. Ann._ for 1860 there is a figure of a specimen that was taken at sugar in the Isle of Wight, September, 1868. Seven years later, one was captured in an oak wood near Horsham, Sussex (June 4), and another found on the trunk of an oak tree near Colchester (June 9). In 1882, a specimen was taken at sugar in a wood near Dover (June), and on June 24, 1888, one came to sugar at St. Leonards, Sussex. In the last-named year, two other specimens, said to have been taken in the Isle of Wight, July, 1867, were recorded.

Fig. 2, Plate 29, represents a specimen from Dalmatia.

THE CLIFDEN NONPAREIL (_Catocala fraxini_).

This handsome species (Plate 29, Fig. 3) seems to have been known to quite the earliest writers on, and delineators of, British moths, and a specimen in the Dale collection, now in the Hope Museum, Oxford, was obtained in Dorset in 1740. Stephens (1830) mentions captures in the years 1821, 1827, and 1828. Since that time the occurrence of the species in the British Isles, chiefly in single specimens, may be tabulated as follows: England--London, 1842, 1870, 1872. Kent, 1889, {79} 1893, 1895, 1900. Sussex, 1838, 1869, 1889, 1895. Isle of Wight, 1866, 1900. North Devon, 1895. Somerset, 1850. Shropshire, 1872. Suffolk, 1868, 1872, 1901, 1905. Norfolk, 1846, 1872, 1894, 1900. Lincoln, 1872. Yorkshire, five specimens in all, the most recent in 1896. Lancashire, six specimens, latest 1868. Cheshire, four specimens, latest 1868. Scotland--1876 (Berwick); 1896 (Aberdeen and Orkney); 1898 (Roxburghshire). Ireland--1845, 1896.

It may be noted that during a period of seven years--1866 to 1872 inclusive--1867 and 1871 were the only years in which a specimen was not recorded from some part of England.

The caterpillar is pale ochreous, tinged with greenish and freckled with brown; head, pinkish, inclining to purplish above. It feeds on poplar in May, June, and July. From eggs (obtained from abroad) the caterpillars hatched April 27 till May 9, pupated between June 17 and 27, and the moths emerged July 20 to August 4.

The range abroad extends through Central Europe to Scandinavia, and eastward to Amurland.

_Catocala electa._

Only two specimens of this moth are known to have occurred in Britain. One of these was taken at Shoreham, near Brighton, Sussex, September 24, 1875, and the other at Corfe Castle, Dorsetshire, September 12, 1892. The specimen shown on Plate 31, Fig. 1, is from Saxony.

In a general way this species is not unlike (_C. nupta_), but the fore wings are smoother looking, of a softer grey coloration, and the black cross lines are more irregular; the black markings on the crimson hind wings are similar, but the inner edge of the marginal border is more even.

This Central European species ranges to Amurland and Corea, and is represented in Japan by a larger form, _zalmunna_, Butler. {80}

THE RED UNDERWING (_Catocala nupta_).

Both sexes of this species are shown on Plate 31, Figs. 2 and 3. The fore wings are darker in some specimens than in others, and very rarely, in connection with a change in the hind wings from red to brownish, there has been a purplish tinge over all the wings. Specimens with the hind wings of a brown tint have only so far been noted in the environs of London. In 1892 one was taken at Mitcham (warm brown), another at Wandsworth, 1895, a third at Chingford, 1896 (dusky black-brown), and a fourth at Brondesbury in 1897. At a meeting of the South London Entomological and Natural History Society, held on January 10, 1889, a coloured sketch of a specimen with blue hind wings, taken at Colchester, was exhibited (ab. _caerulescens_, Cockerell). Sometimes the hind wings are a dingy red, or they may incline to an orange tint; the central black band usually terminates just beyond the middle, but there is often a detached blackish cloud on the inner margin; and I have two specimens in which the band unites with this cloud.

2 Pl. 30. MOTHER SHIPTON: _eggs, natural size and enlarged, caterpillar, and chrysalis, natural size and enlarged_.

2 Pl. 31. 1. _CATOCALA ELECTA_. 2, 3. RED UNDERWING.

{81} The eggs which are deposited on bark of poplar trees, as Fig. 2a on Plate 33, are deep purplish with a whitish bloom, and inclining to yellowish on the top. The caterpillar (Plate 33, Fig. 2) is whitish-grey clouded and mottled with darker brown; the head is rather paler grey, marked with black. It feeds at night on willow and poplar, and, although rather difficult to detect, may be found in the chinks of the bark from April to July. The pupa is brownish, thickly powdered with bluish-white, and is enclosed in a strong, coarse, cocoon, spun up between leaves.

The moth is out in August and September, sometimes later, and in confinement has emerged in July. It is more abundant in some years than in others, and is fond of sitting on walls, pales, etc.; occasionally quite large numbers have been observed at rest on telegraph poles by the roadside, only one on a pole, as a rule, but sometimes in twos and threes. Mr. W. J. Lucas, when at Oxford in August, 1900, counted six on one post, and five on each of two other posts.

The species is found in suitable localities, that is, where poplars and willows grow, throughout the south and east of England. The only clear record from Ireland is that of a worn specimen at sugar, September 16, 1906, at Passage West, co. Cork; but Kane mentions two others.

Represented in North India by var. _unicuba_, Walker, and in Amurland by var. _obscurata_, Oberthur. {82}

THE DARK CRIMSON UNDERWING (_Catocala sponsa_).

The fore wings of this species vary in general colour from ashy grey to an almost olive brown; the dark clouding is much in evidence in some specimens, but absent in others; the white or yellow marks in the vicinity of the white outlined reniform are noticeable features. Hind wings, crimson, more or less tinged with purple; the upper half of the central black band is acutely angled on its outer edge, and bluntly so on its inner edge, thence curved to the inner margin. (Plate 32, Fig. 1.)

The caterpillar is greyish-brown with a greenish tinge, and dusted with black; paler on the fourth ring and between rings 7 and 8, and 10 and 11; the hump on ring 8 has an ochreous tip; raised spots, red, bearing black bristles; head, pale brown, (Fenn.) It feeds on oak in May and June.

The chrysalis is reddish, dusted with purplish grey, enclosed in a rather open silken cocoon between leaves. (Plate 33, Fig. 1 larva, 1a pupa.) The moth is out in July and August. Its chief home is the New Forest, Hants, where it abounds, in some years, and in others is so scarce that few specimens can be found. It has been taken occasionally in one or other of the southern English counties adjoining Hants, and has been noted in Oxfordshire and Suffolk; but such occurrences seem to be exceptional.

THE LIGHT CRIMSON UNDERWING (_Catocala promissa_).

Generally smaller, and the fore wings are usually greyer, than the last species; the first black cross line is inwardly shaded with blackish; on the hind wings the central black band is straighter, and the upper half, although sometimes slightly expanded, is not angled; in some examples the band does not quite reach the inner margin, and such specimens have been referred to ab. _mneste_, Hubner. (Plate 32, Fig. 2.) {83}

The caterpillar is of a greenish-tinged greyish coloration, freckled with darker grey, and with yellowish brown patches on rings 4, 8, and 9. It feeds, at night, on oak, boring into the buds at first, but afterwards attacking the foliage: May and June. The moth occurs in oak woods in July and August, but it does not seem to be met with anywhere in England so frequently as in the New Forest, Hampshire. Even in that favourite locality it is seen but rarely in some seasons. It is, or has been, found in several other southern and eastern counties, but, as a rule, only in a casual way.

THE BLACKNECK (_Toxocampa pastinum_).

In some examples of this species (Plate 32, Fig. 3) the ground colour of the fore wings, usually pale grey sprinkled with brown, is inclined to whitish, and but little powdered with brown, except the outer fourth, upon which there is generally some brown shading. The reniform stigma varies in shape; in some specimens it is lunular, and in others triangular, with the apex directed inwards; the orbicular, represented by a black dot, is occasionally absent; the cross lines are usually traceable, but the central shade is not often distinct.

The caterpillar is rather long, and tapers slightly from the middle towards each end. In colour it is greyish, inclining to ochreous on the back, and dusted with black; there are three reddish lines along the back, the outer ones edged below with white; the spiracles are black, and the line along their area is white. It feeds at night on the tufted vetch (_Vicia cracca_), and after hibernation attains full growth about May, when it pupates in a cocoon among leaves on the plant, or on the ground. The moth comes out in June and July, and in its haunts, which are the borders of woods or the clearings therein, it flutters about at early dusk, when it can be easily netted. Unlike the species next referred to, it does not seem to have any great partiality {84} for flowers, but it has been taken at sugar, and the females are found at night upon the food plant. It is known to occur in Berkshire and most of the southern counties from Kent to Devon, and eastward from Essex to Norfolk, Cambs., and Hunts.; has also been recorded from Yorks., Hereford, and South Wales.

The range abroad extends to Amurland.

THE SCARCE BLACKNECK (_Toxocampa craccae_).

This species (Plate 32, Fig. 4) is similar to the last, but the wings are rather less ample, the tint is slightly more brownish, and the veins are paler, especially on the outer area. Distinguishing features are the heavier and deeper black collar, and four blackish dots on the front edge of the fore wings. Var. _plumbea_, Bankes, the usual form in Cornwall, is darker than the type, having the fore wings bluish-grey mixed with chocolate, instead of pale ash-grey mixed with light walnut brown; hind wings brownish grey, instead of pale greyish brown. The caterpillar, which in shape is similar to that of the last species, is ochreous brown, with darker brown lines along the back and sides. It feeds at night on the wood vetch (_Vicia sylvatica_), but is said to eat other kinds of vetch in confinement. It may be found resting on stems of the food plant by day, or, when feeding at night, by the aid of a lantern, but it quickly falls off when disturbed. The moth flies at dusk in July and August, and has a strong liking for the flowers of the wood-sage, but visits golden-red and other flowers also, and will sometimes turn up at the sugar patch. It is not uncommon in some parts of the rocky coast of North Devon, as near Lynmouth, where it was first met with by the late Rev. E. Horton in 1861. It has since been found commonly on the Cornish coast. From what I know of its habits, I should say that the species would be found all along the North Devon and Cornish coasts, wherever the food plant occurs; but it does not seem to inhabit in any other part of Britain. Abroad, its range extends to East Siberia and Amurland.

2 Pl. 32. 1. DARK CRIMSON UNDERWING. 2. LIGHT CRIMSON UNDERWING. 3. THE BLACK NECK. 4. SCARCE BLACK NECK.

2 Pl. 33. 1, 1a. DARK CRIMSON UNDERWING: _caterpillar and chrysalis_. 2, 2a. RED UNDERWING: _eggs, natural size and enlarged, and caterpillar_.

{85}

HYPENINAE.

THE BEAUTIFUL HOOK-TIP (_Laspeyria flexula_).

Some specimens are browner and others greyer than that shown on Plate 36, Fig. 1; the pale even lines are generally edged with reddish brown, and the notch under the tip of the wing is margined with the same colour.

The caterpillar has the first and second pairs of prolegs very short, and below the brown-ringed spiracles there is a projecting ridge, fringed with a row of fleshy greenish-white filaments, some of which are forked. Bluish-green, sometimes tinged with ochreous; raised dots, black at the tips, on a base of whitish green; along the middle of the back is a series of darker green spear-points, and beyond this on each side a pale line, edged above by a fine wavy black line, and below by a darker green line; the eighth and eleventh rings of the body darker than the others. (Abridged from description by Buckler.) It feeds on lichens growing upon larch, spruce, hawthorn, sloe, fruit trees, etc., from September to May. The moth is out in June, July, and August, and may be beaten from the branches of trees, and from hedges, but the flushing of a specimen in this way is always a more or less casual event. It has been taken on several occasions at street lamps, and also in illuminated moth traps.

In England the species seems to be widely distributed over the southern counties to Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire; and in the east to Norfolk. It has also been recorded from Derbyshire (one), and Yorkshire (two).

The range abroad extends to Amurland. {86}

THE WAVED BLACK (_Parascotia fuliginaria_).

In the shape of its wings and general appearance the dingy insect represented on Plate 36, Fig. 2, would seem to belong to the Geometridae rather than to the present group, and, indeed, has been mistaken for a dark form of _Ematurga atomaria_. However, the long, projecting palpi are evidence of its being a member of this sub-family.

The caterpillar, which is moderately stout, and tapers slightly towards each end, has only twelve feet. Ground colour, sooty black, with orange-coloured raised dots, from which arise long recurved hairs. The late Mr. W. H. Tugwell (from whose description of the larva that given above has been adapted), in 1884, was shown caterpillars upon a black sooty-looking fungus (determined by Dr. M. C. Cooke as an effused _Muscedine_), growing in masses on rotten wood in an old wooden building in Bermondsey, near the river. He afterwards reared the moths.

The caterpillar hatches from the egg in August, but it is not full grown until May or June, when it spins a fairly compact cocoon of greyish silk, which is coated with particles of decayed wood and dried fungus.

The moth is out in June and July, and most of the known British specimens have been captured in London, or reared from caterpillars found therein. Stephens (1831) mentions three or four examples taken during the previous thirty years, and gives as localities--Blackfriars bridge, and Little Chelsea; Stainton (1859) adds, Fleet Street. Other specimens have been taken in the City in 1855, 1859, 1862, 1870, 1879, and 1881. One occurred at Clapham in 1864, and one has been reported from Crome in Worcestershire. More recent records are--one specimen flying around a sugared post at Walthamstow, July 29, 1901; eight, chiefly at light, at Camberley, 1904-5; and lastly, a specimen at St. Katharine's Docks, July, 1906. {87}

THE FAN-FOOT (_Zanclognatha tarsipennalis_).

This species is shown in both sexes on Plate 35, Figs. 1 [male], 2 [female]; it is the _Pyralis tentaculalis_ of Haworth, and also that author's _tarsicrinatus_, and the _tarsicrinalis_ of Stephens. The general colour is brownish, sometimes inclining to ochreous, and occasionally with a greyish cast. The submarginal line starts from the front edge, before the tip, of the fore wing.

The caterpillar is greyish brown, darker freckled, and dotted with black, downy; three broken darker lines along the back, the central one broad and inclining to black, and lower down along the sides is a series of blackish streaks; head, darker. It feeds in July and August, and hibernates when nearly or quite full grown. Among various foods that have been mentioned for it are raspberry, ivy, and knotgrass. Some years ago I had some moths emerge in the autumn; these resulted from caterpillars that I had reared from the egg on blackberry, and I remember that they showed a decided preference for the withered leaves left in the cage for them to pupate among. (Plate 34, Fig. 2.)

The moth is out in June and July, but individuals of a second generation seldom occur in the open. Although it occurs in woods, it is far more frequent in lanes and hedgerows. Common and generally distributed, from Worcester southwards, and to the east and west; northwards its range extends to Yorkshire, but it is local and uncommon.

In Scotland it is not scarce in some parts of Ayrshire, and has been recorded from Kircudbrightshire. Kane mentions it as fairly common in Ireland.

The range abroad extends to Amurland, Corea, and Japan. {88}

THE SMALL FAN-FOOT (_Zanclognatha grisealis_).

This species (Plate 35, Fig. 3) is somewhat similar to the last in colour, but it is smaller, and the submarginal line is rather curved, and runs to the tip of the fore wing. The caterpillar is obscurely greyish, with a pinkish tinge; three darker lines along the back, the central one broadest, but not distinct on the first three rings; head, brown, freckled with darker brown, plate of first ring of the body, blackish brown. It feeds on oak, and may be beaten from the foliage in August and September. Buckler states that this species passes the winter in the chrysalis state, and this has been confirmed by Plum. (Plate 34, Fig. 1; after Hofmann.)

The moths emerge in June and July, and may frequently be dislodged from trees, hedges, and undergrowth in the daytime. Pretty generally distributed over the southern half of England, plentiful in many parts, and widely spread over the northern half of the country. It is not scarce in some parts of Wales, but seems to be uncommon in Scotland, and has been recorded from the south only. In Ireland it has a wide range, but does not appear to be noted as common in any locality.

THE OLIVE CRESCENT (_Zanclognatha_ (_Sophronia_) _emortualis_).