Part 8

The species depicted on Plate 36, Fig. 8, from a continental specimen, is exceedingly rare in England, in fact, apart from the specimens mentioned by early authors, only three authentic British examples appear to be known. These are--one captured at Brighton, Sussex, in June, 1858; one in June, 1859, in Epping Forest, Essex; and one taken at sugar by the Rev. B. H. Binks, of Stonor, Henley-on-Thames, in July of the year last mentioned.

Stephens (1834), who gives a very unsatisfactory description {89} of the species, refers to two specimens, of which one was in his collection, from Devonshire. Wood's figure (768) of _emortualis_, in the Westwood edition of the _Index Entomologicus_, does not represent this species, but is far more like _Herminia derivalis_, Hubner.

Abroad, the range extends to Amurland.

THE LESSER BELLE (_Madopa salicalis_).

A portrait of this uncommon British moth will be found on Plate 35, Fig. 4. The greyish fore wings are crossed by three paler edged reddish-brown lines, the outer one running to the tip of the wing, and the inner one is sometimes faint or absent.

The caterpillar is said to feed in July and August on sallow and aspen, and is described by Hofmann as having only fourteen feet; green, inclining to greyish, in colour, with black spiracles, and the ring divisions yellowish. (Plate 39, Fig. 3; after Hofmann.)

The moth is out in May and June, and in its few known localities in England it is found in moist woods, hiding among grass and varied undergrowth.

Stephens (1834) wrote, "A very rare and local insect: I have specimens taken many years since in the neighbourhood of Bexley, in which vicinity I believe my friend Mr. Newman has captured it within these few years; it has also been found at Charlton." Since that time other localities in Kent have been mentioned, among which were Darenth Wood and West Wickham; the species was also noted from Birch wood, Surrey. A specimen was found in a gas lamp at Dulwich in 1858 by the late Mr. C. G. Barrett, and one was taken in Shooter's Hill wood, Kent, in June, 1859.

Between 1862 and 1868 specimens were obtained at Haslemere, Surrey, and near Sevenoaks, Kent. According to Barrett {90} it occurred at Petersfield, on the borders of Sussex and Hampshire, in 1877.

It has also been recorded from Dunham, Cheshire.

Abroad, its distribution extends to Amurland, Corea, and Japan.

THE DOTTED FAN-FOOT (_Herminia cribrumalis_ (_cribralis_)).

The fore wings of this species (Plate 35, Fig. 5) are whitish tinged with brown, inclining to purplish on the outer margins; beyond the blackish central dot there are two series of blackish dots crossing the wings, but these are not always distinct.

The caterpillar, which feeds on various marsh grasses, _Carex_, _Luzula_, etc., hatches from the egg in late summer, hibernates when about half-grown, and feeds up in the spring. It is pale greyish brown with fine yellowish freckles; there are three lines along the back; the central one dark, finely edged on each side with pale greyish, the outer ones pale; the usual dots are dusky and the spiracles are black.

The moth may be found in June and July in fens and marshes, where it hides among the herbage in the daytime, but is easily seen and netted when it takes wing at dusk, or sits on the sedges, etc., before or after flight.

It is most frequent in the fens of Cambridge and Norfolk, (Stalham), but occurs also in Suffolk; Essex (Shoeburyness); Kent (Deal); Surrey (recorded from marshes near Redhill, Dorking and Guildford); Sussex; Hants (bogs near Lyndhurst), and, according to Barrett, Somerset.

THE CLAY FAN-FOOT (_Herminia derivalis_).

This local species has the wings pretty much of the same shape as those of _S. emortualis_, and has been mistaken for that species; but the colour is ochreous-brown, and the cross lines {91} are dark brown. Its favourite haunts appear to be woods in Kent and Sussex, and in the last-named county it is perhaps most frequently met with in Abbots wood, Guestling, and Lewes. It has also been recorded from Essex (Colchester). (Plate 35, Fig. 6.)

The caterpillar feeds on dead oak leaves, chiefly those that have fallen to the ground. After hibernation it becomes full grown about June, and is then brown with a downy appearance; there are three faintly darker lines along the back, and the usual dots are dusky. (Plate 34, Fig. 3; after Hofmann.) The moth is out in June and July, and in the daytime may be put up from its lurking place among herbage in wood clearings, or netted as it flies in the gloaming. It is also attracted by sugar and light.

The species has been erroneously recorded from Chester and Barmouth (North Wales); and Mr. Carr informs me that he is not quite sure that a specimen he recorded from Dawlish, South Devon, was correctly identified. In the catalogue of Malvern Lepidoptera _H. derivalis_ is stated to be rather common in that district, but the occurrence of the species in the Midlands requires confirmation.

Abroad, the range extends to Amurland.

THE COMMON FAN-FOOT (_Pechipogon barbalis_).

The fore wings of the species shown on Plate 35, Fig. 7, are greyish brown, crossed by three darker lines, the outer one almost parallel with the hind margin, and edged with whitish.

The caterpillar feeds on the dead leaves of oak and birch, and has almost attained full growth when it retires for the winter. In the spring it has been known to eat birch catkins. The general colour is reddish ochreous, with diamond-shaped markings, forming a series along the back and two series along each side. {92}

The moth, which is out from late May until early July, frequents the more open parts of woods, and in the daytime may be induced to show itself by tapping the lower branches of trees or brushing the bushes and undergrowth as we pass along.

The species is widely distributed over England, from Staffordshire southwards, but it is apparently most frequently met with in some of the woods of Kent, Surrey, and Sussex.

The distribution abroad extends to Amurland.

THE BEAUTIFUL SNOUT (_Bomolocha fontis_).

The portraits of this species on Plate 35 show each sex in its most usual form: Fig. 8 representing the male, and Fig. 9 the female. The outer and inner areas of the fore wings are generally ashy grey, more or less brownish tinged, in the male; and the same parts are whitish in the female. Although some examples of the male have the outer and inner areas whitish, as in the female, they can be distinguished by their darker hind wings and the blackish central crescent thereon. A form of the female in which the large central patch of the fore wings is reddish brown has been named _rufescens_, Tutt; there may be males also of this form, but I have not seen any. In both sexes, the brown patch extends nearer to the inner margin in some specimens than in others, and not infrequently there is a spur from the lower edge of the patch to this margin.

The caterpillar is green, with darker green lines, one along the middle of the back, and two along each side; the usual raised dots are green or brownish, and each emits a fine hair; the head is green and rather glossy. It feeds on bilberry (_Vaccinium myrtillus_) in August and September. (Plate 37, Fig. 1; after Hofmann.) The moth, which is out in June and July, hides by day among heather, bilberry, etc., especially where these plants overhang the edges of banks or trenches. It may be found locally in most of the southern counties of England from Kent to Cornwall; also in Berks, Stafford, and Leicester. It has been recorded from Suffolk, Worcester, Cheshire (one at electric light, Chester, July, 1900), and North Wales. In Ireland it is widely distributed, and is not uncommon in Co. Kerry.

2 Pl. 34. 1. SMALL FANFOOT: _caterpillar_. 2. FANFOOT: _caterpillar_. 3. CLAY FAN-FOOT: _caterpillar_.

2 Pl. 35. 1, 2. FAN-FOOT. 3. SMALL FAN-FOOT. 4. LESSER BELLE. 5. DOTTED FAN-FOOT. 6. CLAY FAN-FOOT. 7. COMMON FAN-FOOT. 8, 9. BEAUTIFUL SNOUT. 10. THE SNOUT. 11, 12. BUTTONED SNOUT.

{93}

THE SNOUT (_Hypena proboscidalis_).

This species (Plate 35, Fig. 10) is more generally distributed and common than any other of the group. Wherever nettles grow in quantity there we may expect to find this moth in its season, that is, in June and July. In favourable years there is sometimes a second flight, on a small scale, in the autumn; this was the case in 1905.

The caterpillar is green, with raised dots, from each of which a brownish hair arises; the line along the middle of the back is dark, and those along the sides are yellowish; the head is ochreous brown. It feeds on nettles in May and June. (Plate 37, Fig. 3; after Hofmann.)

In Amurland, and some other parts of eastern Asia, the species is represented by the brown-sprinkled yellowish form, var. _deleta_, Staudinger.

THE BLOXWORTH SNOUT (_Hypena obsitalis_).

The fore wings of this species are brown, crossed by a number of darker lines and a thicker angulated line beyond the middle; the latter is outwardly edged with pale brown, chiefly towards the costa; some white dots on the veins represent the submarginal line, and below the tips of the wings there are some black streaks.

One example of this form of the species, which is a variable one, was taken by the Rev. O. Pickard, Cambridge, in {94} September, 1884. He found it sitting on a door-jamb in his garden at Bloxworth, Dorset.

The specimen shown on Plate 36, Fig. 9, hails from Mogador.

Abroad, the range of the species includes southern Europe, Asia Minor, Egypt, North-West Africa, Madeira, and the Canaries.

THE BUTTONED SNOUT (_Hypena rostralis_).

Two forms of this species are shown on Plate 35. The typical one is represented by Fig. 12, and Fig. 11 shows ab. _palpalis_, Tutt (?), Fabr. and Stephens. The front margin of the fore wings is often streaked with a pale colour, and in ab. _radiatalis_, Hubner (134), which is otherwise similar to the last-named form, this is pale or ochreous brown. A uniform pale greyish form has been named ab. _unicolor_, Tutt, and one almost entirely ochreous or greyish-ochreous, ab. _ochrea_, Tutt.

The caterpillar is green, with blackish dots; a darker line along the middle of the back, and white lines along the sides; head, yellowish green dotted with black. It feeds on hop (_Humulus lupulus_) in June and early July, and in the daytime may be found on the undersides of the leaves. (Plate 37, Fig. 2; after Hofmann.) The moth is out in August and September, and after hibernation reappears in the spring, and may be met with until June. It may be obtained at sugar, or at ivy bloom. Given the food plant, the species will probably be found in most of the counties of England from Worcester southwards, but its occurrence northwards appears to have been very rarely noted.

The range abroad extends to East Siberia.

THE WHITE-LINE SNOUT (_Hypenodes taenialis_ (_albistrigalis_)).

This species, and also the two immediately following, are so small in size, and so obscure in appearance, that they are {95} probably more often neglected than secured when met with. The moth under consideration, and of which the sexes are figured on Plate 36 (Figs. 3 [male] and 4 [female]) has brownish fore wings which are crossed by two rather irregular blackish lines, sometimes hardly traceable on the front margin; the outer line is edged externally with whitish, and the space between the lines is often somewhat darker; the black central mark is more or less X-shaped.

The caterpillar does not seem to have been noted in this country, and it is not well known on the continent. It is said to feed on the flowers, chiefly the withering ones, of heather and thyme, in August and September.

The moth is out in July and early August, sometimes in September. Its haunts are the edges of woods, hillsides, and sloping banks, where there is plenty of bushes and herbage to hide in. From such retreats it may be disturbed, but is more easily obtained at sugar, or honey dew, and sometimes at ivy bloom. It is widely distributed over the southern half of England; occurs in South Wales, and has been recorded from Cheshire and Yorks.

Abroad, the species is found in Holland, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Armenia, and the Canaries; also recorded from south Sweden and Corea.

THE PINION-STREAKED SNOUT (_Hypenodes costaestrigalis_).

Although somewhat similar in the general colour of the forewings, this species (Plate 36) may be distinguished from the preceding by the whitish dash from the tips of the wings and the black streak running inwards from it; this black streak is to be seen clearly in Fig. 6 [male], but owing to the darker ground colour is less distinct in Fig. 7 [female].

The caterpillar is shining purplish-brown, inclining to yellowish-brown below, with three pale brownish lines along {96} the back, the central one rather broad, and that on each side is edged below with dusky. What the food may be in a natural state has not been ascertained, but the caterpillars have been reared from the egg on a diet of thyme flowers, supplemented by the bodies of a few brothers or sisters. July and August.

The moth has been noted in June (end), July, August, September, and October; but whether there are two generations or only one in the year is not definitely known; the assumption is that there are two.

This species is partial to moist localities, and its favourite haunts are fens, mosses, or marshy heaths, and the outskirts of damp woods. It ranges over the greater part of England, and is found in Wales (Pembrokeshire). In Scotland it has been noted from Roxburghshire, and is locally common in Clydesdale. It is known to occur in Cork, Kerry, and Sligo, and probably is to be found in other parts of Ireland.

THE MARSH OBLIQUE-BARRED (_Tholomiges turfosalis_).

The species shown on Plate 36, Fig. 5, is much smaller than either of the last two. The narrow fore wings are whitish-ochreous, more or less thickly sprinkled with brown; the first of the three dark cross lines is often indistinct, the second is bent under the black central dot, and the third runs obliquely to the tip of the wing; the last two are each outwardly edged with whitish.

Nothing seems to be known of the early stages.

2 Pl. 36. 1. BEAUTIFUL HOOK-TIP. 2. WAVED BLACK. 3, 4. WHITE-LINE SNOUT. 5. MARSH OBLIQUE BARRED. 6, 7. PINION-STREAKED SNOUT. 8. OLIVE CRESCENT. 9. BLOXWORTH SNOUT.

2 Pl. 37. 1. BEAUTIFUL SNOUT: _caterpillar_. 2. BUTTONED SNOUT: _caterpillar_. 3. THE SNOUT: _caterpillar_.

{97} This species was first made known as an inhabitant of the British Isles by Doubleday, who described it as _Hypenodes humidalis_, in 1850, from specimens taken in Ireland by Weaver in 1848. In 1850 it was found plentifully on one of the Cheshire moors; and Harrison, in _The Zoologist_ for 1851, writes: "From the middle of July up to the 8th of August, it might be seen any fine evening, between the hours of six and eight, flying on most of our swamps [Keswick] in plenty." He goes on to state that the moths were so common that he boxed forty in less than an hour, and could have secured as many dozens. At the present day the species is to be found on boggy heaths and moors in Surrey, Hampshire, Dorset, and from Somerset through Gloucestershire into Berkshire, and thence northwards through Warwick and Staffordshire to Cheshire, Lancashire, and Cumberland. Barrett mentions Perthshire as a Scottish locality, and Kane states that it is common at Killarney in Ireland. When this species and its allies receive more of the collector's attention they may probably be found in many localities from which there are no records at present.

The range abroad extends to Amurland.

BREPHIDAE.

By some systematists this small group of moths is treated as a subfamily of the Geometridae. _Brephos_, however, which is typical of the family, does not seem to have any close affinities with the Noctuidae or with the Geometers, and is therefore better considered as apart from both those families. Meyrick includes _Brephos_ with _Aplasta_, _Erannis_, and _Baptria_, in his family Monocteniadae.

Only five species are known to inhabit the Palaearctic Region, and two of these occur in Britain.

THE ORANGE UNDERWING (_Brephos parthenias_).

The white markings of the fore wings vary a good deal in size; in some specimens, chiefly males, they are very small and confined to the front margin; in others, mainly females, they are much enlarged, and the central one is continued as a band across the wings. On the orange hind wings the blackish {98} central band is usually more or less complete, but sometimes it is nearly or quite absent above the blackish triangular patch on the inner margin. Occasionally, there is a yellow blotch at the anal angle, and frequently another on the costal area. Still more rarely the whole ground colour is yellow. (Figured on Plate 38, Figs. 1 [male] and 2 [female].) The caterpillar is green, with six white lines along the back, and white stripes along the sides. When young it feeds on the catkins of birch, and afterwards on the foliage. April to early June. (Plate 39, Fig. 1.)

The moth is out in March and April, and on sunny days the males may be seen flying, generally pretty high up, on the lee side of the birch trees growing on heaths; also in open spaces in or around birch woods. The females rest on the twigs, as also do the males when the sun is obscured. Both sexes have been found sitting on the ground in sunny glades.

The species is widely distributed over the southern and eastern counties, common in many parts; but its range extends through England to Durham, and it has been recorded from Wales. Although it does not seem to have been noted in Scotland south of Kincardineshire, it occurs on the east to Moray. Westmeath is the only Irish locality that has so far been mentioned.

Its distribution abroad extends to East Siberia and Amurland.

THE LIGHT ORANGE UNDERWING (_Brephos notha_).

Very similar to the last species, but rather smaller in size, and the fore wings are much less variegated. The antennae of the male of this species are bipectinated, whilst those of _parthenias_ are finely serrated. (Plate 38, Figs. 4 [male] and 5 [female].)

2 Pl. 38. 1, 2. ORANGE UNDERWING. 3. THE REST HARROW. 4, 5. LIGHT ORANGE UNDERWING. 6-8. GRASS EMERALD.

2 Pl. 39. 1. ORANGE UNDERWING: _caterpillar_. 2, 2a. LIGHT ORANGE UNDERWING: _caterpillar and chrysalis_. 3. LESSER BELLE: _caterpillar_.

{99} The caterpillar feeds in May and June on aspen, eating the foliage and hiding between two leaves drawn together. The head is greenish or greenish-brown, with three conspicuous black spots. Body, green, olive-green, or reddish; line along middle of the back darker green edged with white; two thin white lines on each side, and a whitish stripe along the spiracles. When mature it burrows into decayed bark or wood (virgin cork in confinement), and before changing to a reddish-brown chrysalis, it spins a thin covering of silk and woody particles over the mouth of the chamber. The caterpillar and the chrysalis are shown on Plate 39, Figs. 2 and 2a. Although the bulk of the moths emerge the following April, some have been known to remain until the following or even the third year. The males fly about aspen, but only in the sunshine; in other respects its habits are pretty much those of the last species.

The distribution of the species in England seems confined to two areas: a western one represented by Worcester, Gloucester, with Monmouth, Wales, Wilts, and Dorset; and an eastern one by Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Essex, Middlesex, Kent, Surrey, and Sussex. In Scotland only recorded from Moray.

The range abroad extends to Amurland.

GEOMETRIDAE.

Caterpillars of this family of moths, with very few exceptions, have only two pairs of claspers or prolegs; when there are more than four claspers, the extra ones are only rudimentary and therefore useless. In moving from place to place the caterpillar stretches out to its full length, first to one side and then to the other, as though measuring the distance. When a hold is secured with the true legs the body is arched and the claspers are brought up almost to the point held by the true legs; the latter are then thrust forward and the measuring business proceeds as before. Some kinds perform the looping manoeuvre very deliberately, but others at a quick rate. In common parlance among British entomologists the caterpillars are called {100} "geometers" or "loopers," but to our American confreres they are known as "measuring-worms" or "span-worms."

Most of the caterpillars feed openly on the foliage of trees, shrubs, or low-growing herbs, and the majority remain upon their respective plants during the day.

A large proportion of the moths may be obtained in the daytime, either by beating or otherwise disturbing the foliage or herbage among which they hide; several kinds rest on tree trunks, palings, rocks, walls, etc., where they are sometimes conspicuous, but more frequently not easy to distinguish from their surroundings. On the whole, members of this family are more available to the day collector than are those of the Noctuidae. Although several species occasionally visit the sugar patch, such species are, as a rule, obtained more readily and in larger numbers by other methods. Brilliant light has a great attraction for many of the moths, some are more often captured at gas or electric lamps than in any other way, and among these are the migratory species.

Staudinger divides the family into the following subfamilies:--

Geometrinae (= Geometridae, Meyrick). Acidaliinae (= Sterrhidae, Meyrick). Larentiinae (= Hydriomenidae, Meyrick). Orthostixinae (not represented in Britain). Boarmiinae (= Selidosemidae, Meyrick).

Except as regards the Larentiinae, I have largely adhered to Staudinger's arrangement of genera in each of the above subfamilies.

The typical genus of Larentiinae would be _Larentia_, Treit, to which something over two hundred species are referred by Staudinger, among which are upwards of sixty that occur in the British Isles. Following some of the later generic changes, I find that none of our species are left in _Larentia_, but a few fall into _Hydriomena_, Hubner, and therefore Hydriomeninae has been adopted for this subfamily. {101}

GEOMETRINAE.

THE REST HARROW (_Aplasta ononaria_).

This greyish-brown moth has two darker, sometimes reddish, cross lines on the fore wings, and one such line on the hind wings. It is presumably only to be regarded as an accidental visitor to England. The first record was of a specimen captured in the Warren at Folkestone in July, 1866, and since that year others were obtained in the same locality, but apparently not more than about half a dozen altogether. None seems to have been recorded for over thirty-five years. The specimen, whose portrait is shown on Plate 38, Fig. 3, was obtained from Dresden.

Abroad, the range includes Central and Southern Europe, Asia Minor, Syria, and Armenia.

THE GRASS EMERALD (_Pseudoterpna pruinata_).

When freshly emerged from the chrysalis, the species represented by Figs. 6 to 8 on Plate 38 is of a beautiful blue-green colour, but in course of time a greyish shade creeps over the wings. The dark cross lines vary in intensity; in some specimens well defined and blackish, in others very faint, and hardly discernible; occasionally, the space between the lines on the fore wings is dark shaded; the whitish submarginal line is not always present. This species is the _cythisaria_ of Schiffermiller, and the _cytisaria_ of other authors.