The Moths of the British Isles Volume Ii Part 21

The caterpillar is bright green with three lines along the back, the central one edged on each side with dark green and the others wavy; the sides are blotched with pink or pale purple, or sometimes whitish and unmarked; head slightly notched on the crown, pale brown, marked with darker; fore legs tipped with pink. (Porritt, abridged.) In another form of the green coloration, the sides are pinkish with dark-brown oblique stripes; in a third the general colour is pale brown. The first brood of caterpillars feeds in June on sallow and alder, and a second in August and September.

The moth appears in May and June, and again in July and August; sometimes a third brood has been reared in captivity. It is less frequently met with than the other species of _Ephyra_, even in its most favourite haunts, such as the New Forest, in Hamps.h.i.+re. Other localities for it are Abbots Wood, St. Leonards and Tilgate Forests, and elsewhere in Suss.e.x; Redstone, Haslemere, and the Croydon districts, in Surrey; and in some Kentish woods.

It has also been taken rarely in Dorset, Devon (Tiverton), S. Wales, and Suffolk (Lowestoft).

BIRCH MOCHA (_Ephyra pendularia_).

The general colour of this species (Plate 53, Figs. 1, 2) is whitish, more or less powdered or suffused with grey; all the {140} wings have two blackish dotted cross lines and a greyish, sometimes reddish, central shade; not infrequently there is an interrupted grey or dark greyish band on the outer marginal area, and this margin itself is always dotted with black; the rings enclosing white dots on all the wings are usually black, but sometimes reddish. In some specimens having a reddish central shade, the general colour, especially of the fore wings, is delicately tinged with reddish. Var. _subroseata_, Woodforde (Fig. 3), a form of this species occurring in N. Staffs. is slaty grey, with the s.p.a.ce between the inner and outer cross lines of fore wings rosy pink or reddish.

The caterpillar is of a green colour with slender yellowish lines along the back and sides; between the rings the colour inclines to yellowish, and the head, legs, and prolegs are reddish brown. In another form the general colour is greyish, inclining to reddish, and the lines paler grey. It feeds on birch in June and July, and again in August and September. It is said to eat alder and oak. The chrysalis, which is similar in shape to that of the last species (Plate 51), is pale greyish-ochreous marked with dark brown.

The moth, which appears in May and June, and in some seasons in August, frequents woodlands and heaths where birch flourishes. Although fairly plentiful in most of the southern English counties, it appears to be rare in Dorset and Devon, and more or less so in the eastern counties. It is very local in Nottinghams.h.i.+re and Yorks.h.i.+re, but not uncommon at Strensall in the latter county; and although it has been recorded from c.u.mberland, it seems to be absent from Lancas.h.i.+re and Ches.h.i.+re. Doubtfully reported from North Northumberland, but found in Wells Wood, Roxburghs.h.i.+re, and appears to be widely distributed in Scotland, although generally scarce in that country. In Ireland it is local, but not uncommon sometimes.

The range abroad extends to Eastern Siberia.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 52.

1. MALLOW: _caterpillar_.

2. SHADED BROAD-BAR: _caterpillar_.

3. CHALK CARPET: _caterpillar_.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 53.

1, 2, 3. BIRCH MOCHA.

4, 5. DINGY MOCHA.

6, 9. THE MOCHA.

7, 8. FALSE MOCHA.

10-12. MAIDEN'S BLUSH.

13, 14. CLAY TRIPLE-LINES.

{141}

HYDRIOMENINae.

THE VESTAL (_Sterrha sacraria_).

The fore wings are pale yellow inclining to ochreous, and the front edge is more or less tinged with the same colour as that of the oblique stripe from the tips of the wings to the middle of the inner margin. In the type, this stripe is purplish-brown, but in ab. _labda_, Cramer, it is crimson, and in ab. _atrifasciaria_, Stefan, it is blackish. In ab. _sanguinaria_, Esper, the ground colour is pinkish. The hind wings are always white. (Plate 54, Figs. 1 and 2.)

From 1857, in which year the first specimen recorded as British was captured in September at Plymouth, to 1874, one or more examples of this interesting migrant seem to have occurred during the autumns of most years, in some part of the British Isles, but chiefly in the South of England. The years in which it was apparently unrecorded were 1860, 1861, 1870, 1872, and 1873. Since 1874 there have been very few records. In 1879 a male specimen was taken at Chingford, Ess.e.x, August 17th, and a female (ova obtained) on September 1st; a specimen occurred at Christchurch, Hants, October, 1893; a male was obtained in the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset, September, 1895, and one was secured at Timoleague, Co. Cork, in August, 1898; one was accounted for at Malvern, Worcesters.h.i.+re, in August, 1901; a female in fine condition was captured, as it flew in the suns.h.i.+ne over a Cambridges.h.i.+re meadow, in the autumn of 1906. Mr. H. M. Edelsten obtained a male specimen in South Devon, on September 12, 1908. The largest number of specimens appears to have been recorded in 1867, when nearly thirty were secured, and of these four were taken in May in the Isle of Wight, where also two females were captured on {142} August 14th and 16th, and one specimen on September 3rd. Six or seven occurred during August in Lancas.h.i.+re, and three in Perths.h.i.+re, also in August.

The long caterpillar is variable, but is usually some shade of green above, inclining to whitish beneath, and yellowish between the rings; the lines along the back are paler green, reddish, and olive green. It feeds on low-growing plants, such as knotgra.s.s and dock, and has been reared from the egg in August and September. If eggs were obtained in May it would be possible to raise two generations of moths, or, perhaps, even three, during the year.

The species is an inhabitant of Southern Europe and North Africa, and its range extends to India, Madeira, and the Canaries. In Central Europe, including the British Isles, its occurrence is always a more or less casual event.

NOTE.--It is possibly incorrect to a.s.sign this species to _Sterrha_, Hubner, which is adopted by some authors for the Acidaliid _ochraria_.

There is, however, considerable doubt among authorities about accepting the Hubnerian genus, but Herrich-Schaffer's genus _Sterrha_ appears to be valid and is here employed. If it has to give way, _Pseudosterrha_, Warren, or _Rhodometra_, Meyrick, may have to be used.

_Lythria purpuraria_ has long been reported as a British species, but there does not appear to be any very convincing record of its capture in the British Isles. It is widely distributed in Europe, and generally common. As it is a sun-loving insect, it could hardly escape detection if it occurred in any part of our isles. A note by Mr. V. R. Perkins, in _The Zoologist_ for 1861, p. 7449, should, however, not be overlooked. This refers to the capture, on June 18th, of two male specimens that were disturbed from broom, "not far from the city of Perth, by Mr. D. P. Morrison." {143}

LEAD BELLE (_Ortholitha plumbaria_).

Two ordinary examples of this species are shown on Plate 54, Figs. 4, 5.

The ground colour is greyish, ranging in one direction to whitish, and in the other to brownish; on the fore wings there are three cross lines, usually reddish-brown in colour, but sometimes dark brown inclining to blackish; the first of these lines is always slender and sometimes very indistinct; the second is often shaded on its outer edge, and the third on its inner edge, with brownish; occasionally the s.p.a.ce between the second and third is more or less dusky, especially on the lower half; sometimes these two lines approach each other very closely on the inner margin; the short oblique streak from the tip of the wing to the wavy submarginal line, and also the blackish central dot, are far more distinct in some specimens than in others.

The long stick-like caterpillar is pale ochreous brown, often striped with darker brown or blackish. It feeds on furze (_Ulex_) and broom (_Cytisus_), from August to April. The moth is out in May and June, earlier or later according to the season, and is to be found almost everywhere that its food plants flourish.

THE MALLOW (_Ortholitha cervinata_).

The fore wings of this species are normally ochreous brown, inclining to reddish, but sometimes the general colour is of a light chocolate tint, and in such specimens the slender white lines edging the dark markings, and the white wavy submarginal line, are more distinct; the central band-like marking occasionally tapers towards the inner margin. (Plate 54, Figs. 6, 7.)

The long caterpillar (figured from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich, Plate 52, Fig. 1) is of a greenish colour, inclining {144} to yellowish between the rings; there are indications of darker lines on the middle of the back and along the sides; the usual dots are whitish and the spiracles black; in some specimens the central line on the back is pinkish. It hatches from the egg in March or April, and feeds until June on mallow (_Malva sylvestris_); will also eat hollyhock.

The moth appears in September and October, and is sometimes seen in November. It hides under the mallow, and other plants around, and is not much inclined to move during the day, but it becomes active in the evening, and then flies pretty briskly. The occurrence of this species in any locality will, of course, largely depend upon the presence of the food plant, but it seems to be widely distributed throughout the greater part of the British Isles. It is, however, most frequent in the southern half of England.

SHADED BROAD-BAR (_Ortholitha limitata_).

To the earliest British entomologists this species (Plate 54, Figs. 8 and 9) was known by the English name given to it by Moses Harris, which is here revived. Haworth's popular name for the insect is the "Small Mallow," but this seems less suitable.

The fore wings are usually ochreous brown in colour, with a darker brown band, the inner area of which is often paler. The ground colour, however, varies considerably, in some examples tending to whity brown, and in others to a smoky hue. The whitish hind wings are generally more or less dusky clouded, chiefly from the base of the wing to the dark brown or blackish cross shade; but sometimes these wings are entirely blackish, with just a trace of a pale cross stripe.

The caterpillar is greyish, with a pinkish tinge and black dots; there are three lines along the back, the central one slaty blue, and the others ochreous, shaded on each side with pale brown; a pinkish irregular ridge runs low down along the sides. It feeds on clover, vetch, gra.s.s, etc., from September to June. (Plate 52, Fig. 2, after Hofmann.)

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 54.

1, 2. THE VESTAL.

3, 10. OBLIQUE-STRIPED.

4, 5. LEAD BELLE.

6, 7. MALLOW.

8, 9. SHADED BROAD-BAR.

11, 12. CHALK CARPET.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 55.

1, 2. DRAB LOOPER.

3. GREY CARPET.

4, 5. CHIMNEY SWEEPER.

6-8. TREBLE-BAR.

9, 10. MANCHESTER TREBLE-BAR.

{145} The moth is out in July and August, and is often common in fields and gra.s.sy places, generally throughout the greater part of the British Isles.

In ancient times it was dubbed the "Aurelian's Plague." The range abroad extends to Amurland.