The Moths of the British Isles Volume Ii Part 22

_Ortholitha moeniata._--Except that one specimen was said to have been taken near Baron Wood, Carlisle, some years prior to 1855; and another, in 1866, near York; there is no evidence that this species is an inhabitant of the British Isles.

CHALK CARPET (_Ortholitha bipunctaria_).

In this species (Plate 54, Figs. 11 and 12) the ground colour of the fore wings is white (inclining to bluish-white in some specimens), more or less stippled and scored with greyish brown; the cross band is darker grey brown, and there are two black dots placed :-wise (sometimes united) in the paler central s.p.a.ce of the band. Hind wings, smoky grey, with a darker shade across the middle, and a pale one parallel with the outer margin. In some rare instances, the ground colour of the fore wings is entirely white, and the band exceedingly dark; but specimens with the general colour, slaty-black and the band and basal patch grey, are extremely rare; Barrett mentions one such example, from Box Hill, Surrey, in Mr. R. Adkin's collection.

The caterpillar is whity brown, more or less tinged with pink, dotted with black, and lined with grey along the back, the sides, and the under surface. It feeds, at night, on clover and trefoils, from September to June. (Plate 52, Fig. 3, after Hofmann.) The moth is out in July and August, and in suitable localities, such as chalk downs, lime-stone hills, etc., is generally plentiful {146} throughout England and South Wales. It does not appear to have been noted in Ireland, or in Scotland, except that it has been recorded from the Isle of Arran.

OBLIQUE STRIPED (_Mesotype virgata_).

The s.e.xes of this species are shown on Plate 54, Figs. 3 [male], 10 [female]. The fore wings are greyish, inclining to whitish or to brownish, with two white-edged oblique bands, which in the lighter coloured specimens are broad and show up conspicuously, but in the darker are narrower and much less distinct.

The caterpillar is brownish, but varies in tint, in some cases inclining to pink; there are three lines along the back, the central one dark green or brown, and the others more or less yellowish; a blackish or dark grey line low down along the sides. It feeds on yellow bedstraw (_Galium verum_), and may be reared on other kinds of _Galium._ There are two broods, one in May and June, and the other in August and September.

The moth, which frequents sand-hills and shelving banks by the seaside, is found resting upon its food plant or other vegetation around, in May and June, and again in July and August.

The species has a wide distribution, and occurs in suitable localities around the coasts of England (except the north-east), and on the west coast of Wales. It also inhabits the Breck sand district of Norfolk and Suffolk, and has been found on chalk downs and hills in the south of England, and in Cambridges.h.i.+re and Berks.h.i.+re. In Ireland, it has been recorded from the counties of Down and Kerry.

Abroad, its distribution spreads to Eastern Siberia and Amurland.

DRAB LOOPER (_Minoa murinata_).

The grey brown or ochreous brown wings of this delicate, but unattractive little moth (Plate 55, Figs. 1 and 2), are silky in {147} texture. After it has flown for a time, the wings become paler, and lose most of their sheen.

The thick-set, roughish caterpillar is reddish brown, dotted with pale ochreous; there is a slender white line along the middle of the back, and black oblique streaks on the sides; a blackish wavy line along the area of the spiracles is bordered below with yellowish. It feeds on wood spurge (_Euphorbia amygdaloides_) and also, I have reason to believe, on petty spurge (_E. peplus_), a rather common weed in some gardens, from July to September. In forward seasons the moth, which flies in the suns.h.i.+ne, has been noted in late April, but May and June are the best months for it. In the New Forest, and elsewhere, it has occurred in August. On one occasion I remember that, in a garden at Brockenhurst, several specimens were taken in the autumn, and it was supposed that they resulted from eggs laid by a damaged female that had been captured in the woods and turned out into said garden. It has been taken at gas lamps, at Dorking among other places.

The species has been recorded from Pembrokes.h.i.+re, Glamorgans.h.i.+re, and Monmouth, in South Wales; and it appears to be found in most of the counties of England southwards from Worcester, Hereford, Gloucester, Oxford, and Bucks. Except that it has been doubtfully recorded from Stowmarket, Suffolk, it does not seem to be found in the eastern counties; and I cannot find that it has been noted from Devon or Cornwall.

The range abroad extends to Amurland.

CHIMNEY-SWEEPER (_Odezia atrata_).

This white-tipped but otherwise plain black moth (Plate 55, Figs. 4 [male], 5 [female]) is very constant, and except that specimens after having been on the wing for a day or two become sooty brown, there is nothing much to note. It is the fringe at the tip of the {148} fore wings rather than the tip itself that is white, and this sometimes extends for a short distance along the fringe of the outer margin. Haworth's English name for this insect (his _chaerophyllata_) was "The Looping Chimney Sweeper" in reference to its caterpillar, and to distinguish it from his "Chimney Sweeper,"

"Chimney Sweeper's Boy," and other oddities in the vernacular among the Psychids.

The caterpillar, which feeds in the spring on flowers of the earth-nut (_Conopodium denudatum_, or _Bunium flexuosum_), is green, and paler on the sides than on the back; there are three darker green lines along the back, the central one merging into reddish on the last ring, and the others narrowly edged on each side with white; a whitish stripe runs below the red spiracles.

The moth is a sun lover, and flits about flowers growing among or near its food plant, in June and July.

The species is widely distributed over England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland, but it does not appear to have been noted north of Moray in the last-named country. It is always very local, frequents moist fields, borders of woods, and even waysides.

The range abroad extends to Amurland.

THE GREY CARPET (_Lithostege griseata_).

The more or less greyish moth, shown on Plate 55, Fig. 3, varies in tint, some specimens being decidedly more grey than others. At the apex of the fore wings is a short blackish dash, and from this a curved dusky line may be traced to the inner margin. The female has the wings rather shorter than those of the male.

The slender, dark-lined, greenish caterpillar feeds on the seed pods of flixweed (_Sisymbrium_), and treacle mustard (_Erysimum_), in July and August. When reared in captivity it will thrive on other kinds of Cruciferae. {149}

The moth is out in June, sometimes late May; it is exceedingly local in Britain, and only occurs in the Breck district, where it was first met with about fifty years ago. Tuddenham, in Suffolk, is a noted locality, as also is Thetford, in Norfolk.

THE TREBLE-BAR (_Anaitis plagiata_).

This is a greyish white species, of which specimens of both generations are shown on Plate 55, Figs. 6 [male], 7 [female] (1st generation), Fig. 8 [male] (2nd generation). The chief variation is in the cross central bars of the fore wings, which are sometimes much widened, and occasionally joined from the middle to the inner margin; or the s.p.a.ce between these two bars is more or less filled up with dark grey. On the other hand, the bars are sometimes very faint, but such aberrations are perhaps most frequent in the second generation, which consists of smaller specimens.

The long caterpillar is brown, inclining to reddish or to greenish, with several darker and paler lines on the back and a yellowish line low down along the sides. It feeds on St. John's wort (_Hyperic.u.m_) in June and July; the caterpillars, hatching in the autumn, are not mature until the following April.

Usually there are two generations of the moth, the first appearing in May and June, and the second in August and September. The species is pretty generally distributed over the British Isles, extending to the Hebrides and the Orkneys; and will probably be found in all localities where its food plant occurs freely. It affects cliffs and sandhills by the sea, rough places on chalk slopes, and sometimes the moths fly up in numbers as we walk over the herbage in such spots.

The range abroad extends to Western India and j.a.pan. {150}

MANCHESTER TREBLE-BAR (_Carsia paludata_).

In general character this species somewhat resembles that last considered.

It is, however, much smaller, and there are reddish clouds on the outer marginal area.

This reddish shading is more or less absent in the type, which is otherwise less variegated than var. _imbutata_, the form to which our British specimens are almost entirely referable. (Plate 55, Figs. 9 and 10.)

The caterpillar is of somewhat stoutish build, and reddish brown in colour; three darker lines along the back, and yellow stripe low down along the sides, the latter edged above with black on the front three rings, and blotched with pinkish on the middle rings; the head is rather paler than the body, and the dots on the latter are yellow. It feeds on cowberry (_Vaccinium vitis-idaea_) and cranberry (_V. oxycoccos_), and seems to have a preference for the flowers of these plants: April to June.

The moth is out in July and August among the _Vaccinium_ in its swampy haunts on the heaths and moors of the north of England, and Scotland, even to the Shetlands. McArthur took a specimen in the Isle of Lewis in 1901. It also occurs in Ireland. In England it does not seem to have been noted south of Staffords.h.i.+re.

The range abroad extends to Eastern Siberia and Amurland.

THE STREAK (_Chesias spartiata_).

The most striking features of this s.h.i.+ning brownish coloured species are the oval-shaped marks on the disk of the fore wings, and the long whitish streak running to the tips of the wings. (Plate 57, Figs. 3 [male], 4 [female].)

The long caterpillar (Plate 56, Fig. 2) is deep green, with a darker line along the middle of the back, and whitish lines along the sides and the under surface; the spiracles are reddish, encircled with black, and the head is flecked with brown. It feeds in the spring on broom (_Cytisus scoparius_).

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 56.

1, 1a. BROOM-TIP: _caterpillar and chrysalis_.

2, 2a. STREAK: _egg (enlarged) and caterpillar_.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 57.

1, 2. THE BROOM-TIP.

3, 4. THE STREAK.

5, 6. BARRED TOOTH-STRIPED.

7, 8. EARLY TOOTH-STRIPED.

9, 10. THE SERAPHIM.

{151} The moth is out in September and October, and secretes itself during the day, but may be found at night flying about the broom bushes for a short time, and later on it sits upon the twigs. It occurs in almost every part of the British Isles where the food plant of the caterpillar is well established.

BROOM-TIP (_Chesias rufata_).

A noticeable character in this glossy, greyish moth (Plate 57, Figs. 1 [male], 2 [female]) is the black mark on the upper part of the second cross line of the fore wings (which probably suggested the English name "Chevron"