The Moths of the British Isles Volume Ii Part 25

The caterpillar is green, inclining to yellowish, and more or less tinged with pinkish, especially on the sides; three lines on the back, the central one reddish, the others whitish; a central line along the pinkish spiracles. It feeds at night on yellow balsam (_Impatiens noli-me-tangere_), preferring the flowers, {164} seeds, and young foliage, and rests by day on the undersides of the leaves: September and October.

(Plate 64, Fig. 2, after Hofmann.)

The moth is out in July and August, and, of course, will only be found in localities where the balsam flourishes; these are very limited, and in Britain are confined to Westmorland and the northern border of Lancas.h.i.+re, and North Wales. The species was first introduced as British in 1861, when the late Henry Doubleday recorded the capture of three specimens in August, 1856, on the border of one of the lakes in Westmorland, by his friend the late Thomas H. Allis. It seems that other specimens had been taken at the same time, but these pa.s.sed into collections as the "second brood of _silacearia_." The caterpillar is said to have been found in North Wales, but has been more frequently obtained in the English Lake District.

The range abroad extends to Eastern Siberia, Amurland, Corea, and j.a.pan; but in the three last-named countries it is chiefly represented by var.

_aerosa_, b.u.t.t., a large form.

THE PHOENIX (_Lygris prunata_).

The English name here retained was given to this species (Plate 63, Figs. 1 [male], 2 [female]) by Harris, in 1775, but in 1782 he changed it to "Clouded Carpet."

In ground colour the fore wings are pale brown, more or less clouded with darker brown, or with reddish-brown; the basal patch, central band, and blotch on outer margin below the tip of the wing, are all chocolate brown clouded with blackish and edged with white. Hind wings, whitish, suffused with smoky grey, except on front area; three dusky whitish-edged wavy lines, inclining to blackish on the inner margin. The egg (Plate 67, Fig.

3) is yellowish when laid, and then changes to purplish with a whitish bloom.

The caterpillar is green, varying to brownish; along the {165} middle of the back is a series of purplish-edged, brown-centred, whitish, triangular markings; the third ring is swollen, and has a black collar. It feeds at night on the foliage of red and black currant, also on gooseberry, and may be found in April and May, earlier or later according to season, sitting by day upon the bushes.

The moth flies in July and August, and occurs in gardens, but is said to be partial to sloe bushes and hedges. It is always more or less local, although it is distributed over the greater part of the British Isles.

This species occurs in the Northern United States of America.

THE CHEVRON (_Lygris testata_).

The fore wings of this rather variable species (Plate 63, Figs. 5-7) are yellowish or reddish grey, with a darker basal patch and central band; a reddish blotch below the tip of the wing is edged with white, and the central band is also outwardly edged with white. Hind wings, whitish, with two lines, and dusky hind marginal border, the latter sometimes inclining to reddish. Occasionally, the fore wings are entirely pale ochreous, and the basal patch and the central band only very slightly darker, but the limiting lines are reddish, and the patch under the tip of the wing is bright orange red. Var. _insulicola_, Staud., from the isles of Scotland, has the fore wings rather narrower, and suffused with purplish brown or deep violet grey; the hind wings are smoky grey. The female is usually smaller than the male, and often more yellow in colour.

Eggs, whitish brown, mottled with darker. The early stages are shown on Plate 67, Figs. 2-2b.

The long caterpillar is pale yellowish brown, with three lines along the back, the central one dark brown, and most distinct at each end; the others are white, irregularly shaded above {166} with reddish; another white line along the region of the spiracles. It feeds, in May or June (earlier or later in some seasons), on sallow and birch. The moth is out in July and August, and frequents heaths and bogs more especially, but is also found in or around woods, and I have captured male specimens as they flew along hedgerows bordering fields, at dusk, in Middles.e.x. The female is rarely seen on the wing.

The species, which ranges through Central and Northern Europe to the Ural and Altai, is generally distributed throughout the British Isles; it is found also in the Atlantic States of America.

NORTHERN SPINACH (_Lygris populata_).

The fore wings are yellow, with a reddish or purplish-brown basal patch, central band, and small patch on outer margin below tip of the wing, the central band more or less clouded or mottled with yellow. Hind wings, whitish, tinged with yellow. The female is usually smaller, the colour generally paler, and the markings frequently only represented by cross lines. Specimens from the Isle of Arran have the ground colour of fore wings more or less dappled with brown of the same tint as that of the central band and other markings; the hind wings are tinged with a smoky hue. In other parts of Scotland the brown colour becomes more and more general, until the fore wings are uniformly brown, and the hind wings dusky. On the mountains in the north nearly black specimens occur, and these seem to be referable to ab. _musauaria_, Freyer. (Plate 63, Figs.

8-10.)

The long caterpillar is variable in general colour, brown, mottled with greyish, pale grey, reddish brown, or yellowish green; all have darker or whitish lines along the back, and whitish or pinkish triangles or X-marks.

It feeds, in May and June (earlier in some localities, and later in others), on bilberry, crowberry, and sallow; it may also be reared on willow.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 64.

1. DARK UMBER: _caterpillar_.

2. NETTED CARPET: _caterpillar_.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 65.

1, 2. THE SPINACH.

3-5. BARRED STRAW.

6, 7. BARRED YELLOW.

8-10. BROKEN-BARRED CARPET.

{167}

The moth is out in July and August, and may be found on the leaves and among the sprays of _Vaccinium myrtillus_ growing in woodlands (especially the more ancient), bogs, and moorlands.

The species is widely spread, and generally abundant in suitable districts, over the greater part of the British Isles; but it seems to be more or less casual in England south of the Midlands, although its range runs through Gloucesters.h.i.+re and Somerset into Devon. In the last-named county it sometimes swarms at Martinhoe, on the edge of Exmoor.

The distribution abroad includes Eastern Siberia, Amurland, Labrador, and North America.

THE SPINACH (_Lygris a.s.sociata_).

The fore wings are pale ochreous, more or less clouded with darker; three brownish cross lines. Hind wings, paler, with indication of cross lines on the inner margin. Fringes of all the wings chequered with brown, most distinct on the fore wings. (Plate 65, Figs. 1, 2.)

The long caterpillar is green, inclining to yellowish; three lines along the back, the central one dark green and the others whitish; there is also a whitish line low down along the sides. It feeds at night, in May and June, on currant (_Ribes rubrum_ and _R. nigrum_), and may be found on the underside of a leaf in the daytime. (Figured on Plate 67, Fig. 1, from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich.)

During July and August the moth flies in the evening, and after dark it often comes to any bright illumination. It is essentially a garden insect, and where currant bushes are there also spinach is often grown; hence it was probably connected with the vegetable rather than the fruit when Haworth named it _spinachiata_. The species seems to be found more or less frequently in suitable spots through England. In Wales it has {168} been recorded from Glamorgans.h.i.+re, and from Rhyl, Flints.h.i.+re; in Scotland, Renton states that it is common in Roxburgh gardens; and it is also noted from Paisley. It has been doubtfully recorded from Ireland.

The range abroad extends to Amurland.

BARRED STRAW (_Cidaria pyraliata_).

In certain respects this species (Plate 65, Figs. 3-5) is not unlike that last referred to. The fore wings are yellowish straw-colour, the cross lines are brownish, but the central two are closer together, especially on the inner margin, than they are in _a.s.sociata_, and are straightly oblique from the angle, or elbow, below the front margin; there is often a line of brownish dots between the second line and the outer margin, and the fringes are brown, not chequered. Occasionally there are darker clouds on the second line, at the angle, and such clouds sometimes appear in the central s.p.a.ce. Not infrequently the markings are very faint. Staudinger and others refer this species to _dotata_, L., but there seems to be some doubt in the matter.

The caterpillar feeds, in April and May, on the common cleavers or goose-gra.s.s (_Galium aparine_) of our hedgerows, etc., but it also eats _G.

mollugo_ and other kinds of bedstraw. It is to be found low down on the stems.

The moth may be disturbed from the herbage along hedges and ditches in lanes, and the borders of woods, but it seems most partial to the former.

The species is generally distributed, and often plentiful, in the southern half of England; but although widely spread in the northern half, it is only common locally. It occurs in Wales, both North and South; is common in Roxburghs.h.i.+re and Clydesdale, and is said to be found on the Aberdeens.h.i.+re coast and in West Ross. In Ireland it is widely distributed, {169} and sometimes abundant; but more frequent on the coast than inland.

The distribution abroad includes Eastern Siberia and Amurland.

BARRED YELLOW (_Cidaria fulvata_).

This very pretty, and most distinct, little species (Plate 65, Figs. 6, 7) does not vary very greatly; there is certainly some modification in the general colour, and in that of the markings, but in both it is only a matter of tint.

The caterpillar is somewhat wrinkled, and in colour is green, with three greyish lines along the back, the central one double; the ring divisions are yellow, and there is a yellow line low-down along the sides. It feeds at night, in May and June, on the leaves of wild rose, and does not object to the garden kinds. (Plate 69, Fig. 3, after Hofmann.)

The moth is out in June and July. It hides by day under leaves in hedges, and although not often induced to get on the wing at that time, the male commences its evening flight at an early hour. It is generally a common species in England and Wales; it occurs here and there through Scotland, up to the Orkneys; and although somewhat local, it is common enough, where found, in Ireland.

BROKEN-BARRED CARPET (_Cidaria corylata_).

The fore wings have an olive-brown basal patch and central band, both are edged with white, wavy lines, and the band is contracted below the middle.

(Plate 65, Fig. 9), and often broken at this point (Fig. 10); the inner marginal portion sometimes very small; the s.p.a.ce between the basal patch and central band is pale brown, and so also is the outer marginal area; but there are dark clouds and white marks beyond the {170} white wavy submarginal line. Variable in tint and in marking, the variety generally known as _albocrenata_, Curtis (Plate 65, Fig. 8), is perhaps most frequent in Perths.h.i.+re and Sutherland. Two other examples of the Scottish form, which Staudinger has named _effusaria_, are depicted on Plate 61, Figs. 8, 9.

The caterpillar is green, inclining to yellowish; three stripes on the back, the central one reddish brown and broad, but only distinct at each end, the other paler green; spiracles, white, placed in a reddish-brown stripe, which is sometimes broken up. It feeds on sloe, birch, oak, and the foliage of other trees, and may be found from July to September, and even later.