The Moths of the British Isles Volume Ii Part 28

NOTE.--It is to be regretted that the names by which this and the following species have been known for many years may have to be changed. It has been claimed that the reddish-banded form of _unidentaria_, Haworth, is identical with _ferrugata_ as figured by Clerck, _Icones_, Plate XI. Fig.

14, and is also referable to _corculata_, Hufnagel, both earlier names. If the red form referred to is adopted as the _ferrugata_ of Clerck, then that name will supersede _unidentaria_, Haworth, and the species now known as _ferrugata_, Clerck, will become _spadicearia_. Authorities, however, are not agreed upon this point, so the question still remains open.

RED TWIN-SPOT CARPET (_Coremia_ (_Ochyria_) _ferrugata_).

Five examples of this variable species are shown on Plate 72, Figs. 8-12.

The ground colour of the fore wings is usually greyish, more or less ochreous tinted, but sometimes inclining to whitish; the basal patch and the central band are reddish brown, the latter usually entire in southern specimens, but {183} frequently broken up (ab. _spadicearia_, Borkhausen), especially in northern examples. A bright, ochreous form, with the central band much streaked, occurring in Scotland, has been referred to ab.

_salicaria_, Haworth. Occasionally the central band is dark purplish. The hind wings are whitish, more or less suffused with smoky grey, and lined with the same; the outer margin is bordered with smoky grey.

The caterpillar is ochreous brown, mottled with greyish, and marked with pale diamonds and black spots on the back of the middle rings; there are wavy lines along the sides. It feeds in June and July, and also in September and October, on various low plants: knotgra.s.s, dandelion, bedstraw, garden marigold, and ground ivy (_Nepeta_) being especially useful in captivity. The moth is usually double-brooded, at least in the southern half of England, the first flight occurring in May and June, and the second in July and August.

The species is generally distributed, and often common, over the greater part of England and Wales, but somewhat local north of the Midlands and through Scotland to Aberdeen; widely spread in Ireland.

FLAME CARPET (_Coremia_ (_Ochyria_) _designata_).

The ground colour of this rather common woodland species (Plate 75, Figs.

4-6) is pale grey, varying to whitish, or sometimes faintly brownish tinged. The purple band on the fore wings is always broadly edged in front with black, but the black outer edging is irregular, and sometimes only distinct towards the front margin of the wings; it varies in width, and in tint, being, in some specimens, faint purplish grey.

The caterpillar is ochreous, inclining to greyish on the back, which is marked with whitish lines on the front rings, and with ochreous diamonds and black dots on the other rings; there is also a row of black spots low down along the sides; head, {184} brownish, freckled with black. It feeds, in June and July, probably, in a wild state, on some kind of "cress,"

growing in the moister parts of woods; in confinement, it will eat cabbage, horseradish, and wallflower, among other kinds of Cruciferae. There is a second brood in August and September. (Plate 74, Fig. 3, after Hofmann.)

The moth is out in May and June, and again in August. It is fond of resting on tree-trunks in woods, especially where the ground is moist, but it may also be beaten out of hedges and bushes. It is most plentiful in the southern half of England, but is spread over the greater part of the British Isles, including the Orkneys.

Abroad, its range extends to Eastern Siberia, Amurland, j.a.pan, and North America.

THE BEECH-GREEN CARPET (_Amoebe olivata_).

The species, depicted on Plate 75, Figs. 9, 10, when quite fresh has the fore wings greenish, and the central band more or less tinged with brown, in some specimens with blackish; the inner edge of the band is not so clearly defined as the outer, the latter being followed by a narrow whitish wavy band; a series of black dots edged with white represent the submarginal line. Hind wrings, smoky grey, with a pale band beyond the middle, and a pale line nearer the outer margin.

The roughened caterpillar (Plate 73, Fig. 1) is ochreous brown, mottled with darker brown, and lined with grey; the raised dots are black, each with a short bristle. It feeds at night on bedstraw (_Galium_), in the spring to May, after hibernation.

The moth is out, as a rule, in July and August, but sometimes much earlier.

I reared specimens during the last week in May, 1907, from caterpillars sent from Torquay by Mr. Walker. It {185} lurks among the vegetation growing on banks, and the hedgerows of lanes, etc.

In the south of England the species chiefly affects the coasts of Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall; but it occurs locally in and around beech woods of Kent, and is more frequent in those of Berks, Oxford, and Bucks. From Somerset it spreads through the western counties, including part of Wales, to Lancas.h.i.+re. It is, however, most common among the hills and rills from Yorks.h.i.+re northwards. In Scotland it is local in Roxburgh, widely distributed, and sometimes abundant in Clydesdale and throughout the Highlands to Sutherland. It has also been noted from Arran. Local in Ireland, but apparently abundant in some parts.

GREEN CARPET (_Amoebe viridaria_).

This species (Plate 75, Figs. 7, 8), also, has green fore wings, with a rather deeper green central band and basal patch. The former is limited by white lines marked with black, conspicuously so on the front and inner margins; there are also black marks on the front edge of the basal patch, and at the tips of the wings. The green colour quickly fades to a yellowish or sandy tint.

The wrinkled caterpillar is olive brown, with bristle-bearing black dots; the back has a dark central line, and is adorned with reddish V-shaped marks except on the end rings. It feeds in the spring, after hibernation, on bedstraw (_Galium_), but it is said to eat sorrel, dead-nettle (_Lamium_), etc.

The moth is out in June, earlier in the south, and later in the north. It hides among herbage during the day, and may occasionally be seen resting on tree-trunks, etc., then feeding just before dark about hedges, and on commons and heaths. Specimens have been noted in some years in September.

Except that it has not been detected in the Shetlands, the species seems to be found in all parts of the British Isles. {186}

STRIPED TWIN-SPOT CARPET (_Malenydris salicata_).

Portraits of a male and a female of this species will be found on Plate 75, Figs. 11 [male] and 12 [female]. The fore wings are greyish white, crossed by several darker grey wavy lines; the central band is rather darker, and in some specimens there is also a darker basal patch. In an almost unicolorous form the fore wings are wholly suffused with darker; Kane, who states that such specimens occur with the paler form in Ireland, refers the aberration to _unicolorata_, Gregson.

The caterpillar is brownish, with three whitish lines along the back, and a pinkish line low down along the sides. It feeds, at night, on bedstraw (_Galium_), in September and October, but may be found on the plants in the daytime. (Plate 73, Fig. 2, after Hofmann.)

The moth is out in May and June, and in some localities again in August and September. It is fond of sitting on rocks, and also on tree-trunks.

Except that it has been found, not infrequently, on Dartmoor and Exmoor, in Devon, and has also been once noted from Dorset, the species in England is chiefly an inhabitant of the northern counties. It occurs in Wales, but almost exclusively in the north. In Scotland it appears to be widely distributed throughout; and in Ireland it occurs locally in all four provinces.

MOTTLED GREY (_Malenydris multistrigaria_).

The fore wings in the typical form of this species are grey, with a slight brownish tinge; basal patch, central band, and shade before the whitish submarginal line, sometimes darker. (Plate 77, Figs. 1 [male], 2 [female].) In some specimens the central band is very much darker (ab. _virgata_, Tutt); and in some parts of {187} south-west Yorks.h.i.+re a blackish form (ab.

_nubilata_, Tutt) is not uncommon. (Plate 77, Fig. 3.)

The caterpillar is ochreous grey, with three brownish lines along the back, and two other lines on each side, the upper one yellowish, wavy, and edged above with dusky. It feeds on bedstraw (_Galium_) in May and June. (Plate 73, Fig. 3.)

The moth is out in March and April, and keeps pretty much to the shelter afforded by its food plant or other herbage around in its favourite haunts, which are damp woodlands, heaths, and mosses. Occasionally, however, it may be seen on the lower parts of fences, tree-trunks, rocks, etc. About dusk it may be found sitting on gra.s.s and other vegetation, and at such times is not much disposed to fly away from the collector.

Pretty generally distributed throughout the British Isles, including the Orkneys.

TWIN-SPOT CARPET (_Malenydris didymata_).

The fore wings in the male are pale greyish, more or less tinged with ochreous brown, and crossed by a dark grey, inclining to blackish, central band; the base of the wings is often banded with dark grey, as also is the outer marginal area; on the latter, above the middle, are twin black spots, and there is a black spot or streak above nearer the tip of the wing. The female is smaller, paler, often whitish, and sometimes pale ochreous; the latter form is prevalent in the Shetlands; the central band is the only distinct cross marking in this s.e.x. On the moorlands in the north of England a blackish form of the male occurs (ab. _nigra_, Prout), and this is very similar to ab. _nubilata_ of the previous species; ab.

_ochroleucata_, Aurivillius, is uniformly greyish brown, with a white submarginal line, and I have a specimen near this from Durham.

The caterpillar is green, inclining to yellowish on the back, {188} and to pinkish on the sides; three lines along the side, the central one dark green, and the others whitish. It feeds on primrose, red campion (_Lychnis diurna_), bilberry, etc., as well as on the flowers of coa.r.s.e gra.s.ses; in North Devon I found it in profusion at night, on the blossoms of a wood-rush (_Luzula_), growing in a sheltered wood near the sea. April and May, later perhaps in the north. (Plate 77, Figs. 4-6 [male], 7-9 [female].)

The moth is out in July and August, and is common in almost every part of the British Isles.

NOVEMBER MOTH (_Oporabia_ (_Epirrita_) _dilutata_).

The more usual forms of this common autumnal species are those represented by Figs. 1 and 2, Plate 78. Fig. 3 is a small example of the pale form, ab.

_christyi_, Prout, which, in many respects, is very similar to _autumnata_, Guenee, a form of the next species. Fig. 4 is a female approaching ab.

_obscurata_, Staud., and Fig. 5 shows the uniformly blackish ab. _melana_, Prout. In some pale-coloured specimens the only conspicuous marking is a broad central band which is almost black in colour (ab. _latifasciata_, Prout).

The eggs (Plate 76, Fig. 1a) were yellowish when laid, but soon changed to crimson red.

The caterpillar is green, inclining to whitish below, often marked, more or less distinctly, with purplish red, as a central line, or series of spots, along the back, and sometimes as bands on the ring division. It feeds on the foliage of trees, such as elm, oak, birch, etc., also on fallow, hawthorn, sloe, apple, plum, and other fruit trees. April to June. (Plate 76, Fig. 1.)

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 74.

1. WATER CARPET: _caterpillar_.

2. DARK-BARRED TWIN-SPOT CARPET: _caterpillar_.

3. FLAME CARPET: _caterpillar_.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 75.

1-3. DARK-BARRED TWIN-SPOT CARPET.

4-6. FLAME CARPET.

7, 8. GREEN CARPET.