The Moths of the British Isles Volume Ii Part 31

It is widely distributed, and often common in places, throughout Scotland.

In Ireland it is local, but has occurred plentifully in some of its haunts in that country; Kane states that var. _subhastata_ has not been noted.

The range abroad spreads to Amurland, China, Iceland, Labrador, and North America.

BEAUTIFUL CARPET (_Mesoleuca albicillata_).

The English name of this species (Plate 82, Fig. 13) is exceedingly appropriate; few of our native moths exhibit such a pleasing combination of colour and marking. It varies but very little in a general way, but a specimen taken in York some years ago has the fore wings dark leaden grey instead of creamy white (ab. _suffusa_, Carrington), and very rarely the ground colour inclines to yellow.

The stoutish caterpillar (Plate 76, Fig. 2) is green with reddish marks along the back; a white line low down along the sides is edged below with purplish red on the first three rings; the last ring, and the claspers, tinged with purplish red. It feeds {203} at night on bramble and raspberry, in August and September, occasionally earlier or later. In the daytime it rests on the underside of a leaf. When full grown it forms a coc.o.o.n just under the surface of the soil, or among rubbish (in the cage), and therein changes to a dark reddish-brown chrysalis (Plate 76, Fig. 2a).

The moth is out in June, sometimes in late May, and occasionally there seems to be a few individuals about in August. The species is a denizen of the woodlands, and is generally to be found in the more open parts of woods where its food plants are well established. It is widely distributed over England and Wales, but most frequent in the south of the former country. In Scotland, it is local in Roxburghs.h.i.+re and Wigtowns.h.i.+re; and it occurs in many parts of Ireland. The range abroad extends to Amurland and j.a.pan.

THE PURPLE BAR (_Mesoleuca ocellata_).

The whitish fore wings of this species (Plate 82, Fig. 12) are often tinged with pale ochreous brown on the lower two-thirds of the outer marginal area, and this tint sometimes invades the central portion of the bluish-black central band. Rarely the ground colour is almost entirely white, and the central band is very slender (ab. _coarctata_, Prout), and perhaps rather more frequently the band is completely severed below the middle.

The caterpillar, which feeds at night on bedstraw (_Galium mollugo_ and _G.

verum_), is pale ochreous brown, or pale pinkish brown, netted with darker brown; on the back are a reddish ochreous central line, and some reddish edged pale V-marks: June and July, and sometimes again in the autumn.

The moth is out in June and early July, occasionally in late May in some southern localities. Individuals of a second emergence sometimes appear in August and September. It {204} rests by day on tree-trunks or in hedges, and flies at night. Widely distributed over the British Isles, but, except perhaps in the highlands of Scotland, not very common.

BLUE-BORDERED CARPET (_Mesoleuca bicolorata_).

The more usual form of this pretty little species is shown on Plate 82, Figs. 3 and 6. In the type the central band is only represented by a spot on the front margin of the fore wings; in ab._parvula_, Retz = _rubiginata_, Hubner, there is also a portion of the band showing on the inner margin. Ab. _plumbata_, Curtis, from Scotland has the central band entire and the ground colour inclining to creamy white. In ab. _fumosa_, Prout, the usual white parts of the wing are smoky or dark lead colour (Fig. 9). Barrett mentions a form with all the wings smoothly smoky black; markings of the fore wings olive brown, margined with slender stripes of smoky white.

The long, thin, caterpillar is green, with a darker stripe along the back, and a yellowish green stripe on each side; two points on the last ring. It feeds on alder, birch, sloe, and crab; also in orchards and gardens on plum and apple: April to June.

The moth is out in July and August. It appears to occur most freely in districts where alder is plentiful, but it is not uncommon in country lanes, especially where these are rather moist. It is one of the earliest Geometrid moths to get on the wing, as it is generally active well before dark. Decidedly more common in some districts than in others, but it may be said to be generally distributed.

The range abroad extends to Eastern Siberia, Amurland, and j.a.pan, but the ab._fumosa_ is only known from Britain.

PRETTY CHALK CARPET (_Melanthia procellata_).

From almost any well-grown hedgerow, in which traveller's joy, or old-man's beard (_Clematis vitalba_) is plentiful, throughout the southern counties of England, this species (Plate 82, Fig. 14) may be disturbed by the beating stick. It is generally to be met with in July and early August, but may be obtained in forward seasons, or in sheltered localities, at the end of June.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 82.

1, 2. SHARP-ANGLED CARPET.

3, 6, 9. BLUE-BORDERED CARPET.

4, 5. CLOAKED CARPET.

7, 8, 10, 11. ARGENT AND SABLE.

12. PURPLE BAR.

13. BEAUTIFUL CARPET.

14. PRETTY CHALK CARPET.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 83.

1, 2. RIVULET.

3, 6. SMALL RIVULET.

4, 5. BARRED RIVULET.

9, 12. HEATH RIVULET.

10, 11, 13, 14. GRa.s.s RIVULET.

7, 8. PRETTY PINION.

{205} On the fore wings the dark, slender and wavy cross lines are more distinct in some specimens than in others, and occasionally the blackish blotch on the front margin is traversed by a white line, sometimes by two lines.

The caterpillar is pale ochreous brown, with three darker brown lines along the back, the central one slender, spotted with black on the middle rings; usual dots, black, encircled with white; head, marked with a reddish brown triangle. It feeds on _Clematis_ in August and September.

Distribution of the species abroad extends to Amurland, and in j.a.pan, Corea, and China it is represented by the darker _inquinata_, Butler.

THE RIVULET (_Perizoma affinitata_).

The whitish band crossing the brownish fore wings is generally fairly wide, sometimes broad, but occasionally it is very narrow; the reduction in width is mainly the result of brownish suffusion of the outer half of the band, leaving the inner half white. Kane mentions a smoky form from Co. Derry, in which the band is absent, and refers this to ab. _unicolorata_, Gregson. In a specimen from Sligo in my series, the band is tinged with brownish throughout. The hind wings are usually smoky brown, with a paler central band, but in some specimens, referable to ab. _turbaria_, Stephens, the basal two-thirds are whitish. The moths also vary in size (Plate 83, Figs.

1 and 2).

The caterpillar is pinkish-ochreous inclining to brown; three pinkish lines along the back, and a similar line along the blackish spiracles; a dark plate on the first and last rings. It feeds in the capsules, on the seeds, of red campion (_Lychnis_ {206} _dioica_), and will eat those of the white _L. vespertina_: July to September. When eggs can be obtained early, it is possible to rear moths from them in August of the same year.

The moth is out in June and July, in some southern districts in late May.

As it conceals itself during the day among its food plant, or other vegetation around, it may be put up therefrom by gently stirring the herbage; but it flies freely about sundown, and is then easily netted.

The species is widely distributed over England, Wales, and Scotland, up to Moray. In Ireland it is local and not plentiful, and the same is the case in the North of England.

SMALL RIVULET (_Perizoma alchemillata_).

This species (Plate 83, Figs. 3 and 6) is exceedingly close to the last mentioned, but in a general way it is to be distinguished by its greyish-brown coloration. A stippled whitish stripe before the central band, usually only faintly indicated in _affinitata_, is fairly distinct as a rule. Although the outer edge of the central band is rather more irregular, the middle tooth is not so prominent as in _affinitata_.

The rather plump caterpillar is purplish above and yellowish green below; three yellow lines on the back, the central one broad; the spiracles are black, and a little above them is another yellow line; head, black and glossy, and there are black s.h.i.+ning plates on the first and last rings of the body, that on the first ring divided by the yellow central line (adapted from Porritt). It feeds, in August and September, in the seed capsules of hemp nettle (_Galeopsis tetrahit_), sometimes on the rarer _G.

ladanum_, and is said to eat woundwort (_Stachys_) occasionally.

The moth is out in June and July, and, as in the case of the last species, may be stirred up from among its food plant or the surrounding vegetation, in lanes, and around wood borders. The species is widely distributed over the British Isles, except that it seems not to have been noticed in Scotland, north of Moray, although it occurs in the Hebrides.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 84.

1. GRa.s.s RIVULET: _caterpillar_.

2. WAVED CARPET: _caterpillar_.

3, 3a. YELLOW Sh.e.l.l: _eggs and caterpillar_.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 85.

1, 2. SANDY CARPET.

3. BARRED CARPET.

4-9. YELLOW Sh.e.l.l.