The Moths of the British Isles Volume Ii Part 36

1. OCHREOUS PUG.

2. PINION-SPOTTED PUG.

3, 4. EDINBURGH PUG.

5-8. SATYR PUG.

9. WHITE-SPOTTED PUG, VAR. _ANGELICATA_.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 97.

1. WHITE-SPOTTED PUG.

2, 5. BORDERED PUG.

3. LARCH PUG.

4, 7. COMMON PUG.

6. GREY PUG.

8, 11. TAWNY SPECKLED PUG.

9. PLAIN PUG.

10. GOLDEN-ROD PUG.

12. SCARCE PUG.

13. TRIPLE-SPOTTED PUG.

14. SHADED PUG.

{231} The rather slender caterpillar, figured on Plate 92, Fig. 6, from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich, is yellowish green, inclining to yellow between the rings; three darker green lines on the back, the central one most distinct, the others rather broad and not well defined; sometimes the central line is tinged with brown, as also is the front edge of each ring.

It feeds on currant and hop, and is said to eat the leaves of gooseberry also. The first brood is in June and July, and the second in the autumn.

The moth is out in May and June and in August. It frequents gardens, and hides among the foliage, or occasionally sits on walls or palings; from hedges where the wild hop grows freely it may be beaten out in the daytime, but it flies in the twilight, sometimes in numbers, around the hop bines.

Widely distributed over England, Wales, and Scotland up to Ross; in Ireland it has been noted from Tyrone, Dublin, Cork, Galway, and Sligo.

WORMWOOD PUG (_Eupithecia absinthiata_).

The fore wings are reddish or purplish brown; cross lines indistinct, but represented on the front edge by black marks; discal dot black, submarginal line whitish interrupted, often indistinct, except above the inner margin (Plate 95, Figs. 3, 6, 10). The short, stout, and roughened caterpillar varies in colour, and may be yellowish green, deep rose colour, or dirty reddish brown; a series of lozenge-shaped reddish spots on the back, faint towards each end (often absent in green forms); oblique yellow stripes on the sides form borders to the marks on the back (adapted from Crewe). It feeds, in the autumn, on the flowers of ragwort, golden rod, aster, yarrow, hemp agrimony, etc. The moth is out in June and July.

The species is generally common in the south of England, and is widely distributed over the rest of that country, Wales, and Ireland. In Scotland its range extends to Moray.

Abroad, the distribution spreads to Amurland.

LING PUG (_Eupithecia goossensiata_).

The fore wings are rather narrower and more pointed at the tips than those of the last species; the ground colour of the fore wings is of a paler reddish brown, and frequently tinged {232} with greyish; the hind wings are usually greyish-brown (Plate 95, Figs. 2, 12). The caterpillar, which feeds in August and September on the flowers of heath (_Erica_), and ling (_Calluna_), is pinkish with dusky marks on the back, most distinct on the middle rings; a yellowish line low down along the side has dusky marks upon it; head, dusky olive, marked with white (adapted from Crewe).

It may be mentioned here, that _knautiata_, Gregson, which was described as a distinct species, is by some authorities considered to be a form of this species, whilst others refer it to _absinthiata_. The caterpillar is stouter than that of _goossensiata_, varies in colour from whitish to green, and even purplish-brown, but not to pinkish; it feeds on the flowers and seeds of _Knautia arvensis_. The moth is out in June and July, and occurs on heaths and moors throughout England, Wales, and Ireland. In Scotland, it is obtained freely in some parts of the south, and its range extends to the Orkneys.

This species is the minutata of Guenee and other authors, but this name, being a synonym of _absinthiata_, will have to be discarded in favour of _goossensiata_, Mabille (1869).

CAMPANULA PUG (_Eupithecia denotata_).

The faint reddish tinged pale-brown fore wings distinguish this species (Plate 95, Fig. 5). The blackish marks on the front edge are minute, the cross lines are usually indistinct and often absent; the discal spot, however, is black and conspicuous, and the whitish submarginal line is very wavy. In general colour, the caterpillar is pale brownish; lines and marks on the back, dark brown or blackish. It feeds on the seeds of the nettle-leaved bell-flower (_Campanula trachelium_), and may be reared on the flowers of the various kinds of _Campanula_ grown in gardens: August and early September. {233} The moth is out in July, but is rarely seen in a state of nature. Caterpillars, however, are not uncommon, where the food plant is plentiful, in several of the English counties from Worcesters.h.i.+re southwards to Kent and Cornwall; also in Norfolk.

This species is the _campanulata_ of most British authors.

JASIONE PUG (_Eupithecia jasioneata_).

Except that the ground colour inclines to dark greyish brown, and the cross markings are rather more in evidence, this species is somewhat similar to that last mentioned, pale specimens especially (Plate 95, Figs. 8, 11). The caterpillar feeds in the seed heads of sheep's bit (_Jasione montana_), is very like that of _denotata_ (_campanulata_), and occurs in the same months. Possibly this insect, which is regarded as purely British, may eventually be reduced to varietal rank. As pointed out by Mr. Prout, it is in its paler form not easily separable from _atraria_, Herrich-Schaeffer, a mountain form of _denotata_, Hubner. Whether species or variety, it is equally interesting to the student of British Lepidoptera from the fact that, up to the year 1878, it seems to have been unknown to entomologists.

From its close allies, it stands out more distinctly than do _absinthiata_ and _goossensiata_ from each other, and the latter can hardly escape a similar fate if _jasioneata_ is degraded.

The moth is out in May and June, but it is very rarely seen at large, though caterpillars are found locally in Devon and Somerset, England; at Barmouth, in Merioneths.h.i.+re, North Wales; and in Cork and Kerry, Ireland.

Possibly, it awaits discovery in several other parts of the British Isles, and almost certainly in the west of England. In ascertaining new localities for the species, the best method of investigation would be to search for the caterpillars. {234}

WHITE-SPOTTED PUG (_Eupithecia albipunctata_).

This greyish brown species (Plate 97, Fig. 1) will be recognised by the white spot at the lower end of the whitish submarginal line on the fore wings; not infrequently there is a second white spot placed on the line about the middle, and sometimes a third near the front margin; the hind wings have a white dot at the a.n.a.l angle, and, occasionally, a second is placed a little beyond. Ab. _angelicata_, Barrett, occurring with the type in the north of England, is blackish with the discal spot and the veins showing blacker, but without white spots. (Plate 96, Fig. 9.) The caterpillar is pale lemon yellow, or yellowish green; three brown lines along the back, the central one with brown marks upon it; some brownish marks on the sides. Variable in general colour, and the markings sometimes absent. It feeds on the flowers of angelica (_Angelica sylvestris_), hogweed (_Heracleum sphondylium_), and other Umbelliferae. It has also been reared on a diet of elder leaves: August, September, or even later. Our figure (Plate 92, Fig. 5) is from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich. The moth emerges in May and June, sometimes earlier in confinement, and then a second generation has resulted in July.

Widely distributed in England, in many localities the caterpillars are not uncommon, although the moth may never be seen at large. Also occurs in South Wales, in Scotland to Aberdeens.h.i.+re; and in Ireland it has been found in Sligo and Cork.

COMMON PUG (_Eupithecia vulgata_).

This pug varies in colour from pale grey brown through reddish brown to blackish. In some of the lighter coloured specimens, the darker cross lines and the whitish submarginal lines are all well defined; more frequently, perhaps, most of the markings are indistinct or absent, but the small black discal dot and a white spot above the outer angle of the fore wing remain fairly clear. (Plate 97, Figs. 4, 7, ab. _subfuscata_, Haw.) The caterpillar (Plate 92, Fig. 3) is brownish, inclining to reddish, dotted with white; a series of dirty green marks along the back, and a pale yellow wavy line low down along the sides. It feeds on the leaves of sallow, hawthorn, bramble, bilberry, ragwort, golden-rod and various other plants.

There are at least two broods in the year, one in June and July, and the other in the autumn. The moth flies in May and June, and again in August, and is often common, almost everywhere, over the greater part of the British Isles.

The range abroad extends to Eastern Siberia and Amurland.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 98.

1. LEAD-COLOURED PUG.

2. HAWORTH'S PUG.

3. VALERIAN PUG.

4. MARSH PUG.

5. SLENDER PUG.

6. MAPLE PUG.

7. ANGLE-BARRED PUG.

8. ASH PUG.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 99.

1, 2. NARROW-WINGED PUG.

3. BRINDLED PUG.

4. MOTTLED PUG.

5. OAK-TREE PUG.

6, 7. JUNIPER PUG.

8-10. DOUBLE-STRIPED PUG.

11, 12. CLOAKED PUG.

{235}

GOLDEN-ROD PUG (_Eupithecia virgaureata_).

The fore wings of this obscurely marked species (Plate 97, Fig. 10) are pale greyish brown inclining to ochreous; the discal spot is black, the veins are marked with dark brown and white, and the whitish submarginal line terminates in a white spot above the inner angle.

The caterpillar varies in colour from grey brown or purplish grey to reddish brown; a series of blackish triangular spots on the back, and yellowish oblique stripes on the sides. It feeds on the flowers of the golden-rod (_Solidago virgaurea_), in the autumn; also on ragwort (_Senecio_). The moth is out in May and early June, but in captivity there is apparently a second emergence in July and early August. The caterpillars from which these smaller and rather darker specimens result, hatch from the egg in May and feed on the flowers of beaked parsley (_Anthriscus sylvestris_).