The Moths of the British Isles Volume Ii Part 46

2 Pl. 122.

1-5. MOTTLED UMBER.

6-8. MARCH MOTH.

9-11. PALE BRINDLED BEAUTY.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 123.

1. SHARP-ANGLED PEAc.o.c.k: _eggs and caterpillar_.

2. TAWNY-BARRED ANGLE: _caterpillar and chrysalids_.

{293} The moth is out in March and April; and after their short evening flight the males may be seen in numbers on hedgerows and the twigs of trees. It is not infrequent at sallow catkins, and sometimes is not scarce on palings and tree-trunks. The female may occasionally be detected in the crevices of bark on tree-trunks, but is more easily obtained on the twigs at night.

The species is common over the whole of England and Wales, also in Ireland.

As regards Scotland, it is abundant in the south, but its range does not seem to extend beyond Aberdeen; the var. _fuscata_ occurs in Renfrews.h.i.+re.

MOTTLED UMBER (_Hybernia defoliaria_).

A female (Fig. 3) and four examples of the male of this variable species are shown on Plate 122. The ground colour of the fore wings in the male varies from whitish, through ochreous brown to dull russet brown; the cross bands (when present) range in colour from reddish brown to dark purplish, almost blackish, brown; in all the paler specimens the ground colour is more or less sprinkled or suffused with brownish; the darker specimens are sprinkled with dark purplish or blackish. Ab. _obscurata_, Staud., is almost uniformly dull brownish, and an example approaching this form is represented by Fig. 4.

When deposited the eggs (Plate 125, Fig. 1b) were deep straw yellow. {294}

The caterpillar (figured on Plate 125, Fig. 1, from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich) has various shades of reddish brown on the back, and yellowish on the sides and beneath; the line above the red-marked white spiracles is black, and this has an interrupted edging of white. Fig. 1a shows a pale form. It feeds on the foliage of birch, oak, and other forest trees, also on fruit trees, rose, honeysuckle, etc. It often occurs in great abundance, and is largely responsible for the leafless condition of the trees, sometimes noticed in May.

The moth appears from October to December, and occasionally in January, February, or March.

Generally abundant throughout England and Wales; widely distributed, and often common in Ireland; not uncommon in the south of Scotland, but becoming less frequent northwards to Perths.h.i.+re and Aberdeen.

MARCH MOTH (_Anisopteryx aescularia_).

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 12.

MARCH MOTH, MALE.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 14.

MARCH MOTH, FEMALE X2.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 13.

MARCH MOTH, FEMALE.]

(Photos by H. Main.)

Examples of each s.e.x are shown on Plate 122, Figs. 7 and 8 [male], 6 [female]. The male varies in the general colour from pale to dark grey; the central area being sometimes smoky tinged. In the north of England, chiefly in Yorks.h.i.+re, blackish specimens occur in which the markings are more or less obscured.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 124.

1-3. SMALL BRINDLED BEAUTY.

4-6. BELTED BEAUTY.

7, 8. BRINDLED BEAUTY.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 125.

1. MOTTLED UMBER: _egg, natural size and enlarged, and caterpillars_.

2. SCARCE UMBER: _egg, natural size and enlarged_.

3. DOTTED BORDER: _caterpillar_.

4. MARCH MOTH: _caterpillar_.

{295}

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 15.

PALE BRINDLED BEAUTY.

(Photo by H. Main.)]

The caterpillar is pale green with a rather darker line along the back, and yellowish lines along the sides. It feeds on hawthorn, sloe, privet, lilac, currant, plum, cherry, rose, etc., also on oak, hornbeam, and some other trees: April to June. The figure of the caterpillar on Plate 125, Fig. 4, is from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich.

The moth is out in the spring, and may be found on palings, tree-trunks, etc., in the daytime, and more freely flying about, or sitting on hedges, at night, when the spider-like wingless female is more frequently obtained.

The male is attracted by light, and sometimes is not uncommon on gas lamps.

Except that it seems not to have been noted north of Perths.h.i.+re in Scotland, the species is generally distributed over the British Isles.

PALE BRINDLED BEAUTY (_Phigalia pedaria_).

The fore wings of this species (Plate 122, Figs. 9 [female], 10, 11 [male]) are greyish, tinged with greenish or brown, and sprinkled with darker grey or brownish; the irregular cross lines are blackish. Occasional specimens in the north of England are more or less sprinkled with yellow buff or orange buff, and in these the cross-markings may be present or absent. A more frequent form of aberration in the north is a general darkening of the colour in {296} the direction of ab. _monacharia_, Staud., which is smoky black with the veins black, and occurs chiefly in South Yorks.h.i.+re.

The caterpillar, figured on Plate 126, Fig. 1, from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich, is dull reddish brown, relieved with rust red mottling; the notched head is greyish brown. It feeds, in the spring, on birch, oak, elm, lime, poplar, sallow, hawthorn, sloe, plum and other fruit trees, rose, etc.

The moth is out as a rule during the first two or three months of the year, but it has been noted in November and December, and also in mid-June. It may be seen in the daytime on tree-trunks, palings, etc., but the female secretes herself in any convenient cranny, and is not easily detected. The male flies at night, and comes freely to light.

The species is pretty generally distributed throughout England and Wales, and Scotland up to Aberdeen. In Ireland, it has a wide distribution, but Kane states that, except in the Belfast district, it is decidedly scarce in the country.

SMALL BRINDLED BEAUTY (_Apocheima hispidaria_).

In the male (Plate 124, Figs. 1 and 2) the fore wings are ochreous grey inclining to brownish, usually much paler on the outer margin; cross lines black. Hind wings, greyish white, with a blackish central band. Fringes of all the wings chequered with blackish. Often the central area of the fore wings, between the first and second lines, is more or less blackish; less frequently the whole of these wings, up to or just beyond the submarginal line, is blackish; and sometimes the pale outer marginal area is broken up by the blackish nervules. Very rarely, the ground colour is almost white, and the cross-markings on the fore wings dusky grey. The female (Plate 124, Fig. 3) varies from brown to blackish. {297}

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 16.

SMALL BRINDLED BEAUTY AT REST.

(Photo by H. Main.)]

The caterpillar is brown, inclining to blackish or purplish, the raised spots are black, and occasionally the sides are freckled with orange (Plate 126, Fig. 2, from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich). It feeds in May and early June on oak, and will also eat hawthorn, birch, and elm.

The moth, which is out in February and March, appears to be local, but has a wide distribution through England from Durham to Hamps.h.i.+re, and even Devons.h.i.+re. It has also been recorded from Denbighs.h.i.+re, North Wales. A well-known locality is Richmond Park, in Surrey, and here it is found resting on oak trunks or on the gra.s.s stems, etc., under or around the trees. The male is attracted by light.