PLATE XL1. Garden Carpet2. Yellow Shell3. Pebble Hook-tip
PLATE XL
1. Garden Carpet2. Yellow Shell3. Pebble Hook-tip
I really think that this moth is even commoner than the “garden carpet.” From the beginning of June till the middle of August you can hardly go into the garden without seeing it. If you look at a fence or a tree-trunk, there it is sure to be resting with outspread wings. If you shake a bush or a low plant, or the leaves of a creeper growing upon a wall, it is certain to fly out. And soon after sunset on any warm evening you may see it flying about in scores, or even in hundreds.
But although the moth is so very plentiful, one hardly ever sees the caterpillar. The reason is that it only feeds by night, and hides away all day long under stones, or beneath small clods of earth, or at the roots of grass. But if you were to go out with a lantern on a mild evening towards the end of April, and search carefully on the grass-stems, you would be able to find it without any difficulty at all. It is dull green in colour, with a darker stripe along the back, and two white ones on each side; and underneath its body it generally has a number of rose-coloured or violet spots.
Five different kinds of “hook-tip” moths are found in the British Islands, and you can tell them at once by the hook-like tip to their front wings. The Pebble Hook-tip is by far the commonest of the five. If you want to find it, the best way to do so is to shake the branches of birch trees, either in May, or in August, for this is one of the “double-brooded” moths. That is, they make their appearance twice in each year, the eggs laid by the spring brood producing moths in the summer, while those laid by the summer brood produce moths in the following spring.
The caterpillar of this moth is rather curiously shaped, for its tail—which it always holds up in the air—is drawn out into quite a sharp point. It has a grey head and a light green body, with a purple stripe down the back. It feeds on the leaves of birch trees, and when it has reached its full size it doubles over a corner of one of the leaves, fastens it firmly down by means of a number of silken threads, and then turns into a chrysalis.