In freshly emerged male specimens the brown is sometimes purplish tinged, and in some examples of the same sex the hind wings may be described as ochreous, with brown bands. The female occasionally has the fore wings tinged with greyish, and the hind wings are sometimes banded with brown, especially on the inner marginal area.
The caterpillar is ochreous brown with a double-pointed hump on ring three, a yellowish diamond on the back of rings five to ten; the front and hind rings are brown, more or less tinged with purple; yellowish lines, shaded below with purplish brown, on the sides meet on the back and form an edging to the diamond mark. The figure on Plate70shows the caterpillar in its usual resting attitude. It feeds on oak.
A widely distributed species in the southern half of England, but not especially abundant in any locality, and not known to occur north of Lincoln.
Fore wings pale fulvous or ochreous brown, with two paler cross-lines on all the wings, space enclosed by the lines darker brown; a black or blackish central dot, and before the brownishouter margin there is a pale line ending on the tip of the wing. The hind wings have an obscure dusky central dot placed in the upper edge of the band, and usually there are two brownish bands on the outer marginal area, but these do not extend to the front margin. Except that the female is generally larger, and the antennæ are simple, the sexes are much alike (Plate71).
This species is best distinguished frombinariaby the dark bands, and the straighter second line. The central dots are less trustworthy characters, because summer specimens of the present species often have two of these spots on the fore wings (var.æstiva, Spr.), and in occasional examples ofbinariathe lower central spot of the hind wings is absent. As a rule, however, the central dots are more conspicuous inbinariathan incultraria. The egg is yellowish, tinged with reddish at the ends and along the sides. The caterpillar is somewhat similar to that of the last species, but the hump on ring three is smaller, and the side lines and diamond mark are whiter. It may be found in June and July, and again in September, and even in October in some years. It feeds on beech (Plate70).
This species is found where beech trees occur, preferably on a chalky soil, in the counties of England from Norfolk southwards. The male may often be seen in May, flying around the beech trees or neighbouring bushes, in the sunshine; or both sexes may be caused to leave their resting places among the foliage by tapping the boughs.
Its range extends through Central Europe to Asia Minor.
The name Scallop Hook-tip given to this species by Moses Harris in 1775, doubtless referred to the ragged outlines of the fore wings. These wings are pale brown in colour, freckled and clouded with darker tints, and crossed by two dark-brown lines; the central dot is black, but often minute; fringeswhite, chequered with brown. Sometimes the freckling is heavy and the clouding very dark, becoming almost black on the outer margin; such specimens seem to be referable to var.scincula, Hübn. In another form the fore wings are ochreous brown, with very tiny freckling and only light clouds on the upper part of the outer margin. The hind wings in all the forms are pale whitish brown, with a black central dot, and brown marginal line; in the darker specimens these wings are clouded or suffused with dark brown (Plate71).
The egg is pale yellowish when laid, but changes afterwards to reddish. The full-grown caterpillar is pale brownish, marked with darker or reddish brown on the back and sides, and raised spots; there are double-pointed humps on rings two and three, and a similar but smaller elevation on ring eleven. In the younger state the caterpillar is blackish, with whitish marks on the fourth, seventh, and eighth rings, and some white dots on the end rings. It feeds on the upper surface of the leaves of birch in June and July, and again in August and September.
Chrysalis, reddish brown, the ring divisions blackish grey; powdered with whitish, and appearing as though dusted with flour. Attached by the anal spike to the interior of the silken web-like cocoon. In the Figure (Plate69) the pupa is shown hanging from the ruptured cocoon, upon the covering leaf of which a half-grown caterpillar is depicted.
The moth is out in May and June, and a second generation appears in August. It is not uncommon in most birch woods, and on heaths and commons, where birch flourishes; but the perfect insect, which rests on leaves and twigs of trees and bushes, and the herbage under them, is not so frequently or so easily obtained as the caterpillars. The latter may be searched for in the daytime, or they may be dislodged by beating.
Widely distributed throughout England, but local or scarce in Lancashire and Yorkshire and northwards; also, according toBarrett, in Devonshire and in the fens of Norfolk and Cambridge. It occurs in the Clydesdale district, Ross, Argyllshire, and Sutherland in Scotland; and in Ireland it seems to be widely spread and common in some localities.
Probably in reference to the grey-brown oval blotch on the middle of the white fore wings, this moth was known to the older entomologists by the English name of "Goose-egg." On the blotch, however, there are silvery marks on the veins, and below it (often attached) there is a blackish blotch with some bluish silvery scales upon it. These markings probably suggested to Haworth the name Chinese Character by which it is commonly known (Plate71).
The caterpillar is reddish brown, with a darker line along the back, and a paler patch on rings three to five, extending as a narrow stripe to the dark-brown spiked tail; two raised warts on rings two and three, with a white dot between the hinder pair. Head darker brown, paler in front. It feeds in June and early July, and in September and October, chiefly on hawthorn and sloe, but it will also eat apple and pear. The chrysalis, which is enclosed in a brown, rather tough, silken cocoon, spun up among leaves or under loose bark, is greyish on the wing covers, and reddish on the body.
The moth is out in May and early June, and again from late July well into August. Sometimes it may be seen resting on a leaf in a hedgerow. When disturbed in the daytime, which may happen where one is beating the bushes, it falls, rather than flies, to the ground. At night it may be netted as it flies along the hedgeside or wood borders in almost every county of England and Wales. In Scotland its range seems not to extend north of Clydesdale. Kane states that it is "widely spread, but not generally at all numerous" in Ireland.
Plate 70
Plate 71
Some thirteen or fourteen species occurring in Europe are referred by Staudinger to this family. Only five of these occur in the British Isles. The moths are of rather small size, less, in fact, than some of the so-called "Micros," among which they have been placed. Probably they may, for this reason, be overlooked. They mostly sit head downwards on the trunks, branches, or leaves of trees, sometimes on palings, but the rarer ones hide themselves among the thick, low herbage. The time of flight is after dark, and the moths occasionally visit the sugar patch. The caterpillar has only eight false legs (prolegs), the first pair being the absent ones; the body is clothed with tufts of hair, the hairs of the front and rear tufts longer than the others. When full grown it spins a more or less spindle-shaped, toughish cocoon of silk mixed with the larval hairs, which is usually coated with particles scraped from the surface of twig or stem upon which it is spun up.
The fore wings are whitish or greyish, with a dark, almost black, patch at the base; this patch is marked with whitish, and is limited by the first cross line, which is black and curved; the second line, also black, is wavy and curved inwards towards the front margin; between these lines is a dusky central shade, commencing in a blackish spot on the front margin, and sometimes forming an inward border to the second line; a raised tuft of white, grey-capped scales on the basal patch, and two other tufts beyond it and in a line with the front margin; hind wings dark grey, paler towards the base (Plate73).
The caterpillar is reddish brown, clothed with short greyish hairs; the spots and central line on the back are whitish. Ithatches from the egg early in August, and after feeding for a while, retires to winter quarters, selecting some sheltered cranny, such as a chink in the tree bark, where it spins over itself a few strands of silk. Feeding is resumed in May and June, after hibernation, usually on the upperside of leaves of sloe and whitethorn, and also of fruit trees, such as apple and plum, and sometimes pear (Plate72).
The moth is out in June and July. It flies at dusk.
Widely distributed and generally common in the south of England; somewhat rare in Scotland—perhaps overlooked. It has been reported from Ireland, but is not mentioned by Kane in his catalogue of Irish Lepidoptera.
Fore wings greyish white, freckled and dusted with grey brown at the base and on the front and outer margins; two black wavy and toothed cross lines; between the base of the wing and the second line are three raised tufts of grey brown tipped whitish scales: hind wings dark grey, paler towards the base (Plate73).
The caterpillar feeds, probably after hibernation, from April to June, on the undersides of oak leaves. It is pale ochreous in colour, with pale reddish brown warts and star-like tufts of hair; a blackish bar on the back of ring six; head blackish.
The moth emerges from the chrysalis in July. It occurs in oak woods in Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Hants, Somerset and Gloucestershire; also in Berks, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex, but it is very local and seems to be restricted to a more or less limited area in all its known haunts, among which the most favoured are perhaps the New Forest in Hampshire and Abbots Wood in Sussex. In some years it may be fairly common, or even plentiful, and then becomes quite scarce during several seasons in the same place.
Very similar to the last species, but whiter; the first line is curved towards the second tuft of raised scales, thence gently curved to the inner margin, above which there is a slight inward angle or elbow; the second line is less wavy; hind wings whitish grey with a black central dot, and in the male whiter along the inner area. The head and palpi of this species are white, butstrigulahas a greyish white head and dark palpi. Again, the antennæ in the male of the present species are ciliated, but in malestrigulathey are bipectinated (Plate73).
The caterpillar, which feeds in July and August on the leaves of oak, beech, sloe, and apple, etc., is reddish, inclining to yellow on the back, which is traversed by black lines, the central double and interrupted on rings seven to nine by rusty V-shaped marks.
The moth flies in May and June.
This species appears to have a wider distribution than either of the others. It is the only one known with certainty to occur in Ireland, and it is widely spread in that country. In Scotland it is found in Perthshire and Ayrshire, and probably is present in other parts. In England it is obtained in most counties, except perhaps the northern, although it has been recorded from various parts of Yorkshire.
Fore wings white, largely light brown between the obscure cross lines; outer marginal area clouded, and front margin dotted with light brown; three tufts of raised scales placed as in previous species; hind wings of the male, greyish white, browner on the outer margin; of female, brownish grey. Varies in the amount of light brown, and sometimes this is much reduced; more rarely it disappears entirely (Plate73).
The caterpillar varies in colour from ochreous with pink tinge to bone white; the warts are set with pale hairs and those along the back and at each extremity are longest; a double greyish line along the middle of the back, and a series of black marks on each side; these marks unite across the back on rings six and ten. After hibernation, it feeds in Spring until June, on the young growth of bramble, raspberry, strawberry, and cinquefoil (Potentilla reptans), and is stated to also eat hemp agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum). The brownish cocoon is constructed on a stem of grass and in appearance looks not unlike a swelling of the stem.
This species was first observed in England in the year 1859, when four specimens were taken in July at Chattenden Roughs, a large hilly wood in North-east Kent. It still occurs, no doubt, in the Kentish locality referred to, but is now very scarce there compared with what it must have been some twenty-five years ago. Barrett notes a specimen from the Isle of Wight. Mr. G. T. Porritt states that he has seen one of two examples captured in South Devon in 1901; and another, a male, has been recorded as taken at light in a house near Weymouth, Dorset, in August, 1904, and from Lewes in 1906.
At the time the first specimens were met with in England the species seems to have been rare, or little known on the Continent. Since then knowledge of its distribution has vastly increased, and it has now been found not only in many parts of Central Europe, but also in Finland, Italy, Dalmatia; Asia Minor, Persia, and extending into Amurland and Japan.
The general colour of this moth is white; the fore wings more or less sprinkled and clouded with brownish grey or dark grey, and crossed by two black lines, the first curved and the second slightly waved, indented and edged inwardly with ochreous brown; the three raised tufts are white, capped with grey (Plate73).
Plate 72
Plate 73
This is the only really variable species among the five occurring in this country. In some specimens the space between the cross lines is largely filled in with dark grey, and in other specimens the wings are almost entirely white, traces of the cross lines being the only markings.
Mr. Robert Adkin, who has reared this species from the egg, kindly allowed me to select specimens from his fine series to illustrate the range of aberration; these are figured on Plate73.
Caterpillar brownish inclining to purplish, with an ochreous line along the middle of the back and some brown V-shaped black marks. Head blackish brown. It feeds in May, after hibernation, on various clovers, preferring the blossoms, and bird's-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus).
The moth appears some time between mid-July and mid-August. The late Mr. Tugwell, by keeping some larvæ, reared from the egg, in a warm room induced them to feed up instead of hibernating, and they attained the moth state in December.
This is another exceedingly local species in England. It was first taken at Bembridge in the Isle of Wight in 1858, and one or two specimens have since been obtained in that island. Examples have also occurred on the cliffs near Hastings, and at Folkestone; and one has been recorded as taken in a light trap at Woodbridge in Suffolk, July 21, 1904. The headquarters for the species in this country are the Deal sand-hills, on the Kentish coast, where it was discovered over a quarter of a century ago, and probably occurs still.
Authors are not at all agreed as to the systematic position of this family, and there seems to be some difference of opinion as to the species that properly belong to it. Sir George Hampsonhas transferred the group to the Noctuidæ and separatedS. revayanafrom the others, placing it in his sub-family Sarrothripinæ, to which also belong certain Indian species.
Only four species occur in our islands. Three of these have green fore wings and pale grey or whitish hind wings. The other species,Sarrothripa revayana, has the fore wings of various shades of grey, brown, or blackish; its boat-shaped cocoon is very like a small edition of that ofHylophila bicolorana, and, although the caterpillar is in some respects not very dissimilar to those of the green-winged species, the moth does not seem quite to be one of their set.
In size, colour of the fore wings, and general appearance this moth might be mistaken for the much more common Green Tortrix (Tortrix viridana). On examination however, it will be seen to have white hind wings, whilst those of theTortrixare grey. Again, the head, front of thorax, and front edge of the fore wings are white in the present species (Plate73).
The caterpillar is green, inclining to whitish on the back, the latter lined with brownish, and bearing warts on rings six and eleven. It feeds in July and August on the terminal leaves of osier and willow; these leaves are drawn together with silk, and the solid appearance of the foliage at the end of the twig will afford a clue to the probable whereabouts of the caterpillar when one is searching for it. Chrysalis, brown, darker on the back, paler on the under parts, and on the wing covers; enclosed in a tough boat-shaped cocoon which is often constructed on the bark of a twig or stem of the food plant. As a rule the moth does not emerge until the following year, but in some years a few will appear in the autumn, and others remain in the chrysalis until the following May or June.
This species inhabits damp places where there are osiers,and it is especially common in the fens. It occurs in most of the southern and eastern counties of England, but does not seem to be recorded from other parts of the British Isles.
The bright green fore wings are crossed by two shaded silvery lines, and a narrow silvery band, the latter running from the tip of the wing to the inner margin, and usually there is a whitish shade between the two lines; the fringes are reddish, or pinkish, and the front and inner margins are tinged with the same colour, sometimes strongly so on the inner margin. The hind wings of the male are whitish, tinged with yellowish green; fringes white, more or less tinted with reddish; in the female the hind wings are entirely silky white. Antennæ reddish (Plate73).
Caterpillar, green, with yellowish dots, lines on the back, and edging to first ring of the body; the anal claspers are marked above with red. It feeds in August and September on the leaves of oak, birch, beech and nut (Plate72).
The chrysalis is purplish above merging into pale brown beneath; wing-cases ochreous brown; the dorsal surface, especially the ring divisions, are dusted with whitish dots. It is enclosed in a papery cocoon of a pale pinky brown colour; frequently spun up on the back of a leaf, but also in a curled leaf, bark chink, or among herbage and litter on the ground.
The moth flies in June and July, and is not uncommon in woods throughout the greater part of England, it may be beaten from trees, and is often to be seen sitting on bracken and other undergrowth. It is also found in Scotland up to Moray, and seems to be pretty generally distributed in Ireland. The range of this species abroad extends through Northern and Central Europe, South Russia, Siberia, to Japan.
The green colour of the fore wings of this moth is rather paler than of those of the last species; they are crossed by two almost parallel yellowish lines; hind wings white and silky. Antennæ whitish towards the tip and reddish towards the base (Plate73).
Caterpillar green, sometimes tinged with yellow, a dark line along the middle of the back is edged on each side with whitish.
The chrysalis is pale greenish, with a narrow black stripe from the head along the thorax extending to the fourth abdominal ring; the wing cases reach the sixth ring, which together with the back of the fifth are roughened with fine blackish points.
Cocoon boat-shaped with the keel raised at the head end. When the moth emerges from this end the cocoon closes up tightly again, so that no opening is to be seen; slight pressure on the back will cause the exit slit to open.
This rather local species is perhaps commoner in the eastern counties of England than elsewhere, but it occurs in the oak woods of Berkshire, and southward to Kent and Hampshire. Much scarcer in the west and midlands, and apparently unknown in the north. Barrett gives Galway and Queen's County in Ireland, but adds that it is rare.
Distributed over Central and Southern Europe, and its range extends to South Sweden, and Asia Minor.
This is a most variable species, ranging from greyish white through various shades of brown to blackish; the grey and thebrown forms are sometimes tinged with green. In the illustration some of the more usual forms of marking are shown. 1 (more or less typical) and 2 are the most common; 5 (ramosana) is less frequently met with; 4 (ilicanus) has ashy brown fore wings with a black bar at the base, three black dots on the disc, and a series of black dots before the outer margin, the triangular marking on the front margin is reddish; 3 is a modification of the typical form approaching var.dilutana; 6 is of theafzelianusform, with shiny brownish fore wings and black markings.
Fig. 23.Fig. 23.Large Marbled Tortrix.
Fig. 23.
Large Marbled Tortrix.
The caterpillar is green with whiter ring divisions; a few long whitish hairs on each segment; a faintly darker line along the back, and a paler interrupted line along the sides. Head yellowish green marked with brownish and sparsely clothed with whitish hairs. It feeds in June and July on the leaves of oak and sometimes on sallow. It spins a whitish boat-shaped cocoon on the under side of an oak leaf or twig, and therein turns to a pale green chrysalis with a broad purple brown stripe along the back from the head; the blunt last ring is tinged with purplish brown and the edge of the ring immediately before it is fringed with minute hooks (Plate72, Figs. 4, 4a).
The moth seems to be out from August to April. It may bebeaten from trees and bushes throughout the autumn, and during the later months of the year it seems to hide in yews and hollies. Just before dusk it becomes active and may then be netted as it flies; later on it may be seen regaling itself on overripe blackberries, or on the ivy blossom, and it is not an infrequent visitor to the sugar patch.
The species has been found in almost every part of England and Wales wherever there are oak woods. In Scotland it occurs up to Argyllshire and Moray. For Ireland, Kane gives Tyrone, Westmeath, Galway, Kerry, and Limerick.
Distribution abroad: Central and Southern Europe, extending northwards to Scandinavia, and eastwards to Amurland and Japan.
In this family Staudinger includes 161 species known to occur in the Palæarctic Region. About forty of these are found in Europe, and thirty-one of the latter rank as British species.
The family is usually divided into two sub-families—Arctiinæ and Lithosiinæ, fifteen of our species being referred to the former and sixteen to the latter. In both groups the caterpillars are hairy, but the hairs are usually longer in those of the "Tigers" than in those of the "Footmen"; the latter, too, are lichen feeders, whilst the others prefer the foliage of plants.
The moths in this sub-family have short, or, rather, stout bodies, and ample wings; and as the tongue is imperfectly developed in most of the species, flowers have not the same attraction for them as for the long-winged and slender-bodied Lithosiinæ, most members of which have this organ well developed.
Plate 74
Plate 75
Older English names for this generally distributed and often common species are The Great Ermine Moth of Wilkes (1773), Harris (1778), and The Large Ermine of Haworth.
On Plate75will be found three colour-forms of the moth. Fig. 1 has the typical whitish colour, Fig. 2 is creamy on the fore wings, and Fig. 3 has the fore wings buff. The last represents a specimen from Scotland, where, especially in the western parts of the country, and also in the north of Ireland, and the north-west of England, buff forms, both paler and much darker than the one figured, are not uncommon. Sometimes the Scottish specimens have smoky hind wings. As regards the black spots on the wings, the species is subject to considerable variation. In some examples almost all the markings are entirely absent; in others they are very small and numerous, or large in size and number; the central spots on the fore wings are often united, forming irregular designs. Again, there may be an unusual amount of black spotting on the outer margins, and all other parts of the wings free of spots. All these aberrations in marking, except, perhaps, the central cluster, seem to occur in the various colour forms. An uncommon form, known as var.walkeri, Curtis (Plate78, Fig. 5), has the black scales gathered together into streaks along the nervures of the fore wings; modifications of this variety have also been found, or reared. Possibly by the careful selection of parent moths showing tendency to the streaked aberration it might happen in a generation or two that var.walkeriwould turn up in the breeding cage to reward the rearer for trouble taken in the experiment.
The caterpillar, which is often not uncommon in gardens in August and September, or even later, is brown, with long hairs, and a reddish stripe along the middle of the back. It feeds onthe foliage of low-growing plants, and does not appear to be specially attached to any particular kind. The chrysalis is dark brown, in a close-fitting cocoon of silk and hair from the caterpillar, spun up in odd corners on the ground or at the base of a wall or fence, sometimes between the pales (Plate74).
The moth emerges in June, and may be seen sitting on walls, fences, trees, or on the herbage growing on hedge banks; or even on the bare ground. It often flies into houses when lighted up, and is a frequent attendant at the public gas lamps and electric lights. The geographical range of this species extends through Northern and Central Europe southward to North-West Africa, and eastward to Amurland.
The specimens of this white moth, depicted on Plate75, are of the form usually met with in Britain. To Haworth, Stephens, and other early entomologists this was known by the English name of the "Water Ermine" (S. papyrata, Marsham), whilst a rarer form—with a minute dot on the disc of the fore wings, and three dusky spots on the hind wings, as in the White Ermine—was the "Dingy White" of Haworth. Occasionally specimens are obtained with extra black spots on the basal and front areas of the fore wings.
Caterpillar, dark brown with a purplish tinge, the hairs, arising in spreading tufts from black warts, are dark brownish; spiracles white; head black and glossy. Feeds in July and August on a variety of marsh plants, among which are yellow loosestrife (Lysimachia vulgaris), mint (Mentha aquatica), lousewort (Pedicularis), water dock (Rumex hydrolapathum), and iris. It seems to affect plants growing under bushes, rather than those more exposed. It is, presumably, not difficult to rear in confinement, as there is a record of eight broods belonging to three generations, and all descendants of a captured female, having been reared by Mr. Bacot. Chrysalis dark reddish brown, in a cocoon similar to that of the last species.
Plate 76
Plate 77
The moth, which emerges in June, is rarely seen away from its favourite haunts, which are marshes and fens; its English name is therefore a very appropriate one. It is not often observed in the daytime, but is on the wing early in the evening, and later on is pretty sure to be attracted to any strong light that may be set up in its neighbourhood. The best localities for the species seem to be the fens of Norfolk and Cambridge, but it used to be fairly plentiful in many suitable parts of East Kent, and no doubt still occurs in some of the marshes between Dartford and Gravesend: it is found in Sussex in the Lewes and Brighton districts, and has been recorded from Kimmeridge in Dorsetshire, from the Isle of Wight, from near Burton-on-Trent, from the Lancaster district, and from Pembrokeshire, South Wales. In Scotland it is rare, and, with the exception of one example reported as taken in an illuminated moth trap at Clonbrock, May, 1896, not known to occur in Ireland.
The distribution abroad extends over Central and Northern Europe, through South Russia to Amurland.
This species is now known by the English name of the Buff Ermine, but the names bestowed upon it by some ancient writers were perhaps hardly more suitable. Thus Wilkes in 1773 called it the "Spotted Buff Moth," and Harris five years later dubbed it the "Cream-dot Stripe." The ground colour is generally some shade of buff, in the paler specimens merging into cream, and in the darker to yellowish ochre. In the matter of black marking the range of variation is extensive. The specimens figured on Plate77illustrate something of this variation, both as regards colouring and marking. The females are, as a rule, paler than the males, but occasionally examplesof the latter sex are quite as pale as any female. Figures 7 and 8 represent var.zatima, Cramer. Originally this form was only known to occur in Heligoland. The same form, or a modification of it, was described by Haworth asradiata, from a Yorkshire specimen. Then, in 1837, specimens of the variety were reared with the normal form of the species from caterpillars obtained at Saltfleet in Lincolnshire; and subsequently a few more examples were reported from the last named county, and elsewhere. In 1891 a specimen of var.zatimaemerged from an assortment of chrysalids sent to Mr. Harrison of Barnsley from a London correspondent. This particular specimen was of the female sex, and it paired with a male which was also an aberration, but not of thezatimaform. Some of the offspring resulting from this union were of the female parent form, others favoured the male parent, and others again were intermediate. In the course of a few generations almost entire broods of thezatimavariety were obtained. Allowing the sexes ofzatimato mate with those of more or less ordinarylubricipeda, the late Mr. W. H. Tugwell obtained many very interesting aberrations, one of which he named var.eboraci, and anotherfasciata. Thezatimaform and its various modifications have now been reared by entomologists all over the country, and presumably directly or indirectly from the original Barnsley stock. In Yorkshire especially the race has been improved; the specimens are larger and darker, and there is a tendency towards the almost entirely black form known as var.deschangei.
The pale whitish green eggs are laid in batches on leaves, sometimes high up on birch trees, or virginia creeper, but more usually on the foliage of low growing plants; it is often common in gardens. At first the caterpillar is tinged with yellowish, but it afterwards becomes greyish, and finally brownish. When full grown the hairs, with which the body is clothed, are brown; there is a yellowish or whitish grey stripe along each side, and an obscure somewhat reddishtinted line down the middle of the back. Head glossy brown.
The glossy reddish-brown chrysalis is enclosed in a dingy coloured web-like cocoon, which is spun up among leaves or litter on the ground. Mr. R. Adkin found some of these cocoons spun up between the folds of an old brown blanket used as a covering for a rabbit hutch in winter. The moth emerges in June. Occasionally, in confinement, specimens will leave the chrysalis in the autumn instead of passing the winter therein, as they more usually do (Plate76).
A common and often abundant species over the greater part of the British Isles. Its range abroad extends through Central and Northern Europe, South Russia, and Tartary to Amurland, Corea, and West China.
The early British authors knew this moth as the "Spotted Muslin" or "Seven Spot Ermine" (Harris, 1778). The male is dark brown or blackish, with a few usually obscure black dots on each wing. The female is silky white, with more clearly defined, and often more numerous, black dots (Plate75, Figs. 4-6). On Plate78will be found figures of the rarer and more extreme aberrations of the female. Those represented by Figs. 3, 4, 6, 7, were reared some years ago by Mr. G. T. Porritt, of Huddersfield, who at the same time obtained a number of other interesting intermediate examples ("Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond.," 1889, p. 441, Pl. 14). Variation in the other direction is towards the complete suppression of the black dots; and I have seen specimens with only one such dot on each wing.
In the var.rustica, shown on the same plate, it will be noted that the males assimilate somewhat to the female coloration; the specimens (Figs. 1, 2), were bred by Mr. Robert Adkin in 1887. This form was not known to occur in the BritishIsles until 1885, when Mr. de V. Kane detected specimens in a collection of insects made in Co. Cork, Ireland. It was next heard of from Belfast, and then, in 1886, again, in Co. Cork, an example of each sex was taken. The female specimen laid eggs, and some of these were sent to Mr. Adkin, who not only was successful in rearing the moths, but in 1889 obtained a pairing between an almost white malerusticaand an ordinary English female. Only four eggs were laid, and from these two male moths resulted in May, 1890, both intermediate in colour between the two forms. In all its early stagesrusticais identical with ordinarymendica.
Male specimens with pale yellowish grey coloured wings have been reared from eggs laid by a female captured at Eltham, Kent, exhibiting a tendency to therusticaform. In the Barnsley district, Yorkshire, the males are paler than usual, but in the Sheffield area of the same county the males are black. From North Durham chrysalids, I have a smoky greyish form of the male.
The caterpillar is brownish grey covered with yellowish brown hairs arising from greyish-ringed pale brown warts; a paler line along the middle of the back, and some white dots forming a broken line below the black outlined spiracles. Head pale chestnut brown, glossy. When newly hatched it is whitish, tinged with yellow and semi-transparent; the dots and hairs are dark grey. After the first moult the colour is greyish with black dots and blackish hairs. Head yellowish, brown tinged. It feeds in July, sometimes earlier, and August, and seems to thrive on the foliage of many kinds of low-growing plants, such as dandelion, dock, plantain, chickweed, etc., and also eats the leaves of birch and rose. Chrysalis, very dark brown, almost black, glossy, but minutely pitted, giving a roughened appearance; enclosed in a close fitting cocoon composed of silk and the caterpillar's hairs, with particles of earth on the outside (Plate79). The moth flies at night, and except that a female may occasionally be seen on the wing, this species is rarely observed in the daytime. May and June are the usual months for this moth, but in 1906 a specimen was attracted to light on November 3.
Plate 78
Plate 79
Widely distributed, and often common in most English counties, in parts of Wales, and in Scotland as far north at least as Ross. In Ireland one male specimen of the typical form has been obtained in Co. Galway, and one in Co. Clare; var.rusticaoccurs in Co. Dublin, and Kings Co., Waterford, Cork, Kerry, and Galway.
The English name given to this moth only suitably applies to the southern reddish form of the species (Plate80, Fig. 1 ♂). In the north of England the fore wings are darkened with brownish and the hind wings with blackish tints, until in Scotland the only trace of red colour is found on the inner edge of the hind wings (var.borealis, Staudinger, Fig. 2 ♀). In these dark specimens the body is also blackish. Very occasionally, specimens approaching the northern form are obtained in South England. A female moth captured by Mr. G. E. J. Crallan in May, 1901, at Bournemouth, laid forty-eight eggs; thirty imagines were bred the same year, two of which wereborealis. On the south and south-west coasts the black band of the hind wings exhibit a tendency to break up into spots; not infrequently this is completely effected, and the specimens then approach the larger South European form var.fervida, Staud. In a fine series of this species from Cornwall, lately seen in Mr. A. Harrison's collection, are a few specimens that come very close to the last-named form. A yellow aberration has been recorded. The eggs are whitish and deposited in batches on leaves. Up to the last moult the caterpillar is greyish or brownish, with dark greyish or blackishwarts from which arise star-like tufts of brown hairs; a reddish line along the middle of the back, and some reddish spots on the sides. When full grown it is black, and the reddish line on the back is almost hidden by closer and more compact tufts of black hairs. Head black and glossy.
The leaves of various low-growing plants afford it nourishment, but it is very partial to dock, dandelion, golden-rod (Solidago), and plantain; it is also fond of groundsel and lettuce in confinement, but these plants have been found unsuitable if given too frequently. In the open it seems to feed through the summer, hibernate when full grown, reappear in the early spring, and in due course spin its brownish cocoon among herbage generally low down near the ground; on moors it often makes the cocoon among the twigs of heather as shown on Plate81. The chrysalis is black, marked with yellowish on the hind edge of each ring. The vitality of the caterpillar is extraordinary. One known to have been embedded in ice for fourteen days at least, became active in less than half an hour after the ice around it melted. It pupated shortly afterwards.
When eggs are obtained early, it is possible to have three generations of the moth during the same year. Thus eggs deposited on May 8 produced caterpillars which fed up quickly and attained the moth state in July. From July eggs some of the caterpillars will outstrip their companions, pupate in September, and appear as moths about a month later. The moth is to be found in May and June, sometimes in July or August, in wood clearings, on moors and rough hillsides, and also in water meadows, etc. It flies at night, is attracted by light, and although it occasionally flies in the sunshine, it is, as a rule, not often seen in the daytime. Occurs throughout the British Isles to the Orkneys. Distribution: Europe, Western and Central Asia, Amurland, Japan, North-west Africa, North America.
Plate 80
Plate 81
On Plate80are shown some of the forms of this attractive and somewhat variable species. Figs. 3, 4, are male and female of the typical form found in England. The most usual phase of variation is in the narrowing or widening of the pale yellowish markings of the fore wings, and the black markings on the hind wings; occasionally the yellow or the black increases to such an extent that the fore wings appear to be almost entirely of the one colour or the other. The hind wings range in colour from the normal yellow through orange to red, and through pale shades of yellow to white; on the other hand they are sometimes almost entirely black. The var.hospita, Schiff. (Fig. 7), has all the wings white, and although it has been reported from Shropshire, West Durham, the Lake District, etc., it has been chiefly obtained in the Hebrides and in the highlands of Scotland. Only males of this form are known; the females found with them have heavy black markings on the hind wings, almost crowding out the reddish ground colour. The creamy markings of the fore wings are narrow, and the central spot small.
The full-grown caterpillar is blackish above with greyish-black warts from which arise tufts of blackish hairs, except on rings four to six, where the hairs and the warts at the base of each tuft are reddish; the black hairs of the hinder tufts are the longest (Plate81).
Twelve eggs laid by a female in Aberdeenshire were received on June 29, 1906. They were shining yellowish in colour, and were on a leaf of plantain. The caterpillars resulting from these eggs were reared on a mixed diet of forget-me-not (Myosotis), plantain, and groundsel, but evinced a decided preference for the former. Some died young in moulting, but at the beginning of August five were full grown, and four duly pupated in a slight but roomy cocoon of silk, mixed with the caterpillar's hairs,in which the blackish brown chrysalis with the cast-off skin attached to the tail was plainly visible. Four moths, all female, emerged at the end of August, when the other caterpillar was still feeding, and seemingly about mature. That caterpillar did not, however, pupate, or survive the winter. As a rule the caterpillars hibernate when about half grown, and feed up in April and May of the following year. The somewhat unusual rate at which those just mentioned completed their growth was no doubt due to the heat of the summer of 1906.
The moth is to be found on heaths, moors, the slopes of chalk, and limestone hills; also in woods that are not too thickly timbered and have a good undergrowth of heather, etc. The males may sometimes be seen flying in the sunshine, and they will then be noted to wing their way to some particular spot where most likely a freshly emerged female will be the attraction. The male is often started up from the heather or other herbage as one walks along; or it may even rise from the bare ground upon which it sometimes has a fancy to sit. The female seems to be more sluggish during the daytime.
The species is widely distributed over the British Isles, and its range extends through Central and Northern Europe, and Northern Asia to Japan.
Fore wings of the male yellow, with a reddish and greyish central mark; hind wings whitish, with blackish central spot and outer band; the inner margin, fringes, and front edge light crimson. The female has orange fore wings with reddish margins, veins, and central mark; hind wings orange, with black basal area, central spot, and outer band (Plate82).
The female of this species is so different in appearance from the male that it was described by Linnæus as distinct, under the namerussula. In the tenth edition of "Systema Naturæ" it isNo. 510, whereassanio, the male, is No. 506. We must, therefore, in accordance with the law of priority, adopt the earliest name for the species, however much we regret having to discard the old familiar name ofrussula.
Although the central spot of the fore wings is subject to minor modification in size, shape, and colour, it is in the hind wings that variation chiefly occurs. In the male the blackish grey band on the outer area of the hind wing may be broad and complete, or it may be broken up by the veins into a series of bars; then, again, the bars tend to become smaller and smaller until only tiny portions remain. Usually, the basal third of the hind wings is more or less greyish, but sometimes the whole surface almost, or quite up to the outer band, is clouded with dark grey. The black markings of the female hind wings are apt to vary in a very similar way.
The caterpillar is reddish brown, covered with brown hairs; a yellow-marked whitish stripe along the back, and two darkish stripes on the sides; a white spot below each black margined spiracle. It hatches from the egg in July, and as a rule hibernates when still small, completing growth in April and May. It feeds on the leaves of many low plants, among which are dandelion, dock, chickweed, and plantain. The chrysalis is brown, streaked with greyish, and is enclosed in a flimsy cocoon among herbage, generally on the ground.
The moth, which inhabits heaths and mosses, is on the wing in June and early July; the male may be put up on sunny days, but the female is not often seen until early evening. After dark both sexes may be found on the heather.
It should be noted here that there are usually two broods of this species abroad, and that in confinement it will develop a more or less complete second brood in September with us. An instance is recorded of sixty-three out of sixty-six caterpillars from eggs laid in early July, feeding up and producing moths in the last week of September. The caterpillar is not an easy oneto deal with during hibernation, so that it would always be to the advantage of the rearer to get it through to the perfect state the same year, whenever possible.
The species is widely distributed over the south and east of England, and South Wales. It occurs in Cheshire in all suitable places; in Lancashire it is common on the moorlands, as at Witherslack and Methop, and it is not uncommon near Quernmore, Clougha, and other places, in July. Local and somewhat scarce as a rule in Yorkshire, but recorded as not uncommon in the Scarborough district. In Scotland it is found in Roxburghshire, and northwards to Aberdeen; and, according to Kane, it is widely spread, although local, in Ireland.
How frequently the collector has had introduced to his notice, by some non-entomological friend, or worthy cottage dame, a "fine butterfly," only to find that the supposed prize, usually imprisoned under an inverted tumbler, was just an ordinary specimen of the gaudy, but common, Garden Tiger. Few persons living in the country, and at all interested in the natural objects around them, will fail to recognize the portraits on Plate82; other figures, however, on Plate84will appear strange, and yet they only portray some of the many forms which the moths assume. Possibly it would be true to say that no two specimens could be found that were exactly identical in tint and marking. Even the markings of any one example are frequently not precisely alike on corresponding wings. Normally the fore wings are white or creamy-white with dark brown markings, and the hind wings are red with deep blue centred black spots, often ringed with yellow. The dark markings of the fore wings are most inconstant in size and in form; in some cases they are so greatly enlarged that these wings might be described as dark brown with narrow, irregular whitish markings (Plate84, Fig. 1). On the other hand, but less frequently perhaps, the dark markings are narrowed, shortened, and reduced in number, until only spots remain on a white or creamy ground (Plate84, Fig. 2). The red colour of the hind wings is sometimes crimson in tone, or it assumes an orange tint, and less often it gives place to yellow; the central spots often unite and form a band, or some, occasionally all, disappear; the marginal spots sometimes run into a band.
Plate 82
Plate 83
Besides aberration, such as that referred to above, curious abnormal specimens occur in the breeding cage from time to time, but these are often more or less deformed. It is, perhaps, remarkable, that so few "good things" in the way of varieties are obtained from collected caterpillars, even when these are reared by hundreds. Possibly, if the breeder started operations with a stock of eggs from unusually pale or unusually dark females, and then reserving only the lightest or the darkest, as required, of each generation to continue the experiment, some interesting light or dark "strains" might result in course of time. The objection to this is that before the desired result was obtained the stock might be weakened by "inbreeding," and the moths consequently deformed. If, however, the same line of experiment were conducted by several people, each living in a different part of the country, and with stock selected from the products of his own locality, eggs, caterpillars, or chrysalids might be exchanged, say, after the second year, and in this way the effect of "inbreeding" would be minimized.
The caterpillar, generally known as the "Woolly Bear," is not at all an uncommon object throughout the country, and is, perhaps, even more often noticed in gardens, including those of suburban London. The figures of the early stages of this moth, on Plate85, are all from material obtained in my own small garden.
The foliage of pretty well all low plants, and tall ones, such as the hollyhock and sunflower, too, seem to be equally acceptable to this larva. It is not often seen before hibernation, but in the early days of spring it will be noticed sunning itself on walls and fences that have a good crop of nettles, dock, or other weeds at their base or around them; or it may be searched for on the undersides of dock, etc. Mr. Frohawk records these caterpillars as swarming from mid-May to mid-June, 1904, in the Scilly Isles. He states that they occurred in such myriads that no vegetation escaped them, and that they devoured anything from stonecrop to the foliage of shrubs of various kinds. Every path and roadway was dotted all over with their crushed bodies.
In the open the moth is on the wing in July and sometimes in August. When kept indoors the caterpillars, or at least some of them, will feed up quickly and attain the moth state in September or October.
The species is distributed over the whole of Europe, except Andalusia, Sicily, and the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula, and its range extends through Asia to Amurland, Corea, and Japan.
Although this moth does not vary to the same extent as its cousin the Garden Tiger, it is still subject to considerable aberration in the size, number, and position of the yellowish-white, or cream-coloured spots on the fore wings and of the black spots and hind marginal markings of the hind wings. The former are often much reduced in size, rarely perhaps so greatly as to leave the fore wings almost entirely black; but they are sometimes so greatly enlarged and united that these wings appear to be cream coloured with black markings. On the hind wings the black spots nearest the base are sometimes widened and lengthened so as to meet and form a transverse band; in other specimens the black markings on the outer area are run together into a patch. Occasionally both forms of hind wing aberration occur in the same specimen. I am not aware of any case in which the hind wings are spotless, but I have seen specimens in which this condition was very closely approached. Very rarely the hind wings are suffused with black, and at least two specimens with all the wings suffused with black have been recorded. (Plate87, Figs. 1-3.)
Plate 84
Plate 85
The pearly white eggs are laid in neatly arranged batches on leaves. The caterpillars hatch out in July, feed for a few weeks, and go into hibernation while still small. They resume feeding in a favourable season as early as mid-March. Some that I obtained at the end of March, then about three parts grown, began to spin up on April 15. The full-grown caterpillar is black with several star-like clusters of brown hairs on each ring, the hairs on the back of the hinder rings rather longer and slightly curved backwards; the head, legs, and claspers are red, approaching crimson. A diet of dandelion suits it very well, but it will also eat chickweed, dock, nettle, groundsel, and in fact almost any low-growing plant. The outer leaves of lettuce are useful on occasion but should not be given exclusively, and it also likes the tender shoots of gorse (Ulex europæus). Chrysalis and cocoon somewhat similar to those of the last species (Plate86).
The moth emerges in May and June. Occasionally a few larvæ will feed up and the moths appear the same year, but this only happens in captivity and not in the open. When reposing in the daytime, on a hedgebank for example, with the fore wings closed down over and hiding the yellow hind wings this moth is not so conspicuous as one might suppose it would be. At night it is active on the wing and often flies into houses, attracted by the light. I have put up specimens now and thenin hay fields, and once found half a dozen along a short stretch of the Upper cliff at Ventnor, Isle of Wight.