The moth is a lover of the woodlands, and as it flies in the daytime, especially when sunny, will be almost certainly noted on the wing by any one rambling through the woods in June, or even late May. It is generally plentiful in the south and west of England, but although its range extends through the northern parts of the country, and widely over Scotland to Sutherland, it is more or less local and often rare in the northern area indicated. In North Wales and South-west Ireland, it is local, but not uncommon.
Whitish, with an ochreous tinge, and clouded with ochreous grey; three indistinct cross lines on the fore wings, commencing as brownish spots on the front margin; a larger brownish spot, inclining to reddish, on the front margin beyond the angle of outer line, and a large blackish or brownish divided spot below it; a shallow notch under the tips of the wings, edged with dark brown, and fringed with smoky brown. (Plate119, Fig. 7.)
The caterpillar is green, with brown markings on the sides, or brownish with green markings; head, black as a rule, but occasionally green. It feeds, in late June and in July, on birch and sallow; there is a second brood in August and September. The moth may be beaten out from birch bushes in May and June, and again in July and August. Woods are its favourite haunts, especially those where heather and small birch abound, but it is very local in the south of England, although it occurs in most of the counties from Kent to Cornwall. Barrett states that it is rather common in heathy woods in Staffordshire and Cheshire, and Forsythe gives it as local and uncommon in the Lancaster district; also recorded from Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Herts (Bentley Wood, 1901), and Gloucestershire; Glamorganshire, South Wales; Inverness and Ross, in Scotland.
Whitish clouded and suffused with greyish; fore wings crossed by three dark lines, commencing in blackish spots on the front margin; a greyish band follows the outer line, a reddish brown spot at the costal end, and a blackish spot about the middle, the spot broken up by the veins, which are here ochreous; a rather deep notch below the tip is edged with black and fringed with blackish. Hind wings with a black central dot, and a greyish band beyond. (Plate119, Fig. 8.)
Mr. A. J. Scollick has recorded that some caterpillars, presumably about a week old on June 24, 1905, went into chrysalis July 7 to 12. One moth emerged July 18, but no other appeared until December 20. A third came up on January 5, 1906, and a fourth on February 5.
The caterpillar is pale green, with reddish brown blotches on the sides, and sometimes the back is also reddish brown. It feeds on alder, sallow, and sloe, in June, and as a second generation in the autumn. (Eggs and a caterpillar, the latter after Hofmann, are figured on Plate123.) The moth flies in May and early June, and occasionally in July or August.
This species, which is always local, is perhaps most frequently met with in the New Forest, Hants, but it is not uncommon in some parts of the Isle of Wight, Dorset, Devon, and Kent. Also noted from a few other southern counties, and from Suffolk, Norfolk, and Westmoreland. In Wales, it has occurred at Neath, Glamorganshire.
The range of this species abroad, and also that of the last, extends to Amurland.
The more frequent forms of this species are shown on Plate119, Figs. 9, 10. In some examples the cross lines are almost absent, but in others they are very distinct and blackish in colour; the orange yellow band in the outer marginal area varies in width and in strength, but it is usually present, even in the sooty brown form ab.nigrofulvata, Collins (Plate61, Fig. 7), described from Delamere, Cheshire, also found in Shropshire, and recorded from "Oakley Wood."
Plate 120
Plate 121
The caterpillar (Plate123, Fig. 2) is green, with white or creamy transverse lines and stripes; head, reddish. Another form is pale ochreous grey or brownish, with pale grey lines and stripes; head, almost black, with purple tinge. It feeds on the needles of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), in July and August, and occasionally in September and October. A photograph of the chrysalis by Mr. H. Main, enlarged to twice natural size, is shown on Plate123.
The moth is to be found in fir woods, where it lurks among the branches or sits on the trunks, or on the fallen needles on the ground. The moths of the first generation appear in June and July and, where it occurs, the second flies in August and September. Widely distributed over the British Isles, but not noted north of Moray, in Scotland.
Although generally common, and often abundant, over England, Wales, the south of Scotland, and Ireland, this species (Plate120, Figs. 1 ♂, 3 ♀) hardly ever comes under notice unless hedgerows and hawthorn bushes are examined in January and February, by the aid of a lantern, after darkness has set in. Then the males, and almost wingless females, will be found in numbers, sitting at the ends of the twigs.
The caterpillar is whitish green, clouded with darker green, striped with white along the back, and marked with white on the sides. The general colour is sometimes very dark green, approaching black, and in this form the white markings aremore striking. It feeds, in April and May, on hawthorn, sloe, plum, and bilberry.
Fig. 9.Fig. 9.Spring Usher at rest.(Photo by W. J. Lucas.)
Fig. 9.
Spring Usher at rest.
(Photo by W. J. Lucas.)
On Plate120are shown the typical and more usual forms of this variable species. Fig. 2 represents the male, and Fig. 4 the female. The form with blackish base and outer margin is ab.marmorinaria, Esper (Plate120, Fig. 5). Ab.merularia, Weymer, is entirely black, and a modification of this form is shown in Fig. 6. Between each of these extremes and the type there are various gradations.
The caterpillar is usually some shade of green, with yellowish lines on the back, and some have brownish marks on the sides; in others there are dark brown marks on the back of each ring. It feeds on the leaves of oak, in April and May.
The moth rests on tree-trunks, fences, etc., and the males may be thus found during the day in February, earlier or later in some seasons; the female is less often obtained on trees and fences, but may be beaten, together with the male, from the dead leaves which remain upon oak and other bushes.
The species appears to occur, more or less locally, in most of the English counties; it has also been recorded from Pembrokeshire and Flintshire, in Wales. In Scotland, it is obtained inthe south, and northwards to Aberdeenshire. There are but two records from Ireland, and these are doubtful.
Abroad, the range extends to Amurland and Japan.
One specimen of each sex of this orange yellow species will be found on Plate120, where Fig. 7 represents the male, and Fig. 9 the female; the cross lines, in the male, are usually distinct on all the wings, but those on the hind pair are sometimes very faint, and occasionally absent. The ground colour is paler in some specimens than in others, and there is variation in the amount of purplish speckling, in the purplish clouding following the second line, and in the submarginal series of purplish marks of the fore wings. The marginal dots are sometimes absent from the hind wings, most frequently in specimens with faint cross lines on these wings.
The eggs (Plate125, Fig. 2), when I received them in February, were purplish, or violet brown.
The caterpillar is yellowish, inclining to ochreous, lined with brown on the back, and striped with purplish on the sides; underside, dark purplish brown, inclining to blackish, and striped with yellowish. It feeds in the spring, sometimes to June, on oak, birch, blackthorn, etc., and may be found on the leaves during the day. The moth is out in the latter part of the year, from October, and is best obtained at night, when sitting on the twigs of trees and bushes, but a specimen or two may be found on tree-trunks, palings, etc., in the daytime.
The species is widely distributed over England, and in some parts it is common in woods; also occurs in Wales. In Scotland it is very rare and local in Roxburghshire; local and uncommon in the Clyde area, and has been recorded from other parts of the country up to Aberdeen. Rare in Ireland, but noted fromTyrone (local among birches at Cookstown), Monaghan, Fermanagh (Enniskillen), and Galway.
On Plate120four specimens of this rather variable species are depicted. Figs. 8 ♂ and 10 ♀ show the more usual form; Fig. 12 represents the northern English, blackish var.fuscata, Harrison, and Fig. 11 an intermediate form resulting from a cross-pairing offuscata♀ with a southern ♂. Somewhat similar forms to the last have been captured in Wear Dale, Durham.
Fig. 10.Fig. 10.Dotted Border, male.
Fig. 10.
Dotted Border, male.
Fig. 11.Fig. 11.Dotted Border, female.
Fig. 11.
Dotted Border, female.
The caterpillar is figured on Plate125, from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich. It is described by Fenn as dull yellow, olive green, or greenish brown; a series of dark grey X-like marks on the back, most distinct on rings 5-11; the spiracles are white, each placed in a black cloud, and the spaces between them paler, sometimes yellowish; the last ring is often brown without marking, and the front rings have a purplish stripe above; under surface, paler throughout. It feeds, in April and May, as a rule, but has been found later, on hawthorn, sloe, oak, birch, alder, sallow, etc., and may be obtained in the daytime.
Plate 122
Plate 123
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.fuscataoccurs in Renfrewshire.
A female (Fig. 3) and four examples of the male of this variable species are shown on Plate122. 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 (Plate125, Fig. 1b) were deep straw yellow.
The caterpillar (figured on Plate125, 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. 1ashows 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 Perthshire and Aberdeen.
Fig. 12.Fig. 12.March Moth, male.
Fig. 12.
March Moth, male.
Fig. 14.Fig. 14.March Moth,female x2.
Fig. 14.
March Moth,female x2.
Fig. 13.Fig. 13.March Moth, female.
Fig. 13.
March Moth, female.
Examples of each sex are shown on Plate122, Figs. 7 and 8 ♂, 6 ♀. 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 Yorkshire, blackish specimens occur in which the markings are more or less obscured.
Plate 124
Plate 125
Fig. 15.Fig. 15.Pale Brindled Beauty.(Photo by H. Main.)
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 Plate125, 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 Perthshire in Scotland, the species is generally distributed over the British Isles.
The fore wings of this species (Plate122, Figs. 9 ♀, 10, 11 ♂) 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 inthe direction of ab.monacharia, Staud., which is smoky black with the veins black, and occurs chiefly in South Yorkshire.
The caterpillar, figured on Plate126, 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.
In the male (Plate124, 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 (Plate124, Fig. 3) varies from brown to blackish.
Fig. 16.Fig. 16.Small Brindled Beauty at rest.(Photo by H. Main.)
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 (Plate126, 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 Hampshire, and even Devonshire. It has also been recorded from Denbighshire, North Wales. A well-known locality is Richmond Park, in Surrey, and here it is found resting on oak trunks or on the grass stems, etc., under or around the trees. The male is attracted by light.
The sexes of this species are shown on Plate134, where Fig. 3 represents the male, and Fig. 5 the female. It was not known to occur in the British Isles until 1871, when a male specimen was captured in Perthshire, on April 20 of that year. Mr. William M. Christy, in 1895, bred some moths from larvæ obtained in the Highlands of Scotland, and he sent eggs to Mr. F. W. Frohawk, who worked out the life history, and described and figured all the stages from egg to perfect insect (Entom.xxviii. 237). In July, 1900 and 1901, Mr. E. A. Cockayne foundcaterpillars, in Perthshire (Rannoch district), on ling, heath, and bog-myrtle; and in June, 1904, he published (Entom.xxxvii. 149) some interesting observations on the habits of the species in its native haunts. The greenish yellow eggs are laid in batches of 10 to 150 in the dry corollas of the cross-leaved heath, and less frequently between the stem and sheath of reeds, or in cracks in dead bracken stems, etc. The caterpillar (Plate126, Fig. 3) is pale drab, inclining to a yellowish tint; irregular yellow stripes along the back and sides, and lines of blackish streaks between the stripes. It will eat birch, sallow, and hawthorn, in captivity; but in the open it feeds on heather and bog-myrtle: May-July. The chrysalis is reddish brown, rather paler on the wing covers (figured on Plate126from a photo, twice natural size, by Mr. H. Main). The moth is out in April and May, and sits on the twigs of heather and the stems of bog-myrtle. It has only been recorded from Perthshire, and is there very local, frequenting damp places near streams.
Mr. A. W. Mera has obtained hybrids from a crossing of this species withN. zonaria.
Two males and a female of this species are depicted on Plate124(Figs. 4, 5 ♂, 6 ♀). There is variation in the ground colour of the male, from white to greyish, and the markings are sometimes greyish brown and sometimes blackish. Kane states that, in Ireland, a large number of Connemara specimens have the fore wings entirely white, broken by dark veins, front margin, and three streaks parallel to the outer margin. The caterpillar is greenish, with dusky grey lines and freckles on the back, and a yellow stripe low down along the sides; the latter is edged below with blackish; the underside is black and striped with grey; head, greyish, freckled with darker. It feeds on sallow, dandelion, dock, plantain, clover, yarrow, grass, etc.: May to August. (Plate126, Fig. 4; chrysalis, Fig. 4a; eggs, Plate133, Fig. 4.) The moth is out in March and April, and rests by day on or among herbage. The male has been known to fly in the sunshine, but its more usual time of flight is the early evening.
Plate 126
Plate 127
The species is locally common on sand hills, on the coast of Cheshire, Flintshire, and Carnarvon; Wallasey is a noted locality, and the earliest British specimens were taken in that district about 1832; it also occurs on the Lancashire coast, in the Liverpool and Blackpool districts. In Ireland, it was first noted in Co. Antrim, where caterpillars were found at Ballycastle, and about twenty-two years ago moths were captured at the same place. Other Irish localities are Achill Island, off the coast of Mayo; Slyne Head and Roundstone, Connemara coast. There are records of its occurrence in the Isles of Skye and Tiree.
A male and a female are shown on Plate124(Figs. 7 ♂, 8 ♀), and these represent the more usual form of the sexes in the London district. Some specimens are paler, others are darker; and not infrequently the wings are sprinkled with yellowish.
On Plate1(Figs. 4, 6, 8) will be found figures of a female and two male examples of a large race taken by Mr. H. McArthur this season (1908) at Aviemore, in Scotland. One of these males is of a remarkable ochreous coloration, whilst in the other the contrast of grey ground and black marking is equally striking. The female is blackish sprinkled with ochreous.
The caterpillar is purplish grey or reddish brown clouded and freckled with darker, and spotted with yellow on rings 5-8; the first ring is also marked with yellow in front, the head is freckled with black, and about the jaws with yellow. It feeds on lime, elm, willow, and fruit trees, especially plum and pear,in May, June, and July. For the example figured on Plate128, Fig. 1, I am indebted to Mr. Norman Riley; an Aviemore example is shown in colour on Plate1, Fig. 7. The chrysalis (Plate128, Fig. 1a) is dark reddish brown inclining to blackish. The moth comes out in March and April and is often a common object on tree-trunks, etc., in the London parks, squares, and gardens. Its range extends over the south of England, and northwards to Yorkshire and Cumberland, but it is nowhere so plentiful in England as throughout the Metropolitan area. It occurs in Wales, in Ireland, and in Scotland up to Inverness.
The fore wings of this species (Plate127, Figs. 1-3) are white, sprinkled and cross lined with black; the first line is bordered inwardly, and the second line outwardly with brownish; frequently these two lines fall closely together on the inner margin, and sometimes they are united by a blackish blotch at this point; the brownish borders of the lines vary in width, and in some specimens the outer area beyond the second black line is almost entirely brownish; in other specimens the central and outer areas are almost free of black speckling, and in such examples the brownish borders of the lines stand out conspicuously. The caterpillar (Plate128, Fig. 2) is usually some shade of brown—greyish, violet, or purplish—mottled and freckled with a darker hue. It feeds on oak, birch, and elm, will also eat sloe, plum, rose, etc., and is found from May to July. In confinement, larvæ hatched in early May have gone down to pupate during the second week in June.
The moth is out in March and April as a rule, but has been noted in late February, and also in early May. It may be seen resting during the day on trunks of trees, palings, etc., generally near the ground; when on the wing at night the male will come to light. Although not generally common it is widely distributed over England and Wales. In Ireland it has occurred in Wicklow, Westmeath, and Cork, and has been reared from pupæ obtained at Glenmalure in the former county.
Hybrids resulting from a cross betweenstrataria♂ andbetularia♀ have been namedherefordi, Tutt.
Plate 128
Plate 129
Typically (Plate129, Figs. 1 ♂, 3 ♀) the wings are white, "peppered" with black, and with more or less distinct cross lines, also black. The black speckling varies in amount, in some examples it is almost absent, whilst in others it is so dense that the wings appear to be black sprinkled with white. Specimens of the last form are intermediate between the type and the melanic ab.doubledayaria, Millière (Fig. 2). This black form, which seems to have been unknown about sixty years ago, is now much commoner than the type in the South-west Riding of Yorkshire, and has spread into Lancashire, Cheshire, and southwards to Lincolnshire. On the wolds of the latter county, and on Cannock Chase, Staffordshire, it is said to be the dominant form of the species. The aberration also occurs in the eastern and the southern counties of England to Hampshire. Northwards, the form has extended to Clydesdale in Scotland, where one was reared from a caterpillar obtained near Paisley. In Walesdoubledayariais in the ascendant at Newport, Monmouth, and in Ireland one example of this variety together with some intermediate and typical specimens were reared from caterpillars collected at Castle Bellingham, Co. Louth. Possibly the liberal distribution of the eggs ofdoubledayariamay have had something to do with the comparatively rapid extension of this form, at least to districts far away from its original locality.
What is known as the buff var. of this species dates back tothe year 1874, when a buff female, paired with a black male, was captured at Heaton Park. From the eggs she deposited caterpillars hatched, and in due course pupated, but the moths reared from them were all either typical, or black. Some of the female moths were, however, given to other collectors to pair with black males with the result that buff specimens appeared among the moths reared by seven collectors. Subsequently, by breeding only from buff males and females 80 per cent. of this form were said to be obtained. By the year 1880, however, the race was extinct. In all the examples of the buff var. that I have seen, including a pair in my own collection, the ground colour is normal, but the usual black markings of the wings are brownish buff; I understand, however, that there are specimens in which the ground colour is ochreous. The vapour of chlorine will change an ordinary specimen to a buff var.; and it is said that caterpillars reared in an apartment where this vapour is present will produce these buff varieties. Mr. Mansbridge has recently described ab.ochrearia, and in this form the typical black markings are present on an ochreous ground. The specimen, a female, was captured at St. Annes, Lancashire, June, 1891.
Gynandrous examples have been obtained, and seven of these abnormal forms occurred in a single brood reared from eggs by Mr. A. Harrison.
The caterpillar (Plate128, Fig. 3, from a photo by Mr. H. Main) is green, brownish green, or purplish brown; in the green form, which is minutely dotted with white, there is generally a faint purplish line along the back, two purplish knobs on ring 8, and a purplish patch enclosing two ochreous spots on ring 11; the deeply notched head is ochreous, shaded with purplish; the last ring of the body is tinged with purplish, as also are the two small points thereon. It feeds, from July to September, on oak, birch, elm, beech, sallow, plum and other fruit trees; also on rose, bramble, etc. The moth is out in May and June,sometimes in July. The species is generally distributed, and sometimes common in the caterpillar state, but seems to be absent from the Scottish Isles.
Fig. 17.Fig. 17.Waved Umber at rest.(Photo by W. J. Lucas.)
Fig. 17.
Waved Umber at rest.
(Photo by W. J. Lucas.)
A male and a female specimen are figured on Plate130. The males are usually darker than the females, but they vary in the amount of darker clouding and suffusion. Three forms of the species have been named as follows—ab.brunneata, Tutt, a modification of the female rather more strongly coloured than the darkest typical male. Ab.fuscata, Tutt, sooty brown, tending to blackish; both sexes somewhat paler in central area of fore wings. Ab.unicolor, Tutt, similar to ab.fuscata, but without pale marking; the thorax is also darker. (Plate134, Fig. 7, ab.fuscata.) The eggs, furnished by Mr. Norman Riley, were verdigris green when laid, but on the third day changed to greyish.
In general colour the caterpillar is greyish brown sometimes tinged with green; pinkish brown blotches along the back, often united on the front and hind rings. In some cases the caterpillar is almost black, with a lighter mark on front of the first ring. It feeds on privet and lilac, and is said to eat currant, broom, and jasmine: May to August. (Plate133, Fig. 3.)
The moth is out in April and May, and is fond of resting on palings, trees, and even walls. It appears to be most plentifulin the London district, in the north and east of which the dark forms occur; but it is found more or less frequently over the greater part of England, and in South Wales; single specimens were taken at Hartlepool, Durham, in 1874 and 1875. One example has been recorded from Kincardineshire, Scotland; and one from Enniskillen, Ireland.
Two specimens are shown on Plate130. Fig. 3 represents the more or less typical form, and Fig. 4 depicts an example in which the central area is almost free of dark speckling, so that the whitish ground colour comes out distinctly. There is a good range of variation in the direction of both darker and paler forms than those figured. In some specimens with a clear white central area, the basal and outer marginal areas of the fore wings, and the outer area of the hind wings, are black or blackish; similar aberration is sometimes found in the more speckled specimens also. Occasionally, there is a projection from below the middle of the second black line to the basal band.
The caterpillar is green, with darker green and whitish lines along the back and sides. It feeds on birch, sallow, and heath (Erica cinerea), and may be reared on knot-grass. The moth is out in May, sometimes late April or early June. The New Forest in Hampshire is the districtpar excellencefor this species, the most favoured locality being the heathy tract near Lyndhurst, where the moths are very common, in some years, on tree-trunks, especially birch, and on heather. Other localities in England are Poole Heath, Parley Heath, and Bloxworth in Dorset; Tilgate Forest, etc., in Sussex; Reading district in Berks, first noted in 1891. In Ireland, it is widely distributed, and is abundant at Killarney and some other parts of Kerry.
The range abroad extends to Amurland and Japan.
Plate 130
Plate 131
The two portraits on Plate130represent the best known forms of this species. Stephens in 1831 referred the smoky or dark slaty grey form (Fig. 6), which is the ordinary one in the London district, now as then, torhomboidaria. Newman subsequently named this formperfumaria, and he, and other entomologists of the time, considered it as a species distinct fromgemmaria=rhomboidaria. We now know that the smoky grey specimens are not peculiar to the metropolitan area, but occur in other parts of England (Warwickshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, etc.), and are found, with the type, at Howth and other localities in Ireland. The more general forms throughout England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland up to Perthshire, are pale brown, or greyish brown (typical), sometimes ochreous tinged (Fig. 5); the latter is referable to ab.consobrinaria, Haworth. Black forms have been recorded from Norwich in Norfolk, and blackish specimens have been noted from Ashdown Forest, Sussex; from Cannock Chase, Staffordshire; and from the south of Scotland.
The eggs (Plate131, Fig. 1a) are green at first, changing to pink mottled with green, and finally to dark grey; the latter change indicates early hatching of the caterpillar, which usually occurs about a fortnight after the eggs are deposited.
The caterpillar (Plate131, Fig. 1, after a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich) is dull reddish brown, mottled more or less with ochreous; traces of diamond-shaped marks on the back, the latter sometimes well defined. It feeds on ivy (in London gardens especially), hawthorn, birch, privet, lilac, rose, clematis, broom, and many other shrubs, and also on yew and fir, in August, and after hibernation in the spring. The moth is out in July and August; sometimes a second brood occurs in September.
This species is thegemmariaof Brahm (1791), butrhomboidaria, Schiffermüller (1776), although only a catalogue name until figured by Hübner, about 1797, is adopted by some authors.
As an inhabitant of Britain this species was first noted from Hampshire, and in 1825 was figured and described by Curtis asAlcis sericearia. Two specimens of this form, from the New Forest, are depicted on Plate132, Figs. 1, 2; but paler, and also darker, examples are found in this locality, and, occasionally, melanic specimens occur as well. The latter form, some examples of which might be described as sooty black with black veins, is more prevalent among the yews and firs of Surrey.
The caterpillar, for the example of which (and also the egg), figured on Plate138, Figs. 1, 1a, I am obliged to Mr. Arthur J. Scollick, is, in one form, ochreous brown with paler cream-coloured patches on the back; and in another dark grey-brown with paler patches, sometimes of a light cinnamon brown; a pale, thin line along the middle of the back runs through a series of brownish diamonds; there are other pale lines on the back and sides, and these are edged with brownish, and partly with blackish; spiracles outlined in black. (Adapted from Buckler.) It feeds on spruce, pine, yew, oak, birch, sallow, etc., from August to June. A larva has been found on bilberry in Devon.
The moth is out from late June to early August, but captured specimens are not often suitable for the cabinet, they are generally more or less frayed or scarred.
Plate 132
Plate 133
Beside Surrey and Hants, previously mentioned, the species occurs in Sussex (Tilgate Forest), Buckinghamshire (Halton), and has been recorded from Berkshire; Egg Buckland, Oxton, Bickleigh Vale, and other Devonshire localities; also from Cornwall, Somersetshire, Gloucestershire (the Cotswolds), and Monmouthshire.
Staudinger and other recent authors have adoptedribeata, Clerck, for this species.
Two examples of the more ordinary mottled form of this species are shown on Plate132, Figs. 3 ♂, and 4 ♀. Fig. 6 represents ab.destrigaria, Haworth (muraria, Curtis); and Fig. 5 depicts a specimen near var.sodorensium, Weir, from the Isle of Lewis. Dark-brown forms, inclining to blackish, are not uncommon in the London district, but in South Yorkshire coal-black specimens with whitish submarginal lines occur; a sooty black example from the Sheffield district is figured on Plate134, Fig. 4, and, it may be added, these melanic forms are referable to ab.nigricata, Fuchs.
Two forms of ab.conversaria, Hübner, will be found on Plate134, where Fig. 1 depicts a specimen from the New Forest, and Fig. 8 represents an extreme example from North Devon. Theconversariaform occurs chiefly in the south and west of England, and is perhaps most plentiful along the North Devon coast; also in South Wales; Durham (rarely, on the coast). Broad dark banded specimens are recorded from Arran and Argyll.
The caterpillar (figured on Plate131, Fig. 2, after Sich) is brownish inclining to ochreous; a dark brownish line along the middle of the back, and a series of brownish diamond-shaped marks most distinct on the back of the middle rings; a line of blackish marks along the sides shows up in the paler examples. Sometimes the general colour is dark reddish brown, freckled with dark brown; but in all cases the underside is paler than the upper, and is striped and lined with dark and pale brown.It feeds on hawthorn, birch, elm, hazel, bilberry, heather, etc., from July to May.
The moth is out in June and July, and specimens of a second generation have been reared in September. Generally common throughout the British Isles.