The caterpillar is of a dull pale greenish colour, with numerous black speckles; three whitish lines on the back, the central one greenish tinged and broader than the others, which are interrupted on each ring by a yellow spot; between the lines is a series of black dots, one on the outer edge of each ring; hairs, from greenish warts, white and short; head, black, dotted with white. It feeds on bird's-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), and other trefoils and clovers: August to May. Sometimes the caterpillars do not complete growth until they have passed two winters in hibernation. The cocoon, which is yellow or yellowish white, has been found on a grass stem, butit is generally placed so low down among herbage that it seems to be rarely detected.
The moth is out in June and early July.
As previously stated the only part of Britain that the species inhabits is the New Forest, Hampshire. Here it was first met with in Stubby Copse, about 1869, but was apparently not distinguished fromZ. trifoliiuntil 1872. It is now less frequent in its old haunt than formerly, although it still occurs there; in other spots around, I believe, it is not uncommon in some years.
Some authorities refer this species toviciæ, Schranck.
Four specimens of this species are portrayed on Plate146. In the typical form (Figs. 7 ♂, 8 ♀) the central pair of crimson spots are united and often form a large blotch; ab.orobi, Hübner (Figs. 6 ♂, 9 ♀), has the spots placed well apart. Other more or less frequent aberrations are depicted by Mr. Horace Knight on Plate148where Fig. 2 represents ab.glycirrhizæ, Hübner (spots 3, 4, and 5 united); Fig. 3, ab.basalis, Selys (spots 3 and 4 united with the basal pair); and Fig. 4, ab.minoides, Selys (all the spots united, forming an irregular patch). An extreme development of the last-mentioned form has been named ab.extrema, Tutt (seeEntom.xxix., p. 341, Fig. 2). Specimens with a sixth spot as inZ. filipendulæhave been occasionally recorded, and an example with the lower spot of the central pair absent has been taken in West Sussex by Mr. W. M. Christy, who has also obtained a number of specimens of a yellow form (ab.lutescens, Cockerell) in the same locality. The yellow form is shown on Plate148, Fig. 5. Some of the yellow aberrations also exhibit variation in the spots pretty much as in the ordinary form. In some localities, especially marshy ones, the spots onthe fore wings and the hind wings are occasionally dull orange; and I have noted specimens in the Weybridge district, Surrey, with the spots on the fore wings of a pinky ochreous colour, whilst the hind wings were of the usual crimson. Such "aberrations" as those last mentioned probably result from weather exposure. In 1899, Mr. G. B. Corbin recorded the capture, near Ringwood, Hants, of a specimen which had the spots on the fore wings and the red of the hind wings darkened over with dull smoky black, so that the insect when seen at a distance seemed to be wholly black. Dr. Hodgson has recently obtained several of these melanic specimens in Sussex. A form with the spots and hind wings suffused with brownish has been named ab.obscura, Oberthür.
With regard to six-spot examples referred to this species, I am inclined to suppose that they may be the offspring of a chance pairing oftrifoliiandfilipendulæ. That such crossing does occur in nature I have evidence, as on one occasion I found four mixed pairs, the male beingtrifoliiin each case, and the female typicalfilipendulæ. This was in the Weybridge district, where I had come across a colony of the latter species and was closely examining the specimens for aberrations.
The caterpillar (Plate145, Fig. 3) is green inclining to yellowish and to bluish, with black marks on the back; a series of black streaks low down along the sides. It feeds onLotus corniculatus, and on other trefoils and clover: July to May. Sometimes taking two years to complete its changes.
In damp meadows the moth is out in May and June, but in marshes it does not appear, as a rule, until July, and may be found in early August. The marsh specimens, which are sometimes rather large in size, have been referred topalustris, Oberthür, and are treated by Tutt (Nat. Hist. Brit. Lep., vol. i.) as a sub-species.
Plate 146
Plate 147
In the British Isles, the species is apparently confined to England and North Wales. In the former country it is locally common in most of the southern counties; still more local in the eastern counties, and northwards to Lancashire and Yorkshire. There are records from Armagh and Fermanagh, but Kane appears to doubt the occurrence of the species in Ireland. There is no doubt that the next species has frequently been mistaken for the present one, therefore the actual range oftrifoliiin the British Isles has probably not been fully ascertained.
As will be seen from the two specimens represented by Figs. 1 ♂ and 2 ♀ on Plate147, this species bears considerable resemblance to ab.orobiofZ. trifolii. The chief differences are in the rather longer fore wings and the more pointed tips of the hind pair; the borders of the hind wings are often narrower. In a broad way, it may be stated that the general tone of colour in the male ofloniceræis bluer than that oftrifolii. The union of any two or more spots is rarely seen in this species in Britain, but specimens with all the spots joined together have certainly been noted. A yellow form, ab.citrina, Speyer (=flava, Oberthür), is known on the continent, and Barrett states that it has occurred in England. In ab.lutescens, Hewett, the hind wings are orange. Ab.eboraceæ, Prest, is semi-transparent, steel blue; the spots and the hind wings are pink, the border of the hind wings brown, and the fringes of all the wings are whitish.
The caterpillar (Plate145, Fig. 2) is very similar to that of the last species, but the black marks on the sides are heavier, and the hairs of the body are longer. It feeds on trefoils and clover, and sometimes passes two winters before becoming full grown. The cocoon, which is attached to stems of grass, etc., is generally placed well up above the ground, so that it is readily seen.
The moth, which is out in late June and in July, occurs in woods and plantations; also said to be found in meadows, and on rough waste ground, as well as in marshes and salterns. The distribution is much as in the last species, but it is plentiful in East Yorkshire, and the range extends to Cumberland and Northumberland.
This species (Plate147, Figs. 3-5) is the most generally common of our Burnets. Perhaps the most frequent form of variation in the spots of the fore wings is that in which the outer pair run together, and so form a blotch; but union of the middle pair is not an uncommon occurrence. In ab.cytisi, Hübner, the three pairs of spots are each united, so that the fore wings have three separate blotches, and when these are of a dull scarlet instead of the usual crimson, ab.ramburi, Lederer, is represented. Occasionally, all the spots are united, as in ab.cytisi, and the blotches thus formed are connected by reddish streaks in various modifications leading up to ab.conjuncta, Tutt, which has all the spots merged into a large blotch, extending over the disc of the fore wings. From the normal crimson, the spots and the hind wings vary now and then to orange (aurantia, Tutt), or to yellow (ab.flava, Robson =cerinus, Robson and Gardner); intermediate shades between these two extremes, and the typical coloration, are rather more frequent. I am indebted to Mr. R. Adkin for the loan of the example of the yellow form shown on Plate148, Fig. 6. Pink, and orange, forms have been noted from various parts of England, but they seem to occur, or have been found, more especially in Cambridge and the north-east corner of Essex. Fig. 7, Plate148, represents an example of ab.chrysanthemi, Hübner, and is copied from Oberthür'sEtudes d'Entom., xx., Plate8, Fig. 134. A few specimens referable to this form, probably not exceeding half a dozen altogether, have been recorded as taken in England. In typicalfilipendulæthe dark blue border of the hind wings is narrow, but in ab.hippocrepidis, Stephens (tutti, Rebel), the borders are rather broad. Another character of this form is that the nervule upon which the sixth spot is placed is here of the ground colour, and therefore divides the spot. (Plate147, Fig. 3.) At Northwood, Middlesex, I have found this form in May and June, and also in the Weybridge district, Surrey, in late July; and, it may be added, there was a flourishing colony ofZ. trifoliihard by in each locality. For this reason, plus the fact thattrifolii♂ is known to pair withfilipendulæ♀, I hold the opinion thathippocrepidisis a hybrid. It may be noted here that hybrids have been raised from the crossing offilipendulæandloniceræ; the sexes ofloniceræandtrifoliipair somewhat readily, and the hybrid offspring of such pairings are fertile.
Plate 148
Plate 149
It seems, then, thattrifolii,loniceræ, andfilipendulæhave not, so far, lost the power of fertile cross-pairing. Wherever colonies of two of the kind exist within visiting distance of each other, there, it appears, we may reasonably expect to find hybrids.
From a number of cocoons collected in a Yorkshire locality forloniceræ, I reared, in 1907, a good many examples of that species, and also about a dozen six-spot specimens, which agree in colour withfilipendulæ, but they have the vein-interrupted sixth spot and broad border to hind wings, as inhippocrepidis.
The caterpillar (Plate145, Fig. 4) is greenish, with black markings and some yellow spots, the latter chiefly on the hind edges of the rings. It feeds in the autumn and after hibernation, on trefoils, clover, bird's-foot (Ornithopus), and kidney-vetch (Anthyllis), completing growth in the spring.
The moth flies on sunny days in July and August, on chalk downs, etc., inland, and on cliffs and sand hills on the coast, also in marshes; but, as previously stated, it also occurs locally in meadows in May and June.
Of the three species occurring in Britain this is slightly the larger, at least in the male. The fore wings are green, sometimes with a slightly golden sheen; fringes, greyish. The male is best distinguished fromstaticesby its more slender body, and by the pectinated and rather pointed antennæ. The female is a good deal smaller than the male; the antennæ are simple, and somewhat thread-like, compared with those of the females ofstaticesandgeryon. (Plate147, Figs. 6 ♂, 7 ♀.)
The caterpillar is green, with the raised spots inclining to bluish; two yellowish-white lines along the back, and a dark green stripe along the sides; head and plate on first ring of the body, black. It lives on knapweeds (Centaurea nigraandC. scabiosa), feeding on the leaves much in the same manner as the caterpillar of the next two species.
The moth is out in June and July; it is partial to blossoms of salad burnet (Poterium sanguisorba), and only flies in the sunshine. The late Mr. J. Jenner Weir, who found the species commonly on the downs near Lewes, Sussex, was the first entomologist to record it as British. The best known localities in Sussex are Hollingbury Vale and Cliffe Hill, but it also occurs at the Devil's Dyke near Brighton. In Kent it is found on the downs behind Folkestone and Shorncliffe Camp.
In its most frequent form in Britain, this species is bronzy green (ab.viridis, Tutt); the typical bluish green type is much less frequent. The female is smaller than the male, but the difference in size is hardly ever so marked as in the sexes ofglobulariæ. The antennæ of the male are pectinated, but the tips are thickened. (Plate147, Figs. 8 ♂, 9 ♀.)
The caterpillar (Plate145, Fig. 5) is whitish, inclining to green, yellow, or pinkish, on the back, and the sides are pinkish brown; the hairy warts are brown or pinkish brown, and the small head is glossy black. It feeds on sorrel (Rumex acetosa), and it attains full growth, after hibernation, about the end of April. On leaving the egg-shell in the summer, the young caterpillar bores into a leaf, and eats the tissue between the upper and lower skins; later on it attacks the foliage from the underside, but leaves the upper skin intact; or the process may be reversed, and the under skin left.
The moth is on the wing in June, sometimes late May. It occurs, locally, in meadows, frequently damp ones, where there is plenty of ragged-robin (Lychnis flos-cuculi), the blossoms of which plant it seems to prefer to all others.
Widely distributed over England, but in Wales only recorded from Capel Curig and Barmouth, in the north of that country (1900). In Scotland its range extends to Moray; and in Ireland it is found in counties Wicklow, Cork, Clare, Westmeath, Monaghan, Sligo, and Galway.
This species is much smaller than the last; the fore wings, the outer margins of which are somewhat rounded, are bronze green, but, in the male, rather dull in tint, sometimes tinged with golden towards the base. The antennae are more stumpy than those ofstatices, but in other respects they are similar in appearance. The female is not much smaller than the male. (Plate147, Figs. 10 ♂, 11 ♀.)
The caterpillar is yellowish white, with bristle-bearing warts of pretty much the same colour; three lines on the back, the central one whitish, edged on each side with purplish, the others waved and of a claret colour; a reddish-brown stripe low downalong the sides; head and plate on first ring of the body black, the latter edged in front with yellowish. It feeds on rock rose (Helianthemum chamæcistus). At first it attacks the leaf from the upper side, and partly burrows therein; when older it clears away patches from the under surface, leaving the upper skin of the leaf more or less transparent; as it approaches full growth it likes to take its meals in the sunshine, and then eats the top skin as well as other parts of the leaf, and also tender shoots: July to May. The moth is out in June and July, as a rule, but is sometimes observed in May. Its haunts are on warm slopes of chalk downs and limestone hills, where it flies in the sunshine.
This species was first noted as British in March, 1860, when specimens from Worcestershire were recorded asProcris tenuicornis. It seems, however, to have been considered doubtfully distinct fromstaticesuntil 1863, when the caterpillar was found, and the occurrence of the species in several other English counties recorded. At the present timeI. geryonis known to inhabit Sussex (Brighton and Lewes districts), Kent (Canterbury and Shorncliffe), Bucks (Aylesbury and Tring), Oxfordshire (Chinor), Gloucestershire (Cotswolds), Worcestershire (Malvern Hills), Derbyshire and North Staffordshire (Bakewell and Dovedale), Yorkshire (Richmond, Barnsley, Sheffield, etc.), and Durham (banks on the coast). In Wales, it is sometimes common on Great Orme's Head, Carnarvonshire.
This family of moths mainly comprises tropical species, and is but poorly represented in the Palæarctic Region. Only two species are European, and both occur in Britain.
AsCochlidion, Hübner, supersedesLimacodes, Latrielle, the name of the family so long known as Limacodidæ, will have tobe changed to that here adopted. Meyrick, who sinksLimacodesin favour ofApoda, Haworth, uses Heterogeneidæ as the family name.
The fore wings of the male are orange brown, more or less smudged or clouded with blackish; two oblique black lines, the first inclined inwards, and the second outwards and apparently terminating on the outer margin just above the inner angle, but there is a slender dusky curve from this point enclosing a clear, orange-brown spot. Hind wings blackish, except on the inner margin, which is broadly orange brown. Female, ochreous brown, with lines on the fore wings as in the male; hind wings suffused with dark grey or blackish, except on the inner area; generally rather larger than the male. (Plate153, Figs. 1 ♂, 2 ♀.) Not infrequently, the fore wings of the male are so much clouded with blackish that the cross lines are obscured, and the spot on the inner margin alone remains clear.
The caterpillar (Plate149, Fig. 1, from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich) is green, with two reddish-edged yellow lines on the back; between these lines are yellowish spots; a yellow line along the sides extends along the front edge of the second ring, where it is marked with red. It feeds on oak, and may be beaten from the boughs in the autumn. The brownish cocoon is depicted on Plate149; Fig. 1ashows the hinged lid which covered the opening through which the chrysalis protruded previous to the moth's escape; Fig. 1brepresents one from which the moth has not emerged, and in nature this would be attached to a leaf and covered with a delicate film of silk. The moth is out in June and July, and both sexes may be beaten from the branches of trees, or seen flying around their tops in the sunshine.
This species, often referred to asLimacodes testudo, and said to be theavellanaof Linnæus, is an inhabitant of oak woods, and occurs in Hampshire, Sussex, Kent, Essex, Suffolk, Oxfordshire, Bucks, Gloucestershire, and Worcestershire. A male and two females have been reported from Clonbrock, Co. Galway, Ireland.
The fore wings of this little species (Plate153, Figs. 4 ♂ and 5 ♀) are of triangular shape; in the male, which sex is smaller than the female, they are dark brown, sometimes almost blackish (ab.nigra, Tutt), and those of the female yellowish brown varying to ochreous yellow (ab.flavescens, Tutt). The hind wings of the male are blackish, and of the female clouded with blackish.
The curious woodlouse-shaped caterpillar is green, sometimes inclining to yellowish; the broad reddish band on the back broadens out before the middle, thus giving the idea of a rough cross, or, as sometimes described, a blunt spear head. It is found, by searching, in August and until October, on the foliage of beech and oak. Birch has also been mentioned as a food plant, and on the continent it is said to feed on poplar, lime, hazel, and hornbeam. Fig. 2 on Plate149is from a photo by Mr. H. Main.
Although the caterpillar constructs its gall-like cocoon on a leaf or in the fork of a twig in the autumn, it does not change to a chrysalis until late in spring, sometimes not until June. The moth is out in June and July and flies in the sunshine, chiefly in the afternoon, and might easily be confused with the Lechean Tortrix (Ptycholoma lecheana).
Plate 150
Plate 151
The species appears to be very local in England and confined to the south. Its chief haunts seem to be in Bucks, where it is not uncommon in beech woods at Marlow, and in Hampshire, especially parts of the New Forest. It has been found in Epping Forest, Essex; rarely in Abbot's Wood and Rewell Wood, Sussex; also recorded from Bickleigh Vale and the Plym Valley, Devonshire.
The range abroad extends to Amurland.
Fig. 20.Fig. 20.Goat Moth at rest.(Photo by Hugh Main.)
Fig. 20.
Goat Moth at rest.
(Photo by Hugh Main.)
Of the eighty-six Palæarctic species referred to this family, by far the larger number are eastern, only about eight appear to be found in Europe, and but three of these occur in Britain.
Meyrick separatesCossus cossus(ligniperda) from our other two species, adoptsTrypanus, Rambur, as the generic name, and removes it to the Tortricina as a family of that group under the name Trypanidæ.
The English name of this species (Plate150, Figs. 1 ♂, 2 ♀) applies more especially to the caterpillar, as this creature gives off an odour which has been compared to that of the he-goat. In general colour the caterpillar is pinkish ochreous,inclining to dark reddish on the back; the small head is black and glossy, and the mark on the first ring of the body is black. It feeds in the solid wood of various trees, especially elm, ash, and willow, but is three or four years in completing growth. When mature, it often leaves its burrow and wanders in search of a suitable place for pupation. When met with at such times it should be, if taken, placed in a roomy tin box with a good supply of sawdust or decayed wood, when it will make its cocoon, and appear as a moth in due course. The early stages are shown on Plate151.
Caterpillars are more likely to come under the notice of the country rambler than are the moths; examples of the latter, however, may be seen occasionally, in June or July, resting on a tree-trunk, a fence, or a gate post; sometimes, although practically tongueless, the moth visits the sugar patch and either settles on the tree or flutters around.
The species seems to occur in all parts of the British Isles, except perhaps the extreme north of Scotland and the Hebrides.
Abroad, the range extends to Amurland and to North-west Africa.
As will be seen from the portraits of this blue-black spotted white species on Plate153, the male (Fig. 6) is smaller than the female (Fig. 7); it will be further noted that the antennæ of the male are bi-pectinated on the basal half, and thread-like on the outer half; the antennæ of the female are thread-like throughout.
Plate 152
Plate 153
The caterpillar (Plate152, Fig. 1, from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich) is dull whitish, more or less tinged with yellow; the spots are black, and the head and plates on the first and last rings of the body are blackish brown. It feeds in branches and stems of trees and shrubs. Hatching from the egg, say in the late summer of 1908, the caterpillar will not be full grown until May or June of 1910, or possibly 1911; forming a cocoon of silk and wood particles, it turns to a reddish brown chrysalis in the burrow, and near the bark of the stem or branch. The moth comes out in the summer, and is most often seen in the London district, where the female especially is not infrequently found on tree-trunks or on grass, etc., under trees. It visits light, and the electric arc lamps are very attractive to it.
The species occurs in the south and east of England, and through the north-west counties to Cheshire. It has been recorded from Cardiff, South Wales, and doubtfully from Ireland.
Abroad, the range extends to Corea and Japan. In America it seems to be established in parts of the State of New York.
A male of this species (Macrogaster arundinisof some authors) is shown on Plate153, Fig. 3. The female is rather larger, with longer body, and the antennæ are without pectinations.
The wrinkled and rather shining caterpillar is ochreous white with reddish-brown stripes along the back. It feeds low down on the stems of reed (Phragmites communis) and is full grown in the spring of the second year following that in which it left the egg in late summer. Thus, a caterpillar hatching in August, 1908, would be mature about May, 1910, pupate in that month, or the next, and the perfect insect would appear in June or July.
The moth flies at night, and may be attracted by a brilliant light. The earliest known British locality for the species was Holme Fen in Huntingdonshire (1841-1848). In 1850 it was found abundantly at Whittlesea Mere. Its haunts in thepresent day are Wicken and Chippenham fens in Cambridgeshire, but specimens from these localities are somewhat smaller than the old Hunts examples. Barrett states that he put down some eggs of the species in Ranworth Fen, Norfolk, and that five years later two males were captured within a short distance of the spot where the eggs had been placed.
The range abroad extends to China and Japan.
This family—the Ægeriadæ of some authors—has over one hundred Palæarctic species assigned to it; these are distributed among five genera, two of which are not represented in Britain. Fourteen species are found in the British Isles, but to obtain fine specimens of most of them the mature caterpillars or the chrysalids will have to be collected and the moths reared. All species emerge from the chrysalis early in the forenoon, and then only under the influence of sunshine.
The caterpillars are somewhat maggot-like, and live in stems, branches, and roots of trees and shrubs; or in the crowns and roots of low-growing plants. The majority, possibly all, are nearly two years in arriving at full growth.
As indicated by the English name this moth, and also that next to be mentioned, are very like the hornet (Vespa crabro). On turning to Plate154, Fig. 1, it will be seen that this species has a yellow head and patches of yellow on the shoulders; these characters at once separate it fromT. crabroniformis.
Plate 154
Plate 155
The caterpillar is yellowish white, with a red brown head, and a yellow plate on the first ring of the body. It feeds on the roots and lower portion of the trunks of poplar. The brown shining chrysalis is enclosed in a cocoon of wood scrapings woven together with silk. The moth is out in May and June; and has been found, newly emerged, sitting on stems of poplar in the morning.
The eastern counties of England appear to be most favoured by this species, but it also occurs northwards to Yorkshire, southwards to Devonshire, and a specimen has been recorded from Rhyl, North Wales. In Scotland, it has been reported from some localities in the south; Kane states that he has reason to believe that the species occurs in the northern half of Ireland, and that he found caterpillars plentiful in young poplars growing in a marsh near the city of Waterford.
Another hornet-like moth, best distinguished from that just mentioned by the yellow collar behind the black head (Plate154, Fig. 7 ♀). The male is rather smaller, but otherwise similar.
The caterpillar is yellowish white, with dark brownish head, and a blackish edged yellow plate on the first ring of the body. It feeds in stems of sallow, willow, and poplar. In late June and through July the moth is on the wing, and may occasionally be seen at rest on leaves or stems of sallow, etc.
The species, known also asbembeciformis, Hübner, is generally distributed throughout England, Wales, and Ireland; in Scotland its range extends into Perthshire.
Abroad it seems pretty much confined to Holland, Northern and Central Germany, Austria, and Bohemia.
This species is theTrochelium vespiformeof some British authors, and theÆgeria asiliformisof Stephens and others.
Another English name for it is the Dusky Clearwing, and this refers to the cloudy fore wings.
Stephens, writing of it in 1828, remarks: "Occasionally taken on poplars, near London, in June. I have obtained it from the neighbourhood of Bexley, and from Birchwood; but it is doubtless a rare species, and exists in few collections: of the male, I have hitherto seen but two specimens, one of which I possess." Both places mentioned by Stephens are in Kent, and one or two specimens of the species have since been reported from Ashford in the same county. The late Henry Doubleday took specimens at Epping, Essex. Colney Hatch Wood in Middlesex has also been given as a locality in the past; more recently two specimens have been noted from Chiswick. The example shown on Plate154, Fig. 4, is of continental origin.
The caterpillar lives under the bark of poplar trunks, and the moth flies in June and July.
As a British species this insect was first noted from Llangollen, in North Wales, somewhere about fifty years ago. In 1867 it was found to inhabit birch woods in the Rannoch district of Scotland, and later on its presence was detected in Sutherlandshire. It has been recorded from Hereford; one example was reported from Wiltshire in 1857; and two from Delamere Forest, Cheshire (1901 and 1905). Kane (Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Ireland) states that moths have been taken at Killarney, and caterpillars obtained in the same district, and also at Kenmare.
The caterpillar (Plate156, Fig. 3; after Hofmann) feeds on the inner layer of bark of large birch trees, and is full grown about May. It turns to a dark brownish chrysalis, in a cocoon formed close up to the bark, which thinly covers the outer end of the burrow. The moth flies in June or sometimes July. Itis of comparatively large size, and may be distinguished from the next species by the yellow belts on its body, and the chestnut coloured tuft at the tail. (Plate154, Fig. 2.)
Although generally smaller, some specimens run very close to the last species in size. It may be distinguished by the single belt on the body and the black tail (Plate154, Fig. 3). One of the best known localities for the species in England is Tilgate Forest, in Sussex; but it also occurs in Hampshire (Basingstoke), Hereford (Tarrington), Worcestershire (Wyre Forest), Staffordshire (Burnt Wood), Cheshire (one, Delamere Forest, 1901), Denbighshire (Llangollen), Lancashire (Chat Moss), and Yorkshire (Bishop's Wood, 1894).
The caterpillar feeds in stems of alder, and is full grown in May of the third year after hatching from the egg. It is said that the chrysalis may sometimes be found by bending and twisting the stems of alder, so as to cause the thin skin of bark over the exit hole of the burrow to crack, and so disclose its whereabouts. The burrow is generally low down the stem. The moth is out in June and early July, and is sometimes to be seen on sunny mornings at rest on alder leaves, or flying over and around the bushes.
Although known to be a British species since 1829, when a specimen was taken in a wood near Greenhithe, Kent, this insect continued to be very rare until quite recently. For a long time the caterpillar was supposed to feed in the stems of dogwood, but it is now known to live in the stems of the wayfaring tree (Viburnum lantana), and several specimens of the mothhave been reared during the past year or two. Unfortunately the caterpillar is much infested by parasites, and comparatively few escape attack. Notes on the life history of this moth, by the Hon. N. Charles Rothschild, Mr. Eustace Bankes, and Dr. Chapman, are published in theTransactions of the Entomological Society of Londonfor 1906 (Part IV., pp. 471-482).
Most of the known localities for the species are in Kent, but it has also been found in Surrey, Dorset, Gloucester, Hertfordshire (Tring district), and Northamptonshire (Oundle). Possibly it will be discovered in other parts of the country. I am indebted to Mr. L. W. Newman, of Bexley, for the specimen figured on Plate1, Fig. 1. For the caterpillar mine in stem ofViburnum(Plate156, Figs. 2, 2a) my thanks are due to Mr. Rayward, who kindly sent me a living pupa, from which the moth duly emerged, but, I regret to add, escaped from the box in which the stick containing the chrysalis was kept.
Newman, in 1833, described this species asTrochilium allantiformis, and in 1842 it was figured by Westwood and Humphreys asT. andreniforme. It is distinguished fromSesia tipuliformisby the two yellow belts of the body (the first sometimes indistinct) and the orange-yellow tuft in the blue-black tail; on the underside of the body there is a broad yellow band on the fourth ring, sometimes extending to the fifth and sixth.
In this species the body is narrowly belted with yellow, usually four belts in the male and three in the female; the tail tuft is black in both sexes. The outer marginal border of the fore wings has a bronzy tinge, due to orange patches between the veins. (Plate154, Figs. 5 ♂, 6 ♀.)
The caterpillar lives in the stems and shoots of black and red currant bushes; it feeds on the pith, and works its way downwards. When full grown, about May, it gnaws an outlet to theside of the stem, but does not penetrate the outer skin, although it reduces this to a very thin layer, through which the reddish brown chrysalis is able to force itself when the moth is ready to emerge. A figure of the caterpillar will be found on Plate156, Fig. 1; the chrysalis protruding from currant stem (Fig. 1a) is from a photo by Mr. H. Main. In June or July, the moths are not infrequently seen on leaves of shrubs in gardens where there are currant bushes in or around such gardens, but the foliage of the food plant is a favourite resting place.
Generally distributed throughout England, the range extending into Wales, and South Scotland, but is apparently rare in these countries and also in some of the northern counties of England. Kane states that the species is common near Dublin, and is probably widely distributed in Ireland.
This species seems to have been introduced into North America, where its caterpillar is known as the "currant borer," and, as in England, is regarded with little favour by bush-fruit growers.
This species (Plate155, Fig. 1), known also asasiliformis, Rottemburg (1775), andcynipiformis, Esper (1782), is now held to be correctly referred tovespiformis, Linnæus (1761). The crossbar of the fore wings is orange red in both sexes; the body of the male has two more or less united yellow spots at the junction with the thorax, four yellow belts, and the tail tuft is black above, mixed with yellow below; in the female the body belts are usually one less than in the male, the yellow spots at the junction are generally run together, and the tail tuft is almost wholly yellow. As indicated by the English name, the legs are largely yellow in both sexes.
The caterpillar feeds on the inner bark of oak trees, is fullgrown in May or June, and turns to a brownish chrysalis in a cell formed in the bark. A well-known locality for this moth, which is out in July and early August, is Hyde Park, London. It is also found in woods or oak-timbered parks in Kent (Tunbridge Wells), Surrey, Sussex (Abbot's Wood, Tilgate, etc.), Dorset (Glanvilles Wootton, etc.), Devon (Devonport, Plymouth, Topsham, etc.), Essex (Epping), Suffolk, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Leicestershire, Staffordshire, and Yorkshire (Doncaster).
One example of each sex is shown on Plate155, where Fig. 2 represents the male and Fig. 3 the female; both have a single belt on the body; as a rule, the belt is red, but occasionally it inclines to orange or yellow.
The caterpillar feeds on the inner bark of the trunks or boughs of apple, and sometimes pear, trees. It is nearly two years in maturing, but is full grown about June. The moth is out during the summer months, and is to be seen early on sunny mornings, newly emerged from the chrysalis on the trunks of the trees in which the caterpillar lives; the chrysalis skins will also be noted at the same time, sticking out from holes in the bark. Later in the day it sits on leaves, etc., after its flights, and I have even found it occasionally on a gravel path, and once on the pavement of a road in North-west London.
The species seems to be most frequent in gardens and orchards around London, but it has been recorded from as far north as Lancashire and Yorkshire; it is probably widely distributed over England. The Irish localities, mentioned by Kane, are Dublin, Cork, Killarney, and Clonbrock.
Plate 156
Plate 157
This species (Plate155, Fig. 4) is very similar to the last, but it is larger, and the fore wings are dusted with reddish scales towards the base, sometimes also along the inner margin. The belt on the body is generally red, not infrequently with an orange tinge, but it is sometimes yellow or far more rarely white.
The caterpillar, which is full grown in May, feeds on the inner bark of birch trees and bushes, apparently preferring the stumps left in the ground where stems have been cut down. It is not difficult to find, but as it is about two years in this stage it should not be taken until nearly or quite full grown, and it is safer to leave it until it has entered the chrysalis state. The moth is out in June, or sometimes at the end of May; it flies over birch and rests on leaves, and has been known to visit flowers of the wood spurge and the rhododendron.
Kent and Sussex appear to be the counties most favoured by this species, but it occurs in most of the other English counties in which there are birch woods, certainly up to Yorkshire, and probably further north, as it is found in Scotland (Clydesdale, Perthshire, and Aberdeen). The Irish localities are Killarney, Ballinasloe, and Derry.
This is another red-belted species, but it differs from either of the two immediately preceding in having the fore wings tipped with red. (Plate155, Fig. 5.)
The caterpillar feeds in the twigs and stumps of osier (Salix viminalis), sometimes called "withe"; it is full grown about June. (Plate156, Fig. 2; after Hofmann.) The moth is out in July and August; it is partial to marshes and other wet spots,and is fond of a leaf as a resting place. Like the rest of its kind, it is very alert, and skips off quickly on one's approach. Probably the species is more widely distributed in England, but from the records, it only appears to have been noted from Kent, Hampshire, Somersetshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, and Essex.
The inner and outer margins of the fore wings are tinged with orange, and there is an orange mark on the outer edge of the cross bar; the body of the male has seven yellow belts, and that of the female one less. (Plate155, Fig. 6.)
The caterpillar feeds in the roots of bird's-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), and kidney vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria); it is full grown about June. July and August are the months for the moth, and its haunts are on chalk downs, and on banks by the sea; it seems partial to the edges of chalk pits, sloping banks, and broken ground of undercliffs, etc. In such places it is to be seen on the wing in the early evening, and, I believe, in the early morning also. It has frequently been obtained by sweeping the net over herbage in the vicinity of the food plants.
Mr. W. H. Flint records (1902) the species from the Forest of Dean district, where, he states, he could easily have captured two dozen a day, as they flew over trefoils, etc.
The species occurs in most of the southern seaboard counties of England, from Kent to Cornwall and including the Isle of Wight; Surrey, Bucks., Essex, and other eastern counties, including Cambridge; and it has been recorded from Yorkshire. On the western side of the country it is found in Somerset, Gloucester, Hereford, Worcester, Staffordshire, and in South Wales.
This is our smallest species of the genus, and it is further distinguished by narrow clear spaces on the blackish, or bronzy, fore wings, three whitish bands on the body, and traces of a whitish line along the middle of the back. (Plate155, Fig. 7.)
The caterpillar feeds on the roots of thrift or sea-pink (Armeria vulgaris), and is full grown about June. The moth is out in June and July, and seems to have a liking for the flowers of thyme.
This species (also known asphilanthiformis, Laspeyres) frequents rocky places on the coasts of Devon (Torquay, Lynmouth, etc.), Cornwall, Wales; Isle of Man; Scotland (Aberdeenshire); and Ireland (Saltee Islands, Wexford, and Seven Heads, Cork. Gregson recorded it from Howth).
The orange red colour on the fore wings, and of the tail tuft, at once distinguish this species (Plate155, Figs. 8 ♂, 9 ♀) from either of its British allies. The blackish body has two pale-yellow belts, but in the male the lower one is often double. As a rule, the body of the female is stouter than that of the male, but the bodies of some males appear quite as thick as those of the females, and the true sex is only disclosed by the ciliated antennæ, which is a character of the male alone.
The caterpillar feeds on the roots of dock and sorrel, and it is full grown about May. In June and July the moth is on the wing and flies in the sunshine, about noon, over the food plants.
The species occurs not uncommonly in the Warren at Folkestone, Kent. This locality, well known to entomologists, is a long stretch of rough broken ground lying between the railwayand the sea; and is probably the only spot in the British Isles where the Fiery Clearwing is almost certain to be found, either in its early or its perfect stage, at the proper season. The moth has been recorded from Eastbourne, Sussex (1874), and from the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire (1902).
Of the twenty-two Palæarctic species belonging to this family, nine appear to occur in Europe, and the range of five of these extends to the British Isles.
In some of the more recent systems of classification, this family is relegated to almost the bottom of the scheme, and therefore occupies a much lower place than do the bulk of the families comprised in the old style "Micro-Lepidoptera." As, however, these insects, commonly called "Swifts," have long received the attention of collectors, and in collections usually occupy a position among the so-called "Bombyces," they have been included in the present volume.
On Plate157are portraits of a male and a female of the typical form of this species (Figs. 1 ♂ and 3 ♀); and two male examples (Figs. 2 and 4) of the Shetland race var.thulensis, Newman, better known perhaps ashethlandica, Staudinger, but the former is the older name. It will be noted that in the ordinary form the male has white wings, and that the female has yellowish fore wings marked with orange, and smoky hind wings. The Shetland male, represented by Fig. 2, has the fore wings whitish buff in colour with brownish markings similar in pattern to those of an ordinary female; the hind wings are blackish. The second example ofthulensis(Fig. 4) is somewhat similar in appearance to a typical female. In other male specimens of this insular race the wings are pretty much of the typical colour, but the markings on the front pair are reduced both in number and size. Mr. H. McArthur, who has collected a good deal in the Shetland Isles, states that in Unst, the most northern island of the group, more or less typicalhumuliwere found on the cliffs facing south-east, whilst the majority of the specimens obtained in boggy meadows, etc., were of thethulensisform.
Plate 158
Plate 159
The caterpillar feeds on the roots of plants, such as burdock, dandelion, dead-nettle, etc. It is full grown in May, and the moth is out in June and July. (Plate159, Fig. 2; after Hofmann.) The males may be seen in the evening, sometimes in numbers in grassy places, swaying themselves to and fro without making progress, and appearing as though they dangled from the end of an invisible thread; the female flies straight, and, as a rule, in the direction of one or other of the pendulous males.
The species is generally distributed over the British Isles.
The male of this species (Plate157, Figs. 5. ♂, 6 ♀) usually some shade of orange brown, with greyish-edged white markings on the fore wings. Sometimes the female is orange brown, but more often it is some shade of grey brown.
The caterpillar (Plate159, Fig. 3; after Hofmann) feeds on the roots of dock, bracken, viper's bugloss, etc., and is full grown about July. In late July and in August the moth may be seen in the early evening flying among bracken, and not infrequently around trees fairly high up. Occasionally, specimens are seen in the daytime on tree-trunks, fences, etc. At one time this species was known in the vernacular as "The Tawny and Brown Swift"; it is also "The Orange or Evening Swift" of Harris (1778) and the "Wood Swift" of Newman. It iscommon in many southern and eastern parts, but widely distributed over England, Wales, and Scotland to Moray. Only doubtfully recorded from Ireland.
At one time this species (thevelledaof Hübner) was known as the "Northern Swift," but as it is plentiful in North Devonshire and Somersetshire, and occurs less commonly in other southern English counties, that name is hardly suitable. Haworth's English name for it—"The Beautiful Swift"—does not quite meet the case, because, although the insect is prettily marked, it is scarcely beautiful. We have then to fall back on Donovan's Map-winged Swift as a popular name, and this seems a fairly apt one, as the markings on the fore wings are somewhat map-like in pattern, especially in the more typical specimens.
There is much variation in colour and in marking; some examples, chiefly those from Shetland, are prettily variegated. A uniform reddish-brown variety, ab.gallicus, Lederer, is depicted on Plate158, Fig. 3; and a more or less typical specimen of each sex is shown on the same plate (Figs. 1 ♂, 2 ♀).
The caterpillar is ochreous white, with orange-brown plates, and rather paler raised dots; head, reddish brown, and spiracles black. It feeds on the roots of the bracken, and is full grown about May. The moth is out in June and July, and flies, in the gloaming, on hill slopes, heaths, and the edges of mosses and woods; it seems to be more active than either of the other British "Swifts"; at all events, I have always found it less easy to capture with the net.
The species is pretty generally distributed throughout the British Isles.
Three examples of this species are shown on Plate158. Fig. 4 is a typical male, Fig. 5 a whitish suffused variety, and Fig. 6 is a female. The latter sex is generally devoid of marking, and in the male the stripes and dashes are far more conspicuous in some specimens than in others.
The glossy whitish caterpillar has a brown head; the plate on the first ring of the body is brownish, and the raised dots are pretty much of the same colour. It feeds on the roots of grass and other plants, and is full grown about April. A figure of the caterpillar, from a drawing in colour by Mr. A. Sich, and a photo of the pupa by Mr. H. Main, are shown on Plate159, Figs. 1 and 1a; the latter is twice natural size.
The moth is out in June, or sometimes late May, and occasional specimens have been noted in September. It is more frequently seen at rest, on fences, etc., than either of the other species of the genus; but towards dusk it is on the wing, and may then be observed in large numbers careering over grass meadows or along stretches of green turf by the wayside.
Generally distributed, and often abundant, throughout the United Kingdom; and it occurs in Monaghan, Mayo, Galway, and Kerry, in Ireland.
Both sexes of this species are shown on Plate158, where Fig. 7 represents the golden-marked male, and Fig. 8 the more dingy, dull, purplish-grey striped female. There is variation in number and in size of the markings on the fore wings of the male, and occasionally the hind wings in this sex are adorned with golden spangles on the outer area.
The pale greyish brown caterpillar has glossy darker brownplates on rings 1-3, and the raised dots and the spiracles are black. It feeds on the roots of bracken, and is full grown about May. Buckler states that at first it burrows in the root, hibernates when small, resumes feeding in April, attains full growth before winter, and hibernates in the earth for a second time; in the spring of the second year it gnaws cavities in the young shoots of the bracken, and apparently drinks the flowing sap.
The moth is out in June. The males fly at dusk, something in the manner ofhumuli, over and among the bracken; but the females fly in a more or less direct line. An odour given off by the males of this species has been likened to that of the pine apple; whilst the "scent" of the Ghost Moth is said to be more of the billy-goat character.
In most woody localities, where the bracken flourishes, this species will be found throughout England, Wales, Scotland to Aberdeen and the Hebrides, and Ireland.