The species is especially common in the south-west of England, chiefly on the coast, but it seems to occur in most suitable localities in nearly all the southern counties, and its range extends to Gloucestershire on the west and to Norfolk on the east. About seventy-five years ago Stephens used to obtain specimens on a chalky ridge near Hertford, and recently the moth has been found at Hitchin in North Hertfordshire.
Two Continental specimens of this little moth are shown on Plate21, Figs. 1 typical, 2 ab.carthami. An example of this species was obtained in June, 1825, in a lane near Bideford, Devonshire, and Stephens refers to this as the only specimen of the species that up to that time (1830) had been noted in England. Nothing more was heard ofT. ostrinauntil 1858, when another Devonshire specimen was taken, this time near Torquay, on June 8, and during the month several others were captured on the coast; two were also secured in the Isle of Wight, and one in Ayrshire, Scotland. In 1865, a specimen was recorded as taken in July a few years previously at Pembrey, South Wales; 1880, one at Dover in September, and one near Swanage; Barrett mentions specimens taken on the Culver Cliffs, Isle of Wight, in 1859.
It seems unquestionable that examples of this species captured in Britain, and also of the other twoThalpocharesto be presently referred to, are immigrants, and it is quite conceivable that besides the specimens captured here, others which have escaped detection may also have arrived with them.
The distribution abroad is extensive, embracing South Europe, Turkey, Asia Minor, Egypt, North-west Africa, Madeira, and the Canary Isles. It has also been found in France and Germany, but its occurrence in the latter country has been even less frequent than in England.
This species, of which a foreign example is represented on Plate21, Fig. 3, has a similar distribution to that ofT. ostrina, only it does not seem to occur in Madeira or the Canaries, and its eastward range extends to Central and Southern India.
The fore wings are pale reddish ochreous; first line, oblique, dusky, slightly waved on lower half, bordered inwardly with brownish and outwardly with white; second line, dusky and irregular.
The earliest specimen noted in Britain was captured at Teignmouth, South Devon, in July, 1844; another was said to have been captured at Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, but it has been suggested that this specimen might probably be referable toT. ostrina.Mr. E. Bankes has a specimen, taken by himself on a salt marsh in the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset, June 8, 1892. This seems to be all that is definitely known of this species in Britain, but others have been noted from the Isle of Wight and the Isle of Man.
The fore wings are white, clouded with pale brownish grey beyond the almost straight and rather oblique first line, and also beyond the angulated second line.
Of this species (Plate21, Fig. 6) a specimen, now in the collection of Mr. E. R. Bankes, was taken at Freshwater, Isle of Wight, in June, 1872. Two other specimens, one of which seems to have been captured by a boy who was collecting on the south coast, were recorded in 1873; these insects were at that time in the collection of the Rev. H. Burney, and had been caught several years earlier.
The range abroad extends through Europe and Asia to South Siberia. The specimen figured is from Dresden.
The ground colour of the fore wings of this species (Plate21, Fig. 7) is brownish grey, more or less clouded and sometimes suffused with blackish; the white patch on the outer marginal area is, in some examples, much obscured by dark-grey markings, and in occasional specimens the only trace of white on this part of the wing is a thin edging to the second line (ab.albilinea, Haworth).
The caterpillar is pale yellowish, with a greenish, sometimes red, tinged line along the middle of the back, and a brown one on each side; a reddish line under the black spiracles; head, brownish; the raised dots of the body are dusky edged with reddish. It feeds from July to September. A reddish form of this caterpillar has been noted. Buckler, from whose description the above has been condensed, states that the food-plant is blue moor-grass, or purple melic-grass (Molinia cærulea), and this is confirmed by Bignell, who remarks that in Devonshire he easily finds the caterpillars "feeding about half way up the blades" of this grass.
The moth is out in June and July, or in forward seasons in late May. It is partial to pine and larch trunks as a resting place during the day, and is local and more or less frequent in most of the southern counties, from Kent to Cornwall, through Somerset and Gloucester (extending into Oxford), to Hereford and Worcester, on the west, and from Essex to Norfolk on the east. A specimen was taken at light in Chester in June, 1901.
The range abroad extends to Japan.
In its typical form this species (Plate21, Fig. 4) has the colour of the fore wings olive brown, but occasionally it istinged with reddish in some English, and more generally in Irish, specimens. The silvery oblique lines, or bands, vary in width, and sometimes there is a distinct spur from the lower outer edge of the first band.
The caterpillar is yellowish green, with a rather darker green line along the middle of the back, and a yellow one on each side of it. It feeds on grasses, such asPoa aquaticaandP. Pratensis, etc., in July and early August.
The moth is out in June, and may be found during the day sitting about on the herbage in its marshy haunts, or flying over the vegetation towards the evening.
The species is exceedingly local in Britain. In ancient times it occurred in Norfolk, but in the present day it seems to be confined to Cambridgeshire, in which county it was first noted rarely in Wicken fen about thirty years ago, but in 1882 it was found plentifully in Chippenham fen, and in that locality (which is a private one) the species still flourishes. In Ireland it is well distributed over co. Kerry, and is especially abundant on the bogs of Killarney.
The range abroad extends to Amurland, where the brownish form var.amurula, Staud., is found.
The usually olive brown central area of the fore wings is sometimes reddish tinged, and in fresh specimens the whitish front marginal streak is distinctly rosy; the reniform stigma, which appears to be a spur of the costal streak, is also white or rosy tinged, and sometimes encloses a greyish mark. This stigma is the so-called "hook" to which both the English name and the Latin specific name refer. (Plate21, Fig. 5.)
The caterpillar feeds in July and early August on sedges (Carex) and coarse grasses. It is green, with three lines along the back, the central one rather darker green, and the other two whitish; low down along the sides is a broader yellowish line; the head is green with a yellowish tinge.
Plate 22
Plate 23
The moth is out from late May to early July, sometimes later.
This is also a marsh-loving species, and is generally plentiful in the fens of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire; in the Southern counties it is either very local or, owing to its small size, has escaped detection, but has been noted as occurring in Surrey (Wisley), Kent (Deal), Hants (New Forest), Dorset, Devon, Cornwall, and Somersetshire; also in Yorkshire (Askham bog), and in Cumberland. The Welsh counties in which it has been found are Pembroke, Glamorgan and Carnarvon (Abersoch). It is locally common in Clydesdale, and has also been reported from Kirkcudbrightshire, and Perthshire. In Ireland it abounds in the boggy parts of Kerry, and is more or less frequent in several other parts of Ireland. Near Castle Bellingham, co. Louth, where it is common, a second brood was observed on Aug. 1st, 1894.
Its range abroad extends to Amurland and Japan.
Another local species, but a frequenter of drier localities than the last two. This delicate rosy-flushed whitish moth first became known as a native of Britain by the capture of a few specimens in Essex. Stephens, writing in 1830, remarks, "I have hitherto seen four examples only—a pair in my own cabinet; one of the latter taken, I believe, in Epping forest by the late Mr. Honey, the other by the late Mr. Bentley." No other British specimens seem to have been recorded until 1845, when the late Mr. H. Doubleday, in July, noted several of the moths disporting themselves over, or settling upon, bracken in Epping Forest. For many years Loughton and some other parts of the forest remained the only known English haunts of the species, but in 1874 it was found commonly inSt. Leonard's Forest, Sussex; later still, it was discovered in the Brentwood district, Essex. It still occurs in all these localities, but appears to be now less frequently noticed in the original one than formerly (Plate21, Fig. 9).
The caterpillar feeds in July and August on the flowers of cinquefoil (Potentilla), and is said to eat bramble blossoms also. Hellins describes it as rich brown, with a row of eight dusky-red diamonds down the back, enclosing the dorsal line of brighter red. The moth is out from the end of May and in June; it may be put up from herbage during the day, but its proper time of flight is in the early evening, and then only when the weather is favourable. If cold or damp the insects will not get on the wing. (Plate25, Fig. 3; after Hofmann.)
The range abroad extends to Amurland.
This pale ochreous species, an example of which is represented on Plate21, Fig. 8, varies in the amount of darker shading or suffusion on the outer marginal area of the fore wing; sometimes this is grey-brown or pale reddish brown, but often there is no shading whatever, and in such specimens the ground colour is usually very pale. The dark brown reniform mark is always present, but the cross lines are more often absent than present.
The caterpillar is green, with a darker green line along the middle of the back, and a white stripe on each side of it, the inner edge of each of the latter irregular; head, greenish grey, and the bristle-bearing raised dots are shining green with a dusky cap. It feeds onBrachypodium sylvaticum, but seems to accommodate itself to a diet ofPhalaris arundinacea, and would perhaps eat other grasses: August to May. (Plate23, Fig. 3; after Hofmann.)
The moth is out all through the summer months, andfrequents marshes, damp rides and borders of woods, heaths, and where there is plenty of tall grass.
The species is widely distributed over England and Wales, although it appears to be rather scarce in the midlands and northwards. In Ireland it is generally abundant, but in Scotland it has only been noted from the south, and is there local and rare.
The distribution abroad includes Amurland, Corea, and Japan.
The fore wings of this species (Plate21, Figs. 10 ♂, 11 ♀) range in colour from olive grey to olive brown, and are frequently adorned with two rosy-red (typical) or purplish bands (ænea, Haw.). In some specimens the bands are of a dusky hue and not very distinct, whilst in others the wings are of a uniform dingy brown tint (ab.fusca, Tutt).
The caterpillar (Plate25, Fig. 2) is velvety-green above and paler beneath, yellowish between the rings, with a dark green slender line bordered by paler lines along the back, and three pale lines along the sides; below the yellowish spiracles there is a broader pale line becoming whitish on rings 9-12; head, green mottled with brown (adapted from Hellins).
It is to be found in August and September on the common milkwort (Polygala vulgaris). On May 31, 1906, I met with the moth in some numbers on a marshy bit of heath in Surrey, where there was a plentiful growth of lousewort (Pedicularis), but, so far as I know, noPolygala. All the moths were much below the average size, the bands were mainly purple, but in no case rosy. The moth flies in May and June, and specimens have been captured both earlier and later. Except that it does not appear to occur in the extreme north of Scotland, the species seems to be pretty generally distributed over the British Isles, and is often very common in many parts.
The eastern distribution extends to E. Siberia.
Although this pretty black and yellow moth (Plate21, Fig. 12) was noted by Stephens (1830) as being occasionally captured in Battersea fields, and as occurring near Margate, and elsewhere in Kent, it was not until 1847 that the Breck-sand district of Norfolk, adjoining parts of Suffolk, and Cambridge, became known as being inhabited by The Spotted Sulphur. The vicinity of Brandon and Tuddenham is especially favoured by the species, but it occurs in several other parts of the area. Occasionally, specimens have been captured in various Kentish localities, and between thirty and forty years ago single examples were taken in Hackney Marshes, Lower Clapton (August 2), also in Wandsworth (at light, July 26). From these facts it would appear possible that the species occasionally strays from its haunts in the eastern counties and sometimes to a considerable distance. Once, indeed, a specimen was found on a gas lamp at Exeter. On the other hand, it is quite conceivable that such wanderers may have come from abroad.
Some specimens are of a paler yellow than others, but there is rather more noticeable aberration in the number and intensity of the black markings.
The caterpillar is reddish brown, with three darker lines along the back, the central one pale edged; a pale yellow stripe runs along the region of the spiracles, and has a fine brownish line running through it from end to end. Another form is green with white lines. It feeds on the bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) in July, and has a second brood in September. The moth, which rests among herbage by day, and flies towards evening, is found in June, July, and August.
The species is found throughout Central and Southern Europe, its range extending to Denmark and South Sweden; eastward it occurs in Asia Minor, Syria, and through Asia to Japan.
Haworth (1802) gave this attractive species the English name of "Furbelow Moth," but Harris (1782) had named it Herald Moth (Plate22, Fig. 1).
In the majority of specimens the purplish, or grey-brown fore wings, are more or less reddish tinged throughout, but occasionally the outer marginal area is free of this tint; the orange red marks on the central and basal areas are brighter in some specimens than in others.
The caterpillar, which feeds on sallow, osier, willow, and probably poplar (a chrysalis having been found in a curled leaf of black poplar), is a long, rather thin, greenish creature without any distinct markings, except that when full grown the front rings have two black spots. It may be found reposing on the upper leaves of its foodplant, from June to August. (Plate25, Fig. 1, from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich.)
The moth may be obtained at sugar, ivy-blossom, etc., from August to October, and it seems that the earliest to emerge are those that first take up hibernating quarters in barns, outhouses, roofs, belfries, and under arches. In the spring it reappears, and may be met with even in June. A specimen was taken at sugar on July 20, 1899, but whether this is to be regarded as a very late date or an unusually early one, I cannot say. Generally distributed throughout Great Britain and Ireland, but of the Scottish Isles only recorded from Shetland. Abroad it ranges through Europe to North-West Africa, and through Asia to Amurland and Japan; also in temperate North America.
Note.—Stephens (1829) referred this species to the genusCalyptra, Ochs., but in 1831 he adoptedScoliopteryx, Germar (1811).Gonoptera, Latr., which has been frequently used, only dates from 1825.
Fig. 2.Fig. 2.Golden Plusia at rest.(Photo by H. Main.)
Fig. 2.
Golden Plusia at rest.
(Photo by H. Main.)
The British history of the grey tinged pale golden species, shown on Plate22, Fig. 4, dates back only to 1890. In that year, on July 2, Mr. Christy, of Watergate, Emsworth, found a specimen in his illuminated moth trap; this was noted in theEntomologistfor August, 1890. From subsequent records it appears that a specimen had been taken on the same date at a gas lamp near Reading, by Mr. W. Holland; whilst one was captured, at a light, near Tunbridge Wells on July 1. The earliest British specimen, however, was one netted whilst hovering over flowers ofDelphiniumat Dover, on June 25 of the same year, but this was not announced until October. Since its arrival here the species seems to have spread over England at a great rate, and it has recently been reported from Cheshire. In some southern gardens the caterpillars abound to such an extent that they are regarded as a plague. On the continent it is said to feed on sunflower, artichoke, burdock, and cucumber.
Plate 24
Plate 25
The caterpillar is green, dotted with white; a dark line along the back and a white one along the sides. In the early stage it is black or sooty brown, and hides itself among the spun together flower buds, or in a turned down tender leaf. It feeds in May and June, occasionally found in late April, after hibernation, and a second generation sometimes occurs in July and August. Monkshood (Aconitum) and larkspur (Delphinium) are the usual food plants, and it is curious to note that whilst some observers state that larkspur alone is eaten, others say that monkshood is the only food. The moth flies in June and July, and sometimes there is an emergence in August and September. It visits the blossoms of various garden plants, and is also attracted by light.
The caterpillar, represented on Plate27, Fig. 1, was found with others on larkspur in Mr. Herbert Smith's garden at Wallington, Surrey. The cocoon and chrysalis is from a photo by Mr. H. Main. Another photo by Mr. Main shows the young caterpillar constructing its retreat.
According to Duponchel this species occurred in Normandy, Central and Northern Europe, as far back as 1829. A much paler form inclining to silvery, var.esmeralda, Oberthür, is found in Ussuri, North China, and other parts of East Asia.
Two forms of this metallic-looking species are represented (Plate22); 5 is typical and 6 shows the ab.juncta, Tutt. Between these are various intermediate stages leading to the complete division of the central band. The broken central band is a character of var.nadeja, Oberthür, from Amurland andJapan, but that form has also a more or less complete series of ochreous-brown dots on the outer area. The metallic colour is sometimes greenish in all forms.
The caterpillar is pale green, with a darker green line along the middle of the back, bordered on each side by an irregular white line; an oblique white streak on the sides of each ring from 4-11; a stripe low down along the sides is white; head, yellowish tinged. It feeds on stinging nettle, probably on other plants, and after hibernation attains full growth about May. In favourable seasons caterpillars also occur in July and August. The moth is out in June, July, and August, less frequently in September, and may be found flying along the sides of hedges and ditches, especially where flowering weeds are plentiful, throughout the British Isles; so far, however, it has not been recorded from the Hebrides, Orkneys, or Shetlands.
The more or less square golden (sometimes green-tinged) patch on the velvety purplish brown fore wings, distinguish this species (Plate24, Fig. 1) from any other BritishPlusia.
The caterpillar is green, with a darker line along the middle of the back, and a fine white line on each side of it; there is a dark green stripe low down along the sides, edged below with white, and oblique white lines run from it to the central line on rings 3-11. It feeds on hemp-agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum), hibernates when small, and completes its growth in May or early June.
The moth is out in July and August, and is said to be occasionally seen, on sunny days, flying about, or resting on, the flowers of the hemp-agrimony and other plants. Night, however, is its more usual time of activity, and it may also be found at the blossoms of the larval food plant, and at those of honeysuckle, etc.
The species has been found, chiefly in the past in most of the southern counties of England from Kent (Deal district) to Cornwall, also in Gloucestershire, and in South Wales. Chippenham fen in Cambridgeshire is the most noted locality for it in the present day, and it has been found in Norfolk and Suffolk. There is even a record of a specimen having been beaten out of honeysuckle near Preston, Lancs., but this happened nearly forty years ago.
The range abroad extends to Amurland and Japan.
The purplish brown fore wings of this moth have a bright solid-looking golden mark on the upper edge of a velvety, deep brown patch. This metallic "spangle" varies a little in size and in shape, but not to any noteworthy extent (Plate24, Fig. 2).
The caterpillar is bright green, dotted with white, above, and dull darker green below; there is a fine dark green line along the middle of the back, some indistinct and irregular white lines followed by a whitish stripe lower down, along the sides. It seems to feed upon a variety of low-growing plants, among which are groundsel, dandelion, white dead-nettle (Lamium album), and stinging nettle, also on honeysuckle, from August to May. In a state of nature, it hibernates when small, and becomes full grown in May or early June, but when reared from the egg it can be induced, by keeping it in a warm place, to continue feeding, grow up quickly, pupate, and assume the winged state in the late autumn. Under such artificial conditions it is said to eat lettuce and plantain.
Normally, the moth is out in June and July, and has been met with in August. Like all members of this group it is partial to flowers, and has been frequently taken at those of the honeysuckle, although all sorts of blossoms, down to the lowlyViola cornuta, have attraction for it.
The species is more especially a denizen of Ireland and Scotland, but it occurs in most of the northern counties of England, and has been recorded from Worcestershire and Herefordshire; also from Carmarthenshire in South Wales.
Abroad, its range extends to Central Asia; and in Amurland and Japan it is represented by P. excelsa, Kretschmar.
In this species (Plate24, Figs. 3 and 4) the fore wings are golden brown, clouded with purplish brown; sometimes the purplish brown is confined almost entirely to the broad area. Besides the large central metallic marks, there are more or less conspicuous patches of metallic colour at the base of the costa, on the middle of the inner margin, and towards the tips of the wings. Usually the central spots are clearly apart, but I have one example from Bishop Auckland, Durham, in which they are only separated one from the other by a slender brown line.
The caterpillar is green, with a white-edged dark-green line along the middle of the back, and some slender yellowish lines on each side of it; a whitish or yellow tinged stripe low down along the sides; head, tinged with brown.
It feeds on sedge, coarse grasses, bur-reed (Sparganium ramosum), and yellow-flag (Iris pseudacorus); also said by Collins to eat water plantain (Alisma plantago): April to June, and in some localities and seasons, again in July and August. The black chrysalis is enclosed in a rather long greyish cocoon, spun up on the undersides of the leaves of sedge or reed; usually placed towards the tip of the leaf, which droops over and so hides it.
The moth is out in June and July, and in some years there seems to be an emergence in August and September; this has been more particularly noted in Cheshire, where Arkle has had moths emerge in June, July, August, and September. A second flight has been noted in Ireland by Kane and others; and late examples have also been recorded from Scotland.
Plate 26
Plate 27
Although it has been recorded from some of the southern counties, it is most frequent in the eastern and northern parts of England, and in South Wales. Occurs throughout Scotland up to Moray; and in Ireland it is found in most localities, though not often common, except by the sea in Co. Kerry, and in Connamara, Co. Galway.
Abroad, it extends to East Siberia, Amurland, and Japan.
In typical specimens the metallic mark is V-shaped, with a dot below and a little to one side (Plate24, Fig. 8). In ab.percontationis, Treit. (Fig. 7), these spots are united and form a Y-like mark. Sometimes the spot is absent and the V-mark much reduced, and more rarely the V also disappears (ab.inscripta, Esp.).
The larva is yellowish green, white dotted, with a white-edged darker line along the middle of the back; a band composed of whitish irregular lines runs along the sides, and a thin yellow line along the area of the spiracles. It hatches from the egg in the late summer, hibernates when quite small, and feeds up in the spring. The food plants comprise the dead nettles (Lamium), woundwort (Stachys), mint, stinging nettle, honeysuckle, hawthorn, etc. There is a record of sixteen larvæ which hibernated among dead leaves ofLamium album, resumed feeding on February 18, spun up April 23-25, and produced moths May 27-June 4. Usually the moth is on the wing in June and July.
The species seems to be pretty widely distributed throughout the British Isles to the Orkneys; it was not known to occur in the Hebrides until 1901, when McArthur obtained it in the Isle of Lewis.
This species (Plate24, Figs. 5 and 6) so closely resembles the last that it has been considered a variety thereof; there is no question, however, that it is quite distinct. The fore wings in both species are somewhat similar in general tints, but the following points of difference distinguishpulchrina—the darker colour is less evenly displayed, and gives the wings a more mottled or marbled appearance; the cross lines, especially those on the basal area, are almost invariably golden edged; the second cross line is more acutely bent inwards above the inner margin, the reniform has a more or less complete golden outline, and it is placed in a dark cloud; the golden V-mark and dot below are generally thicker. As a rule, the fringes of all the wings are more distinctly chequered, but this feature cannot be relied on alone in separating one species from the other. In ab.percontatrix, Aurivillius (=juncta, Tutt), the golden V and dot are united and so form a Y-mark (Fig. 5).
The caterpillar is green with a broad central white stripe and several finer white lines along the back; a yellowish-tinted white stripe low down along the sides; head shining, marked with black on each side of the mouth. This caterpillar has the bristles rather more in evidence than they are in the larva ofP. iota. It feeds on various low-growing plants, such as the dead nettles, groundsel, etc., also on honeysuckle and bilberry.
The moth occurs in June and July, and is found more or less frequently all over the British Isles to Orkney, but in England is more plentiful from the Midlands northwards than in the southern counties.
The range abroad extends to Amurland.
The present species (Plate26, Fig. 3) bears a strong resemblance to a small pale specimen ofP. gamma; but, aswill be noted, the silvery central Y-mark is differently formed. Here it is made up of a curve somewhat like the letter U, and an oval or round spot, the latter very close to and sometimes, as in the example figured, united with the former.
The caterpillar, which feeds on cabbage and other Cruciferæ, also on lettuce, tomato, etc., is green, inclining to yellowish green and dotted with white; three white lines along the back, and a white stripe along the sides. It is said to be more slender in form than the caterpillar ofP. gamma. (Plate28, Fig. 1.)
The earliest British specimen was taken at flowers of red valerian in a garden at Exeter, August, 1868. The next year a specimen occurred, also in a garden, at Penzance. Then followed captures in Dorset, one 1885, and one (Isle of Portland) 1888. Two caterpillars were found in the Isle of Portland in 1894, and these produced moths in September of that year. At least eight moths were secured at Penzance in 1894, and specimens were subsequently reared from caterpillars found on cabbages in the gardens around Lynwood. In May, 1896, one example of the moth was taken by Mr. Percy Richards at Norbiton, Surrey. The last recorded capture appears to be that by Mr. Finzi of a female specimen at Tenby, South Wales, on June 9, 1906. She deposited a few eggs in the collecting-box, and the caterpillars that hatched from them were reared on broccoli and lettuce, and produced moths, July 24-30.
Plusia niranges through south-east and southern Europe, to Asia Minor, North Africa, and the Canaries. In the Isle of Capri it is said to be almost as common asP. gamma.Brassicæ, Riley (1870), is a well-knownPlusiain America, where it is classed among noxious insects. It is somewhat larger and browner in colour than Europeanni, but in every other respect it seems to agree so exactly that it can hardly be considered specifically distinct.
This species, represented by portraits of two specimens on Plate26, Figs. 1 and 2, varies somewhat in the ground colour of the fore wings, which ranges from a whitish grey through various tints of grey and brown to velvety black. The melanic form last referred to is very rare, but I caught one example of it at Eastbourne in the late summer of 1888, and I saw, but did not secure, another near Esher in the autumn of 1906; one taken at Dartmoor in September, 1894, is in Mr. F. J. Hanbury's collection.
Occasionally a purplish red tinge, often present below the silvery Y, spreads over a larger area of the fore wings. The Y-mark is well defined as a rule, but now and then specimens are found in which only the tail of the Y is distinct.
The caterpillar varies in general colour from pale green to a dark olive green approaching black. In the white dotted paler green forms there are several transverse whitish lines, some of them wavy, between the yellowish spiracular line and the dark green line along the middle of the back; head, marked with black on each cheek. It will eat almost every kind of low-growing vegetation, either wild or cultivated, and in some years may be found throughout the summer. Small larvæ were recorded as seen at the end of October, 1901. The blackish chrysalis is enclosed in a whitish cocoon, often placed under leaves of thistle, burdock, etc.
The moth is seen in the spring and early summer (most probably immigrants), and again in the autumn, when it is generally more abundant.
This well-known migrating species has been observed in greater or lesser numbers over the whole of the British Isles. Its distribution abroad embraces the Palæarctic Region, North Africa, and North America.
Portraits of two examples of this species will be found on Plate26, Figs. 4 and 5. The metallic central marks on the fore wings vary a good deal in size and in form, and are sometimes almost absent; these wings have the general greyish colour more clouded or suffused with blackish in some specimens than in others. Kane states that Irish specimens, when freshly emerged, have a tinge of violet purple, and Tutt notes some British specimens as beautifully tinted with rose colour (ab.rosea).
The caterpillar, which feeds on heather (Calluna) and bilberry (Vaccinium), is green inclining to blackish on the sides and underparts, with six white lines along the back; two of which are irregular; the raised dots are white and the bristles therefrom dark; head, green dashed with purple, shining. (Fenn.) After hibernation it may be found without much difficulty in May and June on its food plants, either in the daytime, or by the aid of a lamp at night. Large numbers fall victims to parasitical flies. (Plate28, Fig. 2.) The white cocoons enclosing the black chrysalids are spun up on or under the twigs of bilberry and heather. The moth is out in July and August, and may be found on moorlands, in the north of England from Shropshire (with Radnor) and Staffordshire on the west, and Lincolnshire on the east, through Scotland to Sutherland, and in all suitable localities in Ireland.
The fore wings of this moth are blackish grey inclining to purplish and rather shining; the basal area is pale reddish brown, edged by a curved dark chocolate brown cross line; a reddish grey band on the outer area clouded with ground colourand edged above the inner margin by a dark chocolate brown curved line; raised scales on the central area and on the cross lines. Two oval reddish brown marks on the front of the collar have some resemblance to a pair of spectacles, hence the English name. (Plate22, Fig. 2.)
The caterpillar is green, sprinkled with white dots; on rings 4, 5, and 11 are whitish-edged darker marks, and there is a dark line, also whitish-edged, along the middle of the back between rings 5 and 11; a white line on the back from ring 4 to the brownish head, and white-edged dark oblique lines on the sides of rings 6 to 11; the line low down along the sides is whitish with an ochreous tinge. A purplish brown form also occurs (Plate27, Fig. 2), in which the pale markings are ochreous tinged. It is found from July to September on nettle and hops, the latter more especially. The earlier caterpillars, in some years, attain the moth state in August or early September, but the bulk of them remain in the chrysalis state during the winter, the moth emerging in June or July of the following year.
The species is not uncommon in most southern English counties, but becomes less frequent or more local northwards from the Midlands to Cumberland, Northumberland, and South Scotland. It occurs in Wales, and is widely spread in Ireland.
The range abroad extends to Amurland.
This species, known also asurticæ, Hübner, has the basal and outer marginal areas of the fore wings whitish grey, finely mottled with darker grey; the central area is greyish brown, mottled with darker brown. The spectacle mark in front of the thorax is whitish grey, ringed with black, and the raised scales on the cross lines and central area of the fore wings are more distinct in this species (Plate22, Fig. 3). Thecaterpillar is pale green, with white-edged dark-greensideways vee-shaped marks along the back, most in evidence on rings 4-11; two slender whitish lines on each side, only distinct on rings 1-4; a white stripe low down along the sides, edged above with dark green and with whitish streaks from it to the white edging of the marks on the back. Head, green, rather shining, with dusky marks on each cheek (adapted from Fenn). It feeds in July, at night, on the common stinging nettle, from the foliage of which it may be beaten out, or, by searching, found on the undersides of the leaves. In some years there is a second brood in September.
The moth is out in June, sometimes late May, and, when there is a second emergence, in August. Occasionally it is seen on fences, etc., but at night it visits the blossoms of various plants, both wild and cultivated; the flowers of spur-valerian (Centranthus ruber), honeysuckle, and woundwort (Stachys) being especially attractive, as also they are to the Dark Spectacle, and most of the species ofPlusia.
Although apparently commoner in some counties than in others, this species ranges over the British Isles to the Orkneys.
The distribution abroad extends to Amurland.
The ancient fathers of British Entomology were sometimes happy in their selection of names in the vernacular for those of our moths that were known to them at the time, and the present species is a fair example of this. Moses Harris first dubbed it the Shipton Moth, but afterwards changed the name to the "Mask Moth." Both names refer to the peculiar shape of the markings which adorn the fore wings and bear a more or less fanciful resemblance to a grotesque mask, and even more closely to the profile of an historical dame ycleptShipton. This character, also supposed to be like the letter M, hence the specific namemi, stands out very distinctly in the paler specimens, but in some of the darker individuals it is somewhat obscured. On the hind wings the spots are whitish or yellowish, and those composing the central series are sometimes united, and form a band. (Plate26, Figs. 6 ♂, 7 ♀.)
The egg is greenish, and the caterpillar is pale ochreous-brown, with darker brown lines along the back and sides: head, ochreous, with brown lines. It feeds on clover and grasses, in July, August, and September, and the chrysalis, which is covered with a whitish powder, is enclosed in a brownish cocoon spun up in a blade of grass. All the early stages are figured on Plate30. The enlarged chrysalis, Fig. 1, is from a photo by Mr. H. Main. The moth flies in May and June, and is often common in meadows, on railway banks, and other sloping banks and such-like places where wild flowers abound. The species is widely distributed over England, Wales, and South Scotland; also Ireland.
The range abroad extends to Amurland.
The ground colour of the fore wings is purplish brown, sometimes becoming greyish on the outer area; the space between the dark brown or blackish cross bands is sometimes filled up with the darker colour. Some specimens are much greyer than others, and all the examples in a series from the Lake district that I have seen were distinctly grey, with very dark bands. The yellow on the hind wings sometimes inclines to orange, and sometimes it is so pale as to be almost whitish; there is also variation in the amount of black marking and shading on these wings. (Plate26, Figs. 8 ♂, 9 ♀.)
The caterpillar is somewhat similar to that of the last species; it feeds on clovers and trefoils in July and August, but so far does not seem to have been noted to eat grasses.
Plate 28
Plate 29
The moth is on the wing at the end of May and in June, and inhabits similar kinds of places to those mentioned for the last species, often in company with it, and also with the Burnet moths. Widely distributed over the greater part of the British Isles; common in some southern localities. Its distribution abroad extends to Amurland, and in Japan it is represented by the larger and paler formconsors, Butler.
Leucanitis(Ophiusa)stolida, Fab.—An example of this species, which is a native of Africa and South Europe, was captured by Mr. J. Jäger in the neighbourhood of Dartmouth, S. Devon. It was in fine condition, and came to sugar on September 23, 1903.
The portrait of this species on Plate29, Fig. 1, is taken from a Spanish example. Exceedingly few British specimens have been recorded. The earliest seems to be the following: "Among my cabinet specimens there is one example ofOphiodes lunaris, captured at the Lowestoft Light in 1832. I conclude this is a great rarity, having seen many cabinets without it.—E. Chawner."Entom.vi. p. 147 (1872-73). Presumably this is the same specimen as that mentioned by Stainton (1857), Newman (1869), and later authors, as taken in Hants by Captain Chawner. In 1860 one example was obtained at sugar at West Wickham; and in 1864 Bouchard caught two specimens at Killarney. On June 17, 1873, one came to sugar in Abbots Wood, Sussex; one at Brighton in June, 1874, and another in Sussex, May, 1875. One specimen came to light in Norfolk, May, 1878; and one to sugar at Folkestone, May, 1892. In June, 1901, a specimen was secured in Delamere Forest, Cheshire, also at sugar. Dr. B. White's record of a capture at Perth makes a total of eleven specimens.
The caterpillar is ochreous brown, sprinkled and lined with reddish brown; a stripe low down along the sides is reddish orange. It feeds, in July and August, on the leaves of oak and poplar, but it has not been found in our Isles.
This moth seems to have been known as a British species to Haworth, but he, and subsequently Stephens (1830), referred it toNoctua leucomelas, Linn. At all events, Stephen's description of the specimen in Haworth's cabinet bearing this name applies exactly toC. alchymista. In theEnt. Ann.for 1860 there is a figure of a specimen that was taken at sugar in the Isle of Wight, September, 1868. Seven years later, one was captured in an oak wood near Horsham, Sussex (June 4), and another found on the trunk of an oak tree near Colchester (June 9). In 1882, a specimen was taken at sugar in a wood near Dover (June), and on June 24, 1888, one came to sugar at St. Leonards, Sussex. In the last-named year, two other specimens, said to have been taken in the Isle of Wight, July, 1867, were recorded.
Fig. 2, Plate29, represents a specimen from Dalmatia.
This handsome species (Plate29, Fig. 3) seems to have been known to quite the earliest writers on, and delineators of, British moths, and a specimen in the Dale collection, now in the Hope Museum, Oxford, was obtained in Dorset in 1740. Stephens (1830) mentions captures in the years 1821, 1827, and 1828. Since that time the occurrence of the species in the British Isles, chiefly in single specimens, may be tabulated as follows: England—London, 1842, 1870, 1872. Kent, 1889,1893, 1895, 1900. Sussex, 1838, 1869, 1889, 1895. Isle of Wight, 1866, 1900. North Devon, 1895. Somerset, 1850. Shropshire, 1872. Suffolk, 1868, 1872, 1901, 1905. Norfolk, 1846, 1872, 1894, 1900. Lincoln, 1872. Yorkshire, five specimens in all, the most recent in 1896. Lancashire, six specimens, latest 1868. Cheshire, four specimens, latest 1868. Scotland—1876 (Berwick); 1896 (Aberdeen and Orkney); 1898 (Roxburghshire). Ireland—1845, 1896.
It may be noted that during a period of seven years—1866 to 1872 inclusive—1867 and 1871 were the only years in which a specimen was not recorded from some part of England.
The caterpillar is pale ochreous, tinged with greenish and freckled with brown; head, pinkish, inclining to purplish above. It feeds on poplar in May, June, and July. From eggs (obtained from abroad) the caterpillars hatched April 27 till May 9, pupated between June 17 and 27, and the moths emerged July 20 to August 4.
The range abroad extends through Central Europe to Scandinavia, and eastward to Amurland.
Only two specimens of this moth are known to have occurred in Britain. One of these was taken at Shoreham, near Brighton, Sussex, September 24, 1875, and the other at Corfe Castle, Dorsetshire, September 12, 1892. The specimen shown on Plate31, Fig. 1, is from Saxony.
In a general way this species is not unlike (C. nupta), but the fore wings are smoother looking, of a softer grey coloration, and the black cross lines are more irregular; the black markings on the crimson hind wings are similar, but the inner edge of the marginal border is more even.
This Central European species ranges to Amurland and Corea, and is represented in Japan by a larger form,zalmunna, Butler.