Chapter IV: Part II: Moths (2)

The caterpillars, of course, are quite as common as the moths. They are queer little stick-like creatures, and vary very much in colour, some being grey, and some light green, and some dark green, and some pale brown. But they always have several arrow-shaped dark markings upon their backs, with four or five pale blotches behind them. Look for them on nasturtium leaves, and also on those of cabbage and horseradish plants.

1. Garden Carpet
2. Yellow Shell
3. Pebble Hook-tip]

PLATE XL

THE YELLOW SHELL (2)

I really think that this moth is even commoner than the “garden carpet.” From the beginning of June till the middle of August you can hardly go into the garden without seeing it. If you look at a fence or a tree-trunk, there it is sure to be resting with outspread wings. If you shake a bush or a low plant, or the leaves of a creeper growing upon a wall, it is certain to fly out. And soon after sunset on any warm evening you may see it flying about in scores, or even in hundreds.

But although the moth is so very plentiful, one hardly ever sees the caterpillar. The reason is that it only feeds by night, and hides away all day long under stones, or beneath small clods of earth, or at the roots of grass. But if you were to go out with a lantern on a mild evening towards the end of April, and search carefully on the grass-stems, you would be able to find it without any difficulty at all. It is dull green in colour, with a darker stripe along the back, and two white ones on each side; and underneath its body it generally has a number of rose-coloured or violet spots.

PLATE XL

THE PEBBLE HOOK-TIP (3)

Five different kinds of “hook-tip” moths are found in the British Islands, and you can tell them at once by the hook-like tip to their front wings. The Pebble Hook-tip is by far the commonest of the five. If you want to find it, the best way to do so is to shake the branches of birch trees, either in May, or in August, for this is one of the “double-brooded” moths. That is, they make their appearance twice in each year, the eggs laid by the spring brood producing moths in the summer, while those laid by the summer brood produce moths in the following spring.

The caterpillar of this moth is rather curiously shaped, for its tail--which it always holds up in the air--is drawn out into quite a sharp point. It has a grey head and a light green body, with a purple stripe down the back. It feeds on the leaves of birch trees, and when it has reached its full size it doubles over a corner of one of the leaves, fastens it firmly down by means of a number of silken threads, and then turns into a chrysalis.

1. Puss
2. Puss Caterpillar]

PLATE XLI

THE PUSS MOTH (1 and 2)

This fine and handsome moth is called the “Puss,” because, when its wings are closed, it looks rather like a brindled cat. And there are two or three smaller moths which are a good deal like it; so these are known as “Kittens.”

One does not very often see the Puss Moth, although it is quite a common insect. But you can easily find its caterpillars by looking for them on the leaves of poplar and willow trees in August. They are most odd-looking creatures--bright apple-green in colour, with black heads, and with white and purple stripes upon their backs and sides, and with the front part of the body drawn up into quite a large hump. In front of this hump are two big black spots, which might easily be mistaken for eyes. And at the end of the body are two long, slender horns, from each of which the caterpillar pokes out a pink, thread-like organ when it is frightened. These organs look very much like stings, but they are perfectly harmless, so that you need not be in the least afraid to handle the insect. And the odd thing is that if two or three of these caterpillars are shut up in a box together, they nearly always nibble at one another’s horns.

When the Puss Moth caterpillar is fully fed it creeps into a chink in the bark, spins a tough silken cocoon, and changes into a chrysalis, from which the moth appears in the following May.

PLATE XLII

THE LOBSTER (1 and 2)

This seems a very odd name for a moth, doesn’t it? And if you were to see the moth you would be quite sure to wonder why such a title should ever have been given to it, for it is not in the very least like a lobster. But the fact is that it has a most singular-looking caterpillar, with very long legs, five pairs of large humps on its back, and the end of its body swollen out to a huge size, with two curved horns on the top. Really it does look not unlike a lobster with a very big claw, and a great many people would be quite afraid to touch it. However, it is perfectly harmless, so that if ever you meet with it you may pick it up without the least fear of being bitten, or pinched, or stung.

This very odd caterpillar feeds on the leaves of oak, birch, and beech trees in August and September. When it has finished growing it spins two or three leaves together by means of a few silken threads, and turns into a chrysalis between them, from which the moth hatches out in the following May or June.

1. Lobster
2. Lobster Caterpillar]

1. Buff Tip
2. Buff Tip Caterpillar]

PLATE XLIII

THE BUFF TIP (1 and 2)

Most people know the caterpillar of this moth a good deal better than they know the moth itself. I dare say that you have often seen it crawling about in August and September, always walking very fast, as though it were in a great hurry. It is a big, rather hairy creature of a dull yellow colour, with a black head, and with nine black stripes running along its body; and you may find it in numbers, feeding on the leaves of elm, lime, and willow trees. Very often, indeed, it is so plentiful that it strips whole branches of their leaves. When it reaches its full size it comes down from the tree, wanders off to some little distance, hides away under dead leaves or at the roots of a tuft of grass, and turns into a dark brown chrysalis, out of which the moth hatches in the following May or June.

The reason why one sees this handsome moth so very much seldomer than the caterpillar is that it always rests with its wings folded closely against its body, in which position it looks just like a piece of broken stick. But you may often find it clinging to the trunk of an elm or a lime tree, or to a long grass-stem growing underneath it.

PLATE XLIV

THE FIGURE-OF-EIGHT (1)

You have only to look at this moth to see why its name was given to it, for on each of its front wings it has two large white spots with two small dark spots inside them, one above the other; so that they look very much like the figure 8. But the inner 8 is always a much neater one than the outer, which has a kind of blurred appearance, just as if a drop of water had fallen upon it and made the colours run.

This moth is quite a common one in most parts of the country, and appears on the wing in September. It only flies by night, so that one does not often see it; but it will sometimes fly into a well-lighted room on a dark, warm evening if the window is left open. You can find the caterpillar, however, without any difficulty at all. All that you have to do is to hunt for it on hawthorn or blackthorn bushes during May or the early part of June, and there you are almost sure to see it--a smoky green creature thinly covered with black hairs, and with a yellow stripe running down its back, and another along each side of its body. A little later on it spins a neat little cocoon, made partly of silk and partly of bits of bark and leaf, which it fastens underneath a twig of its food-plant. And in this it changes into a chrysalis.

1. Figure of Eight
2. Peach Blossom
3. Grey Dagger]

PLATE XLIV

THE PEACH BLOSSOM (2)

This is really a lovely moth, for on each of its olive-brown front wings it has five large spots, which are coloured exactly like the petals of a peach. But if it is put away in a collection these spots very soon fade, unless the insect is kept in the dark, and after a few months they become almost white.

The caterpillar of this moth is a very odd-looking creature indeed, for when it is resting on a leaf of its food-plant it only makes use of its middle feet, and holds both the front ones and the hind ones up in the air! Besides this, it has quite a row of little humps on its back, the front one of which is sometimes so large that it forms a kind of hood, and partly covers the head! You may sometimes find it feeding on the leaves of bramble bushes growing in woods in August and the early part of September. When it has grown to its full size it spins a slight cocoon of silken threads among the leaves, and turns into a blackish-brown chrysalis, with a sharp little spike at the end of its body. Out of this the moth hatches in the following June or July.

PLATE XLIV

THE GREY DAGGER (3)

You cannot possibly fail to recognise this moth if you meet with it, for its front wings are of a light pearly-grey colour, with a number of black markings upon them, several of which look just like little daggers laid sideways. It is a very common insect indeed, and all through June and July you may see it resting on fences, and walls, and tree-trunks. A little later you may find the caterpillar, which is quite as easy to recognise as the moth. It has a rather hairy body, a black head with two yellow stripes upon it, and a black body, with a broad yellow streak along the back, and a number of small red streaks on each side, which are curved in the shape of a bow. Besides this, it has two humps on its back, the front one of which is black, while the hinder one is yellow; so that altogether it is a very odd-looking creature indeed. It feeds on the leaves of beech, lime, poplar, hawthorn, pear, and ever so many other trees, and is fully fed about the middle of September, when it creeps into some cranny in the bark, spins a strong silken cocoon, and turns into a chrysalis.

1. Large Yellow Underwing
2. Red Underwing]

PLATE XLV

THE LARGE YELLOW UNDERWING (1)

There are several different kinds of Yellow Underwing moths, but this is by far the commonest of them all. It makes its appearance in June and July, and although it only flies by night you can easily find it during the day. All that you have to do is to go to a strawberry bed, and brush about among the leaves of the plants. Before long you are quite sure to see one of these moths running quickly about like a mouse in search of a fresh hiding-place. And, if you try to catch it, it will take to its wings, fly for a few yards, and then again settle down to seek some place of concealment among the herbage.

The caterpillars of this moth are very mischievous creatures, for they eat their way right into the hearts of cabbage and lettuce plants, and quite spoil them for the table. And as they only feed by night, and hide away beneath the surface of the ground by day, it is not at all easy to catch them. They vary a good deal in colour. Indeed, you may find them of almost any shade, from light yellowish-green to dark brown. But along the back there is always a yellow stripe, with a dark line on each side of it, while on the sides there is a row of seven or eight short black streaks.

You may find these caterpillars from March till the beginning of June.

PLATE XLV

THE RED UNDERWING (2)

As you will see by the illustration, this is a very fine and handsome moth indeed; but when it is at rest it is very difficult indeed to see it, for the bright red hind-wings are quite covered up by the grey front ones, so that it looks exactly like the bark of the trees on which it is so fond of sitting. If you want to catch it, the best place to look for it is on the trunks of willow trees, in August and September. But sometimes you may find it on fences, and just now and then it will fly through an open window into a well-lighted room by night.

The caterpillar of this beautiful moth feeds on the leaves of willows, sallows, and poplars. It is rather oddly shaped, for its back is very much arched, while its lower surface is almost flat. And, if you touch it, it only clings more tightly to its foothold, instead of curling up into a ring and dropping to the ground, as most caterpillars do. In colour it is ashy-grey, and generally has two dark, wavy stripes running along the back. When it is fully fed it spins a silken cocoon, either between two leaves or in a crack in the bark, and changes to a reddish-brown chrysalis covered with purple bloom, just like that on a ripe plum.

1. Pine Beauty
2. Old Lady]

PLATE XLVI

THE PINE BEAUTY (1)

This is a really lovely moth, which always comes out in the early spring. If you want to find it, you should hunt for it on the trunks of pine trees, about three or four feet from the ground. But you will have to look for it very carefully indeed, for it is one of the most difficult of all moths to see. The reason is that when its wings are folded it looks exactly like a little bit of the tree-trunk from which the outer bark has been knocked off; so that you might easily look straight at it from only two or three feet away and yet never notice it. But after dark it is very fond of feasting upon the sweet juices of sallow catkins, or “palms,” as so many people call them. And if you were to shake one of these bushes over an open umbrella on a warm evening about the beginning of April, you would very likely find a Pine Beauty lying inside it with its wings folded, and pretending to be dead.

The caterpillar of this moth is either pale brown, or bright green, or dark green in colour, with five white stripes running along its body, one on the back, and two on each side. It feeds on the leaves of the Scotch fir in June and July.

PLATE XLVI

THE OLD LADY (2)

If you were to ask me why this moth should be called the “Old Lady,” I am not quite sure that I could tell you. But I think the reason must be that old ladies mostly dress in dark grey, or dark brown, or black, which are just the colours of the wings of the moth. It is quite a common insect in most parts of the country, and yet one very seldom sees it; for it always hides away during the daytime in some dark nook or cranny, where it is not very easily found. Perhaps the best place to look for it is inside a boat-house, or a summer-house, or a shed, about the end of July or during the first or second week in August. And if you find it, and frighten it away, it will very often come back again in a short time to exactly the same spot.

The caterpillar of this moth feeds on the leaves of various fruit trees, on which you may find it in May. It has a smooth, velvety body of a dingy brown colour, with a number of paler and darker markings, and on the back is a row of eight dark spots shaped just like lozenges.

1. Pink-barred Sallow
2. Angle-shades
3. Silver Y]

PLATE XLVII

THE PINK-BARRED SALLOW (1)

This is one of the most beautiful of all our British moths, for its front wings are of the most lovely orange-yellow, with a broad purple-pink band running across them, and several blotches and spots of the same colour on each side of it, while the hind-wings are light yellow, with a darker border. It comes out in September and October, and the best way to find it is to search on ivy blossoms on a warm, still evening, by the help of a bull’s-eye lantern. A great many moths are very fond of these blossoms, and sometimes you may see them feasting on the nectar in hundreds, or even in thousands, with their little eyes gleaming like balls of coloured fire in the light of the lantern. And just here and there among them you are almost sure to notice a Pink-barred Sallow.

The caterpillar of this moth feeds first of all upon the catkins of sallow bushes. But when they begin to die off it goes down to the ground, and feeds upon the leaves of plantains and other low plants instead. In colour it is reddish-brown, with a number of brown, red, yellow, and white dots all over its body.

PLATE XLVII

THE ANGLE-SHADES (2)

This is a very common moth indeed, but a very difficult one to see. For when it is at rest it always folds its yellowish-brown and olive-green wings closely round its body, and looks so like a shrivelled piece of dead leaf that it is very hard indeed to believe that it is really a moth. It is double-brooded, coming out first in May, and then again in September and October. But it always seems much more plentiful in the autumn than in the spring, and you can generally find it in numbers by looking on the blossoms of ivy on a warm evening. And you will notice that the hairs on the “thorax,” or middle part of its body, are so long that they form a kind of ruff all round its neck.

The caterpillar of the Angle-shades is either grass-green in colour or light brown, powdered thickly with tiny white dots, and with a pale white line running down the middle of its back. It feeds on nettle, chickweed, primrose, mullein, and other low plants, and when it is fully grown makes a light cocoon just beneath the surface of the ground, in which it turns to a shiny reddish-brown chrysalis.

PLATE XLVII

THE SILVER Y (3)

This is a very common moth indeed, and if you walk through a field of clover or lucerne in August or the early part of September, you may sometimes kick it out of the herbage at nearly every step that you take, until Silver Y moths are buzzing about you almost like bees. You can easily recognise it, for in the middle of each of its front wings it has a mark shaped something like the letter Y, and looking just as if it were made of polished silver. And you may also see the moth flying over flowers in the evening, while after dark it often comes into a lighted room. Indeed, one really wonders whether Silver Y moths ever go to sleep at all!

The caterpillar of this moth is shaped very much like that of the burnished brass, and walks in just the same curious way. It is rather hairy, and is bright apple-green in colour, with six narrow white lines running along its back, and a yellow stripe on either side. It feeds on all kinds of garden herbs and low plants, and when it is fully fed it spins a white cocoon among the leaves, and turns into a shiny black chrysalis, from which the moth generally hatches out about three weeks later.

PLATE XLVIII

THE BEAUTIFUL YELLOW UNDERWING (1)

This is really a most lovely little moth. It is something like a very, very small “large yellow underwing.” But instead of having the front wings plain light or dark brown, with hardly any markings at all, it has them bright red-brown with pure white spots and wavy lines, while the hind-wings are of the brightest possible yellow, with a broad edging of glossy black.

If you want to see this very pretty insect, you can easily do so. All that you have to do is to ramble over a heathy common on a hot, sunny day in May or June, and you are sure, before long, to notice a Beautiful Yellow Underwing flying about over the heather. It hardly looks like a moth. It looks more like a brightly-coloured little bee. And it flies so quickly that you will have some little difficulty in catching it.

The caterpillar of this moth feeds on heather and bilberry, and is bright green in colour, with five white lines running along its body. Down its back is a line made up of short white streaks. Below this, on each side, is another line, made up of white spots. And lower down still is a third line, also made up of spots, which run up and down in a zigzag. Look for this caterpillar in August.

1. Beautiful Yellow Underwing
2. Orange Underwing
3. Burnished Brass]

PLATE XLVIII

THE ORANGE UNDERWING (2)

There are really two kinds of Orange Underwings, the light and the dark. But they come out at the same time, and fly about together, and are so much alike that it is not at all easy to tell the one from the other. The time to look for them is about the middle or end of March, and then, if you go into a large wood on a warm, sunny morning, you may sometimes see them flying about among birch trees. They are very fond, too, of visiting sallow, or “palm,” bushes, and sucking the sweet juices from their golden-yellow catkins. But the moment that the sun is clouded over they seem to disappear, and you will see them no more until it begins to shine again.

The caterpillars of both the Orange Underwings are dull green in colour, with yellow lines on their backs and sides, and when they walk they hunch their bodies up into loops, just like the “stick” caterpillars of such moths as the “swallow-tail” and the “willow beauty.” That of the Light Orange Underwing feeds on aspen, and that of the Dark Orange Underwing upon birch. You may find both in June and July.

PLATE XLVIII

THE BURNISHED BRASS (3)

This moth well deserves its name, for across its greyish-brown or reddish-brown front wings its has two broad bands of golden-green, which shine just like a piece of highly polished brass. It is “double-brooded,” coming out first in June and then again in August, and flies soon after sunset on warm, still evenings. If you want to catch it, the best place to look for it is over beds of nettles, where you may often see it flying backwards and forwards until it is too dark to see at all. But sometimes it will fly through an open window into a lighted room, and buzz about in the most excited way round the lamp or the gas-flame.

The caterpillar of this pretty moth feeds upon stinging-nettle, dumb-nettle, and burdock, and sometimes also upon thistle and wild mint. When it is not walking it always rests with its front legs held up in the air, and its body gets stouter and stouter from the head almost to the tip of the tail. It is apple-green in colour, with a number of white marks on its back shaped just like the letter V.

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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:

Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.

Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.

Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.