Chapter XII: Part II: Descriptions of Species (9)

This moth is shown on Plate 117. When quite fresh the ground colour of the fore wings is a beautiful green, but this often fades after a time, and the wings then assume an ochreous hue. The cross lines are black relieved with whitish, and there is a whitish blotch on the second line touching the outer edges of the reniform stigma. The green colour varies in tint even when the insects are alive; and the black markings differ in intensity, being much stronger in some specimens than in others. The caterpillar is greyish brown, more or less tinged with violet; there are three fine whitish lines, and a series of blackish diamond-shaped marks on the back; the spiracles are white, and there is an ochreous stripe below them. It feeds on dock and other low plants, bramble, and in the spring on sallow shoots and the young growth of bilberry. July to April, or May. {236} The moth, which frequents woods; flies in June, but has been reared, as a second generation, late in the year. The species seems to be pretty generally distributed over England and Ireland, and is often common, especially in the south and east of the former country. From the Midlands northwards it appears to be less common, and its range more restricted. In Scotland it has been recorded from Roxburghshire (common at sugar in 1898), the Clyde district, and, Barrett adds, Perthshire.

THE GREAT BROCADE (_Eurois occulta_).

On Plate 117, Fig. 3 represents the typical grey form of this species, and Fig. 4 the black var. _passetii_, Thierry-Mieg. Intermediates occur connecting the melanic form with the type, and sometimes specimens are found of a paler hue than the type. Bred specimens occasionally have a rosy tinge, and this is then usually most in evidence between the first and second cross lines. The caterpillar is brown, with three ochreous lines on the back, the outer with dark oblique dashes on each ring; a whitish stripe along the spiracles is blotched with reddish, and edged above with black. It feeds in the autumn on dock, plantain, primrose, dandelion, etc., and in the spring on bramble, bilberry, sallow, heather, and birch, among other things. Usually it hibernates when small, but when kept indoors, and fairly warm, it can be induced to complete growth, and attain the moth state in October or later, sometimes even earlier. In the open the moth flies from the end of June to August.

Scotland appears to be the British home of the species, and it is found in most woods throughout that country, including the isles, but it is rare in the Shetlands. It occurs in Durham (rare), and in Yorkshire was not uncommon at Everingham in 1897, and several were obtained at Middlesbrough in 1900. Further south its occurrence is even more casual, and the most recent captures I have any note of are, two specimens in Lincolnshire, August, 1896, and one each in Norfolk and North East London, August, 1900. Also recorded from Essex. Only two specimens are known from Ireland.

The range abroad extends to Amurland, Corea, and to North America.

Pl. 116.
1, 2, 5, 6. BROAD-BORDERED YELLOW UNDERWING.
3. LESSER BROAD-BORDERED YELLOW UNDERWING.
4. LEAST YELLOW UNDERWING.

Pl. 117.
1, 2. GREEN ARCHES.
3, 4. GREAT BROCADE.
5. SILVERY ARCHES.
6. PALE SHINING BROWN.

{237} THE SILVERY ARCHES (_Aplecta_ (_Mamestra_) _tincta_).

The moth represented on Plate 117, Fig. 5, has the fore wings silvery grey clouded with brownish on the central area; or occasionally spreading over a larger portion of the wings, and sometimes purplish in tint. The caterpillar is brownish inclining to reddish, clouded on the back with paler and darker brown. The central line, which has a broken blackish edging, is only distinct on the front rings. Spiracles black; head pale brown marked with darker brown. In the autumn it feeds on low plants such as dock, plantain, etc.; but in the spring it is found at night on the young growth of birch and sallow bushes, and more rarely on hawthorn, and I believe, on bilberry. The moth which occurs in birch woods in June and July, is not uncommon in the south of England from Essex to Hampshire, and has been found in Dorset and Devonshire. It has also been obtained more or less frequently in Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Cambridgeshire (once), Huntingdon, Worcestershire (Wyre Forest and Malvern), Staffordshire (north), Lancashire (Witherslack), Yorkshire (Huddersfield, once), and Westmoreland. In Scotland it ranges on the west from Ayr to Argyllshire, but although local is more frequent in Perthshire, Moray, and Sutherland. Var. _obscurata_, Staud., is a form of this species occurring in Amurland and Southern Siberia.

THE PALE SHINING BROWN (_Aplecta_ (_Mamestra_) _advena_).

This moth (Plate 117, Fig. 6) is pale reddish brown and glossy, especially on the outer area, on the fore wings. The caterpillar {238} is pale ochreous brown above, and inclining to greenish below; three dark-edged pale lines, and a series of dark diamond-shaped marks on the back. The usual dots are whitish encircled with blackish, and the blackish edged spiracles are reddish brown; head olive brown, and plate on first ring blackish with the three lines showing distinct. From July to September it feeds on various low plants, including rest-harrow, dandelion, and knotgrass, also on broom, bilberry (Barrett); and Newman mentions sowthistle (_Sonchus_) and lettuce. In confinement the moth sometimes emerges in the autumn, but in the open it flies in June and July. Flowers seem to have more attraction for it than sugar. I have taken it at the blossoms of wood sage, white campion, and woundwort (_Stachys_), and Barrett notes, bladder campion, viper's bugloss, and the martagon lily. The species is chiefly found, as regards England, in the southern and eastern counties; and in the Solway, Clyde, Forth, and Tay districts of Scotland. Louth is the only Irish county from which it has been reported. The range abroad extends to Amurland. In North America the species is represented by var. _purpurissata_, Grote.

THE GREY ARCHES (_Aplecta_ (_Mamestra_) _nebulosa_).

Grey of some shade is the more general hue of this species, but it varies in the West of England and in Ireland to white (var. _pallida_, Tutt), and this form is shown on Plate 119, Fig. 3. In Cheshire (Delamere), Lancashire (Warrington), and South Yorkshire black or blackish forms occur, and two examples of this melanic race are portrayed on the plate, Fig. 4 being var. _robsoni_, Collins, and Fig. 5 var. _thompsoni_, Arkle. Over the greater part of England, and in Scotland, the greyish form is most frequently met with, but the white form has been found in Argyllshire and in Sutherland. The caterpillar is ochreous brown or brownish grey, with a series of diamond-shaped blackish marks, and a pale central line, on the back; {239} the dots and the spiracles are black, each of the latter with a blackish streak in front of it. In the autumn it feeds upon dock and other low plants; but in the spring, when it is more easily found, the caterpillar eats the buds and young leaves of birch, oak, sallow, bramble, etc. The moth is out in June and July, and is not uncommon in woods. The black form seems to be peculiar to north England. In Amurland the species is represented by var. _askolda_, Oberthür, and in North America by var. _nimbosa_, Guenée.

THE CABBAGE MOTH (_Barathra brassicæ_).

The darker markings of this very common greyish moth are often very obscure, but the white outline of the reniform stigma, and the white submarginal line are usually distinct. The caterpillar varies in colour, but generally is some shade of dull brown or greenish, with the usual dots greyish or green tinged. The central line on the back is dusky, speckled with white, and the stripe low down on the sides is yellowish, greenish, or dingy brown; head ochreous brown marked with darker or greenish. Although it is exceedingly partial to the cabbage and other plants of the kind, it will feed upon almost every sort of low herbage, wild or cultivated. Barrett states that it has been found feeding on oak. I have taken it from birch in the garden, and it is known to eat leaves of almost any tree or shrub that may be offered to it in confinement. July to October. The moth is out in June and July, and sometimes there is an emergence in September. The species occurs over the whole of the British Isles, and abroad its range extends to India, Amurland, and Japan. (Plate 120, Figs. 3[male], 6[female].)

THE DOT (_Mamestra persicariæ_).

The striking feature of the bluish-black moth shown on Plate 120, Figs. 1, 2, is the brownish centred white reniform {240} stigma. Except that the yellowish submarginal line is sometimes obscured, the species is very constant in the British Isles. Abroad, a form without the white mark is known as _unicolor_, Staud., and one or two examples have been recorded as occurring in England, two in 1895 said to have been reared by a northern collector from caterpillars obtained in the London district. The caterpillar figured on Plate 129, Fig. 2, was pale green with darker green markings. In another form the colour is pale brown with the markings darker brown. It is found from August to October on all sorts of low plants, and in the garden, where it is often common in the suburbs of London, is very fond of the foliage of _Anemone japonica_ and lupin, among other plants. The moth is out in July and August, but is not often common north of the Midlands, though it occurs, or has been found in almost all the counties of England. Its occurrence in Scotland seems to be doubtful, and Kane states that it is rare in Ireland, and almost absent from the northern counties. Its range abroad extends to China and Japan.

THE WHITE COLON (_Mamestra albicolon_).

Two specimens of this species are shown on Plate 120, Figs. 7, 8. It will be noted that, except for the two white dots at the lower outer edge, the outline of the reniform mark is very obscure; these dots are placed one below the other, thus forming a :, hence the English name of the moth. Blackish specimens have been obtained on the east coast of Scotland.

The caterpillar is green or bluish grey, with a dark-edged pale central line; spiracles white, margined with black. Barrett states that it feeds in June and July, and probably as a partial second generation in September, on plantain, dandelion, and other low plants growing in sand; probably also on _Atriplex_, _Chenopodium_, and Cruciferæ; but it is a larva of secret habits and is very little known.

Pl. 118.
1, 1a. LARGE YELLOW UNDERWING: _eggs and caterpillar_.
2. LESSER YELLOW UNDERWING: _caterpillar_.
3, 3a. LESSER BROAD-BORDER: _caterpillar and chrysalis_.
4, 4a. BROAD-BORDERED YELLOW UNDERWING: _caterpillar and chrysalis_.

Pl. 119.
GREY ARCHES MOTH _and varieties_.

{241}

The moth, which flies in May and June, and again in July and August, frequents sandhills on the west, especially those of Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cheshire, and Wales. In Norfolk and Suffolk it is found in the Breck Sand district as well as on the coast, and it also occurs on the coasts of Dorset, Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall, but seems to be uncommon in most of these counties. In Scotland it occurs in suitable parts of the east coast to Aberdeen, and on the west coast to the Clyde; and in Ireland on the coasts of Kerry, Louth, and Derry.

THE BRIGHT-LINE BROWN-EYE (_Mamestra oleracea_).

The English name of this very common moth (Plate 120, Figs. 4, 5), applies to the majority of specimens, but now and then the ochreous, or yellow reniform stigma, referred to as the brown eye, is blurred and indistinct, and the white submarginal line may almost disappear. The ground colour of the fore wings ranges from reddish or purple brown to dark brown. The caterpillar (Plate 129, Fig. 1), varies from green to light brown, sometimes the brownish forms are tinged with pink; the body is minutely dotted with white, and the usual dots are black; the spiracles are white, margined with black, and placed on the blackish edge of a yellow stripe; there are three greyish, but frequently indistinct, lines on the back. It feeds from July to September on most low plants, and is often found in abundance under spreading clumps of goose-foot (_Chenopodium_), and has been noted in profusion upon tamarisk growing by the sea. The moth flies in June and July, sometimes in the autumn. Except, perhaps, in the Hebrides, it has been found throughout the British Isles.

THE LIGHT BROCADE (_Mamestra genistæ_).

The moth portrayed on Plate 121, Fig. 1, is not given to much variation. The central area enclosed by the cross lines is {242} more or less clouded with reddish or purplish brown, not extending, as a rule, below the black bar between the lines, but sometimes the inner area is clouded with purplish from the second cross line to the base of the wing. The caterpillar is pale olive greenish above, with brownish and blackish diamonds or V-shaped markings; three lines on the back are dark-edged but indistinct; a cloudy line along the white spiracles. The colour varies from greenish to brownish grey or purplish brown, and all shades may occur in the same brood. It feeds in July and August on broom, dyer's greenweed (_Genista tinctoria_), persicaria, and other low plants. The moth is out in May and June, and may be seen in the daytime on palings and other kinds of fencing, and also on tree trunks. It occurs in England from Worcestershire and Northampton southwards, but seems to be rarely met with northwards. Four or five specimens were taken at electric light near Tarporley, Cheshire, about 1900 (Day's List). It has been recorded from Ayr, Argyll, and Paisley in Scotland, but its occurrence in Ireland is doubtful. The distribution abroad ranges to Eastern Siberia.

THE DOG'S TOOTH (_Mamestra dissimilis_).

The example of this species shown on Plate 121, Fig. 2, is of the reddish-tinged pale brown form from Essex; but in that county, and also in other parts of England, the fore wings are sometimes clouded with sooty-brown. In other forms the fore wings are purplish or reddish brown, and the markings may be very distinct, or much obscured. The caterpillar is greenish or brown, minutely dotted with white, and freckled with dark greyish; the usual dots are black; there are indications of darker lines on the back, but these are not always clearly defined; the white spiracles are set in the black interrupted edge of a yellowish stripe. It feeds in July and August, on dock, plantain, etc. The moth flies in June and July, and occasionally in the autumn. Its haunts are marshy places, especially on the coast, and mosses; and it is found in most of the seaboard southern and eastern counties, and more rarely inland. Recorded from Ayr and Kirkcudbright in Scotland; is widely distributed in Ireland, and not rare in Louth and Kerry.

Pl. 120.
1, 2. DOT MOTH.
4, 5. BRIGHT-LINE BROWN-EYE.
3, 6. CABBAGE MOTH.
7, 8. WHITE COLON.

Pl. 121.
1. LIGHT BROCADE.
2. DOG'S TOOTH.
3, 4. DARK BROCADE.
5. BEAUTIFUL ARCHES.
6. BEAUTIFUL BROCADE.
7. PALE SHOULDERED BROCADE.

{243} THE PALE-SHOULDERED BROCADE (_Mamestra thalassina_).

The whitish or creamy-white patch at the base of the reddish-brown fore wings is a noticeable feature of this moth (Plate 121, Fig. 7), and is almost always present, even when the wings are darkened and the other markings more or less obscured. The W-like angles of the white submarginal line run through to the fringes. In some specimens the general colour is purplish brown, and in others greyish brown. The caterpillar is greyish-brown with a slight reddish tinge, and freckled with darker brown; the usual dots are black; central line dusky, a series of darker oblique dashes on each side of it; the line along the spiracles is rather broad and sometimes edged above with blackish. It feeds in August and September on dock, groundsel, honeysuckle, broom, sallow, hawthorn, apple, etc. The moth is out in June, earlier or later according to the season; sometimes it appears again in August or September. It may be found, commonly as a rule, in most woods over the greater part of the British Isles.

THE BEAUTIFUL BROCADE (_Mamestra contigua_).

The moth (Plate 121, Fig. 6) has a pale patch at the base of the fore wing, but this is not so conspicuous as is the pale orbicular stigma, which is often united with a pale mark at its lower edge; another pale patch lies at the inner angle, and the whole area between the second cross line and the clouding on {244} the outer margin may be pale. Sometimes these pale markings are tinged with pink, and more rarely the whole surface is pinkish suffused. The caterpillar is yellowish-green with reddish V-shaped marks on the back; a yellowish line along the black-margined white spiracles. Buckler figures a reddish-brown form, with a yellowish stripe below the spiracles. It feeds in August and September on birch, oak, golden rod, bog myrtle (_Myrica gale_), dock, brake-fern (_Pteris aquilina_), etc. The moth appears in June, and may sometimes be seen in the daytime on tree trunks or palings. It is a woodland species, but although it occurs in most southern and eastern counties, it is not common in any of them; it becomes commoner in the Midlands, but is scarce in, or absent from, the northern counties of England, and in Wales. In Scotland it is more frequent in some localities from Argyll to Ross. Kane notes it as local, and sometimes abundant, but from the localities given it would seem to be widely distributed in Ireland. The range abroad extends through Northern Asia to Japan.

THE BROOM MOTH (_Mamestra pisi_).

The moth shown on Plate 122, Figs. 1, 2 varies considerably, in the colour of the forewings ranging from purplish red to dingy ochreous brown or greyish brown. The cross lines and occasionally the stigmata and shades may disappear, but the yellow submarginal line always remains, at least in part. The caterpillar (Plate 129, Fig. 3) feeds on the foliage of a variety of plants including brake fern or braken, sweet gale, broom, bramble, wild rose, and sallow, and may be found, often in the daytime, in August and September. It is usually of some shade of green or brown, occasionally blackish, with yellow stripes. The moth is out in June and July and is more or less common almost throughout the British Isles. The range abroad extends to Amurland.

Pl. 122.
1, 2. BROOM MOTH.
3, 4. NUTMEG MOTH.
5, 6. GLAUCOUS SHEARS.
7, 8, 9. SHEARS MOTH.
10. THE STRANGER.
11, 12. BRINDLED GREEN.

Pl. 123.
1, 4. NORTHERN ARCHES MOTH.
3. NORTHERN ARCHES MOTH, _var. assimilis_.
2. BARRETT'S MARBLED CORONET.
5. GREY MOTH.
6. MARBLED CORONET.
7, 8. MARBLED CORONET _vars._

{245}

THE NUTMEG (_Mamestra trifolii_).

The fore wings of this species (Plate 122, Figs. 3, 4) are usually greyish brown variegated with darker; cross lines pale with black edging. Sometimes the general colour is tinged with ochreous. The caterpillar is green with a darker central and two whitish lines on the back, the outer lines with black marks on them; a white edged pinkish stripe along the black-margined white spiracles. It feeds from July to September, sometimes earlier or later, on goose-foot, orach, beet, and other Chenopodiacæ, and has also been found on young leaves of onion. The moth is out in May and June, and as a second generation in late July and August. In 1903 a specimen was taken, at Boscombe, on March 21. The species is more especially attached to the coast, but is plentiful in the Breck Sand district of Norfolk and Suffolk, in market gardens and waste places around London, and is found more or less frequently up to Staffordshire. In Cheshire and Yorkshire it is scarce. Barrett states that in Scotland it is found rarely in Roxburghshire and Aberdeenshire; and not very uncommonly in the Clyde Valley; it is, however, not mentioned in the list of the lepidoptera of the Clyde area published in 1901. Only two specimens have been recorded from Ireland. The range abroad includes Northern Asia, Canada, and the United States of America.

THE GLAUCOUS SHEARS (_Mamestra glauca_).

Noticeable features of this dark-clouded whitish grey species (Plate 122, Figs. 5[male], 6[female]) are the whitish, or whitish outlined, stigmata; and the conspicuous black wedges on the inner edge of the pale submarginal line. The ground colour is sometimes purplish tinged; the dark clouding may spread over the greater part of the fore wings. The caterpillar is dark red brown with darker freckles, a whitish central line, and two {246} series of dusky dashes; a paler line along the black-edged white spiracles; head pale brown freckled with darker. Feeds in July and August on heather, sallow, bog myrtle, etc., and will thrive on lettuce. The moth is out in May and June, and may be found resting by day on tree trunks, fences, or rocks. This species in England occurs chiefly in hilly districts of the northern counties from Staffordshire to Cumberland; recorded from Glamorgan. In Scotland it is widely distributed from Ayr to Ross, and is also found in the Hebrides and the Orkneys; and in Ireland is obtained in several of the northern counties, and on the Hill of Howth. The range abroad extends to Amurland.

THE SHEARS (_Mamestra dentina_).

The ground colour of this species, three specimens of which are shown on Plate 122, Figs. 7, 8[male], 9[female], ranges from the normal pale grey through various shades of brownish grey. The markings, usually well in evidence, are sometimes obscured in the darker specimens. The caterpillar is brownish with three white lines and a series of grey-brown diamond-pattern blotches on the back; the outer lines with blackish spots upon them; the stripe along the black spiracles greyish; head pale brown marked with blackish; plates on first and last rings of the body glossy. Feeds in July and August on dandelion, knotgrass, chickweed, hawk's-beard (_Crepis_), hawkweed (_Hieracium_), etc. The moth flies in May and June and appears to be found throughout the British Isles. Represented in Siberia by the dark form _latenai_, Pierret.

THE STRANGER (_Mamestra peregrina_).

This species, which is an inhabitant of Asia Minor, Southern Russia, Turkey, Dalmatia and Northern Italy, occurs in Southern, Western, and Northern France; and three specimens {247} have been recorded as taken in England--all at Freshwater in the Isle of Wight--the first in 1858, the second in 1859, and the third about 1876. The specimen depicted on Plate 122, Fig. 10, was received from abroad.

BARRETT'S MARBLED CORONET (_Dianthoecia luteago_, var. _barrettii_).

The type, which is of ochreous coloration, does not occur in the British Isles, although in one example of var. _barrettii_, reared by Mr. Kane, a faint ochreous tinge was apparent, but this faded out in a few weeks. Fig. 2, Plate 123, represents a specimen, kindly lent by Mr. R. Adkin, of var. _barrettii_, Doubleday, a form discovered in Ireland, at Howth, by the late Mr. C. G. Barrett, in June, 1861. In 1879 a specimen was taken on the coast at Ilfracombe, North Devon; one example was reared from a caterpillar found at Tenby, South Wales, in 1884, and one was captured in Carnarvonshire, North Wales, in 1897. In the last mentioned year specimens were taken by the late Major Ficklin on the coast of Cornwall, and as the Cornish form differs from the Irish form in being grey instead of brown, it has been named var. _ficklini_, Tutt. A second specimen was obtained in North Wales in 1899. Since its first detection at Howth the insect has been taken in limited numbers almost every year; and in 1906 Major C. Donovan recorded it as widely distributed along the coast of Co. Cork, the specimens being large, of a dark slate colour with distinct light whitish grey markings.

The caterpillar is pale ochreous with a pinkish tinge; the central line is greyish brown and the spiracles black; head reddish brown marked with darker. It feeds on the roots of seaside campion (_Silene maritima_), July to September. The moth flies from June to August. Like most of the species in this genus, it does not care for the collector's sugar, and except {248} that an occasional specimen may be found resting on the rocks, the moths must be netted as they fly at dusk to the flowers of _Silene_. Staudinger considers that var. _barrettii_ is identical with var. _argillacea_, Hübn.

THE GREY (_Dianthoecia cæsia_).

The obscurely marked slate grey insect shown on Plate 124, Fig. 5, was first found at Tramore, Ireland, and in the Isle of Man about the same year (1866 or 1867). Kane mentions that he has found the insect at Tramore, and also in eleven other localities on the rocky coast line of the South of Ireland, from Hook Point to Dingle Bay. Our form of the species, var. _manani_, Gregson, differs from the greyish blue continental type in its darker coloration, and this is intensified in the south-west corner of Ireland where specimens of a uniform bluish black occur.

The caterpillar is pale ochreous brown minutely freckled with darker; the lines on the back are blackish, but indistinct; usual dots margined with black; head pale brown, marked with darker. It feeds on the buds, flowers, and seeds of campions (_Silene maritima_ and _S. inflata_) from June to August. The moth flies in June, July, and early August, and may be taken, like the last species, at the flowers of the campions growing on the rocks in its seaside haunts.

THE MARBLED CORONET (_Dianthoecia conspersa_).

Three forms of this locally variable species are shown on Plate 123. Fig. 6 represents the typical form occurring generally in England, but in North Devonshire, on the coast, specimens are found closely approaching the Isle of Lewis form (Fig. 7), whilst others from that district agree in the blackish ground colour with specimens from Ireland. A still darker {249} race occurs in the Shetland Isles, and chiefly on the east coasts, whence came the specimen depicted (Fig. 8). On the western sides of the Shetlands, Mr. McArthur found the species to be rather more typical as a whole, although some specimens approached the darker eastern form. The dark Shetland race has been named var. _hethlandica_ by Staudinger, and the form with the white markings yellowish tinged is var. _ochrea_, Gregson.

The caterpillar is pale ochreous brown; the back sprinkled with darker, and forming still darker V-shaped marks, central line pale; spiracles ochreous with black outlines, set in the upper edge of a pale stripe; head shining pale yellowish-brown freckled and lined with darker. It feeds on the seeds of catchfly, campion, and will eat those of sweet-william and garden pinks. July to September. The moth is out in June and July, and at dusk visits the flowers of its food plants, and occasionally comes to sugar. It is chiefly found in the seaboard counties, but as regards England is commoner in the south than in the north. Although generally rare in the inland counties, it is sometimes not uncommon in some Surrey localities, such as the Croydon district, and Mr. Scollick has reared moths from caterpillars found in seed capsules of white campion at Horsley.

The distribution of this species extends to Amurland.

THE WHITE SPOT (_Dianthoecia albimacula_).

The moth shown on Plate 124, Fig. 1, is "The Beautiful Coronet" of some writers. Although a specimen was taken in Kent in 1816, nothing further was heard of the species in England until 1865, when one example was captured in the Portsmouth district. Then in 1873 caterpillars were found in the Birchwood locality where the first moth was secured. The next year the species was found to occur at Folkestone, and subsequently at other places along the Kentish coast. Since {250} 1889 it has been obtained, not uncommonly, at Seaton on the South Devon coast. The caterpillar, which is somewhat similar to that of the last species, feeds in July and August on the seeds of the Nottingham catchfly (_Silene nutans_), but will thrive on those of other kinds of catchfly, campion, or even sweet-william and garden pinks. The moth flies in May and June.

THE VARIED CORONET (_Dianthoecia compta_).

In Europe this species has a less northerly range than _D. conspersa_, and its eastward range extends to Japan. The caterpillar feeds on the seeds of _Dianthus_.

In his list of the lepidoptera of Ireland (_Ent. Mo. Mag._, 1866), Birchall remarks: "A pair of this well-known species, taken in Ireland by Mr. Tardy, are in the collection of Trinity College, but I am unable to indicate the exact locality of their capture." This is probably all the evidence we have of the occurrence of this species in the British Isles. The specimen represented on Plate 124, Fig. 2, is from the Continent.

THE LYCHNIS (_Dianthoecia capsincola_).

Except that the brown ground colour is sometimes of a reddish shade, or greyish in tone, there is not much to notice in the variation of this species. Occasionally the outlines of the reniform and orbicular marks are usually white and distinct, and now and then the black markings are intensified. Two specimens are shown on Plate 124, Figs. 3 [male], 4 [female]. The caterpillar is brownish ochreous freckled with darker, and with a pale central line and a series of dusky V-shaped marks on the back; a paler stripe along the whitish spiracles; head pale reddish brown, marked with darker brown. It feeds in July, sometimes in September, on campion, ragged robin, catchfly, and sweet-william and pinks. Fig. 3, Plate 130, is from a coloured drawing {251} by Mr. A. Sich, and represents the caterpillar, as seen when making the sketch, holding a seed between its front pair of legs and up to its mouth. The moth is out in May and June, and in some years there is a second flight in the autumn. The species is more or less common over the greater part of the British Isles.

THE CAMPION (_Dianthoecia cucubali_).

This moth (Plate 124, Figs. 5 [male], 6 [female]) is very similar to the last, but it has a distinct violet tinge, the orbicular mark is lengthened, and its lower edge touches, or almost touches, the reniform; the second line is distinct and straighter above the inner margin. The caterpillar is greenish, tinged with orange-brown on the front rings; the central line is greyish-brown, and the V-marks on the back and oblique stripes low down on the sides are orange-brown. It feeds on the leaves as well as the unripe seeds of campion, ragged robin, and catchfly in July, August, and September. The moth is out in June, and examples of a second generation in August. Like the rest of the species of the genus, it is most partial to flowers, but it occasionally puts in an appearance at the sugar patch. Pretty generally distributed over the British Isles. The range abroad extends to Amurland, China, and Japan.

THE TAWNY SHEARS (_Dianthoecia carpophaga_).

This species ranges in the colour of the fore wings from almost white, through various shades of ochreous brown.

The white and ochreous-tinted specimens are found in Kent and Sussex chiefly, whilst the ochreous-brown forms are more generally distributed in England. Barrett states that in the south of Scotland a form occurs in which the ground colour is very pale dull brown with all the darker markings and cloudings deep umberous, the cloudings more extended. Var. _capsophila_ {252} (The Pod Lover), which represents the species in Ireland and the Isle of Man, is of a greyish coloration and lacks the ochreous tint; the dark markings, especially on the area between the first and second cross lines, are blackish or black, and the outlines of the stigmata are very distinct. Kane mentions dull black specimens, from the Blasket Islands, in which only vestiges of the stigmata and submarginal line remained clear. Pembrokeshire specimens have a colour range intermediate between _carpophaga_ (Plate 124, Fig. 9) and var. _capsophila_ (Figs. 7, 8), and serve to connect one with the other. The caterpillar, which is purplish brown with rather broad ochreous-brown lines on the back, feeds in June and July and again in September, on seeds of catchfly, campion, and sweet-william. The moth flies in May and June, sometimes in late July and August.

THE VIPER'S BUGLOSS (_Dianthoecia_ (_Epia_) _irregularis_).

The earliest British specimen of this moth (Plate 125, Fig. 1) of which there is any clear record is that found by the late Rev. A. H. Wratislaw, in July, 1868, resting on viper's bugloss (_Echium vulgare_), in a locality about ten miles from Bury St. Edmunds. Subsequently Tuddenham was indicated as the locality, and there, as well as in other parts of the Breck Sand district of Suffolk and Norfolk the species continues to flourish. _Echium_ was at first supposed to be the food plant, but it was soon ascertained the larval pabulum was the flowers and seeds of the local catchfly (_Silene otites_). In September, 1870, Mr. Porritt described the caterpillar, and he found that in confinement it did not object to Ragged Robin (_Lychnis flos-cuculi_) in place of the _Silene_.

In colour the caterpillar is pale yellowish brown, tinged with green; three more or less distinct pale lines, and a series of smoke-coloured V-shaped marks on the back. Spiracles black with a yellowish white stripe below them, and a smoke-coloured one above; head wainscot brown dotted with black. It may be found on its food plant from late July to early September. The moth flies in June and July, but seems to have been very rarely met with in the open, although large numbers of the caterpillars, which are frequently "ichneumoned," are collected almost every year. A specimen, recently presented to the Lincoln Museum, is said to have been reared from a caterpillar found on viper's bugloss in the neighbourhood of East Ferry in North Lincolnshire.

Pl. 124.
1. WHITE SPOT MOTH.
2. VARIED CORONET.
3, 4. LYCHNIS.
5, 6. CAMPION.
7, 8. POD LOVER.
9, 10. TAWNY SHEARS.

Pl. 125.
1. VIPER'S BUGLOSS.
2. SMALL RANUNCULUS.
3, 4. BROAD-BARRED WHITE.
5, 6. MINOR SHOULDER-KNOT.
7, 8. MINOR SHOULDER-KNOT _varieties_.

{253} THE SMALL RANUNCULUS (_Hecatera chrysozona_).

Except that the general grey coloration of the fore wings of this moth (Plate 125, Fig. 2) may be whiter or of a darker grey tint, there is little in the way of variation to refer to. Usually the area between the cross lines is dark grey, sometimes marked with yellow on the reniform and towards the inner margin. A series of yellow dots on the submarginal line is almost always present, but may be absent. The caterpillar is pale reddish brown; three fine double blackish lines and two rows of black dots on the back; a fine blackish line along the black spiracles. Head pale brown and glossy. In another form the general colour is some shade of green; yellowish to olive. It feeds in July and August on the flowers and seeds of the wild lettuce (_Lactuca saligna_, and _L. virosa_), hawk's-beard (_Crepis_), and also on those of the garden lettuce. The moth is out late in June and July, and at dusk may be seen at the blossoms of various plants in gardens and elsewhere, but seems to be most partial to those of spur-valerian (_Centranthus ruber_). It is found in the eastern counties, especially in Cambridgeshire; Surrey, and (rarely) in Sussex and Dorsetshire. Other English counties in which it has been noted are Hertford, Huntingdon, Northampton, Oxford, Berks, Somerset, and Hereford. {254}

THE BROAD-BARRED WHITE (_Hecatera serena_).

Most of the British examples of this species have the thorax and fore wings almost pure white, the latter with a central blackish grey band (var. _leuconota_, Ev., Plate 125, Figs. 3[male], 4[female]). The white, however, especially on the outer margin, is sometimes clouded with greyish, and occasionally the ground colour has a greyish tinge, thus approaching var. _obscura_, Staudinger. The caterpillar is ochreous brown, more or less tinged with green, minutely dotted with dark grey, forming indistinct blotches; the stripe along the black spiracles is yellow tinged with green below. Head brownish, glossy. It feeds in July and August on hawk's-beard (_Crepis_). The smaller caterpillars may be found by day resting on the yellow flowers. In confinement they will eat the flowers and seeds of garden lettuce; and Prout mentions dandelion blossoms, and also those of almost any of the Compositæ. The moth is out from June to August, and in the daytime may be seen sitting on fences, tree trunks, rocks and walls. It is pretty generally distributed in the southern portion of England, but becomes scarce northwards. In Scotland it seems to be little known, but Renton records it as common in Roxburghshire, and in 1898 Mr. Kirkaldy kindly gave me three greyish-shaded specimens that he picked up casually at Pitlochry, Perthshire, in July of that year. It has been found in North Wales, but is more frequent in the southern parts of that country. Rather local and usually scarce in Ireland; but has been found in counties Waterford, Dublin, Wicklow, Louth, Antrim, Westmeath, Galway, Cork, and Kerry. The range abroad extends to Siberia and Amurland.

THE BORDERED GOTHIC (_Neuria reticulata_).

The cross lines and the veins are pale brown, sometimes tinged with pink. These markings give the moth (Plate 126, Figs. 1[male], 2[female]) a netted appearance, which, apart from the different ground colour and clouding, distinguishes it from the Gothic, with which it is sometimes confused. The antennæ, too, of the male are only fringed with minute hairs, whilst those of the male Gothic are broadly pectinated. The caterpillar is greenish or pinkish ochreous, mottled with darker, and with slightly paler lines on the back and sides; head light brown. It will feed in July and August on knot-grass; and soapwort (_Saponaria_), _Silene inflata_, and _Dianthus_, have been mentioned as food plants. The moth is out in June and July. The species occurs in nearly all the counties of England to Yorkshire, but except in Cambridgeshire, and perhaps Oxfordshire, it is not common in any of the southern or eastern counties, although more frequently found in them than northwards. It has not been recorded from Scotland, and seems to be rare in Ireland, as it has only been noted from Co. Dublin and Co. Cork.

Pl. 126.
1, 2. BORDERED GOTHIC.
3, 4. DUSKY SALLOW.
5. ORACHE MOTH.
6, 7. SAXON MOTH.

Pl. 127.
1, 2. FIGURE OF EIGHT MOTH.
3, 4. FEATHERED GOTHIC.
5. GREEN BRINDLED DOT.
6, 7. BEAUTIFUL GOTHIC.
8, 9. ANTLER MOTH.

{255} FEATHERED GOTHIC (_Tholera_ (_Epineuronia_) _popularis_).

The male of this species (Plate 127, Fig. 3) is strongly attracted by light, and frequently seen in houses, and is no doubt a familiar object to most residents in the country, and even in the suburbs of London. The female (Fig. 4) does not visit light, but this sex, and the males also, may be found sitting after dark upon the upper erect leaves of the hard grasses, such as the matweed (_Nardus stricta_). Of course a lantern will be required to throw a light on the business of collecting them, and it is curious to note that even the brilliant glare of the acetylene lamp does not seem to disturb the moths very much, if at all.

The caterpillar is dark greenish brown and rather glossy, with a dusky plate on the first ring upon which are traces of the five dark-edged pale brownish stripes which traverse the body and meet on the last ring; the latter has a black plate. The spiracles are black, and the head is brownish, marked with {256} darker. The caterpillars hatch in the spring from eggs laid the previous autumn, and may be found until July. They feed at night on the leaves of grasses, especially _Nardus_ and such kinds, growing in parks and open places. The moth is out in August and September, and occurs more or less commonly throughout England and Wales. In Scotland it is found in Ayrshire, and in other localities in the Clyde area; thence eastward to Aberdeen. Kane states that in Ireland it is generally distributed, and in some localities very abundant, as at Clonbrock, and on the Wicklow coast.

THE HEDGE RUSTIC (_Tholera cespitis_).

The sexes of this moth are depicted on Plate 128, Figs. 8[male], 9[female]. In habits, and also in the kind of places it frequents, this species has much in common with that last mentioned. It is certainly more local, but its range in the British Isles is somewhat similar to that of the Gothic. The life history also is very like that of the last species, and the caterpillar feeds on the same kinds of grass.

ANTLER MOTH (_Cerapteryx_ (_Charæas_) _graminis_).

This moth (Plate 127, Figs. 8[male], 9[female]) has the fore wings greyish brown or reddish brown, sometimes tinged with ochreous in the paler forms, or with olive in the darker forms. There is also variation in the markings, and chiefly of the central forked streak which has been likened to the antler of the stag. In most British specimens of the greyish form this is white throughout its length, and it has three branches; the stigmata are whitish, and there is often a whitish bar below the central streak. A number of aberrations have been named, and of these the following seem to be the most important: var. _tricuspis_, Esp., reddish brown; branched streak, stigmata, and bar ochreous; var. _rufa_, Tutt = _tricuspis_, Hübn., as above, but the markings white; var. _ruficosta_, Tutt = _graminis_, Hübn., greyish brown, with reddish front margin, and ochreous markings; var. _hibernicus_, Curt., yellowish brown with the markings ochreous, and the stigmata more or less united with the central streak. In some specimens most of the markings are obscured or absent, and only the reniform stigma and the forked extremity of the central line remain distinct.

Pl. 128.
1. FEATHERED EAR MOTH.
2, 3. STRAW UNDERWING.
4. SILVER CLOUD.
5, 6. FLOUNCED RUSTIC.
7. HAWORTH'S MINOR.
8, 9. HEDGE RUSTIC.

Pl. 129.
1, 1a. BRIGHT-LINE BROWN EYE: _caterpillar and chrysalis_.
2. DOT MOTH: _caterpillar_.
3, 3a. BROOM MOTH: _caterpillar and chrysalis_.
4. BRINDLED GREEN MOTH: _egg, natural size and enlarged_.

{257} The caterpillar, which is glossy, and the skin much wrinkled, is of a bronzy-brown colour, with black-edged pale lines; there is a brownish plate on the first ring and a blackish one on the last; the spiracles are black and the head is brownish, marked with darker. It feeds from March to June on grasses, and in some years and localities occurs in enormous numbers, denuding considerable areas of grass land. Rooks and other birds devour them readily, and where their feeding places are on hillsides, they are apt to be washed off by heavy rain, so that the drains and ditches become filled up in places by masses of these caterpillars. Even after such wholesale destruction, the moths may still appear in the autumn in countless numbers. The male moths are sometimes seen flying in the sunshine and visiting the flowers of thistles, ragwort, etc. Such flight usually takes place between eight a.m. and noon, but both sexes have been seen flying over grass and heather continuously from just before midday to four p.m. The moths are also on the wing at night, and the male is very susceptible to the attraction of light. The species has occurred in all parts of the British Islands, but its presence in the south of England would appear to be more casual than elsewhere. The range abroad extends through Northern Asia to Siberia.

THE FEATHERED EAR (_Pachetra leucophæa_).

Stephens, in 1829, figured one of two specimens of this species said to have been taken near Bristol in 1816, a part of England {258} from which no other specimen has ever been recorded so far as I am aware. In June, 1855, the late Mr. S. Stevens obtained a few specimens at sugar, at Mickleham, Surrey. Between the year last mentioned and 1894 five other specimens have been recorded from the same county, these are Redhill (W. R. Jeffrey), Boxhill (G. Elisha, a pair, and B. A. Bower), Reigate (R. Adkin). In Kent, specimens have been found in the Folkestone and Tunbridge districts, but the chalk downs between Ashford and Wye appear to be the headquarters of the insect in Britain.

A portrait of a male specimen will be found on Plate 128, Fig. 1, but the ground colour is much whiter in the majority of British specimens.

According to Dr. Chapman, the caterpillar varies from a nearly uniform nankeen-yellow with the markings only indicated, to a handsome larva with distinct black stripes. There is a pale dorsal line, quite narrow; thence to the black spiracles is divided into three longitudinal stripes, a dark dorsal, a dark (but less dark) lower one and a pale intermediate. In all these the ground colour is the same, nankeen-yellow, and the darker areas depend on the greater or less darkness of fine black mottlings, generally in fine wavy streaks running more or less longitudinally. The head is rather brown than yellow, mottled in a honey-comb pattern, with some black marking about the mouth parts. It feeds at night from July to March on various grasses, but seems to prefer _Poa annua_, and _P. nemoralis_. Dr. Chapman reared some of these caterpillars by keeping each individual in a separate glass jar and supplying it at frequent intervals with a fresh tuft of _Poa annua_. The moth is out from May to July, and hides during the day among the tufts of grass on chalk hills. It comes freely to sugar, and has been taken at privet blossom.

THE SILVER CLOUD (_Xylomania conspicillaris_).

Three forms of this species occur with us. In that represented on Plate 128, Fig. 4, the fore wings are almost entirely {259} blackish. Another has a larger portion of the inner marginal area ochreous brown, or whitish, ab. _melaleuca_, Vieweg; a third form, and the least frequent, may be described as pale ochreous brown with darker mottling on the basal half, and black central markings representing a broken streak from the base of the wing to the outer margin, in this form the pale outlined stigmata are fairly distinct, and there is a blackish shade between them extending from the front to the inner margin. From chrysalids obtained by digging under oak and elm trees in a private park several miles from Taunton, Somerset, Mr. H. Doidge (1901) reared moths and obtained eggs which were laid in a batch on the covering of the cage in which the female was placed with a growing plant of bird's-foot trefoil. The eggs hatched on May 31, ten days after they were laid. The young caterpillars were purplish grey, but after feeding on the yellow flowers they assumed the same colour. "After finishing the flowers they commenced on the leaves, by which time they were a pale green colour, with a yellow spiracular stripe, and were fond of resting by day on the stems of the plant. As they approached the final stage, the green became shaded with brown and black," and then resembled the ripening seed pods. They were afterwards supplied with blackthorn, and did not object to the change of food. They also ate dock (sparingly), and _Trifolium minus_. "About July 8 they began to go under ground to pupate. The pupæ, which were of a dark reddish-brown colour, and somewhat obese and blunt, being enclosed in a very compact and brittle earthy cocoon" (Doidge).

The moth is out in April and May, but is very local in England. It has occasionally been found at rest on isolated tree trunks or on posts, but very rarely captured in any other way. Specimens have been obtained from chrysalids dug up now and then from about the roots of trees, but perhaps most of the specimens in collections, not numerous altogether, have been reared from eggs. In England the species is only known {260} to occur in Kent, Surrey, Suffolk, Gloucester, Somersetshire, Worcestershire, and Herefordshire. Barrett also mentions one specimen at Gower, South Wales.

THE BEAUTIFUL ARCHES (_Eumichtis_ (_Hadena_) _satura_).

Of this species (Plate 121, Fig. 5) probably less than a dozen specimens have been taken in England, and apparently none in any other part of the British Isles. It is very similar to some of the darker forms of _E. adusta_, specimens of which have often been mistaken for examples of the present species and recorded as such. The wings are rather more ample; the reniform and orbicular stigmata are reddish, with a blackish cloud under them, and the space between the second and submarginal lines towards the inner margin is also reddish. The hind wings are dark in both sexes. The caterpillar, which is said to feed in July and August on hop, honey-suckle, and cherry, among other plants, is pinkish brown, darker above; the dusky-pink central line on the back is interrupted and indistinct, and on each side of it is a series of oblique greyish but not clearly defined streaks; the line low down on the sides is yellow-green. The moths flies in June, July, and August.

Abroad the species occurs in Central and Northern Europe (except the most northern parts, and perhaps Western France); eastward the range extends to Amurland.

THE DARK BROCADE (_Eumichtis_ (_Hadena_) _adusta_).

The sexes of this moth are figured on Plate 121, Figs. 3[male], 4[female]. The ground colour is grey-brown in some examples of this species, whilst in others, especially in the north of England and in Scotland, the colour ranges through rich reddish brown, blackish brown to almost black. In the lighter coloured forms the markings are usually clear and distinct, but in the darker forms are often much obscured. The caterpillar is somewhat variable in colour and markings. Barrett describes one form as pale sage green strongly tinged with ochreous and dusted with greyish brown; the line along the middle of the back is white, interrupted, and edged with greyish brown; a series of outlines of greyish-brown diamonds spread over to the brown margin of the pale ochreous stripe along the whitish spiracles, and form a network on the back and sides. Another form, described by Buckler, has the general colour brilliant yellow, suffused on the upper surface with deep rose pink; a stripe on the middle of the back composed of two darker pink lines, united and forming a spot at the beginning of each segment, and an interrupted yellow stripe on each side. It feeds from July to September on grass and various low plants, including knot-grass, bladder campion (_Silene cucubalus_); also sweet gale, sallow, etc. The moth flies in June and July, sometimes in May. The species occurs in woods and on heaths and moors, and is generally distributed, and more or less common throughout the British Isles. The range abroad extends to Amurland.

Pl. 130.
1. SLENDER BRINDLE: _caterpillar_.
2, 2a. CLOUDED BRINDLE: _caterpillar and chrysalis_.
3. LYCHNIS: _caterpillar_.
4. CLOUDED BORDERED BRINDLE: _caterpillar_.

Pl. 131.
1, 2. LARGE NUTMEG MOTH.
3, 4. CONFUSED MOTH.
5, 6. CRESCENT STRIPED MOTH.
7, 8. DUSKY BROCADE MOTH.

{261} THE BRINDLED GREEN (_Eumichtis_ (_Hadena_) _protea_).

Green of some shade is often the prevailing colour in the much ornamented moth portrayed on Plate 122, Figs. 11, 12; but in some specimens the general colour is pinkish white. The variegation consists of reddish brown or pinkish, and white clouds and black streaks, chiefly as edging to the pale cross lines, or between the stigmata; these latter are as often obscure as distinct, but sometimes the orbicular is white with a white mark below it extending to the black bar connecting the first and second cross lines.

The caterpillar is green freckled with yellow, with a yellow central line on the back; head brownish. It feeds from March to June, and when it leaves the egg it bores into an oak bud to {262} feed; later on it spins the young leaves together, and finally it dispenses with a retreat altogether and feeds openly on the leaves. The moth is out in the autumn, rather earlier in Scotland. It is widely distributed in England, and in some seasons and localities very abundant. In Scotland it is found from Roxburgh to Moray, and in the latter county as well as in Perthshire and Argyll it is often plentiful. Single specimens have been recorded from Ireland, and these from Co. Galway and Co. Westmeath.

THE NORTHERN ARCHES (_Crymodes exulis_).