Chapter V: Part II: Descriptions of Species (2)

Humphrey and Westwood mention a specimen taken in Brighton in 1834, and in 1846 eight moths were obtained. Something like one hundred and twenty-five specimens of this species have been recorded between the year last quoted and the present time. Of these only one occurred in Ireland. This was a specimen taken at light on September 17, 1881, at Mullaghmore, County Sligo. Several were captured in Scotland, and one in Wales; but the bulk were obtained at various places in England, not in the south only but in the north also. The majority were met with in the autumn, but a specimen was reported as taken in May, 1848, at Harlestone, another in March, 1862, at Tooting, and a third in the Isle of Anglesea, July, 1865. In the last-named year nine specimens were captured in the autumn. Doubleday recorded a caterpillar found in a garden at Epping (October, 1867), and other caterpillars have been reported from Newmarket and Sussex.

At least one example of the moth has been recorded almost annually since 1846, but captures seem to have been more numerous in 1861, 1866, 1870, 1879, 1881, and especially so in 1885. The caterpillar (figured on Plate 1) varies in ground colour, which may be pale brown, dark brown, or green. There is a black line along the middle of the back, and a pinkish brown stripe on each side; the latter runs from the ring next the head to the horn, but is interrupted on ring four, and the back from this ring to the horn is covered with linear dots arranged in more or less regular rows; the underside is thickly sprinkled with black-ringed white dots; on each side of ring four there is a conspicuous oval mark made up of a blackish outer ring, an inner ring of yellowish, and one of reddish; the centre is blackish, with some yellowish dots upon it. Head small, pale brown; horn blackish and rather rough.

Pl. 16.
1. OLEANDER HAWK-MOTH.
2. SILVER-STRIPED HAWK-MOTH.

Pl. 17.
ELEPHANT HAWK-MOTH.
_Egg, natural size and enlarged; caterpillar and chrysalis._

{45} It feeds on vine (_Vitis vinifera_) and yellow bedstraw (_Galium verum_); also on fuchsia and virginia-creeper (_Ampelopsis_). August and September are given as months for this caterpillar, but the Newmarket and Epping examples referred to were taken in October.

The moth seems to visit us chiefly in September and October. It does not appear to have been so often taken at flowers as at light, or when resting by day, on a wall or window of a dwelling house or shop, to which it had been attracted at night by the illumination within. The species has a wide range through Africa and Southern Asia to Java, Borneo, and Australia. In Europe it is perhaps only native in southern parts; thence it sometimes wanders through Central Europe to Germany and Holland. The specimens visiting our islands may come from the latter country, or possibly in years of comparative plenty the moths come to us _viâ_ the west coast of Europe.

THE OLEANDER HAWK-MOTH (_Daphnis_ (_Chærocampa_) _nerii_).

The forewings of this handsome moth (Plate 16) are pinkish grey, marbled with various shades of green and olive brown; some of the marbling edged with white. Hind wings greyish {46} brown shaded with greenish, with a whitish, waved cross line. The colours of the head, thorax, and body are similar to those of the wings.

CHRYSALIS OF OLEANDER-MOTH.

(Photo by W. J. Lucas.)]

The caterpillar feeds on the Oleander (_Nerium oleander_), and also on the lesser periwinkle (_Vinca minor_). When full grown it is olive green on the back from the hinder part of the third ring to the small, rough, and drooping, horn; the under surface and the whole of the first three rings ochreous; there is a divided brown spot on the ring nearest the head (first thoracic segment), and two larger blue-black spots on the third ring. These spots each enclose two whitish clouds; on the front edge of rings five to nine (second to sixth abdominal segments) are whitish dots, but these are fewer on rings eight and nine than on the others; a narrow whitish stripe, edged above and below with whitish dots, runs along the sides from ring five to the horn; spiracles are black with pale margins (Plate 1).

Chrysalis brown with blackish central line, which becomes broken and obscure on the body rings, broken again on the head, but continued thence along the under surface to the tips of the wing cases. The spiracles are blackish; the body is dotted, and the last rings are clouded with blackish.

I have only seen a preserved example of this caterpillar and a dead chrysalis; descriptions of each are from these.

The first published notification of the occurrence of this moth {47} in England is that of Stephens in 1835. He wrote: "A noble specimen of this remarkably beautiful insect (five inches three lines in expanse), was taken in the beginning of September, 1833, by a lady in her drawing-room at Dover. Whether the pupa had been imported in some of the numerous packages of foreign fruits, etc., or the insect itself had been brought over in one of the passage-vessels, is a question not easily solved. The larva feeds upon an exotic plant; but has been found in a garden near Charmouth, as appears by a subsequent communication to the _Ent. Magazine_ by Captain Blomer."

The next record of the moth appears in the _Zoologist_ for 1852. "On the 11th of September a specimen of _Chærocampa nerii_ was taken in Montpelier Road, Brighton, by a young gentleman at school, while it was hovering over a passion flower." Two caterpillars were found in a garden at Eastbourne, feeding upon the leaves of potato, in October, 1859. In confinement they ate periwinkle, but they were not reared. The following records are, except where otherwise stated, of single specimens of the moth: Hastings, August 2, 1862; Sheffield, September 14, 1867; St. Leonards, October, 1868 (? 2 examples); Ascot, June, 1873; Lewes, September 3, 1874; Hemel Hempstead, October 15, 1876; Tottenham, Middlesex, Eastbourne, Sussex, and Blandford, Dorset, September, 1884; Hartlepool and Prestwich, July, 1885; Brighton, September 7, 1886; Poplar, September 20, 1888; Dartmouth, September 26, 1890; Stowling, Kent, July, 1896; Yalding, Kent, September 18, Teignmouth, October 23, 1900; Banhead, Scotland, end September, 1901; Liverpool, in a steamship, and Atherstone, Warwickshire, October, 1903; Eastbourne, July 14, 1904; Lancaster, September 18, 1906. A specimen of _Daphnis hypothous_, Cramer, a native of India, Borneo, Java, and Ceylon, was captured at Crieff, Perthshire, in July, 1873, and was recorded as _D. nerii_, and the error was not rectified until 1891.

It will be seen from the above that the moth is exceedingly {48} rare in these islands. The species is an inhabitant of Africa, and its normal range extends along both sides of the Mediterranean through Asia Minor and Syria to India. In Europe, north of the Alps, the moth is seldom observed, and it is probably almost as scarce on most of the Continent as it is with us.

THE SMALL ELEPHANT (_Metopsilus_ (_Chærocampa_) _porcellus_).

The fore wings of this hawk-moth are ochreous with a faint olive tinge; the front margin is edged and blotched with pinkish, and there is a broad but irregular band of the same colour on the outer margin. Hind wings blackish on upper margin, pinkish on outer margin, and ochreous tinged with olive between; fringes chequered whitish, sometimes tinged with pink. Head, thorax, and body pinkish, more or less variegated with olive; the thorax has a patch of white hairs above the base of the wings (Plate 19, Figs. 3, 4).

In most specimens there are at least traces of two cross-lines in the fore wings, the space between these is sometimes brownish olive; the outer border of the hind wings varies in tint, and may be purplish. Occasionally the ground colour of the fore wings is greenish olive.

A hybrid, resulting from a pairing between _Chærocampa elpenor_ and _Metopsilus porcellus_ has been named _elpenorcellus_ (Staud).

The egg is a rich full green and rather glossy; it is laid in June on yellow bedstraw and other kinds of _Galium_.

A full-grown caterpillar will measure quite two inches in length, and in general appearance is not unlike that of the next species. It is, however, greyish brown in colour, merging into yellowish brown on the front rings. The head is greyer than the body; the usual Sphingid horn is absent, and in its place there is a double wart. When quite young the caterpillar is pale greyish green with blackish bristles, and the head and under surface are yellowish.

Pl. 18.
SMALL ELEPHANT HAWK-MOTH.
_Eggs, natural size and enlarged; caterpillar and chrysalis._

Pl. 19.
1, 2. ELEPHANT HAWK-MOTH.
3, 4. SMALL ELEPHANT HAWK-MOTH.

{49} It feeds, at night, in August and September, on bedstraw growing in dry places. It will eat almost any sort of _Galium_; also willow herb (_Epilobium_), and purple loosestrife (_Lythrum salicaria_).

The chrysalis is pale ochreous brown sprinkled with darker brown; the wing cases and the ring divisions are also darker. The body rings are furnished with reddish hooks. It is enclosed in a cocoon similar to that of the Elephant, and usually is on the ground. The early stages are figured in Plate 18.

The moth, which chiefly affects drier localities than the next species, is on the wing in May and June in the south of England, and June and July in the north. It has a weakness for the flowers of honeysuckle, and spur-valerian (_Centranthus_), but will take toll in the way of sweets wherever found, even from the sugar patches of the nocturnal collector. Except that it does not appear frequently in the Midlands, the species seems to be widely distributed throughout the country. In Scotland its range extends to Perthshire and Aberdeen; and in Ireland it is found all over the island, and is fairly plentiful in some localities, but especially attached to the coast.

Abroad, its distribution covers nearly the whole of Europe, and eastward to north-eastern Asia Minor, Bithynia, and the Altai.

THE ELEPHANT (_Chærocampa_ (_Eumorpha_) _elpenor_).

The fore wings are olive brown with two pinkish lines, both shaded with dark olive brown; the first is rather broader than the second, and terminates just above the centre of the wing and near a white dot; the second line runs from the white inner margin to the tip of the wing, and the area beyond it is flushed with pinkish; there is a black mark at the base of the wings and the fringes are pinkish. The hind wings are black on the {50} basal half and pinkish on the outer half; fringes white. The head, thorax, and body are olive brown marked with pinkish, the thorax being additionally ornamented with white on the sides. The moth is shown on Plate 19, and the early stages on Plate 17.

The eggs are whitish-green in colour and rather glossy. Those I had were laid in June on a leaf of willow herb (_Epilobium_).

When newly hatched the caterpillar is yellowish white, and paler between the rings; the head is tinged with greenish, and the horn is black. The full-grown caterpillar measures nearly three inches in length, and is rather plump. It is blackish or brownish grey, thickly sprinkled with black dots on the back and more sparingly on the sides; the spiracles are ochreous ringed with blackish, and below them is an ochreous line, which is most distinct on the front rings; on each side of the third to fifth rings there is a round black spot, the second and third pairs enclosing black centred whitish lunules which are sometimes tinged with pink or yellow; the horn is much of the same colour as the body. There is a green form of this caterpillar.

It feeds, chiefly, at night, in July and August, on _Epilobium hirsutum_ and on bedstraw especially the kind (_G. palustre_), growing by the side of brooks and streams. The chrysalis is palish brown freckled with darker brown, the divisions between the rings and the spiked tail appearing blackish; enclosed in a cocoon formed of earth and sundry fragments of stalks, leaves, etc., spun together with silk and generally on the ground, but sometimes just under the surface.

The moth is on the wing in June, and very occasionally there is a late summer emergence. It does not fly until dusk, and may then be seen hovering over the blossoms of honeysuckle, etc. It is also known to be attracted now and then to "sugared" trees. The best plan, however, for obtaining a few fine specimens {51} is to rear them from eggs or caterpillars. The latter are said to come up to sun themselves about four o'clock in the afternoon, but they may be found at any time in their season, and in likely spots, by turning back the herbage and looking for them in their hiding-places. When in repose the head and front rings are drawn inwards, and this distends the eyed rings, thus bringing these into prominence and giving the creature a rather wicked look, from which the uninitiated would be likely to retreat. The caterpillar, however, is quite harmless, and may be handled with impunity.

Although somewhat scarce in the more northern counties, this is a pretty common species throughout most of England and Wales. Its range extends into Scotland as far as Dumbarton, and, according to Barrett, along the east coast to Aberdeen. Kane states that in Ireland it is met with everywhere and is abundant in some localities. Distributed over Europe, except the more northern parts, and extending through Asia to Japan.

THE HUMMING-BIRD HAWK-MOTH (_Macroglossa stellatarum_).

The brown fore wings with black cross lines, and the brownish bordered orange hind wings, at once separate this from any other hawk-moth occurring in our islands. Its greenish eggs are laid on bedstraw, and in July and August the caterpillars may be found on the same kind of plant. They are greenish or brownish covered with white dots; a whitish line runs along each side of the back and a yellowish one lower down on the sides; the spiracles are blackish, and the horn bluish shading into yellow at the tip. The yellow-flowering bedstraw (_Galium verum_) seems to be the kind upon which the caterpillar is most often found, but it also occurs on the hedge bedstraw (_G. mollugo_). It has been known to eat wild madder (_Rubia peregrina_), and is {52} stated to thrive in confinement on goose-grass or cleavers (_G. aparine_). When full grown a loosely woven cocoon is formed on the ground beneath the food plant, or other herbage, and therein the caterpillar changes to an ochreous grey or brownish chrysalis. This is marked with darker brown on the wing covers and around the spiracles; the "tongue" case forms a small beak-like projection.

Like the Bee Hawks, referred to presently, the moth is a day flyer, and delights in the sunshine, although it has been several times seen on the wing quite late in the evening, and has also been observed hovering in front of flowers and probing them with its long "tongue" even in the pouring rain. Blossoms of very many plants, both wild and cultivated, seem to receive its attention, but it is perhaps most partial to those of the jasmine where available. In the south of Europe the species is generally abundant throughout the year; but there would seem to be at least two distinct broods, one appearing in June, and the other in October. Possibly there may be an intermediate brood in August, as the period from egg to moth is known to be less than two months. In the British Isles, so far as one can gather from the records, caterpillars have only been found in July and August. Single specimens of the moth have been seen in the earliest months of the year, as for example, January 31, 1898 (Bath), January 3, 1899 (S. Wales), February 2, 1900 (London); it has also been observed several times in December. These facts and others connected with this species in Britain certainly lend colour to the oft-repeated statement that the moth hibernates in this country. The insect is known to enter houses, and to examine holes and cracks in walls, dry banks, etc., in the autumn. Mr. J. P. Barrett, in a note, written in November or December, 1900, states that six or seven moths came into his house at Margate in October, and that one was still hidden in his bedroom. However, if it be granted that the moth does hibernate here, the instances are so rare and isolated that, unless such specimens are impregnated females, the chances of these reproducing their kind the following year are not great. We have, therefore, to fall back upon immigration as the probable source of the Humming-Bird Hawk-moth in Britain. Except the more northern portion, this species is distributed over the whole of the Palæarctic region, including India, China, Corea, and Japan.

Pl. 20.
1. NARROW-BORDERED BEE HAWK-MOTH: _caterpillar_.
2, 2a. BROAD-BORDERED BEE HAWK: _caterpillar and chrysalis_.

Pl. 21.
1. HUMMING-BIRD HAWK-MOTH.
2. BROAD-BORDERED BEE HAWK-MOTH, _male_; 3 _female_.
4. NARROW-BORDERED BEE HAWK-MOTH, _male_; 5 _female_.

{53} THE BROAD-BORDERED BEE HAWK-MOTH (_Hemaris fuciformis_).

We have but two kinds of Bee Hawk-moths in our islands, and the present species (Plate 21, Figs. 2, 3) is easily recognized by the broad reddish brown borders of the wings and especially those on the front pair, which also have a black bar at the end of the cell. When freshly emerged the wings are not clear and transparent, but covered with greenish-grey scales, which are so loosely attached that they are lost after the moth's first flight.

The egg is bright green, and is laid on the underside of a leaf of honeysuckle. When very young the caterpillar is yellowish white, but when full grown (Plate 20, Fig. 2) it is whitish green on the back, green on the sides, and reddish brown beneath. Along the middle of the back there is a darker, much interrupted, green line and a yellow line on each side of it; the spiracles are reddish, the head is dark green, and the horn reddish brown merging into violet at the base, and brown at the tip. Sometimes there are blotches of reddish brown on the sides. When quite mature and ready to assume the chrysalis stage the caterpillar changes in colour to purplish brown. At all times it is difficult to detect, as its colour and markings agree so well with the stems, stalks, and leaves of the food plant. If a leaf of honeysuckle having round holes on each side of the midrib be noticed, examination of the underside of that leaf may reveal a young caterpillar of this species. {54}

The common honeysuckle, or woodbine (_Lonicera periclymenum_) is the usual food, but in confinement the caterpillars will eat the foliage of the cultivated kinds of _Lonicera_, and, it is stated, even snowberry (_Symphoricarpus racemosus_). In rearing it will, however, be safer to supply them with the ordinary food wherever this is to be obtained. July and August are the months in which to look for them. The chrysalis is blackish brown, the skin is rather roughened, and the ring divisions are paler brown. It is protected by a silken cocoon, the interior of which is smooth, and the exterior coated with earth, etc.

From mid-May to mid-June in average years, the moth is on the wing. The blossoms of the rhododendron are its favourite attraction, and the best time to see it at these flowers is on a nice sunny morning between ten o'clock and midday. The flowers of the bugle (_Ajuga reptans_) growing in meadows, wood-ridings, on railway banks or hedgerows, are hardly less attractive, but these are less easily worked than the higher shrubs. The collector has simply to stand before the latter and await the arrival of the active Bee Hawks. Among other flowers that this moth has been observed to visit are those of its own food plant; ragged robins (_Lychnis flos-cuculi_), ground ivy (_Nepeta glechoma_), and also blue-bell and primrose.

The species is widely distributed and locally common throughout England, but its northern range does not extend apparently beyond Yorkshire. According to Kane it is absent from Ireland; and the reports of odd specimens from Scotland are probably erroneous. Its distribution abroad extends over Europe, except the most northern parts, a large portion of northern and central Asia, and southwards to North Africa.

Moses Harris, it may be mentioned, figured this moth in 1775 as "The Clear-winged Humming-bird Sphinx." {55}

THE NARROW-BORDERED BEE HAWK-MOTH (_Hemaris tityus_).

This moth (Plate 21, Figs. 4, 5) has long been known as "_bombyliformis_" and was so mentioned by Haworth in 1802, but for some years past there has been a growing tendency to discard the name altogether, and as most recent authors follow Kirby's identification of this species as the _tityus_ of Linnæus, that name is here adopted.

The chief characters separating this moth from the preceding are the narrow blackish borders of the wings and the absence of the black mark at the end of the cell of fore wings. It has been suggested that the female deposits its green oval eggs on the undersides of the leaves of devil's-bit scabious (_Scabiosa succisa_) whilst on the wing, but as she will lay freely in a box it is most probable that she settles on the plants when engaged in egg laying.

The caterpillar (Plate 20, Fig. 1) is green, roughened with white points, from which tiny hairs arise; the green colour varies in tint from whitish to bluish; the lines along each side of the back are yellowish, and often have purplish red spots, or patches, upon them; the spiracles are set in purplish red patches, and the roughened reddish-brown horn is finely pointed. The under side is traversed by a purplish-red stripe. There is some modification in the reddish markings, both as regards number and intensity; these are well developed in the specimen from the New Forest figured on Plate 20. The caterpillars may be found in June and July on the under sides of the lower leaves of the scabious, and as they eat holes in the leaves these marks should afford a clue to their whereabouts.

A few days before changing to a dark brown chrysalis, which is enclosed in a coarse and very loosely constructed cocoon, the caterpillar assumes a reddish colour.

This moth, which much resembles a large humble bee, is on {56} the wing from about the middle of May to the middle of June. It should be looked for in places where its food plant flourishes, such as rough fields adjoining woods, woodland glades, marshy heaths, fens, bogs, etc. It visits the blossoms of various low growing plants, among which the louseworts (_Pedicularis palustris_ and _P. sylvatica_) and the bugle (_Ajuga reptans_) are perhaps favourites. In some localities the blossoms of the rhododendron and of the bird's-foot trefoil (_Lotus corniculatus_) are very attractive. When seen hovering over the flowers it must be approached cautiously, as, although seemingly fully engrossed in the business in hand, it is quickly alarmed and its movements are rapid.

It occurs throughout the greater part of England and Wales and northwards to Sutherlandshire in Scotland. In Ireland it is abundant in many localities.

Distributed over Europe its range extends northwards to Lapland, southwards to north-west Africa, and eastward to Amurland.

PROMINENTS (_Notodontidæ_).

In the majority of our moths belonging to this family there is a tooth-like tuft of scales projecting from about the middle of the inner margin of the fore wings; these, when the moth is resting, are brought together and raised above the level of the closed wings (see Fig. 11, page 11). The antennæ of the male are bipectinated in most of the species, but those of _Odontosia_, _Lophopteryx_, and _Phalera_ are dentated and each tooth has a little tuft of short hair.

The moths are not often seen in the day time, but a few species are sometimes met with at rest on tree trunks, palings, etc. All fly at night and are pretty rapid on the wing; possibly if it were not for the fact that a bright light has a powerful attraction for them, the perfect insects would be rarely captured. {57} Specimens, when caught, except females which it may be well to keep for eggs, should be killed and pinned at once, as many kinds become very restless when imprisoned in a box and soon damage themselves. Females usually deposit their eggs freely, and in most cases the caterpillars are not difficult to rear when once they begin to feed. Sometimes it is not easy to induce them to commence this very necessary business. The caterpillars, except those of _Phalera_ and _Pygæra_, are without hairs on the body; those of the true Prominents generally have one, or more, hump on the back; in some kinds the anal prolegs or hind claspers, are small. When resting the hinder part of the caterpillar is more or less raised, several of them elevate the front portion also, and frequently the posture assumed is a most curious one.

The caterpillars of _Cerura_, _Dicranura_, and _Stauropus_ have the hind claspers transformed into tail-like appendages, which in the case of the Puss and Kittens take the form of a pair of slender tubes furnished with flagellæ, or whips, which can be protruded or withdrawn as occasion may require. These organs are presumably for defensive purposes, but are not always effective in combating the attack of parasitical flies, as these evidently manage to deposit their egg on the caterpillars not infrequently.

The pupa, or chrysalis, of some kinds is enclosed in a hard cocoon on tree trunks, and others in a soft cocoon generally underground; sometimes, however, the cocoon is spun up between leaves; occasionally, as for example that of the Buff-tip, the chrysalis is found in the ground without any protecting covering, although the cell in which it was formed may have been flimsily lined with silk.

Nearly one hundred species are referred to this family in Staudinger's "Catalogue of Palæarctic Lepidoptera," and of these twenty-five occur, or have been taken, in the British Isles, nearly all of which are accepted as indigenous. Two of the {58} three species not generally regarded as true natives have been found in the caterpillar state, and the third was reared from an egg obtained with others of the same kind in Norfolk.

THE ALDER KITTEN (_Cerura bicuspis_).

This moth (Plate 22, Fig. 3) differs from either of the two next following in being whiter, and in having both margins of the central band of the fore wings angled or bent inwards above the middle; this is markedly so on the outer side. The band itself is black, inclining to purplish rather than grey. Barrett mentions a specimen without central band or cloud towards tip.

According to Buckler, the caterpillar is yellow-green; head dark reddish-brown; at the back of the head commences a broad, reddish-brown blotch, which runs to a point on the back of the third segment, where is a slight elevation; on the fourth it recommences and becomes broader on each segment to the eighth, where it extends below and encloses the spiracles, thence it narrows to the tenth, continuing on the eleventh and twelfth as a broad stripe, and {59} widening on the thirteenth, where it again narrows to the tentacles; in the broad portion of this dorsal marking are faint indications of two or three orange spots; on each side it is broadly edged with pale yellow, and on the sixth, seventh, and eighth segments its margin is deeply indented. It feeds on alder and birch in July and August.

The cocoon is shown in its natural position on birch bark (Fig. 19). This was kindly lent to me for figuring by Mr. L. W. Newman, of Bexley, who also had another in which lichen as well as fragments of bark were worked into the surface, so that the cocoon was less in evidence than the one portrayed.

The moth emerges in May and June.

The first British specimen, a male, was found on alder near Preston, and was recorded by Doubleday in the _Zoologist_ for 1847. A second example was noted from the same locality in 1849. This district in Lancashire, and Tilgate Forest in Sussex, are the chief homes in the north and the south of England respectively; but one or more specimens have occurred in Cheshire, Herefordshire, Oxfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Devonshire, and more frequently in Staffordshire, Derbyshire, and Yorkshire. It does not seem to inhabit Scotland or Ireland, neither has it been recorded from Wales, so far as I can find, more than once.

The species is found in Germany, Switzerland, Eastern France, Belgium, Southern Sweden, Central Russia, Livonia, Finland, Ussuri, and a local race occurs in Amurland.

THE POPLAR KITTEN (_Cerura bifida_).

Fore wings grey, with a broad, dark grey central band, and a cloud of the same colour towards the tips of the wings; the band is inwardly margined by an almost straight black line, and outwardly by a curved line; the third line is double, and curved towards the costa, forming the inner edge of the grey cloud, the lower part is wavy. The first black line is inwardly, and {60} the second outwardly edged with ochreous, and preceding the first is a series of black dots.

The full-grown caterpillar, which is green, with a yellow-edged, purplish, irregular stripe on the back, is figured on Plate 23, together with a very young example, the purplish-black eggs as laid, and the red-brown chrysalis. The cocoon from which the chrysalis was extracted was spun up on a fairly stout twig of poplar, from which some of the bark had been torn; the cocoon was formed, as regards the upper part, on the bare twig, and this was covered with gnawed wood, instead of with bark fragments, as is the lower end. The moth is figured on Plate 22, and the early stages on Plate 23.

The moth emerges in June, sometimes in July, and may occasionally be found at rest on the trunks of poplars, on which the caterpillar feeds from July to September; also on adjacent walls or palings. The cocoons are made up on the surface or in the chinks of the bark, and may be searched for, all through the winter and early spring. It is curious to note how readily these are detected after the moth has escaped, and how difficult they are to see before that event. Usually there is but one brood in the year, but in the hot summer of 1906 a male specimen emerged from a few chrysalids that I had reared from eggs laid at the end of June of that year. On the other hand, the moth has been known to remain in the chrysalis for two winters.

The species is not uncommon in some parts of the London district, and seems to occur throughout England wherever poplars abound. It does not appear to have been found in Scotland, and is scarce in Ireland. Abroad it is found in Central Europe with a northern range to Finland, southwards to Italy and Greece, and eastwards to the Altai.

Pl. 22.
1. POPLAR KITTEN-MOTH, _male_; 2 _female_.
3. ALDER KITTEN-MOTH, _male_.
4. SALLOW KITTEN-MOTH, _male_; 5 _female_.

Pl. 23.
1, 1a, 1b. POPLAR KITTEN: _eggs, caterpillar and chrysalis_.
2, 2a. SALLOW KITTEN: _eggs and caterpillars_.

{61}

THE SALLOW KITTEN (_Cerura furcula_).

This moth differs from the last in its generally smaller size, but more especially in the shape of the black line forming the outer margin of the central band; this is always more or less angled or dentate towards the front margin of the wings, whereas, in the Poplar Kitten, this portion of the line forms a clean curve (Plate 22, Figs. 4, 5).

The eggs are black, rather glossy, and are generally deposited in pairs, but rarely more than three, and often only singly, on the upper surface of a leaf of sallow or willow. The caterpillar feeds from July to September, sometimes as early as the end of June, or as late as October. It is green, with a yellow tinge; the markings on the back are similar to these characters in the caterpillar of the preceding species, but, as will be seen by looking at the figures on Plate 23, they are not quite the same in outline. The figure of the young caterpillar on this plate was made soon after it left the egg, and the shell from which it emerged is also depicted. Sallow and willow are the usual food plants, but in August, 1906, I found a half-grown caterpillar of this species on aspen, but it died a few days afterwards. The reddish-brown chrysalis is enclosed in the usual hard cocoon of its kind, which is affixed to a branch or the trunk of the tree upon which the caterpillar fed. A depression is usually selected, and when the cocoon is finished off with its covering of bark fragments it is difficult to see.

The species is well distributed over England, Ireland, and Scotland; perhaps more frequently obtained on the mosses of Cheshire, Lancashire, and Yorkshire, than in other parts of England. It is found in Central and Northern Europe, and, according to Staudinger, in Amurland and North America. {62}

THE PUSS MOTH (_Dicranura vinula_).

Portraits of both sexes of this rather common moth are given on Plate 24. The head, thorax, and body are very fluffy. The whitish fore wings are crossed by several wave-like lines; the main veins (_nervures_) are ochreous, and the branches (_nervules_) are blackish; beyond the more or less clear basal area there is often a broad but irregular blackish band, and the wavy markings on the outer area vary in intensity (sometimes the short streaks between the veins terminate on the outer margin in black dots). Hind wings whitish in the male, and suffused with blackish in the female, to a greater or lesser extent. In some examples of the female the fore wings and the body are also tinged with blackish. The antennæ are bipectinated in both sexes, but those of the female have the teeth much shorter than those of the male.

The eggs are usually laid in pairs on the upper surface of a leaf of sallow, willow, or poplar. In colour these are purplish or reddish brown, shining, and finely grained; a minute depression at the top is yellowish, with a black speck at the bottom of the hollow.

In its last stage the caterpillar is green, with a white or yellowish-edged purplish brown band on the back; the head is light brown margined with black and purplish behind, and the ring immediately following (first thoracic) is green margined with yellow and having two black spots on the upper part. When the creature assumes the position which Professor Poulton terms the terrifying attitude, the front part is elevated, the head is drawn back into the ring next to it, and the tails are raised and curved forward over the back (see Plate 25). Seen thus from the front the appearance of the caterpillar is certainly grotesque, and no doubt affords it some protection from its enemies. It feeds on poplars, sallows, and willows, usually in July and August, but sometimes as late as September. {63}

CATERPILLAR OF PUSS MOTH.]

The reddish brown chrysalis is enclosed in a hard cocoon spun up and securely attached to the trunk or under a limb of the tree upon which the caterpillar was nourished, or upon some other adjacent thereto. I once found a cocoon on the lower rail of a garden fence. In constructing the cocoon fragments of bark and wood are worked on the exterior, but failing these the caterpillar will make use of any available material for the purpose. If enclosed in a tumbler covered with glass it will spin a transparent cocoon. Emergence from its strong pupal chamber would appear to be a difficult matter, but the caterpillar and the chrysalis both contribute something towards assisting the final efforts of the moth to escape. The caterpillar, in constructing the cocoon, is careful to make the exit end with a thinner layer than the other parts; then the chrysalis is provided with a cutting implement in the shape of a keel-like arrangement on the fore part, and with this it operates at the right time on the weak end until a breach is made; the moth breaks the head end of the chrysalis case and moistens {64} the ruptured material with a softening fluid so that the insect is able to force its way out of the cocoon; the chrysalis case remains in the cocoon.

The moth is on the wing in May and June, and sometimes July. Three specimens that I reared this year (1907) from eggs found on a leaf of poplar last year, emerged on June 4th, 10th, and July 12th. They all pupated about the same time, and side by side on cork bark.

I believe this species has not been recorded from the Orkneys or the Shetlands, but with these exceptions it seems to occur in more or less frequency throughout the United Kingdom. It is widely distributed in Europe, and its range extends to Siberia. In Lapland, Amurland, Japan, and North Africa it is represented by named forms.

THE LOBSTER (_Stauropus fagi_).

The English name of this insect does not apply to the greyish brown or sometimes blackish moth (Plate 26), but to its remarkable caterpillar, the figures of which, on Plate 27, are reproduced from drawings by Mr. Alfred Sich. In colour this curious-shaped creature is always some shade of brown, the head is marked in front with reddish, the ring divisions of the body are darker brown, and the hind rings are reddish brown.

The late Mr. W. H. Tugwell, referring to the early history of these caterpillars, states that a female of the blackish form received from Reading in May was kept alive for seven days, during which time she laid a few eggs on oak leaves each night; "all told" she produced forty eggs. As she was then quite exhausted, a good many had probably been laid previously. The eggs when first laid are of a pale cream colour, hemispherical in shape and flattened beneath. About the seventh day a circular depression, and a dark spot, appear, and gradually the entire egg assumes a dull purplish colour. "On the tenth day the caterpillars hatch out. When they first leave the shell they appear extremely large, this is partly on account of the long legs and the caudal appendages which are ever nervously twisting about. The young caterpillars most carefully keep guard over their own egg-shell, which is to them an all-important item, as this provides them with their first meal--the first and only food they take for seven days, in fact, for a longer period, as it is not until after moulting their first skin that they eat any other food. This fact I proved over and over again, as, being an invalid, my time was quite free to watch them hour after hour and day after day. As soon as they have eaten their way out of the shell they stretch themselves, and then from time to time nibble portions of the white chitinous-looking egg-shell, and a tough morsel it seems to be for them; but they never leave it for more than an inch or so, and then rapidly come back. They keep nervously moving around and about this, and if perchance another caterpillar should approach within touch of it, a vigorous attack is made to drive off the intruder. All going well during the first hour or two, the whole of the shell, or sometimes not more than from half to two-thirds of it is consumed; and once the caterpillars really leave the egg-shell, that is, walk away from it, they do not touch it after. If by any chance a young caterpillar gets driven away from the egg-shell, death is certain to result, as I could never induce them to feed on portions of empty shells left by others; nor would they eat the leaves or the brown stipules of the beech, which it has been suggested they do eat. In no single instance did they eat other food in their first skin save and alone the one meal of their own egg-shells."

Pl. 24.
PUSS MOTH.

Pl. 25.
PUSS MOTH.
_Egg, natural size and enlarged; caterpillars, chrysalis and cocoon._

{65} The caterpillars feed on beech, and also occasionally on birch, oak, hazel, and some fruit trees, and may be found from July to September.

The chrysalis, which is enclosed in a tightly woven cocoon {66} spun up between leaves, usually dead ones, is blackish brown with a violet bloom upon it.

The moths are on the wing in May and June in an early season, but not until June and July in a backward one. They may be sometimes found resting by day on the stems of small trees or even bushes. "In fact, anything," Mr. Holland says, "which stands upright in a beech wood will do, so that it is not too large." The blackish form of the moth is so like a knot on a stem that it is easily overlooked. There is sometimes a second emergence in August. Possibly those caterpillars found during the latter part of September in some favourable years are from eggs deposited by moths emerging in early August, and the offspring of May parents.

The species is widely distributed, but not often common, over the Midland, Southern, and Eastern Counties of England. It seems to flourish chiefly in beech woods, and is perhaps more frequent in parts of Berkshire, Bucks, and Oxfordshire, than elsewhere, but it is not uncommon in some seasons in the New Forest. It has been reported from Swansea in Wales, and once from Selby, Yorkshire. In Ireland it is exceedingly rare, and is not known to occur in Scotland. The range abroad extends through Central Europe, northward to Sweden, southward to Spain and Portugal, and eastward to Armenia, Ussuri, and Japan.

THE DUSKY MARBLED BROWN (_Gluphisia crenata_).

Only three authenticated British examples are known of this dingy grey-brown moth (Plate 28, Fig. 3). The earliest intimation we have of the occurrence of this species in England is the following record by the late Mr. Henry Doubleday in the _Entomologist_, vol. i. p. 156: "_Chaonia crenata._ The first British specimen of this insect was taken in Ongar Park Wood, in June, 1839; a second in the same place, in June of the present year. Both specimens were females." The locality mentioned in the foregoing notice which was penned July 10th, 1841, is in the County of Essex. At a meeting of the Entomological Society of London held in April, 1854, the Rev. Joseph Greene exhibited a specimen that he had reared from a caterpillar obtained from a poplar near Halton, in Bucks, August, 1853.

Pl. 26.
LOBSTER MOTH.

Pl. 27.
LOBSTER MOTH.
_Egg, enlarged, caterpillars, chrysalis and cocoon._

{67} According to Buckler the caterpillar is pale green, with a thin whitish line down the middle of the back, a broader yellow line on each side, and some reddish spots on the front and hind rings of the body; the spiracles are black. It spins a somewhat oval-shaped cocoon between two poplar leaves, and therein turns to a glossy blackish brown chrysalis.

Abroad the species is found in Central Europe, North Italy, North-western Russia, Southern Norway, and also in Amurland and Ussuri. There are said to be two broods on the continent, one emergence of moths taking place in April and the other in June or July.

THE MARBLED BROWN (_Drymonia trimacula_).

Somewhat similar to the next species, but the fore wings are generally whiter; the cross lines are not so straight, and there is no black crescent above the centre of the wings (Plate 28, Fig. 1).

The caterpillar is green, with two yellow lines on the back, and a yellow one along the spiracles, the latter edged above with reddish. It feeds on oak, and may be found from July to September; stated to hide by day in the chinks of the bark. The reddish brown chrysalis is enclosed in a cocoon of earth held together with silk. It may be searched for at the roots of grass, etc., around the foot of oak trees growing in parks or in the more open parts of woods. The moth appears in May.

Although nowhere really common, it seems to occur pretty generally over the southern portion of England, and as far north {68} as Derbyshire and Staffordshire. Farther north, and in Wales and Scotland, it has been rarely met with. Recorded by Birchall to be not uncommon at Killarney; but Kane states that he has never seen an Irish specimen.

The species occurs locally throughout Central Europe, also in Transylvania, Northern and Central Italy, and Eastern Armenia. In Ussuri, and Japan, it is represented by the form _dodonides_, Staud.

THE LUNAR MARBLED BROWN (_Drymonia chaonia_).

The fore wings of this moth (Plate 28, Fig. 2) are dark fuscous, almost blackish, a short white line near the base; the central third is white clouded with the ground colour and limited by white edged black wavy lines; a black crescent just above the centre of the wing. Hind wings smoky grey with a pale curved line. The egg, which is bluish white in colour, is of the usual Notodont shape. Caterpillar green, merging into bluish-green on the back; the lines are pale yellow, or creamy white, that along the black margined spiracles is rather broad and is sometimes tinged with reddish on the three front rings. Head green, mouth marked with pale yellow. Feeds in June, July, and August on oak. From about a dozen eggs that I had in May, 1907, the caterpillars hatched on the 13th of the month. Only one got through safely to the chrysalis stage which it reached at the end of June. On June 26th some half-grown and smaller caterpillars were received from the New Forest, only one of these was seen on July 19th, but it was then nearly full grown and appeared to be quite healthy, and others had pupated or died.

The chrysalis is deep red brown, enclosed in a silken cocoon covered with particles of earth; generally found at the roots of isolated oak trees (Plate 29, Figs. 1, 1a).

Pl. 28.
1. MARBLED BROWN MOTH.
2. LUNAR MARBLED BROWN.
3. DUSKY MARBLED BROWN.
4. SWALLOW PROMINENT, _female_; 5 _male_.
6. LESSER SWALLOW PROMINENT.

Pl. 29.
1, 1a. LUNAR MARBLED BROWN: _caterpillar and chrysalis_.
2, 2a, 2b. SWALLOW PROMINENT: _egg, caterpillar and chrysalis_.
3, 3a, 3b. LESSER SWALLOW PROMINENT: _egg, caterpillar and chrysalis_.

{69} The moth emerges in May, sometimes at the end of April, generally in the afternoon; it sits on the tree trunk to expand and dry its wings, and then ascends higher up the tree. It is found in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and in most of the southern counties of England, and in the west, but it seems to be rarer eastward and northward, and also in Scotland. In Ireland it has been found, very sparingly, in Wicklow and Kerry, and "numbers were taken in a moth trap at Clonbrook."

The range abroad is very similar to that of the next species.

THE SWALLOW PROMINENT (_Pheosia tremula_).

Normally whitish, with a brown shaded black stripe along the inner margin of the fore wings, and a brownish cloud, with black streaks in it, towards the tips of these wings; the outer extremities of the veins are white, there is a white wedge-shaped streak between veins 1 and 2, and from the apex of this an indented white line runs to the base of the wing. Sometimes the whole discal area is suffused with brownish. The moth is shown on Plate 28, Figs. 4, 5, and the early stages on Plate 29, Figs. 2, 2a, and 2b. The egg when laid is creamy white, and the newly hatched caterpillar is pale green. When full grown the caterpillar is green with rather darker, but not always clearly defined, lines along the back, and a yellow line along the region of the black spiracles; the underside is sometimes reddish. Another form is brownish in colour and the yellow line is then generally obscure. The green form is figured on Plate 29. The usual food is poplar, but sallow is also eaten. It may be found in late June and early July and again in September and October. The chrysalis is reddish brown and glossy except on the wing covers, which are granulated and appear darker. The cocoon is roughly constructed of silk and earth, and before spinning it the autumnal caterpillar sometimes burrows a good depth under the surface of the soil; the summer cocoons are said to be made up among leaves. The moth is on the wing in May and August. {70}

The species is perhaps most common in the southern and eastern counties of England, but seems to be pretty generally distributed throughout the country, and extends into Scotland as far as Moray. In Ireland it has a wide range but is only common near Londonderry. Abroad it is found in Central and Northern Europe, and as far east as Amurland and Ussuri. In America it is represented by _P. dimidiata_, H.-S., which does not seem to be really specifically distinct.

THE LESSER SWALLOW PROMINENT (_Pheosia dictæoides_).

Very similar to the last species, but generally smaller, and the ground colour has usually less brown in it; the chief character, however, by which it may be distinguished, is the broader and clearer white wedge-shaped mark between veins one and two on the fore wings. Reference to the figures of each species on Plate 28 will show this at once.

The eggs are greenish white, and the full-grown caterpillar is purplish brown on the back merging into violet on the sides; there is a broad yellow stripe along the spiracle area; the head is violet, faintly marked with black. A noticeable feature of this caterpillar is its varnished appearance. It feeds on birch in June and July, and sometimes in September and October. The early stages are figured on Plate 29, Figs. 3, 3a, and 3b.

The species has a somewhat similar distribution to that mentioned for the preceding, but it seems to be commoner in the North of England and in Scotland than elsewhere in the British Isles.

THE PEBBLE PROMINENT (_Notodonta ziczac_).

This moth varies in the colour of the fore wings from pale ochreous brown to a darker brown tinged with reddish; the usual pale greyish patch in the middle of the costal area is {71} sometimes obliterated by a suffusion of the darker colour; the dark-brown first and second lines are often only visible towards the front edge of the wings; a blackish lunule or crescent forms, in conjunction with the strongly curved outer line, the outline of the characteristic pebble-like mark on the apical area of the wings; a pale saw-edged line, which is inwardly shaded with dusky and intersected by black streaks on the veins, traverses the pebble mark, but in the lighter coloured specimens this line is not traceable. The female has browner hind wings than the male. The moth is depicted on Plate 31, Fig. 2; and the early stages on Plate 30, Figs. 1, 1a, and 1b.

The caterpillar, when full grown, is pale ochreous grey, sometimes tinged with pink or purplish brown, or with yellowish, and especially on the hind rings; a yellow stripe along the back is edged here and there with brownish; the diffuse dusky line along the area of the black margined spiracles is edged with yellowish. It is occasionally found on poplar, but sallows and willow are the more usual food plants, and it feeds upon these in June and July and again in August and September. The reddish brown chrysalis is enclosed in an earthen cocoon just under the surface of the ground at the roots of tree or bush upon which the caterpillar fed. The moth emerges in May and June from chrysalides of the previous year, and in August as a second generation. Three broods in the year have been obtained in confinement, but this is probably exceptional.

Widely distributed throughout the British Isles, but seems to have a preference for fens and marshy ground. It occurs all over Central and Northern Europe, its range extends through France to Spain, Italy, and Corsica, and it has been recorded from Armenia and Amurland. {72}

THE IRON PROMINENT (_Notodonta dromedarius_).