Chapter VII: Part II: Descriptions of Species (4)

The hairy caterpillar is green or yellow, the former mottled with whitish and the latter with greenish; on rings 4 to 7 are thick brushes of yellow hairs, and on ring 11 there is a tuft of reddish hair; the back is marked with black between the brushes, and there are black spots on the sides of the hind rings. Sometimes the caterpillar is light or dark brownish and the brushes are then greyish, or tinged with pale reddish or blackish. Altogether it is a pretty creature, and as it is, or was previous to the modern "washing," common in hop gardens at picking time, it was christened the "hop dog." It may be found from July to September on the foliage of birch, hazel, oak, and many other trees, as well as on hop. The moth appears in May and June, and rests by day on herbage, especially on bracken in woods (see Fig. 6, p. 7); at night it comes readily to light, but specimens so obtained are generally of the female sex.

Pl. 42.
1, 1a. YELLOW-TAIL: _caterpillars_.
2. BROWN-TAIL: _caterpillar_.
3, 3a. DARK TUSSOCK: _caterpillar and chrysalis_.

Pl. 43.
1. BROWN-TAIL MOTH, _male_; 2 _female_.
3. YELLOW-TAIL MOTH, _female_; 4, 5 _males_.
6. WHITE SATIN MOTH, _female_.

{99} It is most at home in the southern portion, but occurs throughout England and Wales, to Cumberland. Only doubtfully recorded from Scotland, but in Ireland it has occurred in Galway, Kerry, Waterford, Cork, and Wicklow.

Distribution: Central and Northern Europe eastward to North-east China and Japan.

THE BROWN-TAIL (_Euproctis chrysorrhoea_).

Although sometimes found in the East and West of England, and even in Yorkshire and Durham, this appears to be essentially a coast species in Britain, and confined at that to Kent and Sussex, the former especially. Even in these favoured localities where it is usually abundant, it is, however, not always in evidence. The moths sit about at the end of July and early August on leaves of hawthorn, sloe, sea-buckthorn (_Hippophaë rhamnoides_), and wild rose, generally on the underside. Near the females will be found batches of eggs, which are covered with "fur" from the anal tuft of the female. The caterpillars hatch out in August, and while still very small go into hibernation in a common nest. In the spring, when active again, they construct a new habitation, and another or perhaps two more before they are full grown, about June. The chrysalis is very dark, almost blackish-brown, with tufts of hair, and the fairly substantial brownish cocoon in which it is enclosed {100} is composed of silk and caterpillar hairs, and is spun up on the food-plant, often singly, but not infrequently, several are made up in a common silken covering.

The caterpillar is blackish with brownish warts, each bearing a tuft of brownish hairs; a row of tufts of white downy scales on each side of the back of rings four to eleven; the central line on the back is black, edged on each side by a red line of variable width from rings six to ten; a vermillion round spot on nine and ten. Head blackish.

The moth is shown on Plates 43, 45, and the caterpillar on Plate 42, Fig. 1.

Distribution, Central and South Europe to North-west Africa and Asia Minor.

In 1897 an appeal was made to British entomologists to refrain from taking many specimens of this species; while American entomologists were seeking power to compel local authorities to suppress the Brown-tail, which about that time was a new, and no doubt introduced, insect pest in the State of Massachusetts.

THE YELLOW-TAIL (_Porthesia similis_).

The male has usually only one black mark on the fore wings, but sometimes there are two, as seen in Fig. 5, Plate 43; more rarely there is a dot or two towards the tips of the wings. The habit of the moth is to sit upon the foliage of bushes and the branches of trees, where it might easily be passed over for a fluffy white feather; occasionally it may be found on palings or even iron railings. About dark it is on the wing, and light has then a great attraction for it. The caterpillar is black with black and grey hairs; a vermillion stripe down the middle of the back has a black central line, and is expanded on rings four, eleven, and twelve; along each side there are tufts of snowy white fluffy scales; the back of rings four, {101} five, and eleven is velvety black and slightly raised, especially on ring four. Head black and glossy.

The caterpillars hatch from the eggs, which are laid in batches, in August, hibernate, each in a silken case, and recommence feeding in the spring (Plate 42, Figs. 1, 1a). In May, when nearly full grown, they separate and are then common objects on hawthorn hedges in many districts. They also feed on the foliage of oak, beech, birch, sallow, rose, apple, pear, and other fruit trees. Sometimes a nearly fully mature caterpillar has been found in August, this has pupated and produced a moth the same year. The chrysalis is rather hairy and of a brownish colour; the cocoon is similar to that of the last species. In late June and through July the moth is generally common throughout the Southern part of England, and as far northwards as Lancashire and Yorkshire. It has been very rarely seen in Scotland, and not at all in Ireland.

Distribution, Central and South-eastern Europe, extending to Amurland, China, Corea, and Japan.

THE REED TUSSOCK (_Lælia coenosa_).

This insect (Plate 45) was formerly abundant in some parts of fenland, and was first met with, as a British species, at Whittlesea Mere about 1819 or 1820. It was subsequently found in Yaxley and Burwell fens. Up to 1860 it continued to occur freely in all stages, but by 1865 larvæ at a shilling per dozen, the price at which they had been sold by the reed cutters, were no longer obtainable, and they became so scarce that in the year 1871 or thereabouts, only two caterpillars were seen. The species was at that time seemingly on the decline, but a year or two later a good many males were attracted by the rays of a powerful lamp that had been set up at Wicken. Then the moths became fewer and fewer {102} until at last, somewhere about 1880, even the lamps would not draw a single specimen, and soon it appeared probable that the last of the Reed Tussock had been seen in the fens, its only known habitat in Britain.

Caterpillar, dusky with a blackish stripe along the middle of the back; the raised dots are ochreous grey with pale yellowish brown hairs arising from them; there are four brushes of yellow hairs on the back, bunches of long hairs on the first ring extended over the brownish head, and a pencil of similar hairs on ring eleven directed backward. The food plants given are bur-reed (_Sparganium_), Stephens; _Cladium mariscus_, Barrett, and reed (_Phragmites communis_). Stephens states that the caterpillar and the moth were found at the end of July and beginning of August, but other authorities give August to June for the caterpillar, and July for the moth. The caterpillar described above, and of which a figure is given on Plate 44, was obtained, together with eggs and cocoon, from Dr. Staudinger and Bang Haas, of Dresden. All are preserved examples.

Abroad this species is found in Northern Germany and France, Hungary, Bulgaria, Amurland, China, Corea, and Japan.

THE WHITE SATIN MOTH (_Stilpnotia salicis_).

The English name of this species dates back to about 1773, and is a very suitable one for it, the fore wings being especially glossy and satin-like. It seems to be less generally distributed over the country than formerly, but it is still common in most years, and in many places; more particularly in the south of England, and on the Lancashire coast. Even yet it occurs in the suburbs of London, and on the southern side is sometimes not uncommon. In Scotland it appears to be rare; Barrett mentions it from Aberdeen, Pitcaple, Inverurie, Peterhead, and Ayrshire. Kane states that in Ireland the species, so far as he knew, only occurred in a locality near Ahascragh.

Pl. 44.
1, 1a, 1b. REED TUSSOCK: _egg, caterpillar and cocoon_.
2, 2a. WHITE SATIN: _caterpillar and chrysalis_.

Pl. 45.
1. REED TUSSOCK MOTH, _male_; 2 _female_.
3, 4. BROWN-TAIL _varieties_.

{103}

The caterpillar, which is hairy and variegated with reddish and black and white, may be recognised by the large bright white marks on the back. It is often seen in the daytime on the boles or branches of poplars, as well as on the foliage. It frequently falls a victim to the parasitical flies, and it is probably due to these enemies that the species is less common in some years than in others. Besides poplar, it will feed upon sallow and willow. Hibernating when quite tiny, it reappears in April, and, feeding up, is ready to enter the chrysalis state in June or July, when it spins a flimsy silken cocoon among the leaves, or in some suitable cranny on the tree or bush. The moth is shown on Plate 43, Fig. 6, and the caterpillar and chrysalis on Plate 44, Fig. 2, 2a.

The moth emerges in July or August, and may be found resting on or under the leaves, and on stems and branches of the trees upon which the caterpillar fed, or on palings, etc., adjacent thereto.

Distribution, Northern and Central Europe, Iberia, Corsica, Italy, Balkan Peninsula, South-east Russia, North-east Asia Minor, and Armenia. In the Far East, including China, Corea, and Japan, it is represented by the var. _candida_, Staud.

THE GIPSY (_Lymantria dispar_).

Up to some sixty-five years ago, this species (Plate 46, Figs. 1 [male], 2 [female]) seems to have flourished in a wild state in the fens of Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, and also in Huntingdonshire. Just how long it had been common in those localities history does not inform us, but about 1792 Donovan was unable to obtain a native specimen to figure. Stephens, however, writing in 1828 states that at that time it abounded in the Huntingdonshire fens. "It is said," he remarks "to have been introduced into Britain by eggs imported by Mr. Collinson, but the abundance with which it occurs near {104} Whittlesea, and the dissimilarity of the indigenous specimens (which are invariably paler, with stronger markings) to the foreigner, sufficiently refute that opinion." There appears to be no doubt that some time near 1840 the Gipsy moth began to decrease in numbers, and that about 1850 it had almost or quite ceased to exist, as a wildling, in England. At the present time, and probably since the date last mentioned, the species has been semi-domesticated, and so reared year by year, at first possibly direct from the original wild stock, but afterwards from fresh stock derived from eggs of foreign origin. Futile attempts have been made to re-establish the species in various parts of England, and also in Ireland. Such failure is curious, seeing that in America the accidental introduction of a few moths has resulted in the species becoming so numerous that at least one state has been expending thousands of dollars in endeavouring to destroy it. The eggs are laid in batches and covered with the down-like scales from the anal tuft of the female.

The caterpillar hatches in April, and in warm weather feeds up pretty quickly. It is grey, covered with black dots and fine marks; the hairs arising in spreading tufts from the raised warts, are longer on the sides than on the back; these warts on the back on each side of the pale central line are bluish on rings one to five, and reddish thence to eleven. Head, pale brown marked with black. Feeds on the foliage of most fruit trees, also on oak, elm, sallow, hawthorn, and sloe.

Chrysalis rather hairy, brownish in colour, in a fairly strong silken cocoon, which is spun up in any suitable angle.

The moths appear in August, and there is a striking difference in the size and coloration of the sexes. The male is pale or greyish brown, lined and clouded with darker brown on the fore wings, and the female is whitish with brownish cross lines, and a black central V-mark on the fore wings.

Distributed over the whole of the Palæarctic Region, except {105} the most northern, and, as adverted to, it has now become a pest in parts of North America.

THE BLACK ARCHES (_Lymantria monacha_).

Two examples of each sex of this moth are figured on Plate 46, and these show the normal form of the species; the central markings of the fore wings vary in width and intensity, and in some specimens the whole of the central area is more or less filled up with black or sooty black. Sometimes the wings are partially suffused with blackish, and the normal markings are consequently somewhat obscured. Examples wholly suffused with black are referable to var. _eremita_, a form not uncommon on the continent, and modifications of it are found in a wild state in this country. By selecting parents showing a tendency to vary in the direction of this dark form, it has been found possible to obtain a good percentage of darkened specimens, some of them closely approximating to var. _eremita_.

The early stages are figured on Plate 47.

The eggs of this species are laid in August in the chinks of bark on tree trunks, and do not hatch until the spring.

Caterpillar, whitish varying to greyish, a deep brown stripe along the middle of the back with an irregular black line on each side of it; the stripe is interrupted by a whitish or greyish patch on rings seven to nine; on ring two there is a black mark, and occasionally red dots appear on eight and nine; black dots on the back and sides are furnished with hairs. Head, brownish marked with a paler tint. It feeds from April to July on the leaves of oak and various other trees, including apple and pine.

The chrysalis, which is enclosed in a somewhat transparent silken cocoon spun up in a fissure of the bark, is brownish, hairy, and has a very glossy metallic appearance.

The moth emerges at the end of July and in August. It flies {106} at night, and may be seen resting by day on the trunks of trees. Although it occurs in most of the counties of England from Yorkshire southwards, and in some parts of Wales, it is nowhere so often met with as in the New Forest, Hants.

Distribution, Central Europe extending to parts of Northern Europe, and southwards to North Italy and Greece, and eastwards to Ussuri and Japan.

LACKEYS AND EGGARS (_Lasiocampidæ_).

Staudinger in his catalogue of Palæarctic Lepidoptera refers twenty genera comprising sixty-three species to this family. Of these, eleven species belonging to ten genera occur in the British Isles. According to some authorities a twelfth species, _Dendrolimus pini_, Linn., should be included. This is the _Eutricha pini_ of Stephens (1828) and the "Wild Pine tree Lappet moth" and "Pine tree Lappet" of the more ancient authors. The claim of this species to a place in the British list rests chiefly on a specimen captured in the Norwich Hospital, in July, 1809, by Mr. Sparshall. Wilkes (1773) states that he once found a caterpillar near Richmond Park, but the moth was not reared. For generations the species now classified as Lasiocampidæ have been referred to Bombycidæ, but the silkworm (_Bombyx mori_) is typical of that family, which has but few genera in it, and none of them occur in Europe. Although some of the moths are of considerable size, most of them are not large. The general colour is some shade of brown. Both sexes have the antennæ bipectinated, but more strongly in the male than the female.

In his treatment of the species here included under Lasiocampidæ, Tutt. ("A Natural History of the British Lepidoptera," vols. i., ii.) separates them into two families, Lachneidæ and Eutrichidæ. The first family is divided into five sub-families and the same number of tribes. The latter family has three sub-families and three tribes. The whole are embraced in a super-family styled Lachneides. Lasiocampidæ disappears as a family name, but the genus _Lasiocampa_ is retained for _quercus_, L., whilst _trifolii_, Schiff., is referred to the genus _Pachygastria_, Hb., and these with _Aurivillia_, Tutt, not represented in Britain, constitute the Pachygastriidi tribe of the Pachygastriinæ, a sub-family of Lachneidæ. All this will no doubt appear very complicated to the beginner, but he need not worry himself very greatly about the matter at present. When he feels that he has a fair knowledge of the species in the group he will be in a position to grapple with the niceties of classification.

Pl. 46.
1. GIPSY MOTH, _male_; 2 _female_.
3, 4. BLACK ARCHES, _males_; 5, 6 _females_.

Pl. 47.
BLACK ARCHES MOTH.
_Eggs, natural size and enlarged; caterpillars and chrysalids._

{107} THE LACKEY (_Malacosoma neustria_).

The colour of the male ranges from pale yellow ochre, through pale brown to reddish or dark brown; and in the female from pale brown to reddish brown; two cross lines are generally present on the fore wings; the space between the lines is usually darker in the female, and sometimes in the male also, forming a dark central band. All these colour forms were reared from some caterpillars taken by myself at Byfleet, Surrey, in 1901. Another year a few caterpillars taken at Esher produced ochreous coloured males and pale brown females only; the bands of the latter were narrower than usual and much contracted below the middle. As the females last mentioned are somewhat under the normal size I am inclined to think that the caterpillars from which they were reared had been on short commons during their last stage. Two males and a female are shown on Plate 48.

The greyish brown eggs are laid during July and August in a ring cluster around a twig as shown on Plate 49, and so they remain exposed to all weathers during the winter. In April the caterpillars hatch out, and as they live in company throughout the greater part of their larval existence, the first business is to {108} construct a silken tent-like web (Fig. 22). The exterior of the tent affords a suitable surface upon which they can lie when they take a sun bath, which they seem fond of doing whenever the opportunity offers. It is also used, as well as the interior, for the process of skin-changing.

The full-grown caterpillar is slaty blue above; along the middle of the back is a bluish white line, bordered on each side by a reddish-orange-lined black stripe; towards the lower limit of the slaty blue colour is a black edged reddish-orange line, and below this again the ground colour is flecked with orange, sometimes forming a line in the region of the spiracles; there are two velvety black spots on the back of the ring nearest the head, and a smaller black spot on each side of the next two rings; the hairs are brownish, rather more numerous on the sides than on the back. Head slaty-blue with two black eye-like spots. It feeds from April to June on hawthorn, sloe, and various fruit trees in orchards and gardens; also on birch, elm, oak, sallow, willow, etc.

Chrysalis blackish, rather downy enclosed in a double {109} oval-shaped cocoon; the inner compartment is of rather closer woven silk, and is thickly covered with a yellowish substance, which is ejected by the caterpillar as a fluid, and afterwards drying forms a sulphur-like powder on the cocoon, and in a lesser degree on the chrysalis also. The moth is on the wing in July and August, but it is rarely seen in the daytime, and not often at night, except when attracted by light into the house, or to the gas or electric lamps. It is exceedingly easy to rear, either from eggs or from collected caterpillars; the latter are often abundant.

Generally distributed throughout England, but becoming scarcer from the Midlands to Lancashire and Yorkshire, and not often occurring further north than the last named county. In Ireland it is unknown in the north, but occurs in many parts of the south and south-west.

THE GROUND LACKEY (_Malacosoma castrensis_).

This also is a variable species. Most frequently the fore wings of the male are pale buff, cross lined, and more or less clouded with brown; hind wings brown. The female has all the wings reddish brown, the front pair being crossed by two pale buff lines. The fringes are pale buff, chequered with brown in both sexes. Colour and marking are, however, subject to considerable variation. Sometimes all the wings are pale buff (male), or reddish brown (both sexes), and the fore wings without marking. The cross lines on fore wings of the female may be either very slender or very broad; occasionally almost the whole of the basal area up to, and including, the first cross line is buff. Two examples of each sex are shown on Plate 48.

The eggs are laid in a similar manner to those of the last species, around stems of wild carrot, sea wormwood, and other {110} plants that flourish in the insects' favourite haunts, which, in this country, are the salt marshes along the estuaries of the Thames and Medway.

The caterpillar is black, inclining to bluish between the rings; along the back are four much broken reddish orange lines and a central bluish line; a bluish stripe followed by a reddish one along the sides, and below this the colour is bluish, speckled with black; the hairs are golden brown. Head blackish grey, without black spots (Plate 49, Fig. 3).

The chrysalis and its cocoon are similar to those of the Lackey, and spun up among herbage.

The moth emerges in July and August and, although it may be occasionally attracted by light, is rarely seen in the open. The caterpillars are to be found, most years, in plenty from May to July. They feed on almost every kind of plant growing on the salterns, and as they are fond of sunning themselves on sea wormwood, sea plantain, etc., are easily seen at such times. In dull weather they retire to their webs, which are generally rather low down in the herbage. In confinement they will do very well if supplied with fresh sprays or leaves of almost any fruit tree, or of birch, whitethorn, etc. The receptacle containing them should be constructed and placed so that the caterpillars get plenty of air and sunshine. It is considered desirable to sprinkle both food and caterpillars with water now and then; some rearers deem it necessary to put a tiny pinch of salt in the water used for sprinkling; and in my own experience I have found that better results were obtained when the food was thus treated than when the salt was omitted.

On the continent this species occurs in woods, and on heaths, etc., but in Britain it is seemingly confined to salt marshes. Although it has been recorded from the Suffolk coast, and other places, the best localities for it are probably the salterns, from Gravesend to the Isle of Sheppey, and at Southend and Shoeburyness.

Pl. 48.
1, 2, 3. LACKEY MOTH.
4, 5, 6, 7. GROUND LACKEY.

Pl. 49.
1, 1a, 1b, 1c. LACKEY: _eggs, caterpillar, chrysalis and cocoon_.
2, 2a. HYBRID BETWEEN LACKEY AND GROUND LACKEY: _eggs and
caterpillar_.
3. GROUND LACKEY: _caterpillar_.

{111}

_Malacosoma_ hybr. _schaufussi_, Standf.--In 1884 Dr. Standfuss made some experiments in crossing three species of _Malacosoma_, and one of these was the pairing of _M. neustria_ [male] with _M. castrensis_ [female]; the offspring he christened as above. Since that time others have succeeded in crossing the two species with varying results.

On August 13, 1906, Mr. Percy Richards sent me a small batch of eggs (Plate 49, Fig. 2a) laid by a female, _M. castrensis_, that emerged in a breeding cage, and had paired with a captured male, _M. neustria_, he introduced. The larvæ hatched out one or two at a time, from April 7 over a period of more than a fortnight. Few of the caterpillars would commence to feed, and of those that took to the plum and sallow with which they were supplied, only four reached maturity. Three of these pupated during late June and early July, and three moths, all females, have emerged up to date, one on July 28, another on August 6, and a third on August 13. The second specimen was very much crippled, probably owing to the cocoon having been accidentally injured. One caterpillar was still feeding on August 14, but died about the 26th.

The mature larva (Plate 49, Fig. 2) has the head and markings thereon like _neustria_, also the black spots on the first thoracic segment, but they are rather large and inclined to unite. The bluish line along the sides is dotted and freckled with black rather more thickly than in _castrensis_; the dorsal line is very thin, but bluish as in _castrensis_, and the red lines on each side of it are broad.

In colour the three moths are deeper brown than any form of either parent species that I have seen, but the transverse lines, and especially the outer, are most like those of _neustria_.

It should be mentioned that much information on Hybridism in the Lackey moths and other species will be found in Tutt's "British Lepidoptera," vol. ii. {112}

THE PALE OAK EGGAR (_Trichiura cratægi_).

In its typical form the male of this species (Plate 50, Figs. 1, 2) is ashy grey, with a darker central band on the fore wings; and the female is dusky greyish-brown, also with a darker band. The colour of the male varies in shade from almost whitish (var. _pallida_, Tutt), to blackish grey; in the paler forms the central band of the fore wings is often of a purplish tint, and in the darkest forms the band is almost black. The female var. _pallida_, is pale buff.

The eggs, which are brownish, inclining to reddish on the micropylar area, are covered with dark grey hairs from the body of the female and laid side by side in a chain-like arrangement on a twig of hawthorn or sloe (those figured on Plate 51 were deposited in a box, and not securely attached). From eight to twelve is said to be the usual number in a batch, and each female will deposit an average of 160 eggs.

The caterpillars do not hatch out all at the same time, but by ones and twos, at intervals spreading over a period of two, or perhaps three, weeks. Several forms of the caterpillar have been described, but the ground colour is generally more or less black above and greyish on the sides; the ornamentation comprises interrupted white or whitish stripes, streaked or clouded with reddish, and reddish warts; the hairs are reddish brown. The example figured on Plate 51 was from eggs laid by a female moth in Selkirk, South Scotland. From the age of three weeks until it became full grown it was black marked with yellow on the back and orange on the sides; hairs pale greyish mixed with black ones, especially on the back towards the black, glossy, and somewhat hairy head. It hatched on April 26, was reared on plum, pupated early in June, and the moth, a darkish grey female, emerged on July 31. Another caterpillar that hatched on May 1, and two others from still later hatchings, were then in chrysalis.

Pl. 50.
1. PALE OAK EGGAR, _male_; 2 _female_.
3. DECEMBER MOTH, _female_; 4 _male_.
5. SMALL EGGAR, _male_; 6 _female_.

Pl. 51.
PALE OAK EGGAR.
_Eggs enlarged, and caterpillar._

{113} The caterpillar may be found from April to June on hawthorn and sloe, and it is said also on birch, oak, sallow, apple, bramble, etc. Those that I have found resting by day on shoots of hawthorn, apparently enjoying the sunshine, have almost invariably been "ichneumoned"; but others that came up after sunset to feed on the shoots were generally healthy. Usually the caterpillar feeds up and pupates the same year, but on the moors in Aberdeenshire and some other parts of Scotland it is said to hibernate and to complete its life cycle the following summer and autumn. Furthermore, the moths from these winter larvæ are much darker than normal, and have been doubtfully referred to var. _ariæ_, Hübn., a form found in the Alps, Scandinavia, and Finland.

The moth is out in August and September, and occurs in wooded districts throughout the southern half of England, but northwards from the Midlands it is uncommon; it is found in several parts of Scotland to Inverness. In Ireland it is reported (Birchall) to have occurred in Killarney, and Kane mentions that "a blackish form was taken at Magilligan, near Derry, by W. Salvage. Its larvæ were feeding on blackthorn." The range abroad extends through Europe to Armenia and Asia Minor.

THE DECEMBER MOTH (_Poecilocampa populi_).

This is a rather thinly scaled moth; the general coloration is sooty brown; the wings are suffused more or less with greyish; there are two pale ochreous cross lines on the fore wings, the first enclosing a reddish brown basal patch; hind wings rather paler with a diffuse whitish central band; fringes brown chequered with pale ochreous. Head brown, collar brownish, tipped with pale ochreous in the male. The female is rather larger than the male. The moth is figured on Plate 50, and the eggs and caterpillar on Plate 53.

The eggs, which are laid on the bark of trees, are whitish grey, variegated or mottled with darker grey. {114}

The caterpillar hatches out in April, and when nearly full grown is ochreous, but so thickly dotted and freckled with black as to appear of a dark brown coloration; the back is clothed with dark short hairs, and the sides with long paler hairs; on the back of the first ring is a reddish brown mark divided by a white line; a double row of whitish dots along the back, most distinct on rings two and three, where they are placed on a velvety black bar; on each side of the white dots is a reddish brown interrupted line. Head ochreous brown, thickly dotted with black and clothed with pale hairs. Underparts ochreous, spotted and lined with blackish. Feeds on the foliage of most trees, and is said to eat lettuce. April to June.

Chrysalis glossy red brown, in a cocoon spun up among dead leaves, etc., under loose bark, or on the ground.

The moth does not emerge until October, and in that month, but more frequently in November and December, the males may be seen around gas lamps quite late at night.

Although found chiefly in woods it is not essentially a woodland species, as it occurs in districts where there are no woods but plenty of trees growing in parks, fields, or even hedgerows. It is fairly common generally throughout England and Wales, but becoming rather more local northwards to Cumberland. It occurs through Scotland to Sutherland, but is nowhere common. In Ireland it is widely distributed, and not uncommon near Dublin, and at Favour Royal, Tyrone. Abroad it ranges through Northern and Central Europe.

THE SMALL EGGAR (_Eriogaster lanestris_).

Also a brownish insect with somewhat thinly-scaled wings. The fore wings are light reddish brown with a whitish patch at the base, a white spot about the centre, and a whitish transverse line beyond; the hind wings are smoky brown and have a pale central band. The female, which is larger than the male, has a conspicuous greyish anal tuft, the hairs from which she uses to cover over her pale oily green eggs when they are deposited in clusters on twigs of hawthorn or sloe in February or March. Plate 50, Figs. 5, 6; Plate 53, Figs. 2, 2a.

Pl. 52.
OAK EGGAR MOTH.

Pl. 53.
1, 1a. DECEMBER MOTH: _eggs and caterpillar_.
2, 2a. SMALL EGGAR: _eggs and caterpillar_.

{115} The caterpillar is black or greyish black, with reddish brown hairs, and a series of black-edged yellowish brown, or reddish brown blotches on each side of the back; these blotches are outlined in pale yellowish and occasionally connected by a line of the same colour. From the time they are hatched until nearly mature the caterpillars live in companies on a closely woven web of silk on a branch of hawthorn or sloe, only leaving their habitation to feed. These webs may often be seen on hedgerows from May to July. The brown chrysalis is enclosed in a solid-looking oval cocoon of a pale ochreous or whitish colour. Not all the moths emerge the following year: some will remain in the chrysalis over two or three winters, and occasionally they have been known to emerge seven years after pupation. The moth is said to be fully formed within the chrysalis all the time, but for some reason will not emerge, although if extracted from its shell, the moth has been known to expand its wings in the ordinary way. Barrett states that in the middle of February, after a moth had emerged, he "put a large number of cocoons upon a warm mantelpiece and obtained scores of moths within a few hours."

Generally distributed over the southern half of England; plentiful in some years in the Southern and Eastern Counties. Northwards and in Scotland it is local and less frequent. Kane states that in Ireland it is very locally abundant. The range abroad is through Central and Northern Europe to Southern Lapland, and eastward to Siberia and Amurland.

THE OAK EGGAR (_Lasiocampa quercus_).

The three moths, one male and two females, shown on Plate 52, were reared from caterpillars obtained in Kent, and they {116} represent the more or less ordinary South English forms of the species. Sometimes the ground colour of the male is more distinctly reddish, or rust tinted, and the yellowish bands narrower on all the wings. Or the bands may be much broader than in the male figured, and the widening is effected by extension in the form of rays towards the outer margins of the wings. A form that has been referred to, in error, as var. _roboris_, Shrank (= _marginata_, Tutt), has the outer margins of all the wings broadly yellow. I have not seen an English example of this form, but I have a reddish specimen in which the yellow band on the fore wings is broader than usual, and the whole of the outer third of the hind wings yellow, with a slight brownish shade on the external margin; this is _semimarginata_, Tutt, and is also identical with var. _roboris_ of other British authors. The white spot usually present on the fore wings varies somewhat in size and shape; it is often seen on the under as well as the upper surface of the wings, except in the lighter coloured forms.

Var. _callunæ_ (The Northern Eggar), is shown on Plate 54. The chief features of this form are the generally darker coloration in both sexes, the yellow patch at the base of the fore wings of the male, and the outward turn of the lower ends of the yellow bands. All these characters are subject to modification; the yellow bands may be very narrow at one extreme, or greatly widened at the other, and the hind wings may occasionally be bandless; the basal patch is often of large size, but in some examples it is entirely absent. Sometimes the bands are greenish in colour (var. _olivaceo-fasciata_, Cockerell), and more rarely, perhaps, the greenish tinge extends over the whole of the wings (ab. _olivacea_, Tutt). It should be noted here that the var. _olivaceo-fasciata_ has occurred once or twice in South England, but this phase of aberration seems to be more connected with _callunæ_ than with _quercus_.

Pl. 54.
NORTHERN EGGAR.

Pl. 55.
OAK EGGAR.
_Egg, natural size and enlarged; caterpillars and cocoon._

{117} _Callunæ_ was not recognized as British until the year 1847, when it was introduced as a species distinct from _quercus_. The late Richard Weaver, who gave it the English name of the "Scotch Eggar," took specimens of the moth at Rannoch in 1845, and he found caterpillars in that year, as well as in 1844 and 1846. It is now well known to occur not only in Scotland, including the Hebrides and Orkneys, but also on the moors of Northern England, and in Ireland and Wales. In North Devonshire it is found not uncommonly in the Exmoor district, and it has been recorded from various parts of the New Forest in Hants.

The egg of _callunæ_ is figured on Plate 55. It appears rather polished, and in colour is pale brown mottled with darker brown. The eggs are stated to be deposited whilst the female is on the wing, and consequently they fall to the ground or are arrested in their descent by the herbage over which they are scattered.

The full-grown caterpillar of _quercus_, beneath the brownish fur with which the body is clothed, is dark brown on the back and rather violet brown on the sides; the ring divisions are velvety black; there is a white stripe along each side and below the stripe some reddish marks; the ring nearest the head is edged with reddish, and the next two rings each have two reddish centred white spots. The dull purplish brown chrysalis is enclosed in a hard oval-shaped cocoon which is spun up on or near the ground in a flimsy web among herbage, dead leaves, etc. Sometimes it is placed among the twigs of the food plant.

In Southern England the caterpillars hatch from the egg in August and usually hibernate when quite small. They feed up during the following spring and early summer, perhaps in June or July, and the moth appears in July or August. Occasionally, however, a few individuals depart from the general habit and complete their growth the same year, hibernate in the pupal stage, and produce moths the next year, possibly earlier than hibernating caterpillars. On the other hand, perhaps owing to adverse weather conditions, feeding after hibernation may be continued well on into the autumn, when the caterpillars pupate, {118} but emergence of the moth is postponed until the following year, the second after hatching from the egg.

In the case of _callunæ_, at least as regards its normal habit in Scotland and southwards to the moorland districts of Yorkshire and Lancashire, the young caterpillar hibernates the first winter, feeds through the following summer, and passes the second winter as a chrysalis, the moth emerging in the following May or June.

Generally speaking, then, it may be stated that _quercus_ has a twelve-month life cycle, whilst that of _callunæ_ extends almost or quite to twenty-four months, of which at least twelve months are passed as a caterpillar. However, as has been noted, _quercus_ sometimes passes one winter as a caterpillar, and another as a chrysalis, thus assuming the _callunæ_ habit; whilst _callunæ_ occasionally attains the perfect state during the summer following that in which the caterpillar left the egg.

The food plants comprise bramble, dogwood, hawthorn, heather (_Calluna_), and various low plants; it is even content with ivy.

Newman, in the _Entomologist_ for 1845, gives a life history of the Northern Eggar (_callunæ_), and from this the following details are extracted. The male flies rapidly over the heather by day at the latter end of May or beginning of June; its flight is jerking or zigzag, and its object is evidently to find the female, who rarely moves until impregnation has taken place. Subsequently the female flies over the heather, dropping her eggs at random as she flies, and the eggs, having no glutinous covering, do not adhere to any object which they may accidentally touch in falling. On emergence from the egg the young caterpillar is dark ash-coloured, the divisions between the rings of the body being indicated by two minute orange streaks, each of which is accompanied by a small black spot. After the first moult the ground colour becomes more smoky, the divisions velvety black, and on each ring a triangular orange spot appears; these markings become more conspicuous later on, and by the end of October, when it hibernates, they are very distinct. It rests in a straight position, and, if disturbed, falls off its food plant, and rolls in a ring with its head slightly on one side.

Pl. 56.
GRASS EGGAR MOTH.

Pl. 57.
GRASS EGGAR.
_Eggs, natural size and enlarged; caterpillar._

{119} The habits of the Oak Eggar moths (_quercus_) are pretty much the same as those of the Northern form, except that the moths fly in July and August, and frequent hedgerows, the borders of woods, heathy commons, and cliffs and sand dunes at the seaside.

A bred female of either form will attract numerous males, and even the receptacle in which a newly emerged female has been placed is almost as effective as the lady herself. When staying at a cottage on the edge of a moor near Lynton, North Devon, some years ago, I had some pupæ of the Oak Eggar. One day, late in July, quite a number of males entered the cottage and made their way to the cage in which the pupæ were, and I had no difficulty in boxing several of them. The next day I put the female moth, which had emerged the previous day, into a roomy chip box, and carried it in a satchel to the moor, where it was placed on the ground, the males began to arrive soon afterwards and some fine examples were secured. Although the female was taken on the moor only on the one occasion, that satchel continued to be an object of interest to the male Eggars for several days afterwards.

Generally distributed, and often common in some localities, throughout the British Isles. Abroad, its range extends over Europe into Asia Minor, Armenia, and Siberia.

THE GRASS EGGAR (_Lasiocampa trifolii_).

This moth is usually brown in colour. The fore wings are inclined to dark reddish brown, and have a pale ochreous brown curved band or ring at the base, a slightly curved line or band of the same colour beyond the middle of the wing; central spot {120} white, finely margined in black. Except that the female is generally larger, and the cross lines usually less distinct, the sexes are much alike. This brown form occurs most frequently in Britain, but in parts of the Kentish and Sussex coast, and especially the Romney Marsh district, a yellowish form is obtained. In such specimens the cross lines are darker. In both forms one or both cross markings may be faint or quite absent, and even the white central dot, which varies in size and shape, may be missing. Sometimes the outer band is distinctly broad and outwardly diffuse (Plate 56).

The eggs, which appear to be laid loosely, are pale whitish brown, roughened with darker brown, and the micropylar area is purplish brown. Some that I received on March 2, 1907, appeared to be on the point of hatching on the 5th of that month, but no larva came out, although one of the eggs was chipped at one end. It has been frequently stated that the caterpillars hatch out in the autumn and hibernate, but as has been pointed out by Tutt ("Nat. Hist. Brit. Lep.," ii. 20), the eggs of this species probably do not hatch until some time during February or March, although when kept indoors the caterpillar has emerged from the egg in January.

The full-grown caterpillar is black, velvety between the rings, covered with golden brown hair on the back and greyer hair on the sides, among which are some black ones; three interrupted whitish lines on the back; some of the hairs along the middle of the back stand erect and form a ridge, looked at from either end. Head lightish brown in colour, lined with black. Feeds in the spring months and up to June chiefly on various kinds of grass. Among many of the plants that it has been known to eat are trefoils, bird's-foot (_Ornithopus_), sea thrift (_Statice_), heather, sallow, hawthorn, sloe, plum, bramble, etc. With regard to the food, it is interesting to note that although one rearer will find that sallow is excellent for the caterpillars, another considers that sallow or hawthorn are but poor {121} substitutes for kidney-vetch (_Anthyllis vulneraria_) upon which the caterpillars were feeding when found (Plate 57).

The brownish chrysalis is enclosed in a hard but somewhat brittle, brown, oval cocoon, and when spun upon the surface of the ground, protected by an outside covering of loose silk webbing. In August and early September the moths appear. Emergence from the chrysalis usually takes place soon after midday; the males are early on the wing, and when reared in captivity they should be secured as soon as the wings are dry, or they may spoil themselves in their efforts to escape. Reared females are apt to be deformed, but for "assembling" they may probably be as useful as more perfect examples if the rearer happens to be able to exhibit the attraction in a locality for the species. Both sexes have been taken at electric light.

The best known localities for the species in England are, besides those already mentioned, the sand hills on the Cheshire and Lancashire coast. It is, or has been, found also on the coast of Cumberland; Lyndhurst and Ringwood, in Hampshire; Isle of Purbeck, Poole, Swanage, and Bloxworth, in Dorsetshire; Devonport, Bolt Head, and Salcombe, in Devonshire; and Penzance and the Scilly Isles. Its range extends through Central and Southern Europe to Asia Minor and North Africa.

THE FOX MOTH (_Macrothylacia rubi_).

The male is reddish brown, and the female generally greyish brown, but sometimes is of a reddish grey coloration; the fore wings in both sexes are crossed by two pale ochreous lines on the central area (Plate 59).

The ground colour in the male ranges in tone from foxy red to dullish red brown or to greyish red brown. The cross lines in either sex may be widely apart, near together, or even united throughout their length, forming a band (var. _fasciata_, Tutt); sometimes one of the lines (var. _unilinea_, Tutt), or both lines, are absent from the fore wings, or from one of them. {122}

The brown clouded greyish eggs are laid in batches, during June, on stems and stalks of plants, or on heather; sometimes they have been found on a fence, a rock, or a stone. The caterpillars hatch out at the end of June and through July. At first they are black, including the glossy head, and covered with long hairs which are black with some white ones amongst them; the ring divisions are pale yellow; later on they are more chocolate brown with yellow bands which, however, do not encircle the body entirely.

When full grown, in the autumn, the caterpillar is velvety black, and above this colour is most in evidence between the rings; the back is clothed with dense, short, bright reddish brown or tawny hair, and the whole body is covered with brownish hairs, varying in length, but always much longer than the tawny ones; along each side are some whitish hairs. Head blackish covered with brownish hairs. It feeds in August and onwards to October, when it seeks winter quarters, reappearing in the following spring, but not feeding again. After enjoying the sunshine whenever the opportunity offers through the early months of the year, it finally pupates in March or April. The cocoon is a long, more or less tubular, brownish construction of silk and larval hairs. It is spun up, usually somewhat upright, low down among the food plant, or at the roots of grass, etc.; sometimes among moss, when the rounded head end can just be seen above the moss (Plate 58).

In certain localities and seasons the caterpillars have been seen in enormous numbers, but such profusion only happens now and then. In some districts they may be abundant one year, and then scarce or quite absent for several years.

When handling the larvæ it will often be noted that the tips of one's fingers are thickly felted with the tawny hairs from the creature's back; if these hairs get transferred to the face or neck considerable irritation may be the result.

Pl. 58.
FOX MOTH: _caterpillars_.

Pl. 59.
1, 2. FOX MOTH, _males_; 3 _female_.

{123} The late Mr. Robson used to collect the caterpillars on fine days in early spring, put each caterpillar into a separate paper box about two inches square, and keep them on a shelf over the kitchen fire, where they would duly pupate. Various methods for keeping these caterpillars through the winter have been described, and all appear to have been fairly successful. The most simple would seem to be the following: Bore a number of holes in the bottom of a roomy box, and fasten wire gauze on a close fitting frame to serve as a top. Cut a tuft or two of heather to cover the floor space of the box. Caterpillars collected in the autumn may be put into this receptacle and supplied with food, such as bramble or sallow, as long as they seem inclined to feed. Do not crowd too many into the box, and let it stand out in the garden, preferably on the soil.

The moths emerge in May or June. The males are very active on the wing in the afternoon sunshine, and later on, and may often be seen in numbers dashing hither and thither in an apparently erratic flight over heaths and open spaces, in search of the females. The latter do not fly till night, and occasionally they are attracted to a bright light.

Except that it has not been noted in the Shetlands, the species occurs throughout the British Isles. Abroad its range extends over Europe, and it is found in Amurland.

THE DRINKER (_Cosmotriche potatoria_).

The male is reddish brown, more or less clouded on the forewings with ochreous; and the female is yellow, or whitish ochreous. Sometimes this colour distinction of the sexes is reversed, and the males are pale whilst the females are dark. In the fens of Cambridgeshire notably, pale or yellowish males are not altogether uncommon. Such specimens would seem to accord better with the Linnean type than the more usual form indicated above. Barrett mentions, among other aberrations, male specimens from South Wales with the whole of the fore and hind wings deep rich glossy purplish chocolate. {124}

There is variation in the two whitish or silvery marks on the fore wings, the upper one is often very small, sometimes quite absent, and the lower one reduced to a crescent. The chocolate brown cross lines, of which there are usually two on the fore wings, are sometimes faint or entirely missing. Tutt has recently named nine forms, chiefly colour aberrations, and two others were previously named. (The moth is figured on Plate 61, and the early stages on Plate 60.)

The eggs, which are white with bluish grey markings, are laid in clusters on grass stems, etc.

The caterpillar is slaty grey inclining to blackish; the lines on the back are formed of yellowish dots and dashes; two rows of tufts of short black hairs on the back, with longer brown hairs between; low down on the sides are shaggy tufts of white and yellowish hairs and longer brown hairs; an erect pointed tuft of brown hair on second ring, and a similar one on ring eleven but the latter inclines backward. Head greyish, striped and lined with brown and yellowish brown, and clothed with brown hair. It feeds on coarse grasses, including the ribbon grass grown in gardens, in August to September or October.

In the latter month it goes into hibernation, being then but little over an inch in length. About April it resumes feeding and becomes full grown in June or thereabouts. The long yellowish or whitish brown cocoon in which it changes to a brown chrysalis is more or less pointed at the lower end, and generally attached to a culm of grass or a reed. A showery season seems to suit these caterpillars better than a hot, dry one. The partiality of the caterpillar for a drop of dew, mountain or otherwise, has frequently been noted. The old English name of The Drinker Caterpillar (1682) is therefore not only an appropriate one but shows that this larval habit was observed even at that early date. The specific name _potatoria_ given to the moth by Linné is of similar significance.

Pl. 60.
DRINKER MOTH.
_Eggs, natural size and enlarged; caterpillars and cocoon._

Pl. 61.
DRINKER MOTH.

{125} The moth emerges in July. It seems most addicted to damp grassy lanes, ditch-sides, fens, marshes, moorlands, and sandhills; and is not really uncommon in very many suitable districts throughout the United Kingdom. Abroad, it is common over the greater part of Europe and its range extends to Amurland and Japan.

THE SMALL LAPPET (_Epicnaptera ilicifolia_).