Chapter XI: Part 11

The caterpillar is green, with white lines and stripes; head, shining green. It feeds, in July and August, on wood sage (_Teucrium_), woundwort (_Stachys_), and dead nettle (_Lamium_). {287}

The moth is a lover of the woodlands, and as it flies in the daytime, especially when sunny, will be almost certainly noted on the wing by any one rambling through the woods in June, or even late May. It is generally plentiful in the south and west of England, but although its range extends through the northern parts of the country, and widely over Scotland to Sutherland, it is more or less local and often rare in the northern area indicated. In North Wales and South-west Ireland, it is local, but not uncommon.

THE PEACOCK MOTH (_Semiothisa_ (_Macaria_) _notata_).

Whitish, with an ochreous tinge, and clouded with ochreous grey; three indistinct cross lines on the fore wings, commencing as brownish spots on the front margin; a larger brownish spot, inclining to reddish, on the front margin beyond the angle of outer line, and a large blackish or brownish divided spot below it; a shallow notch under the tips of the wings, edged with dark brown, and fringed with smoky brown. (Plate 119, Fig. 7.)

The caterpillar is green, with brown markings on the sides, or brownish with green markings; head, black as a rule, but occasionally green. It feeds, in late June and in July, on birch and sallow; there is a second brood in August and September. The moth may be beaten out from birch bushes in May and June, and again in July and August. Woods are its favourite haunts, especially those where heather and small birch abound, but it is very local in the south of England, although it occurs in most of the counties from Kent to Cornwall. Barrett states that it is rather common in heathy woods in Staffordshire and Cheshire, and Forsythe gives it as local and uncommon in the Lancaster district; also recorded from Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Herts (Bentley Wood, 1901), and Gloucestershire; Glamorganshire, South Wales; Inverness and Ross, in Scotland. {288}

SHARP-ANGLED PEACOCK (_Semiothisa alternata_).

Whitish clouded and suffused with greyish; fore wings crossed by three dark lines, commencing in blackish spots on the front margin; a greyish band follows the outer line, a reddish brown spot at the costal end, and a blackish spot about the middle, the spot broken up by the veins, which are here ochreous; a rather deep notch below the tip is edged with black and fringed with blackish. Hind wings with a black central dot, and a greyish band beyond. (Plate 119, Fig. 8.)

Mr. A. J. Scollick has recorded that some caterpillars, presumably about a week old on June 24, 1905, went into chrysalis July 7 to 12. One moth emerged July 18, but no other appeared until December 20. A third came up on January 5, 1906, and a fourth on February 5.

The caterpillar is pale green, with reddish brown blotches on the sides, and sometimes the back is also reddish brown. It feeds on alder, sallow, and sloe, in June, and as a second generation in the autumn. (Eggs and a caterpillar, the latter after Hofmann, are figured on Plate 123.) The moth flies in May and early June, and occasionally in July or August.

This species, which is always local, is perhaps most frequently met with in the New Forest, Hants, but it is not uncommon in some parts of the Isle of Wight, Dorset, Devon, and Kent. Also noted from a few other southern counties, and from Suffolk, Norfolk, and Westmoreland. In Wales, it has occurred at Neath, Glamorganshire.

The range of this species abroad, and also that of the last, extends to Amurland.

TAWNY-BARRED ANGLE (_Semiothisa liturata_).

The more frequent forms of this species are shown on Plate 119, Figs. 9, 10. In some examples the cross lines are almost absent, but in others they are very distinct and blackish in colour; the orange yellow band in the outer marginal area varies in width and in strength, but it is usually present, even in the sooty brown form ab. _nigrofulvata_, Collins (Plate 61, Fig. 7), described from Delamere, Cheshire, also found in Shropshire, and recorded from "Oakley Wood."

2 Pl. 120.
1, 3. EARLY MOTH.
2, 4, 5, 6. SPRING USHER.
7, 9. SCARCE UMBER.
8, 10, 11, 12. DOTTED BORDER.

2 Pl. 121.
1. DARK-BORDERED BEAUTY: _eggs_.
2, 2a. BORDERED BEAUTY: _eggs and caterpillar_.
3. LITTLE THORN: _caterpillar_.

{289} The caterpillar (Plate 123, Fig. 2) is green, with white or creamy transverse lines and stripes; head, reddish. Another form is pale ochreous grey or brownish, with pale grey lines and stripes; head, almost black, with purple tinge. It feeds on the needles of Scots pine (_Pinus sylvestris_), in July and August, and occasionally in September and October. A photograph of the chrysalis by Mr. H. Main, enlarged to twice natural size, is shown on Plate 123.

The moth is to be found in fir woods, where it lurks among the branches or sits on the trunks, or on the fallen needles on the ground. The moths of the first generation appear in June and July and, where it occurs, the second flies in August and September. Widely distributed over the British Isles, but not noted north of Moray, in Scotland.

EARLY MOTH (_Hybernia rupicapraria_).

Although generally common, and often abundant, over England, Wales, the south of Scotland, and Ireland, this species (Plate 120, Figs. 1 [male], 3 [female]) hardly ever comes under notice unless hedgerows and hawthorn bushes are examined in January and February, by the aid of a lantern, after darkness has set in. Then the males, and almost wingless females, will be found in numbers, sitting at the ends of the twigs.

The caterpillar is whitish green, clouded with darker green, striped with white along the back, and marked with white on the sides. The general colour is sometimes very dark green, approaching black, and in this form the white markings are {290} more striking. It feeds, in April and May, on hawthorn, sloe, plum, and bilberry.

SPRING USHER (_Hybernia leucophaearia_).

SPRING USHER AT REST.

(Photo by W. J. Lucas.)]

On Plate 120 are shown the typical and more usual forms of this variable species. Fig. 2 represents the male, and Fig. 4 the female. The form with blackish base and outer margin is ab. _marmorinaria_, Esper (Plate 120, Fig. 5). Ab. _merularia_, Weymer, is entirely black, and a modification of this form is shown in Fig. 6. Between each of these extremes and the type there are various gradations.

The caterpillar is usually some shade of green, with yellowish lines on the back, and some have brownish marks on the sides; in others there are dark brown marks on the back of each ring. It feeds on the leaves of oak, in April and May.

The moth rests on tree-trunks, fences, etc., and the males may be thus found during the day in February, earlier or later in some seasons; the female is less often obtained on trees and fences, but may be beaten, together with the male, from the dead leaves which remain upon oak and other bushes.

The species appears to occur, more or less locally, in most of the English counties; it has also been recorded from Pembrokeshire and Flintshire, in Wales. In Scotland, it is obtained in {291} the south, and northwards to Aberdeenshire. There are but two records from Ireland, and these are doubtful.

Abroad, the range extends to Amurland and Japan.

SCARCE UMBER (_Hybernia aurantiaria_).

One specimen of each sex of this orange yellow species will be found on Plate 120, where Fig. 7 represents the male, and Fig. 9 the female; the cross lines, in the male, are usually distinct on all the wings, but those on the hind pair are sometimes very faint, and occasionally absent. The ground colour is paler in some specimens than in others, and there is variation in the amount of purplish speckling, in the purplish clouding following the second line, and in the submarginal series of purplish marks of the fore wings. The marginal dots are sometimes absent from the hind wings, most frequently in specimens with faint cross lines on these wings.

The eggs (Plate 125, Fig. 2), when I received them in February, were purplish, or violet brown.

The caterpillar is yellowish, inclining to ochreous, lined with brown on the back, and striped with purplish on the sides; underside, dark purplish brown, inclining to blackish, and striped with yellowish. It feeds in the spring, sometimes to June, on oak, birch, blackthorn, etc., and may be found on the leaves during the day. The moth is out in the latter part of the year, from October, and is best obtained at night, when sitting on the twigs of trees and bushes, but a specimen or two may be found on tree-trunks, palings, etc., in the daytime.

The species is widely distributed over England, and in some parts it is common in woods; also occurs in Wales. In Scotland it is very rare and local in Roxburghshire; local and uncommon in the Clyde area, and has been recorded from other parts of the country up to Aberdeen. Rare in Ireland, but noted from {292} Tyrone (local among birches at Cookstown), Monaghan, Fermanagh (Enniskillen), and Galway.

DOTTED BORDER (_Hybernia marginaria_).

On Plate 120 four specimens of this rather variable species are depicted. Figs. 8 [male] and 10 [female] show the more usual form; Fig. 12 represents the northern English, blackish var. _fuscata_, Harrison, and Fig. 11 an intermediate form resulting from a cross-pairing of _fuscata_ [female] with a southern [male]. Somewhat similar forms to the last have been captured in Wear Dale, Durham.

DOTTED BORDER, MALE.]

DOTTED BORDER, FEMALE.]

(Photos by H. Main.)

The caterpillar is figured on Plate 125, from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich. It is described by Fenn as dull yellow, olive green, or greenish brown; a series of dark grey X-like marks on the back, most distinct on rings 5-11; the spiracles are white, each placed in a black cloud, and the spaces between them paler, sometimes yellowish; the last ring is often brown without marking, and the front rings have a purplish stripe above; under surface, paler throughout. It feeds, in April and May, as a rule, but has been found later, on hawthorn, sloe, oak, birch, alder, sallow, etc., and may be obtained in the daytime.

2 Pl. 122.
1-5. MOTTLED UMBER.
6-8. MARCH MOTH.
9-11. PALE BRINDLED BEAUTY.

2 Pl. 123.
1. SHARP-ANGLED PEACOCK: _eggs and caterpillar_.
2. TAWNY-BARRED ANGLE: _caterpillar and chrysalids_.

{293} The moth is out in March and April; and after their short evening flight the males may be seen in numbers on hedgerows and the twigs of trees. It is not infrequent at sallow catkins, and sometimes is not scarce on palings and tree-trunks. The female may occasionally be detected in the crevices of bark on tree-trunks, but is more easily obtained on the twigs at night.

The species is common over the whole of England and Wales, also in Ireland. As regards Scotland, it is abundant in the south, but its range does not seem to extend beyond Aberdeen; the var. _fuscata_ occurs in Renfrewshire.

MOTTLED UMBER (_Hybernia defoliaria_).

A female (Fig. 3) and four examples of the male of this variable species are shown on Plate 122. The ground colour of the fore wings in the male varies from whitish, through ochreous brown to dull russet brown; the cross bands (when present) range in colour from reddish brown to dark purplish, almost blackish, brown; in all the paler specimens the ground colour is more or less sprinkled or suffused with brownish; the darker specimens are sprinkled with dark purplish or blackish. Ab. _obscurata_, Staud., is almost uniformly dull brownish, and an example approaching this form is represented by Fig. 4.

When deposited the eggs (Plate 125, Fig. 1b) were deep straw yellow. {294}

The caterpillar (figured on Plate 125, Fig. 1, from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich) has various shades of reddish brown on the back, and yellowish on the sides and beneath; the line above the red-marked white spiracles is black, and this has an interrupted edging of white. Fig. 1a shows a pale form. It feeds on the foliage of birch, oak, and other forest trees, also on fruit trees, rose, honeysuckle, etc. It often occurs in great abundance, and is largely responsible for the leafless condition of the trees, sometimes noticed in May.

The moth appears from October to December, and occasionally in January, February, or March.

Generally abundant throughout England and Wales; widely distributed, and often common in Ireland; not uncommon in the south of Scotland, but becoming less frequent northwards to Perthshire and Aberdeen.

MARCH MOTH (_Anisopteryx aescularia_).

MARCH MOTH, MALE.]

MARCH MOTH, FEMALE X2.]

MARCH MOTH, FEMALE.]

(Photos by H. Main.)

Examples of each sex are shown on Plate 122, Figs. 7 and 8 [male], 6 [female]. The male varies in the general colour from pale to dark grey; the central area being sometimes smoky tinged. In the north of England, chiefly in Yorkshire, blackish specimens occur in which the markings are more or less obscured.

2 Pl. 124.
1-3. SMALL BRINDLED BEAUTY.
4-6. BELTED BEAUTY.
7, 8. BRINDLED BEAUTY.

2 Pl. 125.
1. MOTTLED UMBER: _egg, natural size and enlarged, and caterpillars_.
2. SCARCE UMBER: _egg, natural size and enlarged_.
3. DOTTED BORDER: _caterpillar_.
4. MARCH MOTH: _caterpillar_.

{295}

PALE BRINDLED BEAUTY.

(Photo by H. Main.)]

The caterpillar is pale green with a rather darker line along the back, and yellowish lines along the sides. It feeds on hawthorn, sloe, privet, lilac, currant, plum, cherry, rose, etc., also on oak, hornbeam, and some other trees: April to June. The figure of the caterpillar on Plate 125, Fig. 4, is from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich.

The moth is out in the spring, and may be found on palings, tree-trunks, etc., in the daytime, and more freely flying about, or sitting on hedges, at night, when the spider-like wingless female is more frequently obtained. The male is attracted by light, and sometimes is not uncommon on gas lamps.

Except that it seems not to have been noted north of Perthshire in Scotland, the species is generally distributed over the British Isles.

PALE BRINDLED BEAUTY (_Phigalia pedaria_).

The fore wings of this species (Plate 122, Figs. 9 [female], 10, 11 [male]) are greyish, tinged with greenish or brown, and sprinkled with darker grey or brownish; the irregular cross lines are blackish. Occasional specimens in the north of England are more or less sprinkled with yellow buff or orange buff, and in these the cross-markings may be present or absent. A more frequent form of aberration in the north is a general darkening of the colour in {296} the direction of ab. _monacharia_, Staud., which is smoky black with the veins black, and occurs chiefly in South Yorkshire.

The caterpillar, figured on Plate 126, Fig. 1, from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich, is dull reddish brown, relieved with rust red mottling; the notched head is greyish brown. It feeds, in the spring, on birch, oak, elm, lime, poplar, sallow, hawthorn, sloe, plum and other fruit trees, rose, etc.

The moth is out as a rule during the first two or three months of the year, but it has been noted in November and December, and also in mid-June. It may be seen in the daytime on tree-trunks, palings, etc., but the female secretes herself in any convenient cranny, and is not easily detected. The male flies at night, and comes freely to light.

The species is pretty generally distributed throughout England and Wales, and Scotland up to Aberdeen. In Ireland, it has a wide distribution, but Kane states that, except in the Belfast district, it is decidedly scarce in the country.

SMALL BRINDLED BEAUTY (_Apocheima hispidaria_).

In the male (Plate 124, Figs. 1 and 2) the fore wings are ochreous grey inclining to brownish, usually much paler on the outer margin; cross lines black. Hind wings, greyish white, with a blackish central band. Fringes of all the wings chequered with blackish. Often the central area of the fore wings, between the first and second lines, is more or less blackish; less frequently the whole of these wings, up to or just beyond the submarginal line, is blackish; and sometimes the pale outer marginal area is broken up by the blackish nervules. Very rarely, the ground colour is almost white, and the cross-markings on the fore wings dusky grey. The female (Plate 124, Fig. 3) varies from brown to blackish. {297}

SMALL BRINDLED BEAUTY AT REST.

(Photo by H. Main.)]

The caterpillar is brown, inclining to blackish or purplish, the raised spots are black, and occasionally the sides are freckled with orange (Plate 126, Fig. 2, from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich). It feeds in May and early June on oak, and will also eat hawthorn, birch, and elm.

The moth, which is out in February and March, appears to be local, but has a wide distribution through England from Durham to Hampshire, and even Devonshire. It has also been recorded from Denbighshire, North Wales. A well-known locality is Richmond Park, in Surrey, and here it is found resting on oak trunks or on the grass stems, etc., under or around the trees. The male is attracted by light.

RANNOCH BRINDLED BEAUTY (_Nyssia lapponaria_).

The sexes of this species are shown on Plate 134, where Fig. 3 represents the male, and Fig. 5 the female. It was not known to occur in the British Isles until 1871, when a male specimen was captured in Perthshire, on April 20 of that year. Mr. William M. Christy, in 1895, bred some moths from larvae obtained in the Highlands of Scotland, and he sent eggs to Mr. F. W. Frohawk, who worked out the life history, and described and figured all the stages from egg to perfect insect (_Entom._ xxviii. 237). In July, 1900 and 1901, Mr. E. A. Cockayne found {298} caterpillars, in Perthshire (Rannoch district), on ling, heath, and bog-myrtle; and in June, 1904, he published (_Entom._ xxxvii. 149) some interesting observations on the habits of the species in its native haunts. The greenish yellow eggs are laid in batches of 10 to 150 in the dry corollas of the cross-leaved heath, and less frequently between the stem and sheath of reeds, or in cracks in dead bracken stems, etc. The caterpillar (Plate 126, Fig. 3) is pale drab, inclining to a yellowish tint; irregular yellow stripes along the back and sides, and lines of blackish streaks between the stripes. It will eat birch, sallow, and hawthorn, in captivity; but in the open it feeds on heather and bog-myrtle: May-July. The chrysalis is reddish brown, rather paler on the wing covers (figured on Plate 126 from a photo, twice natural size, by Mr. H. Main). The moth is out in April and May, and sits on the twigs of heather and the stems of bog-myrtle. It has only been recorded from Perthshire, and is there very local, frequenting damp places near streams.

Mr. A. W. Mera has obtained hybrids from a crossing of this species with _N. zonaria_.

BELTED BEAUTY (_Nyssia zonaria_).

Two males and a female of this species are depicted on Plate 124 (Figs. 4, 5 [male], 6 [female]). There is variation in the ground colour of the male, from white to greyish, and the markings are sometimes greyish brown and sometimes blackish. Kane states that, in Ireland, a large number of Connemara specimens have the fore wings entirely white, broken by dark veins, front margin, and three streaks parallel to the outer margin. The caterpillar is greenish, with dusky grey lines and freckles on the back, and a yellow stripe low down along the sides; the latter is edged below with blackish; the underside is black and striped with grey; head, greyish, freckled with darker. It feeds on sallow, dandelion, dock, plantain, clover, yarrow, grass, etc.: May to August. (Plate 126, Fig. 4; chrysalis, Fig. 4a; eggs, Plate 133, Fig. 4.) The moth is out in March and April, and rests by day on or among herbage. The male has been known to fly in the sunshine, but its more usual time of flight is the early evening.

2 Pl. 126.
1. PALE BRINDLED BEAUTY: _caterpillar_.
2. SMALL BRINDLED BEAUTY: _caterpillar_.
3, 3a, 3b. RANNOCH BRINDLED BEAUTY: _egg, natural size enlarged.
caterpillar and chrysalis_.
4, 4a. BELTED BEAUTY: _caterpillar and chrysalis_.

2 Pl. 127.
1-3. OAK BEAUTY.

{299} The species is locally common on sand hills, on the coast of Cheshire, Flintshire, and Carnarvon; Wallasey is a noted locality, and the earliest British specimens were taken in that district about 1832; it also occurs on the Lancashire coast, in the Liverpool and Blackpool districts. In Ireland, it was first noted in Co. Antrim, where caterpillars were found at Ballycastle, and about twenty-two years ago moths were captured at the same place. Other Irish localities are Achill Island, off the coast of Mayo; Slyne Head and Roundstone, Connemara coast. There are records of its occurrence in the Isles of Skye and Tiree.

BRINDLED BEAUTY (_Lycia hirtaria_).

A male and a female are shown on Plate 124 (Figs. 7 [male], 8 [female]), and these represent the more usual form of the sexes in the London district. Some specimens are paler, others are darker; and not infrequently the wings are sprinkled with yellowish.

On Plate 1 (Figs. 4, 6, 8) will be found figures of a female and two male examples of a large race taken by Mr. H. McArthur this season (1908) at Aviemore, in Scotland. One of these males is of a remarkable ochreous coloration, whilst in the other the contrast of grey ground and black marking is equally striking. The female is blackish sprinkled with ochreous.

The caterpillar is purplish grey or reddish brown clouded and freckled with darker, and spotted with yellow on rings 5-8; the first ring is also marked with yellow in front, the head is freckled with black, and about the jaws with yellow. It feeds on lime, elm, willow, and fruit trees, especially plum and pear, {300} in May, June, and July. For the example figured on Plate 128, Fig. 1, I am indebted to Mr. Norman Riley; an Aviemore example is shown in colour on Plate 1, Fig. 7. The chrysalis (Plate 128, Fig. 1a) is dark reddish brown inclining to blackish. The moth comes out in March and April and is often a common object on tree-trunks, etc., in the London parks, squares, and gardens. Its range extends over the south of England, and northwards to Yorkshire and Cumberland, but it is nowhere so plentiful in England as throughout the Metropolitan area. It occurs in Wales, in Ireland, and in Scotland up to Inverness.

OAK BEAUTY (_Pachys_ (_Amphidasys_) _strataria_).

The fore wings of this species (Plate 127, Figs. 1-3) are white, sprinkled and cross lined with black; the first line is bordered inwardly, and the second line outwardly with brownish; frequently these two lines fall closely together on the inner margin, and sometimes they are united by a blackish blotch at this point; the brownish borders of the lines vary in width, and in some specimens the outer area beyond the second black line is almost entirely brownish; in other specimens the central and outer areas are almost free of black speckling, and in such examples the brownish borders of the lines stand out conspicuously. The caterpillar (Plate 128, Fig. 2) is usually some shade of brown--greyish, violet, or purplish--mottled and freckled with a darker hue. It feeds on oak, birch, and elm, will also eat sloe, plum, rose, etc., and is found from May to July. In confinement, larvae hatched in early May have gone down to pupate during the second week in June.

The moth is out in March and April as a rule, but has been noted in late February, and also in early May. It may be seen resting during the day on trunks of trees, palings, etc., generally near the ground; when on the wing at night the male will come to light. Although not generally common it is widely distributed over England and Wales. In Ireland it has occurred in Wicklow, Westmeath, and Cork, and has been reared from pupae obtained at Glenmalure in the former county.

Hybrids resulting from a cross between _strataria_ [male] and _betularia_ [female] have been named _herefordi_, Tutt.

2 Pl. 128.
1. BRINDLED BEAUTY: _caterpillar and chrysalis_.
2. OAK BEAUTY: _eggs, natural size and enlarged, and caterpillar_.
3. PEPPERED MOTH: _caterpillar_.

2 Pl. 129.
1-3. PEPPERED MOTH.

{301}

PEPPERED MOTH (_Pachys betularia_).

Typically (Plate 129, Figs. 1 [male], 3 [female]) the wings are white, "peppered" with black, and with more or less distinct cross lines, also black. The black speckling varies in amount, in some examples it is almost absent, whilst in others it is so dense that the wings appear to be black sprinkled with white. Specimens of the last form are intermediate between the type and the melanic ab. _doubledayaria_, Milliere (Fig. 2). This black form, which seems to have been unknown about sixty years ago, is now much commoner than the type in the South-west Riding of Yorkshire, and has spread into Lancashire, Cheshire, and southwards to Lincolnshire. On the wolds of the latter county, and on Cannock Chase, Staffordshire, it is said to be the dominant form of the species. The aberration also occurs in the eastern and the southern counties of England to Hampshire. Northwards, the form has extended to Clydesdale in Scotland, where one was reared from a caterpillar obtained near Paisley. In Wales _doubledayaria_ is in the ascendant at Newport, Monmouth, and in Ireland one example of this variety together with some intermediate and typical specimens were reared from caterpillars collected at Castle Bellingham, Co. Louth. Possibly the liberal distribution of the eggs of _doubledayaria_ may have had something to do with the comparatively rapid extension of this form, at least to districts far away from its original locality.

What is known as the buff var. of this species dates back to {302} the year 1874, when a buff female, paired with a black male, was captured at Heaton Park. From the eggs she deposited caterpillars hatched, and in due course pupated, but the moths reared from them were all either typical, or black. Some of the female moths were, however, given to other collectors to pair with black males with the result that buff specimens appeared among the moths reared by seven collectors. Subsequently, by breeding only from buff males and females 80 per cent. of this form were said to be obtained. By the year 1880, however, the race was extinct. In all the examples of the buff var. that I have seen, including a pair in my own collection, the ground colour is normal, but the usual black markings of the wings are brownish buff; I understand, however, that there are specimens in which the ground colour is ochreous. The vapour of chlorine will change an ordinary specimen to a buff var.; and it is said that caterpillars reared in an apartment where this vapour is present will produce these buff varieties. Mr. Mansbridge has recently described ab. _ochrearia_, and in this form the typical black markings are present on an ochreous ground. The specimen, a female, was captured at St. Annes, Lancashire, June, 1891.

Gynandrous examples have been obtained, and seven of these abnormal forms occurred in a single brood reared from eggs by Mr. A. Harrison.

The caterpillar (Plate 128, Fig. 3, from a photo by Mr. H. Main) is green, brownish green, or purplish brown; in the green form, which is minutely dotted with white, there is generally a faint purplish line along the back, two purplish knobs on ring 8, and a purplish patch enclosing two ochreous spots on ring 11; the deeply notched head is ochreous, shaded with purplish; the last ring of the body is tinged with purplish, as also are the two small points thereon. It feeds, from July to September, on oak, birch, elm, beech, sallow, plum and other fruit trees; also on rose, bramble, etc. The moth is out in May and June, {303} sometimes in July. The species is generally distributed, and sometimes common in the caterpillar state, but seems to be absent from the Scottish Isles.

WAVED UMBER (_Hemerophila_ (_Synopsia_) _abruptaria_).

WAVED UMBER AT REST.

(Photo by W. J. Lucas.)]

A male and a female specimen are figured on Plate 130. The males are usually darker than the females, but they vary in the amount of darker clouding and suffusion. Three forms of the species have been named as follows--ab. _brunneata_, Tutt, a modification of the female rather more strongly coloured than the darkest typical male. Ab. _fuscata_, Tutt, sooty brown, tending to blackish; both sexes somewhat paler in central area of fore wings. Ab. _unicolor_, Tutt, similar to ab. _fuscata_, but without pale marking; the thorax is also darker. (Plate 134, Fig. 7, ab. _fuscata_.) The eggs, furnished by Mr. Norman Riley, were verdigris green when laid, but on the third day changed to greyish.

In general colour the caterpillar is greyish brown sometimes tinged with green; pinkish brown blotches along the back, often united on the front and hind rings. In some cases the caterpillar is almost black, with a lighter mark on front of the first ring. It feeds on privet and lilac, and is said to eat currant, broom, and jasmine: May to August. (Plate 133, Fig. 3.)

The moth is out in April and May, and is fond of resting on palings, trees, and even walls. It appears to be most plentiful {304} in the London district, in the north and east of which the dark forms occur; but it is found more or less frequently over the greater part of England, and in South Wales; single specimens were taken at Hartlepool, Durham, in 1874 and 1875. One example has been recorded from Kincardineshire, Scotland; and one from Enniskillen, Ireland.

RINGED CARPET (_Boarmia cinctaria_).

Two specimens are shown on Plate 130. Fig. 3 represents the more or less typical form, and Fig. 4 depicts an example in which the central area is almost free of dark speckling, so that the whitish ground colour comes out distinctly. There is a good range of variation in the direction of both darker and paler forms than those figured. In some specimens with a clear white central area, the basal and outer marginal areas of the fore wings, and the outer area of the hind wings, are black or blackish; similar aberration is sometimes found in the more speckled specimens also. Occasionally, there is a projection from below the middle of the second black line to the basal band.

The caterpillar is green, with darker green and whitish lines along the back and sides. It feeds on birch, sallow, and heath (_Erica cinerea_), and may be reared on knot-grass. The moth is out in May, sometimes late April or early June. The New Forest in Hampshire is the district _par excellence_ for this species, the most favoured locality being the heathy tract near Lyndhurst, where the moths are very common, in some years, on tree-trunks, especially birch, and on heather. Other localities in England are Poole Heath, Parley Heath, and Bloxworth in Dorset; Tilgate Forest, etc., in Sussex; Reading district in Berks, first noted in 1891. In Ireland, it is widely distributed, and is abundant at Killarney and some other parts of Kerry.

The range abroad extends to Amurland and Japan.

2 Pl. 130.
1, 2. WAVED UMBER.
3, 4. RINGED CARPET.
5, 6. WILLOW BEAUTY.

2 Pl. 131.
1. WILLOW BEAUTY: _eggs and caterpillar_.
2. MOTTLED BEAUTY: _caterpillar_.

{305}

WILLOW BEAUTY (_Boarmia gemmaria_).

The two portraits on Plate 130 represent the best known forms of this species. Stephens in 1831 referred the smoky or dark slaty grey form (Fig. 6), which is the ordinary one in the London district, now as then, to _rhomboidaria_. Newman subsequently named this form _perfumaria_, and he, and other entomologists of the time, considered it as a species distinct from _gemmaria_ = _rhomboidaria_. We now know that the smoky grey specimens are not peculiar to the metropolitan area, but occur in other parts of England (Warwickshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, etc.), and are found, with the type, at Howth and other localities in Ireland. The more general forms throughout England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland up to Perthshire, are pale brown, or greyish brown (typical), sometimes ochreous tinged (Fig. 5); the latter is referable to ab. _consobrinaria_, Haworth. Black forms have been recorded from Norwich in Norfolk, and blackish specimens have been noted from Ashdown Forest, Sussex; from Cannock Chase, Staffordshire; and from the south of Scotland.

The eggs (Plate 131, Fig. 1a) are green at first, changing to pink mottled with green, and finally to dark grey; the latter change indicates early hatching of the caterpillar, which usually occurs about a fortnight after the eggs are deposited.

The caterpillar (Plate 131, Fig. 1, after a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich) is dull reddish brown, mottled more or less with ochreous; traces of diamond-shaped marks on the back, the latter sometimes well defined. It feeds on ivy (in London gardens especially), hawthorn, birch, privet, lilac, rose, clematis, broom, and many other shrubs, and also on yew and fir, in August, and after hibernation in the spring. The moth is out in July and August; sometimes a second brood occurs in September. {306}

This species is the _gemmaria_ of Brahm (1791), but _rhomboidaria_, Schiffermuller (1776), although only a catalogue name until figured by Hubner, about 1797, is adopted by some authors.

SATIN CARPET (_Boarmia abietaria_).

As an inhabitant of Britain this species was first noted from Hampshire, and in 1825 was figured and described by Curtis as _Alcis sericearia_. Two specimens of this form, from the New Forest, are depicted on Plate 132, Figs. 1, 2; but paler, and also darker, examples are found in this locality, and, occasionally, melanic specimens occur as well. The latter form, some examples of which might be described as sooty black with black veins, is more prevalent among the yews and firs of Surrey.

The caterpillar, for the example of which (and also the egg), figured on Plate 138, Figs. 1, 1a, I am obliged to Mr. Arthur J. Scollick, is, in one form, ochreous brown with paler cream-coloured patches on the back; and in another dark grey-brown with paler patches, sometimes of a light cinnamon brown; a pale, thin line along the middle of the back runs through a series of brownish diamonds; there are other pale lines on the back and sides, and these are edged with brownish, and partly with blackish; spiracles outlined in black. (Adapted from Buckler.) It feeds on spruce, pine, yew, oak, birch, sallow, etc., from August to June. A larva has been found on bilberry in Devon.

The moth is out from late June to early August, but captured specimens are not often suitable for the cabinet, they are generally more or less frayed or scarred.

2 Pl. 132.
1, 2. SATIN CARPET.
3-6. MOTTLED BEAUTY.

2 Pl. 133.
1. DOTTED CARPET: _caterpillars_.
2. BRUSSELS LACE: _caterpillars_.
3. WAVED UMBER: _caterpillar_.
4. BELTED BEAUTY: _eggs_.

{307} Beside Surrey and Hants, previously mentioned, the species occurs in Sussex (Tilgate Forest), Buckinghamshire (Halton), and has been recorded from Berkshire; Egg Buckland, Oxton, Bickleigh Vale, and other Devonshire localities; also from Cornwall, Somersetshire, Gloucestershire (the Cotswolds), and Monmouthshire.

Staudinger and other recent authors have adopted _ribeata_, Clerck, for this species.

MOTTLED BEAUTY (_Boarmia repandata_).

Two examples of the more ordinary mottled form of this species are shown on Plate 132, Figs. 3 [male], and 4 [female]. Fig. 6 represents ab. _destrigaria_, Haworth (_muraria_, Curtis); and Fig. 5 depicts a specimen near var. _sodorensium_, Weir, from the Isle of Lewis. Dark-brown forms, inclining to blackish, are not uncommon in the London district, but in South Yorkshire coal-black specimens with whitish submarginal lines occur; a sooty black example from the Sheffield district is figured on Plate 134, Fig. 4, and, it may be added, these melanic forms are referable to ab. _nigricata_, Fuchs.

Two forms of ab. _conversaria_, Hubner, will be found on Plate 134, where Fig. 1 depicts a specimen from the New Forest, and Fig. 8 represents an extreme example from North Devon. The _conversaria_ form occurs chiefly in the south and west of England, and is perhaps most plentiful along the North Devon coast; also in South Wales; Durham (rarely, on the coast). Broad dark banded specimens are recorded from Arran and Argyll.

The caterpillar (figured on Plate 131, Fig. 2, after Sich) is brownish inclining to ochreous; a dark brownish line along the middle of the back, and a series of brownish diamond-shaped marks most distinct on the back of the middle rings; a line of blackish marks along the sides shows up in the paler examples. Sometimes the general colour is dark reddish brown, freckled with dark brown; but in all cases the underside is paler than the upper, and is striped and lined with dark and pale brown. {308} It feeds on hawthorn, birch, elm, hazel, bilberry, heather, etc., from July to May.

The moth is out in June and July, and specimens of a second generation have been reared in September. Generally common throughout the British Isles.

GREAT OAK BEAUTY (_Boarmia roboraria_).

CATERPILLAR OF GREAT OAK BEAUTY.

(Photo by "A. Forester".)]

The fine Boarmid moth shown on Plate 135, Fig. 2, has all the typical markings well defined. Occasionally the black cross lines are more distinct, but sometimes they are more or less absent, or obscured. An almost black specimen is mentioned by Barrett as taken in the Reading district, Berkshire; and the same author states that a black example was captured in the Midlands about the year 1887, but no other specimen was observed until 1893, when a female was obtained, and from eggs deposited smoky black moths were reared.

The caterpillar is very like an oak twig in shape, especially when in repose. (See Fig. 18.) In colour it is reddish brown, inclining to ochreous brown; brownish grey on the humps on rings 5 and 11, and on the skin folds. It feeds on oak during the autumn, and, after hibernation, in the spring. The moth is out in June and July, and may be found on oak trees rather high up the trunks. When on the wing at night it will visit the sugar patch.

2 Pl. 134.
1, 4, 7, 8. MOTTLED BEAUTY, VARS.
2. SPECKLED BEAUTY.
3, 5. RANNOCH BRINDLED BEAUTY.
6. SEPTEMBER THORN.
9. LARGE THORN, VAR.

2 Pl. 135.
2. GREAT OAK BEAUTY.
1, 3. PALE OAK BEAUTY.

{309} The species occurs most frequently in the New Forest, Hampshire, where, in some years, it is very common. Other English counties in which it has been found, or still exists, are--Devon (Cann Woods), Dorset (Cranborne and Bloxworth), Wilts. (Savernake Forest), Sussex (Abbots Wood, Charlton Forest, Holme Bank, etc.), Surrey (Addington, June, 1902), Kent, Essex (Epping Forest), Berks., Bucks., Warwick (Princethorpe Wood), Worcester (Wyre Forest), Stafford (Cannock Chase), Cheshire (Dunham Park), York (wood near Selby), Lancashire (Corporation and Quernmore Woods).

PALE OAK BEAUTY (_Boarmia consortaria_).

Some specimens are rather greyer, and the cross markings are occasionally less distinct than in Figs. 1 [male], and 3 [female] on Plate 135, which represent the typical forms of this species in England. Examples of a blackish form have been noted from a wood in West Kent, and these are apparently referable to the melanic ab. _humperti_, Humpert, but the Kentish specimens I have seen had the second line of fore wings edged with white, and a white submarginal line.

The caterpillar, which in shape is somewhat like that of the last species, varies in colour. One form is greenish grey, with three lines, the central one darker than those on each side. In another the colour is pale brown mottled with reddish and a darker brown. It feeds on oak, birch, and sometimes sallow, in July and August.

The moth is out in June and July, and specimens have been recorded as captured in September. It may be found on the trunks of oak and fir trees, and will come to sugar and light at night. Although local it is not uncommon in the New Forest and other woods in Hampshire; also in Sussex, Surrey, Kent. {310} and Berkshire. It has been recorded from Buckinghamshire, Wiltshire, and Dorsetshire; and as local and scarce in the Lancaster district.

The range abroad extends to Amurland and Japan, and in both countries it is represented by var. _conferenda_, Butler.

SPECKLED BEAUTY (_Cleora angularia_).

Stephens, who in 1831 figured this insect as _Cleora viduaria_, Wien. Verz., remarks, "All the examples I have seen of this beautiful species were captured in the New Forest: the first about June, 1822, the remainder in 1825 and 1826: I believe in the vicinity of Lyndhurst." Barrett states that the late Mr. Samuel Stevens obtained a number of specimens "by sweeping the upper branches of oak trees in the New Forest with a long pole." This was in 1849; and between that year and 1872, about which time it seems to have disappeared, the moth was found, by those who knew where to look for it, in the Forest between Brockenhurst and Lyndhurst. Specimens have also been taken, in the past, in Tilgate Forest, Sussex, by the late William Tester, and by Mr. Merrifield, at Holm Bank, near Henfield, in the same county. There have been recent rumours of its reappearance in the New Forest, but I have been unable to ascertain anything definite about this. The specimen depicted in Plate 134, Fig. 2, has been kindly lent by Mr. R. Adkin.

The caterpillar, stated by Hofmann to feed on lichen growing upon oak and birch, is brownish variegated with paler shades.

BRUSSELS LACE (_Cleora lichenaria_).

The greenish grey species shown on Plate 136, Figs. 1 [male], 2 [female], varies in tint; the fore wings are often clouded with olive, and occasionally with blackish; there is frequently a tinge of {311} ochreous between the black cross lines, but sometimes this area is flushed with orange.

Two figures of the caterpillar will be found on Plate 133, Fig. 2. In colour and marking it so closely resembles the greenish-grey lichen upon which it feeds, that its detection thereon is not always easy. May and June are the best months in which to collect the caterpillars (although they may be found during the autumn and early spring), and they may then be jarred from the lichen (_Usnea barbata_), etc., growing on branches of trees and bushes, or searched for among the lichen on the tree trunks, or on wooden pales and fences.

The species is widely spread over the southern half of England, but is more or less rare from the Midlands northwards. It has occurred in South Wales; and Kane states that it is widely distributed and locally common in Ireland. In some parts of South Scotland it is not uncommon, and its range extends to Aberdeen and Ross.

THE DOTTED CARPET (_Cleora jubata_).

This species (Plate 136, Figs. 3, 4) has long been known as _glabraria_, Hubner, but as authorities are agreed that _jubata_, Thunberg, is an earlier name, it must be adopted. The general colour is whitish, powdered with dark grey and black; there are four black spots on the front margin and from these blackish markings cross the wings, but only the first line is generally distinct, although a second line, beyond the large black discal spot, is sometimes clearly defined and entire; occasionally a central shade and a submarginal line are both in evidence. The hind wings have a black central spot and a blackish line beyond, but the latter is often absent. Exceptional aberration takes the form of leaden black blotches, clouds, and streaks on the fore wings, and dusky clouding on the hind wings, chiefly on the basal area. {312}

The caterpillar is of a faint bluish green, inclining to greenish white on the back; a row of black spots along the back, and a broken black narrow stripe along each side. It feeds on tree lichens (_Usnea barbata_), etc., from September to June or July. Three figures of this caterpillar are given on Plate 133, Fig. 3.

The moth is out in July and August, and may be found at rest on tree trunks now and then, but is more frequently obtained by jarring the lichen-clad branches of oak. Although it is known to occur very locally and somewhat rarely in the counties of Wilts., Dorset, and Devon, the New Forest in Hampshire is the English district where one is most likely to meet with this species. It has been recorded from Cornwall (Falmouth district, 1904), Hereford, Pembrokeshire, Carnarvonshire (Beddgelert), and Cumberland. Charlton Forest, Sussex, has also been mentioned. In Scotland, Renton states that it is generally common in Roxburghshire; it occurs in several of the woods in Clydesdale, and has been noted from Argyllshire.

THE ENGRAILED (_Tephrosia bistortata_).

In the following brief remarks on _T. bistortata_, Goeze (= _biundularia_, Borkhausen), I have included reference to _crepuscularia_, Hubner (= _biundularia_, Esper). The former (which is also named _abietaria_, Haworth, and _laricaria_, Doubleday) appears on the wing in March and April, and there is a second flight in July and August. Moths of the second generation are few in number and small in size, and are referable to abs. _consonaria_ and _strigularia_, Stephens. A third generation of still smaller moths has been reared. _Crepuscularia_ is out in May and June, rarely in April; its caterpillar feeds in June and July or later; according to Barrett, a second generation of the moth has occurred in August. One or two moths have been captured in September or October, but whether these were referable to _bistortata_ or _crepuscularia_ is not quite clear.

SMALL ENGRAILED, AT REST.

(Photo by W. J. Lucas.)]

By some authorities the double-brooded _bistortata_ is {313} considered specifically distinct from the, normally, single-brooded _crepuscularia_; others hold the opposite view. The March and April moths are generally rather browner in colour than those appearing in May and June, but I have some specimens taken in Wiltshire at the end of March, which are quite as pale as any example in the May-June series. Probably, we should be right in regarding _crepuscularia_ as the older stock from which the double-brooded race, _bistortata_, has sprung. The former has a more extensive range, as it inhabits Northern Europe (Sutherlandshire in British Isles), whilst _bistortata_ seems to be confined to Central Europe. A Perthshire form of the May-June race is shown on Plate 136, Fig. 7; and an example of ab. _delamerensis_, White, from Delamere Forest, Cheshire, is represented by Fig. 8. Figs. 6 [male], 7 [female], represent examples of the March and April race. Black or blackish forms, with the sub-marginal line more or less distinctly white, occur in both races, chiefly in Glamorganshire, South Wales.

{314}

A photograph, by Mr. H. Main, of the caterpillar, is reproduced on Plate 138, Fig. 3. The general colour is grey, inclining to yellowish or brownish; sometimes it is reddish brown; two broken dark-grey lines on the back, and some pale blotches on the sides. The caterpillars of the first race (_bistortata_) feed in May and June, and again in August and September. Those of the second race in June and July, or later. They seem to eat the foliage of trees, including those in orchards.

NOTE.--Cross-pairings between _bistortata_ [male] and _crepuscularia_ [female] resulted in the ab. _ridingi_, Tutt, whilst the offspring of a crossing of _crepuscularia_ [male] and _bistortata_ [female] have been named _bacoti_, Tutt. Pairings of _bistortata_ [male] and _delamerensis_ [female] produce ab. _ridingi-suffusa_, Tutt; and those of _delamerensis_ [male] and _bistortata_ [female] = _bacoti-suffusa_, Tutt. Further, _bacoti-suffusa_ will pair with _ridingi-suffusa_, or the last named with _crepuscularia_; the progeny being in the first case _mixta_, Tutt, and in the latter, _reversa_, Tutt.

BRINDLED WHITE-SPOT (_Tephrosia luridata_).

Two examples of this species (also known as _extersaria_, Hubner) are depicted on Plate 137, Figs. 1 [male], 2 [female]. There is variation in the amount of black speckling and in the strength of the cross lines.

The caterpillar is dull hazel or chocolate brown, often tinged with green; a row of whitish dots on each side of a series of pale spots along the middle of the back; rings 4 and 8 barred with black-brown or dusky rust colour. Sometimes the general colour is green. (Adapted from Fenn.) It feeds in July and August, or even later, on oak and birch, sometimes on alder and sallow. The moth is out in May and June, earlier or later in some seasons. In Britain apparently confined to England, where it occurs locally, in woods, from Worcestershire {315} southwards to Kent and Cornwall, and eastward to Norfolk and Suffolk. In the New Forest, Hampshire, where it is often plentiful, it may be seen on the boles of trees, but is more easily obtained after dark when it comes to the sugar patch.

SQUARE SPOT (_Tephrosia consonaria_).

Two examples of this species will be found on Plate 137, Figs. 3 [male], 4 [female]. There is variation in the greyish or brownish speckling of the wings, and this in some typical examples is so sparse that the wings appear to be almost white with brownish basal band and brownish markings on the outer area; the most conspicuous of the latter being the middle square spot between the second and submarginal lines, more or less distinct in all forms, to which the English name refers. In other specimens the wings are, especially the front pair, densely covered with the dark speckling. Some Surrey specimens, chiefly from the Leith Hill district, have an ochreous tinge; and quite recently a black form of the species has occurred in a wood near Maidstone, in West Kent. The last phase of aberration seems to be unknown in any other part of Britain, and also, I believe, elsewhere.

The egg (Plate 138, Fig. 2) is yellowish green when laid; later it becomes yellow, and orange red markings appear, chiefly at one end.

The somewhat wrinkled caterpillar is ochreous brown above, inclining to greyish between the rings; an ochreous line along the middle of the back is only clearly defined on the front rings; the under side is greenish ochreous, and sometimes this colour extends to the upper side also; the head, which is notched on the crown, is pale ochreous, more or less marked with brown. It feeds at night, in June and July, on birch, beech, oak, pine, etc. {316}

The moth is out in May and June, earlier in some districts. In the daytime it may be seen on the trunks or boughs of trees, most frequently at too great a height to be easily secured; but still a few sit low enough for capture, especially on the trunks of fir trees. The species is a decidedly local one, and seems to be largely confined, in Britain, to the southern parts of England, Wales, and Ireland. It occurs in some of the woods of Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire, Dorsetshire, Devonshire, Cornwall, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Essex, and Suffolk. Edwards notes the species as rare at Malvern, Worcestershire. Forsythe, in "A List of the Macro-Lepidoptera of Lancaster and District" (_Entom._ 1905, p. 12), states that the moth may be found sitting on the fir-tree trunks at the end of May, at Witherslack and Quernmore; and a single specimen has been recorded from Upton, near Birkenhead, Cheshire. The occurrence of _T. consonaria_ in the north of England seems open to question. The only county in Wales appears to be Glamorganshire, as mentioned by Barrett. Kane (_Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Ireland_) noted the species from Derrycunihy, and Mucross, Killarney, where he has taken it in moderate abundance; he also gives Clonbullogue, in King's County.

The range abroad extends to Amurland and Japan.

GREY BIRCH (_Tephrosia punctularia_).

Three examples of this greyish species are shown on Plate 137. The wings are usually whitish grey in the ground colour, and sprinkled or dusted with darker grey; there are three blackish, or black dotted, cross lines on the fore wings, often indistinct, but rarely entirely absent, and even then represented by black marks on the front margin. Sometimes the first and third lines may be well in evidence and the central one absent; occasionally the second line is placed quite close to the first; the sub-marginal line is whitish, inwardly shaded with dark greyish, especially at the middle and towards the front margin. The hind wings have two cross lines corresponding with the first and third on the fore wings. There is a good deal of variation in the amount of dark speckling, and this is occasionally so heavy that the insect becomes dark grey in colour; I have taken such specimens at Oxshott in Surrey. Dark aberrations are perhaps more frequent in the north of England, but the species is more local and less plentiful in that part of the country.

2 Pl. 136.
1, 2. BRUSSELS LACE.
3, 4. DOTTED CARPET.
5, 6. SMALL ENGRAILED.
7, 8. THE ENGRAILED.

2 Pl. 137.
1, 2. BRINDLED WHITE-SPOT.
3, 4. SQUARE SPOT.
5-7. GREY BIRCH.
8, 9. HORSE CHESTNUT.